~*~ Friend or Foe? ~*~

"Grey, wake up would you?" asked Malcolm patiently. It was usually like this, but Malcolm was a patient man.

"Sorry, mate. Is it time already?" I ran my fingers through my hair and glanced at my friend and co-worker. I could feel a lopsided grin flash across my mouth, thinking that it was usually like this, but only because I'd never really gotten used to using a different name. I wasn't the same person anymore, but I couldn't entirely escape it either.

"Go on, get going then," Malcolm drawled with a good-humored smile. "I know you're dying to be off to the club again, though I can't see how you can stand how they eye you like a particularly delicious dessert."

I could only grin at that and rolled my eyes, slapping Malcolm lightly on the back before slinging a satchel over my shoulder and apparating home. The bag I dropped carelessly by the couch on my way to the bedroom so that I could change into comfortable, loose clothing.

I made no sound as I walked to the room I'd set aside for exercises of any and all kinds, having learned long ago the ways of stealth. By now it was so ingrained that it affected me by reflex. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I'd scared the blazes out of someone by gliding up behind them. It's not like I meant to, after all.

For a half hour I worked through the ancient forms, slow at first but moving steadily faster, striving to keep my movements precise despite the increasing speed, striving to make the full extensions required of me. As I reached the peak of this peculiar kind of dance I reversed myself, slowing down at the same steady rate until at last I was still, centered both in mind and physical position, and facing the mirrors that lined one wall.

This was one way I achieved peace with myself, one way I'd learned to help me make sense of my life in the aftermath of the war and to slowly wash away the grief and pain that had threatened to completely break me there at the end. I couldn't help but smile a little at my reflection, noticing that I'd once again dropped the essential part of my disguise in the privacy of my home, and reached up one finger to trace the scar that graced my forehead, the one that had branded me both idol and villain to a multitude.

"Well," I said to my reflection, "I think you need a shower. Not that Ministry work is any kind of a challenge, though this is. Then again, I can choose my own challenges these days, can't I." Chuckling, I wandered off toward the bathroom.

~*~

The throb of the music was intoxicating and as usual I was able to completely lose myself within the notes that moved through me rather like pleasurable jolts of pain. As it came to a close I drifted to a stop, shaking my damp hair out behind me. I casually skimmed my eyes over the interior of the club, noting with satisfaction that my shadow was once again spying from his customary vantage. Yes, perhaps now I should trouble myself.

So I wandered over to the table reserved only for me, as the owner of the club, and shook a cigarette out of the pack waiting for me, inhaling deeply as I touched the end to candle flame. Sweet curls of smoke drifted from my parted lips as I watched my shadow nearby. Inwardly I rejoiced that he continued to appear, even though he never did more than sit and watch. It took no more than moments until I was standing next to his table, seeing what looked like growing awareness and a slight hint of panic. Maybe he hadn't realized what I was doing until I was already there?

"May I sit with you?" I enquired lazily, letting the corner of my mouth rise slightly.

"If you'd like," he replied smoothly, waving one hand toward the padded bench upon which he sat.

I slid into the circular booth with a smile and draped one arm along the back, bringing the cigarette to my mouth again. After exhaling toward the ceiling I murmured, "So Draco, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

My companion started violently, nearly knocking his drink over, which of course was most unlike him. He barely started to speak, "Har--" when I cut off with a quick gesture of the cigarette, shattering the sinuous stream of smoke that drifted from it.

"No. That is not my name. I am no longer that person." I paused for a moment, casting my eyes toward the ceiling. "That man is dead. My name is Grey, if you please. Frankly, I'm not quite sure how you recognized me in the first place. I don't look the same, I don't act the same, and I surely do not sound the same."

Another lazy curl of smoke drifted toward the ceiling as I exhaled slowly, staring directly into his silvery eyes. I shook back my hair in a calculated movement and waited for him to respond.

"Grey, then. I-I'm not quite sure. I knew something the first time I laid eyes on you. I just didn't understand what it was." Confusion twisted the angelic features for a moment, before the habitual mask shuttered his expression.

'Despite everything, he is a Malfoy, and a Malfoy never lets the public see anything other than what they should,' I thought with amusement. I stubbed out my cigarette and leaned forward, closer to him. "I'm sorry if I startled you. Would you prefer it if I left you to your thoughts?" I cocked my head to one side. "Or would you prefer to dance with me instead?" Inwardly I was laughing, thinking that this plan had gone so much better than I'd ever imagined. Hermione would be pleased, very pleased.

~*~

I'd watched him for so long, never realizing until now that my target had indeed noticed me. Who would have thought that an innocent suggestion of Hermione's would reap such unexpected results. I snapped back from my thoughts as the meaning of the question made itself clear. "Dance with you?"

"Of course. Would you rather I left?" came the lazy response.

Rather than trusting myself to speak I slipped from the booth and gestured toward the dancers. Grey pushed away from the seat and grabbed my outstretched hand, leading me to the floor with its crowd of writhing bodies, immediately beginning to move against me to the throbbing beat of the music.

I reacted more from reflex than conscious choice, letting myself move with and against Grey's body, letting him set the tone of this dance. My mind was a maelstrom of thoughts, each barely breaking the surface before broached by another rising up. The blood rushed to my face, worsening as I realized it was happening, and I felt dizzy and weak like some larky schoolboy who'd been caught peeking where I shouldn't have been. I wasn't in the least amused by the traitorous reactions of my body.

And then, a whisper in my ear. "I know you watch me, my shadow. You always watch me." And then, nothing but darkness.

~*~

I chuckled, but quietly, as I braced Draco's sagging weight against mine. 'Well, I certainly didn't expect this from him, not from a Malfoy.' Whispering under my breath the tiniest of spells to assist me, I walked Draco over to my private exit and through, half carrying him now up the stairs as we were away from prying eyes. I settled him on one of the couches and arranged a light blanket over him before heading toward my room.

I felt much better after I'd stripped and showered, glad to be free, for once, from the heat and sweat of the club. I tossed on what came to hand and padded out to the kitchen to make tea, settling on the couch with the tray on the table before me when I was done. A cup of tea in hand, I settled back to await the sleeper's awakening.

'Hermione really is brilliant,' I mused. You couldn't hear the club from here, despite being located directly on top of it. There were definitely benefits to being a wizard. Perfect privacy, with the perfect escape just a level away. Judging from the way Draco was shifting restlessly, I knew it was only a matter of minutes before those silver eyes would be on me again.

I almost squirmed in my seat at the thought, and I could feel my desire worsen as I recalled our all too brief moments on the dance floor. I tilted my head back against the couch and closed my eyes briefly to better feel the familiar ache lance through my groin. 'Well, time enough for that if he feels the way I always hoped he would,' came the voice of reason always lurking around in my mind. A sound made sit up in time to see Draco's eyes flutter open.

"All right, Draco?" I asked, and was rewarded by those eyes shifting toward me, clouded with confusion.

~*~

I knew I was laying down, I just didn't have any idea why. Then the memory flooded back and that whisper rang in my ears.

'I know you watch me, my shadow. You always watch me.'

Carefully I opened my eyes, immediately shifting my view to the man sitting across from me at the sound of his voice. I started to say the name that came to my lips without thinking and stopped, remembering that things had changed.

"Where am I?" I whispered hoarsely.

"You're in my flat, of course. Above the club. I assumed you didn't particularly want me to leave you there in that condition. Would you like a cup of tea?" was Grey's friendly, even warm, response.

"Ah...yes," I replied, pushing myself up to a sitting position and removing the blanket.

I watched as Grey's capable hands poured out the tawny liquid and added milk and sugar, then reached out to take the cup from him. The warmth was like solidified sunlight as I considered the change of clothing. "So why that name?" I asked, then took a sip, enjoying the way it slid down my throat and warmed the chill that had always seemed to threaten me, especially now.

This was no longer the Harry I'd known and I really wasn't sure what to do, or say, so I settled on the obvious question. I'd spent so many years acting as though I'd been cast from the mold of my forefathers even though I had, in the end, gone my own way. How to deal with this man before me who used to exude a sense of innocence, coupled with sometimes fatalistic determination, who now seemed to be the epitome of effortless charm and confidence? Rather like me, actually, when I wasn't being a complete twit.

"That's simple enough. After everything I've gone through, all that our world has endured, I finally realized that there's precious little black and white out there, and infinite shades of grey. And that is, in the end, what I am. Infinite shades of grey." Brilliant green eyes gazed at me, Grey's expression unreadable.

'It's funny,' I thought to myself, 'when you feel like you're staring into a reversed image of yourself. At least he isn't sneering or smirking like I would have back then.' I let my eyes wander again over Grey's hair, his face, and body, sitting there with one arm slung casually over the back of the couch he was seated on. It was only when I noticed the upturned quirk of Grey's mouth that I mentally shook myself awake, cursing the fact that I'd been caught woolgathering.

So I set down my cup and said, "I'm not quite sure what happened down there but, err...thanks. I should probably get going." I didn't really want to go, but without knowing how to handle myself I figured it was better to retreat from the situation for now. I stood up and looked around for a moment, wondering whether I should apparate or use a normal exit. I wasn't sure I could apparate from here, since it was only common sense for wizards to key in protections only open to a select few.

~*~

Inwardly I smiled, keeping my outward expression a great deal more vague than what I was feeling. "Draco," I said lazily, in a way I knew would probably confuse the man, "you're welcome back to my club anytime you want. Drinks are on me. And in case you were wondering, you can exit from here any way you'd like. This place is shielded and silenced to a fare-thee-well. No one will notice or care but myself."

Standing up with fluid grace, I flashed my former rival a quirky little grin, then slowly walked down the corridor to the bedroom, hearing the sound of a door closing behind me in the distance. It was short work to shuck my clothing and plait my hair to keep it from tangling before slipping into bed. The last thing I remember is sighing as the soft silk wrapped around me and claimed me for its own, even as sleep did.

Some ten hours later found me in my bathroom, a towel draped around my waist as I stood before a mirror. 'Saturday, thank Merlin,' I thought as I combed out the dark mass of my hair. Who would have thought it would be so simple to just let it grow, and how easily it could be tamed from its former state with a simple spell? I tossed the towel into the hamper and paced off to the bedroom, picking out clothing at random and throwing them on.

My wand I tucked carefully into my trench coat, though I hardly needed it these days. It was, however, better to keep up appearances while wandering the wizarding world. While it could not be said that a mere handful could do wandless magic, it would mark me as being special in some way, and I avoided that like the plague. I'd had enough of that, thank you very much.

With a last glance around and a quick check to make sure my scar was invisible I apparated to a normally quiet corner of Diagon Alley and with my hands in the pockets of my jeans strolled into the stream of people wandering the street. Flourish and Blotts was wasn't too far away, and when I gained entrance I began to scan the shelves patiently, waiting for Hermione to arrive.