Word Count: 893

~ Chapter 10 ~

If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

"Everything," Harry said flatly.

Draco blinked. "Eh?"

"The muggles I grew up with were… I want to say the worst, but they weren't. They didn't like magic, didn't want anything to do with magic, or with me, and I was dumped on them—literally left on the doorstep—when my mum and dad died. They…" Harry shook his head. "They told me my parents died in a car crash, and then they put me in the cupboard under the stairs and dealt with me as little as possible until my Hogwarts letter came. That was a whole clusterfuck by itself, but Hagrid came and explained about Hogwarts to me, and then took me to Diagon Alley."

"Merlin," Draco muttered. "You didn't know anything about magic or anything?"

"Not until I got my letter. Though I did have quite a lot of accidental magic, so I guess subconsciously I must have known something was different about me."

"Oho, tell me more about the accidental magic," Draco said, leaning forward eagerly. He couldn't help but wonder about a little Boy-Who-Lived and what he'd done.

Harry chuckled. "I turned a teacher's hair blue once because she was mean to me. I jumped over a bin running away from my cousin, and ended up on the roof. I set a snake free in the zoo."

"You… set a snake free?"

"I was talking to him—"

"I thought you didn't know you were a parseltongue?"

"I didn't know there was a name for it! I thought it was a common thing, like people talking to trolls or goblins or mermaids. I didn't realise it was a… thing."

"How did you set one free though?"

"Well, I was talking to him, and Dudley—my cousin—knocked me to the floor, so I, uh, vanished the glass on his enclosure. I wonder if he ever made it to Brazil."

Draco blinked. "You're something else, Potter."

Harry nodded sheepishly. "I've been told. Your turn."

Sighing, Draco said, "I feel a bit petty now that you've said all that. I guess if I could change anything, I'd have wanted my father to see me more as his son, rather than his heir. I was always treated more as an extension of him; his name, his power, his reach, rather than the way I feel like someone would treat their child."

"That's not petty. I think that's a normal thing to wish for, honestly."

"I guess."

"What about your accidental magic?"

Draco blushed. "Most of it was just summoning things I wanted that my nanny-elf wouldn't get for me," he admitted. "But when I was five, I made the fire poker chase my father around his study because he wouldn't pay attention to me."

Harry laughed. "Amazing."

Draco shook his head. "The punishment wasn't amazing. He wasn't best pleased, even if he knew it was accidental. I guess because accidental magic reacts to emotions, he knew I wanted it to do it, even if I hadn't actually meant for it to happen."

"I blew up my aunt once, if that helps? And that was after I started Hogwarts."

Draco blinked. "You had accidental magic after you turned eleven?"

"Uh huh. She pushed me to a point that nobody has ever done before or since and I just… snapped. I'm pretty sure I wanted her dead to be honest, even if now I know that that's ridiculous."

"So… did she explode?"

"No, she kinda… swelled up like a balloon, but then like… kept on going? She ended up bobbing out of the kitchen and up into the sky. I have no idea how they found her or got her back, but they must have done it, or my Uncle Vernon really would have killed me."

"Well then. I'll make sure not to push you to that point. I can't imagine I'd make a good balloon."

Harry laughed. "Sure you would. You've always been full of hot air anyway."

…

"What did he bring?" Draco asked, popping his head around the door to Harry's room. He'd heard Kreacher's arrival and disappearance, but Harry hadn't come downstairs so he'd decided to investigate.

Harry smiled up at him and gestured him inside.

"He's brought drawing books and puzzle books and stuff, and then a few jigsaws—they're a Muggle thing that Hermione set me off with, I find them relaxing—quills, inks, board games. They should keep us occupied for at least a few days, and I can always call him back if you want anything."

Draco picked up one of the 'jigsaw' boxes and turned it over in his hands. "These are Muggle toys?"

"Sort of," Harry replied. "It's a large picture, broken down into little pieces, and you put it together to make the picture. The best thing about them is that they're time consuming."

Draco snorted. "Yeah, that does sound like a good thing."

"I'll put everything in the living room on the table in a little while," Harry said. "Help yourself to any of them. I'm just gonna get a quick shower first, and then I'll make dinner."

Draco nodded. "Sure. We can maybe do another question while you're cooking?"

"Fingers crossed it won't be something depressing," Harry said, smiling slightly. They'd had a good day, he didn't want to ruin it.