Chapter Five: Everything Changes

The first day of term after the holidays was also Draco's first DA meeting. Draco knew that it would most likely have some problems, even though he had been consistent with his actions the best couple of months, that didn't mean that everyone in the DA was going to be happy with him joining. Draco was prepared for anything that they threw at him though. He wanted to make sure that he showed them he had changed.

His things had been sent to Ron's, and he was glad that he had somewhere to go. Plus, if it got around to Lucius and Narcissa, it would kill them. He knew that Lucius really hated the Weasleys, considered them blood traitors. Draco had used to too, but that was before Harry changed him and his life. Draco wouldn't want to change back now. He liked who he was now.

At the moment, he and Harry were walking up to the Room of Requirement to get to the DA meeting. This is when Umbridge ran into them in the corridor. "Hello Professor." Draco said, immediately letting go of Harry's hand, he didn't want to give her any ammunition if he didn't have to. It was bad enough that Harry's hand held the scars from his detentions with her.

Umbridge looked at them with a glint in her weasley little eyes. "Where are you two heading off to in such a determined hurry? It wouldn't be a class, those are over for the day. Could it be something that has been decreed off limits?" Draco hated this woman, she was one of the worst teachers he'd ever had in his life. Thanks to Harry changing him for the better, that was.

"No, Professor, we're just out for a walk. Spending some time together before bedtime." Draco lied smoothly, Harry standing nervously next to him. Draco hoped Harry didn't mind him speaking, but he was just trying to keep suspicion off them. He knew it was a bad lie and it wasn't going to convince her for long, but he had to say something.

"Maybe you should get a little closer to somewhere else then, such as the Great Hall. I am sure that you both have some studying to do." Umbridge said with a touch of impatience, and Draco wondered how she could be real. How she wasn't just magic in front of them. She was totally evil.

Harry was just trying to avoid detention. He was tired of writing out 'I must not tell lies' so many times, Draco commented on the scars quite often, wishing that he could take them away from him. Harry said, "We'll do that right away, Professor." He tugged on Draco's hand, which he reached out to take again, he hated not being able to hold Draco's hand. He and Draco would have to go down the hall a bit and hide until they were sure she was gone. He didn't want to have to walk all the way down to the Great Hall and back.

It took about ten minutes for her to move on, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. They were lucky, they'd have to be more careful from now on. "Come on, love." Harry said, tugging on Draco's hand and they snuck out of the hallway they were hiding in and hurried up another flight of stairs and they had reached the Room of Requirement.

Everyone was already there, and Harry apologized for being late, telling them what had happened. Then he said, "And we have a new member today, Draco Malfoy. I know some of you are going to have trepidations about that, but I trust him, Ron and Hermione trust him, and he's committed to joining the Order when he's old enough. If we trust him, you can give him a chance too. Believe me, it surprised me as much as it has surely surprised you." Harry said, a lock of his messy black hair falling over his forehead.

No one spoke, and after an awkward pause, and then Harry got them to work on their Patronus charms. Draco wondered if he'd be able to do it, and what his Patronus would be. He was paired with Ron, Hermione was working with Neville Longbottom. Whom Draco was sure was dating Luna Lovegood, he and Ron had a bet going about it. Ron was on the side of they weren't. Draco and Ron both started to work on the charm, and got giggling when Terry Boot's Patronus, which was a bear, started to attack Hermione's, which was an otter.

Harry wanted to be harsh, but he was pleased at the sight of his boyfriend letting go and having some fun. He just gave them a look and told them to get serious, and then circulated around the room some more. Cho Chang was working with Zacharias Smith, and both of them were having trouble. Harry told them to work on happier memories. Harry could tell that Cho was disappointed with him, because she had had a crush on him. It was obvious. She hadn't been one of the ones to tell Harry how cute he and Draco were. Harry was fine with that though, he didn't have a crush on her anymore. It was just how things were.

When the lesson was over, Draco and Harry hung back with Ron and Hermione. The next lesson would be about Patronuses also, they were going to keep on it till they got it right. Harry was writing something on the blackboard and Ron and Draco were discussing Draco's Patronus, which was a serpent. None of them had been surprised. Harry was just finishing his writing when Hermione spoke to him in a low voice, as if she was trying to keep Ron and Draco from hearing.

"I saw Cho watching Draco pretty hard. Do you think she's going to quit? Or tell someone?" Hermione asked. She wouldn't have thought Cho was the vindictive kind, but Cho had been staring at Draco pretty hard. Especially when his Patronus had turned out to be a serpent. Draco had been pretty happy about that, that might not have helped the situation.

Harry turned to look at her. Draco and Ron were busy laughing about something, and he knew it was safe to talk. "I'm not sure, do you think so? I think everyone else accepted it after the lesson, and Draco proved that he was just here to learn. I guess we'll have to keep an eye on her, and if she looks like she's going to talk, we'll talk to her." He knew that Hermione had taken precautions about people telling, he just didn't know what they were.

Hermione nodded. "It's not a great plan, but it's a plan nonetheless." She said, and turned to their significant others. "Come on, guys, we have just enough time to grab a snack before bedtime." She said, she was starving. She reached out and took Ron's hand. "I know you're starving." She told him, and before he could disagree, his stomach growled.

They all knew the way to the kitchens, and they all started to head down the way. They knew how to speak to the house elves to get them to cough up some good snacks. Hermione was against using house elves, but she was starting to relax about it, because refusing to eat did her no good. She was still the president of S.P.E.W., which Ron insisted on calling SPEW, despite Hermione's protestations.

Soon they had reached the kitchens, and the house elves moved all over themselves to help them out with some midnight snacks. Harry, laden down with biscuits and cakes, gave Draco a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow, love." The Slytherin house dorms weren't far from where they were now, so here was where they had to part ways for now.

"See you at breakfast, love." Draco agreed, kissing him back. Then he parted from his best friends and Harry, still hardly daring to believe his life. He was carrying a roast beef sandwich, some chocolate chip biscuits, and a couple of cupcakes. He was pleased with how his first DA meeting had gone, and he was looking forward to the next one. He had been very glad to be allowed in the group.

Of course he was still thinking about how to keep Umbridge off their backs. Draco was also worried about the Inquisitor Squad, which had been formed to patrol the halls and tattle tell on students. Draco would have been glad to be able to join the Squad at the beginning of the year, but now he saw them for what they were. Troublemakers.

When he got to the Slytherin common room, Pansy Parkinson was waiting for him. "What do you want, Pansy?" He asked. He didn't want to talk about whatever it was she wanted to talk about, he was sure. She'd been crushing on him since first year, and he hadn't ever been interested in her. Draco had always known that he was gay. He wasn't one to date people that he wasn't into.

Pansy folded her arms. Her brown hair was down, and it hung down to her back, she usually wore it up and Draco hadn't ever known how long it was. She gave him a glare. "You were hanging out with Potter and the Weasel and his Mudblood again, weren't you?" Draco thought she was quite brave to use the Mudblood term around him now, he had hexed Crabbe and Goyle for using it the other day.

"What's it to you?" He asked, settling in at one of the tables with his snacks, taking a bite of his sandwich. It was delicious, as he knew it would be. He didn't know that he cared what she had to say. It wasn't going to change his mind about anything. "And if you call Hermione a Mudblood again you can find out what it was like for Crabbe and Goyle when they called her that."

Pansy's face took on a shocked expression. "Crabbe tried to tell me we'd lost you… I didn't want to believe it." She said, and she watched as he ate, clearly he didn't care what she had to say. That hurt her more than she wanted to admit. Pansy brushed her hand through her long wavy hair. "Thanks for nothing, Draco." She said, moving to head up to the girls' dormitories. She could hardly believe that they'd lost Draco to the dark side. It really wasn't fair.

The following morning, as Draco was making his way up to breakfast, he was stopped by Snape. "What do you want, Severus?" He asked, Snape was his godfather, and he was used to being less formal with him than everyone else. Not that he cared anymore, Draco was now not trusting him, like his friends.

"I'd not be so familiar with me if I were you, Draco." Snape said, and Draco fought the urge to roll his eyes. He wondered what Snape even wanted, it's not as if they had anything to talk about anymore. Draco had been on the fast track to be a Death Eater, but now that wasn't going to be possible. "I think you can stand to be late for breakfast with your new friends and that Potter for a few moments."

"Just tell me what it is you want, Professor." Draco said disdainfully, folding his arms. Draco wasn't going to forgive Snape if he missed Harry eating, he had a different class this morning than he did, and they wouldn't get to see each other till after lunch.

Snape began with, "Ten points from Slytherin for your insolence, Malfoy." He said, and Draco did roll his eyes that time. Snape wasn't one to take points from Slytherin, he was Head of Slytherin House. "I want to know why you are going around with the Gryffindor lot." He said, and Draco wondered if he could get away with lying. Not that he would be able to get away with the truth either, not that he could TELL him the truth.

"I want to, Professor." Draco said, this was true and it was something that he could say. Draco brushed his hand through his curly blonde waves. He didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He glared at Snape. "What's it to you? I'm allowed to be friends with whomever I want." He said. "If I told my parents I wasn't going to change for them, what makes you think that I'm going to change for you?"

Snape was really angry looking by then, and took twenty more house points from Slytherin, and let Draco go. He headed up to the Great Hall, saying hello to Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom on the way to his boyfriend and his friends. He'd also met Cho Chang's eye, and she had glared at him. Draco didn't know what he was going to do about that. He was concerned that she was going to break the charms Hermione had put in place and tell someone about the DA.

"Morning, love." Harry said when he saw Draco, and gave him a kiss. Harry was pouring himself some pumpkin juice and Ron was reaching for bacon. Ron reached for the eggs also, as Draco sat down, very glad that he hadn't missed breakfast with them. He told them about Snape taking away house points, and everyone reacted just like he thought that they would. Draco loved being right. Let's just hope that he was wrong about Cho Chang.

Author's note: Hi. So, I hope ya'll liked, and not to be JK Rowling here and mess with people's headcanons, but my Draco is Alex Pettyfr. I also do not see Harry as Dan Radcliffe. Sorry, but as much as I like the movies, some of the casting I disagree with. Anyway, I hope you feel like telling me what you thought! Again, don't get used to the fluffy. :)