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Wow...er, thanks for the reviews. Sorry I haven't updated in forever, I've been doing my A levels. The updates should be faster now.
Read, enjoy, review.
Harry Potter P.o.v.
It had been two weeks into the school year and Harry had seen nothing of Luna since the start of term feast. He had searched for her everyday between class's and nothing, not even a brief glimpse of her turning a corner. He would have thought she was only a dream, if it wasn't for the constant stream of gossip about her reaching his ever waiting ears. There were many rumours for her sudden change in temprement and style; Harry didn't believe any of them.
The black haired qudditch captain walked down the corridor absent mindly, realxing happily after escaping from his fan club. It was getting ridiculous, they wouldn't leave him alone, they followed him everywhere and even once and a while he caught one determined stalker trying to slip him a love potion.
"Harry!" he turned to see Neville running around the corner and out of breath. Harry immediantly jumped into action and crossed the remaining distance between them.
"Nevill? Whats wrong? What happened?" Harry said his words jumbling together without a break.
"Outside our common room, Its Hermione, her and ron..." Harry didn't wait for Neville to finish, once he heard the words 'Hermione' and 'Ron' his legs stampeded into action and sprinted off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room; Neville's gasps following close behind.
Harry ripped down the hallways like a madman and burst through secret passageways in an un-stoppable craze. As he got close to the common room he heard the loud noises of students and the high pitch scream of Hermione in complete rage. A huge madding crowd of people hung around outside the common room their eyes settled on three people standing precariously in the middle.
Students saw Harry coming and the mass of gryffindors, hufflepuffs, ravenclaws and slytherins, parted for him like the red sea. He made a bee line for an enraged Hermione who was pacing back in forth shouting loathing words at the ginger weasel. Ron Weasley.
Harry grabbed onto Hermione's arm and swung her around to face him; he ignored everyone else around him. "Mione?" he questioned seriously. She looked at him blindly for a moment before realising who he was and then pointed dramatically at Ronald.
"He" - she shouted accusingly - "decided that I should stop being such a, what was it Ronald?" - Hermione sneered at his name -" I should stop being such a little whore and come back to him and that he forgave me for DUMPING him!" she screamed loudly in frustration and returned to her pacing, Harry controlled his anger rather well if you asked him about it later...
The savior of the magical community, destroyer of Lord Voldermort and most powerful wizard anyone had seen in decades turned to face on little. Ronald. Weasley; who stepped back cowardly under Harry's intense gaze. Hermione watched entranced as her bestfriend and almost-brother walked menacingly towards the person she hated most in this world. He drew closer and closer, Harry's vision turning red seeing only his prey who had frozen still. Terrified to the spot, but still with that 'I'm better than you sneer' painted across his face. Harry would enjoying whiping it off as he raised his wand...
...Draco Malofy appeared infront of him, seemingly from knowhere.
"Move Malfoy" Harry growled, his teeth grinding together painfully.
"No." Draco replied calmly. Never averting his gaze from his long time enemy.
"I won't ask you again, Malfoy" Harry briefly flicked his eyes towards the blonde boy and then returned his icy stare on Ron; his wand still raised in attack.
"Potter, If you do this. Your only cementing his beliefs. Trust me, I would know..." Draco trailed off, his voice bordering on boredom but with an underlying edge of...care? Thats what slowly pulled Harry out of his red haze, the care almost imperceptible in Draco Malfoy's. Something he had never heard there before. He slowly dropped his wand, nodded towards Draco and turned to collect Hermione and get the hell out of there. He was finally feeling the stares of the surrounding students. Harry felt if he stayed there any longer he'd end up cursing them.
"ooooh, Potter? Running away? I knew you were a cowa-" Ron's voice cut off quickly into a loud cry of pain and the smash of his head banging off of the stone floor. Harry turned quickly to see a bloodied Ron lying un-consience on the floor and Draco Malfoy standing over him a blood stained hand hung ominously beside him, dripping crimson droplets onto the floor. As if in a trance Draco backed away from Ron and looked at his hand, studying it criticaly.
Harry approached him from behind, eyeing his enemy?... friend?... carefully. "Draco?" it was the first time Harry had ever said his name without lacing it with loathing first. "Draco?" he said a little more forcefully. "Come on Draco, lets get out of here."
Malfoy followed obediantly, Hermione joining them as Harry lead their way down to the Black Lake. Knowone said a word. Knowone even glanced at the other.
Not until they reached the pebbled waters edge of Hogwarts Lake. The water stretched out in a placid sheet of shimmering liquid before them, glinting in the soft sunlight. It was a peculiar feeling, making friends with an enemy.
"Thanks" Harry uttered glancing up at Draco who hung back slightly from Hermione and himself.
"Your Welcome...the weasle had it coming" Hermione giggled at Draco's statement nervously as they slowly eased the eight year tension between them.
"Your a good guy Draco" Harry said simply, kicking a pebble into the water, creating a ripple effect on its still canvas.
"I've not always been" he replied edging his way closer towards the lakes edge.
"But you are now"- Hermione added sincerely - "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you..." she trailed off helplessly, refusing to meet Draco's eyes.
"Its alright, you were right to judge me. I've been a prick." he laughed charmingly, this shocked Harry and Hermione becuase they had NEVER heard him laugh before...at least not without cruetly in his tone. It made them want to laugh too.
"Yeah, you have been a bit of a stuck of dick" Harry joked, causing Draco to raise his hand in mock horrow at his words.
"Yeah I was"- Draco's tone then turned dark -"I'm not going to say I never belived in what the Deateaters preached, the government is corrupt and I still don't particularly like muggles...but when I saw Aunt Bellatrix torturing you-"he looked directly at Hermione, sucking in a deep breath-"I was appalled and disgusted by myself and everything I stood for.-" Draco shrugged his shoulders and looked out across the water-"It might not be much, I just wanted you to know...you saved me" those three simple words did not forgive everything Draco had done.
But it was a start, a small one and the three didn't know where it would go.
Harry, Hermione and Draco spent a good few hours down by the lake. They each spoke about what had happened between then end of the war and the begining of School two weeks before. Hermione skimmed over the events of Ron's birthday not wanting to talk about that hateful boy and explained how she found her parents again; bringing them home. Harry ranted angrily about his parents will and Albus Dumbeldore's meddling in his life. Draco urged Harry to go public with the news of Dumbledore's betrayal. But Hermione just said it would casue more harm than good. Let the old bastard wrot in his tightly woven legend, they'll know the truth and thats what mattered.
What suprised Harry the most was what had Happened to Draco. Now that his Aunt Bellatrix was dead and his Father was in locked away in Azakaban for his crimes, Draco was the head of the Malfoy family and owner of all its large fortunes. Draco had sold the Malfoy Manor and moved into a new Manor house in the little county of Derbyshire. It was actually the true Malfoy ancestrial home, but no one had lived their for over several generations. His mother was living with him, but she had been in an catatonic state since the final battle. She wouldn't speak to anyone, she just sat stotic and un-moving while life passed her by.
"The new manor had two house elves living there when we moved back in. I offered them a wage and proper working hours but they refused. Pepin and Maddy are their names, they take care of my mother..."he didn't divulge anymore information on his new living situation and just mentioned his letter and deciding to come back to Hogwarts...a clean slate.
"Come on Draco, we have the prefects meeting in ten minutes...you coming Harry?" Hermione added when she noticed Harry wasn't moving.
"What? Er, no. I'm going to stay here for a bit longer"
"I'll see you later?" she gave him a quick hug, didn't wait for a reply and walked off in the direction of the school with Draco. I sight that was still a little wierd to see.
Harry watched the last shards of sunbeam trickle down behind the tree's on the oppposite side of the lake. The sky was painted in enchanting pink hues and deep golds until all was dark and the stars began to awake.
"That was nice of you. What you did for Draco" Harry started at the melodious voice that carried across the breeze to his ever waiting ear. He turned sharply to see a luminous figure melt out of the tree's behind him.
"Luna?" he questioned hesitantly, she was more beautiful then he remembered.
I felt evil. Until next time :P