He caught a glint of gold and he grinned, already moving before he'd fully turned his head to sight the snitch properly and that was what made him a brilliant seeker, he moved on automatic, his body was one with his broom as he went after the snitch with single-minded determination. He loved flying, he loved this freedom, he loved everything about it as he chased down the snitch, following it, weaving, swaying, diving and climbing. He reached eighty feet and then the snitch dived and he followed, his body low on the handle of the broom, making himself as streamlined as possible, he only outstretched his hand at the last possible moment to reduce air drag and just three feet from the ground, he caught the snitch, pulled out of the dive and added a half spin to the side to bring himself to a complete stop in the air.
He laughed so happily as he clutched the snitch and he flew a little lower and slid off of his broom, landing on his feet in the snow. He made his way over to the adults, watching as Draco landed too, shaking himself with the chill in the air.
He handed the snitch back to Draco, who locked it into his trunk and Harry went to wrap his arms around Rabastan.
"You flew superbly." Rabastan told him, hugging him tightly and letting go before he could have an 'episode' and crush him too tightly. "You could play professionally."
Harry grinned at the praise. "I've never wanted to fly professionally." He said. "I like just flying more than actually playing Quidditch and I don't think I'd enjoy it as much if I made the sport I love into an actual career."
"What do you want to do for a career?" Rabastan asked curiously.
Harry frowned. "I was talking to Draco about this at school. I was thinking I'd like to be a teacher. Maybe for Care of Magical Creatures or Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm not too sure. I might change my mind this year, next year or even once I've graduated, but at the moment I want to be a teacher."
"That is an admirable career choice." Lucius told him approvingly as they started off back towards the manor.
Harry smiled shyly and ducked his head. He wasn't used to sharing his thoughts with other people, so, sharing his career choices and having them praised was something he was very unused to as it had never really happened before. He was very pleased and he hoped that even if he didn't go on to be a teacher that Lucius still approved of whatever career he did choose later in life.
They made it back to the manor and they slipped back into the drawing room, where Narcissa was taking advantage of the peace to read a novel with a dust jacket that was moving, lightning flashing over the tops of trees while a bear suddenly appeared, prowling around the tiny stone cottage in the middle of the supposed forest.
She immediately slid in a bookmark and put the book down, standing to come and check them over, putting a pale hand on both his and Draco's cheeks. She tutted in disapproval.
"You are both too cold. Pimsey!"
A house-elf immediately appeared in the room and curtseyed low. "What can Pimsey be doing for Mistress?" It squeaked out.
"Hot chocolate for the young masters, now." Narcissa ordered curtly.
The house-elf was gone in the space of a blink and Harry sat down with Rabastan on the same settee that they'd been sat on that morning. His hand rose again to the pendant around his neck and he played with it. Pimsey was back not two minutes later and she handed a large mug of hot chocolate to Draco and then gave one to him.
"Thank you." He said automatically and the house-elf looked like she'd burst into tears while the Malfoy's and the Lestranges just stared at him as Pimsey left.
Harry took a big gulp and sighed happily as it warmed him.
"What?" He demanded when he realised that he was being stared at.
"You did that thing with the house elves again." Draco sneered at him.
"He's done that before?" Rodolphus asked in absolute disgust.
"He does it all the time at school." Draco ratted him out.
"What does it cost me to thank someone for doing something for me?" Harry demanded. "Nothing!"
"It's a house-elf!" Xerxes said aghast. "They're still living! They still have emotions!" "Granger got to you."
"I am a founding member of S.P.E.W." "Excuse me?" Lucius demanded. "A founding member of what?!"
"S.P.E.W. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I was the Secretary."
Draco snorted with laughter and almost choked on his hot chocolate.
"You make a good secretary." Draco told him. Harry grinned. "I never actually did anything and there was no way that I was going around wearing a badge that said Secretary for SPEW on it. It was a good idea in theory, but Hermione went about it in completely the wrong way."
"How was it a good idea?" Xerxes demanded. "Those creatures are happy to be servants."
"Exactly, servants, not slaves and they're treated as slaves by most people. It doesn't cost me anything to say thank you for a service they've given me and it makes them feel better, why is that so difficult?"
"You've been doing wonderfully well, but it is times like these that remind me that you were raised by foul muggles." Xerxes commented and Harry glared at him until Lucius checked him with a hex to the back of the head.
Harry took a deep breath and looked away, letting the conversation drop and letting the room be plunged into a stiff, cold silence where the tension just grew and grew the longer the silence stretched on. Harry refused to break that silence, he wanted them to be uncomfortable.
Lucius was the one to break it, after realising that no one else was going to do so and that neither Harry nor Xerxes were going to apologise. He broke it by telling Pimsey to serve wine and cheeses, he didn't thank her, but neither was he quite so venomous with his order. Harry acknowledged and accepted that Lucius was trying to keep the peace, so he didn't kick up a fuss.
Rabastan distracted him anyway, by feeding him bites of cheeses on lightly salted crackers after finding out that not only had Harry never tried any of the cheeses on offer but that he'd never seen or heard of most of them.
"This one is Brie." Rabastan told him, holding out the cracker with the aforementioned brie on it for Harry to take a bite out of.
Harry chewed and then pulled a face and Rabastan laughed and held out a napkin so Harry could spit it out.
"That's disgusting." Draco told him.
"No, that cheese is disgusting! It tastes like it's gone past its use-by date." Harry corrected him, washing away the taste of the Brie stuck in his mouth with water.
"This one is Crawford stilton." Rabastan told him, having far too much fun at his expense in Harry's opinion.
"That one even looks disgusting! I'm not trying it."
"How will you know if you like it or not if you don't try it?" Rabastan told him.
"Taste is only one of the senses, sight and smell are two and they're both telling me that I'm not going to like that smelly, mouldy hunk of cheese."
Rabastan burst out laughing and so did everyone else, all at his expense and Harry bristled.
"Just try it." Rabastan encouraged, once he'd stopped laughing and regained some control. "Look, it's good." Rabastan took a bite out of the cracker then held out the rest for Harry to try and he scowled, but he opened his mouth and allowed Rabastan to feed him the half cracker and bite of cheese.
The flavour was overpowering, as his nose had told him it would be, and he dived for the napkin to spit it out, getting more laughter at his expense. He gulped his water and glared at Rabastan.
"No more." He insisted.
"You need to try new things." Rabastan told him, smiling at him so happily that Harry relented almost immediately. He'd do anything to make Rabastan smile like that more often.
He grudgingly took a bite out of another cheese presented to him, a little hesitantly as this cheese was filled with holes, but as he chewed, he found that he actually liked this one and he swallowed it and took the other half of the cracker and cheese into his mouth.
"I like that one." He said once he'd finished.
"See." Rabastan said with a soft grin. "If you don't try them, then you won't know if you like them or not. That was Emmental."
"How have you never tried any of these before?" Lucius asked him. "I assume that the muggles have cheeses."
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