AN: Hey, thanks for reading guys! It means so much to me, it's ridiculous. If you have the time, please drop a review, I love them. This chapter actually took me a lot less time than I thought it would. I wouldn't expect them this quickly in the future. That being said, please enjoy!

Evergreen

Chapter 2, "Cotton Fields and Coffee Beans"

Harry got out of bed with difficulty and made his way over to the bathroom. He'd been avoiding mirrors lately. After the battle, he couldn't stand to see the cuts and bruises on his face, but now they were all healed and he chanced a glance.

What he found there shocked him slightly. Yes the bruises were gone and his hair was a little longer, but what really surprised him was that not much other than that had changed. He'd expected, well he didn't know what to expect, maybe to somehow look a bit…different. He closed his green eyes; he didn't want to look at himself anymore.

He grabbed a quick shower and then headed down the hall to do some looking around. Sirius had left him this house and since he'd moved in he was really only occupying a quarter of it. He had chosen the most practical and least used bedroom he could find for himself and apart from the bathroom, the kitchen, Teddy's room, and the living room; he never really got a chance to venture elsewhere.

It was mostly just bedrooms and sitting rooms. On the second floor Harry found a wonderful study with a great mahogany desk, the walls lined with books and a large pensieve by the window. There were enough books for it to be a very respectable library.

He climbed further up and found the room he'd known would be there, just as he'd left it. Sirius' room was still a mess from when it had been searched for the locket horcrux. Harry walked over to the desk, noticing pictures everywhere. They were mostly, to Harry's delight, group shots including his father and Lupin. There were even a few of his mother, her long red hair blowing in the wind as she smiled for the picture. It made him think of Ginny then, he decided that today was the day he would visit her and have that long awaited talk. It was only fair to clear the air.

A picture caught his eye then of Peter Pettigrew. He was in a photograph with James, Sirius and Lupin; the four marauders. He wasn't quite so rat-like; there was innocence in his eyes. He was happy, genuinely happy to be included in this group. Harry flipped it over and read the back; all that was written was Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs.

It baffled Harry that Pettigrew had been their friend. One of their best friends and he sold them out. He cost them their lives and he cost Harry his childhood. How could a person go from being so trustworthy, to so backstabbing? How could a person change so much?

He let that thought go for the moment and got ready to make his way to the Weasley's.

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Harry apparated straight into the front foyer of the Burrow. It was eerily quiet for this usually busy home and it unnerved him a great deal. He was starting to feel more nervous about talking to Ginny by the second and seriously contemplating turning back when Ron came around the corner. Jumping animatedly at the sight of Harry.

"Good God mate I didn't know you were here! Scared the living shit out of me you did." He put a hand to his chest to compose himself and gave Harry a big pat on the back.

Harry returned the gesture and they made their way to the sitting room. "Sorry, I actually didn't think anyone was here, it's so quiet."

"Yeah George is off at the shop and Mom and Gin are out shopping for clothes or something, they'll be back soon." They took a seat across from each other in large armchairs. "Dad is here somewhere. Oh, wait a sec." He got up from the chair. "I was making a sandwich, you want anything?"

"No thanks, I just ate." Harry replied, looking around anxiously.

"Suit yourself." Ron shouted from the kitchen. "You know, Hermione was just here. Too bad you missed her. She had some things to talk to you about."

Harry's interest grew at that. "Do you know what it was about?"

Ron was making his way back to the sitting room now, plate of food and milk in hand. "Yeah it was mostly about the Ministry actually. She was concerned that things were getting out of hand over there and wanted to pick your brain on it I guess."

"Yeah I heard about that. I've just had my mind on other things. Do you know anything about it?"

"Well duh, it was on the front page of the Prophet." He spoke with his mouth full of sandwich.

"Uh, yeah like I said, other things on my mind."

"Well don't worry about it. What's happening is the Ministry is doing a complete wipe out of Death Eaters, without a fair trial. They want no chance for them to revolt you know? Most are being given life in Azkaban, some, those who were closest to Voldemort, are sentenced to death." He took another huge bite of sandwich. "Normally they would have been given the dementor's Kiss, but there's no dementor's left now is there? Not since Voldemort's defeat."

"This is exactly what I was afraid would happen." Harry clenched his fists on his legs. "They don't know anything about these Death Eater's. Yeah some of them were bad, some of them were fucking evil and are getting what they deserve. But most of them, or at least a lot of them weren't evil, they were just doing what they had to do to survive!"

"I know mate, calm down I feel the same way. But what are we to do about it?"

"I don't know, there has to be something. It's just that the Ministry thinks they're so much better than Voldemort was. That it was wrong for him to want to generalize and extinguish an entire group of people, but what they're doing is basically the same thing."

"You know I bet if you talked to them, or made some sort of campaign about it, they would listen to you. You're practically a celebrity now in case you haven't noticed. There was an article about you on that front page the other day."

Just then there was a shuffling noise from the fireplace and out walked Molly Weasley followed by Ginny, with parcels in their arms.

"Oh Harry! I didn't know you'd be coming for a visit today!" She put her packages down and pulled him into a great hug. Over her shoulder he saw Ginny give him a brief smile before turning out of the room.

"You've been well I trust? Still not eating enough, you're practically skin and bones. Come to the kitchen, I'll make you some nice soup." She let him go and motioned for him to follow.

"Actually I've already eaten. I also just wanted to have a quick word with Ginny, if you don't mind…"

She gave him a warm look. "Of course dear, I'll just put on a pot of tea then."

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley." He patted her arm then bounded off in search for Ginny. He quickly found her in the garden, sitting on a wire bench.

He approached her cautiously. Now that he found her, his nerves were catching up too. "Why are you sitting out here?"

"It's a nice day. I can sit here if I like can't I?" It was a nice day. The sun was brilliant and it made her hair shine with flecks of gold. Her eyes were icy cold when they met his though. He thought she must know what was coming.

She patted the spot next to her for him to sit and he did. It was so strange being beside her. To feel her warm body against his. He almost forgot what he had to tell her, but quickly remembered when she looked him in the eye again.

"Gin…There's..."

"Always the articulate one." She was joking with him, or at least it felt like joking. It worked to ease the tension a bit. "Just come out with it Harry, we both know where this is going." He had forgotten how smart the girl could be.

"I don't know how to say this." He looked around the garden, at the tall trees in the distance, the little pond to his side, the birds chirping nearby it. Anywhere but at Ginny. "I barely understand it myself." He forced himself to look into her face before he told her what would come next. "Ginny, I can't be with you."

She looked down for a minute, unable to meet his gaze, then nodded slowly and gave him a small, sad smile. Harry thought she tried to make it warm, but it was still a little chilling somehow.

"I know Harry, I know."

"I just…Just so much has happened, I'm so confused and my mind is always in a thousand places at once."

"It's okay, but can you tell me why? Was it something I did?"

"No! God no, you've been perfect. I care about you so much, I wish I knew… I did love you once Gin. It's just now, now things have changed, you know? I've changed, and you have too, believe it or not."

He took her hand for a minute before continuing.

"You're an amazing girl. You brought me so much happiness when I needed it the most. I know for a fact that it was you who got me through this, who kept me going. You're so strong and good; you'll make somebody very happy one day." He noticed that she let a tear fall down her face, but gave him a small smile anyway.

"How strong am I now? I can't even go a few days without crying." He realized he had rarely seen her cry before. He always thought of her as a strong person. One of the strongest he would ever know. He truly did love her once, but now it felt wrong to be with her. Almost like cheating her of the life she should have.

"Tears aren't a sign of weakness; they're a sign of freedom." He pulled her into a hug and she wept gently into his shoulder. "Just let it go." He told her, wondering why he hadn't been able to cry much himself lately.

He left the Weasley's house then. It wouldn't be right to stay for tea. He gave a quick apology to Mrs. Weasley and a goodbye hug to Ron and made his way back to London.

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There was a slight breeze in the spring air but the sun was warm on the back of Harry's neck as he walked through the park. He hadn't particularly felt like going back to his empty house on Grimmauld Place so he decided to take a walk instead.

This park had always been his favourite. It was small but there were a lot of trees and a beautiful pond in the centre of it. He passed a couple of white swans that were sitting in the pond; there was a family nearby with a small child that was throwing them bread crumbs.

It truly was a nice afternoon. He thought of Ginny and how she had expected him to tell her they couldn't be together. He wondered how she knew, but then, he really hadn't been making much of an effort to see her after the war.

He walked a while more, intending to maybe find a small, quiet café where he could get a bite to eat when he heard a noise overhead. He looked up to find one of the swans, likely from the park flying above him. That shocked him slightly, he wasn't even sure that swans flew often. For a moment it was directly under the sun and it had an almost ethereal glow to it. It was beautiful. And then it was gone.

Harry was lost in his own thoughts when he came across a nice little coffee shop. When he got inside the first thing he noticed was that it smelled like a mixture of cotton fields and coffee beans. A smell he would eventually, however unknowingly then, become very familiar with. Soft jazz was playing from a stereo in the corner. The place was crowded, not with people but with chairs, tables and shelves with little trinkets and books for sale. There was in fact, nobody there. Not even behind the counter.

He craned his neck around tentatively. "Hello?" He called out.

"Just a minute." Called back a voice from the back. And Harry knew that voice. A second later his suspicions were confirmed as Draco Malfoy bustled out from behind the curtains that lead to the back room.

Harry would never know who was more surprised at that moment. But judging by the look on his face, he would have to say Malfoy.

"Potter. What are you doing here." His cheeks were colouring with red and he looked around the shop nervously.

"Uh, getting a coffee?" He knew Malfoy had been living in the Muggle world now but really did not expect him to be working at a café in London. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't mean to sound rude, he was just genuinely curious.

"Not all of us were quite so lucky after the war Potter. I've been working here so that my family can stay in a decent apartment." Harry could see the reluctance on Malfoy's face. He really did not want to have to be explaining this right now. He could visibly see the great statue that was once Malfoy's pride crumbling down.

Harry knew he could walk away, get a coffee from one of the many other shops on that same street. Leave Draco Malfoy and likely never see the man again but he didn't. He didn't know why but he decided to stay in that coffee shop. He sat at the bar and ordered a mocha latte with whipped cream. He watched Malfoy make it and then bring it to him grudgingly. He didn't know what to say then, he really didn't. That was okay though because Malfoy spoke first.

"I read in an article that you're some sort of adoptive father now to that Werewolf's pup. Congratulations."

Harry sighed and took a sip of his latte; clearly working at a café had done nothing to humble Malfoy. The coffee was actually quite good though. "He's my Godson. And I only look after him about every other week."

"Always such a giver, are you?" He hadn't meant it as a question so Harry didn't answer it.

"How's your Mum then Malfoy, I hear she's doing just lovely." He actually knew that Narcissa Malfoy's mind had been going downhill fast.

"Fairly terrible actually, since they killed my Father she's been a tad off." He turned away from Harry then. Trying to seem casual. It wasn't really working.

"They killed your Father? I didn't hear about this." He wasn't genuinely surprised; he knew if anyone was going to get the death sentence, it would be Lucius Malfoy. He still felt a tinge of regret for Draco at that moment though.

Malfoy just nodded and moved to clean the countertop. Harry didn't apologize for Lucius' death. It wouldn't have felt right if he had. He just let the silence fall between them and hoped that it wouldn't last forever.

"You're not going to report me to the Ministry are you?" He said this so quietly Harry almost didn't hear it.

"What? No, I defended you after the war; I still stand by what I said." Harry looked at him incredulously. He couldn't believe anyone would think Harry so petty.

Malfoy looked at him then and just nodded.

Harry continued, "Malfoy. I, more than anyone know what it's like to be dragged into something you never wanted to be a part of. To have expectations hovering over you." He took another long sip from his coffee to think about what he just said. He truly meant it. "I saw you that night when Dumbledore died."

Draco then looked more embarrassed than he had when Harry had first walked in the shop. "Well then I suppose you know all there is to know about me then don't you?"

"No…"

Malfoy let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. They continued this same sort of painful conversation until Harry finished his coffee. It was less polite and filled with more insults than any civilized conversation should be, but it was the best and longest one they had ever managed.

When Harry left that day he knew he should probably never return. He knew that it would be best for both his and Malfoy's mental stability if they steered clear of each other, but that fact still did not stop him from visiting again the next day.

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