"Thank you for coming Mr. Potter. We were starting to think you'd dropped of the face of the earth!" The Minister of Magic gave him a toothy grin.
Harry stuck his hand out, "I'm happy I could be here, Minister."
Ignoring the hand, the Minister pulled him into a hug. Completely startled, Harry patted his back with one hand and stepped back quickly. "Oh, I think you can call me Marty, Harry. Let's not be strangers."
Nodding politely, Harry moved on to find Hermione and Ron. Truthfully, he never would have come, but he needed to support Hermione in some new project. Hell, he didn't even know what this party was about.
Looking back at the Minister suspiciously, Harry wondered if he had gotten word that Hermione was thinking of running. Perhaps he had decided that he wanted to be friends with the boy-who-lived, or maybe he was trying to downplay Hermione's importance in his life. As if everyone didn't already know that they had been friends since they were eleven.
As he walked towards Hermione he saw a flash of white bond hair out of the corner of his eye. Jerking his head to the side, he confirmed that it was Malfoy. Suddenly his palms seemed very clammy and he seemed unable to decide which direction he should travel.
Why does he even want to see Malfoy? What would he even say to him?
Realizing that he was about to make a fool of himself, he turned back towards Hermione. As he approached them, Ron came up and clapped him on the back, "Hey mate, glad you could come. We were hoping you could come to dinner this Sunday. Hermione's got a new chick she wants you to meet."
Hermione gave Ron a small glare; obviously he wasn't supposed to know that until he'd gotten there. "She really is quite a catch Harry."
"Hermione, I promise you that as soon as I decide I want to date a girl I will let you know," secretly grinning at his roundabout way of answering the question. Of course he'd never date a girl, they weren't his preference.
Abruptly changing the subject, Harry asked "What is this party about?" Wishing he could add on: and why is Malfoy here?
Ron simply looked at him as if he were stupid. Hermione giggled for a moment before she realized that he wasn't joking… that he really didn't know. Slowly she said "Harry, I know you've been out of it, but I didn't know it was this bad. This is the fifth anniversary of Voldemort's death. This isn't one of my projects. We're celebrating you."
Feeling a bit dizzy with the knowledge he'd forgotten the most important date in his life, he looked around to see that people were glancing at him quite frequently. He probably hadn't noticed because that was always the case. This time they really did have a reason for it. "Oh, sorry, I guess I am a little out of it."
Ron simply nodded his head dumbly while Hermione got that concerned look on his face. Harry decided that it was time to leave. He never would have come if he'd known the reason behind the party. "Well, looks like everyone is having a lot of fun. I hope you two enjoy yourselves. I need to take off. Things to do, people to see. You know how it is."
This was met with incredulous looks, both knowing that he had nothing else to do tonight. Hermione's concerned look was back full force, but she didn't protest. "We'll see you soon Harry."
He gave them a wave and quickly walked to the hall leading to the exit. A sense of déjà vu stole over him as someone snatched his arm. "Leaving so soon Potter?"
Harry swallowed. "Malfoy. What's it to you?" Silently Harry berated himself for being defensive.
"You'd think Harry Potter would be able to socialize for more than two minutes. First walking out of my manor without so much as a wave good bye, and now a party in honor of you and you don't have the decency to attend for ten minutes." Malfoy did have a point. Harry had become somewhat of a hermit.
"Again, what's it to you?"
"Just observing." Malfoy gave him an unreadable look. "You know Potter, I've been thinking… about the Black accounts." Harry's breath caught. No! Now that he knew (or hoped) that Sirius had forgiven him, he really didn't want to give up anything of his godfathers.
"What about them? You said you couldn't accept."
"I'm not really interested in the money. I have more than enough. However, after thinking on it, I realized there were several Black heirlooms that would mean nothing to you- but a great deal to me. I do cherish my heritage, and although I have many posessions from the Malfoy line- my mother left little behind of the Blacks."
Harry hadn't considered any of this when he'd offered the vaults to Malfoy. Of course this would be what he was interested in.
Malfoy continued, "if you wouldn't be adverse to an exchange, I would, of course, need to peruse the vaults before purchasing the artifacts."
"No, that's perfectly reasonable. We can set up a time for this next week. When would you be available?" inwardly Harry was going over his calendar. Monday… nothing, Tuesday… nothing, Wednesday… nothing… nothing… nothing. "I'm pretty much available as long as you give me notice." Who was he kidding?
By the amusement in Malfoy's eyes, he guessed that Malfoy must be aware of the Golden Boy's new hermit practices. "Wednesday morning then. 10:30? Splendid. Have a wonderful evening."
As Malfoy walked away, Harry realized that very little of that conversation had been confrontational. In fact, Malfoy had been… pleasant. Have a wonderful evening. Harry walked out with a small smile... actually looking forward to the next week.