True : A Hinny Fan Fiction

Chapter 25 - Finally

Harry was waiting eagerly in potions class for Draco to join him. Harry had been worrying non stop about how Ron would feel if Harry started dating his sister, Ginny. Ron was his best friend but from previous experiences, Ron was bound to dislike his sister's boyfriend. He had asked Draco to ask Ron about the topic, and how he'd feel if one of his friends dated his sister. He spotted a mass of grey and green cloaks enter the room, and his eyes darted at the each of the faces. Harry was surprised to see Draco talking - and laughing - at a joke that a boy Harry recognized to be Theodore Nott had just told. Draco was walking in with two other people, a boy and a girl holding hands. Harry recognized the first as Blaise Zabini and the other as Pansy Parkinson. To Harry's surprise and even more annoyance, Draco and his friends walked over to Harry.
"Uh, hello Draco?" greeted Harry, not all pleasantly. Draco smiled.
"These three have something to say to you." and he stepped aside, letting first Theodore through. Theodore was a tall and skinny boy, similar to Draco. He had spoken to Harry only when telling Draco to stop speaking with the Gryffindors.
"Hey, mate. I am so very sorry for everything shoddy I said. I didn't mean it, at least I don't mean it anymore. I really feel bad. You're a good guy, and Draco has told us that you're nice. We sort of thought about it, and we realize that our parents have taught us badly. I like Gryffindors. You didn't do anything bad to us." smiled Theodore, Harry could tell he was genuinely apologizing. The girl then spoke up from behind him.
"Yeah. No one really listened to Draco because his dad is a bit of a tosspot, but, we realized that Draco was different. We heard what he was saying. It's true. He is in jail because of you. That's cool. We know that Bellatrix really is back too." Harry nodded. 
"Cheers." he said. The other boy smiled.
"Yeah. I'm Blaise by the way. Sorry for saying bad things to you and your friends." he finished, but then he opened his mouth again as he had forgotten something. "Oh, Draco told us about a thing called Dumbledore's Army? Could we join? If it's cool. We're up for it." Harry nodded.
"Yeah. You can join after Christmas, okay? I'd like some range, we only have one Slytherin." admitted Harry. The three nodded, looking very happy, and sat down in the chairs near Harry. Draco sat next to Harry, and whispered the answer to Harry's question as they got their books and ingredients.

"Ron said he liked the idea of it being a friend of his. That is, of course, if they treat Ginny right. So, I think you're good." smiled Draco, patting Harry on the back. A huge weight had been lifted off of Harry's shoulders. Ron would be fine. He could ask out Ginny. The next hour of the lesson didn't trouble him at all. His thoughts were on Ginny at all times, and when he did something wrong with the potion, Professor Snape couldn't give him a detention because his newfound Slytherin friends defended him. They'd say that they put things in his potion that weren't on the recipe, or they'd squashed instead of cut his different ingredients, or lied to him about the instructions. Harry wished that he'd been friends with Slytherins earlier. When the lesson finished and he waved goodbye to the Slytherins, Hermione and Ron gave him a quizzical look.
"Why'd they sit with us?" asked Ron.
"Because they're sorry. They realize what they've done. They're cool, and funny. You noticed them getting me out of detentions with Snape right?" pointed out Harry. Ron nodded, but Hermione looked confused.
"Oh, I thought they were just owning up to what they did." said Hermione. "Did you really mess up that many steps?"
"Yeah, my mind was... elsewhere." mumbled Harry, lying. Hermione picked up her slipping books from under her armpit.
"Come on then. Let's go."

***

The next few days of the week slipped by calmly and easily, with no surprises. Harry still hadn't plucked up the courage to ask out Ginny, but he knew he'd ask before they left Hogwarts. In the final DA lesson, it was no surprise which house won. Harry handed out all of the muggle sweets including sherbet lemons and strawberry laces to the winning group. He also picked out the candy canes from the separate bag that Sirius had bought him. The candy canes flew up from the bag and the little bows acted as wings, propelling the sticks forwards for members to pick. Harry had more than enough for everyone, but kept the left overs a secret to eat on the train. He counted ten, which was perfect. He pushed them down to the bottom of his bag and tightened it shut.