Chapter Six

Rumors danced wildly from mouth to mouth. Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts! A feast had been prepared to celebrate Halloween, and there was a chance the The Weird Sisters would make an appearance. Excitement for the evening filled the halls of Hogwart with a constant buzz. Promises of delicious food and magical music did not surpass the thrill of the return of Potter, the war hero, the one who defeated Voldemort for good.

Draco found himself more and more irritated with every passing hour. In one of their study sessions, he had made Hermione confirm the boy wonder's return. She had begrudgingly answered after almost an hour of pestering.

"Fine! Yes, if you must know, he and Ronald will be coming later tonight to join the celebrations." Malfoy's mood sank further at the mention of Weasley, but Hermione, oblivious to her blow, continued on. "Actually, all of the students who decided not to repeat this year have been invited back. It really is not that big of a deal. I'm certain some of your friends will be returning as well."

Unknowingly, she had dealt a second blow. None of the people who Draco had once called friend would be returning. Not many Slytherins had chosen to help fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. Silas, in fact, had been one of only a handful. Those who had left would not likely come back to the place of their cowardice. Draco's closer friends had fought in the war, but they would be in no position to join the celebration. They, to his limited knowledge, sat rotting in Azkaban.

This time, Hermione noticed the icy stare that Draco had forced towards the table. She bit her lip in embarrassment, knowing now the mistake she had made. Still, she had no clue what to say, how to remedy the hurt her words had caused. She decided to try to slide gracefully past them.

"The Weird Sisters will be playing as well. If you're interested."

"I'm not." Draco spat, still staring at the table. Shaking his head slightly, trying to force away his dark mood, he continued. "I mean, I probably won't be coming. Not really in the mood for a feast."

Hermione nodded in understanding. She tried to finish the session, but Draco was so distracted and snappy that she decided to quit early. Making excuses, she hurried out of the library towards Hagrid's hut. She wasn't supposed to meet Harry there until later, but she needed to walk. Leaving the castle, she began a very exaggerated, winding path to Hagrid's.

Passing one of the greenhouses, she noticed a girl haphazardly sprawled on the roof, seemingly studying a nearby tree. Hermione cried out in shock as the girl's foot slipped slightly, almost throwing her from the roof. The girl recovered, but searched for the source of the scream. Seeing Hermione, she smiled widely and waved.

"Leanne?" Hermione called out, "Merlin's Beard! What are you doing on the roof? That is incredibly dangerous!"

Leanne only laughed once before disappearing from sight. Hermione thought she had actually fallen until Leanne came through the nearby greenhouse door. She was covered in dust and dirt, but a wide smile put Hermione at ease.

"Hiya Hermione! How are you today? I'm sorry for causing a stir! I was just studying the top most branches of that Wiggentree. See, I'm trying to create an oil from the bark of the Wiggentree. I'm sure you already know the use of Wiggentree to protect from dark forces. During the war, my dad actually hollowed out this massive one on our property to create a sort of shelter. That project is what gave me the idea about carrying that protection around with you! I've actually succeeded in creating a perfume-like oil that works, though I'm hoping to find a way to prolong its effects. That's what I was doing up on the roof! See, I had this idea that the top branches may be more potent than the trunk because, of course, they would be in less contact with evil forces if there were any. I tried to climb the tree at first, but the branches were so close together that I wasn't able to get very far without damaging the tree."

Leanne smiled expectantly, apparently done with her monologue.

"That's very cool Leanne!" Hermione replied, trying her best to sound genuinely interested. "Erm- Are you coming to the feast tonight?" Leanne beamed wider.

"Of course I'm coming! I've never been one to miss out on a feast! Do you need any help? I'm not sure if you have anything you do for events as Head Girl, but if you do I would be happy to help!"

"That's very kind Leanne, but I think I'm all set. I really only had one job, and there's nothing more to do with it." Then, remembering her conversation with Draco, Hermione continued, "But, if you're up to the job, you could try to convince Malfoy to come. You're friends with him right?"

Leanne's eyes grew big, making her look a lot like a Barn owl. "He told you he's not coming?" She cried incredulously. Then her face became very determined. The sudden seriousness concerned Hermione a little, making her second guess her request. "He's coming. I will make sure of it."

And before Hermione could even call after her, she was gone. Hermione sighed in exasperation, before checking her watch and realizing she would be late to Hagrids. With another sigh, she rushed off.

*

It took Leanne about an hour of searching and scouring to finally weasel Malfoy out of his hiding place. He had been sitting glumly in the Quidditch stands, watching the Hufflepuffs practice. When she did finally find him, she created such a scene that Tamsin Applebee nearly fell off of her broom in fright.

"You're not going to the Halloween feast?!" Roared Leanne. Malfoy had never been so scared of her before. Her face showed no signs of intent to harm him, but she was so loud, and her arms so expressive, that he couldn't help but cower deeper into his seat. Leanne had immediately launched into a rant about showing off his change of heart to the school and how no one would learn to like him if he was constantly hiding from everyone.

Draco hardly heard her. His ears tinged pink as more and more Hufflepuffs stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle. Who would've thought. Death Eater Malfoy was being told-off by a Hufflepuff girl. However, their amusement did not last long. She turned on them waving her finger wildly.

"What are you looking at? Go back to practicing! Merlin's Beard, after our last game, you would think you wouldn't waste a moment on the pitch!" She finished off with her best McGonagall glare, hands planted firmly on her hips. The Hufflepuff players turned away embarrassed, and continued to half-heartedly practice, though they were still clearly listening to the altercation.

Finally, Leanne turned back to Draco, her glare melting into a look of concern. They both knew he would eventually tell her his reasoning, but still he hesitated. It was as if he was deciding to let her through the walls he had worked so hard to build. Instead, he stood up, grabbed her wrist, and led their descent down out of the stands. To her credit, Leanne followed silently behind, step after step, waiting patiently for Draco to tell her in his own time.

Finally, half-way back to the castle, he huffed and sneered at Leanne, who smiled softly in return.

"They'll be here tonight. The heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts. All of them." His face fell, "Well, not all of them." Leanne understood the double-meaning as she watched him nervously pull at a loose thread on his jacket. He had not often talked about the guilt he felt because of his part in the battle. The few times he had left Leanne nearly in tears.

For years, Malfoy had begun to rethink his allegiance, wondering if he really wanted to be Voldemort's puppet. In the end, he felt like he had no choice. His entire life had been, in one way or another, dedicated to the rise of the Dark Lord. Even if it hadn't, defying him would mean defying his blood, his house, and his friends. Who would he be without them?

Leanne remembered with sorrow how he had looked, recalling it all to them after a particularly bad nightmare that had woken him up at the Greene's. In that moment, he had only been a child, curled tightly into himself. His face had been wet from tears, sobs bursting every once in a while from him. After hours of crying and talking, he had finally gone back to sleep. But Leanne still remembered with pain how he had whimpered, even in his sleep.

Now she looked at the same boy with sadness. There were no tears this time, but he wore the same drained expression. She took his hand, squeezing it gently, and forced him to stand face-to-face with her.

"I knew you before the war, you know." Leanne said tenderly. He nodded, because in the beginning, she had recalled all the times he had bullied her. He had never even remembered her face. She nodded in response to his, but still continued.

"One day, after a particularly nasty event, I decided I wanted revenge." Draco looked up in surprise. He had never heard this story, nor could he believe that sweet, Hufflepuff Leanne could ever desire to harm anything. She wasn't looking at him now, but her hand still held his, squeezing slightly.

"I followed you into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom one day. I had this whole elaborate plan to lock you in and drown you in toilet water so you would be stuck with her for forever." A chuckle slipped through her lips. "But, when I peeked at you from behind the wall, I was stopped in my tracks. You were leaning against the sink, and you just looked so- tired. I had never seen you so open and vulnerable and, honestly, it phased me."

"I guess I wasn't as hidden as I thought, because you caught me. You whirled around so fast, but you still looked so exhausted, as if you couldn't even muster the energy to frown. At first, you didn't say anything. I had expected cruel words, or a sneer, or- something. But you just looked at me for the longest time. And then I left. You never said anything, but from that day on, I felt like I knew you a bit more. That was two years ago."

She turned from him then, her fiery head whipping around her with the wind. Her eyes were soft, and her skin glowed in the sun. Looking at the slight frown on her lips, Draco suddenly felt guilty about making her sad.

"You're not a bad person." Leanne finally said after a long pause. She still stared quietly at the sun, lowering slowly in the sky. "You've done horrible, unforgivable things. But so have I. So has everyone. That doesn't make you inherently bad." Then she finally looked at him again, smiling softly. "It means you're human."

Draco couldn't help it when he threw himself at Leanne, pulling her into his arms and hugging her for a long time. He felt her rubbing his shoulders soothingly. After a long time he let her go. His ears were pink and he couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Fine." He said, "I'll go."