Legilimens [Dramione]

Secrets

Draco and Theo silently enjoyed each other's company, both lost in their own minds. It was a pleasant silence, devoid of expectations, inconveniences and various embarrassments.

Unfortunately, like every pleasure in life, that relaxing and cathartic silence was short-lived.

Its end was marked by the exuberance of Pansy Parkinson who, dressed to the nines and wearing the highest heels Draco had ever seen on a human being, crashed into the large hall of the Manor with the power of a tsunami.

"Oh god," she exclaimed as soon as she saw them. "Don't tell me you're already drunk."

Theo lifted the bottle he was holding, showing the girl that it was still half full. "With so little? You offend me."

"Anyway" she ignored him, pacing back and forth in front of the couch with a balance almost impossible for a living being, "Blaise is in town, and he wants to see us" she crossed her arms over her chest, scrutinizing the two boys who hadn't moved an inch.

My fireplace is always open," Theo merely replied.

"No. No, no, no," continued Pansy. "You must stop this self-pity routine. Honestly, I think you're working to each other's disadvantage."

"I'll take that as a compliment," nodded Nott, ignoring his glass and sticking his lips to the bottle.

"You have ten minutes to wear something decent, after which we're off, Blaise is waiting for us."

"I'm not moving," Draco protested softly. The last thing he needed was to find himself in a club crowded with drunken Gryffindors for the second time in a week.

"Give us a break, woman," Theo called back to her. "I got out last week, I'm good for this month."

Those who know her, know that Pansy Parkinson has never been the kind of person accustomed to accept a no as an answer.

So, a few minutes later, albeit with the same enthusiasm of a captive animal, Draco found himself breathing a sigh of relief when he realized that the place they were headed to was not the pub they had been to last time, but a newly opened lounge bar far too posh for the rowdy crowd they had encountered the previous Saturday.

Blaise was waiting for them, sitting at a small table set for four. After greeting each other, and after a long and all-too-detailed account of the newcomer's business dealings in Italy, the mood of the two boys unwillingly torn from the comfortable couch improved as soon as the first round of booze was served.

"How you guys can drink so much and not pass out remains a mystery to me," said Pansy, fiddling with her wine glass as the main carriers began to arrive.

"Oh, now you're flattering me," smiled Theo.

"All very exciting," blurted Draco, turning to Blaise. "But may I know what need there was to come here?" he gestured all around. "We could have had dinner at my place, or Pansy's, or Th-" he froze, remembering how the boy had decided to release the house elves that lived at his place. "Never mind."

"Pansy told me what a critical situation you're pouring into," Zabini explained, pointing to the two young men's appearance, which, compared to the sleek and polished hand-stitched suit he wore, appeared more than a little unkempt. "And the worst thing you can do right now is to isolate yourselves."

"Easy for you," replied Draco. "Your father wasn't a Death Eater, you weren't directly involved."

Zabini put down his glass. "But you two have been exonerated, you are free now," he said, placing special emphasis on the last word. "And we, as your friends, are not going to stand by and watch you emarginate yourselves from society."