Pt. 3: Echo Echo

Chapter 3: Wanderin' Around

"I told you not to bother coming in early…" Melissa's voice trailed off as she got a good look at Draco.

"It was better than staying home," he answered dully.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked quietly.

Draco plopped down on one of the wooden chairs placed there so customers could sit and look through possible purchases.

"Harry and I had a fight," he said. That seemed to be enough for Melissa, who squeezed his shoulder roughly and left him to stew in his own misery while she prepared to open the shop.

Should I form my entire life to revolve around your convenience? Harry's voice echoed in his thoughts, rebounding off the sides of his mind so he heard the cruel words again and again. You loved him so much you couldn't even stop him from murdering people.

Draco fought tears reflexively. He hadn't cried since he was a small child, even when hit by his father, even when in the throes of panic attacks, and he wasn't about to start now.

Melissa went to open the door and let Cecily Humming, the shop girl, in. Draco didn't like Cessy, for the simple reason that she didn't like him, but when Cessy caught sight of him, she gasped a little and said, "Merlin! What happened?"

"Leave me," said Draco, trying to sound as cold as Lucius, but Cessy surprised him by throwing her arms around him.

"What the—Gerroff!"

She let go, but stared into his eyes from a few inches away. Draco fought the urge to back away.

"Cecily, what on earth are you doing? Get over here, we'll have customers in the minute. Draco, go work on your projects."

Draco ambled into the back room, still feeling unsettled, and lit the lamp with a wave of his wand. It was the size of the front shop, but while the shop had large windows, chairs, and kitschy things for sale to offset the thousands of books crammed into its walls, this room had only a single light, a medium sized table, and two chairs to do the same job. The walls were, floor to ceiling, filled with books and files, and the floor was covered with stacks of them. Not piles, mind; Draco was extremely organized about his stacks and always knew where everything was. The latest ancient scroll, combined with a stack of blank parchment, two quills, ink, and the various books needed to understand and decode the scroll, took up most of the table. Draco cast a Warming Charm and settled himself into one of the chairs. He scanned the work he'd left there on Friday to remind himself of where he'd left off, and slowly began to ease into the rhythm of the work. An hour or two in, a customer wanted her birth diagrams explained, and Melissa brought her in to see Draco, who pushed the current scroll aside to make room, quickly read the diagrams over, and explained the discrepancy.

"No, see, the bit for frustration is in the general life triangle. That could mean spending awhile, well, having trouble making ends meet, or having a very satisfying job with a very irritating boss for many years. The joy is in the love triangle. So even while you're having this very frustrating life, you're completely in love with your significant other, or will be, and you'll be very happy as long as you're together."

"Oh," she said, face lighting up. "They never explained about the triangles!" Draco patiently pointed out the different sections of the diagrams while the customer took notes. Afterwards, she thanked him profusely and he showed her back to the shop section. The shop was fuller than usual; they seemed to be doing a roaring trade. Melissa chatted with the customer for a second, then looked at Draco, who blinked and smiled, their code for "It was easy, charge her minimum price." Melissa did so, and the customer dug a few Galleons out of her purse. Cessy, meanwhile, was wandering amongst the customers, helping them find things and offering advice.

Draco passed the day like this, working on the scroll and occasionally seeing customers. Cessy and Melissa came in a couple times to pick up books that weren't in the front shop, but otherwise left him pretty much alone. Cecily snarked at him the few times they met, a nice touch of their normal rivalry but…friendly now. There was no real intent to hurt behind her jabs at his work performance, antisocial personality, or perfect hair. He appreciated her attempt to distract him, and he wondered where the change had come from. Only Friday, every barb had been carefully pitched to be as painful as possible.

When it finally came time to close, Draco wasn't ready. He stayed stubbornly at his table, working away at his scroll and ignoring his watch until Melissa and Cecily came back and stared at him until he was forced to look up.

"What?" he asked, knowing full well what.

"You have to leave sometime," said Melissa. "There's no food in here, and I'm not leaving you the keys."

Draco thought about going home to Harry and couldn't face it. He didn't want to see if Harry was still mad at him. He didn't want to see if Harry was sorry. He didn't even want to see if Harry was still there.

"Come on, Malfoy, you can come home with me," said Cessy. Draco's poised exterior completely dropped away in shock.

"What?"

"You heard me. Oh, don't give me that look, I'm not trying to get into your robes. That's what mates do, isn't it? Let their mates stay over when they're fighting with their boyfriends?"

"We're mates?" was all Draco could think to say. Since when? he didn't dare add.

"We are now," said Cessy firmly.

"Go on," said Melissa. "I'm certainly not taking you in. My owl would have a fit."

So that was how Draco found himself at Cessy's tiny flat.

"I haven't got two beds, so you'll have to sleep on the floor. But I have enough blankets to make it comfortable, and they're good about keeping it warm in here," she said, and, indeed, coupled with a Cushioning Charm, the floor bed was quite comfortable and toasty warm. But Draco's thoughts still cycled back to Harry, keeping him awake for hours. What was going to happen to him? What was going to happen to them?