"Come off it, Harry. Of course I have good points. I might not have had Dumbledore as my mentor, but I've had Severus, thank Merlin. If I only had had Lucius to tell me right from wrong, then we'd all be fucked," returned Draco softly, unable to hide a grin as he noticed Harry ordering the same drink he had. Brilliant. So he was introducing boy wonder to coffee, good coffee, at that. Draco could only wonder what would result of this little meeting.
"Don't think about your audience, that's how. Just sit down and act as if you're writing a letter to yourself, or ranting in one of those new journals that we're all getting now. Let them see who you really are, and what they've done to you over the years. Oh, it's not an act of revenge--but if they don't see you as a human being, they're not going to back off. Let them see that you're just like them, that you can feel the same emotions that they all do." Draco shrugged lightly. "And if you ever felt like ranting about it for a draft, I'm always here, you do realize. I might not be Weasley or Granger, but I'd imagine that I know just as much about you--if not more about who you really are--then either of them. Oh, sure, they know your full story, but do they know your personality? Can they predict so easily what you'll do and say in any given situation? History has proven that false, I'm afraid." Draco smiled charmingly, sipping at his mocha once more. "We're not that different, you and I. We could have been good friends earlier on, I imagine, had I not been such a stuck up prick when I was younger, and had you not been so easily swayed by those who dared to pay attention to you." Draco tilted his head here, then peered across at Harry skeptically.
"I took your hand seventh year when you saved my life, twice that night, Harry," murmured Draco quietly, remembering the past all too well at the moment. "We've gotten on quite well lately, including today. I'm willing to give our friendship another chance. What do you say?" Draco held out his hand firmly, as he'd done that day so many years ago, and he lifted his gaze so that his gray eyes stared directly into Harry's green ones. He knew he was putting Harry on the spot, but with Harry, that's how you got him to make decisions like this. If he had time to think about it, decisions wouldn't be made for days.