Sixty-four Steps (drarry)

Chapter 11

He sat down after getting his food and slowly ate. The food looked completely unappetizing, Draco could barely manage to swallow it.

"What's got you all down in the dumps?" Pansy said taking a seat next to him. Draco chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to remain calm. "Harry." Draco replied. "Thats it? Harry?" She looked at him.

"Yes that's it, Harry" Draco said as Dumbledore began speaking.

"As most of you have seen or heard, Harry Potter has been wounded deeply. I am telling you all this just to let you know, there is no threat. Do not be afraid of another attack. The person who did this to Harry had been taken care of accordingly" Dumbledore cleared his throat. The students were all staring up at the front of the hall attentively.

Draco was the only one who was not. He was picking at his food.

"We have someone who needs to be thanked for saving our chosen one, for saving all of us" Dumbledore said and smiled warmly. Draco felt his heart stop, he hoped he wouldn't be the one Dumbledore chose to give some long boring speech.

"Draco Malfoy" Dumbledore said. Draco's head shot up and he stared at Dumbledore. The whole hall turned their heads to look at Draco. Looks of confusion and admiration circling him. Draco felt his cheeks heat up. "Draco Malfoy was brave enough to save us all from the threat. To save us all from who hurt Mr. Potter" Dumbledore smiled.

"Draco would you like to come up here and say a few words?" Dumbledore looked down at Draco. Dumbledore winked at Draco, letting him know this was his chance to fix his errors. Draco looked around and gulped. He took a deep breath. Harry would want him to, Harry would encourage him to. Draco nodded and got up. He made his way to the front of the hall looking forwards and standing tall. Once he had arrived at the front Dumbledore moved away and gestured for Draco to step in his place at the podium.

Draco cleared his throat and got up in front of everyone. "I have an image, an image I put up of myself. An image that I'm evil, cold, and heartless. Most of you wouldn't believe me if I told you I was none of those things, but it's true. I'm not any of the things I've made myself out to be. I cannot blame any of you for hating me, I've made it very hard for anyone to like me." Draco took a deep breath.

"When I was made head boy, I first saw Harry in our dormitory and told him to stay out of my way" The whole hall gasped at the fact Draco had called him Harry. The people who lived off of drama were eating up every second of this speech. The proud Gryffindors and Slytherin were utterly disgusted. The fan girls/guys who had made up their own fantasies were thrilled. The closeted students were very excited that this hopefully meant Hogwarts would become a safer place with less judgment. The other students who really didn't care about anything continued to eat.

"I know, odd right? Saying his first name" Draco chuckled at their reactions. "Slowly I let my guard down, Harry had become a very important person in my life. Therefore when I saw him being taken I did what I had to. I gathered professors and took them to where I knew he was being held. While we were all there, the evil man had hurt Harry in such a deep way. Blood was everywhere..." Draco gulped. He didn't enjoy reliving that moment.

He realized he may be over sharing but by this point he didn't really care.

"That's why most of you saw blood in my clothes, it wasn't me. I didn't hurt Harry. I wouldn't hurt him. I did hurt the man who had taken him. If I hadn't he would've become a threat to us all...I know it won't be easy to just believe I've changed. I do hope someday, somehow you all will forgive me for my past ways." Draco smiled slightly and looked out at everyone staring back at him.

"Thank you." Draco stepped down from the podium. There was a slight moment of silence before the hall broke out in applause. Draco smiled sincerely and thought for a second, maybe things would get better.