the one | h. potter

32. rude

This is extremely awkward. Whatever awkwardness Narcissa thought I would be able to strip away from this conversation is so nonexistent, I don't even know why she bothered.

So we're just sitting here, making polite small talk. Two sisters who haven't spoken in decades and a boy and a girl that used to be engaged. Very awkward.

Narcissa is trying her best, I'll give her that, but Andromeda is keeping the conversation stilted. No one blames her. She's in the house where the murderers of her husband and daughter used to sleep. The two struggle to find a topic that doesn't incite a shouting match.

At long last, the two have found something in common. Narcissa says something about this new book club she'd joined, and the two are comparing their reading lists. Draco and I sit to the side, quietly, sipping tall glasses of red wine and munching on breadsticks.

"You know," he says, "This wasn't that terrible of an idea. Mother hasn't had a friend in forever."

"Yeah," I reply, looking at the two of them. They're currently discussing their favorite authors and books, and both have got a list of books written on parchment, lists that get longer as more time passes.

"I miss you," he says, laying his hands forward across the table. His palms are up, and he probably expects me to lay my hands in his, but they stay rooted at my sides.

"I miss you too." He looks at me with such a restraining gaze, I can't shift my eyes from his. "But not in the way you miss me."

"That's alright," he recovers. "But you've been my best friend for like a year now. I haven't got anybody else, have I?"

"You should reconnect," I suggest. "With the others. Owl them. I'm sure some would love to hear from you."

He chuckles. "No, they won't. Besides, it's not them I care about, it's you."

My silence gives him his answer.

"As a friend," he clarifies with a frown. "I get it, you've moved on. I will too."

"That's good," I answer. "I'd love to be friends with you. You just need to understand that-"

"It's over, I know," he cuts in. "How's your new boyfriend?"

I chew my breadstick slowly and swallow. "Fantastic. But I know you're not interested in how he is. You want to know who he is."

"You were always bright, weren't you?"

I scoff. "I'm not telling."

"I'll name names then. See which one gets your face blushing."

"Don't try, you know that won't work."

He sighs in defeat. "I know."

We sit in silence for a minute, listening to Narcissa and Andromeda's conversation, which has moved on to philosophy and ethics. I break our silence this time.

"Are you going to get out of here one day?"

Draco looks at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, get a job. Do something with your life. Finish your education, train for something, I don't know."

"I'm actually thinking of getting a Ministry job."

That'll piss off his father. 'Malfoy's don't work for their money,' he'd say. 'They acquire it.' Such bullshit, but my dad used to say something just like that too.

"What were you thinking of?"

"Being an Auror, like you."

I study him. "You do realize, you'll have to go back, get your N.E.W.T.'s?