'This is it,' said Harry in the same dead voice. 'I have hit rock bottom.'
'Hey, look,' said Fred, pointing. 'Sirius is coming back. And he's got Malfoy with him.'
'I was wrong,' said Harry. 'Here's an even lower place.'
He straightened up reluctantly. Sirius and Draco were indeed coming towards them, Sirius in human form and Draco looking much as he had last time Harry had seen him.
The Weasleys jumped out of the car as Draco and Sirius approached. Harry followed more slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione walking towards them from the edge of the clearing.
Up close, Draco looked — different. Harry wasn't sure how, exactly. He just did.
Ron, Fred and George all had their arms crossed over their chests. They were looking at Draco as if he were a bomb that was about to go off. 'Malfoy,' said Ron, nodding guardedly at him.
'Hello, Weasley,' said Draco. 'Weasleys,' he added, glancing at Ron and Fred.
Then he turned to Harry and stuck out his hand.
'I wanted to thank you for saving my life,' he said.
Harry stared. Draco continued standing there serenely with his hand out. Over Draco's head, Harry could see Sirius glaring at him.
He put his own hand out, took Draco's, and shook it. 'You're welcome,' he said.
They dropped each other's hands quickly. Then Draco turned to the Weasleys.
'Look,' he said. 'I know you don't like me. A lot of people don't like me.'
'I completely believe that,' said Ron.
'And I…' Draco frowned. 'Dammit, Weasley, you broke my train of thought.'
'You were just telling us how nobody likes you,' said Fred helpfully.
'I didn't say nobody,' snapped Draco, whose air of serenity was beginning to dissipate. He looked up at Sirius.
'Better quit while you're ahead,' Sirius advised.
George snapped his fingers, remembering something. 'Sirius,' he said. 'Could you come here and look at the car for a second? It's been making a funny grinding noise…and I thought, since you have that flying motorcycle…'
'Sure,' said Sirius.
He followed the Weasleys over to the car. Harry, wanting to be as far away from Hermione as possible, went with them. That left Draco alone with Hermione, who had been very silent throughout the whole exchange.
'Hey,' said Draco.
She looked at him and, like Harry, thought he looked…different somehow.
'I'm so sorry,' she said. 'Sirius told us about the Veritas curse. I was much too ready to think the worst of you and I totally misjudged you and I'm sorry.'
Draco shook his head. 'You didn't misjudge me,' he said. 'You thought I was a jerk, and I am a jerk. And I probably always will be.'
'Maybe,' said Hermione. 'But you're a moral jerk. Does that make sense?'
'Not really,' said Draco.
'It means,' Hermione explained, 'that even though I don't trust you to say the right thing — ever — I do trust you to do the right thing. Always.'
Draco grinned. 'Does this mean that the invitation to spend the holidays chez Granger is still open?'
'Yeah,' said Hermione. 'And I think my parents might like you, after all, considering you saved my life.'
'You know,' said Draco, 'they say that once you've saved someone's life you're responsible for that person forever. So I'll have to keep an eye on you from now on.'
'That seems like an unfair rule,' said Hermione.
'Any rule that means I get to spend more time with you is a good rule in my book,' said Draco.
Hermione blushed. She couldn't help it. It occurred to her that the only two boys in the world who seemed to be able to make her blush just by looking at her were both standing here on top of this cliff. Of course, one of them wasn't speaking to her.
Draco seemed to be able to read her mind. 'You're thinking about Harry,' he said.
'We had a talk,' she replied. 'It didn't go well.'
'He looks awful,' said Draco.
'So would you, if you fell off a cliff,' said Hermione defensively.
Draco grinned at her. 'That's not what I meant, and you know it,' he said. 'You just have no idea what you want, do you?'
'I always thought I wanted Harry,' she said. 'Now I don't know anymore.' She sighed. 'He just makes me so mad.'
'Off the topic of Harry,' said Draco, 'although I love talking about him, of course, something just occurred to me.'
