Chapter eight: Bricks and Mortar
Draco was …stumped.
Sitting at the table in the tiny room allotted to the Slytherin therapy program, he had an almost-blank sheet of paper in front of him, with a name scrawled at the top: Mr. Ollivander…
It hadn't felt right to write the man a letter from Malfoy Manor, so Draco had grabbed the necessary materials and went to the nondescript brick building, going into the room he and Hermione sat in sometimes. Pulling the table against a wall and backing the chair into the corner, he'd written the man's name, and … stopped. Thus, he was now sitting at the table with his head in his hands, staring at the pen with loathing.
What do you say? How do you ask a man, whom you had shown very little compassion, to turn around and be better person than you were?
The hands in his hair turned to fists, and he sighed, before jerking upright as the door opened and in walked a familiar messy-haired man. The bespectacled man paused and looked at Draco, puzzled. "Malfoy?" he asked, and you could see heroic effort in the lines of his jaw and neck as Harry Potter tried to remind himself that they were no longer enemies.
However, this was the Golden Boy that was standing in front of Draco, so he managed it, keeping his posture nonchalant and coming towards Draco. "Do you have a session today?" he asked, scratching his head. "I thought I had one with Theodore."
Draco blinked at the very normal tone of voice Potter was using. "No, I'm just…" he gestured at the paper. "Trying to write a letter." He pushed his hands through his hair again and sighed, standing up. "I'll leave you to it, if you need the space."
Harry paused. "Actually," he said slowly, and Draco froze, not sure if he was going to get hexed or helped. "Now that you're here, I could use your help. Any ideas how I could get through to Theodore? I'm… " Harry hesitated. "Having some difficulties with him. Some days he's perfectly placid and others it's like he's going to snap my head off," he finished, gesturing in confusion. "Every time I think we've made a step forward, we take three back."
At this heartfelt, thoughtful, and lengthy remark, Draco blinked two or three more times, trying to process. Blaise didn't think Potter was so bad, and neither did Hermione, he mused, so surely he was only –ugh – trying to help Theo. Looking at Saint Potter, he could see that this was the case – sincerity was pouring off of him. It was almost disgusting. Gryffindors and their causes, honestly…
"Malfoy?" Potter prompted, and Draco shook himself.
"First of all, call him Theo instead of Theodore," Draco started. "His old man used to call him Theodore, and it probably isn't bringing back good memories," he said flatly.
Potter's eyebrows rose slightly, but he nodded. Draco continued to speak. "Theo's really good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he wanted to be an Auror when he was small," he added, remembering a particularly interesting truth-or-dare session in the Slytherin common room. "And …" he hesitated; wondering if revealing all these things was betraying his friend or helping him. Crossing his fingers that it was the latter, Draco finished with, "He's probably snapping at you because he doesn't want to disappoint you," softly. "He does that when he's feeling particularly vulnerable. Be nice to him," he said sternly, and Potter did the strangest thing – he smiled.
"I will," he promised. "Thank you." Then Harry hesitated, looking at the letter. "Anything I can help with?" he asked casually. "In return, of course."
That wasn't fooling anyone, but Draco answered anyways. "Do you know where Ollivander moved to?" and at Harry's curious nod, continued,
"Could you ask him if he would mind meeting with me?"
…
Mr. Ollivander,
I know that you have no reason to forgive me for the wrongs that were done to you in my family's home. However, I would like to endeavor to apologize for the actions of my family and myself, if that is at all possible. Would you mind meeting me in person?
Harry has kindly offered to deliver this to you. Please let him know if you would like to see me, or if you wish never to hear from me again.
Best,
Draco Malfoy.
…
Hermione swept into the lobby of the ugly little building feeling, once more, triumphant. She was just here to pick up some of her notes that she'd dropped off before she and Pansy had gone to the new greenhouses in the Wizarding community of Oxford, so she expected it to be a quick stop.
To her surprise, though, it was rather busy – Harry, Draco, and Theodore Nott were standing in the front hall, apparently having a civil discussion. Hermione blinked, paused by the table to grab her notes, and then made a beeline for the group, smiling a friendly hello.
"Hi, 'Mione," Harry said easily, and the other two murmured greetings. "Theo and I are just about to head in, so I can foist Draco off on you," he winked, and the Slytherins actually chuckled.
"Sure," she replied. "But don't think you can avoid me, we need to talk," and Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, meaning that they had to talk about the upcoming Summer Solstice party that the Weasley Matriarch kept pushing, hoping to entice Harry and Hermione back into dating her children.
"Potter's in trouble," Nott said quietly with the barest flicker of a smile, and Hermione grinned. "When is he not?" she joked.
To general laughter, the party split up, leaving Malfoy and Hermione standing across from each other in the hall, smiles still etched on their faces.
"So what brought you here?" Hermione finally asked. "Everything alright, or just looking for a change of scene?"
Malfoy looked at her for a moment and shook his head. "You and Potter really should seek help for that chronic goody-two shoes syndrome," he informed her, but his tone was friendly. "I'm fine, actually," (surprisingly, Hermione actually thought he might mean that), "I just wanted a change of scene. Potter's giving a letter to Ollivander for me," Malfoy said more quietly, and Hermione felt rather surprised.
"Ollivander?" she asked, curious.
"Yeah," he said, hesitating. "I'm… I want to talk to him."
Hermione raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Well, I won't pry," she said, "But I hope it goes well."
Draco smiled at her, a bit distant but still warmly, and nodded in agreement. "Me too."
There was an awkward silence, and Hermione shifted her weight, wondering how to handle talking to Malfoy in a social capacity. Surprisingly, he was the one to break the silence – "What were you, um, doing?"
"I just got back from Oxford," Hermione explained. "I took Pansy to see the greenhouses there, and she stayed behind to talk to Neville."
"Longbottom?" Draco asked with a blink. "I mean, I'm not surprised that he's working in greenhouses, just that Pansy …" he gestured with his hands, obviously not sure how to clarify, and Hermione smiled.
"I know. They were awkward at first, but then they actually hit it off over Herbology," Hermione explained, giving herself a mental pat on the back for that idea. "They were discussing some kind of poisonous shrub when I left."
Draco grinned. "That's Pansy for you," he said affectionately, and Hermione smiled.
…
After their strangely normal conversation, Hermione went home with an emphatic spring in her step. It seemed as the Slytherin Rehabilitation Program was beginning to be a success, and succeeding at things always made Hermione happy.
She opened her front door with a dramatic swing, blinked at the mess of Potions ingredients she'd left on the table, and frowned at the owl sitting at her window. Not even a missive from the Ministry could dampen her mood, though, and she put the letter aside for later, instead choosing to go to her notes on the Program.
Pucey – has started volunteering at the Animal Shelter. Progress.
Parkinson – interest in Herbology piqued. Progress.
Malfoy …
Definite progress.
A/N:
Hi everyone! Thank you all very much for your patience. I haven't had much muse for this universe recently (and I've been working on another dramione which ran away from me) but I managed to get a chapter done today! Hopefully you enjoy it.
I plan to try to churn out a couple more chapters in quick succession before classes start on the 8th. So bear with me! I keep coming up with plot ideas for later on in the story, so hopefully the later chapters will intrigue you.
Until next time,
Isefyr