Tainted Love

February 8th

IRIS

Tracey's Patronus, a great black mare, charged down the street in front of them, blue light shedding off of it every which way. It was overkill - everyone was at the Leaky, Iris hardly needed a Patronus to lead her there - but Tracey was prone to big, attention-grabbing gestures.

Especially on days she deemed special.

And Iris's birthday was one of those days.

The February air was freezing, and Tracey's Patronus was moving so fast that Iris's Heating Charm kept wearing off. People in the streets turned to watch Iris move, raising their eyebrows at her.

She wasn't sure whether they were looking because she was walking under a Patronus or whether they were looking because they had seen her picture in the Daily Prophet alongside a notorious former Death Eater.

Or whether they were looking because said notorious former Death Eater was walking beside her.

This was another facet of Tracey's birthday celebration - she invited Draco out for drinks with them. An olive branch. Iris was equal parts grateful and anxious. She had already lectured Draco about not being a dick - he held up his hands and agreed.

Sebastian and Tracey might not love Draco, but they wouldn't get aggressive with him. Theodore was the unpredictable factor in the equation.

Iris had seen him a couple of times since he tried to confront her about Draco. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't normal, either. And seeing her with Draco might set him off even more.

But Tracey was doing this for her, and Iris supposed that Draco would have to be around her friends at some point unless she wanted to separate her time between them for the next four months straight.

Tracey's Patronus fizzled when they reached the front of the Leaky and Iris let out a sigh of relief. She looked to Draco beside her, who raised his eyebrows.

"Don't go after Theodore," she said.

"I won't if he won't," he replied, which she took to mean that he would try his best.

She pushed the door open and the bell rang loudly. At once, she was bombarded by Tracey, who was wearing a pink blazer and not much under it. Iris hugged her back, smiling hard.

They broke apart and Tracey held her at arm's length, inspecting her outfit and giving a nod of approval. She turned to Draco and Iris tensed at once. But she nodded at him too, held out her hand for him to shake.

"Thanks for coming," she said.

He nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."

Iris thought that was probably sarcasm, but Tracey took it seriously and seemed to like it, so she let it slide. Taking one of Iris's hands, she started zigzagging through the crowd.

Iris saw Theodore and Sebastian before they saw her. Sebastian was attempting to balance a glass full of light blue fizzing liquid on top of his head. Surprisingly, he was somewhere close to success. She couldn't make out Theodore's face, but his posture looked relaxed enough.

"She's here!" Tracey called, and Sebastian turned at once, his hand expertly catching the glass before it could fall off her head and onto the floor.

"Iris," he said fondly, wrapping her up in a hug. "Happy birthday, love."

"Thanks," she said into his shoulder, not missing the look of warning he sent towards Theodore when they broke apart.

Sebastian shook Draco's hand too. It was tight but cordial. About as warm as Iris could expect from them. She turned her attention towards Theodore, who was fingering the rim of what looked to be blue firewhiskey.