Harry had been doing this for years, and he'd gotten pretty good at it. He used to be standing by street corners, hoping that there would be enough pedophiles out there who were evil enough to be willing to buy his services, but not evil enough to try and hurt him or kidnap him. Depending on who was looking at it, it could be considered fortunate or unfortunate that there were a lot of pedophiles perusing the street corners.
But now Harry was older, and he had been lucky enough to meet Vikki, who had invited him to come live with her and her friends. He much preferred to be able to lounge around the flat and just wait to be called upon. It was a much safer system, and it meant that he got to hang out with his friends until they were called out too.
At the moment, he was just pulling his pants back on and heading out the door of the cheap motel room. He hurried away, not wanting to stay in the company of anyone who would hire him. He didn't have anything else scheduled for the rest of the day, which was nice. His favorite times were the ones where he was somewhere far far away from his job, no matter how necessary it was.
He stopped by the flat quickly to stow away most of his money, not wanting to risk being mugged and losing it all. He took just enough for the train and the admission ticket, and then hurried out again after leaving a quick note about where he was going so that the others wouldn't get worried about him.
It was a long, boring train ride, but it was always worth it when Harry arrived at the zoo. It was such a simple thing, but he loved it there. The animals were always amazing to look at. And sometimes he would see other children in big groups together, and he would blend in with them so that he could be a part of the guided tour, and so he could pretend that he was surrounded by friends and family.
There weren't any groups like that around today, but Harry didn't mind too much. It had been a while since his last visit here, and it was already close to closing time so he didn't want to waste a single moment just wandering around. He ran to the reptile house, which was always his favorite exhibit.
He paused in the doorway when he saw that there was already someone standing in front of his absolute favorite snake. A rather chubby boy who looked to be around Harry's age, accompanied by an even chubbier old man and a very bony looking woman. They were clearly a family, and Harry didn't want to interfere with their fun zoo outing. And he also didn't want to worry about those parents getting worried over him. It had happened in the past, where other parents had noticed him standing by himself, and had always been left to scramble for some kind of excuse as to why he was there alone. A couple of years ago, he had dragged Vikki along to the zoo with him, but that had been such a disaster that he'd just gone by himself every visit after that.
Harry was impatient, since he didn't get the chance to come here very often, but he was willing to wait these people out. Or at least, he would've been, if it hadn't been for how dreadful that other boy was acting. He was tapping against the glass, and shouting for the snake inside to do something interesting, as though the poor thing existed for the sole purpose of entertainment.
When the snake did nothing, the father walked closer and began pounding against the glass as well. Which was just ridiculous, because as an adult, he should know better than to do something like that.
No longer bothered by the thought of interrupting their day, Harry walked up to the farthest edge of the tank so that there was a few feet between him and the strange family. He peered through the class, but was careful not to leave smudgy fingerprints and nose prints. "Hey," he whispered quietly so that the other family wouldn't hear him.
The snake poked his head up from where he'd been curled up to nap, and stuck out his tongue in greeting when he saw Harry. "Snake Mouth. I was worried that I had not seen you in years."
Harry laughed quietly. "It hasn't been years, silly. Not even an entire year. And I am sorry; I hate to be away for so long too. But it's hard to make sure that my schedule matches up with the train schedule. And some days I'll try to come, but certain ticket sellers won't let me in by myself."
The snake hissed. "It is an unfair world that we live in, Snake Mouth. In many ways, you are no more free than I am."
It had never really occurred to Harry before that maybe the animals in a zoo didn't want to be there. But when he peered over at the strange family, who were still pounding against the glass as though they had any right to the snake's attention, he could understand what the problem was. He gently pressed one hand up against the glass. "Someday when I'm very rich, I'll come back and buy you and then send you home. Where are you from?" He glanced up at the nearby plaque like he always did, but it never made any more sense to him. Vikki had tried to teach him to read at one point, but in the end there had been more important things to teach. She'd been very careful to teach him all about numbers, to make sure that he was never cheated by customers, and she'd declared that he was clearly a genius with numbers. It wasn't really true, but he enjoyed being complimented like that.
As he thought about how much money it might cost to convince the zoo to set the snake free, suddenly Harry's hands were leaning up against nothing. He quickly caught his balance and took a step back, but the chubby boy wasn't as lucky, and he tumbled right into the bizarrely open enclosure. The snake took the opportunity to slither on out, and nodded once towards Harry. "Thank you, Snake Mouth. I will never forget this kindness. I hope that someday, your cage will disappear as well." Then without warning, the snake lunged towards him, and sank his teeth deeply into Harry's lower arm. "So that all will recognize you as a friend. If we never see each other again, know that we are indeed friends." Then he slithered away, leaving Harry to cup his hand over his injury in shock.
After standing there for a few seconds, he decided that he should leave before anyone came over to investigate what had happened. Harry had no idea what had actually just happened, but he knew that it couldn't be anything that anyone else would see as a good thing. As he walked towards the exit of the reptile house, he heard a shrill screeching, and a loud pounding. He glanced back and saw that the chubby boy was trapped in the snake tank, which had mysteriously regained its glass borders. Perhaps that was karma for being mean and a nuisance to that poor snake earlier.
It was a long train ride home, and even though it wasn't a serious injury, and Harry was sure that the snake wouldn't have bit him if it was poisonous or anything, he didn't want to be dripping blood the whole way home. It was one thing to be injured a few blocks away from the flat, but this was way different.
Even though he was rather fond of the tee shirt he was wearing, it was on the slightly too big side, so tearing off a bit from the bottom didn't stop it from being a wearable shirt. Then he wrapped the scrap of cloth around his arm before heading out to go home. Anna would be at the flat, and she was good with all kinds of medical issues. She'd figure out if he needed stitches or not.
When he finally got back to the flat, Harry felt exhausted. But he dutifully sought out Anna, who arched one eyebrow at the sight of his arm. "Oh honey, what did you do?"
"Snake bite," he said quietly. He'd learned a long time ago that it was always best to say the smallest amount needed to get through a conversation, because there were too many people who didn't like chatty mouths.
Anna sighed as she pulled out the first aid kit. She didn't give Harry any stitches, but she did wash off the blood, wipe the wound over with some antiseptic, and then put a small gauze bandage on it. "We'll have to find you something to cover that with, honey. At least until it heals up more. I know you probably don't want to wear long sleeves in the summer, but you wouldn't want to gross out any of your customers."
Harry nodded, and then quietly thanked the woman before he headed to his room. He was the only one who didn't have to share a room because he was the only boy in the flat. Each of the other three bedrooms had three girls in them. Vikki was the oldest out of everyone in the flat, and she was thirty-one, but she told everyone that she was twenty-four. Harry was the youngest at ten, though Alex was pretty close since she was twelve. Everyone else was somewhere in between.
The next couple of weeks passed in the normal fashion, though Harry constantly felt like he was going to die from the heat of a long sleeved shirt. He was overjoyed when Anna announced that his wound had gone from gross to cool looking, and that he could now show it off whenever he wanted to.
A week later, Harry got home from work to find all the girls in the flat, which was pretty unusual. They were normally around in staggered times so that it would never feel too overcrowded at once. They stepped aside to reveal the loveliest looking cake that Harry had ever seen before, with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written across the top in loopy bright green icing. They all sang happy birthday to him, and then cheered as Vikki was the one who cut through the cake.
They stayed up late to enjoy the party and give Harry his presents, and he was happy to have all his friends gathered around. This meant that he was officially eleven years old now. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he knew that that felt like a very important amount of years to have been alive for.
When the party started to die down a little bit, Vikki pulled Harry aside. "I'm sure you noticed that I didn't actually give you anything. Well don't worry about it, because I do have a present for you, but it's not something that could be wrapped up in a box. Come on." She grabbed Harry's hand before waving goodbye to everyone else, and then she dragged him outside.
They walked for a little while before stepping into a building with bright neon signs all around it. Harry couldn't read any of them, but as soon as they stepped in, he could hear loud music that practically vibrated through the walls and floors, and a loud buzzing noise. Vikki pulled him up to the front counter, where an older man with lots of tattoos peered down at them. "This the kid?"
Vikki nodded, looking proud. "Yup! It's his birthday today! He just turned eighteen!"
The man looked like he didn't believe them at all, which made sense since Harry looked small and young for his age as it was, but he motioned for them to follow him behind a dark red curtain and into the back of the store. He motioned to a strange looking table with a hole in it. "Take off your shirt and lie on your stomach."
Harry wondered if this was another customer, but he couldn't figure out why Vikki would think that that would be a gift. It had to be something else, then, something that Harry didn't really know about yet. He did as he was asked, and carefully arranged himself on top of the table, which he'd had to jump to reach properly.
After a few minutes, he felt a strange coldness on his back, and he tried to lift his head from the small hole, but Vikki's hands gently pushed him back down. "Stay still, okay? This is going to hurt, but it's going to be totally worth it, I promise."
She was right; it did hurt a lot. The only reason Harry wasn't screaming after a while was because he'd become too used to staying quiet when in pain. It felt like years and years passed by before finally, the old man stood up. "You're all set, kid. I'm going to put some plastic wrap on now so that you can put your shirt back on, and then you can go. Make sure to take the wrap off when you get home. Wash your back everyday, but as gently as possible. Don't scrub, and don't pick at any scabs. You got all that?"
Harry nodded, and he slowly got up from the table. He walked over to the mirror on the wall, and turned so that he could look at his back. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of a big green snake, almost dragon-like in appearance, wound its way from the base of his neck to the small of his back, with the tail dipping down just the tiniest bit below the waistband of his pants. It was so well drawn that it looked almost as though there were an actual snake resting on his back. He looked over at Vikki. "This is my gift?" She nodded, and Harry grinned at her. "Thanks." It did look pretty cool.
By the time they got home, the younger girls were mostly all in bed, and the older girls were mostly out working. Harry sank down onto the couch, but quickly had to remind himself not to slouch because that hurt, and not to lean back either. He hoped that this tattoo wouldn't take too long to heal. He didn't think he'd be very good to his customers in the meantime. Vikki must've understood his concern because she plopped down next to him and gently patted his knee. "Don't worry. You can take a month off and be fine. We all agreed that you don't have to pay rent for the month, and you can still help yourself to the groceries. And I know that you've got a decent amount of money stashed away somewhere too, so you should be good." Then she stood up and stretched her arms up over her head before letting out a loud yawn. "Oh, I almost forgot. Some weird looking letter came for you this morning. I think Darcy put it on your dresser."
Curious to see what that could be, since Harry couldn't remember having ever gotten any kind of mail before, he walked into his room. Sure enough, there was an odd envelope on top of his dresser. It looked like something from a museum, and it had a big red wax seal on it. He flipped it over in his hand, and the only thing he recognized was his name, 'Harry' with another word after that. And he wasn't sure what any of the other writing was, beyond a '4' in the beginning of the line beneath his name. He'd ask someone to read it to him in the morning. For now, it wasn't particularly useful to him.
Harry peeled off his shirt and the plastic wrap, and then used some careful maneuvering to lie on his stomach with his thin blanket pulled up just high enough that it wouldn't cover any of the ink. He forgot to take his jeans off, but decided that it was okay to just sleep in them.
The next morning, he got up quickly before his back quickly reminded him of Vikki's gift as it ached, and felt like the worst sunburn he'd ever gotten before. He headed to the kitchen for a very small breakfast, not wanting to infringe on the generosity of his housemates, and then he decided to spend a day out on the town.
He waited until Anna got home, and got her help to cover him with fresh plastic wrap so that he could get dressed and head out. She warned him to come home and strip if he started to feel too sweaty so that he wouldn't ruin the fresh ink. With that in mind, Harry headed outside.
He went to his favorite park, though he was wary of using the slides or the climbing structures. He got on the swings instead, and closed his eyes so that he could just enjoy the feeling of the wind whipping through his messy hair. He completely lost track of time, and everything else while he fell into a daydream where he lived with the cruel family he'd seen at the zoo the day his favorite snake has escaped.
Harry was startled when he heard someone's voice coming from very closeby. "That's an interesting scar you've got there."
Harry immediately dug his sneakers into the sand beneath him so that his swinging came to an abrupt stop, and then he turned to look up at an old woman with gray hair piled up on her head, glasses that looked like they were about to fall off the end of her nose, and a dress that had to be boiling her in this weather. Women weren't generally as scary as men, but Harry was smart enough to be cautious around all strangers. He blinked up at her as he tried to think about what to say.
Apparently she hadn't really been expecting an answer, because she just kept talking after only giving him the smallest of pauses in which to say something. "We were all quite surprised to hear that your acceptance letter had been diverted. Things like that don't usually happen without our knowledge. Can you tell me when you moved out of 4 Privet Drive? It would make it much easier if our records were up-to-date."
Harry blinked again, suddenly certain that this woman had to have mistaken him for somebody else entirely. He shook his head. "Sorry, wrong person," he mumbled while looking down at her feet.
When he looked down, revealing the back of his neck, the woman crouched down to meet his eyes. "Do you have plastic on your back?"
"It's to keep my tattoo clean."
The woman seemed completely shocked by that answer. "I beg your pardon?" She looked at him strangely, like he'd just told her that he was an astronaut who had come home from Mars. Then her eyes zeroed in on the small squiggly scar that had been on Harry's forehead for as long as he could remember. "You are Harry James Potter, are you not?"
"Just Harry," he said as he met her eyes again. "I don't know who those other two are."
The woman pursed her lips, and stood up straight again. "It would seem that there has been some kind of serious error. I am not entirely sure of what is going on right now, but I will do everything within my power to figure it out as quickly as possible." She turned like she was going to walk away, but then glanced back at Harry. "I just have one last question for you. Do you believe in magic?"
His first reaction was to say no, because he was basically a grown up and grown ups didn't believe in magic. But then again, he had no other explanation for the vanishing glass at the zoo. Or the way his hair always refused to be cut for longer than a day. Or the way that he healed from certain injuries much quicker than anyone else. Or the fact that he could talk to snakes. "Sure," he finally answered. "Don't you?" It was better if he could make the woman out to be the silly one in this situation.
But instead of picking up on the slight sarcasm in his voice, the woman just looked surprised. "I'm Minerva. There are a great many things that I wish to speak with you about, Harry. Have you at least read your letter yet?"
Considering he'd only gotten one letter in his entire life as far as he could remember, he figured that that had to be the one Minerva was talking about. "The funny looking one? Can't read."
Minerva furrowed her eyebrows, and then held one hand out towards Harry. "I understand if you feel that you cannot trust me. I wouldn't blame you, considering the fact that I let you be placed with the Dursley's even after my objections, and clearly they have not treated you the way you deserved. I should have been more stubborn. I should have insisted that you be placed elsewhere. But I promise you that I only want what is best for you right now, and if you come with me, I promise to introduce you to an entire world like something straight out of your dreams. I'll show you magic and amazement and a life that you should have had from the beginning."
Harry slowly stood up from the swing, but didn't try to accept Minerva's hand. "Prove it." He looked up at her challengingly, wondering if she'd actually be able to- before his very eyes, suddenly the woman was gone and replaced by a cat with markings like spectacles around the eyes. Harry dropped to his knees, and cautiously reached out to pet the cat. He loved animals, and if this was magic on top of being an animal, then that was too amazing to just ignore.
After a few minutes, she rose back up as a human woman again, and Harry didn't need further proof that magic truly was real. Either that or he'd gotten an infection through his tattoo and was now hallucinating, but that seemed less likely. "If you'd like, I could heal your tattoo the rest of the way right now," she offered. "Or I could remove it entirely."
Harry shook his head. "I like it. But it does hurt a bit." Then the woman pulled out a small stick, and waved it through the air while saying some nonsense sounding words. A few seconds later, Harry's back didn't hurt at all, and he couldn't wait to look into a mirror to see if it was really all the way healed. "Thanks."
Minerva nodded once. "You're welcome. Now if you'd please come with me, I promise that everything will be explained to you."
"As long as we're home before bedtime. I don't want Vikki to worry."
It was clear from the look on her face that Minerva had no idea who Vikki was, but she just nodded once. "If you'd like. Though perhaps if you enjoy your time in the wizarding world enough, you'd prefer it to your life here."
Harry shrugged. He knew that he didn't live the way that most boys his age did, but it was the only life that he knew, and he did care about all of the girls in the flat. He couldn't really imagine just packing up and leaving them all behind as if they hadn't saved his life by taking him in and befriending him.
After that, everything seemed to pass like some kind of crazy whirlwind. One moment they were in the park, and the next they were on a crowded cobbled street jammed with all kinds of exciting looking buildings and people, none of whom seemed surprised to see two people just suddenly appear there. Minerva looked around for a moment before picking a store to lead Harry into. It looked like a tailor's shop, but almost everything on display were what seemed to be uniforms and culty black robes. Minerva walked over to the a woman by the front. "Would you please keep an eye on him for a few minutes? I need desperately to have a private meeting."
The woman nodded. "Sure thing. I was in the middle of a fitting for another student, so this could be a chance for them to introduce themselves to each other." She then looked over at Harry. "I know this whole experience can seem rather overwhelming for muggleborns, but don't worry. You're going to be just fine."
Harry had no idea what he'd just been called, but it didn't sound like any of the insults that he'd heard before, so he decided to shrug it off. Minerva told Harry that she needed to meet with her boss for a serious discussion, but that she would be back to get him very soon. Then she strolled out of the shop, leaving Harry alone. Then again, she was still basically a stranger as well, so this wasn't really any different than being with Minerva.
The lady behind the counter grinned at Harry, and led him into the back of the shop. There was a boy around Harry's age standing on a small platform. Even without the platform, he would be taller than Harry, and he had white hair, which Harry didn't think he'd ever seen before, and cool gray eyes.
He looked up and down Harry with a wrinkled nose, as though he'd just seen a piece of garbage or something. "So who are you supposed to be?"
Well no one had ever asked Harry something like that before. Who was he supposed to be? Was this some kind of trick question? Was there a wrong and a right answer? He finally settled on the only answer that he could think of. "Harry."
The blonde boy arched one eyebrow, and it looked even more impressive than when Vikki did that. "Well I'm Draco Malfoy." The way he said it made it sound as though the name were supposed to impress Harry, but Harry had no idea why that would be the case. He just nodded once to be on the safe side. Draco- which was an odd sort of name- seemed a bit disappointed. "I'm from the Malfoy family. We're all purebloods, you know."
Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about that. "Doesn't everyone have the same amount of blood?"
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to make fun of me right now? Because that's not going to end well for you. You're so tiny that I could snap you in half without giving it a second thought."
Harry crossed his arms over his chest. "I've beaten up guys way bigger than you." He hadn't, actually, but he'd tried a couple of times. Those were the only times that he'd ended up with any broken bones, but it had been worth it to see the looks on the faces of those men when Harry had lashed out at them after they'd done things that were particularly unpleasant. Then Harry held out his arm to show Draco. "And I'm a friend of snakes."
Draco stepped down so that he could grab Harry's arm for a closer look at the scarred bite mark. "If you're a friend, then why would it bite you?" Then he took a step back. "Well, if you are a friend of snakes, then that's a good thing. It means that you can be put into Slytherin house when it's your turn to go to Hogwarts. It can't be more than two or three years away for you, right? How old are you?"
"I'm eleven," Harry told him proudly.
It didn't seem like Draco believed him. "No way. You can't be eleven."
"I am," Harry assured him. "And what was that thing before you said? About a house for slithering? That sounds like fun."
Draco blinked a few times, and then his shoulders slumped down in what almost seemed like defeat. "Alright, I get it now. You're one of those slow kids. Well as a pureblood from an almost entirely Slytherin family, it is only right for me to take you under my wing. Otherwise you'll probably get yourself killed on the first day of school."
Wait, what? This was the first time anyone had mentioned school. Harry didn't want to go to school. Just his lessons with Vikki were frustrating enough, and he'd heard stories from the other girls about how insane school could be sometimes. "No school. I just want magic."
For the first time, Draco seemed more amused than anything, and he even let out a small snort. "You have to go to school to learn magic. Don't worry, though. My parents have been giving me tutors since I was very young, so I should already be ahead in my classes, which will leave me more time to help you catch up. You don't sound very intelligent at the moment. What are your average grades in your current school?"
"I don't go to school. I just work."
Draco arched his eyebrow again. "You have a job? At eleven?"
"Since I was really really little," Harry told him proudly. His job wasn't really fun, but he was sure that having a job for such a long time had to sound pretty impressive to Draco, who had clearly never worked before.
But instead of looking impressed, Draco looked oddly concerned. It was strange, first with Minerva, and now with Draco, to have people who were virtually strangers look as though they were genuinely worried about him. "What kind of job is it, exactly?" Draco sounded nervous, and he glanced down at Harry's bite mark again. "I've heard-"
Harry wasn't particularly interested in hearing about what Draco had heard before, because he realized that the mirrors around the platform would be perfect for looking at his tattoo, so that he'd be able to see what it looked like fully healed. He ignored Draco and hopped up on the platform before yanking his shirt off. Then he awkwardly had to pull the wrapping off on his own, not even wincing at the spots where the tape had stuck to his skin. He turned to look in the mirror, and was amazed at what he saw. It was like a real tattoo, still vibrant, but no longer glossy or raised, and it didn't feel like anything. "Magic is so cool!"
He turned around, and saw that Draco had just been looking at him with continued concern. "It's not moving. Is that a muggle tattoo?" Harry shrugged, which made Draco roll his eyes. "A non-magical tattoo?"
"Are there magical tattoos?"
Draco sighed. "I've heard that magical tattoos are painful, but that muggle ones hurt a million times worse. Why would you want something like that? And aren't there rules about age limits and stuff anyways?"
Harry shrugged. At the tattoo shop, Vikki had said that he was eighteen, which meant that that was probably how old one had to be to get a tattoo. But he liked it, so that was the important thing. Before Harry could answer, they both heard the tailor shop woman's shrill voice. "Are you serious? Why didn't you tell me that I was looking after Harry Potter? I would've-"
"Calm yourself," came Minerva's even voice. Then she spoke softer so that the boys couldn't hear her.
Harry was just going to ignore the women, but even as he made that decision, Draco shoved Harry's discarded shirt back into his arms. While he was distracted, Draco pushed aside the fringe that almost fell into Harry's eyes, and he gasped. "You're really the Harry Potter? Why didn't you say so? I feel like such a bloody idiot right now."
Harry shook his head. "I don't have a second name. I'm just Harry."
He pulled his shirt back on over his head, and was startled when he lowered his arms and Draco suddenly grabbed him to pull him into a hug. When was the last time that Harry had been hugged before? A real hug, and not just a hug while he was working? He couldn't even remember. Maybe with one of the girls, but most of them were not exactly tactile people. He wasn't even sure what exactly he was supposed to do to return the hug, but apparently Draco didn't care about that part.
It felt like ages before Draco finally took a few steps away from Harry. "This is so insane. How is someone like you so… the way that you are?"
There didn't seem to be an appropriate answer to that, since Harry wasn't even sure what about the way he was that had Draco so surprised. He also wasn't sure what Draco meant by someone like him. Minerva came into the back room before Harry could ask, though, and she had a tight smile on her face. "Harry, there's someone from Hogwarts who wishes to meet with you. Hogwarts is a magical school where you'll hopefully be a student starting in September, but your situation is a bit unusual. The headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, is waiting for us nearby. If you come with me, we can all have a talk about your future, okay?"
Draco suddenly reached out to grab one of Harry's arms, and tugged the smaller boy back so that he was standing behind Draco. "Wait, wait, wait. My dad said that Professor Dumbledore is just a useless liar who uses people. And it isn't fair to send Harry in to meet him when he doesn't understand anything that's going on."
Minerva seemed surprised by the outburst. "You're a Malfoy, aren't you?"
He nodded, suddenly looking a little nervous. "Yes ma'am. I'll be a first year in September."
Minerva sighed. "I suppose it's just my luck that Harry's first friend is a Malfoy. But there's nothing to be done about it now." She looked over his shoulder to see Harry. "What is your preference in this situation?"
Since Harry wasn't even entirely sure of what was going on, it was a bit difficult for him to know what exactly he wanted. He'd only known Draco for a few minutes, but Minerva had already called them friends. And even though Draco talked a little funny, and said strange things that made no sense, for some reason, he seemed eager to make Minerva's words true. And though Harry wasn't necessarily agreeing to attend a magic school next year, since he still had his job and all of his friends to think about, he decided that it would be nice to know someone else his age all the same. "Can Draco come with us?"
Even though she must've been expecting that answer, Minerva seemed almost disappointed. Then she turned to look at Draco again. "If your parents agree, then you can come along."
Draco shrugged. "It's fine. I'm here with Dobby today, since both of my parents had prior engagements."
"That's a weird name," Harry couldn't help muttering.
Draco snorted again. "It's alright for a house elf." Then he turned around. "Oh, you probably don't know what a house elf is, do you?" Harry shook his head, already trying to picture one of the elves from a movie he'd seen a while back, but in the shape of an entire house. "You can meet him later, I promise." Then he turned to look at Minerva. "Lead the way."
With a hint of amusement in her gaze, Minerva guided the two boys out of the shop, and down the street to a small restaurant. They went inside, and Minerva brought them to a booth in the back, where a very very old man with a long beard was already seated. Minerve sat next to the old man, while Draco and Harry slid into the opposite seat.
The old man smiled. "Ah, Harry my boy. It's so good to see you again. I'm sure you don't remember me, but we have met twice before, when you were first born, and when you were a year old. I can assure you that we were all so worried when your letter was diverted."
Draco leaned over to whisper into Harry's ear. "That means that it went to a different house first before it got to you."
Harry nodded gratefully, then looked across the table at the old man, who was presumably the headmaster. "I'm not sure that I'm a good pick for your school, sir. I can't read or write, and my numbers are shaky at best. I barely know what most normal kids know, but I don't know anything about magic. Not really."
"Not really?" Dumbledore repeated. "Would you care to elaborate?" He didn't seem at all bothered by Draco's presence during their meeting.
Harry shrugged. "Snake mouth," he said while looking down at his lap. "That what my friend always called me because I could talk to him and listen to him. My friend was a snake."
Minerva and Draco both gasped, while Dumbledore didn't react at all to that news. "I didn't know that's what you meant when you said you were a friend of snakes!" Draco whispered quickly. "Do you know how rare it is to be able to talk to snakes? The last person who could was You-Know-Who!"
Harry turned to look at Draco. "No I don't. Who?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat to draw the boys' attention back to himself. "It's perfectly alright to be starting off a bit behind your classmates. I'm sure that your professors would understand, and would be willing to do their best to work with you and catch you up to a point to put you on more even ground. I myself would be willing to tutor you throughout the rest of the summer. I'll admit, you fell off the radar, and almost the entirety of your life is a complete mystery. I would be interested in hearing about what you've been up to."
It was easy enough to say that he'd been working, but Draco suddenly grabbed his hand to yank him closer. "He said that he's just been lazing around his whole life, Professor. Nice family, good life, everything just peachy." Then he stood up. "If you'll excuse us for a moment." Then he tugged Harry across the restaurant, and into the mens' room.
Harry frowned. "Why did you lie? Are you trying to make me sound bad?"
Draco shook his head. "No. But I don't trust that guy. I only have guesses myself about what you mean by work, but I don't think it's anything good. And if someone like that found out, he'd probably use it as an excuse for something even worse. You probably don't realize it, but you're a pretty important person, Harry. You're the one who defeated You-Know-Who. And a schemer like Dumbledore isn't just going to let that opportunity slip past him. He could use you pretty badly."
There were a lot of things about that that made no sense, so Harry decided to go for one of his questions that he actually understood every word of. "Why do you care so much, anyways? We just met."
"Because we're going to be friends," Draco told him confidently. "And friends look out for each other." He looked around, then spotted the window in the bathroom. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sure they'll find you to talk to you more later, but you deserve a more fun introduction to magic." He pushed the window open, and then cupped his hands together. "I'll boost you."
This seemed like a lot of effort just to leave the building. "Why don't we just go through the front door?"
Draco sighed. "You have a lot to learn. Look, even though those two out there aren't actually our parents, they're adults in positions of power and we're kids, which means that we have to do what they tell us or they'll tattle to our parents, and then we'll get in trouble. I know your actual parents are dead, but you must have been adopted or something, right?"
Harry shook his head. "I just live with the girls. We're like a family, I guess. But I can't get in trouble with them and they don't tell me what to do. No offense, but having parents sounds kind of annoying."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever, are you coming or not?"
And who was Harry to turn down this offer of friendship? He had the feeling that it wasn't the kind of thing he was going to get a lot of. He still wasn't sure why he would be considered important or famous or whatever, but he did know that Draco had talked to him and been at least sort of nice even before he'd decided that the squiggly line scar meant something. He nodded, and let himself be boosted up through the window. He landed down hard on the other side, and Draco followed a moment later, almost landing right on top of him. "So where are we going?"
Draco shrugged. "You're in the wizarding world now, Harry. There's all kinds of things to do. I can't wait to show you all of them." Then he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him away from the building. Both boys laughed as they made their escape, and Harry decided that maybe if Draco was going to be there, then going to school wouldn't be so bad after all.