“hey, drao,” luna beamed. “yee, right?” thahis girl!
“hey…drao?” it almost souion, as though gee was trying to he unfamiliarity of his first name.
“gee,” drao said with a small his was really weird.
“you guys are friends?” gee asked, his v with septiism.
“oh, yes,” luna smiled. “drao an be really hough i thio let people thi. he past, though. he wasn’t nie when he was a death eater. but i thirying to make up for it.”
as always, drao’s mouth dropped open in asto. “you really just say what omes to mind, don’t you?”
luna oked her head. “don’t you? oh, no wonder y all the time if you keep all hts to yourself!”
“i guess it hurts people sometimes, hearing other people’s us,” gee said. it didn’t esape drao’s he was giving him a speutive gne.
“but everything i just said is true,” luna said.
“is it?” gee asked in aone. drao bit his to before he ould stop himself, the words spilled out of his mouth.
“listen, i know it probably means nothing to you, but i am really sorry. i’m sorry for the role i pyed in the war and…for eo your brother.” drao stared at the floor, uo look gee in the eyes.
“you already said that,” gee said, prompting drao’s eyes to involuntarily snap up to his. “ier. i haven’t fotten.”
“oh, you got ooo?” lu sounding surprised. instead, she sounded happy.
“yeah,” gee said slowly before he turention bak to drao. “it was a good gesture, you know, that you wrote to eah of us individually, instead of seo the whole family. i appreiate you apologisi i don’t put muh value to words.”
“oh, but drao is—”
“luna,” drao ied her warningly.
gee’s eyes flikered questiohe two of them. luna just shrugged.
“well, as muh as i prefer ation to words, harry says you’re different now, too, so…” he raised his butterbeer to drao and took a swig. “i guess i’ll keep an open mind.”
“right,” drao said with the ghost of a smile. holy, he had expeted worse. so muh otter was talking about him? he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. it made his belly all fluttery and warm. ugh.
“you wao driurning to luna.
“oh, yes, a butterbeer, please.”
drao nodded, making his way to the kithety sure gee and lualking about him the seond he was go mind. gee had every right to be septial. holy, drao had no idea why luna liked him. most days, drao didn’t like himself, so how ould anybody else?
& a sigh in relief whehe kithey. well, exept for more balloons. how mahere? he helped himself to a gss of red wine whih, shokingly, tasted far better than he would have thought, given this arty.
“hey, where’d you get that gss?”
drao turned around, startled, and found a young man with sandy br at him.
“right here,” he said, handing him one.
“thanks,” he said, reahing for the firewhiskey. “i’m henry by the way.”
“drao.”
“oh, you’re drao malfoy, aren’t you?” henry said, strething out his hand. drao shook it warily. when penised him by his hey usually started talking about the past. ahough this henry guy seemed friendly enough, drao was in no mood to talk about his days as a death eater with a stranger.
“that’s me,” he said ione, sipping at his wine.
“harry told me so muh about—”
“ah, you met henry.”
drao almost hoked. his eyes wideook i grin on potter’s fae as he ehen. it was suh a shoking sight; not only beause drao hado see p at him after ehem, but…beause…
holy fuking mother of merlin!
bloody potter had a bloody beard now. and not just a little stubble from being too zy to shave for a few days, a full-on, rave. shit! it made him look absolutely deletable. and as if to mok drao, the prat had hosen to dress niely fe.
as drao eyed the olr of the blue dress shirt aie, he woer was ihis to irritate him. surely, luna had told him she w drao. that i look surprised at all to find him ihen. besides, he khis wasn’t an outfit he’d normally hoose for himself. the grey jumper he was wearing on top looked inredibly soft; otter didn’t wear ashmere!
drao was suddenly startled out of his thoughts wheer had urled an arm around henry’s hip. it ossessive gesture, o said ‘he’s mine, bak off’. only, drao ouldn’t have ared less about henry.
“oh, how lovely,” he said with a fake smile while his ied to boil. potter was dating someoing someone? and he arading him in front of drao like a show dog. seriously? seriously?
they all flinhed when several balloons around the room suddenly burst. hehis way and that, while paze flikered to drao for a fration of a seond. damo ontrol his magi around potter. and from the looks of it, the stupid prat kly what was going oo have his suspiio.
“hey, harry, henry, ould you guys ome over here frahe living room.