Match Me~ Drinny

Surfacing

Charlie put a hand on Draco's shoulder, holding an orange wrapped box. "Hey Draco."

It was strange to have a Weasley call him by his first name, as Charlie and Bill had taken to doing. Draco declined his head. "Weasley."

Charlie shook his head exasperatedly. "Don't you ever get confused? There are six Weasleys here, according to you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you called them by their first names, nor would it kill you."

Draco just smirked at him. "Well, Weasley number two, I will if they will."

Charlie sighed. "You'll never learn."

Everyone bustled around Ron, pushing presents in his face, clapping him on the back, the twins teasing him about his age. Draco slipped his arm away from Ginny, who didn't notice, and went out the back door.

The sky was dark and the stars glittered. The air was cool, brushing against his face.

A voice drifted from his right. "Too much for you, Malfoy?"

Draco turned to face a pair of startling green eyes. Even in the moonlight his scar was visible. "I could say the same to you." Draco replied.

"No, Ron's my best friend. It's just that –"

Draco looked at Harry, really looked at him. "The War."

Harry bowed his head slightly. "Yes."

"It's changed you."

"I try to hide it." Harry admitted.

Draco snorted, running a hand through his hair. "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life."

"You killed your father."

"It was partly because of Dumbledore and partly because of Severus."

Harry wasn't surprised to hear the potion's master's first name. "That day you tried to kill Dumbledore; it was the end, wasn't it? You discovered it wasn't all light and glory. You had to hide from those you thought you trusted."

"You know me a lot better than you think you do."

"I saw it, when I was duelling with Voldemort. It was like you appeared and killed your father, just like that. You didn't want the honour though."

"There's no honour in that."

"But without that –"

Draco shook his head. "He was my father, Potter. You know how bad it feels, to discover that he doesn't even give a damn about his son, that I was just another heir, another Lucius?" He spat the name.

"He's better off dead."

"That I wholly agree with."

They were silent for a minute. Then Draco spoke again. "Dumbledore was right."

"Right about what?"

"That I wasn't a killer."

"I was there."

Draco raised his eyebrows.

"I was under an invisibility cloak. My father's." He added, seeing Draco's astonished face.

"I froze that day. Couldn't do it. Even though all my life I was taught that Dumbledore was just a fool, a nobody, I couldn't do it." Draco felt different, so different from when he had told Ginny.

"You said that he'd kill your family?" He didn't need to elaborate on who 'he' was.

"Yeah, my mother. I thought then that I was saving my father too, but he sided with Voldemort when I ran way, the bastard." Draco's lip curled and his eyes were metallic.