Harry glanced at the next question on the list from Professor Oblongata. He and Draco had spent a couple of sessions together since the first time. While not in any danger of becoming fast friends, they had begun to tolerate each other’s presence without wanting to curse the other into oblivion, which Harry supposed was progress.
“And if you violate these principles?” he asked.
“Immediate dismissal from a Ministry position, and possible legal ramifications,” Draco replied promptly.
“Exactly,” Harry agreed. He looked back at the parchment in his hands. “And that’s all of it.”
“I’m finished?”
“That’s right.”
“So, what happens now?”
“Well, you sign up for the Ministry’s examination and interview process.”
“And then I’m eligible for positions with the Ministry?” Draco demanded.
Harry caught the slight desperation in Draco’s tone, and wondered if things had not been going well financially for the Malfoys since their Death Eaters days were over. He put it out of his mind, though. He had done his part to help the Malfoys, he certainly wasn’t prepared to do anything more. Answering the question, he nodded. “That’s right, you’d be eligible to apply.”
He couldn’t refrain from taunting Draco a bit, and with a smile he added, “And just think ... you might end up working for Arthur Weasley.”
Draco’s eyes widened slightly, a haunted look flashing into them briefly. Recovering quickly, though, he swallowed hard, cleared his throat and stated, “That would be ...” His jaw clenched. “... acceptable.” He rearranged his features into what Harry guessed was meant to be a smile, but it ended up looking more like a demented yawn.
Harry grinned at him. “And if you can say that without the grimace, your examiners might actually believe you.”
Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry, but didn’t reply, which Harry thought was wise. Standing, Draco gave Harry a curt nod. “Thank you for your time, Potter.”
Harry stood as well. “Like I said, it was a favour“”
“For Mel,” Draco said, completing the thought. “I know.”
He headed for the door of Oblongata’s office, but stopped before reaching for the handle. He paused in front of it for a moment, as if thinking of something. Without turning, he remarked, “You said before that you saw what Voldemort did. What he made me watch ...”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, wondering where the conversation was going.
“He wasn’t the worst, you know.” Draco glanced over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Harry’s.
“Bellatrix was.”
Without warning, Harry was back in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor; Hermione’s screams sliced through him as Ron clawed frantically at the walls sobbing in frustration and agony.
Harry forced himself back to the present. “Yeah. I imagine she was.”
“Is ... uh ... Is she ... okay?”
“Hermione’s fine,” Harry assured him. After another short pause, Draco let himself out of the room without another word.
As Harry hurried across the lawn to greenhouse two, late for N.E.W.T. level Herbology, he pondered Draco’s surprising concern for Hermione. Although atypical for Draco, he thought he understood. No matter your history with or personal feelings towards someone, when thrown into a life or death situation, things change quickly as what’s important becomes very clear. Harry himself had experienced this with Draco after Crabbe had unleashed the Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement, and Harry had flown back to save Draco. And although he had never discussed it with her, Harry figured that Hermione had felt the same when she had saved Lavender Brown from Greyback in the Battle at Hogwarts. Despite his dislike of Hermione, Draco obviously had not relished witnessing the pain she’d experienced under Bellatrix’s torture.
I guess we’re more alike than any of us would care to admit, Harry thought ruefully to himself.
He was saved from further speculation as he drew up to the door of the greenhouse. Quickly passing through it, Harry located Professor Sprout across the room and headed over to speak with her.
“Sorry I’m late, Professor.”
Sprout, checking over a seventh year Hufflepuff student’s progress, glanced up at him. “Not to worry, Mr. Potter, not to worry,” she assured him briskly. “The headmistress had mentioned you had a prior engagement.” She pointed at a back table. “Your friends have already begun. They’ll be able to fill you in on today’s assignment.”
Harry made his way to the back of the room, passing small groups of seventh year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs as he went. He was greeted by Ginny, Hermione, and Ron who all glanced up from their perusal of a huge plant sitting in front of them. Sporting large tightly-closed pink buds surrounded by dinner plate-sized leaves, it took up almost the entire work surface of the table.
“We’re pruning Alihotsy plants,” Ginny informed him as he took his place with them. “But they’re tricky. They keep blooming prematurely.” To illustrate, she haphazardly snipped off part of a bud. It immediately blossomed into an bright orange, umbrella-sized flower.
“And then we have to reverse the process before we can proceed,” Hermione added. She suited her actions to her words by tapping the gigantic blossom with her wand and changing it to a bud again.
“It’s mental,” Ron put in, the expression on his face clearly indicating his displeasure with the assignment. “It’s taken forever to prune just two shoots!”
As Hermione consulted the Herbology text to search for any possible hints regarding the proper method of handling the Alihotsy plant, Ginny glanced at Harry.
“So, how did your lesson go?” she asked. “It was the last one, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Harry replied. “It was all right.” His forehead creased a bit as he recalled his earlier conversation with Draco. “You know, I think Malfoy’s changed. He’s not the“ ”
“That git change?” Ron cut in. “Not bloody likely. Death Eaters don’t change. They just get sneakier so they don’t get caught.”
Hermione glanced up from her book. “We changed,” she said quietly. “Why do you think he wouldn’t?”
Before Ron could reply, Professor Sprout’s voice carried over to them from the other side of the room. “Well done, Miss Abbott!” she declared. “Best Alihotsy pruning I’ve seen in years!” She glanced across the room to find her assistant. “Mr. Longbottom! Come and have a look at this.”
Neville dutifully hurried over to the small cluster of Hufflepuffs to admire Hannah’s work. She looked at him expectantly. He smiled broadly at the job she’d done.
“Wow, that is good! Your Herbology work has really improved these past few months.”
Hannah beamed up at him, her face flushed at the praise. “You keep it up,” Neville continued, “and you’ll do very well on your NEWTs.” He smiled at her again before turning his attention to the next student’s work.
As Ginny and Hermione returned to their own barely-begun plant, they grinned at each other.
“I didn’t know Hannah was so keen on Herbology,” Harry remarked.
Ginny smirked. “Not Herbology she’s keen on,” she retorted.
“It’s not?” Harry asked. He looked in Hannah’s direction again. “Then why is she so interested in “” He broke off, seeing Hannah’s eyes closely following Neville’s movements as he made his way around the room.
“Oh,” he said simply, smiling at the girls.
“ ‘Oh’, what?” Ron demanded. “What’s she keen on?”
“What do you think, Mr. ‘Twelve-Fail-Safe-Ways-to-Charm-Witches’?” Hermione shot back.
“Neville?” Ron spluttered. “She’s keen on him? Whatever for?”
“Ron!” chorused Hermione and Ginny.
Before anyone could extol Neville’s virtues, Professor Sprout bustled over to them.
“Haven’t made much progress here, have we, Group?” she remarked, eyeing the pruning tools lying abandoned on the table.
The friends couldn’t very well argue with her, seeing as their barely-pruned plant had been sitting forgotten as they chatted.
A quarter of an hour later, they all thought themselves lucky. Sprout had not forced them to continue with the pruning task, but instead had gotten them to clean up the greenhouse and given them a written assignment to make up the marks.
Leaving the greenhouse with Neville, they were surprised to see Hannah waiting on the lawn. She looked a little taken aback that he was walking with the others, and Harry presumed that she had wanted to speak with him alone.
She didn’t seem fazed for long, though, and after greeting them all, she spoke directly to the Herbology assistant. “Um, Neville,” she said, “I’ve been having trouble memorizing that chart of plants and their uses for the next test. Would you mind reviewing it with me?”
“Not at all,” he replied, “are you free last period?”
“I am,” Hannah assured him, smiling broadly again.
Without a word to the others, they set off across the lawn together. After they were gone, Ron mused aloud, “Do you think we should talk with him? Let him know her feelings? The git probably thinks she’s just interested in her lessons.”
“I’m sure Hannah will find a way to let Neville know,” Ginny stated confidently.
Her prediction proved true. The two young people were seen together around the castle often after that, their heads bent over a book or plant, or strolling through the grounds hand in hand. None of the friends were surprised, therefore, when they approached the Gryffindor common room one evening, and saw the new couple locked in a tight embrace. The kissing pair didn’t notice the others, and no one said a word until they were safely out of earshot on the other side of the portrait hole.
“Told you,” Ginny smirked.