“We won the war,” they say.
Harry isn’t inclined to agree. How can they say that when former Death Eaters are still being persecuted, when their children are being outcasted for something out of their control?
He sees Draco Malfoy’s child, Scorpius, sitting in the front of the class, keeping to himself, and feels his heart break. He hears the jibes that the other students, his own students, throws at the poor boy, and it makes him angry. A punishment is enough for the offenders, he thinks, because they’re still young. They have time to learn. The parents, he knows, are the ones who won’t change. He sees it in their eyes, the way a haunted expression washes over and clouds their judgment. It’s frustrating to see that all his efforts didn’t change anything at all.
“I didn’t fight a war for this,” he wants to scream, “I didn’t risk my life just for another group to be discriminated against.”
“Why didn’t you marry Ginny?” they ask.
Harry’s tired of people asking. Molly’s a lovely person, the mother figure that he never had, but she doesn’t understand. Marriage wasn’t the answer, not at the time. He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming in terror. He would flinch at the sight of a wand pointed at him, whether it is with good intentions or not, and would have to fight the urge to draw his own wand. His eyes would dart around a place, searching for exits, even if he knew it to be safe. For a time, his hand never strayed far from his holster, fingertips always in contact touch with the wand in case of an attack.
Harry knew that he wasn’t stable, that he needed time, time alone, to heal his scars (if they ever did heal). Ginny wasn’t happy about that, not understanding his exact struggle, and thus they had to separate.
“I was broken,” he whispers softly, “I am broken. Can’t you see?”
“How can you forgive him?” they wonder.
Harry just does. Draco had apologized and offered to repay a Life-Debt, but Harry refuses. The past is in the past and there’s no use in dwelling on it. Draco had been young and he made all the wrong choices. Harry wasn’t going to fault him for doing what he thought was right. He’s just happy that Draco had changed, seeing the error in his ways.
It did, however, come as a surprise when Draco came to him after his classes had ended with flowers in hand. They had been talking more and more with Draco constantly checking up on Scorpius. It’s cute, Harry thinks, but he keeps that to himself.
“To apologize again?” Harry asks bemusedly. Draco hasn’t sent an apology gift in a while, but he couldn’t for the life of him think why Draco would get him flowers.
Draco shakes his head. “No.” His cheeks are dusted a light pink. “To ask you out on a date.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” he replies. “And to answer your question, how can I not?”
“You deserve better,” they patronize.
Harry’s response is quick and sweet.
“And, I got it.” He smirks and walks away to where Draco and Scorpius are waiting.
