Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Thirty-Four
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~May~
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It felt weird to Harry, knowing what was to come as he took his potion, and awoke the following morning having aged another year. The nightmare he'd had upon waking certainly didn't help matters. That goddamn basilisk -he was glad it was dead. Monstrous thing! A shudder ran through him as he hunched over in his bed, pulled the duvet around his shoulders and rested his head against his knees. While that was one negative thing to try and push to the back of his mind, it did raise another question that he was keen to know the answer to.
'Can I still talk to snakes?'
~0~
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Draco looked over the rim of his coffee mug as the kitchen door swung open. He glowered up as his cousin walked in, dressed in muggle lounge bottoms and a shirt. He stretched his arms and then wound his dark curls up into a scruffy knot on his head. He flashed Draco a grin as he made his way to the steaming kettle. He poured himself a mugful. Draco waited until he was taking a sip before he said, "So I hear you and Remus finally fucked last night."
The coffee sprayed out across the kitchen, following my Sirius coughing loudly.
"The banging. The shed practically rattled itself to the ground. What were you doing in there?" Draco asked in an exasperated manner. "Seriously, your bike doesn't make that much noise. Ever heard of a silencing charm?"
Sirius' cheeks flushed bright red. "Shit!" he hissed, dropping down over the counter, his coffee forgotten as he groaned into his arms. "Cannot believe we forgot! Shit, shit, shit!"
"You'd better hope Harry didn't hear any of it," Draco smirked into his tea as he took a sip.
Sirius let out another pitiful groan, folding his hands up over his head.
Remus chose that moment to walk in, sleep-rumpled and with a scruffy jawline. He frowned over at Sirius' prone form over the counter and his howling. Remus seemed to think for a moment, before shaking his head in a rejecting manner. It was too early for whatever nonsense this was. He reached over Sirius and grabbed a mug from the cupboard and made himself some coffee. Sirius let out another pitiful moan, more for being ignored now. Remus continued to ignore him, perching himself on top of the kitchen counter, crossed his ankles and took a sip of coffee. With an exaggerated sigh of pleasure, he looked down at Sirius.
"What're you groaning about now, Pads?"
"What're you groaning about now, Pads?"
"Draco is being mean to me!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Why, what did you do to him this time?"
"They heard us, Rem!" Sirius groaned, dragging his hands through his hair. "They heard us … last night."
Draco watched as Remus stiffened, his grip on the mug tightening a little. He worked his jaw, trying to force his immediate reaction down. The pallor in his cheeks was darkening a few shades. Draco tried to hide his growing smirk at their discomfort. "Well," he finally said, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "I uh … I don't really know where to go from here."
Draco snorted.
Sirius was about to start dramatically moaning again, when the sound of footsteps thundered down two flights of stairs. All heads looked up as Harry skidded to a stop in the kitchen doorway, grabbing onto the doorframe to steady himself. Draco's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. Harry had grown significantly overnight; his hair was the same hopeless dark mess, and he was still wiry, but he seemed to have grown even taller than Draco remembered him being at thirteen. Not to mention some of the puppy-fat had vanished from his face, slyly winking at the chiselled jaw that was yet to come.
Merlin, what was wrong with him?
Did he just refer to older-Harry's jaw as 'chiselled'?!
He forced himself to finish the rest of his breakfast.
Sirius beamed down at his godson. "Merlin, Harry, you really did grow-up overnight didn't you?" He pulled Harry down into a bearhug, spinning the teen around until he was begging Sirius to let him go. Harry blushed as he was set back on his feet. Grabbing his wand, Sirius dragged Harry over to the doorframe to mark his height. A black line appeared. Peering closer, Sirius grinned, "Look at that! You beat your original height by three inches!"
Harry grinned. "Awesome! My head isn't even killing me this morning, which is even better." He went over to the table and slid onto the bench alongside Draco. The blonde seemed to tense when their legs brushed together. "So how come you look so grouchy today?"
"I didn't get much sleep last night," Draco stated. "Heard a lot of banging." He shot a look over at Remus and Sirius who froze, their cheeks going pink. Draco turned his attention back to Harry who, although had grown, was still shorter than him. "What about you, how did you sleep?"
"I think it was okay. A lot of weird dreams though. Like, it makes sense but at the same time it doesn't."
"Things will get clearer once everything is settled again," Remus said, pouring a mug of tea for Harry and handing it over. "Getting the new memories seems to be the hardest at the moment."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. He accepted the mug from Remus and took a sip. "So, what plans do we have today?"
Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance. This was something they had discussed weeks prior, when this particular time came. Reliving this particular year was going to be exceptionally confusing for Harry. Clearing his throat Remus said, "Well I actually have to teach this week, unfortunately. Teddy is going to be with Andromeda for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Sirius is going to take you somewhere."
"Both of us?" Draco frowned.
"Yes, both of you," Sirius confirmed. "It's … important that the both of you see this. To dispel any illusions, going forward."
Harry furrowed his brow and cast a questioning look over at Draco. The blonde shrugged, just as perplexed as he was.
Remus drained the last of his mug before crossing the kitchen and planting a kiss on Sirius' cheek. "I'll see you boys for dinner tonight."
Sirius smiled after the tawny haired man. It was only when Remus disappeared up the staircase that he shook himself out of his musings. "Right, you two, today is a strictly muggle day. So only dress in your muggle clothing, okay? It'll be more … fitting for where we're going."
"Can we still take our wands?" Draco asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Of course, you can still take your wands!" Sirius sighed exasperatedly. Clapping his hands together he said, "Right! Upstairs, wash, dress and back down here within the hour! Got it? Good!"
.
They assembled in the hallway within the hour, all of them dressed in muggle clothing. Harry had casual muggle clothes on reminiscent of what he'd worn on the train rides going from Kings Cross to Hogwarts. Draco had memories of the jeans and hoodies and assortment of t-shirts that never seemed to fit properly. Thankfully, his current clothing did seem to be in his size and fit him a lot better. Draco wasn't too keen on the muggle clothing but had done as was asked of him and wore a shirt with long sleeves to hide his mark, as well as jeans and his running trainers. He didn't miss the way Harry's eyes had widened as they observed one another.
Sirius was the last to arrive in a set of jeans, worn looking converses -according to the label -a shirt and a leather jacket. The leather was worn, no longer creaking whenever Sirius gestured, and the buckles and zips had lost some of their shine. It looked about as old as Sirius himself.
"Right gang are we ready to head out?" Sirius grinned.
Draco glanced at Harry, before sighing. "Yes, I suppose we are. Are we going to apparate there or use muggle transport?" he asked apprehensively. They'd rarely travelled by muggle transport, and the few times they had, had made Draco feel sick.
"Apparate, obviously," Sirius rolled his eyes. "But we have to go outside the wards to do it."
They walked out the front door behind Sirius and stepped out of the wards and onto the pavement. It was a blindly bright day, and the heat was already starting to bake the earth around them. Draco felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to prickle. Cooling charms or not, he could already tell they were wearing far too many layers. Trying to appear casual they walked down the length of the street until there was a backroad behind a row of tightly packed houses. Halfway down the road, Sirius apparated, gripping both boys by the arm.
They landed awkwardly on the top of a riverbank, Sirius almost stumbling headfirst into the grotty looking stream.
Straightening up, the man brushed his loose hair aside with a huff. "I think I over-shot that one. Bollocks. It's about a ten minute walk over that hill."
Draco glowered up as his cousin started trekking up the slope. He followed as a slower pace, feeling as though he had several twigs or leaves caught in his hair. After a few paces, he realised Harry wasn't there. Turning on the slope, he frowned down at the stream and surrounding trees.
"Potter?"
"I'm here! Hold up!"
From his left, Harry stumbled awkwardly from a tight knot of pale trees, his jeans had a few muddy smudges on them from where he'd fallen awkwardly in the dirt. He was holding his left arm a little awkwardly, his expression pinched.
"What did you do to your arm?" Draco asked.
"Landed a bit rough. I think I twisted my arm or something."
"Here let me take a look."
Harry flinched away when Draco reached for his arm. The blonde held his breath, panic setting in instantly as he hesitantly looked up into Harry's wide eyes. The younger teen shook his head, his mouth agape. "I uh … sorry, I just … I don't know why I did that."
"If you'd rather I get Sirius, I can."
"No, no, not at all!" Harry fumbled awkwardly, grabbing for Draco's arm. "I'm happy for you to do it."
Draco gave Harry a doubtful look but didn't argue as he removed his wand from the holster on his arm. He murmured one of the spells he'd learned during his seventh year. Instantly all pain and tightness vanished from Harry's arm and he visibly relaxed and smiled with relief. Draco gave him a somewhat cocky smirk, before holstering his wand and turning to follow Sirius up the slope. Harry scrambled after him, panting his gratitude the entire way.
They followed Sirius across a grassy park with a playpark on the top of the hill. Harry slowed his steps as they walked along the gravel path, his eyes drawn to the swing set. He had a vague memory of having sat on that swing through many a summer, idly watching kids with their mums and feeling a hollowness begin to grow inside him.
As they passed through a few streets of suburban houses, Harry frowned as he peered around. He remembered these houses, despite how they all looked identical save for a few differences in lawn ornaments and the colour of their front door or fencing. He hurried to catch up with Sirius and Draco. He didn't believe Draco had been before, not that he would remember if he had. Sirius though -Sirius seemed to know exactly where he was going. Finally, they came to a stop outside number Four. Harry frowned at the neat little house, with its pristine little garden and the glossy fence and empty driveway.
Harry frowned up at the brass number on the front door. The house looked and felt empty. He frowned. "Sirius why have you brought us here?"
"This is where you used to live, son," Sirius glowered at the door as though it had personally offended him. "This is where you lived with your aunt and uncle. Just down the road was where I saw you for the first time after I … got out of prison."
"Really?" Draco and Harry said at the same time.
Sirius nodded. "I believe you were trying to run away from home. Packed your trunk and everything. Following in my footsteps as always, evening running away younger than when I did it," he chuckled as he ruffled Harry's hair, his hand resting down on his shoulder. "Such a little rebel."
Harry felt his cheeks colour. "I remember … I remember Aunt Marge. I think -" his eyes went wide. "Holy shit! Did I -did I BLOW HER UP?!"
"You did WHAT?" Draco spun around; his grey eyes wide. "You blew up your aunt when you were thirteen? Merlin's sake, Potter, the rumour mill at school had nothing on your real life."
"It was an accident!" he shot back. "I didn't mean to blow her up! And I didn't, like, explode her! She just … inflated. Like a balloon. And then she just … floated away."
Sirius cackled, "From what I heard, it took a good few auror's to actually get her down and then erase her memory."
Harry groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Bloody hell. Although, she was a horrid woman," he raked a hand through his hair. "She probably deserved floating off over England for a while."
Draco found himself trying to hold back his laughter. "Honestly, Harry, I should have just invited you over to the Manor for afternoon tea. I'm sure Aunt Bella would have made an excellent balloon."
Sirius smirked at his cousin, "Oh yes, I'd love to get a gun and try and take her down. Maybe she'd have popped and gone whizzing through the air."
The three of them laughed heartily in the bright sunshine.
Sobering up, Sirius nodded towards the front door. "Shall we go inside?"
"That's breaking and entering, isn't it?" Draco frowned, knowing full well that any bad activity will show up on his report between his auror and the Minister.
"Don't worry about it, you won't be doing anything wrong. Just me," Sirius shrugged, removing his wand from his holster. "Let's be quick about it, you know how nosy muggle neighbours can be."
"True," Harry nodded in agreement. "Guarantee we're already attracting people. They probably think we're casing the place."
"Fine, let's go," Draco snapped testily.
Muttering a quick 'Alohamora', the front door swung inwards as they drew nearer. The air inside was cool and stale, indicating that -as suspected -the house had been vacated some time ago. The lack of furniture and photos on the walls was indicative enough. Harry scuffed his trainers against the doormat automatically, and then frowned as the two others shot him confused looks.
"A-aunt Petunia didn't like me dragging in dirty …" he trailed off, his eyes roaming the walls. "And had no idea how to decorate apparently."
Draco snorted, "My mother would have a fit if she saw the state of this place. Were other muggles better at decorating or is this as good as it gets?"
"Not everyone can live in a palace, cousin," Sirius grinned.
"The manor was not a palace," Draco sniffed loftily.
They wandered into the living room, all of them scrunching their noses up in distaste at the gaudy wallpaper, bland carpet and haloed spaces on the walls where photo frames used to hang. The kitchen hadn't looked like it was refurbished at all, from what Harry could remember of it. He ran his hands over the oven knobs and had brief flashes of him barely being able to see into the frying pan, as he cooked some bacon and eggs for Vernon's breakfast.
He was just glancing out at the back garden -memories of toiling in the summer heat over Petunia's flower beds, tugging weeds out of the earth -when he heard Draco from the hallway.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Harry and Sirius hurried to his side. Harry felt his heart sink at the sight of the cupboard door open just enough for the narrow bed and shelving within to be seen.
"So, all of those rumours and what Hermione hinted at were all … true? You lived in this tiny little cupboard until you came to school?"
Harry felt his heart racing. He panicked; the sight of Draco standing rigid in the doorway, his knuckles clenching the door so tight they were white, and his voice strained through clenched teeth -it was at war with the snide, sneering Draco he remembered from school. That Draco would have laughed and jeered. This Draco however –
Harry grunted as Draco grabbed him into a bone-crushing hug. His pointed chin was pressed tight against Harry's shoulder and it felt a little uncomfortable, but his mind was running blank with just the sole thought of 'DRACO MALFOY IS HUGGING ME!' running through it. He eyed Sirius over the blonde's shoulder, and, despite his previous stony expression, he gave a sympathetic shrug and smile. Harry gingerly wrapped his arms around the tall blonde, letting himself relax into the hug.
Pulling away, Draco looked Harry sternly in the eye. "If you ever want someone to make those bastard muggles pay, you just need to say the word."
Harry blanched a little.
"Oh, trust me, I already tried Draco," Sirius sighed. "Harry wouldn't hear of it. Although if it helps, I do know where they got relocated to."
"Harry, you can't let them get away with what they did to you!" Draco snapped. "What they did is abuse, they deserve to pay!"
"Look, I get it, they were shitty to me all my life!" Harry shoved Draco's hands off, immediately missing the contact. He looked up into those confused grey eyes and nearly felt his anger melt away. "At the end of the day, they had to take care of me for seventeen years. Which, according to them, was pure Hell. Isn't that enough?"
"No, not when they made you suffer alongside them!"
Harry waved his arms in an exasperated manner. "Look, it's over, it's done, and they obviously had to go into hiding from the war and leave everything else behind! Do you really think me telling them just how shitty they were is going to change anything? Is going to make me feel better?"
"Harry -" Sirius took a step forward, but Harry wasn't done.
"What would either of you do? To family that fucked you over? Would you go to them and tell them just how much they ruined your life? Or would you just … move on?" The last words were almost mumbled, his gaze going distant as he stared into that cramped cupboard.
Sirius moved towards his godson and slowly gave his shoulders a squeeze. "There isn't one person in my family who I would love to verbally assault," he gave a weak smile. "However, I also wish I could have been a better brother. At the very least … I wish I could apologise to my baby brother. I looked out for me and me alone, whereas he was firmly under their thumb. I … I lost him, Harry. Because I wasn't good enough. He was so brave and if I could create Hell for my family it would literally be to tell my mother that because of her and her pureblood bullshit -Regulus lost his life trying to defeat the Dark Lord. He was barely older than you and Draco."
Harry and Draco snapped their heads up to see Sirius' grey eyes misting over.
Sirius pulled both boys into a hug, burying his face against their shoulders and squeezing them tight. Harry hugged back, leaning up into the hug and winding one arm around Draco to pull him close. Draco returned the hug, casting an apologetic look to Harry over his cousin's dark curls.
"Don't make the same mistake I did, boys," Sirius' muffled voice choked out. "If you have something to say, it needs to be said. Don't waste your time with regrets. It really is no way to live the life you have now."
"I love you, dad," Harry mumbled into his godfather's ear, squeezing him even tighter.
Sirius pressed a bristly kiss to Harry's cheek and then, after a quick grin, planted one on Draco's cheek with a loud 'smack!' Draco shoved him off with a grimace, making a fuss about wiping his face clean. Sirius chuckled, letting both boys go.
"Want to show me upstairs?" Sirius asked Harry, nodding towards the stairs. Nodding, Harry hurried up the stairs, not caring anymore about the state of the carpets. Sirius started mounting them too, before noticing that Draco was stood, staring back into that tiny, cramped cupboard. "You coming, Draco?"
Nodding, Draco mumbled, "Sure, give me a minute."
Sirius frowned, but decided to leave his cousin to it.
Draco turned Sirius' words over and over in his mind as he stared down at the narrow, dusty cot wedged into the cupboard. His throat was dry with all those taunts and slurs he'd slung Harry's way, never really knowing or never really believing that this was what Harry had to come back to every summer. He closed his eyes and tried to take a calming breath.
His father knew, though. Perhaps his father had always known.
'Don't waste your time with regrets. It really is no way to live the life you have now.'
Grinding his teeth together, he closed the cupboard door with a more force than necessary. As soon as they were home at Grimmauld place, he had a request to put to the Minister. It was time he went and saw his Father.
~0~
Two days after going to visit Privet Drive, Draco was just submitting his request to the Minister of Magic using Archimedes, when the sound of the floo resounded from the living room. He frowned, shutting the window after Archimedes flew off, and made his way downstairs to see who had arrived. As he reached the second landing, he saw Harry running down the steps, taking them three at a time, grinning at Draco as he rushed by down to the ground floor.
"Draco!" he called up, "Ron and Hermione are here!"
"What?" Draco frowned as he came down the last staircase. "Why?"
"Charming as ever, I see," Hermione rolled her eyes as she released Harry from a hug -it was weird to see her towering over him ever so slightly -before coming up to Draco and opened her arms. "Come on, this is what friends get. You get a hug too."
Draco gave a resigned sigh, looking at the ceiling. "Fine," he said, averting his gaze and gingerly stepping into her embrace. "If this is what friends do."
She gave him a squeeze. "Good. Now go and give Ron one."
Both men blanched and nearly snapped their necks to stare at one another.
"I'm not hugging him!"
"You have got to be kidding?!"
Hermione burst out laughing, "Oh MERLIN! Your faces!"
Both Ron and Draco turned pink with embarrassment. Harry chuckled, ducking his head to hide his face. Just then the backdoor slammed closed and Sirius walked in with his curls tied back in a knot and fresh oil stains on his muggle jeans and t-shirt. He grinned when he saw Hermione and Ron.
"I didn't realise you guys were coming over!" he hugged Hermione and gave Ron a clap on the shoulder. "What's the occasion?"
"Well it was a nice day and we didn't have any classes after our first one so, we thought we'd pop by and see if you wanted to come up to muggle London with us?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, my dad wants to see what other kind of gadgets are the most popular, so I figured it would be a good birthday present for him," Ron grinned. "He'd go nuts if I found him something better than that damned rubber duck."
Draco frowned. Sirius burst out laughing and shook his head. "Bloody Hell, maybe we should just buy him another car. That should keep him busy for a while."
Ron shook his head, "Mum would go bloody mental if she knew you'd bought dad a car."
"Okay, so I'll grab my trainers and we can head off?" Harry asked, already making his way towards the door. He was about to run upstairs before an idea went off in his head. "Hey, do they have any pet stores up central London?"
"They should do," Sirius said. "Why? You want another pet?"
"I don't have any pets."
"Oh please," Draco scoffed. "You have Remus once a month, this mutt here and not to mention the rugrat now he's learning to walk and chew things -"
"Plus, you have the ferret," Ron grinned mockingly. Draco shot him a glare but didn't rise to the bait.
Thankfully, neither did Harry. "Right, no more dogs, got it. I just wanted to try something out. Let me grab my shoes real quick, then we can go!" He dashed up the stairs without giving anyone a chance to say anything else.
Draco was already in his muggle clothes, as was becoming his norm these days. Who else was going to see him anyway? It wasn't as though he could go into Wizarding Britain without getting hexed beyond recognition anyway. He finished tying up his laces and slipped on a light jacket. Hermione adjusted the cardigan she wore over her knee-length summer dress and Ron tried not to fiddle with the sleeves of his overshirt. They were all standing by the front door when Harry came down in the standard jeans, graphic tee, converses and a thin hoodie tied around his waist. It was only in the last week or so that it was becoming a bit too warm to wear his leather jacket outside.
"Hold up you lot, you can't go outside without me or Auror Buxley going with you," Sirius stated coming out of the kitchen.
Draco's shoulders sagged. He sighed, already moving to take off his jacket, "You go have fun without me. I … need to study anyway."
"No!" Harry snapped, grabbing Draco's hand that was clutched around his jacket. "You need to get outside more. You can't keep studying."
"Harry, it's fine."
"No, it isn't!"
"Woah, slow down pup!" Sirius ruffled Harry's hair roughly to shut him up. "I wasn't suggesting we call Auror Buxley or make Draco stay at home. I was going to suggest that I come with you. Duh."
"See, problem solved!" Hermione grinned.
Sirius grinned wolfishly, before black bristles started crawling out of his skin and his body morphed into that of a scruffy black door, his ears pricked up, tongue lolling out of his mouth and his wagging tail thumping against the floor.
"Shit," Ron hissed. "You still give me nightmares, you know."
Sirius barked in agreement.
"As long as you don't chase after any cars, we'll be fine," Hermione smiled, bending down so that she could give Sirius a scratch behind the ears. He wagged his tail even harder, making her laugh. "It's been such a long time since I saw you like this."
Harry ruffled Sirius' head before turning to the others. "Right, shall we go?"
.
It was such a bright sunny day that it was almost blinding as Harry shielded his eyes with his hands to glance around at the buildings that towered over them. The sky was reflected in the smoky glass of the tall offices and hoards of people milled in and out of shops, bags hanging off their arms as they talked to their friends, paying no heed to the heaving traffic or other pedestrians. They managed to get a wider berth with Sirius trotting along with them in his dog form.
Harry couldn't stop himself from ruffling the dog's scruffy black hair nor could he stop himself from laughing whenever Sirius jumped up and licked his cheek.
They stopped outside a bookstore and Hermione asked if Draco wanted to go inside. He hesitated before going in with her, Ron and Harry opting to stay outside in the shade with Sirius.
"How have things been going?" Hermione asked as they climbed the large staircase at the back of the bookshop.
Draco frowned as they got to the next floor. "Relatively well, I suppose. He hasn't tried to hex me when he got his new memories, so that's a bit of a bonus."
Hermione offered a smile. "That's good. His current memories are pacifying his old ones. I can only hope that continues for the next few months."
Draco nodded, feeling a little awkward as he followed Hermione around the different labelled sections of literature. He cast his eye over some of the titles and found a lot of them to be very misleading. Why would he want to read a book about a clockwork orange? That didn't sound particularly interesting. How much could one write about an orange? Surely, not a whole book? It was only when he read the back cover that his eyebrows went up into his hairline.
So … Not a whole lot to do with fruit, then?
Sliding his hands into his pockets, he continued to follow Hermione like her shadow. He wanted her opinion about his request to see his father, but another part of him felt as though it was something private, something that he needed to do for himself.
In the end, he didn't say anything.
"Hey Draco?"
"Hm?" he looked up as Hermione beckoned him over.
"Do you want to go through the occult book section and see what muggles got right about magic and what they got wrong?"
"Surprisingly," he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes. Yes, I do."
.
Ron and Harry had wondered a little way down the road to where an ice cream parlour had some outdoor seating. They grabbed a table and some drinks and had used the old D.A. coins to let Hermione know where they were. As they waited for the other two to arrive, Ron turned to Harry and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" Harry groused.
"Well, you're finally old enough that hitting you won't land me in Azkaban. That's for pulling this whole de-aging shit! You bloody idiot."
Harry scowled at his friend, rubbing at his arm. "Considering I'm the Chosen One, I'd reckon looking at me funny would land you in Azkaban."
Ron snorted, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of his drink. "How has it all been? You know, growing up with Sirius, Remus and Draco?"
Harry shrugged. "It's been great. I honestly feel like I don't know anything else, but at the same time I remember the Dursley's. it seems to be … getting almost fuzzy. Like, I know all the shit they did to me happened, but it doesn't feel as significant anymore. Knowing I don't have to go back there ever again? Feels amazing."
"What about living with Draco?"
"That's … um … different," Harry mumbled, ducking his head a little to sip his coke through a straw. His cheeks felt incredibly hot all of a sudden but there was no way he could blame it on the heat. Under the table, Sirius' ears seemed to have flicked against Harry's shin.
"Different?" Ron frowned. "In what way?" That's when he noticed Harry's blush. "Oh my God, are you liking him? You do remember he is Malfoy, right?"
"I thought you two got along now?" Harry shot back.
"Well … I mean, yeah we do." Ron awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. "But at the same … it's Malfoy! Changing now, doesn't take away the fact that he was a bit of a shit."
"I reckon we were all little shits." Harry said thoughtfully.
"Apart from Hermione," they both agreed, before laughing.
Harry sighed, slouching back in his chair. "He's just … different. I can't explain it. It's like he's … softer, when he isn't around his mum and dad."
"Malfoy is soft?" Ron snorted. "I'll have to take your word for it, mate."
Harry chewed on his lip, his stomach doing somersaults. Then he spotted Draco's bright blonde hair through the crowd and his chest suddenly felt tighter, like it was harder to breathe. As they drew closer, he noticed how Draco was actually smiling as he listened to Hermione talking, the sun making them both shine. Did Draco ever smile like that when Harry was talking to him?
"Thank you for grabbing drinks, I'm parched!" Hermione gasped, sinking down into her chair, swooping over to give Ron a kiss on the cheek before taking a deep gulp of her iced tea. "That's better!"
Draco settled down demurely into his chair and offered Harry a soft smile, one that completely transformed his features. Harry tried to will his stomach not to do that funny little dance again. Draco had just asked for a bottle of water and, when no one was looking, transfigured a napkin into a small water bowl. He poured some water in it and set the bowl down on the floor. Within seconds, they could hear Padfoot slurping up the water, drops splashing against their feet.
Once they'd finished their drinks and bought some ice cream to eat later on -Hermione cast a stasis charm on it and slid it into her bag -they decided to head to the nearest pet shop which was a few streets over. Upon finding the shop, Harry asked if only Draco could go into the shop with him.
Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance but agreed to wait outside with Padfoot despite the dog's whimper.
The shop was rather brightly lit both from the lights overhead and the large window allowing the sunlight to pour in. Not unlike the cramped, gloomy pet shops at Diagon Alley. Draco shadowed Harry as he walked around somewhat aimlessly, his wide green eyes flitting from cage to cage, scanning for something.
Draco felt his insides squirm a little as they stopped to look into a tank with a corn snake inside. "You wanted to come all the way here … to look at a snake?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I wanted to try something. This worked when I was eleven …" he trailed off, his eyes going glassy as stared into the tank and those beady little eyes.
"Is this …" Draco shot a look behind them at the shop assistant, before lowering his voice. "Is this so you can see if you can talk to snakes?"
Harry chewed his lip before giving a nod. "Other than the whole 'you could be the heir of Slytherin' it felt kind of cool to be able to talk to animals. Well, one animal," he corrected. "Now shh! I'm trying to concentrate."
He waited, staring at the snake, expecting to feel that strange tingle at the back of his throat like he had done with the boa and the viper. After a few minutes he felt his stomach drop. Casting a glance up at Draco, he tried not to let the disappointment show but there was no use trying to hide it.
"Harry, I'm sorry," Draco gave his shoulder a firm squeeze.
It wasn't enough. Harry felt as though a part of him had been torn away. He clenched his teeth together before turning around and burying his face against Draco's chest. His shoulders heaved with the effort of not crying. Draco seemed stunned but eventually returned the hug, giving Harry that soft comfort that he craved. Eventually though, as they were standing in a pet shop, they broke apart. Harry cuffed at his eyes to make sure that they weren't wet before taking a deep breath.
"I suppose that's what I get for wanting to be normal all the time," he huffed, his voice low and sad.
"Hey," Draco gripped Harry's shoulder and forced their eyes to meet. "There is nothing wrong with being normal, but you Harry have never managed to be that. You're amazing just as you are."
"A-amazing?" Harry spluttered, his eyes widening. "Did -you really think I'm amazing?"
Draco stood rigid; his jaw clenched. "Shut up, Potter. Now if you act sad when we go back outside, we might even get to have dessert for dinner."
Harry's face broke into a grin, "You think I'm ama-a-a-azing! Draco Malfoy thinks I. AM. AMAZING!"
Draco swatted him upside the head. "That's not how you act sad! God, you're useless."
"Is that useless spelt 'a-m-a-z-i-n-g'?"
"Potter!"
Harry chuckled before holding his hands up in surrender. "Fine! I'll act sad! Gosh, you and your sweet tooth! Honestly Draco, it's a wonder you have any teeth left at all after eating all those chocolate bonbons your mother sent you!"
As Harry wondered away down the length of the shop towards the front door, Draco frowned after him. He hadn't eaten chocolate bonbons for what felt like ages, his Mother hadn't been able to get any to send to him. It was a rare treat in itself, and the last time he remembered eating chocolate bonbons so publicly in the Great Hall had been just after Halloween during his third year. But that would mean …
"He was looking at me … since then?"
Even though his memory knew that it had been because of Harry's suspicious nature, he couldn't ignore the rush of warmth he felt as he followed Harry to the front of the door. After all, there was something exhilarating, knowing that the Chosen One couldn't take his eyes off you for all those years.
A/N: Please leave some lovely reviews! I hope you liked the update! Feel free to ask some questions, I will answer them at the start of the next chapter in a note.
B x