Cheers, Potter.

A new life.

Draco's POV

It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, packing to leave Hogwarts. I was hyper-aware of the fact that this was it; I was leaving for good, and not just the school. I was leaving everything I'd ever known. I wouldn't be able to use magic any more, I wouldn't be able to live in the Manor, I wouldn't see Blaise and Pansy, or Connie and Cyrus anymore, I wouldn't have Harry.

It was terrifying and I didn't know what I should be feeling. I was scared because the muggle world was unknown to me, I was excited because I was finally going to be doing something for myself, I was happy that I wouldn't be known as the villain I was in the Wizarding world, but I was miserable that I had to give up everything I loved for it.

Blaise and Pansy had tried to be helpful, boxing up my things and stacking them near the door ready to be taken away. Connie was less helpful, unpacking as quickly as I could pack and trapping Stink Pellets in my suitcase when I wasn't looking so every time I opened it I was assaulted by increasingly nasty smells. Cyrus was drifting somewhere between the two, sometimes putting things into a box, sometimes hiding things in unusual places and wreaking general havoc. It depended on if Connie was looking or not.

Those two were like a Slytherin reincarnation of Ron and Hermione.

When there was nothing left to pack (despite Connie's best efforts) and I was set to leave, everything really began sinking in.

"Are you okay?" Cyrus asked quietly, deliberately not drawing the attention of the ranting Constance that Blaise was desperately trying to placate while Pansy looked on in amusement.

"Why do you ask?" I questioned.

"You look like you've just eaten all of the bad flavoured Bertie Beans and have been dared not to spew,"

"Thank you for that wonderful image,"

He gave a soft laugh, "You know what I mean,"

"I'm scared," I replied earnestly, "I have no idea what this'll be like, and I have to leave you guys, which is awful enough," I looked at my feet, embarrassed at my sincerity. He decided to make me feel better, not with words, he just hugged me, so tightly it made my heart feel like it was going to burst.

Barely three seconds later, Connie almost tackled me to the ground in a bear hug, I managed to stay upright because Blaise caught me, and put one arm around my shoulders and the other around Cyrus and Connie. Pansy remained stoic and distant but when she glanced in my direction I saw the glimmer of a tear in her eye.

I would not cry. I had promised myself.

It was my decision to leave, I couldn't cry.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice only slightly breaking.

I coughed and cleared my throat, "Right, now bugger off, I've got things to do."

The two younger of my friends ran off, probably off to cause terror and calamity. Blaise and Pansy remained by my side.

"Have you thought about what you might say to him?" She asked, less out of curiosity an more to remind me that I would, in fact, have to speak to him tonight.

My throat caught again, I'd been avoiding him; not just him, any thought of him, any reminder of him. I hadn't spoken to him, I could barely bring myself to look him in the eyes across the dinner hall, let alone talk to him.

"That's a no," Blaise inferred from my silence.

"What do I say?"

We stood in silence, none of us knowing the answer to my question...