Chapter 4
After escaping, Harry quickly apparated to his flat. Although he wouldn't have minded spending the evening with Ron and Hermione, he really did prefer the comfort of solitude.
He'd only recently began escaping the mind-numbing thoughts of guilt, and he could now enjoy spending time alone with only his thoughts for company. Tonight, however, he needed solitude for very different reasons.
Snape's pensieve sat in a hidden cubby of his bedroom wall. He was sure that Snape would have disapproved of Harry keeping it so long, but Harry wasn't selfless enough to give it to anyone else. It had become a tradition of his, getting the pensieve out one night a year on the anniversary of Snape's death. Most others celebrated this night as an end to Voldemort's reign of madness. Harry wholeheartedly agreed with this viewpoint, but his favorite part of this day was really seeing Snape for who he was and honoring him for it. He'd even gone so far as to lie to the public when they asked to see Snape's thoughts themselves. 'Snape's pensieve? Oh, you must have heard false rumors… he used legilimens to show those thoughts to me. There's no way he would've trusted his thoughts to a pensieve…" Harry wouldn't allow Snape's memories to be intruded upon and defiled in such a way, neither was he selfless enough to give the pensieve to those who truly deserved it.
Getting out the pensieve, Harry swished it around some with his wand before slowly touching his nose to the swirling mist.
Much later, a half asleep Harry rose from the floor before collapsing in bed- he'd make sure to put the pensieve away in the morning.
The days passed quickly and before long it was Wednesday. Harry made sure to look extra fresh and pressed, hopefully this would make up for his haphazard appearance the last time he had met privately with Malfoy. Harry couldn't remember whether Malfoy had said to meet at Harry's or at his manor, but he assumed that the manor was the safest bet since Malfoy probably didn't even knew where Harry lived.
After a sharp knock, Harry was given a similar treatment to his last visit, though Malfoy didn't make him wait more than a minute.
"Ahhh, Potter, I'm please you could allow me a moment of your valuable time." Smirking, Malfoy once again sat across from Harry. "Before we get to the nitty-gritty details, I thought you might like a small snack. My houselves are, after all, the best cooks in all of England." A tray appeared on the side table with an assortment of hors d'oeuvres.
Despite Malfoy's cocky attitude, Harry was too tempted by the succulent morsels to refuse. Delighted by the first bite, Harry nearly moaned as he took another. In no time at all the tray was half empty, only then did Harry lick his finger and shift his gaze towards Malfoy. Strangely, Malfoy appeared transfixed… and not by Harry's voracious appetite. Slowly lowering his hand from his mouth, Harry averted his eyes and attempted to fight a blush. What was Malfoy trying to do to him!
Abruptly Malfoy stood. "We must be going. I have a meeting I need to attend later this afternoon and I'd like to spend as much time as possible looking over the artifacts.
One edge-of-the-seat cart ride later, they stood before the door that led to the Black family vaults. Unlike the one Harry's parents had left him, Sirius had a catacomb of rooms. Harry had never actually seen all doors, let alone the valuables in them. He'd had no real reason to. He held little value for the things Malfoy would no doubt treasure.
In fact, just watching him now, Malfoy's usually expressionless face was filled with rapture and determination- a welcome change.
The goblin- not one to waste time- made his way to the door and inserted the key Harry had given him earlier. Though the Black vaults were top security, the dragon they'd passed earlier did more to prevent thieves than any top-notch lock.
"Mr. Potter, you will find everything as it was when you last visited us. Can I be of any assistance today?"
"Actually," Harry considered, "do you know which rooms contain any family heirlooms of valuable artifacts?"
Draco shot Harry a sharp look that Harry had no hope of understanding.
The goblin however gave Harry a look so disproving that Harry felt the urge to apologize without even knowing what he did. "As you should already know, Mr. Potter, we do not delve into or categorize our patron's vaults." He snapped his fingers to light the torches down the corridor and nodded stiffly, "I shall wait here."