A/N: It's good to be back. I had a super fun holiday although I missed writing this just a little bit. Thanks to the reviewers, you guys are fab!
"The bitch deserved it."
"Ginny!"
"She did. She bloody well started it. Honestly, I wish I'd punched her actually."
"Ginevra Weasley."
"Merlin, you sound like my mother."
"What even remotely reasonable explanation do you have for hexing Parkinson?"
The redhead ceased walking, abruptly turning to her friend. "Among other things, she called you a Mudblood."
"You did what?" Draco asked incredulously, pinning the Slytherin girl with his most dangerous glare.
He'd met up with Pansy outside McGonagall's office having followed Dean from the library with Hermione. Apparently the Gryffindor boy had thought it prudent to recruit the two students in keeping the girls separated after their earlier dispute and his prediction was ultimately correct. Before Pansy had even set foot on the bottom step, she'd called the redhead a 'traitorous rat' and Ginny had lunged at her, only being stopped by Dean's firm grasp around her waist. Draco had swiftly dragged the Slytherin girl back to the dungeons with her grumbling extensively along the way although he ignored her entirely. As soon as they'd made into the common room, Theo was on the two of them in seconds and was quick to divulge what had occurred earlier on.
"Thanks, Nott. Way to have my back." Pansy complained, her voice level and seemingly unfazed.
"Don't even try it, Pansy. You started this crap."
"What possessed you to do something so unbelievably stupid?" Draco quickly intervened before things escalated to real insults. While Theo was a relatively laid back person, Pansy had a knack for finding and pushing people's buttons.
"It's true." She shrugged, watching as his jaw clenched painfully tight. "Of all the people in the Wizarding World, I never expected you to start kissing her ass with every other moron. I thought we were on the same side."
"There are no sides." He replied, darkly. "You are on ridiculously thin ice, Pansy. You're damn lucky you weren't expelled today because Merlin knows you should've been."
Pansy tutted, her hands rising to her hips defiantly. "She has her claws in you so deep. You've changed Draco and it's not for the better."
"This isn't about Granger!" He near bellowed, causing Theo to flinch beside him although Pansy ultimately remained unmoved. "This is about us not being the shitty people our parents try to mould us into. This is about us getting a second chance to get our lives back. We're not the kings and queens of anything anymore, Pansy. We have to earn people's trust and respect, we can't just roller over them and hope our money and name can fix everything. We have no power and no right to think we're better than anyone else."
"Bullshit. They're nothing but a pathetic bunch of freaks who think because their rebellion won the war, they all deserve to be worshipped. They're still blood traitors, muggle lovers and Mud-."
"Don't you dare say it again." Before Theo could protest, Draco was in her face, his height giving him a significant advantage over her and she visibly swallowed. "You are nothing but a spoiled little bitch who thinks the entire world ought to revolve around you when you aren't even worth a fraction of any of them. Especially not her. You have no idea what real fear is or pain or the desperation that drives you to do whatever it takes to protect someone else because you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself. I am done trying to help you, Pansy, you aren't worth my time and if you want to dig your own grave by all means grab a shovel."
Pansy's mouth hung open in shock as Malfoy furiously turned on heel and stormed from the common room, some first years diving out of his path as he burst out the exit. Draco was more than practiced at schooling his features, allowing no one to see his true emotions underneath but lately all he felt for Pansy was distaste, her unrelenting disregard for the rest of the population leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He would freely admit that once upon a time, he too felt that same loathing for the Gryffindors and the 'lower classes' as his father had deemed them but truthfully he knew it was what he was raised to believe and only in recent years had he come to his own conclusions that differed greatly. On the odd occasion his temper got the better of him, it was best to relieve himself of the company of others and seek solitude, he knew Theo would understand and respect this most of all and with any luck; his friend could keep the Slytherin girl far from his presence.
"How could he say something like that to me?" Parkinson's shrill voice sliced through the silence that had fallen in the moments since Malfoy had left. "That conniving little Gryffindor is twisting him against us."
Theo gaped at her, throwing his hands up in the air in utter disbelief. "Do you hear yourself? Or better yet, does anything anyone ever says penetrate your tiny mind? You've brought this mess crashing down on yourself and frankly, I am amazed he's put up with you for as long as he has."
"You know, I tried to look out for him. I warned her not to judge him for what he'd done and suddenly she's decided that he needs to join the golden trio, holding hands and saving disgusting muggles. He's supposed to be one of us."
"One of us? What does that even mean? A Slytherin? He's still him underneath, of course he's a snake and that won't change. A deatheater though? He was never truly one of them and if you consider that possibility for more than a second, then you are delusional." Theo huffed, trying to retain some control as he glared heavily at her. "Draco is trying to better himself, to make real change and earn people's respect after everything his father forced his family into. You aren't his friend, Pansy, you're just trying to use him and drag him back into a prehistoric age of despising people who have done nothing to you. For all that we hated Potter, Weasley and Granger, at least they were prepared to stand by one another, come what may. Stay away from Draco and please, for Merlin's sake, don't bother me with anymore of your idiocy."
Draco had walked and walked and wormed through corridor after corridor until he stood atop the Astronomy Tower, a brisk evening breeze blowing through and chilling him. The cold air was a soothing contrast to how heated his skin felt, his blood finally no longer boiling from the argument earlier and instead relaxation was beginning to set in. The sun had long since set and the sky was now illuminated by just the moon and stars, although a soft glow emanated from the castle's windows offering a comforting atmosphere. He heard the tap of shoes on iron as someone took the stairs behind him and he groaned into the night at thought of another bout with his frustrating housemate.
"Pansy, if you're here to wind me up again…" Pushing off from the railing, he faced his new company but trailed off at the sight of Hermione, barely visible in the darkness but pale and slight nonetheless.
"Wow, what did she do to warrant that greeting?" Hermione answered in jest, taking a few steps closer to him.
"Being her usual ignorant self." He offered softly in return, unmoving in his position. "What brings you up here?"
"Had an incline I might find you." Stepping toward the edge, her hands wrapped around the cool metal as she tipped her head over the barrier, soon recoiling at the sheer height.
"Weasley told you what Pansy said to her." Draco stated rather than asked, frowning at the way she nonchalantly nodded in response. "She's a complete idiot."
Hermione laughed and it resounded in the metallic space surrounding them, drawing out the warmth and instead making it seem hollow and cold. "That's a much politer description than the one Ginny gave. You should've heard her, Molly would have scolded her something terrible."
"I'm sorry."
Hermione shook her head, leaning next to him as he joined her at the railings. It was easier to keep her gaze fixed on his hunched figure than the looming darkness at their feet. His hair seemed to glow in the limited light from the moon and his features became shadowed and tired. "Don't apologise for her. I haven't heard you use that word in a long time. You wouldn't say it to me again, would you?"
"Never again. Honestly, I hate that I ever did. I won't lie and pretend I didn't believe it once but I learned the hard way that we're all just the same underneath. I meant what I said in class all those weeks ago, you know. I don't care about blood status, you're brilliant and that's all anyone should ever see."
She smiled then, soft and warm and he felt the heat from it rise in his chest as he watched her gaze out wistfully past the tallest turrets of the castle. "We all grow up to see things differently. Hindsight is a remarkable thing, not one everyone is bestowed with. I can't change Pansy's mind but I couldn't care less. She's free to believe what she wants and I learned long ago that not everyone will like you and that's okay."
"Gryffindors and their damn courage." They shared a smile, no hesitation or restraint just honesty.
"Are you jealous?"
"Like you wouldn't believe."
