Push

I said I don't

Know if I've ever been

Good enough, I'm a little

Bit rusty…

Harry was walking back to his apartment after his early morning jog when he approached a quaint little coffee shop and decided to get a cuppa and some breakfast before heading home for a shower. He entered the shop, the bell above the door ringing, and sat at the counter. The waitress, a smiling brunette, walked over to him and asked what he wanted to order. Harry grinned back at her and ordered an espresso and a croissant.

A few minutes later, the waitress was back with his order and set it on the table along with a knife and some assorted jellies. He was about to ask for a spoon when she pulled one out of her apron with a cheeky smile. Have to leave a nice tip for her, he thought to himself as he sipped his coffee and watched her leave.

Harry had just about finished his croissant when the bell signaling someone entering the shop rang. It wasn't the first time it had rung since Harry had been in the shop, but it was the first time he felt compelled to look and see who it was.

A young man, around Harry's age, with white-blond hair walked in, his eyes on the floor as he approached the counter where Harry was seated. The waitress seemed to know him because, without speaking to him, she brought him a bagel and a glass of chocolate milk.

It was Draco Malfoy, Harry realized, long since changed since the last time he had seen him. Ironically, Draco had been saving Harry's life at the time. He was much taller and much leaner than he had been then, and much more defeated as well. His eyes no longer held any animosity towards other people (and hadn't since the two years he had worked for the Order), and were downcast, almost sad.

Harry noticed he was staring and looked back at his coffee cup. It occurred to him that he had never thanked Draco. Not just for saving his life, but also for the risk he had taken switching sides, doing the right thing. Well, there was no time like the present.

Harry cleared his throat quietly, but loud enough that Draco could hear. Draco looked up, startled by the sudden noise in the otherwise quiet café. His eyes widened as he took in who was sitting next to him. Harry Potter, he thought. They hadn't seen each other in years only to meet in a small yet well decorated he thought, coffee shop. He gulped anxiously and turned ninety degrees until he was facing Harry.

"Draco! Fancy meeting you here! How have you been?" Harry asked at a normal pitch.

Draco shrugged tentatively. Harry had noticed Draco's hesitant movements when he had been staring earlier. It wasn't only towards him but towards everything. The man's hand had been trembling when he had reached fort he grape jam, for Merlin's sake! Where was the suave, confident, proud Malfoy he had known all those years ago?

"What happened to you?" Harry whispered, horrified. No knowing that he had spoken aloud. Draco's eyes looked down again as they had when he had first walked in.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean—" Harry tried to explain, but Draco cut him off.

"'S alright Harry." He got up out of his seat and paid the waitress at the cash register. Harry was still distressed, floundering mentally with ways to apologize for his thoughtlessness when Draco came back.

"See you around Potter." He said it so quietly Harry wasn't sure he had heard it. Draco's lips curved upwards, shaking as if they weren't sure how to make a smile anymore. He managed a small, shy, brief smile, a tiny wave and a sad but graceful exit.

Harry stared after him, realizing as he did that while he had been living, the world and the people in it had been changing.

Harry went back to the café the next day and the next, hoping to see Draco again. There was something about the way Draco was that reminded Harry of something.

The waitress had started looking him strangely, as if she were both amused and annoyed. Eventually, while pouring him a fourth cup of tea, she put Harry out of his misery and took off his ridiculous hat.

"He only comes in here on Mondays and Thursdays. Now stop staring out the window, you're scaring away customers!"

Harry blushed and thanked her for the tea. Am I really that obvious? he asked himself wryly. He had really been trying to be stealthy, what with the hat wearing and the sitting in different places. The only flaw was the fact that there was only one waitress who recognized him every time. He shrugged mentally. There was nothing he could do about that.

He finished his tea, paid, and went home. As he walked in the door, hanging his coat and hat, he looked at his calendar and saw that it was Saturday. Smiling, he went up the stairs to his study to read a good book.

Sundays were the days that Harry ventured into the wizarding world and it was only to visit the Weasleys and enjoy a Sunday brunch with the closest thing to family he had. He brought with him his famous potato salad and was walking up the path towards the Burrow when he was attacked by two small orange blurs.

Greg and Fred. George's twins tackled Harry, almost knocking him to the ground with their enthusiasm.

"Unca' Harry!" the twins squealed. Harry chuckled and riffled their hair while simultaneously levitating his bowl of potato salad. Thank God for magic. He was used to this after many afternoons of baby-sitting the five-year-old monsters.

"Hey! How are my favorite nephews?" The terrible two backed up, crossed their arms in a synchronized movement, and grinned in a way far too reminiscent of both Fred and George.

"We're your—" said Fred.

"—only nephews!" finished Greg.

Harry rolled his eyes and ushered the mischievous boys back in the house. As he walked in the door, he was confronted by all the other children in the house who had been alerted by the earlier cries of 'unca Harry'.

Bill and Fleur's girls, Victoire and her younger sister Dominique tugged on the bottom of Harry's trousers, prompting him to get down on his knees so they could kiss him on each cheek. Next, Fred's daughter, Georgina, hugged Harry tightly around the neck before running after her twin cousins. Last, Hermione and Ron's daughter, Rose, gave Harry a wet baby kiss on the nose and giggled as Harry blew into her tummy.

He then went to greet their parents, his friends and family. They caught up on what each of them had been up to during the week. Mr. Weasley had discovered the taster oven and had been making random objects pop out of it in his spare time. Fred and George had been looking for a location where they could open a second gift shop and Ron had been promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

When everyone was done sharing stories, they all wandered off in groups, the children chasing the gnomes and running after chickens. Harry got Hermione and Ron alone before he told them whom he had seen at the café.

"Oh yeah?" Asked Ron who had called a truce with Malfoy when he had changed sides. "How's he doing?"

"That's just the thing! He's…different." Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"We're all different, Harry. No one goes through what we did and comes out the same as they were before."

"No Hermione! I mean he was really different. He wasn't the arrogant prat he's always been! Even when he was fighting with the Order he was…Malfoy-ish! Now he's kind of quiet and shaky and—and weird." He finished dully.

"Harry, " Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder. " He's not the only one who's had some difficulties adjusting. How are you doing?" Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, mate. When are you going to move back in from the muggle world? There's always room for you with me an 'Mione." Harry knew this and didn't have an answer. He had just needed to get away from it all. The adoring looks, the glares on the faces of the people suspicious, the hateful looks of the families torn apart by Azkaban. It was too much.

"You guys just want a free baby sitter." He said slyly, lightening up the mood.

"Pfft! You'd kick us out of the house and do it for free if you thought we'd let you!" This was true. Harry loved his little niece to bits and loved taking her out while her parents were busy. She loved being with her Uncle Harry just as much as he loved being with her.

"Speaking of children, why haven't you and Ginny had any yet?" Asked Mrs. Weasley as she passed them, heading towards her husband.

"Ginny says that she wants to finish her career as a Chaser before having children." Harry replied, grinning. It was just as excuse, one both he and his wife used often when their mother asked them. Ginny was a Chaser for the Harpies, so the excuse was valid. Mrs. Weasley winked at him, seeing right through him.

"Lovely dear."

It was that night, when Harry woke up from a strange dream that he realized what Draco had reminded him of. Draco had reminded him of the rusty old tin man in one of the movies that Harry had once seen while living at the Dursley's.