Curse Of Pain

Chapter 8

Harry's POV

"So Harry. How have classes been?" Neville asked me. I turned to look at him. We all have been enjoying each other's company for the last hour, when Neville brought up work.

"Fantastic. I absolutely love teaching and Teddy's getting to that age where he's asking all sort of questions about Hogwarts."

"Really? Is he excited to be going soon?" He asked me.

"As far as I can tell yes. He likes it when I tell him stories of all of our adventures back when we were in school."

"I bet he'll be just as much as a trouble maker as the rest of us were. Wouldn't you agree?" Ron looked at me.

"Well. Hopefully not too much trouble seeing as I can easily get yelled at by Minerva at any second she wants." I said. The group chuckled.

"Very true. I would run then, once Teddy starts."

"No. I couldn't be anywhere else."

"We're happy for you Harry." 'Mione said. "You've had it too rough your entire life time. You never seem to get a break, which reminds me. What made you so late today?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

My face flushed red.

"Blimey Harry! Do you have a girlfriend now or something?" Ron asked. Everyone eyed me.

"What? No! Uhm. No. I am in no relationship or even close to being in one." I replied.

"Then why were you late?" Luna asked as she stood to reach over the table for more sugar. She showed just how far along she was, expecting to have a baby girl in the next two months.

I took my cup of tea that sat on the table and drank from it, trying to calm my nerves.

"I uhm. I actually wanted to talk to you all about something."

They exchanged confused glances, before giving me their undivided attention.

"Come on Harry. You can tell us anything!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well. Hermione already knows, but I'm hoping the rest of you will keep an open mind about it." I said looking down at the table.

"Why? Is it something bad?" Ron asked.

"No. Just very unexpected." Hermione answered.

"Okay. Well spill it Harry!" Seamus shouted.

"Okay. Okay. Well, remember how I mentioned Teddy stayed behind with his friend?" Everyone nodded their heads. "Well, about a week ago. I met Scorpius' father. Turns out it's someone that most of us know" I stated.

"That's wonderful! Who is it? Someone from Hogwarts right?" Luna asked.

"Well yes, but-uh. Please keep in mind that he has changed. He's no longer the same person he was back at Hogwarts. The two of us are becoming really good friends." I stalled.

"Out with it Harry!" Hermione shouted.

"Alright. It's Draco Malfoy." The table went silent.

"As in....The Draco Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "Teddy and Scorpius became very good friends and he and I ended up spending a lot of time with each other. Believe it or not, but he's like an entirely different person now."

"That's not surprising." Luna stated. We all looked at her. "I mean, his father no longer is in control of his life now that he's in Azkaban."

"How is he different? No way that git could change so much after everything." Ron said, crossing his arms.

"Ronald!" Hermione slapped him on the back of the head lightly.

"What?! It's true! He was a git back then, can we all really say it all was because of his father?"

"Well. He's nicer." I answered Ron. I took a breath before continuing. "He's apologized a thousand times for what he's done. Not to mention his son Scorpius turned out to be so amazing. He loves his son and Scorpius loves him back. You can just tell. Even Teddy really likes Draco. He's made quite an impression on Teddy. He also would like to apologize to all of you as well. I was even tempted to bring him, but figured it would be wise to talk to you all about it first."

"Draco? Since when do you call him Draco?" Ron exclaimed.

"Honestly, Ron! We're not children anymore!" Hermione told him.

"I know that, but it's Malfoy! It's just hard to believe! He was such a bully to all of us in school and now he wants to saunter back into our lives." Ron yelled.

"Listen, it's not like that. He's different. Completely different. Would I be telling any of this if it weren't true?" I claimed. The table went silent as Ron mumbled something under his breath.

"Does he know?" George asked after a few moments of silence.

"Know what?" I was confused.

"About the curse?" George said simply.

"George!" Ginny and Hermione yelled.

"What? It was an honest question." He replied.

"No. He doesn't, but he caught me the other night. He's actually been helpful. He became a healer at St. Mungo's and after one of my episodes he helped heal a nasty cut on my arm." I replied honestly

"He didn't question you about it?" Ron asked.

"He did at first, but soon got the message that I didn't want to talk about it and he dropped it. The most amazing thing is, we seem to have a lot more in common than I thought we would, we've even been able to make each other laugh like we've been friends our whole lives. It's incredible." I said.

Everyone looks at me like I had gone crazy. "Well. Uhm. I never thought I'd see the day you would talk about Malfoy like that." Neville said. He put his finger on his chin as a sign of him thinking. "Do you like him, Harry?"

My face grew hot again. "No! I mean. We just started talking to one another again and everything. There's still so much we need to work through. Not to mention we both have kids that need to be taken care of and-"

"That doesn't answer my question, Harry." Neville persisted.

"Well. Ok-I mean. As a friend. Yes." I fiddled with my hands under the table.

Why am I so nervous? I don't understand at all.

Neville gave me a knowing look. "Listen Harry. If you say he's changed then maybe we should give him a second chance. Invite him for tea next Sunday and maybe we can get to know him like you do." Neville said.

The group seemed to agree. Except for Ron.

"I'm getting a bad feeling from this. After all this time?"

"It was a coincidence we ran into each other, Ron." I explained to him.

"I guess you're right. I'll be nice to the git. Only because he has your approval, but if he steps a foot out of line, I will hex him." He said.

I smiled up at Ron. "I can deal with that. Thanks you guys. This means a lot to me."

'Mione gave me a warm smile. "Of course Harry, but I do want to ask you one thing." I looked over at her. "Are you gonna tell him?"