Change In A Star's Alignment

Chapter 7:

The rest of the day went really slowly for Harry. He was nervous but also a little excited to talk to Malfoy. There was so much they needed to talk about so they could understand each other better.

Finally, it was time for dinner and Harry went to retrieve his invisibility cloak which he shrunk and then put it in his pocket. Harry ate quickly at dinner and then waited a little impatiently for Malfoy to get up. Malfoy looked up then and nodded quickly to Harry before getting up and leaving the Great Hall.

Harry turned to Hermione saying, "I might be really late tonight 'Mione so don't wait up worrying." Hermione gave him a confused look but before she could say anything, Harry had already started for the doors.

Once Harry got out of the Great Hall, he took out his cloak and turned it back to its original size. He then slipped the cloak on and headed to the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room. Once he turned the corner, he saw a head of blonde hair pacing back and forth, waiting for him. Not wanting to blow his cover in case someone came around the corner unexpectedly, Harry didn't take off his invisibility cloak. Instead, to get Malfoy's attention, Harry touched the blonde's arm.

Malfoy jumped and looked around wildly to try and find who or what had touched him. Harry tried to stifle a laugh, but he just couldn't help himself. The look on his face... Oh, that was priceless! Harry thought as he let out a quiet laugh. "Potter?" Malfoy asked, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, still trying not to laugh, "it's me."

Harry watched as Malfoy sighed and relaxed. Then Harry saw the blonde look embarrassed at his reaction. Harry didn't think he'd even seen Malfoy blush before and he found it rather amusing. Malfoy then quickly composed himself and said, "All right Potter, follow me."

Malfoy then whispered the password so Harry couldn't hear and walked through the now open passage and Harry hurried to follow. He noticed that the Common Room still looked the same from when he was there during his second year with Ron. Harry smiled at the memory but then, remembering that Ron was still mad at him, he scowled. Harry followed Malfoy up the boys staircase and all the up to the top floor where they finally reached the blonde's room.

Harry was surprised at what he saw when he walked in. Harry had expected to see Slytherin green and silver everywhere. But instead, Harry saw a fairly large room with a couch and two big, comfy-looking chairs near a large stone fireplace on the right. To Harry's left, was a door that Harry assumed led to the bathroom. Next to that door was Malfoy's desk which had a bunch of papers, quills and ink pots scattered on it. On either side of the desk were huge bookcases that reached the ceiling, full of books.

Harry crossed over to the book cases to read some of the titles and saw that most of them were Potions books, which didn't surprise Harry at all. What did surprise him, however, was that there were almost as many Care Of Magical Creatures books. I thought Malfoy hated Care of Magical Creatures... Harry thought to himself. Harry turned to the sound of someone moving and saw Malfoy taking odd his shoes and school robe, leaving him in dress pants and a Hogwarts sweater.

"Make yourself comfortable." Malfoy said.

Harry went back to the door and took his shoes off, placing them neatly beside the door. Harry turned around to face the opposite wall from the door where he saw a couple wardrobes, a side table with a few books on it, a king sized bed, and Malfoy's Hogwarts trunk at the end of the bed.

Malfoy was busy putting away his school robe so Harry moved towards the fire place and sat in one of the large, comfy chairs that sat at a slight angle from the couch and just to the right of the fireplace.

The thing that surprised Harry the most about the room was how un-Slytherin it looked. It was green sure, but it wasn't Slytherin green and there was no sliver, just black as the accent colour. Malfoy walked over and sat on the couch opposite Harry, looking a little uncomfortable with having Harry in his room. At Harry's confused look, Malfoy smirked a little and said, "Not what you expected, Potter?"

"Not at all." Harry responded, "I expected it to look like the Gryffindor dorms, just with Slytherin colours."

"Yeah well, since I live here alone, I changed things around. It used to be a simple layout with none of the chairs or the couch. I transfigured all of the extra beds to get those and the desk. I also made the bed bigger."

"You did all of that yourself?" Harry asked, unable to hide the impressed tone from his voice. Harry was truly impressed at Malfoy's transfiguration skills.

"Yeah, I did." Malfoy replied, pride easily read on his features.

"And what about the colours?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Harry began, "the colours for Slytherin are green and silver. Your room is black, not silver. Even the green you chose... It's not Slytherin green."

Malfoy looked over at Harry with a surprised look on his face, "I'm impressed Potter," Malfoy started, "no one else has noticed that... Not even Severus. Apparently you're not as oblivious as I thought." Malfoy said that last part with a small smirk on his face.

Harry wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. "Thanks... I think." Harry said. "But why the subtle change in room colour?"

"I dunno." Malfoy said, suddenly looking a little self-conscious. "I guess it was my way of rebelling, you know? I think I just wanted something to represent me just a little. I know... It's stupid, right?"

"Malfoy, that is not stupid." Harry said. Malfoy, who had been staring at his hands, looked up very quickly looking slightly confused. Harry, feeling that he should say more, continued, "You've obviously never wanted to be a part of certain things in your life and you wanted and found a way to rebel. That's not stupid at all."

"But it's a useless and lame way to rebel." Malfoy said quietly.

"Maybe," Harry agreed, "but it was all you could do. You did what would still keep you and your mother safe. If you had of done something bigger or more obvious, then you would have been caught."

Malfoy looked at Harry for a while with a highly confused look on his face. Finally, Malfoy voiced his question aloud, 'Why are you being so nice to me Potter? I thought you hated me."

Harry had to stop to think about that for a moment. Why am I being so nice to him? I mean, I hate him... Right? Harry shook his head, trying to get all his thoughts out of his head so he could answer Malfoy.

"I do hate you. Well, no, I thought I did... I don't know, Malfoy... I guess I hated what I thought you stood for and because of everything I was told about you and because of your father and because of what you did and said to my friends. But now... Now I'm not so sure what I think. So right now, I'm just going to try and find out who the real Draco Malfoy is and make my decision from there."

Harry watched Malfoy who had many emotions flashing in his gray eyes. Confusion, surprise, more confusion and then Harry saw Malfoy give a small smile before saying very quietly, "Thank you."

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised and confused. "What for?"

"For trying to see the real me. No one's ever tried before."

"Oh." Harry said. He didn't know what else to say so they ended up in a bit of an awkward silence before Malfoy broke it.

"So Potter, why were you and the Weasel fighting?"

Draco's POV:

Draco watched as Potter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was trying to stop a headache. "Well," Potter began, "it seems that Ron doesn't trust you and thinks you are a spy for Voldemort."

"He doesn't believe you? Even after you told him everything that happened in the bathroom?" Draco asked, confused.

"Well... I didn't tell them everything." Potter said.

Draco didn't understand what the boy before him was saying. "What do you mean? What didn't you tell them?"

"Well," Potter began, "I didn't tell them about you crying or anything like that."

Draco was absolutely baffled. Draco had thought Potter would for sure have told his friends and would have had a good laugh at him too. So why didn't he tell them? Maybe, Draco thought, it's because Potter didn't want his friends to know that he had comforted me, that he had basically been hugging me. There's only one way to find out for sure though. "Why not?" Draco asked.

"Because it was personal." Potter said, as if it was completely obvious, "I wouldn't want people to know if I had done that. Hell, you didn't even want me to see that so why would you want my friends or the rest of the school to know too?"

Draco thought this through for a moment, again surprised at Potter's answer. So he didn't want to humiliate me? He wasn't just covering up for himself? He was actually thinking of me and trying to put himself in my shoes? Draco looked at Potter for a while, trying to figure him out. As he watched Potter, Draco remembered how the other boy had stormed out of the Great Hall and asked, "Potter, can I ask you a question?"

Draco saw Potter's mouth twitch into a small smile before Potter said, "I believe you just did Malfoy."

Draco himself smiled a little at this and said, "You know that's not what I meant!"

Potter full out smiled then and said, "Of course you can ask me a question Malfoy, that's what I came here for."

"Okay," Draco said, "well... Do you actually enjoy the fame? Because I used to think you did but looking back on everything now, you just seem highly uncomfortable with the attention."

Draco noticed how Potter looked really surprised at his observation. "No," Potter said, "I don't like my fame. In fact, I absolutely despise it."

"Why?" Draco asked, bewildered. "How could you possibly hate it?"

Potter sighed deeply before responding. "Look, I grew up believing I was a muggle and a freak. Then I'm suddenly told that I'm a wizard and that my parents didn't die in a car crash like I had been told, but were actually murdered by an evil wizard. Then I find out I'm famous by basically being swarmed by people… See, I'm not used to being fawned over or even talked to for that matter, so I was definitely uncomfortable. Hell, I still get uncomfortable."

Potter had stopped, but Draco could tell that there was more to the story then that. "There's more to it isn't there Potter? That can't be the reason you despise it. Dislike maybe, but despise?"

Potter sighed one more time but then blurted out, "I'm famous because my parents died and I survived, Malfoy! Every day I'm reminded of how my parents died and how there is a crazy, evil man trying to kill me too and how I'm somehow supposed to kill him!"

Draco could tell Potter was getting upset and he realized that this must be the first time that Potter's told anyone this. Before Draco could think through this however, Potter began talking again.

"And every time someone looks at me... God Malfoy... You have no clue... They expect me to kill him... They look at me as if I'm their only hope... But I'm just a kid Malfoy! I grew up thinking I was a muggle for goodness sakes! I don't know many spells! How am I to kill the most powerful wizard and most evil wizard ever, if I can hardly do any magic properly? I'm just a kid."

Draco thought about what the boy in front of him just said. Draco couldn't believe that Potter had revealed so much to him. Harry was raised believing he was a muggle? They lied to him about his parents deaths? He didn't even know he was famous? Now wonder he's always so overwhelmed! He's thrown into a whole new world where wizards exist and he's famous and an evil wizard everyone fears tried to kill him and killed his parents! And no wonder he hates being famous… I guess I never thought of the reason behind his fame and how that would make him feel. And damn, Potter carries the whole fucking world on his shoulders! How has he not broken down? How is it possible that someone could be that strong?

Draco and Potter sat in silence for a while. Each wrapped up in their own thoughts before something Potter had said made Draco ask, "So, Potter, you said that you were raised thinking you were a muggle... Why? How?"

Potter sighed then answered, "I was raised by my Mom's muggle sister, Petunia and her husband, Vernon. They had a son named Dudley. Long story short, they hated magic and pretended that it didn't exist."

"What was it like, living with them? Were they nice to you?" Draco asked, suddenly very curious.

Potter pinched the bridge of his nose again and groaned. Potter wouldn't look at Draco, preferring to look at his feet, when he answered, "I'd really rather not talk about it right now Malfoy, it's rather personal. Can I ask you a question instead?"

Draco wondered what could be more personal than his reasons for not liking his fame, but he kept those questions to himself and simply nodded, letting Potter ask his question, hoping it would be a simple one to answer. "So," the raven-haired boy started, "why do you have so many Care Of Magical Creatures books? I thought you hated the subject."

Draco smiled a little before saying, "Actually, I quite enjoy Care Of Magical Creatures. It's just that I have to pretend I don't because it's seen as a useless course to Voldemort and because Hagrid runs it and Voldemort and my Father both hate him. I guess you could say that those books and taking the course again was another small act of rebellion."

Potter smiled back at Draco and said, "You know, once your mother is safe, you won't have to pretend anymore. You'll be free to be whoever you want."

Draco's smile got even bigger and he could feel his eyes watering a little at the thought. How long have I just wanted to be myself? Draco asked himself. I can't believe I can finally drop my mask and just be me! Draco's thoughts were stopped when Harry spoke.

"Shit," he said, "it's really late and I should go get some sleep before classes tomorrow!" Draco watched as Potter got up and went to the front door to put his shoes on.

"You know Potter," Malfoy said, heading to the door to face the raven-haired boy, "you aren't half as bad as I thought."

Potter smiled before saying, "I guess we never truly knew or understood each other very well, huh Malfoy?"

"I guess not." Draco said, matching Potter's smile with one of his own.

The raven-haired boy opened the door and started to walk out with his invisibility cloak in hand when Draco stopped him. "Hey Potter," Draco asked, "Do you think we could talk some more sometime?"

Potter smiled again before saying, "Of course, Malfoy. We should probably wait until after your mother is here though. I don't want to risk anything.

Draco smiled then said, "Okay, I'll see you soon Potter."

Potter had already gotten under his invisibility cloak so his voice seemed to come from nowhere when he said, "See you soon Malfoy."

Draco shut the door and walked over to his wardrobe to get his night clothes before changing and heading to bed. He lay there a while thinking about everything Potter had revealed and how he had been so kind and understanding towards Draco. He had seen a whole new side to Potter today. One he wouldn't mind seeing again.