The Joys of Being a Gryffindor || Harry Potter

SIX

It transpired that Draco had absolutely no social skills whatsoever.

He supposed it was only natural, given that he'd been friendless for the past few months, and all his previous friends had deserted him when he longer had his father's approval. He could tell that Weasley didn't know what to make of him, so he assumed that Harry was the driving force behind their friendship. Yet despite Harry's open attitude towards him, he found himself constantly making missteps in conservation or being completely out of the loop. He hoped that when Hermione returned, it wouldn't become even more awkward.

He also hoped that he wouldn't accidentally snap and yell at her for deserting him.

He became uncomfortably aware of his own character flaws when confronted with someone like Harry. For one, he could be irritable and snappish. He was also deeply concerned about being right, could be utterly vile when he wanted to and reacted disproportionately to anything he saw as a slight. He knew all of this to be true, had known it his whole life, but it had never been an issue until now. Before, such behaviour would be routine when with his Slytherin friends, whereas now he had to hold his tongue from snarky retorts or elitist comments, for fear of being ostracised once more. Now, with someone as self-righteous as Harry, he tried to quash those cruel parts of him so that they never arose.

It was difficult to do so when around someone as daft as Weasley. He regularly made stupid remarks, or insulted Draco's father, and every time Draco had to hold his tongue before he said something he'd regret. Sometimes he could hardly bear to be in the same room as Weasley sometimes when all he could see was the boy who'd helped isolate him at the start of the year.

He wondered if he'd ever feel comfortable around him. He didn't know if he wanted to.

Harry was far easier to be around, although Draco hadn't quite lost the feeling that he didn't quite fit in. He and Weasley seemed to have such a good, organic relationship, and Draco longed to have that. He wondered if he'd ever have that with anyone. He, Blaise and Pansy had been close, but he supposed that was all in the past now, what with him being in Gryffindor all that.

The three of them spent the remaining days of the holidays doing their homework - though that was mostly Draco and sometimes Harry, given that Weasley had the work ethic of a slug - and playing Wizarding Chess together. Despite the palpable awkwardness that arose from time to time, Draco still enjoyed having someone to sit with at mealtimes and to do his work with.

When Hermione finally returned to the castle, she seemed seemed entirely thrown by the sight of Draco sitting with her two best friends, and for one long moment, she stood there in shock, as if her brain couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. That had to be a first.

Draco cleared his throat, in an attempt to seem collected. "Hello." He said, rising to his feet and internally wincing at how robotic he sounded. "How... how are you?"

She blinked, and her eyes darted to Weasley's. He must have made some sort of signal because a moment later, she took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Hello, Draco. I... am good. How are you?"

"Good. I'm good, as well." He wanted to bang his head against a wall. "How was your Christmas? Did you get any good presents?"

She nodded, seeming relieved to talk about something she understood, as opposed to awkward greetings. "Yes, I got some new books and quills, which I was happy about. Uh - What about you? Did you get some good presents?"

Draco looked away, feeling bizarrely caught out. "Uh...no. Receive any presents, that is." He'd rather she knew that he received no presents lest she think he was ungrateful. Then again, he'd been ungrateful his entire life, so it wasn't as if it was untrue.