A lot of things had changed in Harry's life since he had taken Lucius up on his offer of lessons, and most of the changes were positive. Since taking up his Lordship he had gained a sibling, the respect of several of his fellow Lords and an amazing boost in funding for the orphanage. He had found something that he was passionate about, who would have thought that history would be his thing, and now had a sense of direction for his life.
Of course not everything was perfect, his relationship with Ginny had crumbled to nothing, and his and Ron's friendship had probably run its course. Harry couldn't say that he was heartbroken at breaking up with Ginny, he was relieved, if he was totally honest he was more likely to miss Ron;s friendship than he would miss Ginny. Their relationship was something that he had felt compelled to be a part of, the Weasleys and the public expected them to get together so he had given them what they wanted.
Harry had watched Lucius over the years as one would keep tabs on those opposing them, and it was obvious to him that Lucius always seemed to get what he wanted. As the other man had taught Harry their traditions he had began to make Harry question what it was that he himself wanted out of his life. Ginny hadn't even really factored into his plans when he started to think of how he wanted his life to be.
Unconsciously Harry had started to try an emulate Lucius a bit over the months, trying to get exactly what he wanted out of life without making any excuses. It was working, he hoped it was at least, he certainly seemed to be getting more that he wanted out of life anyway. He was no longer afraid to put himself out there to get what he wanted. Before Lucius had gotten a hold of him Harry had been rather reluctant to ask for things worried that he was trading too much on the fame that he hated, but now he was aware of the power that he wielded in their world and he was no longer afraid to use it.
Take that evening for example, he would never have thought to try and invite himself to dinner with Lucius in the way he had done. Yes, the man had extended the invitation in the first place, but that had been to both he and Hermione and she had already made different arrangements for that invitation. Harry had been rather proud of himself for stepping out on his own like that in a social situation. He was well aware that he was not the most socially aware, and he didn't have many people that he would count as friends really. There were the Weasley's of course, or rather those who were still on speaking terms with him, and Hermione, Neville and Luna, it wasn't a huge crowd. He was hoping that he could add Lucius to that small number as he had certainly come to enjoy the other mans' company.
As they had sat down to dinner, a meal that Lucius had devised from one of his throwaway comments in the past about wanting to try Chinese food, Harry realised that maybe he wasn't the only one that thought that they could be friends. After raving about the wonderful food Harry then steered their conversation to their likes and dislikes trying to learn more about the man opposite him.
It was obvious to Harry that Lucius was much more worldly than he was with more varied interests and hobbies, but surely they would have something in common that they could begin to build a friendship on. As it turned out they were both avid quiddich fans, something that wasn't much of a shock to Harry, he had yet to meet a male in the wizarding world who wasn't enamoured with the sport in some way. From quiddich they moved on to Abraxan racing, a sport that Harry knew absolutely nothing about, sure he had seen the results of the races printed in the sports pages of the Daily Prophet but that was it really. Lucius seemed to be deeply involved with the sport and he had invited Harry to join him at one of the races if he felt like it. Intrigued Harry had agreed to accompany him to the next race that Lucius would be attending.
Harry was just about to launch into a conversation about whether it was comparable with the muggle horse races when the door burst open and Draco suddenly appeared in the room. Harry was rather shocked at his lack of decorum, although he seemed to recover himself quickly, apologising for the interruption and leaving to await his father in the study. Lucius himself looked shocked at Draco's actions, but it was clear to Harry that he also seemed concerned at his sons out of character behaviour.
Although Harry understood Lucius cutting their evening short he found that he was a bit disappointed, he was enjoying their time together with no lessons to learn or tests of his actions of behaviours. He was also a bit jealous, he had always wondered what it would be like to have a parent willing to drop whatever they were doing to come to his side if he needed it. Lucius had led him to the apparition point, apologising again for the interruption and promising to owl him the details of the abraxan race.
Wishing him a good evening and telling him he hoped that Draco was alright Harry apparated home and found that he had been one hundred percent genuine in his words. He hadn't thought much about his school mate since he had left Hogwarts, Draco had pretty much been out of sight out of mind, but he was his family through Narcissa and family was important. He could now see Draco's actions at Hogwarts in a different light having now been informed of the etiquette of the wizarding world and he found that he didn't really hold any enmity for his actions during the war.
Many people would have thought that his hatred for Draco would be everlasting, especially with Draco's multiple attempts on the life of his mentor, but Harry saw them for what they really were, desperate actions of a child trying to protect his family. He also now saw Dumbledore for what he had been, the man hadn't been some larger than life beacon for the light guiding Harry in his footsteps no matter what he would have liked the public to have believed. If anything the man was more like Harry's jailor, sentencing him to prison in the form of the Dursleys and his drill sergeant, putting him through his trials in order to train him for the eventual conflict with Voldemort.
Knowing that the Headmaster had expected him to die in the final conflict he hadn't been too surprised that the other man had never informed him of his titles or his role in the wizarding world as he never expected him to use them. It would have been more helpful if he had been informed of how things worked in the world though, and been trained in etiquette it would of meant he would have perhaps made less enemies through his own ineptitude. He supposed that he wouldn't have been as reliant on the Headmaster if that had been the case though. No he felt no ill will towards Draco for his part in the Headmaster's death, he didn't even really hold Snape culpable, if anything he felt sorry for the man being forced to kill Dumbledore on his own orders.
Harry retreated back to the library taking a tea tray that Winky provided with him. He could get in a few more hours of research before bed, it would give him something to do while he waited on Hermione returning home from Narcissa's. If a wander through the stacks of books led to him sitting in his chair reading a book on abraxans well it was only polite to be prepared if he was going to be going to a race with Lucius, he wouldn't want to embarrass the other man by being completely clueless at his side.