A/N A visit to Malfoy Manor, some interesting guests, unwanted thoughts, and a hug for Harry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I just play around with them for a bit.

Save Me, No One

Chapter 11

Harry landed ungracefully on a gravel pathway, sprawling about with limbs twisted. 'Even after a year of apparating, I can't even manage to stay on my bloody feet!'

After brushing the tiny stones off his jeans, Harry looked up at the iron gates that lead upto Malfoy Manor. The place looked very scary, with how big and imposing it was, but Harry imagined it must have looked worse when Voldemort was in residence there. 'In fact, it DID,' Harry thought, remembering their little excursion into the abode, at the end of the previous year.

The gates opened, and Harry stepped through, before grinning.

It was obvious Mrs. Malfoy had been busy.

Brightly colored flowers bloomed everywhere: Blood red roses, violet tulips, golden sunflowers, hot pink dragon tongues, vibrant green grass and trees, sparkling blue water... The place was a rainbow!

Suddenly, a hard peck to the head made the boy spin, almost toppling over. A tall, pure white bird stood over him, odd feathers sticking up on top of the creature's head. 'A peacock? What the-?'

"Harry, dear!" came a warm voice.

Harry turned to see Mrs. Malfoy standing there. Her blond hair was pulled back with a green and silver bandana, and her clothes looked like normal gardening clothes.

"I've been busy," she laughed, gesturing around her. Harry couldn't help but think that the woman seemed a lot nicer and calmer without her husband around. Thoughts of his conversation with Draco came unwillingly.

"Hello Mrs. Malfoy. Do you need any help?"

"No, not at all, dear." There was dear again. 'What? I suddenly win the war and I become "dear"?' "Come on in, Astoria and Daphne have stopped by as well."

Harry and Narcissa walked slowly through the mansion. Harry noticed how the mansion was like a sick person: When he was last there, when the mansion was overrun by darkness, it looked pale and dreary. Now it looked healthy, with all the color everywhere.

"You seem a lot..." Harry couldn't describe it.

She smiled sadly. "Yes... It is more... a relief that Lucius is gone, than not..."

Harry nodded, understanding. "I'm sorry about Bellatrix, I know you guys were close..."

Narcissa nodded, but said, "You shouldn't have to be sorry, especially not about her."

They walked into the kitchen, where Astoria and Daphne Greengrass and Draco were sitting on bar-stools at the counter.

"Hey, Potter. This is Astoria, and you know Daphne," Draco said politely, as he downed a coke.

Harry rolled his eyes, before shaking the women's hands. "Nice to meet you. Your house looks a lot... warmer now."

Draco smiled. He looked better as well. Some of the grey color that had taken to his skin had dissolved into a light tan. His blond hair looked less greasy, more natural. And the boy's arm was Dark Mark free.

Astoria smiled at Harry. "Its cool to finally meet you. You'd think after all these years I'd know you."

Harry shrugged. "Aren't you a couple years younger than Daphne?"

Astoria nodded. "This is going to be my sixth year. Last year was like hell, with those stupid Carrows teaching. I'll be lucky if I pass my OWLS."

Daphne closed her eyes, leaning back slightly. "I'm glad our parents weren't the Pureblood supremacy type. Course, I almost became one, hanging around with Pansy..."

Harry tilted his head. "What happened to all the Slytherins. I know Pansy got you guys locked up..."

Daphne shrugged. "Tracey, Astoria, Theo, and I got away. We weren't guilty or anything. The four of us took down Rookwood!"

Harry gave a small smile. He hated thinking about That Day. Remus- No. Don't think about that now. You've got a life to live.

"So, where are the other two thirds of the Gryffindor Golden Trio?" Astoria asked innocently.

Draco opened his mouth, but Harry said, "Probably at the Weasleys. I haven't really talked to them since the Final Battle."

Astoria blushed. "Sorry."

Harry shrugged, sipping his coke. "So what are you doing now that you're out of school?" he asked Daphne.

"I'm going study as an Apprentice to Ollivander. He's getting pretty old..." Harry nodded, remembering when they rescued the man from 'this very house'. "What about you two?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm going to get my Potion's Mastery, I think. Then maybe work at Diagon Alley. I dunno, I'll probably rest here for a while. Its been a long time since I've been able to do THAT."

Harry thought for a minute. "I really don't know. I'll have to check around. I'll probably get a job as some type of Mediwizard, since Saint Mungos is pretty near my apartment."

Daphne raised her eyebrow. "You live on your own already?"

Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I guess. I have no idea where my relatives are right now."

Astoria and Daphne looked at him sympathetically, while Draco and Narcissa looked away.

"You're going to work at a bookstore? I thought you wanted to be an Auror."

Harry shrugged. "I really don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm living off my inheritance. Not really hard, though, when you pawn some Wizard money." At that, Narcissa laughed slightly, causing the three younger Purebloods to raise eyebrows.

"All of us Blacks, except for Bella and Regulas, took Muggle studies to drive our mothers mad! Druela was better than Walburga, but still had that whole anti-Muggle ideals," Narcissa explained. "That was very Slytherin of you, to not go to the Wizard/Muggle money exchange."

Harry gave a smug grin. "Well the hat DID want to put me in Slytherin."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "But it didn't?"

Here Harry blushed deeply. "I asked not to be... You weren't exactly that nice the first time we met."

Draco looked embarrassed. "Yeah, well, I give you that..."

Harry turned to Narcissa. "I don't mean to pry, but don't you hate Muggles as well?"

Narcissa looked slightly angry, but it was obviously not him she was upset with. "I haven't a problem with Muggles. Lucius on the other hand..."

Awkward silence.

Suddenly Astoria asked, "So who are you dating, Harry?"

Said boy almost did a spit take. "Excuse me?!"

Daphne blushed. "I'm sorry about her. You know fifteen year olds-"

' "Come on, Harry. All teenagers are like that at that age," Sirius spoke nonchalantly while Lupin nodded in the background...'

'Why did I think of that?' Harry thought, remembering that conversation and the horrible gut wrenching guilt he had felt at the Marauders' pranking. The Pensieve accident had really messed with his mind...

Snape drifted into his mind for a second, but he pushed the image away.

"No, it's all right. I'm not dating anyone at the time. You guys?" Harry asked, if anything, to distract himself from the unwelcome thoughts.

"Me? I don't think so!" Daphne cried, disgusted.

Draco rolled his eyes. "No one for me either."

Astoria gave Draco a sidelong glance, before saying boldly, "I'm dating Theodore Nott."

Harry smiled slightly at Narcissa, at the obvious lie. She smirked back, rolling her eyes. 'Its Ginny and me all over again...' Heartache overwhelmed the man, which was hard to swallow down. 'Stupid Michael Corner.' Apparently a year of living in the Room of Requirement together had brought the two close again...

"Hey, Harry. What about that Lovegood girl?" Narcissa asked, setting down a platter of watercress sandwiches.

Harry laughed slightly. "Nah, Luna and I are just friends."

The women shared a glance, while Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Potter."

Harry smirked slightly, before saying, "I hate to leave so early, but I gotta go job hunting..."

The Greengrasses nodded, saying their goodbyes. Draco warned him to come soon. Narcissa insisted on walking him out.

She stopped him at the door, turning him by his shoulders to face her. "Harry, I can never thank you enough for getting the Ministry to grant Draco and myself pardons-"

"Don't mention it. I... didn't think you guys really enjoyed the whole Death Eater thing, anyway," Harry explained.

Narcissa smiled slightly at him, looking like a mother should at her son. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, or just sit with, I'm always here..."

Harry swallowed hard, nodding. And then it happened. The woman wrapped her thin arms around his bony shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. 'She's so warm...' Harry blinked back the tears that surfaced at the thought that he could count on one hand how many times someone had hugged him this way...

"I mean it child," she said, pulling away, her dark blue eyes sparkling like Dumbledore's.

Harry nodded, too choked up to speak, then turned, leaving through the heavenly garden.

A/N Next, Harry goes on a job search. A visit to Hogwarts, anyone?

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