He was livid. Absolutely horrified. Unbelievably jealous. And Draco was enjoying every bit of pain that was going through this random ravenclaw. Maybe he shouldn't have been and he wasn't completely sure as to why exactly he was feeling so happy. But he was.

Hermione Granger was on his arm and she was laughing as he twirled her around the dance floor and Draco was content with how he was feeling right now. He was enjoying himself and he would be damned if anyone would ruin that.

Unfortunately he seemed to think that a bit too early on.

Three dances in, Neville came up behind them, grin on his face as he asked for a dance with Hermione. Draco handed her over.

He had nothing to be upset about, but his mood instantly dropped as he left the dance floor. He figured it must have been because he was enjoying himself with Hermione, and now that he was on his own he was reminded that he was in fact at Slughorn's incredibly boring Halloween party.

Draco found himself back at the refreshments stand, frown ever present on his lips.

"How have you been enjoying the party?"

Draco glanced over, his eyes landing on the ravenclaw bloke. A small smirk edged onto his mouth. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name."

"William."

Draco nodded, "I assume you know who I am, though, yes?"

"You're Draco Malfoy," William recalled, "everyone knows who you are."

He gave an uncommitted shrug, "can never be too sure these days."

There was silence for a split second before William spoke up again, "Hermione, do you fancy her?"

Draco paused, eyeing the boy next to him. "What would it matter if we were already together, only on a date, or just friends?"

He frowned, eyebrows scrunching together. "I fancy her, that's why. What's your relationship with her?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business. My relationship with Granger is just that, mine. I don't have to tell you anything. And neither does she."

Before William could respond, Hermione called out to him. "Draco?"

"Ah, Granger, how was your dance with Neville?" He turned to her, arm weaving around her waist as she came to his side.

"Wonderful, Neville is a great dancer." Hermione spoke slowly as her eyes shifted between the two boys. 

"Hello Hermione," William greeted, his eyes brightening at the sight of her.

She looked away from him, muttering a hello.

"I've just become acquainted with William," Draco offered, giving the boy a smirk, it was returned with a glare. "Hope to see you again William, Granger and I should be off."

With that, Hermione fled, pulling Draco by the hand.

"Why were you talking to him?" She asked immediately, sending him a look over her shoulder as she pulled him through the crowd.

"He came up to me," Draco defended. "If it was up to me, I'd never see that bloke again, much less speak to him."

Dinner was being served a little later on, one large table stretching across the dance floor. Draco pulled out a chair for Hermione, helping her into the seat before pushing her in and taking the seat to her right. Neville was quick to take the seat on her other side as William loitered near before eventually sitting himself beside a chatty hufflepuff girl.

The food was served and Slughorn immediately began speaking, his booming voice easily overpowering the small talk that encompassed the table.

Slughorn was talking loudly with Harry, the boy who vanquished the Dark Lord, and Draco couldn't help but roll his eyes. Harry looked very uncomfortable and Ginny was obviously holding back laughter.

Draco smirked.

And then Slughorn looked towards him.

Draco scowled.

"Draco, m'boy!" Slughorn cried out, talking over at least six others in order to speak to Draco. "You've been doing a lot of charity work! What drove that passion?"

Draco shifted in his chair, many sets of eyes darting towards him as they waited for an answer. Draco hadn't expected anyone to realize he had been doing charity work, he had used a fake name on all the paperwork, for Merlin's sake. It was suppose to be a secret.

His eyes shifted downwards and eventually he muttered his reply, "I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean, Professor."

Slughorn gave a jolly chuckle and his hand hit the table, "don't be modest Draco! Your work at the hospital of course." His eyes twinkled as they scanned the table, "I had a student, quite remarkable that boy, he's now one of the head healers for St. Mango's. We meet every Wednesday evening for a pint, brilliant boy, that one, one of my best students."

Slughorn continued to drone on and on, recounting some of his brightest students. Draco was relieved to be away from the spotlight.

He risked a glance around the table, finding that many were now either engrossed in their own conversations or reluctantly listening to Slughorn.

Harry and Ginny, on the opposite side of the table were sat closest to Slughorn and their attention was on Draco. He shied away from the weight of their gazes and was met by Luna's beaming smile a few seats down from them. Ron was whispering something to Luna, who nodded though her eyes never left Draco's. Once more he turned away.

His hand flew to his hair and he suddenly lost his appetite just staring down at the full plate of food.

A small nudge took his attention and his eyes connected with that of Hermione Granger.

She smiled softly, her hand reaching for his under the table. She gave his hand a squeeze before releasing his fingers from her grasp and turning her own attention back to the loud conversation Slughorn was having with a new victim.

He let out an inaudible sigh and allowed his eyes to fall back to his plate.

The dinner ended quite quickly, though Slughorn insisted they were more than welcome to stay longer and chat rather than heading out so early.

Draco was not alone in his thoughts as the crowd quickly diminished, leaving only a handful of students. Draco and Hermione were quick to follow the crowd, exiting the party and heading towards the eighth year dorms.

The walk back was quiet. Draco didn't dare speak and Hermione offered her silent support.

They had entered the private common room and all eyes shifted towards them. Neville was quick to stand and place a hand on his shoulder, "what do you say we go for a walk, mate?"

Draco gave a nod and Neville lead him away. In minutes they were up on the balcony above the eighth year dorms; the very same place Draco had once taken Neville.

Draco lowered himself down, squeezing his legs between the bars and off the balcony ledge. He stared out into the night.

Neville sat at his side, and eventually spoke, "want to talk about it?"

"It's stupid," was the first thing he murmured into the night. "No one was suppose to know."

"What do you mean?"

"No one should have known. I didn't want anyone to know." Draco sighed, "I went through all of the precautions. I donated extra to guarantee secrecy, all of the paperwork was filled out under a fake name, the staff was briefed, Draco Malfoy never escaped a single pair of lips at the hospital. No one should have known I was there."

"Mate," Neville spoke softly, his hand gripping Draco's shoulder. "It's not a bad thing, what you did. It shouldn't matter that you helped at the hospital, why is this such a big deal?"

"Because I'm Draco Malfoy! That's why this matters!"

Neville remained silent, allowing Draco to let it all out.

"I was a fucking death eater! Voldemort stayed at my fucking house!" His fingers were dragging through his hair and he was screaming at the stars. And Neville almost didn't notice, Draco Malfoy had tears in his eyes. "No one was suppose to know because if they did, they would think I did what I did to restore my name."

His head fell forwards, resting against the ice cold bars and the tears slowly fell from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Neville scooted closer and placed an arm around Draco's shoulders, pulling him in just a bit.

Draco murmured between his sobs, voice slightly raw from the tears and screaming. "I just wanted to help, that's all, I wanted to help. People will think the reason I was found innocent in all of the trials was because I was donating at the hospital! They'll think I had some motive behind everything."

Finally Neville spoke, soft and comforting, "you did Draco, you helped all those people. You made a difference."

"You don't know that!"

"I know," Neville paused. "I know because I saw you there."

Draco hesitated, looking at him with tear stained cheeks and sad eyes. "You were there?"

"I visit my parents every week. I saw you many times Draco."

"Why didn't you say anything then?"

He shrugged softly, "figured you'd say something about it if you wanted. I know you're a good person Draco, I know you've changed. Anyone who thinks you were doing everything you did in order to better yourself has their head shoved up there arse."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"You're a good guy, Draco. You don't have to worry about anyone downstairs, they know you're a good guy too."

He remained silent, though he gave a small nod.

"We're your friends, Draco, we've got your back."

They stayed up there for a while, just sitting in silence and staring up at the stars. And Draco felt lighter, friends, he had never considered himself to have many.