Disclaimer: NOT MINE!
Parings: Draco/Harry. Implied: Ron/Hermione (Later. Much later…), Severus/Hermione.
Rating: R / M (just to be sure…)
Summary: Harry and Draco, who are paired up together for Muggle Studies, are forced to live together without magic for two months. Will they survive each others' wit and charms or does fate have something else in mind?
Note: Repost. Just working out some kinks before adding a new chapter into the mix. Mostly spell checks and the likes.
Reminder:It is now Saturday morning. Italics mean flashbacks.
-:-:-:-I'm Not In Love-:-:-:-
Chapter 3
Of foods and talks
A soft sigh could be heard as a lone figure shifted on the queen size bed, right in the middle of the dark room. It was still dark, but the condition of the outside world continued to pass unnoticed by the man in between the sheets as he gradually opened his eyes and blinked slowly.
Harry lay back against the unfamiliar mattress underneath him and stared at the unfocused ceiling above his bed. For some reason, he couldn't get himself to jump out of bed and start making breakfast although it was his turn to cook. As he continued to lie stationary on the bed, a single tear fell unnoticed from his eyes and silently made its way down towards the pillow underneath his head.
Don't leave me, please…
I love you, Harry…
"No, please. Don't let me remember," Harry choked as he shot up into a sitting position on the bed and buried his face in the palm of his hands while taking deep breaths at constant intervals.
Memories resurfaced and Harry felt as if he were suddenly swimming in them; drowning even. He couldn't break free of the haunting touches or the soft whispers which suddenly seemed to echo all around him. Sobbing softly to himself, Harry forced himself to slam the doors of his mind closed and shove the memories of his past back into the corner of his mind, unacknowledged for the time being.
Minutes passed and Harry gradually opened his eyes. He swore to himself once that he would never go down that path ever again; it would bring up too many unwanted emotions that he already buried deep inside of himself. He promised himself that he would never hurt himself again under any circumstances at all.
Grabbing his glasses from the side table beside the bed, Harry pushed himself up from the bed while putting on his glasses and walked over towards the window. Harry wiped away the remaining tears that were threatening to fall from his expensive eyes with a single fluid motion while overlooking the view of the slightly misty London.
"I can do this," he said confidently as he watched the first ray from the sun shine while the world around him slowly awoke.
He was ready to face the world.
Harry walked over to kitchen while unconsciously ruffling his damp hair, making it wilder than it usually was. It was his fourteen day into the month (six into the project days) and he was more and more uncomfortable with the living arrangements as the days pass. Heading towards the silver refrigerator which was at one corner of the room beside the sink, Harry opened one of the doors and frowned. There was nothing in it, save some eggs and milk. Several colorful words escaped his mouth and a conversation he had with the blond Slytherin from Tuesday night suddenly popped into his head.
"Malfoy, you know that today it's your turn to cook, right?" Harry pointed out as he watched the Slytherin lounge on the sofa while flipping through a muggle magazine. Looking up, Draco just raised an eyebrow at the Gryffindor.
"Why should I? Isn't that your field of expertise? I heard it's a rather normal act for commoners such as you," Draco said smoothly and Harry sighed as he flopped down on the end chair.
"You get the bed tonight, Malfoy and therefore it's your turn to cook dinner," Harry replied as he watched the blonde continue to flip through the magazine.
"I can honestly say that I don't see your point," Draco replied.
"Look, Malfoy, just cook the damn dinner already!" Harry fumed and Draco smirked.
"Temper, temper. I'm surprised at you, Potter. Do you really trust me that much?" Draco said and Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"What are you talking about? Of course I don't trust you," Harry shot back.
"And I wonder why you trust me to cook your dinner for you. The irony of it! Don't you think it'd be an excellent chance for me to poison you?" Draco said again while looking at Harry with a piercing gaze.
"You can't; you and I are the only two people who are currently living in this place so it'd be too much of a risk for you to do that. If I die while I'm in this house, there's nobody left to blame except you," Harry replied smugly while crossing his arms across his chest.
"Touché," Draco said smirking while raising his left eyebrow. Harry just smirked back.
"And now that we've gotten past the whole trust issue, I'm still wondering why it is that you're still sitting there, reading Cleo no less, while you should be making dinner right now," Harry said again, leaning back.
"And here I thought that you weren't as dumb as you look. I knew I was giving you too much credit," Draco shot back and Harry glared at him.
"Look Malfoy, it's either you cook tonight and sleep in the bedroom, or I cook which means you get to sleep out here. Take your pick. I'm fine either way," Harry said laying down the law. Looking up, Draco shot him his most gruesome death glare at the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Unlike you, Golden boy, I do keep my end of the bargain. I already checked that big silver muggle contraption and there was nothing in there except some eggs and milk. Now, unless you want your breakfast served as your dinner in disguise, I really don't see the point to this conversation of ours," Draco said in an almost hissing manner. At the blonde's explanation, Harry just frowned.
"And what exactly are we gonna eat tonight? I'm starved!" Harry exclaimed while Draco practically ignored him and continued to read the article he was reading. He seemed to find it rather interesting as the title 'The side effect of using too much gel on your hair' really did sound stupid to Draco. How was it possible that using too much gel could actually damage hair? It was unheard of, surely!
"Malfoy! Are you listening to me? I'm hungry!" Harry said again and Draco looked up at him.
"Potter, stop whining will you? You are really starting to sound like Parkinson," Draco replied and Harry fumed. "Well, since there is no other option, I suggest you ask for help. I heard you're quite close to a certain house elf. You could just ask him for food."
"Who? Dobby? Are we even allowed?" Harry asked.
"Well, the professor said that we're not allowed to do magic. She didn't say that others couldn't do it. And since that house elf is not a student, I don't see any reason why he couldn't help us with a little dinner arrangement," Draco explained as he sat back on the sofa and looked at his arch rival.
"Good point. So, how do we do this? I know there's a fireplace in the kitchen at Hogwarts but I'm not sure if our fireplace is connected to it or not," Harry said.
"We? What we? I don't go around begging for food, Potter. That's your job," Draco smirked.
"What do you mean 'it's my job!' If you're suggesting that you stay here while I go back to Hogwarts then you're dead wrong! Besides, if I'm going down then you sure as hell are coming down with me!" Harry cried out.
"Potter, don't be dense! It's not illegal! It's not like you're doing magic intentionally. You're not even going to eat your dinner there! You're just calling a favor from a friend. I doubt they are going to fail you just because you are asking a friend for a favor," Draco pointed out.
"Well, if it's not 'illegal' as you put it, then why aren't you coming along with me?" Harry shot back.
"Well, for one thing, somebody has to stay back here and keep an eye on the house. You can never be too careful, you know," Draco said and Harry frowned again.
"Then why don't you go and I'll stay here instead," Harry said. Draco just shook his head slowly, wondering how this slow person that he was currently talking to turned out to be the savior of the wizarding world.
"Like I said before, Potter, Malfoys just don't beg others for food. Besides, the house elf knows you better than me. That way, it'll be easier to obtain our dinner other than the whole mess I have to go through if I were the one who have to get the food. So, logically, you are certainly the best candidate for this job." Draco smirked again as he cross his arms against his chest.
Harry leaned back as he thought things over. As much as it pained him to admit it, the blonde did have a point. It was the easiest way around it. It was already late, in half an hour the floo connection to the school will be closed and he did have a lot of work to do so that means eating out was definitely not an option. He didn't feel like ordering Chinese or pizza that night either. Sighing, he agreed to it.
"But if I fail, then you're definitely coming down with me. Is that clear?" Harry said as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder.
"Crystal." Draco answered shortly as he watched the Gryffindor cry out the location and step into the emerald flames with a smirk.
Harry pulled out the eggs and milk, making the fridge completely bare. He had forgotten about their problem concerning the lack of food mainly because they flooed to the apartment on Monday. Since Wednesday normally meant Quidditch practice for Harry and private lessons on Potions for Draco, the both of them had their dinner at school that night because students were permitted to have dinner at school if they have some sort of after school activity.
They had asked Dobby for help again for the past two night since the two of them had a major Transfiguration essay to finish up during the weekend. Harry knew that they would be able to finish it during the weekend but he wanted to leave it open mainly because he, Ron and Hermione had plans to spend the entire Sunday getting lost in London. Harry grimaced at this; he wondered what Hermione would think of him for abusing the friendship that he has with the house elf. Now, since it is Saturday, neither one of them has any reason to go back to Hogwarts nor that they can since the connection is closed on the weekends.
"Which means we have to go shopping for food," Harry said to himself as he placed the two items on the table.
"You know what they say, Potter. Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," a familiar voice drawled and Harry just sighed.
"I'm glad you're up. We have to go food shopping. There's nothing in the fridge at all so we have to pick something up if we don't want to starve for the next two months," Harry said without turning around. Swiftly, he pulled out the frying pan and placed it on the stove.
"Then what is it that you're cooking? Mud?" Draco replied.
"No. I found the eggs and milk in the fridge like you said the other night, and I plan to cook it for today's breakfast. We can't eat at Hogwarts unless it's a school day," Harry said and walked over towards one of the cabinets above the sink, pulling out a tall glass.
"Well blimey, Potter. You did excel yourself. Did you think of that all by yourself?" Draco asked sarcastically.
Harry glared and hissed, "I was just pointing it out. There's nothing else to cook."
"Then don't. We'll eat out today. Besides, I don't feel like having eggs for breakfast," Draco said after a pause. Turning around, Harry faced Draco for the first time that morning with an empty glass still in his hand.
"I think that's a good idea. I don't feel much like eggs anyway," Harry agreed as he placed the glass back in the cabinet.
"Good. We'll leave in a few minutes," Draco said as he walked towards the bathroom without another word. While placing everything that he had pulled out back to its original place before Draco's suggestion, a thought suddenly struck him.
'I just had a decent enough conversation with Draco Malfoy,' he thought in amusement.
Draco stood behind the Gryffindor watching as Harry locked the door to their apartment and turn towards him. Nodding, both of them started walking towards the end of the hallway where the elevator was located. Harry was about to push the button when he noticed Draco wasn't standing next to him like he should. Looking around, he watched in amusement as Draco walked towards the door that was labeled 'Stairs'.
"Malfoy, where are you going?" Harry asked lightly and Draco turned to look at him.
"I'm taking the stairs, Potter. How else would we reach the lobby?" Draco replied skeptically and Harry could feel himself smirking at the oblivious blonde.
"You can't be serious, Malfoy. We're on the 25th floor! There is no way I'm taking the stairs!" Harry exclaimed and Draco smirked.
"Then how do you suppose we get downstairs? Fly?" Draco said sarcastically while folding his arms across his chest. Harry just looked at him and laughed.
"I keep forgetting how little you know about the muggle world. Of course we're not going to fly! No magic, remember? We're going to take the elevator. It's faster that way," Harry shot back and Draco then just glared at him.
"Fine! Now where is this elevator of yours?" Draco snapped and Harry just shook his head. The blonde did amaze him sometimes.
"Don't tell me you don't know what an elevator is! Haven't you been to the Ministry of Magic before? They do have it there," Harry exclaimed as he thought back to the time he was summon there back in his fifth year.
"For your information, no, I have not been to the Ministry before. I have no reason what so ever for me to be there," Draco replied. Harry just shook his head in response.
"C'mon, this way," Harry said as he led Draco over towards the end of the hallway. Pressing the down button, Draco watched doubtfully as Harry leaned against the wall while waiting.
"Now what, genius?" Draco asked and Harry just smiled sideways at him.
"Just keep your pants on, Malfoy. It'll be here in a few seconds," Harry said and sure enough, a few seconds later, a soft ding could be heard and the door in front of the blond opened. Motioning the blond to follow him, Harry stepped into the elevator.
"Well, are you coming or not?" Harry asked while raising his left eyebrow at the blond.
"There is no way I'm going into that… thing." Draco said.
"C'mon Malfoy, I'm starving! It's not like the cable is gonna snap or something," Harry sighed but the pureblood refused to budge.
"No. Way," Draco said, slowly this time as if he was talking to a little boy.
"Then what are you gonna do? Leap down from the balcony? There is no other way down!" Harry exclaimed as he pressed the 'open' button when the door began to close.
"I'm going to take the stairs. I'll see you downstairs," Draco said simply as he started to walk towards the other end of the hallway where the stairs were located.
"Bloody hell, Malfoy, just get in the damn thing! It's gonna take you forever to reach the lobby that way!" Harry yelled at the blonde's retreating back.
"At least it's better than getting into that small box! There is no telling what might happen if I enter that thing," Draco replied.
"Well, I've been taking it for as long as I've lived and I'm still alive, aren't I?" Harry shot back and Draco laughed.
"And this is coming from a person who think dragons are endearing," Draco drawled.
"Hey, I never said they're endearing. I just think they're cute," Harry said in a small voice.
"I rest my case," Draco smirked.
"Fine, take the damn stairs! See if I care if you pass out from fatigue," Harry snapped as he pressed the 'close' button continuously until the door close in front of him slowly. After pressing the 'G' button, Harry leaned back against the back wall of the elevator.
"And to think that we were getting along just fine," Harry snarled softly to himself. Spreading both his hand at either side of him, Harry looked up and stared at the small escape door above him.
'Well, if he wants to use up all his energy by climbing down the stairs, let him. See if I care!' Harry thought to himself angrily. After a few moments later, a small ding could be heard followed by the soft whooshing noise as the door in front of him opened. Stepping out of the confined space, Harry spotted the stairs and just took a seat on the one of the steps at the bottom to wait for the pig-headed, as Harry called him, Slytherin.
Harry sat there for the next five minutes until he could hear the muffled sounds of footsteps. Without looking up, he felt rather than heard Draco sit down next to him and Harry waited for him to catch his breath.
"Not a word, Potter. Not one word," Draco growled and Harry just smirked while looking sideways at him.
"Why Malfoy, I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said sweetly and Draco just groaned.
Draco was the first one to get up and motion Harry to get up so that they could begin their day. Walking side by side, Harry looked around him, noticing the brown leaves fall silently around him.
"What do you feel like having this morning?" Harry asked without looking at the blond. Looking around, Draco then pointed towards a small café that was mostly decorated in green at one corner of a building. Harry let out a shout laugh. "Starbucks. I should've known."
"Well, what exactly would you expect? Something that is decorated in Slytherin color is bound to be good," Draco smirked.
"Well, I don't know 'bout the Slytherin color thing but I do know that the coffee there is good," Harry chuckled as he led the blond Slytherin inside.
After a quiet breakfast, the two of them walked towards a moderately sized hypermarket a few blocks from their apartment.