CHAPTER TWO

The ride was mostly silent as Harry fiddled with the dilapidated radio buttons, apparently in an attempt to cover the blonde's silence with with music.

Draco wasn't bothered by it, allowing a slight underscore of awkwardness to fall between them. It was natural after all— they had only known each other for about half an hour and Harry had already invited the other guy into his home.

So instead of trying to even focus on the pop music on the radio, Draco soaked in the landscape. The morning had already broken into an impossibly blue sky that stretched and encompassed the whole of the horizon and seemingly more, without a single cloud or blemish. The sea had long been swallowed up by the city, with only the crisp sea air to belie the appearance of a city.

Off in the distance, instead of a downtown skyline that dominated most cities, Draco only saw green hills with white houses that seemed like they were built into the hillside. Closer to them were a swarm of conflicting scenes— palm trees stuck jauntily inside narrow sidewalks, dilapidated Spanish-style apartment buildings next to trendy little shops. Yet beyond the beautiful sky, the distant hills, the ocean air, and the miscellany of cultures imbued in the very buildings that dotted the city, there was an energy that Draco couldn't even begin to describe.

It was, in a word, incredible. With the Muggle music blasting on the radio, the shield of blue above him, and the promise of a foreign city opening up to him, Draco Malfoy felt more alive than he had ever felt.

Harry seemed to notice this, because he grinned and asked, "First time to LA?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what do you think so far?"

"It's beautiful."

"Better than London? Or… Bath?"

Draco snorted, thinking of the antique halls of Malfoy Manor, the worn, downtrodden stones of Hogwarts, and the weird jumble of outmoded shops of Diagon Alley. "Much better."

The other boy laughed uproariously and kept driving, deeper into the city.

"Where are we going?"

"Where I live. Nearby the Grove."

"The Grove?"

"Oops, sorry. Um… it's like a shopping center. Don't let the name fool you. There's barely a tree in sight. But I like living near it. The Farmer's Market has the best food!" Harry grinned openly, gentling bobbing his head to the trendy music.

Draco smiled politely, trying purposefully to rid himself of the emotional walls that his father had beaten into him over the course of his childhood.

"So… why'd you run away?"

The blonde's attempt at a smile immediately dissipated as he grew uncomfortable, the walls immediately rising even in spite of himself.

Harry seemed to notice this and he immediately splayed his hands on the driver's wheel. "I'm sorry, dude. I didn't mean…"

Draco shrugged, trying to downplay it. "It's okay… It's just… It's still hard to process."

The blonde glanced over to see the other boy nodded understandingly. Yet how much could Harry understand about it? There was so much he wanted to learn about the other boy, least of which was why exactly this guy would invite a stranger into his home so quickly. Still, he knew that such an exchange of information would have to reciprocal, so he swallowed his own questions and just tried to take in as much of the city as possible.

They drove through a couple residential areas before finally arriving to a tall apartment complex. Harry parked Bessie in a tiny parking space before climbing out of the car. The blonde followed him numbingly, darting his head around everywhere to try absorb the landscape around him. Harry darted up a series of stairs quickly, only waiting briefly for Draco to follow him. Then, after a short walk down the hall, Harry opened up his apartment.

The first thing Draco noticed was how bare it was. The ceilings, floors, and walls had been gutted to the supports, brick, and concrete. None of the sparse decorations and furniture pieces looked like they belonged in the same building together, much less in the same room. Draco was still in the process of registering the furniture before he realized that there were other people in the apartment.

There was a guy and a girl sitting on the misshapen couch, leaning on each other sipping orange juice out of plastic cups. Both were tall, thin, black, and in their early-20s, staring curiously at Harry.

"Hey Harry! Who's he?"

Harry opened his mouth to explain before he was interrupted by a large hispanic woman in her 50s, wielding a wooden spoon, cursing in Spanish before pointing to Harry menacingly, "Don't tell me you brought another stray?"

The brunette's face turned sheepish as he looked down, saying, "Perdon, abuela. He was sleeping on the beach! I couldn't just…"

The woman approached Draco, who desperately tried to back up before the woman grabbed his wrist and poked him in the stomach hard. After a moment, she pulled herself up to an intimidating level before breaking down into a huge sob and squeezing Draco into a gripping hug, the spoon whacking him on the back of his head. The woman then starting shaking the blonde at his arms, remarking to Harry, "Que bonito! But he needs to eat he's too skinny! I'll crack more eggs for the rancheros."

Tara pulled away from the blonde with another look before bustling back to the kitchen, cursing alternatively in Spanish and English, all while waving her spoon around.

The two on the couch and Harry shared a knowing look while smiling, before Harry stepped forward and introduced them. "This is JC and Jonna. Girls, this is Draco. He's from Britain!"

His roommates burst out excitedly before running over to give him a large three-way hug before pulling back, examining every inch of him, and asking him a million questions before answering each other alternatively.

"Britain?—"

"—Girl how vogue. Do you know the Queen?—"

"—Please! You ask everybody from Britain that. Do you have an accent?—"

"—Of course he has an accent! Harry still hasn't lost that Southern twang—"

"—Psssh. British boys accents are hotter—"

"—Way hotter—"

"—And that white hair! Oh my god what I wouldn't give—"

"—You've got to use a product. Who…"

Harry finally broke them away from the blonde, laughing uproariously as he said mock warningly "Hey! Let him breathe a second!"

Draco blinked, trying to regain his composure, but felt a large blush crawling up his cheeks. The brunette noticed and guided the blonde to a misshapen plush chair next to the misshapen couch.

The three of them sat down, with Harry sitting further away. JC pushed his orange juice drink into his hands with a flamboyant wink. "So Draco. That's such a cool name. What's your real name?"

"That is my real name?" Draco asked almost hesitantly as he blushed even further in spite of himself. He could hear his father berating him for not controlling himself more.

"Damn boy! British parents must be way cooler than Americans then. What are you in LA for?"

The blonde shrugged and stared at the plastic cup in his hands, "I don't know. Just thought it'd be a good place to… start over."

"Girl yes!" Jonna clapped her hands and poured more orange juice for JC. "Same here."

Draco felt a smile grow on his face as they talked to each other, so he hid it with a sip from his cup, before coughing suddenly.

The three of them stopped talking and immediately burst out laughing at the blonde.

Draco looked at the cup suspiciously. "What is in this?"

Harry smirked knowingly, grabbing Jonna's drink and taking a huge sip of it before nodding to the cup. "It's abuela's breakfast version of a screwdriver. Orange juice and tequila."

Draco raised his eyebrows but took another, smaller sip more tentatively. It burned down his throat but he mentally ignored it. Might as well get buzzed after what had happened yesterday night.

"So, Draco." Jonna whispered into JC's ear before she leaned forward and asked, "Gay or straight?"

Draco coughed up his drink again, a blush fully returning to his cheeks. "What?"

JT glared at his friend and elbowed her. "You don't have to answer. She just has a bet with me… that everybody who uses hair gel is just a little bit… not straight. But ignore her. She's just being nosey and nosey!"

Draco felt his mind overloaded. The wizarding world was just nowhere near that point of being open enough to even acknowledging that gay wizards existed, much less openly and casually talked about. Did Muggles accept homosexuals?

Jonna sensed his shock and leaned even more. "Oh honey you don't have to answer! That's a wildly personal question."

JC poked her again. "Like I said, nosey! But it's okay if you're straight. Jonna and I are used to being the only gays in the house."

"GAY?!" Jonna pouted indignantly. "I'm not gay anymore bitches, I'm straight!"

"Girl please you like the dick better than anybody."

"Yeah but I'm a real girl now. So technically… I'm straight."

JC rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Okay fine. Then I'm the only queer in the house yay me."

Draco knew his face resembled a gaping fish but he couldn't help it. The wizarding world didn't even have a name for people like Jonna. Sure, there had been mocking stories of wizards wearing female robes, but Draco had never even considered the possibility that Muggles would be more accepting of other people, much less openly talk about it.

Once again Harry seemed to sense his discomfort and took off his hat, asking quietly, "Guys let's talk about something else. This is making him uncomfortable."

Jonna and JC stopped awkwardly, apologizing to Draco, who just shook it off, saying, "I'm sorry it's not you. I just… I'm from a very conservative family. I've never met…"

Both of them nodded in comprehension. JC poured the blonde more tequila orange juice. "Okay sorry boo. I guess we are just too used to LA people, you know? We forget that people grew up like you and Harry."

Jonna put a hand on Harry's thigh. "Harry here grew up in a really conservative place too. A foster home in Texas. Too many kids and no money. And they weren't exactly nice. Let's just say Los Angeles must be heaven compared to that hellhole."

Harry ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. "It's okay. I'm sure Draco understands. He doesn't look like he came from money either."

Draco felt a rush of shame run through him, forcing him to blurt out an omission. "Actually, no. I grew up in a manor."

JC almost dropped his cup. "Like for real? A manor, manor? Like one on the TV with servants and everything?"

The blonde sank into his seat, ashamed of his family's wealth while sitting in their home. He nodded.

Harry shrugged in response and nudged JC with a look. "Just because it's nice doesn't make it a nice place to live."

They all looked uncomfortably at each other before Jonna segued awkwardly to a new topic. "So… Draco! What's your last name?"

"Malfoy."

"Malfoy! That's a strong name. I was born as Jim Irons but can you even imagine how horrible that name is? So now I'm Jonna Delasour!"

Draco smiled at her enthusiasm. "It's a good name, Jonna Delasour." He added a french inflection on the name and she melted.

"Oh! It sounds so much better when you say it! Say JC's name! It's even more French!"

"What is it?"

"Jean-Claude Bouchard."

Draco smirked and put on his thickest French accent. "Jean-Claude Bouchard, mon ami."

JC melted in his seat. "Oh god it sounds so much better! I should just record you saying it whenever I introduce myself." He clapped his hands together. "I don't know about about you though, Harry. Your name is way too… American to be French."

Draco blinked, curious. "What's your surname, Harry?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nothing special. It's about as basic and American-English as you can get. It's Potter."

Jonna laughed and put on a mock French accent, "Harry Potter!"

The blood rushed from Draco's face as he felt his jaw drop. Even more blood rushed from his face as he instinctively darted to the boy's forehead, where signs of a lightening bolt scar shown through the boys bangs now that his hat was off.

Author's Note. I was going to post stuff this weekend and the weekend before it, but I had Beyond Wonderland and then a birthday party. BW was so amazing! If you have never done an EDM concert you're wrong. Go. It's the most magic us Muggles can ever experience.

sierrafujoshiakut: Thanks for the review! It'll be AU, but only just. Let's just say that it's much more canon than I think most people will think. KShara Khan: I appreciate the feedback! I'm booking them at both being 18. floosister: I'm posting more just on your name alone! cookyc: I hope you enjoyed this bit too. Let me know! helix777: Thank you for posting on both my stories I'm glad you liked both!