As the crowd crept into the room, Harry found himself slumping back into his chair, almost by instinct. Malfoy's reluctance to engage with him had him chewing the inside of his cheek; either that, or the stinging in his cheek served to distract him from the pressure building in his chest.<br/>His eyes had ducked to his lap, picking at his thumb in a thoughtless, anxious gesture. Tonight was such an immense hurdle he, inevitably, had to get over, but the air of annoyance around Malfoy really didn't make the evening any easier.<br/>"I'm not here to step on anybody's toes," Harry finally broke his pause. The balance had inevitably tipped over, making him more anxious than he was annoyed. His voice was somewhere in the middle; dull.<br/>Students had started filling up the hall, and yet there wasn't any change in tone between them, that might indicate Harry had been recognized; while that made it easier to look over at Malfoy's profile, it did feel like a ticking time bomb. "And, truly, I mean no disrespect to your careers, but I'm only here because Minerva asked me. I don't care about this stuff."