Title: More Than Meant To Be
Author/Artist: DangerouslyHazle
Pairing: H/D
Rating: R (for future content)
Chapter Summary: Let's just say things really get cooking
Disclaimer: Nearly everything belongs to JK Rowling, I can take credit only for the story line and a few OCs, and I've no intention of making profit of off any of this.
Possible Spoilers: Any of the books, potentially.
Warnings: m/m slash _________________________________________________
Chapter three: Shake it up
Bleeding ignorant mass of dung, Draco swore to himself, sticking his hands awkwardly into his jeans. It had been hell getting to Cozy Square, this little branch of wizarding respite in the middle of metropolitan London. In the middle of Muggle London, no less. The only good thing was that it was close to the metro (that he'd had to take that contraption at all was awful!). Well, that and he'd be able to apparate now. If he had reason to return, that is...
The sidewalk away from the main streets and crowded sidewalk had the tingle of magic to it, but Draco walked slowly despite the deliberately unpleasant feeling.
It had been three weeks since he'd plucked the parchment from the wall outside the Ministry. Would the position still be open? Well, it's not like he'd had a choice. Priorities, he told himself.
He came upon a reasonably sized square of grass, the sidewalk splitting and bordering it, passing in front of several small shops that made up Cozy Square. Draco looked down at the parchment he held in his hand and then back up at the smallest of the businesses. Prescott's Pastries. He sighed. If nothing else, he could get something to eat. Food was an area of his life that had been neglected lately.
A bell tied to the corner of the door rang as he opened it. A young woman stood behind the counter, frowning down at something. Her chestnut hair fell across her face, obscuring some of it from view, but at the sound of the bell she looked up.
Her face relaxed into an open and welcome expression, and after catching sight of him her brown eyes turned appraising. Draco saw approval there, to his amusement. Girls would always look, wouldn't they? Some guys, too, he thought smugly.
After glancing around – a bespectacled wizard in blue robes sipped tea to the left, and a couple in Muggle dress talked over muffins to the right – Draco approached the counter and scanned the menu behind the woman's head. The menu's letters were made of blue lights and hovered up against the wall. A cute, if simple, bit of spellwork, he thought, and probably easy to alter when needed.
"I suppose I'll have a scone," he said, "and a cup of tea."
When he looked back at the woman she was writing his order down and had a curiously large grin on her face. He raised his eyebrow minutely. Was it something he'd said?
"It'll be just a moment!" she said, ducking around a curtain to disappear through a doorway with a small flourish. He stared after her for a moment, then shook his head and turned to find a seat.
Once situated at a small table just to the side of the entrance, he took a more attentive look around. Could he help manage this business? There were tables and booths for maybe twenty people if all seats were full. The colors were nice, he supposed: white walls and floor, and a green and gold trim.
Part of the counter was clear, with shelves displaying pastries and other baked goods. A smell wafted from the kitchen that tugged at the stomach and must surely entice people to buy more than they'd intended. Draco was even thinking about adding one of those chocolate muffins to his order...
But the girl walked out of the kitchen just then with his scone and tea, so he suppressed his appetite. She walked over to him and set his food down before him, standing back with her hands resting on her hips. She cocked her head at him. "Will there be anything else?" Draco smiled wistfully at the chocolate muffin sitting in the display, and shook his head. "No, thank you, miss," he said.
"Call me Gina," she smiled.
"Well, Gina," he said before she had a chance to leave, "I was wondering what you could tell me about this." He produced the advertisment from his pocket.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, picking it up. "This is the one he put outside the Ministry... and I said no one would ever notice it there!" She positively beamed at him. "Are you here about the job, then?"
Draco nodded. "And I only noticed it by complete accident. I hadn't known there was any sort of message board out there."
Gina snorted. "There isn't! Just a bunch of papers stuck up by people too cheap to advertise in the Prophet, or inside the Ministry," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Our baker and owner, Mr. Prescott, decided he didn't want just anyone working at his place!" she added with a laugh.
Draco looked quizzical. "He wanted someone who'd happen across an advertisement?"
She shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, eat your scone, and I'll introduce you to the management and the one other underling." She winked at him as she left, probably going to tell Prescott about the potential employee.
Draco bit into his scone and damn near moaned. How could this - this burnt cookie taste so good?! He sniffed it critically. It smelled faintly of coffee... maybe chocolate? What went into a scone, anyway? He'd never cared to contemplate the cracker/cookie things before, but this warranted attention.
"Good food, isn't it?" asked the blue-robed wizard still sitting at the table near Draco. His bushy eyebrows were raised, and his spectacles made his eyes strangely large. Steam rose from his teacup, reminding Draco of his own.
"Yes, the best I've ever tasted," he replied, picking up his tea and sipping. Mint, he was suprised to note, and also good. He finished off his food and drink, standing to take the cup and plate up to the counter.
Gina returned as he got there. She gave him a winsome smile. "So, handsome, you good with numbers?"
Draco had to laugh. "You might say that. I've always been good at Arithmancy, and that's as numerically complicated as you can get. Accounting's simple by comparison."
Gina laughed too. "Hear that! Numbers are easy!" she called over her shoulder. "I think he's calling us dumb!"
"Ha!" came a voice from the kitchen. "That's comforting. We could use some intelligent help around here." Draco felt his brow furrow slightly. That voice seemed vaguely familiar...
"Well," Gina said to him, recalling his attention, "here's what you've got to work with." She handed him a brief summation of the current business system along with a list of the prices of what they sold and their last month or so of transactions. "There are only three people on the staff – four if you join in – so salary is simple. The boss says he's not looking to grow or anything, so it should stay simple. It's light right now, but that's because it's early in the day. Later, or on weekends, we just about fill up."
Draco nodded absentmindedly, running figures in his head. It would be simple working with a small business, then.
"There are two small offices in the back, one of which will be yours. You can negotiate your hours with the boss." She projected the rest of her words back to the kitchen, "That way he can appreciate that some people have social lives!"
An indistinct muttering floated back. "I have a social life, dammit. I just happen to place work higher on my priorities. And stop arguing in front of the new person!"
Gina gave Draco a grin of triumph. "It's fun to get under the boss's skin," she told him conspiratorially. Then a look of mortification came over her. "Oh! Sorry! I've completely lost my manners. I'm Gina," she pointed at her name tag. "What's your name?"
"Draco," he replied. Since she hadn't used her last name, he'd use the excuse not to bring his up just yet.
"Very nice to meet you. My folks own the coffee place just across the way. Drop in for a free cup on your breaks," she said.
"Thank you, I will."
She turned to speak back over her shoulder again. "Harry, would you come meet him already! Just drop what you're doing! And bring the runt with you!"
Harry?
Slowly, the name and the voice clicked, and Draco felt a bemused feeling settle over him. Surely not...?
But the curtain pushed aside, revealing a much-matured, flour-covered Harry Potter, and the certainty that the hands of fate wove against him-- Draco Malfoy--solidified.
This simply was not possible.
Harry looked up and felt the world spin off of its axis.
Standing here in his bakery, right in front of him, was Draco Malfoy. He was older and far more serious-looking than Harry remembered – and with far less smug arrogance as well – in his dark grey robes. His hair was longer, too. It was a soft, shining blonde and had grown past his shoulders.
The look on Harry's face as he caught sight of his employee-to-be was comical. He'd been in the middle of wiping his hands on his untied apron and ready to be loosely professional when he'd walked out from behind the curtain separating the kitchen from the main room. Instead he'd been frozen where he stood, his mouth slightly open.
It was Draco who spoke first. "Potter!" he near-hissed, and the memories came swamping back: Hogwarts, rivalries, friendships... people long lost. Harry swallowed, feeling his face go white and his body heat flee.
Gina stepped out from between the two, looking from one to the other. They knew each other?
"I..." Harry tried to speak but found himself at a loss. He fought back tears. One familiar face, and months of healing (repression, whispered part of him) were undone!
Draco, too, was silent. He looked his ex-rival up and down, marveling at the change. He was much slimmer, and he'd aged in a more than physical way. There was a shadow to his expression... A sharp memory of his mother rose up, when she'd said farewell with shadows in her eyes. Draco bit the inside of his cheek.
No, Harry thought, this will not go like this. He wrested himself back under control and forced himself to breath. "Hello, Draco," he finally said, making the young man in front of him stiffen in surprise at the use of his first name.
Harry took a deep breath and looked at Gina. "Sorry. I... we knew each other at school," he told her. He returned his gaze to Draco. "Would you care to step into the back? We can talk, if you'd like." He braced himself for his ex-enemy's refusal.
Draco waited a heartbeat, wondering if he'd stepped into a reality warp of some sort. Surely Potter would have kicked him out by now... especially with the Malfoy reputation. But instead he was inviting him to talk. After a deep breath, he found the will to reply. "Alright... Harry."
He saw mild surprise flicker in the green depths of Harry's gaze, but the young man just nodded and turned to lead the way back into the kitchen and presumably to the offices beyond.
After the reunited acquaintances had left the room, Gina looked over at Walt Pennamen, who was still sitting with his tea and looking like he was trying not to be noticed. As one of the few people who'd been at the introduction of Harry to the Square community, Walt knew "Mr. Prescott's" true identity.
"Well... I suppose Mum'll want to hear about this one," Gina said lightly.
Walt smiled, his eyes squinching behind his glasses. "It's such a happy thing to see to friends meet after a long time. It'll be nice for Harry to have someone from his past in his life again."
Gina gave him a dubious look. "I don't know about the friends part. But I do agree that he needs his past brought back to light. He spends far too much time burying it all. From the looks of that blonde, he'll shake things up." She gave a wistful smile. "Blondes always do."
Walt snorted.
__________________________________________
AN:
This chap would SO have been up earlier if I had been able to actually get onto fanfiction.net
*wicked grin* Yeah, I know most of you saw this coming. H. Prescott wasn't TOO much of a dead giveaway, was it? I got a bunch of "*wink*"s in my last few reviews, lol, so I know it wasn't terribly subtle. Anyhow, next chapter won't be up for a while, as I've got a bunch of nonsensical stuff to take care of (aka "responibilities". *eye roll*) I guestimate about a little over a week, but definitely under two. Stay tuned!
Author/Artist: DangerouslyHazle
Pairing: H/D
Rating: R (for future content)
Chapter Summary: Let's just say things really get cooking
Disclaimer: Nearly everything belongs to JK Rowling, I can take credit only for the story line and a few OCs, and I've no intention of making profit of off any of this.
Possible Spoilers: Any of the books, potentially.
Warnings: m/m slash _________________________________________________
Chapter three: Shake it up
Bleeding ignorant mass of dung, Draco swore to himself, sticking his hands awkwardly into his jeans. It had been hell getting to Cozy Square, this little branch of wizarding respite in the middle of metropolitan London. In the middle of Muggle London, no less. The only good thing was that it was close to the metro (that he'd had to take that contraption at all was awful!). Well, that and he'd be able to apparate now. If he had reason to return, that is...
The sidewalk away from the main streets and crowded sidewalk had the tingle of magic to it, but Draco walked slowly despite the deliberately unpleasant feeling.
It had been three weeks since he'd plucked the parchment from the wall outside the Ministry. Would the position still be open? Well, it's not like he'd had a choice. Priorities, he told himself.
He came upon a reasonably sized square of grass, the sidewalk splitting and bordering it, passing in front of several small shops that made up Cozy Square. Draco looked down at the parchment he held in his hand and then back up at the smallest of the businesses. Prescott's Pastries. He sighed. If nothing else, he could get something to eat. Food was an area of his life that had been neglected lately.
A bell tied to the corner of the door rang as he opened it. A young woman stood behind the counter, frowning down at something. Her chestnut hair fell across her face, obscuring some of it from view, but at the sound of the bell she looked up.
Her face relaxed into an open and welcome expression, and after catching sight of him her brown eyes turned appraising. Draco saw approval there, to his amusement. Girls would always look, wouldn't they? Some guys, too, he thought smugly.
After glancing around – a bespectacled wizard in blue robes sipped tea to the left, and a couple in Muggle dress talked over muffins to the right – Draco approached the counter and scanned the menu behind the woman's head. The menu's letters were made of blue lights and hovered up against the wall. A cute, if simple, bit of spellwork, he thought, and probably easy to alter when needed.
"I suppose I'll have a scone," he said, "and a cup of tea."
When he looked back at the woman she was writing his order down and had a curiously large grin on her face. He raised his eyebrow minutely. Was it something he'd said?
"It'll be just a moment!" she said, ducking around a curtain to disappear through a doorway with a small flourish. He stared after her for a moment, then shook his head and turned to find a seat.
Once situated at a small table just to the side of the entrance, he took a more attentive look around. Could he help manage this business? There were tables and booths for maybe twenty people if all seats were full. The colors were nice, he supposed: white walls and floor, and a green and gold trim.
Part of the counter was clear, with shelves displaying pastries and other baked goods. A smell wafted from the kitchen that tugged at the stomach and must surely entice people to buy more than they'd intended. Draco was even thinking about adding one of those chocolate muffins to his order...
But the girl walked out of the kitchen just then with his scone and tea, so he suppressed his appetite. She walked over to him and set his food down before him, standing back with her hands resting on her hips. She cocked her head at him. "Will there be anything else?" Draco smiled wistfully at the chocolate muffin sitting in the display, and shook his head. "No, thank you, miss," he said.
"Call me Gina," she smiled.
"Well, Gina," he said before she had a chance to leave, "I was wondering what you could tell me about this." He produced the advertisment from his pocket.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, picking it up. "This is the one he put outside the Ministry... and I said no one would ever notice it there!" She positively beamed at him. "Are you here about the job, then?"
Draco nodded. "And I only noticed it by complete accident. I hadn't known there was any sort of message board out there."
Gina snorted. "There isn't! Just a bunch of papers stuck up by people too cheap to advertise in the Prophet, or inside the Ministry," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Our baker and owner, Mr. Prescott, decided he didn't want just anyone working at his place!" she added with a laugh.
Draco looked quizzical. "He wanted someone who'd happen across an advertisement?"
She shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, eat your scone, and I'll introduce you to the management and the one other underling." She winked at him as she left, probably going to tell Prescott about the potential employee.
Draco bit into his scone and damn near moaned. How could this - this burnt cookie taste so good?! He sniffed it critically. It smelled faintly of coffee... maybe chocolate? What went into a scone, anyway? He'd never cared to contemplate the cracker/cookie things before, but this warranted attention.
"Good food, isn't it?" asked the blue-robed wizard still sitting at the table near Draco. His bushy eyebrows were raised, and his spectacles made his eyes strangely large. Steam rose from his teacup, reminding Draco of his own.
"Yes, the best I've ever tasted," he replied, picking up his tea and sipping. Mint, he was suprised to note, and also good. He finished off his food and drink, standing to take the cup and plate up to the counter.
Gina returned as he got there. She gave him a winsome smile. "So, handsome, you good with numbers?"
Draco had to laugh. "You might say that. I've always been good at Arithmancy, and that's as numerically complicated as you can get. Accounting's simple by comparison."
Gina laughed too. "Hear that! Numbers are easy!" she called over her shoulder. "I think he's calling us dumb!"
"Ha!" came a voice from the kitchen. "That's comforting. We could use some intelligent help around here." Draco felt his brow furrow slightly. That voice seemed vaguely familiar...
"Well," Gina said to him, recalling his attention, "here's what you've got to work with." She handed him a brief summation of the current business system along with a list of the prices of what they sold and their last month or so of transactions. "There are only three people on the staff – four if you join in – so salary is simple. The boss says he's not looking to grow or anything, so it should stay simple. It's light right now, but that's because it's early in the day. Later, or on weekends, we just about fill up."
Draco nodded absentmindedly, running figures in his head. It would be simple working with a small business, then.
"There are two small offices in the back, one of which will be yours. You can negotiate your hours with the boss." She projected the rest of her words back to the kitchen, "That way he can appreciate that some people have social lives!"
An indistinct muttering floated back. "I have a social life, dammit. I just happen to place work higher on my priorities. And stop arguing in front of the new person!"
Gina gave Draco a grin of triumph. "It's fun to get under the boss's skin," she told him conspiratorially. Then a look of mortification came over her. "Oh! Sorry! I've completely lost my manners. I'm Gina," she pointed at her name tag. "What's your name?"
"Draco," he replied. Since she hadn't used her last name, he'd use the excuse not to bring his up just yet.
"Very nice to meet you. My folks own the coffee place just across the way. Drop in for a free cup on your breaks," she said.
"Thank you, I will."
She turned to speak back over her shoulder again. "Harry, would you come meet him already! Just drop what you're doing! And bring the runt with you!"
Harry?
Slowly, the name and the voice clicked, and Draco felt a bemused feeling settle over him. Surely not...?
But the curtain pushed aside, revealing a much-matured, flour-covered Harry Potter, and the certainty that the hands of fate wove against him-- Draco Malfoy--solidified.
This simply was not possible.
Harry looked up and felt the world spin off of its axis.
Standing here in his bakery, right in front of him, was Draco Malfoy. He was older and far more serious-looking than Harry remembered – and with far less smug arrogance as well – in his dark grey robes. His hair was longer, too. It was a soft, shining blonde and had grown past his shoulders.
The look on Harry's face as he caught sight of his employee-to-be was comical. He'd been in the middle of wiping his hands on his untied apron and ready to be loosely professional when he'd walked out from behind the curtain separating the kitchen from the main room. Instead he'd been frozen where he stood, his mouth slightly open.
It was Draco who spoke first. "Potter!" he near-hissed, and the memories came swamping back: Hogwarts, rivalries, friendships... people long lost. Harry swallowed, feeling his face go white and his body heat flee.
Gina stepped out from between the two, looking from one to the other. They knew each other?
"I..." Harry tried to speak but found himself at a loss. He fought back tears. One familiar face, and months of healing (repression, whispered part of him) were undone!
Draco, too, was silent. He looked his ex-rival up and down, marveling at the change. He was much slimmer, and he'd aged in a more than physical way. There was a shadow to his expression... A sharp memory of his mother rose up, when she'd said farewell with shadows in her eyes. Draco bit the inside of his cheek.
No, Harry thought, this will not go like this. He wrested himself back under control and forced himself to breath. "Hello, Draco," he finally said, making the young man in front of him stiffen in surprise at the use of his first name.
Harry took a deep breath and looked at Gina. "Sorry. I... we knew each other at school," he told her. He returned his gaze to Draco. "Would you care to step into the back? We can talk, if you'd like." He braced himself for his ex-enemy's refusal.
Draco waited a heartbeat, wondering if he'd stepped into a reality warp of some sort. Surely Potter would have kicked him out by now... especially with the Malfoy reputation. But instead he was inviting him to talk. After a deep breath, he found the will to reply. "Alright... Harry."
He saw mild surprise flicker in the green depths of Harry's gaze, but the young man just nodded and turned to lead the way back into the kitchen and presumably to the offices beyond.
After the reunited acquaintances had left the room, Gina looked over at Walt Pennamen, who was still sitting with his tea and looking like he was trying not to be noticed. As one of the few people who'd been at the introduction of Harry to the Square community, Walt knew "Mr. Prescott's" true identity.
"Well... I suppose Mum'll want to hear about this one," Gina said lightly.
Walt smiled, his eyes squinching behind his glasses. "It's such a happy thing to see to friends meet after a long time. It'll be nice for Harry to have someone from his past in his life again."
Gina gave him a dubious look. "I don't know about the friends part. But I do agree that he needs his past brought back to light. He spends far too much time burying it all. From the looks of that blonde, he'll shake things up." She gave a wistful smile. "Blondes always do."
Walt snorted.
__________________________________________
AN:
This chap would SO have been up earlier if I had been able to actually get onto fanfiction.net
*wicked grin* Yeah, I know most of you saw this coming. H. Prescott wasn't TOO much of a dead giveaway, was it? I got a bunch of "*wink*"s in my last few reviews, lol, so I know it wasn't terribly subtle. Anyhow, next chapter won't be up for a while, as I've got a bunch of nonsensical stuff to take care of (aka "responibilities". *eye roll*) I guestimate about a little over a week, but definitely under two. Stay tuned!