Draco walked past the large archway leading into the great hall, ignoring the noise of the feast for their return. The shouting, the laughter, the simple ease of it all made his heart feel like it might split in two. He just wanted to be back in his dorm and sleep, hoping it would take the edge off the jaggedness caught inside him.

"Draco? Draco!" Pansy's voice made him slow, and then stop as she ran to catch up to him. She grabbed hold of his arm as she panted. "I saw- I saw you go by."

Pansy took a deep breath and studied his face, her lips pressing into a thin line. "...First, you need to eat," she tugged him back the way he had come.

Draco shook his head, "I'm not going in there."

"Fine," Pansy said, veering down the side hall to the kitchens, "You like the kitchens. You spent nearly every meal there last year."

"I don't think I can eat," Draco said though he didn't fight her. He did like the kitchens, they had felt safe during seventh year.

Pansy tickled the pear on the kitchen's painting and pulled Draco inside once it swung open. The elves were quick to move out of Pansy's way, silent and scattering to the back of the room.

Draco scanned the room and spotted quite a few elves he knew. They relaxed when they recognised him and began speaking in quiet whispers. A house elf broke off from the rest coming over to them.

"Could we get... something light and easy to eat-" Pansy told the approaching elf.

"Pansy-"

"-and a ginger beer? Do you have that?"

By the time Pansy had sat on one of the short stools on an empty work table an elf, Lulu, appeared with a plate of sandwiches, and a brown bottle of ginger beer for Draco.

"Does Miss Parkinson be wanting ginger beer as well?" Lulu asked in her quiet voice.

Pansy shook her head, "Just juice or something."

Draco slowly sat beside her.

Lulu plucked at Draco's sleeve, "Can Lulu talk to Mister Draco?"

Draco hesitated and then shook his head, "Not today, Lulu."

Lulu quickly nodded and said meaningfully, "Huddle Rowna wants to talk to Mister Draco. Come back to talk? Soon?"

"I will," Draco promised.

Lulu dipped her head and ran back to the cooler to get Pansy something to drink.

Draco picked up his ginger beer, holding the bottle with both hands, enjoying the coolness against his skin.

"Don't just play with it, drink it," Pansy ordered.

Draco took a sip. He didn't dislike ginger beer, but it was hard to like something he only ever had when he was nauseous

"Once you've done that, eat a few bites." Pansy held up her hand before he could protest, "You don't feel like eating, but you're not ill, you can manage a few bites. Do it for your mother."

Draco glared at her, "Don't bring my mother into it."

"I won't, if you eat," Pansy said, "Otherwise I'm writing her letter."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

Draco held the glare for a few seconds then picked up a sandwich, taking a small petulant bite.

Pansy ate a sandwich as well, staring him down and matching him bite for bite, in the process managing to trick him into eating half before he set it back on the plate, unable to take another bite. Draco plucked a bit of lettuce off the plate and threw it at Pansy's face. It got caught in her hair.

"Rude," Pansy said, combing her fingers through until she found the offending bit of green.

"You'll live," Draco said, turning his half-empty bottle in his hands, watching how the light caught and ambered the dark glass.

Pansy shook the lettuce off her hand, "Now that business is done tell me what happened."

"An argument," Draco said quietly.

"I could have guessed that," Pansy said, almost not rolling her eyes, "What was it about?"

Draco took a deep breath and reluctantly retold what had happened on the train. He propped his elbows on the table, feeling more and more guilty as he went on, "...it was just an argument, wasn't it?"

"Yes, and it's amazing it took so long. I'm sure being separated for christmas helped," Pansy said.

"Did I overreact?" Draco said.

"No."

"Did I overstep?"

"No," Pansy sighed.

"Should I apologise-"

"No. Draco," Pansy said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it as hard as she could manage.

Draco looked down at his hand and the little shadow of a string tied around his finger, "Can I even apologise? The promise I made was really fucking vague wasn't it?"

"You don't need to apologise. What you said was true wasn't it?" Pansy said.

"Can you take it off?"

"I- Maybe?" Pansy said reluctantly, "I could try, if that's what you really want."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Draco asked, his voice cracking.

"Wait," Pansy said.

"But-"

"I think you should," Pansy said, "Would you like some advice or would you like to panic? I promise you can still panic after I'm done."

"Because you've been in so many relationships," Draco said.

Pansy turned her head away, "I may have never dated, or have any interest in dating but that doesn't mean I'm blind. I've seen relationships and read about them and talked about them. Women are practically defined by their relationships, who they date, who they marry, the children they have, the grandchildren they have, it's stifling." She huffed, "So I've ended up learning quite a lot, whether I cared or not. Now if you're done being cruel-?"

Draco grimaced, "I'm sorry. I'm just-"

"Lashing out. You are ever so good at that."

Draco nodded guiltily.

Pansy looked down at her hands, "...You came to him first, and when he ran away you followed him, and when he asked you to wait you did, and when he came to your home you let him in. You've done nearly all the work in this relationship, and all you asked was if he liked you and he couldn't even give you that."

Draco squeezed his eyes shut, rapidly blinking back tears.

Pansy took a deep breath, looking up at Draco, "If he really cares about you, let him come to you."

"But what if he doesn't?" Draco asked.

"Oh come on," Pansy said, "Do you really think he doesn't fancy you?"

Draco shook his head.

"I think he does as well. Seeing as the only moves the idiot has managed was kissing you and showing up new years eve, all fantastically romantic and dramatic. It's no wonder you've put up with him as long as you have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco said.

Pansy gave him a look that seemed to say sap and continued without answering, "I've done some asking around, well most to Jenna and Melanie, Hufflepuffs are such gossips, you'd never know by looking at them, anyway, Potter's relationship experience is practically zero. I believe Ginny Weasley did most of the work in their relationship as well."

Draco bit his lip, remembering Potter's home and his, well, lack of family. Draco's parents had a lot of problems, but their relationship was not one of them, they had loved each other dearly and showed it. Harry didn't have that.

Pansy sighed and shook her head, "What it comes down to is, Potter doesn't know how to be in a relationship but you babying him isn't going to help. He needs to figure this out because it isn't going to fucking work with you doing all the emotional heavy work is it?"

Draco grimaced but agreed, "Yes... it just... it hurts, Pans."

Pansy stood up and pulled his head against her shoulder, hugging him around the neck, "You'll make it through this. You'll see. And I'll help as much as I can."

Draco hugged her back, "Thank you. I couldn't have managed it without you."

_______

Draco stopped in the shadow of the wall, straightening his robes for the thousandth time that morning and took a steadying breath before stepping into the great hall. He felt the change in the air immediately, after four months of being so thoroughly ignored he might as well have not existed, he could feel the eyes and whispers of other students on him like a lead blanket across his back.

Pansy was sitting at the end of the table with her back to the wall, closest to the head table, and waved him over when she spotted him. Draco was grateful for the strategic seating location although it made the empty seats between them and the rest of Slytherin house crowded at the other end far more apparent.

"Here," Pansy pushed the paper into his hand before Draco had even managed to sit down.

Draco dropped heavily onto the bench, "Front page?"

"The whole thing."

"How bad is it?" Draco asked.

"Bad," Pansy said flatly.

Draco unfolded the paper. There was a large photo of Harry and him walking through the muggle part of the station. Draco's expression throughout the picture was- Draco knew it was worry, but it was a grimace that could be read as a scowl that could be seen as sinister or angry, then again his smiles were often called sinister, and his neutral expressions.

The Harry in the photo was smiling and looking at Draco the whole time, even bumping into someone because he wasn't watching where he was going, and it made Draco's heart ache to look at it.

Draco had to drag his eyes away from the photo, already tensed for the rest of the article. The headline read, Former Deatheater Grows Closer to Hero Harry Potter, which wasn't a terrible headline on its own but Ms Dour was good at weaving truth with rumour and hearsay without technically stepping into slander. Draco wished she would, then he could sue her.

There was a smaller column on the left side of the front page headed by a picture of him from his trial, looking too pale and thin even for him, with deep shadows under his eyes as he stood before the wizengamot. Draco skimmed it when he realised it was just a rehash of his trail and participation in the war.

Another small column on the right, a mirror to the expose on him, was of Harry. The picture of Harry was from a memorial speech after the war, him and everyone around him dressed in mourning black, pain and grief etched into their expressions. And just like his, Harry's column was about what he did in the war with a heavy emphasis on his struggles and loss.

Both were true but viciously inflammatory, they might as well have been labelled 'good and right' and 'evil and wrong'. Draco swallowed hard and started on the main story running down the centre.

Beloved Hero of the war Harry Potter was seen in the company of Draco Malfoy heading to the train station for the return trip of Hogwarts. Rumours have run Rampant since the Prophet first ran its article the unlikely pair of wizards-

"Rumors you started," Draco muttered.

-Interviews conducted with several Anonymous sources say Potter and Malfoy's relationship throughout their first six years of school was Mainly Antagonistic. The two were often seen Arguing and occasionally Fighting magically as well as Physically. These sources also agree that Malfoy was the Source of most of the verbal Hostility and was often seen to antagonise not only Potter but many other students. Malfoy was described as a Bully by several sources and Viscous by another.

Pansy leaned close, reading over his shoulder, "Where are you?"

Draco jabbed the paper.

"Ah," Pansy said, "The vicious part was a bit much, you're too squeamish to be vicious."

-In their sixth year, the two were put at further odds by their Allegiances in the war. It is well known that Malfoy the younger took the Dark Mark by that time and would eventually betray Hogwarts and lead to the death of beloved Hero and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

Despite all this, Potter and Malfoy have been frequently seen in one another's Company during their final school year. Sources say the two sit together in classes, pair up in potions, study together in the library and occasionally eat at the same table during meals. Their Relationship seems to have taken a complete 180 without any Indication of where this friendship could have ever have stemmed from.

It did not escape this reporter's notice that Harry Potter's presence at the train station was quite Unusual. All students returning for their seventh year to complete their NEWTs are allowed to floo or apparate to the school. The only student Unable to do this is Malfoy, who had his apparition licence Revoked and has no floo access at his home while his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, serves her commuted Sentence of three years house arrest. By all appearances, Potter took the train Solely to accompany Malfoy back to school.

"She just had to bring my mother into it," Draco muttered.

"Of course she did," Pansy said.

-To get to the bottom of this most perplexing Mystery, this reporter attempted to interview Mr Potter at the station.His very first statement was in defence of Draco Malfoy. He said that the paper's previous story on the two of them was Unfounded and stated Malfoy was not a Death Eater, despite the clear Evidence that he was among their ranks and even referenced Malfoy taking the mark Himself.

Draco muffled a groan of frustration.

"Did Potter really say you weren't a death eater?" Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In reference to my being a death eater now," Draco shook his head, "but... it was only implied by the context so-"

"So Dour spun it to make Potter sound deluded."

Draco nodded.

-Potter was visibly Agitated as I established his and Malfoy's history. Upon asking why he was now spending time with Malfoy, Potter' hesitation was quite Marked before he said that they were friends. Raising Legitimate concerns about Draco Malfoy's past and being the son of notorious Blood Supremacist and Death Eater Lucius Malfoy resulted in an even more heated defence of the younger Malfoy without any consideration for such Reasonable concerns.

"She made him angry," Pansy said.

"Very."

Pansy shook her head, "Doesn't he know anything about how the Prophet works?"

"No. But it's not as if Dour plays by any of the old rules anyway," Draco said.

-Malfoy was Silent throughout the interview with Harry Potter. When specifically asked for a statement Malfoy's reply was stiffly formal and reminded this reporter quite Starkly of another Malfoy sent to Azkaban not long ago: 'Harry has been very kind to accept me after our fraught history. We've worked very hard to understand and forgive one another after everything that happened in our past.' and a fraught history it was, yet they seem to stand as friends now...

Draco folded newspaper up and tossed it back to Pansy.

"There was more," Pansy said.

Draco put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples, "Let me guess, Dour's sources talking about how they never saw us together, and how I haven't changed, and how I'm ever so good at potions or dark magic, and basically doing everything but directly saying I've used magic to control their precious Harry Potter."

"Yeah, pretty much," Pansy said, "What are you going to do?"

"Avoid him in public until this nonsense dies down and hope that it actually does die down," Draco said.

Pansy slid the newspaper into her bag, "What about the paper?"

"Merlin, fuck them all."

Pansy smirked faintly, "I mean could you bribe someone? Your father used to."

"I think that story would be more valuable to the paper than any amount of money I could offer," Draco said.

"Hmmm," Pansy tapped her chin, "You could buy them? Maybe?"

"Buy the Prophet?"

"You're rich," Pansy said.

Draco stared at her.

"Well, you are," she said stubbornly.

"It would take far too long. Do you know how much paperwork is involved with that sort of thing?"

"Do you?" Pansy asked with a knowing grin.

"Well no," Draco sniffed, "but I'm certain it's quite a lot."

Across the hall voices were rising in an argument, an argument that stopped abruptly when Harry stood up from his table and stormed his way over to the Slytherin table, dropping into the seat across from Draco with a scowl.

"Go away," Draco hissed.

"No," Harry said.

"You're going to make everything worse," Pansy whispered an undercurrent of urgency in her voice.

"I'm going to sit with you and go to class with you and be your friend until everyone gets over themselves," Harry said. Stupid and stubborn as always.

"They're not just going to get over themselves," Draco said.

"I'm not going to avoid you just because of the stupid fucking paper," Harry said, "It's not going to stop them and-"

Draco said, "It will stop them because they won't have anything to write a-"

"-AND I'm done with people telling me how to live my life!" Harry snapped.

The room was far too quiet, and Draco was intensely aware of how many people were listening in, how many potential informants could be listening in.

"This isn't about just your life," Pansy said quietly.

"If you ignore them they just make up whatever they want, they don't stop," Harry said, "It's not exactly my first time dealing with these arseholes."

Harry went to grab a tray of sausages, Draco pulled it out of reach.

"You weren't on the wrong side of the war," Draco said under his breath.

"Oh yes, the Prophet calling me deranged and dangerous was great fun," Harry said with a glare.

Harry reached for the tea, Pansy quickly grabbed the pot and moved it away.

"Not the same," Draco said, "Just go."

Harry stared at him. His hand darted out to the tray of toast, but Draco had been waiting for him to try, grabbing the edge and pulling- as Harry pulled the other side and sent toast skittering across the table. The tray slipped out of Harry's hand, knocking a jug of pumpkin juice over and sent them both bolting up from the table to avoid being soaked.

The tray fell out of Draco's hand when the first stinging hex hit, another hit his thigh, he stumbled, banging into the edge of the table as pain shot through his side. An incomplete incarcerous tangled Draco's legs in thin cord before he could catch himself and he fell-

Harry caught him, cushioning him from the floor with his own body as he shouted, "Protego!" a shield forming over their heads, two more spells flew past where Draco had been standing, another ricocheted off the shield up into the rafters.

"SILENCIO!" McGonagall's voice boomed over them, "WANDS DOWN! NOW!" Boots thundering around the head table and down the risers. She dispelled the silencio with a furious flick of her wand, "No one is to move! Stay where you are!"

Pumpkin juice dripped onto the stone floor.

"Let go of me," Draco pushed Harry's arm away.

"Draco-! Are you hurt?" Harry asked, breathing hard, trying to pull Draco back, to keep him close.

Draco kicked off the ropes around his legs, stumbling to his feet, "If I am, it's your fault."

"How was that my fault?" Harry asked quickly pushing himself up.

Draco shook his head, backing closer to the wall and wanting to draw his wand, even though he knew it would be more dangerous if he did. He despised feeling powerless.

McGonagall walked over stopping beside Harry, "Are you alright, Mr Malfoy?"

"Stinging hexes, an incarcerous, otherwise I'm-" Draco winced as pain lanced through his side. He pressed his hand over his hip, his fingers came back smeared with blood, and he felt a breathless moment of panic.

Harry sucked in a startled breath and went positively ashen.

"Is it deep?" McGonagall asked.

Draco pushed his robes out of the way, his panic fading. The cut had skimmed his side, long but shallow. "It's not deep," he said, roughly wiping his hand off on his trousers.

"Luckily," McGonagall said. She aimed her wand at his side- "Vulnera medicari," -healing the cut easily, leaving behind only Draco's ruined uniform.

Harry stepped closer, reaching out to him, "Draco-"

The bench behind them fell over as Pansy crawled out from under the table. Tears streaked down her face as she ran to Draco, wrapping her arms around him with a muffled, "I'm sorry-"

Draco could feel her trembling and hugged her back tightly, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Pansy roughly wiped her eyes, smearing her mascara, "I always thought if we hadn't been locked in the dungeons during the battle that I would've fought. I thought-" she roughly wiped her face again, her voice shaking, "But I was so scared."

Draco squeezed Pansy even tighter, "That's alright-"

"I should've helped. I should've-"

"There's no-" Draco stumbled over his words, feeling inexplicitly swallowed by despair "-no one should have to learn to fight like that. No soldier is ever made without a cost."

Draco smoothed Pansy's hair looking around the room. Pansy wasn't the only one to have hidden, many other students had ducked under and behind the tables. Some had run for the doors, and to the dark edges of the room, quite a few students were crying, a ravenclaw boy was gasping through a panic attack. A slytherin girl was pale as paint, still frozen from fear.

McGonagall stood at the front of the room as still and unmoved as a stone in a turbulent current, "All students will have their wands examined by a teacher before leaving the hall. Any minor jinxes or hexes cast in the last hour will lose ten points to their house and receive one evening detention," she said, her tone somehow comforting in its stern detachment. "More dangerous spells will be dealt with accordingly."

McGonagall looked back at the head table, the professors already moving towards the doors with nods to the Headmistress though they said nothing, all looked grim.

"The war is over. I can understand that it may not always seem so, but I won't have fighting, bullying, revenge or cruelty in Hogwarts, especially over baseless rumours and nonsense.

"I would not have invited Draco Malfoy back to finish his schooling if I had even a single doubt about his character or intentions. Both when he started classes and now," McGonagall said. She took a deep breath and let it out in a great heaving sigh, "All morning classes are cancelled for the day. Visit Madam Pomfrey if you require a calming draught or a dreamless sleep."

McGonagall waited until the students began moving again, some to the doors where the teachers waited, others to finish their interrupted breakfast, to beckon them, "Potter, Malfoy come with me." She turned on her heel and marched into an empty side room.

Draco looked across the room and gently turned Pansy around, "Go to Jenna and Melanie."

"Will you be alright?" Pansy asked, wavering on the balls of her feet.

Draco nodded, pulling a handkerchief out of his inside pocket and giving it to her, "I'll be fine."

Pansy took the cloth and blotted her eyes, weaving through the other students to her Hufflepuffs. Once Draco knew she was in safe hands, he made his way into the small room.

Harry stood at the far wall looking down at his hands and anxiously picked at his cuticles.

McGonagall closed the door behind him.

Draco twitched in surprise.

"What in the world were you thinking?" McGonagall scolded them, crossing the room to stand between them.

Draco silently shook his head.

"After a prophet article like that the two of you ought to have had more sense," McGonagall said, "And starting a fight, of all things."

"It wasn't a fight," Harry said.

McGonagall pursed her lips, "It doesn't matter what it was. It looked like the start of a duel. You should not have gone to Draco's table to begin with-" she chastised Harry. McGonagall turned to Draco, "-but if one of you had just left rather than quarrelling over food. Pulling plates and trays away-"

"I understand," Draco said, staring at where the line of a large rug met the stone floor.

"The two of you fighting is not worth the headache, so make up now if you please." McGonagall waved a dismissive hand at them, "I doubt whatever your fighting about is worth all this."

Draco looked down at his hand and rubbed the promise string on his pinky, "I can't..." he frowned.

Harry stared back, studying Draco's expression.

McGonagall shook her head and sighed, "You started the fight, so I'm going to take twenty points from Sly-"

"Wait," Draco interrupted, "Not points, please Headmistress. I'd rather have detention if possible. My house doesn't- It's not their fault."

"I suppose..." McGonagall mused.

"But he didn't do anything!" Harry said with a frown, "I was the one that went to his table! I refused to leave! It was my fault, not Draco's! He shouldn't have detention or points taken away!"

McGonagall raised her eyebrows.

"Before break I stood on a table and threw bloody muffins at him! And all we had was a lecture. Now he's been hurt, and you're going to give him detention-"

"Mr Potter-"

"It's not fair, were you going to punish me as well-?!"

"Harry," McGonagall said sternly, cutting off his tirade, "You're entirely correct."

"I- Yeah?" Harry said suspiciously.

McGonagall nodded, "I should've punished you both last time and then maybe you'd have learned your lesson, not likely but stranger things have happened..." She crossed her arms in thought.

Draco took the opportunity to shoot Harry a glare.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You were always good at playing the hero," Draco said bitterly.

"Draco-"

"One-week detention," McGonagall said, "for both of you."

They both stopped and turned to her in surprise.

"A week?" Harry said.

"To make up for being so lax previously," McGonagall said, "I can't be seen playing favourites now can I? You'll be serving detention with me. Harry wait by the gargoyle at the base of my office at eight this evening."

"Tonight?" Harry said.

"Yes, tonight. Don't be late." McGonagall shooed him with her hand. "That's all. Go on."

Harry hesitated, looking from McGonagall to Draco before trudging out of the room.

"Headmistress, I- I have to start brewing tonight," Draco said.

McGonagall raised one eyebrow and said with disinterest, "I expect you in my office at seven. The password is Macpherson."