"You're going to what?" Pansy spluttered.
"Shut your mouth," Draco hissed, "you heard me well enough."
"Damn right I did. How, may I ask, are you planning to pull that off without drawing attention to yourself?"
"I'm not. I'm actually expecting the attention."
"Of course you are."
Draco huffed, realising, only way to late, that telling Pansy this was absolutely the worst idea he could have possibly had. He would have been better off leaving her to observe with the rest of the student body. But he too just couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"Well, if you need the practise again..." Pansy waggled her eyebrows.
"Thanks Pans, but there's this slight issue where you're not a guy."
"You raging homosexual."
"Exactly. Look, it's not that I want the attention like that, I don't. I'd actually much prefer this part of the plan if I could do it without drawing attention to it, but it wouldn't work at all that way. Especially since," he pulled a crumpled letter out of his robes, "My dead father is coming to Hogwarts. He'll be on the staff table tomorrow evening."
"You're doing it then?"
"Apparently so."
"You're insane Draco."
"Don't I know it," he hummed distractedly, then suddenly stood, much to Pansy's confusion, and hurried towards the doors to the Great Hall, where students were entering in spatters. "Luna! Hey, Luna."
The whimsical blonde turned, offering a dreamy smile as Draco dug in his pockets.
"You wouldn't happen to have a copy of the Quibbler on you would you?" he held out a few coins to her, and she smiled just a little wider, pulling a copy from a thick pile she had stuffed in her bag.
"You don't have to pay me for it Draco Malfoy."
"I want to." he returned, taking the tabloid, and pressing the coins into her palm.
"I don't really care if people are still confused. You are different."
And with that she turned to enter the Great Hall, and Draco turned, smile on face, to go back over to sit beside Pansy on the staircase outside.
"You're joking. The Quibbler?"
"Ah-" he raised an eyebrow, "Supporting fellow students on one side. And on the other side, don't knock it til you try it. You'll find it doesn't deserve the whack it gets from people. And it's interesting."
"I'll take your word for it. Look, what are we even doing here right now? We could be eating."
Draco rolled his eyes cracking open the paper, and scanning the contents, leaving those about creatures for now, and looking mostly for the more serious things. The things that the Prophet had decided they weren't going to report on. He flicked through a couple of articles, but upon finding nothing of much interest, he closed it, and set it on his lap.
"We could be. But I need to talk to someone."
"Who?"
And just at that moment, the Gryffindor trio came round the corner, jabbering away about something or other. Or at least, Ron and Hermione were, Harry was strangely quiet.
"Hey, Weasley."
Ron turned with a momentary flash of anger, before obviously remembering himself.
"Draco," he greeted curtly.
"I just wanted to say, about anything I said before about my dad-"
"I already sent a letter to my dad." he interrupted sharply, clearly thinking Draco was trying to back away.
"Good. I just thought you'd be interested to know that my Father is going to be here tomorrow, in time for dinner at least. So if anybody was, y'know, wanting to search Malfoy Manor, tomorrow would be the best time for them to do it. And if that was the case, that I could probably convince my mother to go out for a while, she could use the change."
Ron's face softened again, and he almost sighed, giving a small smile that Draco almost thought was a trick his eyes were playing on him.
"Thanks," he smiled wider, "And good idea. About your mum."
Then, with a slight skip in his step, Draco noticed, Ron headed off into the Great Hall, Hermione at his heels, snickering under her breath. But once again, Harry stuck behind, and this time Draco leant back nonchalantly on the steps, radiating the same vibes as Pansy - confidence.
"What can I do for you Potter?"
"Nothing." he said quickly, going red, "Nothing, I-"
He went to hurry off, but Draco stopped him.
"Only I keep catching you staring at me, or staying behind after I've spoken to one of your friends. I'm not going to bite, or attack once their backs are turns. I had my fair share of time as a ferret."
Harry couldn't help but laugh at that one, but went redder when he remembered Draco was still there.
"Laugh it up. Really."
"Sorry," he mumbled, "I just... look, I just don't understand. Years of being a complete brat, and now? Now it's like your a completely different person, and I just can't get to grips with it. I'm not meaning to stare. Or embarrass you."
"Not every asshole is an irredeemable jerk. You should go catch up with those two."
Harry turned to go, but faltered and turned back momentarily.
"It's good that you're trying to change. I like you better like this."
Draco could feel the heat swelling in his face, even before Pansy pointed it out with a cackle. He just elbowed her away, trying to hide his face.
---
Draco made a point of being anywhere but the obvious places when he heard news that his father had arrived to Hogwarts the next day. He had sent an owl to his mother than morning, and gotten a rather swift reply, reassuring him that she would be out of the manor when the ministry officials arrived to search the premisis. After that it was just a case of waiting. But he didn't want to see his father. No doubt he would have some lecture prepared, and right now, it wouldn't matter in Lucius Malfoy's head if he had to wait until after dinner, because he was in the dark with everything regarding Draco's plans. He just had to make it until then. After that, it would be fine because whatever he had to say right now would be replaced in the light of what he would do. Besides, if all went well, Lucius wouldn't have much time after that before the ministry came for him. And Narcissa had already told Draco that she would happily expose what she knew should the ministry ask her about the dark artifacts they would no doubt find soon enough. Draco had smiled at that; he couldn't help it. He would stand by his mother.
But first he had to get through this day.
No doubt his father would be looking for him, and he really had been dreadfully underprepared for this whole thing. He'd been doodling most of the early afternoon, since after finishing what little homework he had left to complete, it was all he was really able to do. He wished he'd brought a book or something, but the library was too much of a common spot for students, that it would be just his look to show up there just as his father went looking for him there. The common room was absolutely out of the question of course, and it was a shame too, because he was sure he had all sorts of things in his trunk that would ease his boredom. He couldn't even meet Pansy anywhere, because should his father follow her, it was a direct path to him. It was honestly quite frustrating.
Salvation came to him in the unlikely form of Neville Longbottom, carrying with him numerous books, and looking quite ruffled.
"Draco? You weren't at the library."
"Shit," he cursed, reddening slightly, "I'm sorry, I totally forgot."
Neville looked confused for a second before coming over to sit beside him, and setting his books to the side.
"You've literally never forgotten this, it was your idea. What's wrong?"
"I meant to tell you, really I did. My father is here, and I'm just trying to avoid him until dinner is all."
"And... I suppose that's why you're sat right around the back of the castle?"
"Apparently so. How'd you find me anyway?"
"Pansy told me."
Draco groaned. He could only imagine how that interaction had gone. He wanted to have faith in Pansy - and in fact, actually should have done - but she was still struggling sometimes. The change had been more difficult for her, because she hadn't been itching to act as such for years, and was doing it purely for him.
"How did that go?"
Neville thought for a moment, and it only made Draco more nervous.
"It was strange actually. She grabbed me as I was heading back to my common room, looking really quite jumpy. Told me where you were really quietly, and just mentioned that you were probably really bored."
Draco sighed, "Well, thank Merlin for that."
"Even if she had been... unpleasant," he chose his words carefully, and Draco wished he wouldn't, "I know she's trying. That you both are. Change can be hard, especially if it's sudden."
"I appreciate you giving us the chance though. We- or more, I didn't really do much to deserve it."
"That's not true. You started changing without the expectancy that anybody would care. You changed for you, and when people began to catch on, it just made you more confident to try harder. But you did those first few steps completely alone. That's definitely worth a chance."
Draco gave a single soft laugh, and a mumbled 'thank you' unable to must much else in the relief that filled him. He felt so... accepted, and it didn't feel false. It was real, and it felt better than Draco ever could have imagined it to feel, and coming from someone who had every right to hate him anyway, it felt even better.
"If you don't mind me asking though... why are you avoiding your dad?"
Draco laughed a little louder, "Well, first off because he'd a bit of a dick. But mainly because I don't need him lecturing me before dinner, because I'm kind of going to give him something else to worry about."
"And what's that?"
Draco felt his cheeks warm up, but barely paused, telling the other boy his plan. It was quite simple really, and he trusted Neville to not tell anybody - they were comfortably at that point now.
"You- you're going to- you- what?"
"Is it too much?"
"No! No, no! I just mean... does he know?"
"Nope... I figure I'm safe so long as he doesn't slap me... right?"
"He won't slap you." Neville replied.
Something about the way Neville said it made Draco think he was missing out on something. And suddenly, Draco was even more nervous.
---
"Speaking as your friend," Pansy began, "You just need to get over yourself and go do it. Because if you don't, you'll chicken out, and miss your chance. And wouldn't that be a disaster?"
"Absolutely."
"Then do it."
"Okay. Okay, okay. But you should probably go in. Like now, and I'll follow in a minute."
Pansy didn't say anything, or move few a moments, and though Draco wasn't looking at her, he could tell she was looking at him. He could feel her eyes on him, scanning him for any sign that he might be preparing to split, and pretend he'd never come up with this plan in the first place. But if Pansy really thought nerves would stop him from this opportunity he'd presented himself with, then he could gurantee she had zoned out during his lovesick rambles.
"When you come in, I'm going to shut everbody up."
"No, Pans-"
But Pansy had already stalked off into the Great Hall, and Draco hated it, but it really did feel like a now or never moment now. He couldn't begin to guess how Pansy was expecting to shut everybody up, but he imagined it would be worse the longer he waited before going in. And so, with a well needed inhale of breath, shaky as it was, he made his way into the Hall.
As it turned out, Pansy's methods were not as traumatic as he had expected. The whole of the Slytherin table immediately fell silent, and without a quarter of the noise, many of the other tables quieted too, so there were still large amounts of people talking but it was quiet enough that those who had shut up were bigger in numbers, and had their attention trained solely on Draco. Draco, meanwhile, was looking up at the staff table, where he saw his father looking stone faced, and still, sat next to Snape, but also Ron's father who looked a mix between excited and impatient. Draco didn't have to guess too much to understand why he was here, but why they were still here was the apparent mystery. But right now, that was not his main issue, and the longer he stayed hovering by the entrance of the Great Hall, the more people were turning to look at him, and it wasn't the most pleasant feeling, having most of the eyes in the room trained on you, so with another forced breath, Draco put his plan into action.
He stalked forward, away from his own house's table, and instead walking down the length of the Gryffindor table, trying to ignore the gazes boring into him. He moved down the table until he reached where the trio sat, and turning anxiety into adrenaline, Draco didn't miss a beat, stopping right beside the boy who lived, gripping fistfuls of his robes, pulled him up high enough for Draco to engage him in a searing kiss.
What could only have been seconds seemed like hours, as it hit him full force just exactly what it was he was doing here. He was kissing Harry Potter. Well... actually, kissing might have been a little but of an understatement considering the emotion behind it. A kiss made Draco think of a quick connect of lips and that was it. Whatever this was... was so much more powerful. More powerful than he could comprehend, and he wasn't entirely sure he knew how he'd achieved it. But he had, and here he was kissing the Hell out of the Chosen One, in front of his friends. In front of his house. In front of his own house, and Pansy. In front of the Professors who had witnessed their rivalry since year one. In front of his father, who he could only imagine the look his face must have been displayed. He couldn't look. He didn't want to look. The seconds came back to him in a burst, and he realised the best part about all of this through a small whisper of a breath. Yes, indeed he was snogging Harry fucking Potter, of all people, and that was... amazing, really. But the best part?
Harry was kissing him back.