#1 The One Where Harry Sees Malfoy Again
Written By: CJ
Notes: So, I wrote the original a long while ago, but I was getting back into my writing and realized this story could be better and had some mistakes, so I redid it. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. All credit goes to JK Rowling.
Those we love don't go away. They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear. -Anonymous
A raven haired boy stood, head bowed, eyes closed. The recent light showers of rain had moistened the soil of the buried casket. Somebody had planted a flower charmed green and silver in the soft dirt. The boy reached out to touch it gently, stroking the petals. Above him, thunder rumbled. Another storm was coming.
"Hey, mate, we gotta be going. The girls are expecting us to help them," a voice that seemed far away called. With another lingering look at the plant, Harry Potter stood and turned, making his way away from the site where, buried under new autumn leaves, there was a small stone that read "Here lies Severus Snape" and in even smaller letters underneath, the phrase "Always."
"Hey, you okay?" Ron Weasley asked his best friend. Harry sighed.
"Yeah, I guess so. I just... wish things could have been different."
"Don't we all, mate." Harry nodded, pursing his lips slightly. He breathed in deeply.
"The storm smells so nice," he stated.
"Hmm?" Ron cocked his head.
"The storm. You know, the air sometimes feels heavier and you can just feel the rain coming." Harry looked to the sky, observing the dark clouds, the lightning flashing miles away.
"You sound like Luna, mate," Ron chuckled. Harry couldn't help but smile at that.
"Somehow, I don't think that's a bad thing," he said softly, more to himself than anything. He missed the very strange girl. She and Neville had gotten engaged, and they'd of course invited him to the wedding. Neville had asked Harry to be his best man. How could Harry really say no to that?
"So... how are you and Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Oh, we're good," Ron answered, not questioning the random question. He knew Harry's head had been jumbled with all kinds of emotional problems ever since the war.
"You ever think about how things were?"
"All the time. Like fighting trolls in the bathroom." They both chuckled at that.
"Yeah, that was pretty ridiculous. It was scary when it happened, but now it's like fighting the tooth fairy," Harry laughed.
"Tooth fairy?"
"Yeah, it's a myth. When a child loses a tooth, they put it under their pillow in hopes the tooth fairy brings them cash in exchange. Except it's actually just the parents."
"Oh. Weird."
"Yeah, some muggle things are very strange," Harry agreed.
A long street came into view. Lots of small stores were lined up, along with many wizards and witches.
"Mr. Potter," a young man tipped his hat. Harry smiled back politely. He was used to this.
"Ah, it's Harry Potter!" came a shriek ahead of the two boys, and suddenly a swarm of girls surrounded them.
"Harry, can you sign my Quidditch magazine?"
"No, sign mine!"
"No, mine!" The shrills were deafening, and in the chaos, Harry had lost track of Ron. People were staring at him. His face flushed.
"Sorry, girls, but I'm afraid I have somewhere else to be," he apologized. He quickened his pace and managed to finally escape into a bookstore, joining Ron at last. The store was enormous, and beautiful. There were millions of books. The store looked small from the outside, but the inside was actually very large and luxurious. Harry thought of Fred and George, and he shuddered in pain. He focused on the fresh scent of new books. Another smell he adored besides storms.
He trailed his fingers along the spines of the books. One of the books actually giggled as he did this, and he raised an eyebrow. Books these days.
Harry came upon the area in the store where there were a dozen of so tables, and too many chairs for him to count. There were recliners and red beanbag chairs. The carpet was a nice, soft yellow color, as were the walls. The tables were a beautiful oak, and the chairs were a neutral gray. Harry sighed and sank into a recliner, closing his eyes.
"You're late." A voice startled him, and he jumped and opened his eyes.
"Hermione!" Harry stood and threw his arms around his best friend tightly. She smiled.
"Where's Ron?" She asked. Harry shrugged.
"Not reading, that's for sure," he joked. Hermione laughed.
"Well, I'll go see if I can't find him." She disappeared behind aisles of books.
"Hello, Harry," a soft voice came behind him. He turned to find a lovely girl with long, blonde hair smiling at him.
"Hello, Luna."
"Neville and I have missed you," she said.
"I've missed you, too. How's Neville?"
"Good. He's enjoying his work in herbology very much. Although he's told me he doesn't quite like the plants that try to bite his hand off."
Harry laughed. "I don't blame him."
Luna giggled, too. "Shall I tell Nevvie you said hello?"
"Sure, and let's have lunch sometime, huh?" Harry offered.
"Oh yes, I'd like that very much." Luna leaned down to swoop a book off the floor, pet it, and set it back on the shelf where it belonged. Harry could hear the book purring.
"Speaking of purring, have you seen Crookshanks anywhere?" Hermione asked, rejoining Luna and Harry, along with Ron. At least one of the books didn't eat him.
"I have not. Would you like help finding him?" Harry inquired.
"Would you, please? It'd help so much. That cat sneaks off so much." Harry nodded, then wandered away from his three friends who were now whispering.
Granger and Lovegood Books, Inc. was a very busy place, and Harry honestly didn't know how Luna and Hermione could stand it. He kept an eye out for the mangy cat that Hermione loved for some reason. Hermione had put a spell on the doors and windows of the store that kept the cat inside unless she broke said spell. Then she could open the doors and windows in the summer when the heat exceeded 80 degrees.
Summers were beautiful. Neville sold some of his flowers here sometimes (the ones that didn't bite). Luna sometimes helped Neville with his gardening, and so did his grandmother. While Neville wasn't shy anymore, he was still quite. But as Luna had explained to him once, you didn't have to be shy to be quiet.
Harry wiped his forehead, brushing some of his hair over his scar. He had long since gotten his eyes fixed with surgery so he no longer needed his glasses, which he was grateful for. Muggle surgeries were fantastic.
"Excuse me, do you work here?" a low voice asked from behind as Harry hunted for the cat. Harry turned and found himself face to face with a blond man about his age and height. His hair was short and spiked up.
"No, I'm afraid I don't. But maybe I could help anyways?"
"Maybe. I'm actually looking for a book for my son. It's kind of rare, but I was thinking maybe this bookstore has it." The man handed Harry a piece of parchment.
"Hmm... Here, let's see if we can't find it. If it's not here, I'm sure we could get our hands on it somehow."
"Thank you." The blond and Harry made their way up front to the computer. Harry moved the mouse to wake up the monitor, and quickly typed in the password. He searched up the book, and the man drummed his fingers on the desk. Harry typed some more, and then exclaimed,
"Found it!"
"Fantastic."
"Um, I'll have to import it from Belgium. It'll take about two or three weeks to ship. Is that alright?"
The young man sighed but nodded. "Yes."
"Great, that'll be 89 galleons, please. Can I have your name?" Harry's fingers danced over the keyboard, awaiting the answer.
"Draco Malfoy."
Harry froze over the "D" key. "Draco Malfoy?" He repeated unsurely.
"Yes. D-R-A-C-O."
"Um... thanks." Harry swallowed and typed in the name quickly, like it would burn his fingertips. He took the galleons from Malfoy.
"So, will I come here to pick it up?" Malfoy asked.
"If you please."
"Okay, well, thank you." Draco nodded politely to Harry and turned to leave when Hermione raced around the corner.
"Harry! Have you found Crookshanks yet?"
Draco's eyes widened and he turned to stare at the blushing raven-haired boy. "Potter?"
"Hello, Malfoy," Harry's voice came out a bit squeaky, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello, Malfoy."
"Um. Hi."
"Wait, Draco?" Hermione squinted at the blond.
"Granger. I assume this is your store," Draco observed.
"You assumed correctly. Can I help you?"
"Well, it seems Potter here already did. I didn't know you worked here," he said to Harry.
"I- I don't. I just help sometimes."
"Ah. Well, I shall be back in a few weeks to collect my book. Potter. Granger." He turned to leave, and Luna came around the corner, too. She cheerfully greeted him, and he greeted her, shook her extended hand, and left. There was an awkward pause.
"Anybody else find that weird as hell?" Ron asked.
"I find it interesting," Hermione said.
"He certainly has changed," Luna commented.
"Did MALFOY really just come in here?" was Harry's response, still not processing what had just happened. Hermione gasped and cried out.
"Crookshanks, there you are, you naughty cat!" and pulled the fat, orange cat from under a chair.
Harry checked his phone. "Oh, geez," he muttered. "I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow!"
"Tell Ginny we say hello," Luna said, and Harry knew very well she meant both Neville and herself.
"Give her a kiss from me," said Ron.
"Tell her to visit!" Hermione cried.
"Got it! Bye!" He rushed down the street, slipped into an alley, and apparated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE ONE WHERE HARRY SEES MALFOY AGAIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harry!" Ginny threw her arms around Harry's neck.
"Hello, Ginny," Harry smiled at the redhead's enthusiasm and hugged her back. "Hey, Ron, Luna and Neville say hi. And Hermione says to visit."
Ginny laughed. "Of course she did."
"You probably should, though. She'll probably hunt you down," Harry chuckled.
"That's probably true."
Twenty minutes later found Harry and Ginny on the couch in the living room watching Spiderman, a superhero they both liked. It was only when Peter Parker was transformed that Harry remembered his earlier encounter.
"Hey, I saw Malfoy today."
"You're kidding!" Ginny almost dropped her drink.
"No. He was in Hermione and Luna's store today."
"Nobody's heard from the git since the war!"
"Yeah. I know. He didn't even recognize me. He said that it was the best bookstore. He even asked me for help finding something."
"What, a porn magazine?"
"No. Some book for his son. He was really polite. Even said hi to Hermione and Luna."
"Well, who would have thought that racist, sexist son of a-"
"He's changed," Harry interrupted. "I mean, I think a lot of people did."
Ginny sighed and kissed Harry on the cheek. "People like Malfoy don't just change, Harry."
Harry didn't respond. He wasn't so sure. He just stared at the television and Ginny got up to go to the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE ONE WHERE HARRY SEES MALFOY AGAIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm just saying, I think it's weird of that git to show up out of nowhere. I mean, nobody's heard of him since the war!" Ron said.
"I know. I know. Ginny... doesn't think he's changed. She says he can't. What do you think?"
"Well, he's MALFOY." Ron had a slight look of disgust on his face.
"Yeah. Right." Harry just took a long drink from his beer.
"Hey, Harry. Hey, Ron," Dean Thomas slid into the bar booth across them. His boyfriend, Seamus, sat beside him.
"Hey, Dean," the two boys greeted.
"Whatcha guys up to?" It was then HArry noticed Dean's speech was a little slurred. He raised an eyebrow.
"You're drunk again, aren't you?" Harry frowned.
"Nooooo," Dean denied.
"If you pass out, I'm leaving you here," Harry stated. He stared into the crowd, zoning out of the conversation. A flash of blond caught his eye. Harry stood up.
"I, uh, gotta go to the bathroom. Be back!" He quickly pushed his way through the crowd, looking for the blond. He didn't see it. He made his way to the bartender and yelled to catch his attention.
"Hey! Have you seen a blond running around?"
"A boy? Yeah, he just went to the bathroom, I think." The bartender jerked his head in the area of the restroom.
"Thanks!" Harry shoved through more people to get to the bathroom, but he was just pushing open the door when he heard soft moaning from inside. Not as if someone were in pain... but more in pleasure. Harry almost gagged and shuffled away from the door.
It was no hope. The blond wasn't here. He probably left. Harry didn't even know why he cared, for that matter. He made his way back to the table, made a weak excuse like "I'm tired" and excused himself home.
"Sure, but can you help me with Dean first?" Dean had moved to sit beside Ron and was now laying on his lap. Harry grinned. Hermione would kill him if she found out.
"Where'd Seamus go?"
Ron pointed. "There."
"Hey!" Harry hollered. "Dean is drunk passed out all over Ron. Please collect him." Seamus laughed, did as he was asked, and took Dean home.
"Well, Hermione'll have my head if I'm not home soon."
"Alright. Well, bye mate."
"Bye." Ron apparated outside. Harry followed suit a minute later, blond forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE ONE WHERE HARRY SEES MALFOY AGAIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry sank into the hot water of the tub. A hot bath was just what he needed to relax. Running into Malfoy had been just as stressful today as it was five years ago.
Harry didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up about 45 minutes later, his skin incredibly wrinkly like a prune and the water ice cold. Shivering, Harry pulled the drain and climbed out, wrapping himself in a towel. He entered his bedroom, noticing one of his lights had gone out, so the room was very dim. Outside, it was storming violently.
Harry had just finished brushing his teeth and getting dressed for bed when he heard something scratching at his window. He thought he saw a figure right outside. He stumbled back, crashing into the wall and almost knocking a lamp over. He blinked and glanced back at the window. It was only a tree. Harry slowly crept over and locked it. A shattering noise caused Harry to jump.
"Shit!" He cursed, spinning around. The lamp from earlier had fallen and broken all over the floor. He hurried to clean up the glass, shut off the lights and climbed into bed.
Right before he fell asleep, he thought he heard Malfoy calling his name softly. Then his voice shifted into Voldermort's, and Voldermort was holding Harry by the neck over the edge of Hogwarts. Behind Voldermort lay Hermione and Ron's limp bodies covered in blood. Dumbledore stood, his eyes hauntingly empty, and heard him whisper, "I'm so disappointed in you."
Voldermort let go of Harry.
Notes: Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism welcome.