Saturday, November 18, 2017
It was most definitely not OK.
Oh, it had been fine, until now. The walk had been pleasant enough, and Astoria had traded stories with him - about ridiculous clients and models and equally ridiculous students - and he'd discovered, to his surprise, that he'd actually enjoyed it. The house was indeed lovely, and he could find no fault with the workmanship or condition of the building or the furnishings. It resembled a gallery, more than a house, and his misgivings about this "muggle arts" class were put to rest. Between the five of them, the girls actually seemed to have a solid background in the arts, and Neville's idea no longer seemed quite so ridiculous. Even he could admit that his own Hogwarts education had been sorely lacking in instruction in the arts.
Even Astoria's new flatmates had impressed him.
No, the walk was fine, the house was fine, the girls were fine - he found them surprisingly pleasant company, and had thoroughly enjoyed making dinner with them. But this party - this was absolutely not fine.
Draco glared across the room at Astoria, chatting with Harry, the traitor. He hoped she wasn't telling him anything incriminating. He would prefer, of course, that she not tell him anything at all - but his preferences were clearly not going to be taken into account.
He shifted against the mantel, trying to find a spot that didn't have knobs that dug into his shoulder blades. He wasn't comfortable, particularly, but he certainly wasn't going to actually go and join the rest of the party. Harry - more animated than Draco had seen him since the duel, not that he'd seen much of him - seemed to be telling some story that had his audience captivated. Draco snorted. Then Astoria laughed, touching Harry's arm and somehow managing to draw a smile from him.
Draco growled and raised his teacup to his lips, sipping angrily. The hot liquid inside scalded his tongue, and he welcomed the distraction. Astoria glanced at him, and he quickly looked away, avoiding her gaze by turning and pretending to admire the series of photographs propped on the mantel. They were quite good, and with the infernal party no longer assaulting his eyes, he let himself sink into a contemplative half-trance as he studied them, reflecting on the pleasant - albeit strange- day.
Astoria was happier with Ginny. She was lighter, laughed more. She'd always been too cheerful and carefree to be shackled to him, his sullied reputation, and the hulking Manor. Draco hated their parents, sometimes, for doing that to her. She deserved more, and he was glad she was finally getting it. Even if it was with Ginny Potter nee Weasley.
Though, if he was honest, Ginny wasn't all that bad. He wondered how such a mischievous firecracker of a woman had survived nearly twenty years of marriage to gloomy, needy, damaged Harry Potter. Not that he was much better, but he was at least better at hiding it.
He found, as the afternoon wore on, that he genuinely liked Ginny. She was impossible not to like, really, and he could see why Astoria was so taken with her. They were the perfect match.
Draco resolved to have the locks changed on the Manor at the first opportunity, and stronger wards put up, lest they be tempted to leave him a house full of pranks and booby traps.
It was good to re-connect with Pansy - he'd missed her terribly, after the war, but hadn't wanted to saddle her with his gloomy presence or taint her burgeoning law practice with the Death Eater stigma that haunted him, and that she'd just barely escaped. Of course, Granger would most likely have been insurance enough against that.
Granger.
Of all of them, she was the one he'd been most hesitant about. But, either he'd sorely misjudged her, during their years at Hogwarts (entirely possible, given the company she'd kept), or else Pansy had effected an astonishing transformation.
Either way, Draco found that he liked this Granger. She was still brilliant, of course, but her keen intelligence was edged with a cutting sarcastic wit, dangerously cunning cleverness, and a truly wicked sense of humor. This Granger would have done well in Slytherin. Hell, this Granger would have ruled Slytherin. He had never been more grateful that she'd been placed in Gryffindor.
He'd thought Pansy had gone insane when she'd first told him she'd taken up with Granger. Now, he wondered if she'd got in over her head. But she seemed happy - happier than he'd ever known her to be, when still under her parents' shadow - and so he was content to let her work it out. But he made a mental note to never get on either of their bad sides.
And Luna -
Draco smiled inadvertently as she appeared, as if summoned by his thoughts to join him on the sidelines.
Luna was, well, Luna.
"Hullo, Draco!" she said cheerfully, bouncing over to lean against the mantle with him.
Draco snorted. "Are you quite sure you aren't a legilimens, Luna?"
"Well, no. I mean, I don't think I am, but I suppose I wouldn't rule out the possibility. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason." He couldn't suppress the smirk. "Only I thought of you and, well," he gestured with his cup, "here you are."
"Oh." She frowned, blowing an errant lock of hair out of her eyes. "That's not actually Legilimency, Draco."
"I know. I was just...making a joke? Or something. Clearly I shouldn't attempt it. What have you been up to?"
"You mean while you and Harry have been studiously ignoring each other?" Her silvery eyes were sharp, suddenly, and he shifted uncomfortably, knowing she wasn't far from the truth.
"I wasn't..." he started weakly, then gave it up as useless. It was Luna - she seemed to have a sixth sense about these things.
She studied him for a moment, eyes uncharacteristically hooded, then nodded, apparently coming to a decision. "Come with me," she said abruptly, hooking her arm through his and dragging him out of the room, "I have something to show you."
"Er, Luna, you do know I bat for the other team, don't you?"
She giggled, and the air between them lightened. "Oh, Draco. Not that." She tugged him through a door and into the library. It was his favorite room in their house, actually, lined with bookshelves - which, knowing Hermione and Pansy, and probably the others too, was probably a large part of why they'd chosen to rent this particular house - and furnished with overstuffed leather armchairs, cozy window seats, and a pair of perfectly-sized writing desks, situated to best take advantage of the light filtering in through the large windows. He could happily spend the rest of his life in this room, and he thought the girls probably could too. He resolved to spend as much of his free time there as possible, for as long as they kept the house.
Luna tugged him over to one of the chairs, depositing him into it rather as if he were a piece of furniture himself. He grinned at her "Oh, just shove me around, why don't you."
She rolled her eyes. "Stay there - I'll just grab it. I know you - you'll be off chasing ideas like rabbits, else. Honestly. I don't know how any of you ever got anything done in school."
Shrugging, because he didn't really know either, Draco let himself sink back into the chair, drinking in the steady peace and comfort this room offered. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, savoring the faint smells of leather and parchment, ink and binding glue. Soon enough, Luna dropped a book into his lap, perching on the arm of his chair.
He raised his eyebrow, glancing pointedly at all the empty chairs, but she ignored him.
"Here," she said, flipping through the book until she reached whatever she wanted to show him, apparently. He glanced down at the fingernail she was tapping against the page - dusted with pink glitter that was definitely familiar.
"I see Astoria attacked you with her nail polish?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes." She held her fingers up to the reading light, admiring the way the glitter sparkled. "I rather like it. Now, look." She tapped the book again.
Draco looked. "Romeo and Juliet?" he asked, puzzled. "I've read it. Shakespeare's a classic here too, you know, even though it wasn't taught at Hogwarts, Father 'spared no expense' on my education." He quirked his long, pale fingers into air quotes, a muggle habit he and Astoria had picked up from Scorpius and he'd never been able to drop. There was something so deliciously plebian about it; he imagined Father scowling down his aristocratic nose at such a gesture, and Mother rolling her expressive eyes.
Luna rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes; I wasn't disparaging your education, Draco. And, incidentally, this will be taught at Hogwarts, now."
He looked up at her, surprised. "This is what you're teaching in your muggle art class?"
She nodded. "Muggle Art Appreciation" - that's what we decided.
Draco raised one eyebrow. "Who came up with that?"
Luna grinned. "Tilly, actually. She has a lot of good ideas."
"And a lot of bad ones," Draco said, groaning. "That girl is a menace."
Luna giggled. "Well, she is Pansy's niece, you know."
Draco stared. "No!" It made perfect sense - and he could see it, now. The resemblance.
Luna nodded. "Pansy's little sister's girl. Pansy and Hermione used to babysit her a lot, and the girl looks up to them."
Draco collapsed back against the chair, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. "Merlin. I don't think I could come up with worse role models for a child like Tilly." He groaned. "And she's one of my son's best friends. Fabulous."
Luna patted his knee. "Don't worry - Al will keep Scorpius grounded. Who knows. maybe they'll be a good influence on the girl. Anyway. We've got rather off track."
"Oh, right. So, you're going to put on the play?"
"Yes. We were just going to have the one class, but when Neville brought us the sign-up list..."
She trailed off, and Draco looked up, wondering at her expression, caught halfway between delight and consternation. "What?"
She lowered her voice to a near-whisper, so he had to lean in to hear. "Everybody signed up."
"When you say everybody..."
"I mean everybody. Every single student in Hogwarts - well, with the exception of James and his cronies. Even a few professors."
"Wow. What are you going to do? Wait - aren't those sign-up sheets charmed to only allow a certain number of signatures?"
Luna nodded. "Someone came up with a very clever workaround."
"You don't mean - "
Luna snorted. "We don't know if she did it all herself, or if Scorpius and the others helped, but... it's clever enough we can't just take the first thirty or so names. No, I'm afraid we're stuck teaching them all."
"But how on earth - "
"We added enough sections for everyone. It works out, actually. Some people will be performing, obviously, and others will be directing, doing lighting, props, music, costumes... The only trouble is that there's only the five of us."
"And you want me to..."
"Well, mostly to help out here in the evenings, getting the logistics worked out. Astoria assured us that you would be best for that."
"But -"
She talked blithely over him. "It's not just you, of course - we've had to enlist the help of just about everyone in the castle. It's going to be so much fun!"
She clapped her hands, eyes shining, and Draco didn't have the heart to say no. He just knew, though, that he was going to regret it.