Change In A Star's Alignment
Chapter 15:
It had been a couple days since Harry and Draco had arrived at their dorm and Draco was finally starting to walk again. The blonde still needed his help though to get around the dorm, but Harry didn't really mind. He found that he quite enjoyed looking after the blonde… Well, most of the time…
He was finding that Draco was really fun to be around and that he was quite witty. He was also, however, finding out that the blonde can have a pretty big temper sometimes. Those were the times in which he didn't enjoy looking after Draco. Harry figured though that the blonde acted that way when he was feeling helpless. Luckily, Draco has been able to walk with little assistance lately so Harry didn't get yelled at as much as before.
Harry was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by Draco yelling his name. He shot up from the window seat and rushed into the living room where he had left Draco. He looked towards the desk where the blonde should have been, but saw the chair empty. Harry turned towards the bookshelves in a panic and, to his relief, saw Draco standing there with a book in hand. Wait a minute! Harry thought, Draco standing? Standing?
"Draco! You're standing!" Harry said.
Draco turned to look at him then, a huge smile on the blonde's face that made Harry's heart stop.
"I'm standing Harry! Without your help!" Draco said, clearly happy that he could finally walk for himself. Apparently Draco had been feeling more useless than Harry had thought.
"Try walking." Harry said, moving closer to the blonde in case he needed to help Draco keep his balance.
Harry kept his arm wrapped lightly around Draco's waist but didn't help him to walk. Draco took his first few steps hesitantly at first, but he soon gained confidence and started walking faster. After he was sure Draco was fine to walk on his own, Harry let go of the blonde's waist. He watched, a smile on his face, as the blonde walked across the room. When Draco turned around, Harry saw that the blonde was smiling and it made Harry's breath hitch. He found himself smiling even more and before he knew it, Draco had rushed from the other side of the room and into Harry's arms.
"Are you a little excited there Draco?" Harry asked, amused.
"Oh shut up." Draco replied while ending the hug. "You'd be happy too if you could finally walk again after several days!"
Once the blonde had stopped hugging him, Harry couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Wait! What? Why am I disappointed that he stopped hugging me? He wondered. When he couldn't come up with an answer, he decided to just forget about it for now.
Instead, he asked Draco, "So when do you want to start Defense training?"
"Is tomorrow alright with you? I want to get started as soon as possible!"
"Tomorrow works for me." Harry replied. "So what do you want to do today?"
"Hmm," Draco said, "I'm not too sure… How about we eat some lunch first and then I'll decide."
"Sounds good to me." Harry said, suddenly realizing that he was in fact, quite hungry.
The two sat down on the couch and called Dobby to get them some food. Dobby came back minutes later with a wide variety of food and even some desserts for afterwards. Both boys thanked the House Elf who bowed to them and left with a quiet pop. After he piled a plate with food, he turned to Draco.
"So how did you even figure out you could walk?" he asked.
"Oh. Well I was really into the research I was doing for Care of Magical Creatures when I realized that I needed another book to complete it. I guess I forgot about my injuries and I just started moving. It wasn't until after I had gotten the book that I realized I was standing and walking on my own."
"What were you researching that was so interesting?" Harry asked after swallowing his mouth-full of pizza.
Draco blushed a little which had Harry confused. He was about to ask why Draco was blushing when the blonde answered. "I was researching dragons for Care of Magical Creatures." The blonde said rather shyly.
"Really?" Harry asked, "I didn't really expect you to enjoy Care of Magical Creatures. I mean, you used to complain about it all the time…"
"Yeah I know… But I had to otherwise my father would have… Well, he wouldn't have liked it…"
Harry could tell that there was something Draco wasn't telling him about Lucius but he decided to ignore that for now.
"So you actually enjoyed it?"
"Yeah… I even like Hagrid… By the way, can we go visit him? I want to apologize for how I acted towards him."
"Of course." Harry said, smiling widely at the blonde. "Why don't we go after we finish eating?"
"I'd like that, thanks Harry." Draco said, matching Harry's smile.
"For what?" Harry asked confused.
"I dunno… For giving me a chance, for saving me, for helping me out, for believing me and understanding." The blonde said, blushing and not looking right at him.
"Anytime Draco." Harry replied.
~~~~~~~
Draco's POV:
After he and Harry finished eating, the two boys headed down the stairs to make their way to Hagrid's hut. As they entered the Common Room, Draco saw Granger studying or reading for fun (one could never truly tell the difference with her) and he stopped Harry from going any further.
"What Draco? Why'd we stop?" the raven-haired teen asked.
"I have more than one apology to make today." He replied.
Draco could see the confused look on Harry's face from the corner of his eye as he turned towards Granger. With each step he took, he became more and more nervous. Luckily for him, he didn't have too far to go. Finally, he reached Granger who looked up at him and gave him a surprised expression. That expression soon turned to confusion after the shock had worn off.
"Malfoy… What do you want?" Granger asked nicely.
"I wanted to apologize… For the way I've acted all those years… I know that a simple apology doesn't make up for what I've done, for what I've said… but I hope that one day, you can forgive me." He said, blushing madly and staring at his feet.
After a minute or so had passed and Granger still hadn't said anything. Draco looked towards her to see what her face looked like. She looked shocked but she also seemed to be contemplating something as well.
Finally, she said, "I could tell from the beginning of the year that something had changed in you but I never knew just how drastic that change was… Never in a million years did I think you would apologize to me. Yet here you are… But you've said and done a lot of hurtful things and we can't all be as quick to forgive as Harry over there," she said, pointing towards Harry, "but I will give you a chance, Malfoy."
"That's more than I deserve… Thank you Granger." He said, inclining his head to her.
"Come on Draco," Harry said, "let's go meet Hagrid."
Draco went over to Harry and together, the two made their way to go see Hagrid. They walked through the grounds in companionable silence. Draco was still contemplating what he was going to say to Hagrid when they reached the hut.
Once they reached the door, Harry turned to face him and asked, "Are you ready Draco?"
Draco nodded once to show he was ready, even though he was terribly nervous. Why am I so nervous? Draco wondered, I mean, it's just Hagrid right? But Draco knew it wasn't Hagrid that had him so nervous. No, Draco knew that he's nervous because of Harry. He really wants Harry to truly see that he's changed.
I just really want him to like me. Draco thought, surprising himself a little. Ever since Harry had helped him, Draco has gotten to know Harry better and he had to admit that he is actually enjoying having the raven-haired boy around. Draco had planned on apologizing to Hermione and Hagrid anyway, but now he's finding that he's doing it more for Harry than anyone else… The realization of this hit him hard and he froze.
Harry, apparently having noticed Draco stiffen, put his hand on Draco's shoulder and asked, "Hey, are you alright Draco?"
"Yeah, just a little nervous I guess." He lied swiftly, hoping he wasn't blushing and giving himself away.
"Don't worry about it Draco, it's only Hagrid… He'll wait and listen to what you have to say." Harry said encouragingly.
Draco liked whenever Harry got into his encouraging/protective mode so Draco pushed it a little further.
"But what if what I have to say isn't enough?" he asked.
At this, Harry fully turned towards him. Draco was looking at his feet and he startled a little when Harry gently took Draco's chin and turned him so he'd look directly at Harry.
"Hey, don't worry about it okay?" Harry said, unconsciously moving his thumb back and forth lightly along Draco's jaw, "You'll be fine. You did much worse things to myself and 'Mione, yet I've forgiven you and 'Mione is almost there. Besides, Hagrid's not one to hold a grudge."
Draco smiled a genuine smile at Harry's touch and words.
"Thank you." He said.
Now that Harry had stopped talking, Draco became acutely aware of the hand that was still holding his chin and the thumb that was still trailing up and down his jaw-line. Apparently Harry became aware of this as well, because he suddenly moved away and blushed furiously.
Draco mourned the loss, wishing that Harry, instead of moving away, had moved closer and then maybe… Woah, wait! Draco thought, I did not just wish for Harry bloody Potter to move closer and… no! I'm not even going to think about it! I don't want that to happen and I definitely do not miss the warmth of Harry's thumb along my jaw… Nope, definitely not!
Luckily for the two embarrassed boys, Hagrid came out of the Forbidden Forest at that moment and provided a welcomed distraction for both boys.
~~~~~~~
Harry's POV:
I can't believe I was doing that! Harry thought. He hadn't even realized that he had still been holding Draco's chin. Then, not only was he holding the blonde's chin, but he was also stroking the other boy's jaw with his thumb! What's more is that when he had stopped touching the blonde, he found himself actually missing the contact…
Harry didn't have time to truly think about it though because the next second, Hagrid was coming out of the Forbidden Forest with Fang close beside him.
Once Fang saw it was Harry, the dog came bounding towards him and knocked him to the ground.
"Eugh! Fang get off!" he said, laughing. Fang continued to relentlessly lick Harry's face until Hagrid called him off.
"Hi'ya Harry! What is Malfoy doin' 'ere with ye'?" Hagrid asked, sounding suspicious, "The two of ye' ain't fighten' again are ye'?"
"No Hagrid, we're not fighting. We came to see you." Harry replied.
"The both of ye' did 'eh?"
"Um… yeah. Can we go inside?" Harry asked.
"Oh, yea' sure."
Hagrid turned and opened the door, entering first and beckoning the two boys in. Harry started forwards but noticed Draco wasn't following him. He put his hand on the small of Draco's back and leaned in close, whispering into the blonde's ear, "You'll be fine Draco, I'm right here."
Draco looked at him and gave a small, nervous smile. Harry kept his hand on the other boy's back until they sat at Hagrid's table.
"By the way," Harry whispered into the blonde's ear, missing the shiver that went through Draco when he did, "don't eat any of the food. The tea is fine, just not the food."
Draco gave him a confused look then whispered in Harry's ear, "Why not?"
Harry felt a shiver go through him when he felt Draco's breath on the side of his face.
"He's a terrible cook, everything he makes is so hard it will break your teeth if you try to eat it." He replied.
"Thanks for the warning."
"So, what'er ye' here fer Malfoy?" Hagrid asked, handing both boys tea and putting a plate of scones on the table.
"Well… er…" Draco hesitated.
Harry could tell that this was pretty hard for the blonde and he wanted to help calm him a bit but he didn't know how to do that. Harry noticed Draco tapping his thumb on his leg under the table and on instinct, he grabbed Draco's hand. Beside him, the blonde stiffened in surprise but quickly calmed back down and squeezed Harry's hand to show his thanks before finishing what he had been trying to say.
"Well I wanted to apologize for the way I have treated you in the past years… I don't actually hate you or anything and I seriously enjoy your Care of Magical Creatures class. I'm sorry for how I've treated you and I'm even sorrier for insulting Buckbeak and letting my father have it executed… Buckbeak was a beautiful creature and I… I'm just so sorry."
"Draco!" Harry said quietly, "Buckbeak was never killed! I thought you knew that already."
"What? How?" Draco asked, confused.
"'Mione and I saved Buckbeak before he could be killed! He's alive and living in the Forbidden Forest now!"
"I… I had no clue… How did you-"
"Malfoy," Hagrid said, stopping Draco mid-sentence. "I know why ye' did the things ye' did. I also already knew tha' ye' liked Care o' Magical Creatures… So I accept yer apology."
"Thank you Hagrid! Wait… How did you know that I enjoy Care of Magical Creatures?" Draco asked.
"Yer essays an' projects said it all! Ye' always went above an' beyond with everythin' ye' did. I could tell it wasn' just fer the grade. Ye' were very passionate 'bout the creatures."
Harry looked towards Draco to find the blonde smiling widely at Hagrid.
"Hey Hagrid," Harry said, "why don't you show Draco some of your many creatures sometime?"
"Tha's a great idea Harry! How 'bout it Malfoy?"
"I'd love to, thank you," Draco replied.
After another hour or so of talking and pretending to eat scones, Harry and Draco finally got up to head back to the Castle. Both boys had forgotten that they hadn't stopped holding hands, so at first they didn't understand why Hagrid was giving them a confused look. Once they realized what Hagrid was looking at, they immediately let go and both boys blushed furiously and stuttered their goodbyes to a now highly amused Hagrid.
Half-way to the Castle, Harry found himself nearly thrown to the ground by Draco who now was squeezing the life out of him.
"Thank you Harry!" the blonde said into Harry's neck. "Thank you for helping me get through that and thanks for suggesting that Hagrid shows me the creatures! It really meant a lot to me."
Harry, getting over his shock quickly, put his arms around Draco's waist and pulled him in a little closer.
"Anytime Draco." He whispered quietly. They stood like that, just holding each other close for a few minutes before they were interrupted.
"Oh Draco! There you are! I-oh…" Narcissa said, stopping once she saw the two boys embracing. "I didn't mean to interrupt." She said with a smug look on her face.
After having heard Narcissa's voice, both boys had jumped apart and the both of them now had bright red faces. Harry was the first to speak.
"You weren't interrupting anything Narcissa, it's okay."
Harry looked at Draco and was confused at what he saw. It almost looked like the blonde didn't like that answer. What? Did he want me to say she had interrupted something? Harry wondered. Harry couldn't think of why that could upset the blonde, so he let it go for now.
"Oh really?" Narcissa said, obviously not convinced. She too was watching Draco.
"Really Mother." Draco finally replied, "You weren't interrupting anything."
"Mmmhhmm…" she said. "Anyways, I was looking for you to see if you wanted to join me for dinner? You can join us as well, Harry."
"Actually Narcissa," Harry replied, "I promised I'd have dinner with Hermione tonight since I haven't really seen her since Draco was in the hospital wing."
"Well next time then?" she asked.
"Yeah of course!"
"Well, I'll leave the two of you now! See you tonight Draco." She said.
"See you tonight Mother." Draco said as Narcissa left to go back up to the Castle.
"So what should we do now?" Harry asked.
"I dunno… I'm a little tired though from walking around so much so maybe-"
"A nap it is then!" Harry said, finishing Draco's thought for him. "Then you'll be rested up for dinner with your Mother."
The two boys smiled at each other and then continued walking back up to the Castle together, each missing the other's embrace but neither knowing what it meant.