Despite it really being the absolute bare minimum of compliments, hopelessly dragged out of Harry in a moment of weakness, Draco could still feel his heart flip in his chest by it. He knew very well that they wouldn’t have gotten this far if Harry had doubted his academic abilities for even a moment, but it was something he rarely heard so directly and it was nice to get it confirmed.<br/>Despite himself, Draco smiled back at Harry, feeling his nerves quelled slightly, at least just enough that he would be able to face whoever were keen to put him under scrutiny.<br/>This he could do.<br/>He knew this and he knew that he was bloody good at it.<br/>“Alright,” he said, Harry’s smile serving to warm him up and free his joints from where they had ended up locked and awkward. “Let’s go prove a lot of people wrong.”