Care of Magical Creatures wasn't as bad as usual. Hagrid introduced them to the school's population of Thestrals, and it was seriously amusing to see how most of the girls were absolutely frightened of an invisible object. Draco could see them, and wasn't surprised that Harry could see them, too. Hagrid had a lot to say about them, as well, and actually—for a change—seemed to know what he was talking about.

Maybe, Draco thought with the new sense of tolerance he'd been learning, Hagrid had simply been getting things together for the last few years. Or they had finally reached interesting creatures.

He fed a Thestral a large lump of meat and patted it, finding himself talking to it softly in an encouraging sort of way. It was really ugly, but also beautiful. So ugly it was beautiful? So beautiful it was ugly? Strange creatures, in any case. They reminded him of himself, he fancied: almost-but-not-quite fitting into other categories. Part horse, part dragon. In Draco's case, he felt himself to be part-Slytherin and part-Gryffindor now. He wanted the best, no doubt about that, and he was willing to do a lot for that; but on the other hand he'd just discovered a formerly-hidden morality that seemed to be innate to the Gryffindors and totally lacking in the Slytherins.

As Draco wandered around the clump of animals, trying to see if he could get Harry by himself and talk, he noticed that Pansy had pinned Ted Nott up against a tree and was trying to undo his belt. Thinking fast, Draco touched his wand in his pocket and made a branch fall near them. Everyone looked around curiosly as Pansy and Nott fell apart, their disarrayed clothes making it obvious what had been going on.

"Oy!" Hagrid shouted. "I'll have none o' that hanky-panky in my classes, ya hear? 'Sides, Pansy, I thought you were loyal to Draco?"

Draco groaned at that as everyone looked around at him, but before he had to answer, Pansy said derisively, "Hah! As if! That fag! I wouldn't be seen dead with him anymore!"

Draco was glad that "fag" was a common insult, but it still made him feel frozen. He could feel curious gazes on him, so he replied sarcastically, "Sure, Pansy, I'm as gay as your name."

Their fight would have continued, but Hagrid intervened, giving Pansy and Nott detention with Filch for their actions, and docking Draco five points from Slytherin for his comment. Which Draco thought was unfair, but he didn't care, really.

Hagrid then, to forestall any talk, began going on about how he'd raised the Thestrals to their current herd size, and Draco sidled over to where he could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione, arriving about six feet away from Harry along the half-circle of students.

This wasn’t the first time Harry had seen these creatures, he had first seen them pulling the carriages, and then he had seen them a few time sense then. It was amazing how only some of them could see them and certain others couldn’t, from what he understood they were only viewable by those who had witnessed death. Something he had seen a lot of, even though he was just a child, his mother, his father and then Cedric. Death seemed to follow him everywhere he went, it was like he couldn’t escape it.

Harry glanced over at Hermione who seemed mad that he could see them and she couldn’t. Though if he had a choice he would rather not be able to see them himself, it didn’t seem like it was worth what you had to experience to see them. He smiled softly as reached out and touched one, and petted it gently. It wasn’t nearly as cold as he thought it would be, for something you had to witness death to see he thought it would be deathly cold, but it wasn’t. For something so unattractive it sure was an inviting animal in a way.

“What does it look like?” Hermione asked

“It’s big, black, has wings, and looks sort of like a horse” he said. He wasn’t sure how to really explain its appearance to her.

“I’ll just go to the library later and look them up” She said not satisfied with Harry’s answer

Once Harry heard the commotion going on, he turned and saw Pansy and Nott, it seemed like something was going on. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at how Hagrid had described it. Although his question caused some worry to stir inside of him, after everything they had seen what was going to happen now that it was brought to a front? Hell he didn’t even know they had broken up, which it had appeared from what Pansy had said. She was pretty rude mouthed even for a Slytherin, to call him a fag like that. He couldn’t help but like his glance carry over to Draco.

He didn’t really seem fazed by what she had said, in fact he came back with a comeback of his own. It was kind of funny that Slytherin was losing points for something Draco did, when soon enough he would no longer be part of their house.

Once that was over, he caught glimpse of a young Thestral off to the side by itself. He slipped away without Ron and Hermione knowing and made his way over to it. It was sad to be alone, it deserved some attention to. Once he reached it, he reached out and petted it, they were pretty gentle creatures, why the girls were afraid of it when they couldn’t even see it he didn’t understand.

Draco was relieved to see Harry separate himself from his bodyguards. He slipped over carefully himself, making sure that the rest of the class blocked him from the view of Ron and Hermione.

"Hey," he whispered, coming up next to Harry and, boldly, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. "Did you get a chance to talk to them yet? I think McGonagall is going to tell the House tonight, but..." He trailed off, hoping Harry would have some supportive news to tell him.

Harry looked over at Draco when he came over, it didn't really matter to him, if he was seen talking to him. He could just play it off, and say they were fighting or something, although he wouldn't mind them knowing the truth, Draco probably would.

"Not yet, I was planning on doing it after classes where over, so I had enough time, and no one else was around to hear" he said as he diverted his attention back to the animal in front of him "It'll go well, hopefully, if it makes you feel any better you can listen in, when I tell them" He said.

It would be easy enough to hid him, if he used his invisibility cloak, or he could just find a spot for him to hid. "By the way, are you okay? I heard what Pansy said" he said as he glanced back over at him

Draco waved off Pansy's insult. "Oh, I'm fine. She calls everyone she hates a fag. And anyway..." He'd been about to say, And anyway, it's true, but caught himself. "Well, it doesn't bother me." He gave Harry a crooked smile. "It's probably better if you just say what you need to say to your friends. I don't expect them to like me. I've been, well, pretty awful to them."

A thought struck him.

"Do you think Weasley would believe it if I apologized to him? Or Granger? Or do you think they'll just think I'm up to something?"

"And anyway what?" he asked when Draco didn't finish the sentence. Just what was he going to add on to that, that he decided not to "If your sure" he said with a soft smile. He had guessed it didn't bother him, but he was just making sure, he knew from experience what you let on, on the outside wasn't always what was really going on, on the inside "Alright, I'll figure something out anyway" He said with a smile, this was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done.

"Well, I guess apologizing after I talk to them wouldn't hurt your case any" He said. Chances were if he say sorry to them before hand they would take it as a joke and cast it off to the side. "I'm sure eventually they will forgive you" he said "It'll just take some time" he said

Maybe, with Harry backing him up, Draco would be able to get through a night in the Gryffindor common room without having to constantly deflect hexes. And he would like to spend time in the common room, he thought: at least to have the option to be around people when he liked.

"Well, I'll try, then. Maybe... maybe after I'm settled in, though," he decided out loud.

Throughout their conversation, he couldn't help noticing how often Harry had smiled at him. A genuine, friendly, caring smile that didn't just bend his lips and cheeks, but also reached his eyes. Such eyes—Draco knew he could get lost in them if he ever let himself. In fact, in that moment he found himself looking for longer than was normally considered polite into Harry's green eyes. He broke the contact, blinking to clear his own eyes.

"So..." he said awkwardly. "I guess I should probably not be caught talking to you yet," he said quietly, noticing that the students were moving around so that the two of them might be visible again. He patted Harry's shoulder. "I'll see you at dinner, I guess."

"Well, The only ones you've really said things to, are Ron and Hermione, everyone else it's just because of the whole 'Griffindor and Slytherin can't be friends' thing" he said.

"But either way, I think saying sorry would be a wise idea, even if they don't believe you, you can say you tried" he said. Trying was as much as he could do at the moment, working past, differences was something people often found difficult and refused to do. He should know for years he had spent hating Draco and doing nothing but dislike him, and look at him now. He couldn't help but admire the courage it took him, to stand up and decided he didn't want to follow in his father footsteps, to say no to Voldemort that took a lot of guts and he deserved to know that.

"Well, I suppose not, not that it really matters to me, but you still have some classes to get through" he said and looked over at him "If you need me, don't hesitate to come find me" he said. It didn't matter to him if he was busy or not he wanted to offer his hand out to him, and welcome him in with help "Mmh, yeah you will" he said. He looked over to notice that Ron and Hermione had finally noticed that he had left "Good bye" He said with a quick smile as he walked off to meet them again.

When Care of Magical Creatures ended, Draco took off ahead of the rest of the Slytherins, glad he had the excuse of being mad at Pansy and Nott. He reached the castle before anyone else, and was seated at the dinner table, at the end nearest the door, before anyone else had even sauntered into the Great Hall.

Blaise Zabini plunked himself down next to Draco, and immediately began asking questions. "Why is Pansy suddenly all over Nott?"

"I don't know, maybe he's better equipped than I am."

"Don't you care?"

"Not really. She was kind of boring."

"Boring? She's the prettiest girl in Slytherin!"

"Prettiest in Slytherin -- that's not saying much," Draco replied, looking around at Millicent pointedly. Poor Millicent. She was a kind-hearted girl, in a cunning Slytherin sort of way, and had a decent figure, for all her near-six-feet of heavy muscle. But her face was squashed and slanted, with lopsided eyebrows, a snub nose, a weak chin, and thin lips. She wasn't overly bright, either, and though she'd ceased bullying, she really wasn't the kind of girl anyone would want to ever date.

"I see your point," Blaise conceded. "But really, these days, can you date outside of our little circle?"

"I don't see why not," Draco said, and had a brilliant idea. He glanced over at the Gryffindor table. "Take the Weasley girl, for instance. She's Pureblood—"

"Her entire family are blood traitors!" Blaise said, aghast.

"But she's young still," Draco said, implying that she could still be turned. "And you have to admit that she's quite pretty. Her hair, her eyes."

"Okay, I agree, she's pretty," Blaise said reluctantly. "But a Gryffindor?"

Draco shrugged. "Or Parvati Patil. She and her sister—"

He was cut off by a low whistle from Blaise. "Ooh, yes, they're probably the hottest girls in our year. Pity neither of them are, well, sympathizers."

Draco shrugged again. "Why are you so set on dating a sympathizer?"

Blaise's shocked look returned. "How could you manage otherwise?"

"Seriously, I don't see how school life should interfere with anything outside the castle," said Draco, trying to sound matter-of-fact.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Draco," Blaise said. "Honestly, these last few days you've been acting weird. What's going on?"

Draco wished he could confide, as Blaise had been a good friend for several years. Once again, he just answered with a shrug. Then, seeing Blaise would pressure him, simply said, "I just have a lot going on. Things are... changing. You know."

He liked how ambiguous he'd left things. Blaise, after trying to get him to roundly abuse Pansy and her obvious lust for Nott, eventually gave up and began talking with a couple of fourth-years across from him, who were happy to simply have the attention of a fifth-year.

Draco shoveled his dinner down as quickly as he could, and left the dinner table first, heading up the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. He knew vaguely where it was supposed to be, and hoped he could reach it without too many problems. Or questions. He clutched the key McGonagall had given him, and slowly, very slowly, felt the stresses and tensions of the day's fakery fade away. His face, which he knew had been locked into a haughty, stony expression during dinner, physically hurt as he let it fall into a worried frown.

Once classes were over, Harry had found a quiet classroom, where they wouldn’t be disturbed and looked at Ron and Hermione, how was he supposed to start a conversation like this? ‘Oh hey I think you guys should forgive Draco, and be his friend’ that certainly wasn’t the right way to start it out, not at all. He couldn’t find the right words to start it. But he had to make this quick, so they could make it in time for dinner.

“What did you want to tell us about Draco?” He heard Hermione ask.

It seemed like she didn’t catch on to his troubled expression, he wasn’t sure how to start it, so he figured he would start it out with this way. “Well you see, certain events took place and he’s getting switched in Gryffindor” He said

“What you’re kidding? We’re going to have to live with that git?” Ron asked as he stared at him.

“I’m more interested in why Harry knows this when no one else does yet” Hermione said.

As always thank god, for Hermione the logical thinker of the group, without her, he and Ron would just be two people who didn’t think before they did something. “Well you see we sort of worked past our differences and are getting along, and are friends” He said

“Your friends with him?” Ron asked in disbelief

“Yes and I think you two should give him a second chance, and maybe get to know him” he said. He was hoping he wasn’t going to have to explain everything but he knew with Hermione around, he was going to have to.

“I’m not going to be friends with him, you know that” Ron said

“Why’s he switching into our house anyway? What happened?” She asked

Harry glanced at her, he knew this was coming, it couldn’t be avoided “Since his father is a deatheater, Voldemort is seeking him to become one to, and he doesn’t want to, so I advised him to go talk to Dumbledore and he decided this was what was best” He said

Hermione glanced at him after a few moments of intense thinking “I suppose I can stand to be around him, and give him a chance, no promises that I’ll grow to like him, but I trust your judgment Harry” She said

Harry smiled at her response and reached forward and hugged her tightly “Thank you” He said and let her go and looked over at Ron waiting for his answer, which he wasn’t looking forward to at all.

“Well you two have clearly lost your mind, don’t expect me to be nice to him, not after everything he has done” Ron said

“I was expecting that answer out of you” Harry said with a sigh. For now just Hermione agreeing was good enough, Ron would give in eventually because if he didn’t that would mean he wouldn’t be hanging around with them anymore.

“Ronald I understand where you’re coming from, after all he has done a lot of things, but I also understand that out of all of us, it must have been the hardest for Harry to work past his differences and, if Draco is willing to change, and be nice, we should give him a second chance” She said as she looked over at Ron

“Great you’re double teaming on me now” he said with a huff “Fine, I’ll give him a chance, doesn’t mean I have to be nice” he said

“I believe, being civil is as much as I can promise, as far as friendship and liking him, that’s another story” Hermione said as she looked at Harry

“That’s fine, that’s all I can ask for, besides I know what he has done, and I know it’s not easy to look past all that, but he’s really not such a bad guy, trust me” he said

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but Draco is going to have to prove your words true himself” She said

“Can we go eat now? I really don’t want to miss dinner” Ron said

“Yeah, sorry for taking away your precious eating time” He said in a sarcastic voice.

Once everything was said and done, they were in the great hall, for dinner. He found that he really wasn’t that hungry but he knew he should at least eat something, which he did so quickly. He saw Draco leave and quickly got up and excused himself. Once he caught up to him he reached out and took his arm “Hey” he said “I talked to them” he added shortly after

((Hey, so moving forward, did you want to do all of Ron's dialogue? I can foresee a big showdown between them at one point.

Also, your post looks like it was cut off...))

[[You can play Ron if you want to at one point

Huum, what exactly do you see last?

((I was going to have Ron accuse Draco of some pretty horrid things, and hopefully Harry would come to his rescue, whereupon they could have a tearful, er, "affirmation of friendship" :nudgenudge:

Last thing I see is:

Once he caught up to him he reached out and took his arm “Hey” he said “I talked to them” he added shortly after

))

[[That sounds good

Nope that was what I ended it with, sorry if it was confusing, tad brain dead/distracted]]

((No problem!))

---

Draco turned as Harry grabbed his arm. "Yeah?" he responded anxiously. "How... how did it go?"

He was utterly relieved to see Harry, as he was hopelessly lost. He'd turned a corner on the second floor and really had no idea which way Gryffindor tower was from here.

Harry looked at him "It went... as well as could be expected" he said. He didn't really know how to describe it "Ron, well, I don't think I need to tell you how that one went" he said with a sigh. Really Ron was so stubborn, but then again Harry himself was at times to. "Hermione agreed to give you a chance, she said she would trust me, but you had to prove me right yourself" He said with a smile

"Are you lost?" He asked with a raised eye brow "Come on, I'll lead you up to the Gryffindor tower, so you don't spend the night wondering around the castle, lost" he said in a joking tone.

Draco gratefully followed Harry along the corridors, remembering to add, "Actually, apparently my room has an entrance from the main corridors, somewhere near the regular entrance. I wish McGonagall had shown me where it was, but I think that would have looked suspicious..."

While they were walking together, he addressed Harry's report of his conversation with his friends. He wasn't looking forward to that confrontation. "Granger I think I can deal with, as far as an apology. She's logical, rational. She might believe me. But Weasley -- what should I say to him to make him not go for his wand first thing?"

"Well I guess if we get lost we'll gwt lost together" he said with a small laugh. He continued to walk for a bit and stopped in front of the main entrance "Well now we just have to find the side one" he said "I do believe its farther this way" he said trying to remember where it was.

"First off I would suggest you stop calling them by their last names they would appreciated it if you used their first names" he said as he looked over at him "Well as for Ron I'm not sure what to tell you to do chances are hes not going to back down easily" he said with a sigh. he remembered the one time Ron tried to curse Draco and ended up puking up slugs. "Besides I'm pretty sure he still hasn't gotten over the last time he tried to curse you" he said with a small laugh

Draco well remembered the slugs. "His wand was broken," he said defensively. "I didn't actually do anything to him."

He shook his head. "But—call Weasley by his first name? I can just imagine it," Draco said, laughing. He mimed a little conversation: "'Hey, Ron, it's me, Draco!'" He imitated Ron's voice, and thought he did it rather well: "'Oy, where do you get off calling me "Ron"?!'"

He punched Harry lightly on the arm. "I think with him I'll move into it gradually. There's the family hatred, going a long way back. That's going to take more than just a little apology. Granger—I mean, Hermione—she'll be a lot easier. Relatively speaking. All the teachers call her 'Miss Granger,' so it's almost automatic now. But I'll try, I promise."

Just then, Draco felt hairs rise on the back of his neck in a way he'd long ago learned to recognize as a standing magical presence. They were all over the Manor—and as he thought that, he realized that he would probably never go back there, and for a moment he mourned the loss of that privilege—and so he'd learned when he was very young to recognize hidden doors.

He halted, and grabbed Harry's hand to keep him from walking onward. He was getting anxious, as he could hear the clamor of voices coming along the corridor towards the portrait that Harry had pointed out as the main entrance, a fat lady all in pink who had scowled at him before Harry had pulled him away. He wanted to get out of sight before the rest of his new House arrived.

"I think it's here," he said, pulling out his key, along with the duplicate he'd made earlier in the day. "You can have this one," he said, feeling his face grow hot, and added no further explanation.

As Draco stood in front of the empty patch of wall, which was only remarkable because it was between two sconces spaced more closely together than the rest, he held the key out toward where a doorknob might be. There was a schlunk, and the key, along with his hand, was pulled forward into the stone. With a click, the wall opened, exactly as if it had been a door.

Draco entered his new room, looking around in delight. A house-elf had been there, and the place smelled fresh, not like it had been sitting unused for several years. There were red and gold hangings on the bed, a soft carpet, a slightly battered wooden desk, a shelf, and a clothes press. And his trunk was there.

"Wow," he said, standing in the middle and staring around. It wasn't big, but it was all his. "Wow," he repeated. "This is great."

Harry laughed “I know it was, I wasn’t blaming you, just saying I don’t think he’s forgotten about that incident” He said. Although he would never admit it to Ron, the whole thing was kind of funny in a way. “Although I do believe antagonizing him counts as something” He said

“Maybe you have a point” He said. Draco did have a point with that, but chances were anyway the first time they were around each other, it wouldn’t go over well “Well, we can avoid him for a while, possibly” He said. He doubted Ron was excited to get to know Draco anyway and would probably avoid him, in till he had to talk to him.

“The family hatred shouldn’t involve you and Ron, although I know his parents would easily give you a chance, that’s the type of people they are, forgiving and kindhearted” He said. That probably didn’t mean much, after all this didn’t involve his parents in the least. But what was going to happen over Christmas time, was Draco just going to stay here by himself? “Hermione’s more open minded, and will give you a chance so don’t be a git and mess it up” He said truthfully. “Well that’s only if you want to have some friends around the house other than me” He said

Harry stopped walking, surprised by what Draco had did “How do you know that?” He asked with a confused expression on his face, and it only became more confused when he gave him a duplicate key “What’s this for?” He asked as he looked down at it. That was like telling him, any time he wanted to come see him he could, almost like Draco wanted him around as often as he could be.

Harry stood there and watched it was all sort of amazing really; he never got tired of watching magic do its work. It was just so amazing, and it never got boring. Although he was surprised that Draco could find the door, and he himself couldn’t.

Before the door closed, he snuck in behind Draco and looked around “Well, to think I’ve been here for years and you get the better room, still getting spoiled I see” He said in a kidding tone of voice. Although the room was amazing, it had to get lonely he didn’t mind sharing a dorm room, at least you got the chance to make friends that way.

((The dialogue is getting confusing... ^_^ I think I'll have Draco say less so Harry doesn't have to reply to a long string of comments!))

---

Draco laughed at Harry's comment. "It is the Head Boy's room," he said, somewhat apologetically. "I guess the theory is that you earn this kind of space."

He was really grateful to Dumbledore, and to McGonagall, for the use of the room, and made a mental note to tell them most profusely whenever he could. He walked around the room, which honestly wasn't all that big; it was smaller, really, than his bedroom at home... at his ex-home. Trailing fingers along the empty bookshelf, the bare desk, he just couldn't stop smiling, though he felt somewhat empty and lost inside at the knowledge that he'd just cut ties with everything he had once known. Would anyone in Slytherin be able to forgive him? Would any of his former... friends was not the right word... former acquaintances accept his decision as readily as Harry had? He couldn't imagine anyone, not even the practical Millicent Bulstrode, understanding why he'd switched sides.

But he had, and he knew it was the right thing to do. Though he'd continue to worry about his future, he knew he'd not regret the decision he'd made today.

Even if they come for you? Even if they torture you? asked a small, sarcastic voice inside his head. He recognized it all too well; it was the voice that got angry when Granger—when Hermione (he'd best start by thinking of them by first names) had bested him academically, the voice that made him taunt Weasley Ron about having no money, or Harry about having no parents. With an inward mental shove, he pushed the voice into a small ball in his head, rolled it into a tiny mental room, and closed and locked the metaphorical door.

With a contented sigh, he flopped backward onto the bed, stretching out on the clean, fresh-smelling linen covers.

[[Okay~ Sorry]]

“Earn this kind of space?” He asked. He by far had done the most for the school, well after the teachers obviously, he had been caught in so many dangerous situations, gotten the school out of so many situations like with the Basilks, if you earned this sort of place he would already have it. Not that he wanted to be rewarded for what he did, it was enough to know he had helped people, but going by Draco’s Theory it would be him who earned it the most. Not to mention, on top of all he had done, last year he had won the Tri-wizard cup which had gotten him even more fame, something he didn’t particularly want.

Being around Draco made him forget all his previous worries that seemed to weigh on his mind all the time. He wasn’t having the flash backs of Cedrics murder, or Voldemort coming to life, or everything else he had seen that night. For once he was at peace, well for now, he was sure once he went to go to sleep those images would come back. It was probably something that would haunt him ten, even twenty years from now, seeing someone getting murdered didn’t just leave your mind.

Harry looked over at Draco “Well if you’re comfortable, I should probably go before I over stay my welcome” He said. Although he didn’t really want to leave he knew he probably should, plus he was a bit interested in what was going downstairs, in the common room, he was she they had already been told Draco had been switched into their house. He could only imagine the kind of commotion that was going on downstairs, maybe he didn’t want to be down there after all, they were sure to ask him what he thought of it.

((No, no, it's totally my fault for having Draco say so much!))

---

Draco sat up from his spot on the bed. "No, you don't have to go," he said. He felt a flush creeping up the sides of his neck. "That's why I gave you the key—you're welcome in here anytime."

Though, glancing over at the clock, he realized that the rest of the House had probably already returned. Had McGonagall told them yet? What would the reaction be? Maybe he could ask Harry to look for him.

"But..." he said hesitatingly, "well, if you wouldn't mind just checking what's going on with the rest of your—I mean our—House, to see if McGonagall's told them yet and how they're reacting... well, if you wouldn't mind doing that as a favor to me, I'd be really grateful..." He trailed off, feeling incredibly awkward. Harry didn't seem pleased about Draco having all this space, and that made Draco confused. He'd thought that Harry would be happy to see him safe, not resentful. Harry, after all, wasn't in danger from his housemates. Realizing he should say something about this, he hastily added, "I should really thank McGonagall for this, though. She could have put me in the dorm with you and the other Gryffindor boys, so having this is really... well, it's just wonderful. Maybe I should go out with you." He gestured to the door which he assumed led to the common room, opposite the one which they had entered from.

"What do you think?" he asked plaintively.

Harry looked at him and smiled “So that was what the key was for, well you might regret that, I might come bother you often” He said. He would have to make a mental note of keeping the key somewhere safe so he didn’t lose it. He would feel like crap if he did lose it.

He listened to what Draco said carefully, he did have a point “I don’t mind doing that for you” he said. Although he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it out quick, if he was seen, because they were bound to forget about their current dislike for him to ask their opinion on the matter of Draco moving into their house. Which he would just give them an honest answer, he didn’t mind, he thought it was a good thing actually, for him to break free of all that evil, to choose the right path “No, you deserve to be safe in a room, such as this, what you did took a lot of courage, a lot of guts and I admire you for that” He said. He didn’t resent him for getting the room, the dorm room wasn’t bad and besides this was so secluded and lonely anyway, it was nice to have friends around. Maybe eventually if the house warmed up to Draco they would be able to accept him and he could move into the dorms where he wouldn’t be alone.

“You can come if you want, I don’t mind, I don’t care if they know were friends, hell if they know it might make things a little better for you” He said with a small smile. He wasn’t sure if it would, but it was worth a try quite a few of them still had a lot of respect and trust for him “But it’s your decision to come or not” He said

Draco took a deep breath. "I think I should come with you," he said after a moment of hard thinking. "It's not going to be easy, no matter when I do it. I should just take the plunge." He had the feeling, too, that it would probably be best if at least one person in the common room was on his side. If he were lucky, McGonagall would still be there.

Steeling himself, he walked over to the door and opened it a crack. He could hear talking:

"What?!" said a loud voice that Draco thought belonged to one of the Weasley twins. "Draco Malfoy?!" He sounded angry.

"That's what I said, Mr. Weasley," replied a crisp voice that could only be McGonagall's. Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Malfoy, for various reasons which are up to him to reveal as he sees fit, has been moved to Gryffindor House for his safety."

Draco opened the door a little wider to see what was going on. McGonagall's back was to him, which meant that his face was poking out to a large crowd of frowning Gryffindors. The two Weasley twins were at the front of the group, their fists clenched.

"We don't want him!" said a boy Draco didn't know.

"Yeah!" said another voice, a girl he thought was a sixth-year. "He's done all sorts of awful things! Why do we have to protect him?"

Draco decided to take the plunge and stepped out from his new room. Every single face snapped straight to him, many of them contorted with rage.

"Because," Draco said, in a voice he knew was shaking, "I've decided not to accept You-Know-Who's invitation to join the Death Eaters."

---

((Do you want to take over the Gryffindor crowd for now, or should I?))