Draco snorted and Harry grimaced as a phantom pain had him shaking his hand out. "That's definitely an improvement." He said with a small smile.
"I will see you boys very soon, be productive, keep up with your homework, behave yourselves and look out for one another. I will be on the platform waiting for you in a few weeks."
Harry shut up his rooms and waved goodbye to Lucius and Draco, who would walk their father out on his way down to the dungeons. Harry went back up to Gryffindor Tower and he used the password that Katie had told him to enter the common room to a raring party and he ducked in and found his teammates. The young ones were very, very happy to be included in the celebratory party, getting pats on the back, slaps to the shoulder and ruffling of their hair. They looked very happy and Harry was proud and pleased with them all.
The party grew in volume when the Gryffindors realised that their winning star Seeker was there at the party with them at last and he was subjected to his own slaps, pats and hair ruffling. He was very happy and joyous and he stayed with his team for the most part. He did get several filthy looks and some who were obviously and blatantly ignoring him, but he didn't care about his ex-friends. They could do as they pleased, it was absolutely no business of his anymore, just like his own business was not any of their concern either.
He did not stay for too long, as he'd promised to Lucius, but he'd given his all in the match and he was exhausted and in need of a good night's sleep. Adrenaline and exhilaration could only take him so far. So, he had a few butterbeers and a couple of cauldron cakes as he caught up and had a laugh with the fickle Gryffindors, some of whom had been glaring at him just the other week, but suddenly he was their favourite person once again, just because he'd caught the snitch and led the team to victory. He really hated the shallowness of people sometimes….then there were people like Katie, who had known him for years and didn't care. She had been a little concerned, as he himself had been in the beginning, so he couldn't really fault her for that, but after assuring her that he was fine and happier than he'd ever been, she had been fine with everything and they had carried on and conducted the full-scale Quidditch tryouts together.
Why couldn't everyone be as accepting as Katie? Why couldn't they just be happy for him instead of believing that they had some sort of right to tell him what he should be doing or where he should be living? It wasn't any of their business, it was his, so they needed to just leave it alone and leave him alone. He was an adopted Malfoy now and he was soon to be a Lestrange.
His eyes sought out Neville in the crowd as he turned to leave for his own rooms and he once again hardened his heart. Neville had nothing to do with this, they'd been on friendly terms once, but even then there had been days where they hadn't even spoken to one another. Neville had been the one to target him first, not the other way around. Neville had tried to take his trunk with the other Gryffindor boys. He had likely taken and destroyed his things the first two times it had happened as well and he had likely been involved in the attempted destruction of his Firebolt too.
Harry clenched his teeth and left the Gryffindor common room. This was his life now and he was going to live it whether anyone liked it or not. They had made the choice to abandon him merely because he'd been adopted, something which had been completely out of his control. They hadn't even given him a chance to explain anything before they'd gone straight for his throat.
Besides, it was none of their business what he did or with who. He could be marrying Voldemort and it still wouldn't be any of their fucking business. He grimaced at that very thought and almost gagged a little. That most definitely would not be happening, but the thought still stood. He could do as he pleased and it didn't matter if anyone liked it or not because this was his decision to make and he'd chosen to marry Rabastan Lestrange.
He had chosen to help the poor man despite his evil past and he had chosen to look past the rumours and stories that surrounded him. At the moment, all he saw was a beaten, battered man who couldn't stand up without holding onto something and couldn't control his muscles enough to prevent himself from twitching and dribbling on occasion.
Rabastan had never done anything to hurt or humiliate him, in fact, quite the opposite was true. Rabastan made him feel wanted and useful. Harry could talk to him and feel as if someone was actually listening to him for once, instead of just brushing him aside or laughing at his wants and wishes as a mere childhood fantasy. That humiliation still stung. He'd told his friends and those whom he'd thought of as family that he wanted a nice wedding and a large family at dinner one day in Grimmauld Place and the only one who hadn't laughed and patted him on the head like a toddler who had said something hilarious had been Sirius, who had looked wistful and a little lost as if he was caught in the past. Thinking back on it now, he had probably been thinking back to his parents' wedding.
It made Harry wonder, as he stepped into his private rooms and sat on his settee, if they had all laughed and mocked him that day because they'd known that, thanks to Dumbledore's plans, that it was unlikely that he would ever reach adulthood. The thought made him feel sick and dizzy as his stomach dropped out and his heart lodged into his throat. Had they all known back then that he was being set up to die? He swore to himself then and there that if they had known, if they'd even had a hint that that was what was going to happen to him, he would never, ever forgive them. In fact, if they had been in on the plans that were setting him up to die, with the way that he was feeling right now, he felt like he could turn around and kill them himself.
The rest of November and into December was dreary and wet. It rained more often than not and it was seriously trying to snow as the slush gave way under his feet as Harry made his way back into the castle after Herbology.
Just two more weeks and he would be going home to meet with Rabastan, who would already be at Malfoy Manor when he got home. He was so excited that he was finding it difficult to concentrate. Not that the teachers cared as they assigned more and more homework to the sixth years in preparation for their NEWTs, which wouldn't even be for another year and a half as the end of year exams for sixth years would be mock NEWTs, again in preparation for their final year of schooling and the real deal which would then dictate their entire lives after they graduated.
Harry kept up with all of his homework though and he would do as much of it on the train as he possibly could because he wanted to spend all of his time over Christmas with Rabastan, not doing homework for exams that didn't even really matter. Though, he was sure that Lucius wouldn't see it that way if he came home for the summer with anything less than all pass grades.
He'd received a sweet box, as Draco had, on the first of December and he'd opened it to find a plethora of goodies, including magazines, books, sweets, biscuits, and chocolate. He loved that he was being included in this little tradition as he saw Draco opening his own gift box and immediately taking out his favourite magazine, a new issue was released every month and Draco was addicted to it, not that he'd ever admit to it, of course.
Harry looked at the newest edition of the Quibbler and he frowned. Why had Narcissa sent him this particular magazine? Sure he found it funny and he liked reading it, as he'd proved at Malfoy Manor by buying a copy and spending the next day laughing over every article in the family living room, but he wasn't an actual fan of the magazine.
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