The Boy Next Door

Disclaimer: They belong to J.K. Rowling. I only own the plot.
Pairings: Just H/D for now…
Rating: Still PG
WARNING: AU.The fic contains shounen ai, which means a boy loving another boy. I have warned you, okay… If you are not comfortable with the idea, then simply press the "back" button.
Summary: What if Harry and Draco did not live in a magic world, but instead lived as neighbors in the muggle world? Maybe the Malfoys could have a normal muggle life, on the other hand, maybe not.
Author: StrawberryJubilee
Beta: Auroranq

Day 2: The Muggle Cuisine

"Stop it, Zabini!" Draco pushed the taller boy away and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Don't you dare do that again. Ever." Draco said in a disgust tone.

"I was just trying to be friendly, Draco dear…" He gestured that he was going to hug Draco, but Draco pushed his arms away.

"Stop fooling around, Blaise," Draco rolled his eyes. Then his attention was brought back to the other dark haired boy standing next to him with an open jaw. Draco felt like laughing out loud looking at Harry, but he only smirked. "Harry, this is Blaise. Blaise this is Harry Potter."

Blaise raised an eyebrow when he heard Harry's surname. "I see… So, this is the Boy Who-" Draco cut off his sentence and Blaise yelped as Draco purposely stepped on his right foot.

"Yes, as you should have already noticed, apparently this is the boy next door, Blaise." Draco eyed him dangerously, warning him not to speak what he isn't suppose to speak.

"Bloody hell! What did you do that for, Malfoy?!"

"Please accept my apology, I did not see your foot there," he smiled smugly. "By the way, if you aren't suffering from amnesia, you should have no difficulty in recalling that now you are a Malfoy too, my dear Blaise Zabini Malfoy." Blaise glared at Draco and stomped away into the house.

Harry was lost in his thoughts once again. 'What does that mean? That Blaise boy, who doesn't resemble Draco nor Mr. Malfoy at all, has the same family name. Blaise seemed so affectionate towards Draco, moreover, Blaise kissed Draco on the lips.' In his astonishment Harry didn't realize that his lips parted slightly, he never felt shocked so many times in a single day. "Could it be that they are married?" Unconciously, Harry said that last sentence out loud.

"Harry? Who is married?" Draco looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ah! No.. I.. Well.." He stammered on every word he was trying to say, he took a deep breath before he managed to speak normally again, "Are you two married?"

"What?!" Draco's eyes widened and he laughed painfully hard as he envisioned himself being married to Blaise. As soon as he came back to his senses, he quickly regained back his composure. His father would despise him if he saw Draco laughing like a muggle, a Malfoy shouldn't act that way, a Malfoy has to keep his grace in every situation. "Where did you get that idea, Harry? Of course not. Even if he was the last guy on earth I would not even consider marrying him."

Harry eyed him curiously, still wanting to know who the other boy was.

"So, Harry, it's almost lunch time, let's get something to eat. Is there any decent place that you recommend?"

"You're not going to eat with your family?" He was still eyeing Draco due to his curiosity.

"No. My father perhaps will eat lunch at work. Blaise probably is still upset so I guess it's best to give him some space for now." He realized that Harry was still curious about Blaise. "We should better get some lunch and I will tell you about Blaise as we get there. Do you agree?"

"That would be fine. Well, there are lots of nice places here. What do you want to eat? We can have some burgers at Wimpy, or maybe McDonalds. Or we can go to the little restaurant on the corner of the street, the have very delicious pizza. Or we can-"

"Harry, I suppose it would be better if you choose, since you know the area better than me." He cut off Harry's sentence. He knew that it was impolite to interrupt when other people were still talking but if he didn't stop Harry from continuing to list down all the restaurants he had in mind, they may have to wait until nightfall. Moreover, since he wasn't familiar with the muggle food, he was trying to make Harry choose the place.

"Hmm… Okay, then how about some burgers at Wimpy's?"

"That would be fine."

Draco didn't know what a 'burger' was since he only ate food made by the Malfoy family's personal chef, furthermore, the Malfoy family is a noble pureblood family, they detest eating common muggle food. All this muggle stuff is new to him, he still feels odd living without magic. A part of him dislikes it because it makes everything more difficult. Another part of him likes it because he has an opportunity to finally see the world outside the Malfoy Manor and have new experiences that he never imagined before. 'Had Father not made the arrangement, then I wouldn't be here.' He sighed deeply.

"Draco? Why aren't you eating?" Harry gestured towards his burger. It's not that Draco wasn't hungry, but he didn't know the ways of eating a thing called a 'burger'. It was two pieces of round bread stuffed with beef, vegetables and an odd smelling sauce. He was curious to know how it taste; feeling half excited and half disgusted, but he had too keep stoic. He had to observe how the muggles eat burgers since he didn't spot any spoons or forks near them. He though maybe there was some fancy way to eat it, like how the Japanese and Chinese use chopsticks, he thought there was some special muggle appliance needed to eat burgers.

He knew that he needed to start a conversation. He took a zip of his Coca Cola, a sparkling sweet kind of muggle drink. 'Not bad. It seems like there is some kind of magic used here, it somehow tickles my tongue,' he though as he felt the soda tingle on his tongue.

"So, Harry… About what you asked earlier," he smirked at the thought of him being with Blaise, "Remember, I do not have any sort of union such as marriage with him. I would not appreciate such nonsense to become an issue at school."

"Don't 'oorry," Harry mumbled while eating his burger.

Draco let out a light sigh when he found out that muggles eat burgers by hands. 'Barbarians,' he rolled his eyes, 'I really over-estimated them.' Then he took a bite of the exotic cuisine. To his surprise, it tasted good but he didn't want to acknowledge that. Malfoys shouldn't be proud of eating common muggle food, a Malfoy only eats high class cuisine. 'Well, look at me now… Thanks to my so called father..' He sighed again.

"Draco? Is anything wrong? You don't like the food? We can get you something else if you like. You kept on sighing." Harry was worried about him.

"I'm feeling well, thank you for your concern. The food is alright, I'm just a little upset that I have to leave the house which I grew up in." He did not love the Malfoy Manor, especially all those gatherings his father had there, the guests are much to his dislike, but he spent years in the manor it wouldn't be easy to erase the memories about it.

Harry smiled and patted Draco's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll help you to get used to your new life. I hope you will like living here. I'm glad to have you as my new neighbor, you know?"

For a spilt second Draco was stunned by Harry's actions, a shot of crimson began to fill his cheeks and he felt an odd feeling in his stomach when his silver orbs met Harry's emerald ones. He needed to take a deep breath before finding his voice back, trying not to stammer, "Thank you, Harry. I'd appreciate that." Draco was relieved; he almost thought that he would've stumbled. A Malfoy should not stumble; it is against the nature of the Malfoy lineage.

"Blaise's father has died long ago and his mother was killed by The Da-" Draco cut off his sentence, "by a serial killer. He didn't have any other relatives, but he and I were friends since childhood, so my parents adopted him. So, now he is a part of the Malfoy family too." He paused and took another zip of his drink. "He is still upset with that fact. I don't blame him, he lost his only family in that incident."

Harry nodded after he heard the explanation, but it was obvious that he still had some more questions in his mind. Being as insightful person as any other Malfoys, he sensed what Harry was about to ask. As Harry was about to ask the question, Draco already answer it, "Blaise is bisexual and he is a player. He will try to get his hands on every appealing thing that walks on two legs," Draco chuckled, "You should be careful with him. I wouldn't be surprised if one night he sneaks into your bedroom." Draco smirked when he saw Harry's jaw hanged open again.

"Wh-why would he want to do that for?" Harry nearly choked on his drink.

"I already informed you that he takes pleasure in having as many lovers as he can manage to get," somehow he liked the way The Chosen One gazed into his eyes, "and you are quite appealing too." He was a bit shocked himself; he wasn't sure why he said that. He reached for his drink elegantly, trying to fight back the anxiety he was feeling. "I will try my best not to let him get near you." He didn't know why he said that either, it just slipped out of his mouth.

"Th-thanks, Draco."

Then they kept talking while they finished their meals. 'Maybe I could enjoy living here afterall," Draco smirked blissfully.

TBC

A/N:

Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with my research. It's so painful to be in the last year of college. Writing fanfics cheer me up a bit. So, what do you think? R&R, please!