From the ground up
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If you're looking for the owners of the characters and settings, you'd best talk to J.K. Rowling, her publishers or someone at Time Warner.
Author's note: This is one of six stories I'll be posting over the next week to try to decide which one I should finish as I don't have enough time to write all of them.
Chapter 1
It's been a long time
The man under the tree stood, stretching his arms and letting the owl fly. Ann watched, mesmerised, almost spellbound. Who was this man who commanded owls to come, even during light hours? Ann was determined to find out.
She stepped forward. "Hi," she said. "I'm Ann." The man just looked at her strangely as if unsure she was speaking to him. Ann stared back, equally strangely.
"I'm Draco," he said, finally.
Ann smiled. "Do you come here often?"
"This is my first time," he said. "I've recently moved."
"Where from?" she asked, curious to know more about the handsome stranger.
"Wales," he replied simply.
"I've never been. What's it like?"
"Very much the same as it is here. But more people speak Welsh."
Ann stepped back in thought. "It was nice meeting you. Perhaps we could meet again."
"Perhaps," he replied. Ann began to walk off, as did the man from Wales. She turned after she had walked away to watch him go. Strangely, he was gone from sight as though he had just vanished. Ann shook the strangeness away and turned to walk back to work.
*
"Hey Harry," Ann said. "There's this guy I know. And he hasn't got a boyfriend so-"
"Please tell me this isn't going the way I think it is."
Harry Potter stared through his wire-rimmed glasses, his piercing gaze engaging her.
"So anyway, Harry, I thought that since you're not dating anyone either, and since you're that way, you'd do me a favour and do it."
Harry stared at her. Ann stared back. Her equally bright gaze Harry found difficult to resist. "So who is this guy?"
"Say you'll go first."
Harry sighed and groaned inwardly. It had been awhile since his last date. He deserved a night out… even if it was a blind date. "I'll go."
"Oh goodie!" Ann clasped her hands together and smiled at Harry.
"So what's he like?" Harry asked, not sure he really did want to know.
"Well, his name's Draco."
Harry froze. His skin paled and mouth opened slightly. "Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked.
Ann's face scrunched in thought. "Actually, I don't know if that's his name. Never told me a last name."
Harry's fear was not alleviated. What is he'd just been set up with Draco Malfoy? Actually, Draco had never given any indication of being gay in school. But Death Eaters frowned upon homosexuality.
"Um, Ann. I'm not so sure."
"But this guy's amazing. Plus, I already told him to meet us in the café at six. And it's almost four thirty."
"What would you have done if I hadn't agreed?"
"Oh, you can't resist me," Ann said, blue eyes twinkling with mischievousness.
'I bet he can't either,' Harry thought. "Is Harvey coming?" he asked aloud.
"Of course. I wouldn't be so mean as to let you both stick it out. After all, you might quit the date halfway. I know you're perfect for each other."
Harry made a face.
"Come one," Ann said. "We need to get you cleaned up."
---
Ann had dragged Harry to his apartment and into his walk-in closet.
"Okay," she said, looking at Harry. "I think you should wear black. He's bound to be wearing something colourful, and you don't want to be colour coordinated. Black goes with everything."
"'Specially when it's the black of the garbage bin," Harry mumbled to himself.
Ann fumbled about a bit. She pulled out a pair of neat black dress pants, a charcoal shirt and a black leather jacket.
"What am I? Your living Ken doll?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed and amused at the same time.
"Yes! Now shower," Ann commanded.
Although the wizarding world had been left behind, Harry still used magic sometimes. He showered with inhuman speed and was back with Ann before she knew it. She'd put out boxers, socks and shoes for him. As Harry dressed, Ann flitted about with the hair dryer, pissing the hell out of Harry. Ann was only satisfied when Harry's hair was back to its normal abnormally messy state. When he was finished, Ann looked him over once more.
"Perfect," she said. "Now let's go."
Ann pulled Harry down to the lobby of his building. From there, they caught a taxi; not encountering a single red light along the way. Harvey was waiting outside their small townhouse and the three of them headed for a small café.
*
Draco surveyed himself in the mirror. He was decked out in beige pants and blue dress shirt that complemented his eyes. The thick gold watch he wore upon his left hand brought out the colour in his silver-blond hair. Polished shoes finished the look and Draco wondered why he was going to all this trouble to impress some bloke he didn't know. What was his name? James? He couldn't actually remember paying much attention. Ann was a distracting person. Not that she was enormously pretty or something, she was quite plain. She could be over enthusiastic about small things. Something about her was smothering and overwhelming. But he was drawn to her, had been since their first meeting a few months ago. Something made him think that she held the key to the magical world. Something he'd lost long ago and wished to find. He'd gone along with everything, although it seemed stupid to think a muggle woman held the key to the wizarding world. But she did have the Weasley red hair.
He left his apartment block, ducked into a side alley and apparated to the café. He'd learnt the hard way that it was best to let the muggles see you leaving your apartment if you didn't want rude comments directed your way in the morning. As he entered, he was immediately drawn to Ann's head of bright red hair. He smiled; after all, she was still a good friend. The man sitting beside her he supposed was Harvey, her farmer turned city-slicker. The cloud of black hair facing them must be his date.
*
"Ooh look!" Ann practically squealed. "It's Draco." Harry turned to get a good look at his date before they were introduced.
*
At the same moment, Ann's almost squeal had drawn Draco closer to the trio.
"Malfoy!"
"Potter!"
Ann looked a little confused and slightly unhappy. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen.
"Do you two know each other?" Ann asked, staring between the two old arch-rivals.
"Know each other?" Harry repeated, unsure how to answer the question. "We went to high school together."
"Bitter rivals to the end," Draco added.
"Oh," Ann said, sitting down, her mood utterly spoilt.
Harry sat down and Draco sat beside him. Just because they were horrid enemies in high school didn't mean they couldn't have a civil conversation.
"How've you been?" Harry asked once Ann and Harvey were too engrossed in each other to pay attention to their conversation.
"All right, I suppose," Draco said. "These are harsh times."
"You-Know-Who's gone. You should be rejoicing." Harry turned his intense on Draco. "Or were you on that side?"
Draco sighed. "I was never on that side. Too independent for my own good, I suppose. I could never suck up to some evil Dark Lord like my father did."
"I never did think you were the type," Harry admitted. "Although you always used to run to you dear daddy in our earlier years."
"That was before I found out what it actually was that he did to get where he was." Draco turned from Harry. "Biggest butt-kisser I knew."
"What's so interesting over there?" Ann asked, turning from Harvey for a moment.
"Just catching up," Harry said.
"Reliving old memories," Draco added.
The other couple didn't seem to want to intrude so turned away again.
Draco continued when he knew they wouldn't listen to what he said. "He'd spent all this time teaching me about the Malfoy pride and honour and everything. He was probably just trying to convince himself that he had a scrap of dignity."
Harry sat in silence. The Malfoy he'd last seen would never have opened up to him like this. He'd changed. Maybe the lack of wizard company had made him lonely. It was good to see a familiar face again… a reminder of the lost world.
---
At the end of the evening, Harry and Draco had managed to forget their schoolboy rivalry. It was hard for them to live on their own in a world they didn't belong in. They clung to the last memories of a world they left behind unwillingly. Ann had noticed Harry's strange fascination with the supernatural. He had just about every movie containing witches of any kind. he even seemed to think hideously grotesque magical creatures looked cute.
Harry explained this all to Draco. Draco explained how he'd tried to look for Hogwarts the muggle way and how he's just come back from Wales.
"Wales?" Harry questioned. "But Hogwarts in is Scotland."
"Scotland?" Draco asked, astounded by the amount of time he'd wasted in Wales.
"Sorry to break this up, boys," Ann said. "It's time we were leaving."
The four of them left assorted bills and coins on the table and left together in a taxi.
"Draco," Harry said. "Do you want to talk some more at my place?"
"Sure, Potter," Draco said.
Ann smiled to herself. Her plan was working. The two of them would be together in no time.
The taxi stopped at Ann and Harvey's place first, where Ann and Harvey got out. Eventually they came to Harry's block of flats. After paying the driver, the pair made their way up to the seventh floor.
***
And that's a wrap, well for this chapter anyway.
If you'd like to see more of this story, please review. =)