fted the fourth, she looked at Draco in silent uncertainty. He smiled at her, patting her head, and nodded. Still tear-stained, but now beaming, she turned to Potter and showed him her hand.

“Wow, four years,” Potter exclaimed, enthusiastically.

Draco ignored the warmth spreading in his chest, and patted Celia again. “Does it still hurt?” he asked. She blinked a few times, new tears rolling down her cheeks, but, finally, she shook her head. “Good,” Draco smiled.

Celia’s eyes darted between him and Potter before she leaned over to Draco, grabbed a handful of his robes and placed her head against his chest. She liked doing that.

“Are you Mr. Malfoy’s friend?” she asked, regarding Potter closely.

“Um…” Draco could practically see Potter starting to sweat. “Yeah,” he said quietly, his eyes darting to Draco’s. Oh fuck.

“Did you go to school together?”

“We did,” Potter said, turning his attention back to Celia. She seemed to be thinking hard, her grip on Draco’s robes tightening.

“Can you fly really good?”

Potter laughed, the skin around his eyes crinkling. “Well, I’ve been told I do quite alright on a broom.”

“Oh please,” Draco snorted. “You know how good you are. You would have beaten me in that race yesterday if it hadn’t been for that bird.”

Potter’s eyes found his once more, all warm and soft, sending Draco’s heart into a frenzy.

“Are you good at doing magic?” Celia asked, obviously getting more excited.

“Oh, you know, I—” Potter chuckled at Draco’s exasperated expression. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Can you show me?” Celia asked, lifting her head from Draco’s chest.

“What do you want me to do?” Potter asked.

“Um…” She looked around, her blond curls bouncing this way and that.

“Ah, I know,” Potter said. He took out his wand, his eyes never leaving Celia. Wordlessly, he flicked it several times and Draco wondered what he was doing. Right beside them, the snow suddenly lifted off the ground and whirled around like a small tornado.

“Whoa!” Celia’s eyes were wide as she watched the snow slowly transform. Draco couldn’t help but laugh when he realised what Potter was doing.

“Oh, a snowman,” Celia shrieked in delight. She clapped and giggled as the snowman started dancing around them. It was good to see her enjoy herself like that.

“Impressive, huh?” Potter said to Celia, wiggling his eyebrows. Draco snorted, drawing his wand as well. Within seconds, a second snowman danced around them, while Celia squealed and jumped up and down. Smug, Draco turned his gaze to Potter. Oh boy. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He barely moved his wand, his eyes locked with Draco’s, the grin on his face widening.

“Ah!”

Reluctantly, Draco tore his gaze away from Potter, only to see…Oh, that bastard! The two snowmen were now dancing with each other, it almost looked like they were waltzing, while a dozen of little snowmen flounced around them.

“Showoff,” Draco muttered, eliciting another laugh from Potter. Draco doubted he would ever tire of that sound.

“Mr. Malfoy,” Celia said, tugging at his robes. “It’s him, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice quivering with excitement.

“What?”

“It’s him,” she said, lowering her voice almost conspiratorially. “The one you’re always telling us stories about. It’s him, right? Right?” Before Draco could say anything, she turned back to Potter, beaming. “Mr. Malfoy said you’re the best flyer he’s ever seen.”

Potter blinked.

“And he said you don’t have a mummy and a daddy, either, just like me.”

Draco cringed.

“He said you were really sad, but you’ll be happy again, so I can be, too!”

He could feel Potter’s gaze on him while heat and embarrassment washed over him.

“Mr. Malfoy said he can see it in your eyes. He said your eyes are so green, they—”

“Okay, time for the next class, Celia, darling,” Draco said hastily, his cheeks flaming, and hoisted the little girl up in his arms. She shrieked excitedly and threw her arms around his neck.

“Bye,” she called to Potter, waving at him. Without a backward glance, Draco marched inside, nearly stumbling over the little snowmen that were still scurrying around.

“It was him, right?” She poked his shoulder impatiently when he didn’t answer. “Right?”

Draco groaned and let out a sigh. “Right,” he muttered.

Celia giggled happily. “Does hee to your house?”

“Um…he’s been there, yes.”

“Do you play games together?”

Draco grinned. “We used to play Quidditch.”

Celia’s eyes widened and her mouth shaped into an ‘o’. She looked impressed. “Do you have sleepovers?”

“Err…” Draco berated his mind, as soon as images of him and Potter, rolling around on a bed, popped up. “Not really, no.”

“Does your mummy not allow it?”

It was amazing, really, how much truth was behind that innocent question of a child.

“Something like that,” Draco said evasively.

“Does he share his cookies with you?”

Draco let out a laugh. “He brings me breakfast. Does that count?”

Celia cocked her head and pursed her lips while she tapped her chin with her index finger. “Yes,” she finally said. “Is he a good friend?”

Draco paused, gazing at her thoughtfully. “I think he could be,” he said quietly.

“Oh, what is that?” Celia squealed. Draco looked over his shoulder, grinning when he saw Luna holding a giant plush toy.

“I guess you’ll be learning about unicorns today.”

Carefully, he let the squirming child down again. His eyes followed her movements as she immediately darted into the classroom.

“Oh Draco, this place is wonderful,” Luna said. “And the teachers are so nice! They said I could give it a go.”

Draco couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. What was it about her that made him feel like the world wasn’t such a bad place after all?

“Have fun,” he said. “I’d better take Potter someplace else, though. Are you going to be okay on your own?”

“I’m not on my own, there are a bunch of children waiting for me. And Stacey said she’d help me.” Beaming, she skipped into the classroom where the children weed her and the plush unicorn with ear piercing screams.

Honestly, the more Draco thought about it, the more he was convinced Luna would make a great addition to the teaching staff. Who would have thought?

“So…”

Draco stiffened, slowly turning around. Oh no.

“Been standing there long?” he asked, trying to sound like he didn’t care. Potter shrugged, but Draco sensed he wanted to say something.

“Out with it, Potter. What is it?”

“You’re good with kids,” he said. Draco caught the underlying tone of wonder and snorted.

“I know, shocker.” He rolled his eyes when Potter sniggered.

“Actually, it is kind of a shocker. All this, I mean.” He gestured around the hallway, apparently at a loss for words. “I have so many questions.”

“I figured,” Draco sighed.

e on, you have to admit it is a little odd.”

Draco just shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“There was no reason to tell you about it.”

“No reason? Right, because it’s totally normal for Draco Malfoy to be volunteering at a magical infant school.”

“And that,” Draco said, waving his index finger at Potter, “is exactly why I didn’t tell anyone about this.”

Potter stared at him, his expression thoughtful. “Don’t you want people to know what you’re doing for the Wizardingmunity?”

“No,” Draco said, defiantly. “I don’t need some hypocritical article in the Daily Prophet or whatever bollocks they’d do.”

Potter studied him closely and slowly nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“That’s why I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about me…volunteering here,” Draco said.

“Yeah, okay, sure.”

“So, are you ready to go? Or do you want to eavesdrop some more?” Draco teased.

Potter pressed his lips together as they walked outside. At least he had the sense to look guilty.

“Is the building under a Concealment Charm?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

“The whole premises. And they added a Muggle-Repelling Charm.”

“Yeah…Kinda risky, running a magical school in the city, isn’t it?”

Draco shrugged. “There are several others in the countryside, but it would have been a pain in the arse for the families who live here, especially the Muggle-born children, since this isn’t a boarding school. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing,” Potter said hastily. It was obvious he wanted toment on the fact that Draco was working with people he had once resented, calling them names and whatnot. “How did you find this place? And how did they let—um…”

“What, let me work with children? You can say it.”

Potter looked ufortable but he slowly nodded.

“It’s a long story,” Draco said evasively. He didn’t feel like explaining everything in detail. But he knew he had to tell Potter something. “I guess…I don’t want others to repeat my mistakes.”

Potter halted, frowning at him. “Draco—”

“Let’s not get into that,” Draco said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “All I’m saying is…children like you or me only know what their parents, um, or guardians taught them until they arrive at Hogwarts. I know from first-hand experience how that can turn into a problem. We can’t eradicate prejudices or idiocy, but we can teach children to be more open-minded.” He tried to appear as nonchalant as possible while Potter kept staring at him. “It’s pretty simple,” Draco continued, mostly to fill the awkward silence. “Basically, Muggle- borns learn about magic before theye to Hogwarts and pure-bloods learn more about Muggles. Most importantly, they do it together.”

“But most Muggle-borns don’t know they have magic. I only found out I’m a wizard when I got my letter from Hogwarts,” Potter said.

“The Ministry has created a special department for that,” Draco explained. “Magic is traceable, even in a child who hasn’t used it yet.”

“So…what, there are Ministry workers running around the country, casting spells on children to see if they’re a wizard or a witch?” Potter asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re…working on that,” Draco said.

A flicker of amusement crossed Potter’s face as he finally resumed walking.

“Wow, I’m kinda speechless,” he murmured. “I had no idea you were so…”

“So what?”

passionate.”

“This has nothing to do withpassion, Potter,” Draco said, wrinkling his nose.

“Well, but I can tell this means a lot to you.”

Draco said nothing. It did mean a lot to him and it was such a strange feeling to be sharing it with Potter.

“Thanks for showing me,” Potter said. Draco made a nonmittal sound. “I, um, I have a confession to make.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, um…I sneaked inside when you showed Luna around and one of the teachers showed me something.”

Draco’s heart jumped. Oh no, what had Potter seen?

“She thought I might want to know that my money is being put to good use.”

Oh bugger.

“She showed me some paperwork and I saw how the school is financed.”

Damn it. So much for them keeping their mouths shut under all circumstances.

“You helpedanise all those charity galas, didn’t you?”

Draco couldn’t tell if Potter was displeased or not. At least he had only found out part of the truth.

“Maybe,” he said, curtly.

“You only invited me to one gala.” That definitely sounded a little repr

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