Not JK Rowling.  Don't own Harry Potter.  Anything you recognize is hers, anything you don't is mine including the plot and Mr. Joel Montgomery.  I am making no money off this trifle of a story.

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Three weeks had passed for Draco, Christmas coming next week, since his rather intense fight with Melody.  At first she barely spoke to him, only giving curt hellos, goodbyes, and replies to anything he tried to talk to her about.  After a week, she got somewhat warmer so that Draco could no longer call her frigid but things were nowhere near where they had been before the big fight.  Ever since Draco had told her he had no intention of marrying her, she seemed rather distant and Draco was waiting for the day she was going to break up with him.  He had tried, tried hard in fact, to love her the way she did him but his tactics only failed.  Immense guilt was piling upon him, Draco feeling responsible for the strain between them and wondering if one day Cherish was going to hate him for ripping their family apart.

Walking out of the bathroom now free of pudding, Draco dropped on the couch and looked at Joel sitting across from him in the armchair.  An afghan was pulled over him, a box of Kleenex sitting in his lap, and Joel wouldn't be exaggerating if he were to now claim that he looked pale and pasty.  Sitting on the table next to him was a laptop, the one he had been vigorously bent over for the duration of Draco's everlasting fight with Melody as he worked on the novel Draco liked to refer to as a home away from home.  He had been keenly keeping up with Joel's progress, loving the work so far, but ever since Joel came down with a case of the flu, he had been refusing to do any writing at all.  Hanging for what was to happen was really irritating him.

"Hey, Joel," he said, toweling off the platinum locks and letting them fall in his eyes.  Ever since coming to New York, he discontinued his practice of slicking his hair back.  It reminded him too much of then.

"Hey," came out a hoarse reply that sounded nothing like Joel's voice.  Draco frowned.

"Still not feeling any better?"  Joel shook his head.  "Hey, I got a magic word for you.  Begins with 'W', ends with 'E', rhymes with light.  Guess what it is."

"White?" asked Joel, grinning.

"That does work, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," he said before going into a fit of coughs.  "I want to write but it's hard when I need to blow my nose or cough up mucus every ten seconds."

"That took you about ten seconds to say and you didn't blow your nose or cough up mucus."

"Getting technical, are we?"

"Indeed."

"You know, if Satan was as sick as he was evil, he'd feel like me," said Joel before coughing again and blowing his nose.  He threw the used tissue into a pile on the floor.

"Why are you throwing your snotty tissues all over our floor?"

"Because the trash can is too far away."

"Why don't you bring the trash can over here?"

"Because the trash can is too far away."

"I'm noticing a pattern here.  Do you want me to get it for you?"

"What's the use?  I can't move or my head feels like its going to explode.  That means that the tissue pile would still be on the floor unless you want to pick it up."

"No thank you.  I'm already going to catch your germs and keel over and die.  You need to stop spreading bacteria around the apartment.  My cute little baby daughter is going to come over here and her short six month life will end because you're going to infest her with bacteria."

"So take her somewhere.  Go Christmas shopping.  No one would hit a guy with a baby."

"They might in New York.  That's what I love about being here.  Everyone is so unpredictable."

Joel shrugged.  "Take her to sit on Santa's lap."

"And scar the child for life?  I've seen how little kids react to that."

"You know, I always thought that the small child screaming at the mall Santa thing was a result of the elves and is indirectly, and quite wrongly, placed on the Santa Claus in question.  I know those elves still scare the fuck out of me and I was one in my first year of college."

"You were an elf?"

"I needed a job."  Joel blew his nose, balled up the tissue, and threw it into the pile.  A knock came at the door and Draco crossed into the kitchen to open it.  Melody was on the other side, dressed in a business suit, and holding Cherish in her arms.  Passing her to Draco, Melody smoothed out her jacket and looked past Draco to Joel.

"She's going to get sick," said Melody.  "You probably are going to want to keep her away from Joel."

"We're two steps ahead of you," Joel said as loud as he could before going into a fit of coughs.  Grabbing the bag of Halls Spearmint cough drops, Joel unwrapped one and popped it in his mouth.  "I hate being sick."

Melody stared at him, cocking an eyebrow before turning back to Draco.  "You have all of her stuff, right?"  Draco nodded.  "If you're going to take her out, remember to put a hat on her head.  Don't keep her out too long but don't keep her in here with Joel.  He'll contaminate her and she's only little."  Her eyes teared as she looked at Cherish.  "Momma loves you, sweetie."  She kissed Cherish on the top of her head and turned to leave.  Draco moved to kiss her, but Melody ducked out of it and disappeared down the hall.

"She dissed you bad," said Joel, a small cough erupting from his chest.  "I take it things are strained."

"To say the least," he replied, shutting the door and carrying his daughter over to the playpen.  "She's been doing that for five days now.  Won't let me touch her.  It's only a matter of time before its really over for good."

"Sorry, man."

"I'll be okay.  She just hasn't been the same since I told her I couldn't marry her."

Joel nodded.  "Well it's understandable.  Neither you nor Mel deserves to be in a marriage where there isn't consummate love.  Man, this Harry must've been one hell of a guy."

"He was," whispered Draco, wrapping his arms around his torso.  "You know, I think I am going to do some last minute Christmas shopping.  Get both my problems with Melody and Harry off my mind."

"Sounds good.  Leave me here to cough and sputter and spit up mucus on my own."

Draco scrunched up his nose.  "Pleasant.  I'll do that."  Wrapping Cherish in her winter clothes and making sure he put a hat on her head, Draco carried his daughter and stroller down to the elevator and set out for a day of shopping.

Hours later after much shopping, Draco returned back to his apartment with Cherish and multiple bags of gifts only to find that Joel hadn't moved since he left.  Taking pity on his roommate, Draco made chicken soup for lunch after feeding Cherish her bottle.  When he laid down his daughter in her crib for a nap, Draco changed into black dress pants and a grey sweater, preparing for work.  Walking back into the living room, he sat down on the couch again to see Joel with his laptop in front of him, clicking away at the keys.

"Minor writer's block overcome?" asked Draco.

"Kind of," he said and Draco winced at how much worse his voice was getting.  "Just doing a little revising."

"At least you're doing something."  Checking the clock, he noticed that it was three o'clock and Melody usually came back at two-thirty to take Cherish over to her place.  He had to be at work at three-thirty and Draco was not only the punctual type, but he liked to be early for everything, even if it was work.  "Shouldn't Melody be here by now?"

Also checking the clock, Joel nodded.  "Maybe she got held up.  Why don't you go check with Sam.  She should be home by now.  She had the day off.  If Mel isn't there, I'm sure Sam will take care of Cher for you."

"Don't call my daughter Cher," he said, retreating into the bedroom.  "Hey, babe."  Cherish smiled back at him and went into a chorus of baby babble.  Lifting her from her crib, he gathered her diaper bag and walked into the living room.  "You want to go see your Aunt Sam?  Of course you do."  Draco could hear Joel snickering as he shut the door behind him and went across the hall.

Knocking once, Draco waited and then the door opened, Samantha standing in the doorway.  "Can I help you?"

"Mel's not back yet and I need to go to work."  Shrugging, Samantha nodded and stepped back to allow Draco in.  "She didn't call or anything, did she?"

"Nope," said Samantha, popping her gum.  "Why can't you leave Cher with Joel?"

Draco scowled at the name.  "I have asked you repeatedly not to call my daughter that.  I can't leave her with Joel because Joel is in there hacking his head off and dying from whatever virus grabbed him and won't let go.  Can you please watch her until Mel gets back?"

"Sure.  I love Cher," she said, glancing briefly at Draco with a smirk, before taking Cherish out of his arms and walking over to the couch.  "I do love you, Cher, don't I?  Yes."  Draco rolled his eyes as Samantha continued to talk in cutesy voices to Cherish.

"I'm going to go, then."

"See ya," she called and Draco tossed on glance back to his daughter before walking out the door and heading for the elevator.

The walk to the coffee shop was anything but relaxing, thoughts of Melody and Harry still battling in his head.  As much as he wanted Melody to win, for the majority of him to tell his Harry thoughts to sod off and go away, he continuously found himself in a losing battle.  Draco cursed himself.  He had been having a wonderful time in New York and considering the circumstances, he was doing a relatively good job of not thinking about Hogwarts and the good old days.  Now between the problems with Melody and Joel's new novel, Draco couldn't stop thinking about it and twice he had caught himself heading for his closet, sole intention being to retrieve his wand.  He couldn't do that, not after the last time he had retrieved his wand and almost decided to use it.

A little ding could be heard over the door as Draco walked in to see an impressive line of customers, all waiting for what he presumed was their double frothy mocha latte or whatever it was that these people ordered.  After working here for two years, Draco still couldn't quite grasp the words.  There were too many names and Draco had told Joel on one that more occasion that he thought Americans drank too much coffee.  Gwen found this to be funny, Draco, however, claimed that it didn't matter if he knew the names offhand as long as he knew what to make when someone said a name to him.  Gwen, reluctantly, had agreed with him.

"Need some help?" Draco asked, pulling on his apron as he slid behind the counter and punched in.

"Could you?" she replied, hurriedly, and Draco started taking orders.

After beating the rush, hours had passed with both Gwen and Draco constantly on the go.  They liked to refer to this time of day as the post-work caffeine fix before heading home through rush hour traffic and thus completing a day of commute.  Draco loved that time of day, also loving working in the morning when the line was horrendous, because he preferred to be kept occupied, especially in recent weeks.  Sighing, Draco leaned against the counter and dropped his chin in his palm.

"I hate coffee," spit out Gwen, leaning next to him and bumping his shoulder with hers.  "I hate that I need coffee to give me a jump start in the morning when I have to look at it all day in here.  I want people to stop drinking coffee."

"The day Americans stop drinking coffee is the day the British are polite," said Draco, shoving her aside.  "You were crowding my space, you insufferable prat."

Gwen grinned at him and let out a soft chuckle.  "You have got to be the most fun person I've ever worked with," she mused.  "Of course, I think this is the best job I've ever had so that also goes into factoring."

"This is the only job I've ever had."

"You didn't work back in England?"

"Gods, no.  A Malfoy actually work?  My father would die of shock if he could see me now, waiting on people like a common servant."

"What do you mean?  Was your father really like that?  All rich and stuck up?"

"My family was wealthy.  We lived in this huge manor and had many servants.  Though I don't like to admit it, I was a bit of a spoiled child."  Draco paused, laughing.  "That was a total lie.  I was rottenly spoiled."

Gwen laughed.  "I can't imagine you being spoiled in the least."

"Believe it.  If my school would have tallied up everything I ever said, I imagine I would be most famous for saying 'Wait until my father hears about this.'  I ran to my father with all my problems.  I'm surprised that Harry ever cared for me.  I wasn't very good to him at all."

Gwen grinned.  Draco rarely talked about his past and no one pressed him about it.  It was nice for him to finally open up a bit.  "What do you mean?"

"Harry was pretty well known back at school and I have to admit that I was incredibly jealous.  I offered my friendship to him the day I met him on the train to our school, it was a boarding school, and he turned me down.  Probably had a bit to do with me offending a friend of his, ruddy Weasley prat."

Laughing, Gwen said, "I take it you didn't get along with his friends."

"I didn't really get along with anyone," Draco said with a laugh.  "I told you, I was spoiled and I hid behind my father's name.  My father is pretty respectable back home.  The Malfoy name is one that commands respect.  I took full advantage of it."

"So much about you that we don't know."

"Indeed," Draco muttered under his breath.

"Harry been on your mind a lot lately?"

Draco shrugged, nodding.  "Yeah.  Melody, too.  I know she's going to break up with me, I just don't know when.  And I feel so guilty thinking about Harry while Mel and I are still together."

Spending most of the time until closing trying to make Draco feel better, Gwen brought up anything she could think of from music to movies to politics to get Draco's mind off of Harry and Melody.  Draco was grateful for the attempt and when closing time approached, his spirits were somewhat higher.  He walked back to the apartment feeling better than he had when he left and he told himself that everything was going to be okay as he entered the elevator.

Walking down the hall to apartment 1512, Draco tried the doorknob before searching for his key and he was glad to see that it was opened.  He headed in, hung his coat on the hook, and turned around to see Samantha sitting on the couch and Joel bent over his laptop, madly pounding away at the keys.

"I just wanted to tell you that Melody didn't come back," said Samantha.  "I brought Cher over about ten minutes ago and she's sleeping in her crib."

"No one has heard from Mel?"  Both Samantha and Joel shook their heads.  "Okay."

Samantha smiled at him, squeezed Draco's shoulder, and wished them both a goodnight before heading back to her apartment.  Joel closed his laptop and put it aside.

"Come do something with me," he croaked out.

"What?"

"There's this asshole that lives in the building next door.  His bedroom window is right across from mine and he's always throwing his trash out the window and hitting my glass."

"And?"

"I want to stick gum on his window."

"You really are just a simple creature."

"Come on.  Do this with me.  It'll get your mind off the missing Melody ordeal, which I'm sure is nothing to worry about."

Draco sighed.  "Fine.  How do you propose we do this?"

"Well," he said, stumbling out of his chair and making his way to the counter.  Joel grabbed a package of straws and a roll of scotch tape, handing them to Draco.  "I say that we tape the straws together so that we can reach the window.  Then we'll chew up the gum, stick it on the straw, and stick the straw to his window."

"How much gum are we using?"

Joel revealed a small brown paper lunch bag filled with sticks of gum.  "However much we decide looks good."

Shrugging, Draco grabbed the gum and, with the straws and tape, walked over to the couch to being making his straw gum sticking device.  Joel sat across from him, complaining in the hoarse voice about the various items of garbage his neighbor had gotten on Joel's window.  These things included carrot peels, apple shavings, and small globs of ice cream.  There was even something that Joel presumed to be sperm but, not liking the idea of someone's sperm being on his window, Joel and Draco had come up with new ideas of what it could be.

By the time Draco had finished the straw device, Joel already pulled himself into the bedroom, dressed in sweats, and opened the window.  They started chewing gum, sticking wads on the end of the straw, and shoving out of the window to the other window.  The first piece proved to be difficult but after some practice, it only took them one try to the get the gum wad on the window.  Draco had taken about making a picture with the gum of a sun shining down on a flower.  Joel thought it was funny.  Draco was just bored.

As they stuck the thirty-second piece on the window, the sound of their door shutting was heard and they put down the straw device and walked into the living room.  Samantha was standing in front of the door, cordless phone in one hand as she pounded it into the other.

"What were you two doing?"

"Sticking gum on the garbage guy's window," replied Joel.  Samantha nodded.

"I see.  Um - Draco, I just got a phone call about Mel."

Draco's normally pale face went even paler.  "What happened?  Is she hurt?"

"She's gone, Draco," she said.

"Gone as in dead or gone as in not here."

"Oh!  No, she isn't dead.  She's just. . ."

"Not here?" Joel supplemented.

"Where is she?  Who called?"

"Melody called.  She's in Nevada."

"What's in Nevada?" said Joel.

"Las Vegas," both Draco and Samantha said.

"What did she say?" said Draco.

Samantha paused.  "I wish I didn't have to be the one to do this.  She - she isn't coming back.  She told me to tell you that she loves you and wishes you could have been together but since you didn't love her the way she loved you - well, she's just gone.  She said to tell you that she wasn't coming back and that you aren't to look for her.  She doesn't want to be found.  Mel said to tell you that she never wants to see you or Cherish again.  She said it hurts her too much to look at Cherish when she knows that she's yours and you'll never love Melody like she loves you.  I'm sorry, Draco."

Crossing the room, Samantha wrapped a tentative arm around Draco.  He tried to pull away, shuddered, and fell into her arms.  Draco tried to make sense of his thoughts, but nothing was fitting together.  All he could understand was that Melody was gone and he was left alone to raise their six month old daughter.  The tears he had been baiting behind floodgates came rushing out, soaking Samantha's shoulder, and he buried himself into her.  What exactly had he gotten himself into?

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