On the day he returned from the Hospital Wing, when Draco appeared in the Slytherin common room, he was unsurprisingly greeted with cheers and applause from the Slytherins.
Once again, he earned their respect through his own abilities, not just his family background.
A blush rose to his cheeks, and he looked up at them with a cheerful expression, giving them a lazy smile.
"That is fantastic!" Blaise patted him on the shoulder. "I can brag to those dejected Gryffindors for a whole year now."
"Please do not," Draco shook his index finger to stop him. "Do not make any promises yet... there are still two matches to play."
"That is right," Marcus, who was passing by, agreed wholeheartedly. "That is how you should think."
After securing their first victory, Marcus went into an even more obsessive frenzy, seemingly determined to challenge some international Quidditch team, leading his players in intensive practice in the drizzling cold rain.
Each time Draco returned to the castle from the muddy Quidditch pitch, he was soaked to the bone. He predicted that Marcus's madness would continue like the cold rain until December. Just like in his past life.
Marcus's madness grew even stronger after Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff in November.
"The Gryffindors cannot afford to lose again; they desperately crave a victory, and we cannot afford to be complacent! The Hufflepuffs are on fire this year... I have watched them train... Cedric Diggory has assembled a strong team."
In the tactics room, Marcus said nervously, "Ravenclaw actually beat them! What does that mean? It means Ravenclaw is even stronger this year!"
"Relax, Marcus, we..." Montague said, patting him on the shoulder.
"You do not understand!" Marcus snapped, shoving him away. "Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw last year!"
"We have beaten them before," Derrick said dismissively, twirling his short bat in his hand.
Marcus glared at Derrick, then turned to his favourite Seeker and said, "Draco! Ravenclaw's Seeker is strong this year... that Cho Chang... I know she is pretty, Derrick, do not laugh! This is serious! Cedric is head over heels for her, I can tell! Draco, you have to remember, this is not the time for gentlemanly conduct."
"Oh, Malfoy can be a gentleman?" Derrick chuckled at Marcus's earnest attitude.
"Did he not just knock one of our girls against the wall the other day? What was her name again, Daphne? Tsk, the poor girl was crying her eyes out, and he just turned and walked away, without a shred of sympathy..."
"You cannot say that. Who told her to ambush me? She needed to be taught a lesson," Draco said coldly, then promised Marcus, "I treat all my opponents equally, regardless of gender."
"What about Potter?" Marcus asked, his face darkening. He suddenly remembered the Dementor incident. "You saved him last time."
"I caught the Snitch first before saving him," Draco said matter-of-factly. "I do not see any conflict between competition and saving lives."
"All right, then." Marcus clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and turned to discuss tactics with Keeper Miles.
The atmosphere between Quidditch team members from different Houses is often tense and confrontational. In his previous life, the escalating rivalry between Draco and Harry was not unrelated to the sport of Quidditch.
Both were Seekers, arch-rivals on the pitch, and natural adversaries. Mixed with past ridiculous grudges, their rivalry gradually developed into an irreconcilable hatred in their athletic competition.
At that time, Draco was not mature enough to understand that opponents on the pitch could be ordinary classmates, or even close friends. They were simply fighting for the honour of their respective Houses, differing only in their positions on the pitch; they did not necessarily have to fight to the death in every aspect.
At that time, he was not mature enough to understand that, in relation to a competitor, one could express respect in addition to rivalry. So he relentlessly displayed hostility, resorting to any means necessary, until one day he finally angered Harry.
The naiveté of his past life would not be repeated in this one.
Finding a delicate balance between the two very different relationships of "close friends" and "competitors" was not easy, but it was not impossible.
Draco certainly would not have the patience for complete strangers, such as Cedric the Seeker of Hufflepuff or Cho Chang the Seeker of Ravenclaw; but for Harry, his saviour who had unrealistic trust in him and often acted foolishly, the boy who had lost to him but sincerely thanked him, Draco was willing to spare a tiny bit of patience and kindness.
These days, due to the overlap in training times... Gryffindor's training time immediately followed Slytherin's schedule... they often crossed paths.
If the two made eye contact, Draco would try to greet Harry verbally, instead of provoking him as he had in his previous life, or being as cold and reserved as he had been when they met on the training pitch last year.
Harry, in turn, was always willing to respond to Draco in a friendly manner... putting aside the tense atmosphere between the House teams... smiling and nodding at him, ignoring Oliver Wood's shocked gaze.
This was a completely new experience, and Draco did not find it unpleasant.
This friendship seemed utterly absurd to Marcus Flint and Oliver Wood, the two captains from opposing camps.
However, Draco and Harry seemed oblivious to their surroundings. After all, when you have faced a hundred Dementors together in front of the entire school, the idea of "showing friendship in front of your own captain of the team" does not seem so terrible any more.
Gradually, the other team members who had initially been surprised by this became somewhat numb to it.
The two captains were somewhat at a loss. Marcus Flint and Oliver Wood grimaced at each other, but were helpless in the face of Draco and Harry's friendship.
One evening, Draco thought of a new tactic during training and wanted to go to the tactics room to discuss it with Marcus. He could vaguely hear the two captains arguing with each other from inside the room.
"Are you not going to do anything about this? You blockhead, do something about your Seeker! Stop him laughing at our Seeker! He is laughing so cheaply!" That was Marcus's voice.
"Why do you not care about your own Seeker? You are always greeting our Seeker! He was the one who started it!" Wood shouted.
"Nonsense, if Potter did not look at Malfoy, would Malfoy greet him?" Marcus said through gritted teeth.
"Malfoy should just blindfold himself and stop looking around!" Wood retorted.
"Gryffindor should change their Seeker to prevent Potter from throwing the match, should they not, Professor McGonagall?" Marcus suddenly calmed down and said with ill intent.
"I think you are afraid Malfoy will go easy on Potter, are you not? Why do you not replace him?" Wood said bluntly.
"Draco Malfoy is the best Seeker! He trains incredibly hard! He has never lost a match, why should I replace him?" Marcus said fiercely.
"Harry is the best Seeker! He simply lacked a bit of luck and ran into the Dementors, otherwise he would have caught the Golden Snitch long ago, and Malfoy would never have had a chance," Wood said in a condescending tone.
"All right! Stop arguing like two old in-laws! What kind of drama are you putting on for me? Romeo and Romeo's two feuding fathers?" Professor McGonagall said impatiently.
"I understand now. I do not think there is anything wrong with these two Seekers, and there is no evidence that their friendship would lead to them throwing the match. What I saw in the match were two excellent Seekers giving their all. Being opponents on the pitch does not mean you cannot have a friendship off it, and it has no necessary connection to team morale. I think you can relax a little."
Draco did not rush in. Instead, he smiled slightly, quietly left, grabbed his flying broom, and flew back into the wind and rain of the sky.
Indeed, such an unusual friendship would be strongly opposed by the team captains; however, in the face of absolute skill, any objection would seem pale and powerless.
They were the best Seekers in their respective Houses, and even if their captains minded this, neither was willing to replace them.
It was that simple. Draco did not understand why he had been so awkward in his past life, thinking that Slytherins could not be friends with Gryffindors.
Even after becoming friends, the sky did not fall down.
Thinking of this, Draco, soaked to the bone by the rain, could not help but glance at the ground. Through the torrential rain, he saw golden-red shadows appearing on the ground at the edge of the pitch.
Draco knew this meant Slytherin's training time was over and the right to use the pitch was about to be handed over.
He also knew that when he landed on the muddy ground, he would often see Hermione Granger, who would always cast a waterproof charm on Harry's glasses before he took off, to make sure he could see clearly in the rain.
"What a terrible rainy day," Harry greeted him that day.
"It is terrible. You can barely see anything up there," Draco complained to Harry, fiddling with his wet hair.
Harry smiled at him, walked straight out of the shelter under the stands, and bravely rushed into the torrential rain from high above.
"Harry is lucky to have such a caring sister-cum-friend as you," Draco said casually to Hermione as he watched Harry off.
His hair was soaking wet and clung to his face, and his robes were dripping, making him look a little dishevelled.
Hermione chuckled softly. She quickly cast a dozen drying, cleaning, and warming charms on him until he was completely dry.
"Thank you." Draco would always feel a surge of emotion at this moment.
This girl is truly not to be underestimated.
When school started, he had used a Drying Charm on her once, and she remembered it perfectly and had mastered it very well.
In first year, he had used a freezing charm on her once, and she remembered it, using it in second year to freeze the arrogant Cornish pixies released by the hopeless Lockhart.
The Patronus Charm was the only spell she admitted to having mastered relatively slowly. Even so, she had conjured an otter in just two months. Draco, on the other hand, still had not managed to.
What was that saying again, ahh...yes'Comparison is the thief of joy'.