Part 18:

"Oh my God."

"Have you ever been up here before?" Malfoy asked, staring around him.

Harry shook his head. "Never." Harry walked further into the attic. "I-I wonder who did this," he mused.

On the mahogany desk by the window, was a large picture. Harry gasped as he saw it and sunk into the chair in front of it.

"Is that your mother?" Draco asked, coming up behind Harry.

Harry nodded, reaching out to touch the picture. There was his mother! It wasn't a wizard picture either, it was a real one. "Wow," Harry whispered, tracing the gold frame. "This is really my mom." Her auburn hair cascaded down her shoulders and her green eyes practically glowed. Tears came unconsciously to Harry's eyes and he brushed them away impatiently. They were his eyes! He was looking at his own eyes. Her smile was wide and warm, her teeth evenly spaced. She was beautiful! "Wow," he said again.

"Lily Potter?" Malfoy's voice came from behind him.
Harry nodded, not even bothering to look at the other boy. He couldn't take his eyes off of his mother's face. She seemed to be glowing! "I can't believe it's her. Who could have done this?" Harry asked aloud.

The attic had been decorated beautifully. There was a woven rug behind the chair with a large pink rose in the centre. On the desk, there were little candles surrounding Lily's picture and the chair had a frilly pink cushion that looked like it had been sat on many times before. The window looked out to the back of the house, showing the small and immaculately kept backyard but in the background there were the mountains, the sun just setting behind them. The window seat's cushions were a deep purple and the curtains were light pink.

"I-I can't believe this," Harry murmured. "I don't know who would go to so much trouble.

Malfoy nodded and then turned around. "So I can sleep here?" he asked.

Harry turned around to see what bed Malfoy meant. "Sure," he said. It was a simple white frame and a little mattress with a quilt on top.

Malfoy went to sit on the bed, but stopped. "Hey Potter, do you want this quilt or not?"

"What? Why would I want a quilt?" Harry asked, hardly taking his eyes off the picture. He didn't see why Malfoy kept bothering him when he had just made one of the most important discoveries he ever had.

"It was your Mom's," Malfoy answered, causing Harry to run over.

The quilt, like the rug had a large pink rose in the centre with a border of leaves and vines. Just underneath the rose, the name "Lily" was written in cursive.

Harry traced the rose with his finger. "Wow," he said. "I never knew any of this stuff was up here."

Malfoy smiled wolfishly. "Guess the famous Harry Potter isn't all knowing."

Harry woke up the next morning when the Daily Post owl came in. When he had heard the flutter of wings, Harry had hoped that Hedwig had returned with letters from Ron and Hermione. When he saw the owl however, Harry just moaned and turned over, pulling his comforter up higher.

"She's not going to leave unless you pay her," a voice from the corner said.

Harry sat up straight, reaching for his wand and his glasses. "Who's there?"

The shadow in the corner chuckled. "Don't worry Potter, it's just me."
"Malfoy," Harry moaned lying back down, "What are you doing down here?" Then Harry sat up straight. "Malfoy!"

Draco's white teeth flashed in the darkness. "Don't worry Potter, I'm not here to kill you. I just almost got caught."
"What?" Harry put his glasses on and switched on his bedside lamp.

"Your aunt almost caught me," Draco said patiently, not making one of his famous sarcastic remarks.

"But she never goes up there," Harry said, running his hands through his sleep tousled hair.

"Well obviously she does," Malfoy said, showing some of his old personality.

"What did she do?" Harry asked, a little curious.

"She went to sit at the desk chair and…she just looked at the picture of your mother basically."

"She was doing what?"

"Do you speak English Potter? I said that she was looking at the picture of your mother. Maybe you should go back to school this year."

"But she hates my mom," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Apparently not. Why? Have you never talked to her before?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Are you crazy Malfoy? Have you not seen how they treat me around here? Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley, they all hate me. They never talk about my mom, and whenever they talk about my dad they call him, 'That boy.' I was always taught never to ask any questions. I don't know Malfoy. If Aunt Petunia actually liked Mom, you'd think she'd talk about her. Or at least treat me better. I mean, I'm her son." Harry stopped talking then, embarrassed by how much he had revealed. "I-I guess I should pay the owl now," Harry said, taking the money out of his bedside drawer and placing it in the pouch before taking the paper.

Once the owl was gone, Harry stayed, staring out the window. He hated being vulnerable before anyone, especially Malfoy. To break the stifling silence Harry asked the question that he had wondered about for a while. "Malfoy, where's your wand?"

Malfoy reached into his sleeve and pulled out the black rod. "Here."

It was then that Harry noticed that Malfoy was dressed like a Muggle. He had a white shirt and black dress pants paired with black shoes. "When did you get Muggle clothes, Draco?"

"I stole them," Malfoy said simply.

Harry looked at Malfoy with new eyes. "Did you really?"

Malfoy laughed and shook his head. "Nah. I've had these forever."
"I thought wizards weren't supposed to wear Muggle clothes. Or, Pureblood wizards weren't supposed to anyway."

Malfoy shrugged. "Well, we need to go out sometimes. Especially while working for, well, you know."
Harry nodded and checked his clock.

"Well, you can stay in here, but I have to go make breakfast before Uncle Vernon gets up. He hates when I sleep in later than him."

Malfoy frowned. "What's up with your family anyway? I mean, what's their deal?"

Harry shrugged. "I really don't know. They hate anything abnormal."

"Honestly? Then how did they deal with your being a wizard?"
"They try to ignore it as much as possible. I mean, at first, they didn't even tell me that I was a wizard. They tried to keep it from me and in my uncle's words, beat it out of me. I wouldn't have even known what was in my school letters unless Hagrid showed up and rescued me."

"They were that bad, huh?"

Harry nodded. "Worse actually. But anyway, I have to go get some breakfast. I'll sneak you up something to eat later."

"Thanks."

Harry nodded and headed out the door.

"And Potter?"

Harry turned.

"Thanks. Thanks for letting me stay here."

Harry didn't know what to say. Malfoy had never thanked him for anything before. "I'll be up later."