yule ball

ron weasley

Before Draco could think about Harry's expression, Harry had dragged him to sit with Ron and his date. Neither of them looked happy. Ron's arms were crossed and he was glaring at Hermione, who was laughing with Krum on the dance floor.

Draco sat down next to Ron, bracing himself. He fiddled with his robes as Ron tore his gaze from Hermione and stared at him.

"Look, I know you and Harry are best buds now," Ron spoke. "But I still don't trust you. Or like you at all."

Repressing his desire to snap at him, Draco mustered up all the self-control he could and shrugged. "That's fair," He finally met Ron's eyes.

"What?" Ron recoiled, looking shocked.

"Well, I haven't been the nicest to Harry or you, but I hope we can put that behind us."

"No." Ron said sharply. "You called Hermione a- a-" he lowered his voice, "mudblood. No one can call my friends things like that and expect to be welcomed with open arms."

Draco had, frankly, forgotten about that unfortunate incident. It made his stomach turn now, the way he had spat out the word like it meant nothing, like it hadn't been used as a vile slur against muggleborns for as long as he could remember. So he decided that the truth was the best thing to say. After all, it had worked with Harry.

"And I regret saying that." Draco looked at Ron, putting all his conviction into his words. "I had heard my father say it often, to whoever he didn't like. I suppose I thought it was okay for me to say it, but it wasn't. I've learned a lot from Harry-" He looked towards Harry, who was looking at his with a mixture of fear and pride. "And I hope to learn more from you."

Ron looked shellshocked. "I-" He stuttered out. "Just try not to ruin my night, you prick."

Draco nodded. "Sure. Want to get some punch, Harry?"

Harry nodded, and they both got up. As they were walking to the table, Draco caught Pansy's eye. She winked. Draco was reminded that going to the dance with Potter was a dare, and after this, he could go back to hating Potter as much as he wanted.

He was surprised to realize that he didn't want to. He wanted to be Harry's friend. The realization made Draco feel small, like he was a first year again.

"Want to go for a walk?" Draco asked Harry once they had reached the table. His stomach felt like it was doing flips, which confused him. The dance was practically over, and the hard part was behind him. Why was he still nervous?

"Okay," Harry nodded, and they stepped outside into the gardens.

They were beautiful tonight, with fairies floating around, lighting up the hedges, which had been sculpted into perfection. Draco was surprised that Hagrid, with his huge, clumsy hands, had been able to carve all the intricate details into the bushes. Then again, if there was anything that Draco had learned over the past week or so, it was that people weren't always as they appeared. Stone statues seemed to reach out to them, and a fountain bubbled in the middle to the cobblestone path they were now strolling down.

As Draco glanced at the couples sitting on benches, he found himself wishing that they were alone. Which was ridiculous, after all, what would they do alone that they couldn't do with other students around?

But as Draco looked at Harry, the boy looking around at the decorations with wonder, a crazy idea popped into his head.

Harry looked at him and they locked eyes for a second, and Draco couldn't believe he was actually thinking of kissing Harry Potter.