CHAPTER THREE

Draco found himself sitting at a shaky, cramped, plastic table, next to trans woman, a gay man, and the savior of the wizarding world, while a Latina grandmother wielding a dangerous wooden spoon lorded over them, passing huge plates filled with greasy, incredibly wonderful food. The LA breeze and rays of the summer sun flew through in through all of the open windows. Music from JC's Muggle electronic instrument rang through the apartment. It was a surreal feeling that he couldn't describe.

As he was passing one of the platters to Jonna, he felt a shiver run through him as he realized what it was that he was feeling. This was the first meal he had ever eaten that was cooked by a human.

"Everything okay, Draco?"

The blonde had to shake himself out, passing the dish to Harry Potter. The brunette smiled appreciatively before adjusting the hat on his head that covered his infamous scar. Draco had to force his eyes away from the boy, to the plate that somehow astounded him just as much as the Boy-Who-Lived.

He knew on an instinctual level that most humans, including many wizards, cooked their own meals. But to know that someone like the matronly Latina woman poured time, experience, and her very hands into making that meal somehow almost overwhelmed him. And yet Draco felt more at ease sitting at that table eating that meal than he had ever felt sitting at the enormous magical dining table of Malfoy Manor.

It was also surreal to know that the Boy-Who-Lived was sitting next to him, casual as the moment he met him, as if there wasn't a war fully erupted in Europe and as if the brunette wasn't the most famous wizard to have ever been born.

Once again he had to pull himself back into the moment to try and listen to Jonna and JC talk about their jobs and standing in line for casting calls, whatever those were. The Muggle terms and local places flew over Draco's thoughts, as he immersed himself back into thinking about Harry Potter.

Did he know he was a wizard? Harry had given zero indication that he was a wizard when they met, although why would he? He didn't know Draco was a wizard. Should Draco bring it up? Maybe Harry was hiding here, running away from being the role of a wizard hero to be a normal person. Wasn't the fame (or in his case, his family's infamy) one of the reasons Draco had run away too? There was something so incredibly beautiful about Harry Potter being here in Los Angeles. What was it that he had said? 'Los Angeles: the city that everybody runs to when they run away.'

"—what do you say Draco? Wanna come with?"

Draco blinked, cursing inwardly at himself for not keeping up with what they were saying. All three of his peers were smiling devilishly at him. "I'm sorry?"

Harry's grin grew. "Do you wanna come to the concert tomorrow? It's in San Bernardino."

"Oh. Um. Yes." Draco pictured the wizard band concerts and imagined that they'd be similar. "Sounds like fun." The blonde tried to convince himself that he believed it, even apprehensively. But it wasn't like he had anything better to do. And if Harry Potter wanted to do it, maybe it wouldn't be so terrible.

By the time breakfast was done, the afternoon had already arrived. Draco watched as Harry changed into his work uniform. Apparently he worked at a minimum wage store down the street.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" The brunette exchanged a careful look to the blonde. "My shift is only five hours today."

The blonde stood squarely in Harry's room, which was just as jumbled as the rest of the apartment. "Of course."

"Maybe you should get a lay of the land. The Grove is not far, and there are streets filled with different shops, vintage crap, and other fun stuff. Some places in this part of town can be tourist shopping traps but… lot's of good food! And it's just a fun place to people-watch and stuff."

The blonde snorted, scorning the mere idea it being entertain to watch plebeian Muggles as they shopped. But as soon as he thought that thought, he shook himself. That was exactly the kind of thinking he had ran away from. Draco sighed. "Which way is the Grove?"

Harry smiled and pointed down the road outside the window. "That way! You'll know it when you see it. Also the huge signs."

Draco smirked and put his hands in his pockets in a way he hoped looked casual. But for some reason he felt apprehensive about Harry vanishing for five hours. The brunette had become a talisman, protecting the blonde from the rest of Los Angeles. The city seemed suddenly overwhelming when he was faced with the idea of being without the other boy's calming presence.

The Boy-Who-Lived seemed to sense this and quietly said, "You can ask JC and Jonna to join you, if you want. You might have noticed that they are super friendly."

He shrugged in response, not meeting the brunette's eyes. Then the air in the room shifted and Draco could sense Harry averting his eyes away. Harry sucked in his breath, as if he was about to ask something difficult. After a long pause, Harry finally said, "I noticed, you know."

Draco shot his eyes up. "What?"

Harry pointed to his hat morosely, his shoulders slumping minutely. "You aren't the first person who has stared at it. So many people notice it. All the time. It's one of the reasons I wear hats a lot. But... you're the first person I've ever really actually talked to who… stared like you did, you know? Can you…" The brunette struggled to find the right words, but there was an earnest kind of desperation behind his voice.

Draco felt his father's emotionless walls rise through him as he tried not to betray what he was thinking. He knew right then and there that the Boy-Who-Lived had no idea that any of it existed. Magic. Unicorns. Hogwarts. The Dark Lord. His parents. His own legend. Harry Potter hadn't run away from the wizard world. He had never known that world had existed.

Harry took a step forward, his sadness giving way to desperation as he locked eyes with the blonde. "You know, don't you? You know something about how my parents died, don't you?"

Draco automatically took a step back, his eyes fixed with alarm. How did Harry know to make that leap? Was it even his place to tell the boy about those things, to change his entire world over?

The brunette shouldered his backpack and shook himself out, self-hatred radiating off the boy. "Fuck it. I don't know. I don't even know what the hell I'm asking. I'm sorry for being such a weirdo. See you tonight after I get off work?"

Draco tried to release the tension that had been building in his back. "Yeah, sure."

Harry flashed a smile and darted through the door, leaving the blonde alone in a city full of Muggles.

Draco walked to the Grove alone, after insisting dozens of times to his new roommates that he would be fine. He needed to be alone after that conversation with Harry, the wizard who didn't know about the world he had changed forever.

The blonde felt himself choke up in emotions thinking about the implications of what that meant. That meant that Harry Potter didn't know how his parents had died. He had probably been fed some idiotic Muggle story. Maybe he had run away or maybe he had been kidnapped, only to be trapped in various foster homes and orphanages. In the end, it really didn't matter— all that mattered was that Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, had found himself in Los Angeles, a city filled with hopefuls wanting a new life.

As Draco stared at the various tourist and local families wandering the shopping district, he realized the immensity of how impossible it was that Harry Potter had stumbled on Draco Malfoy on that beach that morning. Out of all the places in the second largest city in the United States, Draco happened to arrive in Los Angeles on that very bench that Harry Potter walked past and decided to stop by on that same morning. It was the clear guide of the magical forces at play. But to what end?

Was Draco destined to tear the blindfold from Harry's eyes? So many in Britain thought that only the return of Harry Potter would bring a final end to the resurrected Dark Lord. Or was Harry destined to put the blindfold on Draco, so that the two most powerful British surnames would vanish into Muggle obscurity as Europe destroyed itself?

Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had run away from the war. The last thing he wanted to do was go back, or drag Harry into that cesspool of violence and death. Maybe it was best to let himself forget what Harry had done as an infant. It wasn't like history was destined to repeat himself, and that Harry was the only person on the planet who could defeat the Dark Lord. Dumbledore was still…

The blonde closed his eyes as hard as he could and willed the thoughts away. Harry Potter looked happy in Los Angeles. He looked as carefree as he could sitting at that kitchen table, eating his abuela's breakfasts. That was the only magic Harry needed. Draco wouldn't ruin that, if not for the brunette's happiness, then for the potential of Draco to live like that— happy.

Author's Note. Qwertyuiop: Yep! That's what I meant. But I hope I play it well in this story, so make an account and let me know how you think it goes as it progresses! Da Kumquat: I'm not sure what you mean by that review but hopefully you'll let me know. If it's my portrayal of gay characters, I based my gay/trans characters off of my friends with their permission. LGBTQ persons come in all stripes and flavors— flamboyant and reserved, conforming and non-conforming, beautifully stereotypical and non-stereotypical. helix777: I'm going to post more regularly. I have lots of chapters in my other story, but I'm at a huge roadblock that I'm trying to get through. Updates in both stories will be forthcoming.