5. Invitation to Love
Come when the nights are bright with stars
Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drop in the hay-field yellow.
His voice rang out strong and proud as he read the book to his mother, gaining the courage to weave the tale in many tones of voice from the silent reassurance Lily gave to him. Slender fingers carded through his unruly hair as he read; it was a soothing maternal touch and it both delighted Harry and made his heart twinge, for he knew it would never be real. Harry put the thought from his mind as he came to a particularly large word and had to put up an effort not to stumble over it. "Presti- prestidigitation," he forced out the large awkward word, proud that he managed to say it with only the slightest problem.
"Good job, Harry," Lily lauded him. "Now do you know what it means?"
Harry nodded and said, "Prestidigitation: slight of hand." He had looked the word up the first time he had stumbled upon it in his reading. It was admittedly one of the few words that he did not like very much partly because he never could pronounce it correctly on the first attempt and partly because he thought it was stupid to use such a big word for something as simple as slight of hand. Why substitute the three syllable statement for a huge word twice its length? He did develop a respect for the word though, when he'd said it once at the orphanage and the kids thought he was casting a spell on them. It did sound like a magical word and Harry was quite fond of magic, but after moving in with the Malfoys the respect he'd gained for the word subsided as he learned real magical words, none of which were spells but he was sure he would learn some of them when he was older.
"Wonderful, Harry," the illusion of the fifteen year old Lily Potter cheered! Having such a young image of his mother made her feel more like an older sister than a mother to him, but Harry didn't much mind because it was all he had. "Keep reading love," Lily coaxed him. Harry nodded and continued his reading. He hadn't made it much farther when a familiar tapping sound intruded his inner sanctuary. Harry sighed; Ms. Tanner always sent someone to wake him when he'd spent the night reading and slept past breakfast. The knocking at his door wasn't going to go away if he didn't get up.
"Looks like its time we part ways." Lily's voice rang with the sadness that Harry himself was feeling.
Harry nodded and set his book down. "Bye mom." He turned and wrapped his arms around Lily, reluctant to let himself wake.
Lily pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Don't worry Harry," she assured him, "I'll be here when you return."
Before he could reply he heard his name being called outside of his dream and someone was shaking his physical body attempting to wake him. "Come on Harry." Harry was instantly returned to the world of the living. Peeling his eyes open he was greeted by the sight of the last person he has expected to see standing over his bed. "About time you woke." Draco chided. "It's almost time for breakfast," the youngest Malfoy informed him before descending the steps by the bed and making his way towards the en suite bathroom.
"Draco?" Harry inquired when he heard the water running in his bathtub, "What are you doing?"
"Drawing your bath of course." Draco said exiting the bathroom and heading directly for Harry's walk in closet.
"What? Why?" Harry was sure that he must still be dreaming for Draco Malfoy was not the type a person to draw his own bath much less Harry's.
Draco returned to the bedroom holding a set of Harry clothes, "Because you're my boy of course. I have to take care of you." He put the clothes down on the bed and smiled at Harry, "Now get you lazy behind up and go get in the bath. Wear this when you get out. I'll come get you when its time to go down to breakfast." Not giving Harry time to reply Draco exited the bedroom and Harry heard the door in the sitting room open and close. This morning was off to a bizarre start.
Come in twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene'er you may
And you are welcome, welcome
Harry shrugged and wiped the last of the sleep from his eyes before pushing himself off the bed. Padding across the soft carpet, Harry made his way to the bathroom, turned off the still running water in the bathtub, stripped off his pajamas, and slipped into the warm water of the bath, relishing in the scent of the fruity bubbles. Like always in his baths; Harry allowed his thoughts to drift away from him allowing words to all unbidden into his mind, "certain peculiar words/ like strengths, squeezed, or squinched/ many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps". Harry chuckled as the lines of Galway Kinnell's poem "Blackberry Eating" drifted through his head, thinking how perfect they were for this moment. Those peculiar words were much more pleasurable to him than the big words he often stumbled over, like prestidigitation for example. A lazy smile curled at his lips as he began to wash himself.
Skin flushed from its washing and hair still dripping water, Harry made his way back to the bedroom where he finished drying himself and pulled on the clothes Draco had taken out for him. They were simple clothes of khaki slacks and a button down shirt, the kind of clothes the Malfoy men wore on the daily basis. "Harry!" His name was being called from the sitting room. "Are you ready yet?" Draco asked letting himself into the bedroom and looking Harry over, he nodded his approval. "C'mon, let's head down to breakfast."
Harry nodded and silently followed Draco from the room; the Malfoy held the door open for him and allowed to exit first before pulling it closed and reclaiming his lead. Draco chatted on about the most random things as they headed down the stairs to the family dining hall, Harry listening intently to all he had to say and vaguely wondering why Draco's waste of words did not bother him as much as other people's. Upon entering the dining hall the Malfoy heir greeted his mother with a kiss in the cheek and then pulled out Harry's chair for him to take a seat. Narcissa watched in amazement at her son's action, but none was more amazed than Harry. Surely spending one stormy night in Draco's presence did not warrant this kind of treatment. Harry had seen how friends interacted at the orphanage and none of them held doors or pulled out chairs for each other; was this a wizard thing or a Draco thing? Holding in his questions, Harry listened as Narcissa questioned her son about his night and whether or not the storm bothered him.
"The storm didn't bother me at all," Draco declared with a broad grin painted across his face, "but it did scare Harry and I had to sing him songs until it ended. Did you know Harry could recite poetry, mother? He recited some for me last night."
Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd'ning cherry.
"No I didn't know that. Is that true, Harry?" Narcissa inquired, Harry nodded. The Lady Malfoy knew that he wouldn't speak if he could avoid it, so she directed her next comment to her son. "You two seem to be getting on well this morn."
Draco smiled and nodded. "Harry is my boy; I have to take care of him."
Before Narcissa could speak on that comment their food arrived. "Oh, I forgot to mention Lucius will not be joining us this morning. Well, let's eat."
A brief silence fell over the table as everyone dug into their food, opting to try a bite or two of everything before resuming their conversation. "Mother, can Harry and I go out to the garden after breakfast?" Draco asked after the silence had stretched on too long for the excitable six year old.
Narcissa shook her head. "The garden is wet and muddy; I will not have you play in such filth. You may play up in your rooms, but do not leave this house."
Draco sighed. "Yes, mother."
"I'm sure Harry will enjoy playing with the toy chest your father just got you."
A large beaming smile spread across Draco face at this statement. "Of course," he declared excitedly, "it's only the most amazing toy chest in existence. It's a magic chest, Harry. You'll never be able to guess what you'll pull out of it next." The rest of the meal went to Draco's chattering about the amazing things the chest had produced for him to play with. Harry hummed and nodded where appropriate and continued on with his meal. Draco took a few pauses between his talking to consume his food as well, but Harry noticed that the blond refused to touch the one egg on his plate.
"Draco, do you not like sunny-side up eggs?" Harry inquired in a low voice that only he and Draco could hear.
Draco looked up at him in surprise at the sudden question, but shook his head negatively and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "They're slimy and disgusting."
Harry nodded absently. He knew Narcissa wasn't going to let Draco away from the table unless his plate was clean and Draco seemed so excited about them going to play with his magical toy chest, Harry had to admit he was more than a little excited as well. It would be a waste if Draco had to spend their playtime sitting at the table trying to force down the slimy eggs. Making a decision that he deemed to be best for them both, Harry glanced up to make sure the Lady Malfoy wasn't looking and swapped his and Draco's plate. He'd already eaten his own egg so all that was left for Draco to eat was the mixed berries Harry had been saving for last because they were his favorite part of the meal. Unfortunately Draco had already eaten most of his berries and only left Harry with a few and of course the dreaded sunny-side up egg.
Draco raised one slender eyebrow, "Are you sure?" He asked softly so as not to gain his mother's attention.
Harry nodded. "I really want to play with you," he admitted sheepishly.
Draco's smile was large enough to split his face in half. "You're a good boy Harry." Harry only nodded and set about finishing off Draco's plate. He'd just finished the egg and was going to the remaining berries when a handful of blueberries and raspberries fell onto his plate. Harry looked up in surprise to see where the fruit had come from.
"Next time let Draco finish his own eggs." Narcissa said, not looking up from the letter she'd spent most of the meal reading, "Now finish your fruit and go play." Harry blushed but ate his berries without complaint.
After the meal was finished Draco eagerly pulled Harry away from the table and all but ran up the stairs to his rooms. The toy chest that Draco had spoken so fondly of was in the blond's bedroom and he sprinted across the floor and threw back the lid on it the moment the two of them entered. Whispering his desire to get something good, Draco plunged his arms into the depths of the bottomless chest. A large grin spread across his face when he retrieved his prize. "We're playing pirates!" he declared, tossing Harry a wooden sword and a pirate's costume. "I'll be captain and you can be my first mate. Together we sail the great seas fighting monsters, finding treasure, and striking fear into the hearts all that dare cross us." Reaching into a pouch that he had pulled out of the chest with the pirate toys Draco held up a smooth gray rock the size of a marble. Closing the stone in his little fist Draco mumbled the words "I want to play pirates" three times before letting the stone fall to the floor. Suddenly the bedroom was transformed. The bed was now a large pirate ship, the floor a sea of intangible water, and the walls that had been a white bordered in blue were now moving images of the sea and the horizon over it. "A glamour stone," Draco explained at Harry's awed expression, "Since kids can't use magic for their games glamour stones come in handy." As he said this Draco pulled his pirate costume on over his clothes and climbed onto the bed-turned-pirate ship. "What are you waiting for Harry, come on."
Snapping out of his shock, Harry grinned and pulled on his own costume. "Aye, aye Captain." He called excitedly, mimicking the pirates from his storybooks, and rushing over to the bed.
"Welcome aboard Mate, I'm the fearsome Captain Malfoy bravest pirate of all the seven seas, and you're first mate Potter, the most loyal pirate a captain can ask for. This is our ship The Narcissa, she has seen us through many of storms and even more adventures. Today we will be sailing to…"
Draco continued to narrate their game of make believe and led them on what Harry thought to be the greatest pirate adventures of all time. They fought three great sea beasts that the glamour stone created for them, found a treasure map, explored dark caves, fought off intruding pirates, took hostages and pushed them overboard, and finally found their treasure only to find it guarded by the huge troll. The troll wounded Draco and he told Harry to go on without him, but Harry being the most loyal pirate in all the seas refused to go on without him. Eventually they managed to fool the troll, get their treasure and return to their ship. But then the ship sunk and Draco pushed Harry into a lifeboat but refused to go with him because a captain always goes down with his ship. Harry wandered the seas alone for a time until he shipwrecked on a deserted island, where he found Draco alive and well because he'd been saved by a mermaid princess. Together the two of them built a new ship and went back to reclaim their title as the greatest pirates in all the seas.
Harry had never laughed or had as much fun as he did during this game with Draco; he even narrated part of the story when Draco couldn't come up with anything. The house elves brought them lunch at some point during their game, but they didn't stop playing to eat it, they only incorporated it into the story. By the time sunset rolled around, the two boys had collapsed into the middle of the floor, still glamoured to look like the sea, in fits of giggles. That was how Narcissa found them when she entered the room to check on them.
"Well you two look like you're having a great time," she chuckled.
Draco hopped to his feet a drew his woodened sword, "Halt, who goes there, you've entered the territory of Captain Malfoy and First-Mate Potter, the most fearsome pirates in all the seas."
"Is that so?" Narcissa asked, raising one slender eyebrow, her arms hidden behind her back innocently. Harry saw her lips moving as she mumbled some words he didn't quite catch. "Well I, Captain Narcissa Black the greatest woman pirate alive am here to challenge you for that title." She pulled from behind her back a wooden sword like Harry and Draco had been playing with.
"You shall not take our title as long as I'm still breathing." Draco raised his sword threateningly, before turning to his playmate, "Come on Harry let's show her why no one messes with us." With only a moment's hesitation Harry got to his feet and raised his own sword. The fight was on. Narcissa expertly defended attacks from both Harry and Draco, but the boys were determined and refused to give up.
In the end she managed to defeat them both, first disarming Harry and stealing his sword, then knocking Draco off his feet and placing the tip of her sword to his neck before he could get back up. "Do you yield?" Narcissa demanded.
"Never," Draco growled.
"Then so be it, you shall die and honorable death defending your treasure like any pirate should. On you knees pirate."
Hanging his head in defeat, Draco rose to his knees and his mother raised her sword as if to behead him. Harry acted without thinking; he pushed himself up and threw himself between Draco and the threatening blade. "Harry!" Draco called out, "Oh Harry, did you just die for me?"
Harry smiled sheepishly, "Most loyal first-mate a captain could ask for, right?"
Draco smiled back and petted Harry's unruly black hair, "Right. I shall not let your sacrifice be in vain. I will defend our treasure." Grabbing his sword, Draco launched to his feet and attacked the lady pirate. Harry remained where he had "died" on the floor watching as the battle commenced. In the end Narcissa's sword flew from her hand and Draco claimed victory.
"I yield." Narcissa growled though it didn't sound as reluctant as she wanted it to through her ceaseless giggles.
"No victory is worth the life of my most loyal first mate." Draco allowed his sword to fall to the ground without taking Narcissa's life.
"Now Draco," a cool voice drawled from the doorway, "I'm sure I've taught to always finish the things you start." Lucius Malfoy chastised his son, "What if she comes back and challenges you again? What would Harry think of you not avenging his sacrifice?"
Draco looked at his father defiantly. "She will not challenge me again after I abandon her on a deserted island, but blood begets more blood and Harry's death will not be honored in such away."
Lucius seemed to think that over for a moment, and Harry had to wonder how much weight the six year old's words held. Finally nodding his acceptance Lucius said, "You lot should clean up; its time for dinner."
Come when the year's first blossom blows,
Come when summer gleams and glows,
Come with winter's drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.
-Paul Laurence Dunbar