Chapter 10 TW/CW food, Halloween, alcohol, death m, ghosts m, spiders m, drugs, cigarettes
Harry raked the gold and brown leaves all to one pile. October had begun to set in, but it was rather chilly for the twenty-ninth. He was wearing the sweater that Mrs. Weasley had gotten him for the last Christmas, yet he still had goosebumps. Or were those a result from his anticipation for the arising party? Only Merlin knew…
He swept the leaves into a garbage bag and went inside the house. Everything looked perfect. All of the decorations were up and the goody bags were fixed. The only things left to do were the graveyard brownies and the dinner. Andromeda and Harry decided to clean on the twenty-ninth, bake brownies on the thirtieth, and cook dinner a few hours before the party started.
The days passed by and it was 8 AM on Halloween. Harry hadn't slept well and had been going in and out of consciousness since 1 AM. Finally, he decided to get up and make coffee. He out on a hoodie, turn the coffee pot on, and escaped outside for a cigarette.
After that, he chugged two cups of black coffee and got out the ingredients for a pork roast. If he were to dress Teddy, dress himself, do last-minute cleaning, and cook dinner, he would have to start early. So, he cut up carrots and potatoes and pork until 9AM. At that time, he woke Teddy up and bathed him. The toddler didn't make it an easy job and his squeals woke Andromeda at 9:30. She vacuumed and dusted, and Harry dressed Teddy up in his giraffe costume. Teddy seemed to like it because he'd often change his skin color to match the browns and yellows of the outfit.
They all ate lunch at noon and then went their separate ways. Andromeda went to her room to mix the candy together in bowls and to change into her costume—Greek mythology's Medusa. Harry put Teddy down for a nap and then headed to the kitchen in order to make brownies.
About an hour and a half later, the brownies were cooling, Teddy was awake, and Harry and Andromeda were making icing from scratch. Two hours from the party, Harry went to his room so that he could finally get ready. He wasn't going as anything special—just a pirate. However, Harry wanted it to be amazing, so he'd bought a full outfit, an eyepatch, a fake beard, and eyeliner. It took him thirty minutes and four tries, but his makeup was finally perfectly messy.
At 3:30, Harry set out the drinks and snacks and finalized the pork roast. The door began to sing and Harry knew that the first guests had arrived. He opened the door and invited Hermione and Ron inside.
"Hey! How are you two?" Harry asked.
"We're great!" Ron answered. He smiled and looked at Hermione.
She nodded and held up her left hand. A golden ring, topped with a ruby, glittered in front of Harry's eyes.
"Wow," he said. "Is that..?"
"No," Ron replied. "It's a promise ring."
"Notice how it doesn't have a diamond," said Hermione.
"We decided on Ruby—for Gryffindor," Ron elaborated.
"That's great. Do you know when you're gonna tie the knot?" Harry asked.
"Umm.." Ron said.
"We've just decided to wait and get engaged at the right time. I'd like to get engaged after university and then maybe actually get married a few years later. I'm considering getting my doctorate in chem at a graduate school in the States," Hermione said.
"Woah, Hermione. You could, like, go to Harvard or something," Harry said, astonished.
She bit her lip, "I don't know…I don't think that…"
Andromeda came in the room and greeted them. "Hello! How are you guys? Oh my, is that real ruby? Ron, I hope you're treating her right."
Ron's face went as red as the gem, and Hermione grinned. They all left the room to go chat and Harry opened the door to let the rest of the Weasleys in.
Five minutes later, Narcissa arrived. She was dressed in an elegant, green silk dress and was immediately welcomed in by her sister. At 4:15, Harry was starting to doubt that Draco would show up. Andromeda saw the concern on his face and offered him a reassuring smile.
Harry soon decided to stop waiting by the door and started to socialize. After talking to the Weasleys for ten minutes, he and Ginny set off to converse.
"So, guess who made it onto the Harpies," Ginny commanded with a smirk.
"Hmm…was it Neville?"
Ginny slapped him playfully on the arm and said, "I got the acceptance letter two days ago. I legit cried—I couldn't believe it!"
Harry grinned and Ginny asked, "What?"
He replied, "Nothing. Just can't believe that you said 'legit.'"
They continued to talk about Ginny's career for a few minutes until she finally asked, "So, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Well, you're almost finished with your first semester, right? Do you know what you want to do yet?"
Harry frowned and said, "I dunno."
They dropped their conversation and walked to the living room. Harry's jaw fell when he observed Draco and Mr. Weasley deep in conversation.
Ron pulled Harry aside and whispered, "He wrote us all apology letters." He paused to show Harry the three page letter. "This has gotta be at least thirty inches. Can you believe it? Dad wanted to talk to him about the muggle educational system."
Harry smiled and walked over to Mr. Weasley and Draco. He waved when Draco noticed him. The two spoke for a few more minutes until Mr. Weasley excused himself.
"So, you look shocked. Did you think that I wasn't going to show?" Draco asked.
"Well, you were late."
"Yes, but have I ever not kept my promises?"
Harry furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I'm sure that there was at least one time."
Draco laughed.
The night continued and Harry joined Narcissa and Andromeda on the porch. Eventually, Andromeda went inside to get more candy.
"I wanted to thank you," Narcissa said to Harry. "for forcing my son to cease his self-isolation."
"Oh, I wouldn't say I forced him…"
"Well, semi-coercing him…" she corrected herself. Then she admitted, "Draco hasn't been well since after the war. He has been dabbling in muggle drugs and alcohols-"
"He's been sober for a really long time," Harry interrupted.
"Yes, I knew that you were withholding information from me," Narcissa smiled sadly. "I've been worried about him and you've helped him…" she trailed off when Andromeda came back out.
Harry sat outside for about twenty more minutes and then found his way inside. He found Draco admiring the brownie graveyard by the dessert table.
"Like it?" Harry asked. Draco smiled and nodded.
"Andromeda and I made it."
They stood around awkwardly.
"So," Harry said. "Ginny got accepted into the Holyhead Harpies."
"Cool," Draco replied. He furrowed his eyebrows, opened his mouth, shook his head, and closed his mouth.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"What about you? Why aren't you an auror or a Quidditch star?"
Harry shrugged, "You?"
"Well, the Ministry would never hire me…and I don't really care for Quidditch."
"You don't?"
"Nah."
"Oh."
It was about 10 PM when Harry decided to put Teddy to bed. He walked out of the toddler's room and
Bam!
"We really have got to quit doing that," Harry informed Draco.
"S-sorry."
"S'okay."
They made eye contact and Draco asked, "Why are you at a muggle uni?"
"No press," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"Oh…what are you majoring in?"
"Dunno yet…you?"
"Uh…history. I think that I want a minor, but I don't know what it'd be."
Mostly everyone had left by midnight. Harry walked around snacking on the leftover candy with Fleur and Bill. Eventually, he excused himself for a cigarette and they joined Narcissa and Andromeda in the living room.
He went outside to the back porch—half-hoping for solitude. Yet, when he saw the dim glow of a lit cigarette, he knew that he wouldn't be alone.
"Hey, what's up?" Harry asked Draco.
"Hey…" the blond sleepily replied. "Just…wanted to be alone."
"Well, too bad," Harry joked. Draco yawned.
Harry sat down and asked, "When did you start smoking?"
"Fourth year, maybe fifth. You?"
"After the war. Andromeda was smoking and I figured that it would relieve stress. Also, why did you start then? Cigarettes are muggle things, right?"
Draco shrugged, "Does it matter?"
"Guess not."
Draco finished his cigarette, but didn't go back inside. Harry took the blond's presence as permission to continue.
"So, I spoke with your mother…" Harry said.
"Oh, Merlin," Draco cringed.
Harry continued, "She said that the war was pretty hard on you…"
"Hmm…I wonder why. It's not like Voldemort was living in my home or anything like that…"
"Yes, bu—hey.."
"Hey?"
"You said it. You said his name."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Well, typically you move your mouth and then your larynx—"
"You know what I mean."
"I guess I just…got over it."
"Got over it?"
"Yeah."
"Is that how you stopped drinking and doing drugs too?"
"Stop," Draco demanded. "What else did she tell you?"
"That she was worried about you because you had been doing muggle drugs and alcohols."
Draco sighed, "Why do you care?"
"Because we're friends and friends care about each other. We are friends, right?"
"Yes. But still—"
"Drugs are dangerous."
"Woah, really? I never knew!"
"You don't have to be so sarcastic. What stuff were you doing?"
"Pot, Ritalin, coke…"
"Cocaine?!"
"No, Coca Cola," Draco rolled his eyes.
"Enough sarcasm! Draco, that's dangerous."
"It's not like I'm doing it now!"
"Why were you ever?"
"Oh my God," Draco said. He stood up and paced around the porch. He lit another cigarette.
"I just don't understand," Harry said. "I'm sorry."
"Because I was depressed," Draco responded, his voice substantially lower in volume. "Because I am depressed, damn it."
"So are others," Harry replied. "Other people from the war are depressed too, but they don't drink or do drugs."
"You're so oblivious."
"Where did you erven get the idea to do muggle drugs?"
"Half-bloods at Hogwarts."
"What?"
"I started doing cocaine before sixth year. I bought it from some of our classmates."
"Gryffindors?"
"Some."
"Who?"
"That's classified."
Harry lit another cigarette and stared at Draco. He was speechless.
"I never had a choice, you know," Draco said.
"To do drugs?"
"No. In the war."
"Oh."
The two men sat on the back porch until 2 AM when Draco finally decided to go home.