I know it has been like a month since I've updated this story. I went on vacation to Cuba for a week and it really threw off my work ethic. Not that I haven't been working on my stories but the chapters I was almost finished I got a block on. I couldn't read through it for some reason to just finish it off. That's the problem you get when you have to pause in the middle of working on something because you forget what you were thinking then.
I've been working on later chapters and other stories until I felt up to working on this for the past two weeks. I ended up writing a lot on my Horcrux story so now it is over 60 pages long and no where close to being finished still. I'm probably going to start posting that one soon so you have that to look forward to.
The next chapter will be the Christmas one so I have to have it finished by the 25th. That's only like 15 days away. I promise i will try my best and not break this promise. I already have the majority done.
I ended up bring a character back from the dead, kind of. See if you can guess who it is.
Twilight Moonbeams
Grudge
o0o
Harry stepped out of the communal fireplaces at the Ministry of Magic. He had to quickly dash out of the way or risk being trampled by other witches and wizards arriving.
One of the things he hated about the ministry was how everyone was always in such a rush.
But since he was in his second year of training Harry didn't have to come into the department often. They received their missions by owl post mostly and met their training auror's in random locations. This day though the whole second year class had been called in to see a special presentation.
He had to push his way through the thick wall of people. This early in the morning everyone was still trying to make their way to work so it was packed. On the way across the atrium he heard his name called. Worried it was someone who recognized him by his scar he turned to see who it was. "Ron." He sighed in relief Pushing his own way through the crowd the tall red head smiled at him.
"Fancy seeing you here." Ron greeted him with a bright smile as he fell into step with him. It felt like he never got to see his best friend anymore with them being in a separate year of training.
"I got an owl this morning about a last minute lecture." Harry replied with a roll of his eyes. He had not been able to properly mentally prepare himself for his sudden trip to the ministry. Whenever he was here he felt like everyone was staring at him. He lowered his head to avoid attention.
"Yes well, some of us actually have to roll out of bed at a decent time." Ron exclaimed with hands on his hips.
"That's Hermione talking, isn't it?" Harry teased his best friend about his strict girlfriend. It was true that as a second year the times he had to roll into training were much later in the day than the first years.
"Yeah, if it was up to me I wouldn't roll out of bed till noon." Ron sighed with exasperation. Every morning Hermione woke up with the sun and dragged his reluctant form after her. She claimed that she wanted to start her day off with him.
They came to a stop by the fountain since there was a clog in the flow of people. "Might as well wait here." Ron sighed. The elevators could never accommodate all the people who were waiting for their turn this time of day. It didn't help that a lot of people jumped the line leaving behind irritated co-workers.
"Don't you think it is a little gaudy?" Harry asked gesturing to the new fountain they were standing by.
"I don't know, having a statue of yourself is very flattering, though I'm not the focus of the piece. That's all you mate." Ron clasped him on the shoulder chuckling to himself.
After they had removed the fountain the Dark Lord had placed they replaced it with one that represented the heroes of the war. When the statue had been revealed Harry had been mortified and had wanted to lock himself in Grimmauld place and never leave it. It featured the golden trio, in no surprise, pure elfin gold in battle poses with a large phoenix behind them of represent the order. There was water flowing from the tip of their wands and out of the tips of the birds winds.
"Living people should never be commemorated like this." Harry shook his head in disgust as he looked up at the fountain again. If it was a statue of say, Dumbledore, maybe he would understand because of how he sacrificed himself for the wizarding world.
It did also serve as a war memorial though. Along the rim of the whole fountain there were names of all the fallen wizards and witches etched into the rim of who had died in the war effort against Voldemort. He stroked Remus Lupin's name that was right next to his parents names; He had the locations of all his loved ones memorized. At least it had that going for it.
"It looks like the lifts are clearing up." Ron pointed out that there were a lot less people hovering around. They made their way closer to the elevator area. People watched the little screen avidly as the number at the top moved up and down.
As soon as the doors opened it was a mad dash to get inside. The people exited were practically trampled on their way out. Wizards and witches alike pushed and shoved to received one of the spots inside. Harry made a sad attempt but wasn't assertive enough and the lift doors closed with him on the other side once again. At least now he was closer to the doors.
"This is impossible!" Harry commented to his friend with clenched teeth. He had forgotten how unnerving it was to maneuver in the ministry. It was cut throat and survival of the fittest here. "Give me a set of stairs and I'll walk, gladly." He exclaimed with a frown on his face.
"You just got to push on." Ron shrugged, used to having to deal with all the people every day.
"That isn't how things should need to be done." Harry snapped in irritation as a hefty women pushed passed him. He cursed Malfoy in his head that all he had to do to get to work every day was to walk down the stairs.
"You know all you got to say is your Harry Potter and you can just walk right on." Ron pointed out that he was suffering like the commoners pointlessly.
"I hate using my name for anything even as minor as that." Harry hissed at the suggestion. He liked that not many people realized who he was until his name came up. His glasses hid his green eyes and his hair covered his scar.
"Your choice mate." Ron commented then immediately dash forward as one of the doors opened. Just managing to squeeze into the lift taking up the last bit of space left. The red head turned to look at him and stuck his tong out just as the doors shut.
Harry sighed in irritation. 'Yep they were all adults now.' As payback Hermione would be hearing about her boyfriends childish behavior later.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. Looking at his watch he sighed in dismay realizing that the seminar started in only ten minutes. Preparing himself, Harry decided he would try Ron's way. As soon as the next left arrived he used his weight to check other people out of the way.
Harry sighed in relief when he managed to one of the first people on. The feeling only lasted for a few seconds because all he other ministry workers tried to pile on after him. He ended up squashed against the wall with hardly any room to breath.
When the door finally shut they were all packed together like sardines. Harry was sure that his feet weren't even really touching the floor. He couldn't fall over if he wanted to.
Harry had to resist plugging his nose because it smelt like body odor in here. When a few people got off at a floor he let out sigh in relief but more people got in to replace them. He swore that lifts were hell on earth.
When the third floor was finally announce that featured the Auror division, Harry had to pry himself out from where he had been wedged between an overweight man and a blushing elder witch. Once he was out in the hall he felt like he could breath again.
When Harry was dashing down the hall to where his class was going to be held, he heard his name called again. "Harry!" When he looked up he saw Hermione walking swiftly towards him. It seemed like all the people magically moved out of her way. She was wearing a skirt suit and her hair was pulled back into a respectable bun. "It's rare to see you at the ministry."
"I have a lecture today." Harry shrugged. Had really been that long since he had stepped into the ministry? Everyone he had run into seemed surprised to see him here.
"Miss Granger!" Kingsley Shacklebolt called from further down the hall. He had a look of confusion on his face as one of the Wizengot was talking at him. Kingsley had been voted into office as the Minister of Magic not long after the war ended because everyone thought he was trustworthy because he was in the Order of the Phoenix. Now that all the hype from the war had died down he was having a little trouble.
"Oh bother." Hermione sighed dramatically. "Well, it was nice seeing you Harry. You should come to dinner sometime this week." She suggested looking intently at him.
"You better go take care of that." Harry pointed at the ex-auror who was being cornered by another other politician.
"Coming minister!" Hermione called and scampered back to her boss's side. She had taken over Percy's old job. Hermione's title officially was secretary to the Minister.
Hermione was more his advisor than his secretary. Kingsley asked her advice on everything he was unsure about and she gave it freely. The wizard population would never vote to put a 19 year old girl in office as the minister of magic; even if it was Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of their age.
Despite her credentials her young age was against her. She hadn't been able to get jobs that were high enough for her standards yet. She had readily accepted the job when Kingsley had offered it to her. This way she was at least making a huge difference in the wizarding world without anyone knowing the wiser.
Harry rushed into the marked room to find that the large majority of his peers had already arrived. He calmly walked to one of the free seats on the other side of the room. A dirty haired blonde walked in not far behind him. Just as Harry was pulling out his chair the instructor noticed his entrance.
"You're late Potter." Robards pointed out gruffly, tapping his watch face. Harry dropped into his seat with a deep sigh. It appeared that the head auror didn't like him at all on principle. The exchange auror had walked in right behind him and he hadn't received a reprimand for it. As the savior of the wizarding world though he was expected to be better than everyone else.
Hopefully the lecture would be on something interesting to make this worth all the trouble. He lent his head on his hand and tapped impatiently for the class to start already. He could be doing something a lot more interesting with his time than this.
He wondered what Malfoy was up to.
o0o
Missy popped into the apartment at precisely 10:00 for the mid morning break. She had a tray filled with a pot of tea and biscuits.
Draco had just decided to take his tea in the apartment. It was getting stuffy in the work room with all the fumes. He sighed in contentment as he took a sip of his hot refreshment. He took a chocolate digestive from the tray and leaned back in his favorite chair n front of the warm fire.
"I swear you live on tea and chocolate." George exclaimed as watched the blonde take his morning tea from the doorway. He pushed off the door frame and walked over to the purple couch. He reached for the extra tea cup on the tray and poured the hot liquid inside.
"Well what else is there to live for?" Draco asked sarcastically, sipping contently.
Since they were alone and in a relaxed environment George figured he had put it off long enough. "My mother invited you to dinner." George finally had the courage to bring up.
Draco had to cover his mouth or spray his mouthful of tea in his bosses face. He quickly swallowed the hot tea burning his tong. "No." He gasped out, shaking his head.
"Come on, please." George begged, clasping his hands together and making puppy dog eyes.
"That is not a good situation. Malfoy's and Weasley's do not go together." Draco exclaimed with true belief behind the saying.
"I'm a Weasley and we get along just fine." George pointed out the flaw in that saying.
"You're an exception." Draco replied taking a sip of his tea to hide his look of discomfort. His boss was ruining his relaxing morning tea. Luckily he only had to deal with one person at his job- sometimes Potter too- usually they got along just fine but George was backing him into a corner here.
"It would make my mother so happy if you did this." George begged again hoping if he said it enough the blonde would do it. Knowing that if he didn't get Malfoy to do this his mother would never stop pestering him about it.
Draco stood up wanting to avoid the question. He scooped his puffkin off the pillow and placed him on his shoulder.
"You really should or she might pay the shop a surprise visit when you least expect it." George exclaimed, knowing how determined his mother was.
"I'll think about it." Malfoy exclaimed over his shoulder as he flounced out of the room.
George sighed as the Slytherin ran away from him. He had been in such a rush he had forgotten about his half drunk tea and eaten biscuits.
When George peeked into the workroom on his way back to his office he could see Malfoy talking to the puffkin as he worked. "I think it needs a little more wood wart too." The puffkin had taken to sitting on the blonde's should as he worked. Cooing and purring in agreement in his ear as he talked the things ear off.
George was glad to see that they had taken so well to each other.
.0.
It had taken a long time but Harry had finally managed to escape the ministry. It was a lot easier to get out than in. He thought it would be the opposite. Who actually wanted to spend their whole time in that building?
Only having a short time before his evening assignment Harry had decided to pop in and visit Malfoy. For some reason he found the Slytherin's company refreshing. It was soothing to be around someone who treated him like an actual person that wasn't Ron or Hermione.
Harry was talking about what he had learned today about shield charms but Malfoy wasn't listening. It was like he was just making a noise of acknowledgement whenever he stopped talking. He might as well be talking to himself.
"Ah uh." Draco hummed as he measured out some sort of powder into a small beaker. His tong was sort of peaking or as he concentrated.
"I dance naked through the ministry atrium today." Harry said something random as a test that should have got a strong reaction. Malfoy just hummed in agree as he chopped some liver looking thing. "You aren't even listening." Harry accused the blonde.
Draco snapped his head to look up at Potter at the change in tone. When his brain processed what Potter had said he sighed. "No I'm not. I'm working." He admitted, not caring if the brunet was offended by this.
"What…?" Harry started to say but the blond shushed him.
"Be quite for a minute. I need to concentrate." Draco snapped at the Gryffindor. "I really do not want to screw this up." It was written down that the potion was volatile and prone to an explosion, if not brewed properly. Checking Fred's notes to make sure he didn't put too much or too few of an ingredient. He turned back to his potion that he was close to finishing.
Harry could never stand being ignored by Malfoy. Something about not having those grey eyes paying attention to him riled something in him. From the moment they had met he had always been super aware of the blonde; when he didn't return the favor it irritated him. It was why he stalked him in school so much.
Harry peeked over Malfoy's shoulder as he worked. "What the hell is that supposed to be for?" Wrinkling his noise at the horrible smell the cauldron was emitting. It was bright green in colour.
"What do you think? It's a stink bomb obviously." Draco replied sarcastically. Working for a joke shop he had to brew many items like this.
Harry grimaced and pinched his nose. "It smells horrible." He exclaimed with a nasally voice.
"Oh good, that means I'm doing it right." Draco noticed Potter's look of confusion. "I dampened my sense of smell before I started, so I really can't tell that way."
"I'll just come back tomorrow then." Harry backed away from the putrid smelling cauldron. Pinching his nose dramatically as he left.
"Pussy." Draco called after Potter as he ran away.
On his way out of the workshop Harry bumped directly into George who had been standing outside the door.
George had been listening in on their bickering. It seemed that every day that Harry would disturb Malfoy's work. He rolled his eyes as he had to reach out and steady Harry before he fell to the ground.
"Sorry." Harry apologized, the only thing stopping him from hitting the floor was the red heads arms. He had been in such a rush to escape the fumes he hadn't been paying attention where he had been going.
Deciding this was a great opportunity to test something out George took a product out of his coat breast pocket and slipped it into the back of the brunet's jeans while pretending to help him to his feet. "Shouldn't you get going?" George asked when he just stood there.
The midnight haired boy looked down at his watch and dashed out of the shop. Harry swore as he ran to where he was supposed to meet his auror in training. He didn't want to get a reputation of being late to everything.
George continued walking back to his office with a satisfied smirk on his face.
.0.
During his afternoon assignment, Harry had been sent on a case that was supposed to be a simple noise complaint that turned into a full out wand duel. On cases like this you had to fill in paper work about everything that happened.
Harry was in the office at the ministry he shared with all the other second year trainees.
Paper work had to be the dullest part of being an Auror. It might have been ok if you could just write out what actually happened but there was a format in place you had to follow. The way the paper work was set up out could only fill in the facts without any embellishment. It was the driest written word he had ever come across.
After grabbing a form and a form, Harry heavily sat down on one of the desk chairs and there was a loud popping noise.
...
"Very funny." Harry stormed into the work room in a rage.
"What is that smell?" Draco gagged out. Dropping what he had been doing to plug his nose. "It's pungent"
"You should know, you're the one who made it?" Harry snapped in allegation. Still stinking to high heaven. "I can't believe you set one of those stink bombs off up in my office."
"You think I snuck into the ministry to perform a prank?" Malfoy raised a condescending eyebrow at the accusation. "Potter I never leave here what makes you think I'm the culprit? It is a product that is sold in the store publicly. Just because I was brewing a batch this morning doesn't mean it was me." He hissed with agitation in his tone.
Harry deflated when he realized the first culprit that had come to mind had been Malfoy. It was the same thing that happened in school all the time too. "Sorry I automatically accused you." Harry apologized sincerely.
George pushed the curtain aside. "I thought I saw you Harry." He started laugh his ass off when he caught a whiff of him. "Oh my god it worked." He started to gasp for breath because it was hard to breathe while laughing and plugging his nose at the same time.
"George!" Harry yelled trying to tackle the red head. They wrestled for a couple minutes.
"Watch the potion." Draco tried to keep the tussle away from the lit cauldron. He'd been working on the batch off Skiving Snack Boxs all afternoon. The things practically flew off the shelf. If they ruined it he'd be pissed.
"I can't believe you placed one of your products on my seat at the ministry." Harry accused the red head out of breath.
"No I slipped it in your back pocket as you left." George explained how he did it. "It turned out better than I could ever imagine."
"It set off in the middle of the Auror Department." Harry snapped with clenched fists. "They had to evacuate the whole floor." He exclaimed to show how effective the product was.
"How was I to know you wouldn't sit down until you got to the ministry?" George asked with true amusement in his tone. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "It could have happened anywhere."
"What made you decide to do it in the first place?" Harry asked with a hiss that bordered on parselmouth. He had been on the wrong end of the Weasley twin's pranks before but this time he felt it had gone too far.
"You were bugging my employee." George shrugged, not really having that good a reason. Sometimes he did impulsive thing with little to no reason. "I wanted to test a new way to set off the stink bomb and you just happened to bump into me presenting an opportunity. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"I didn't put him up to it." Draco denied he had anything to do with it when Potter glanced at him. "I'm just the unsuspecting catalyst."
"Have to get my kicks somehow." George smirked in amusement.
"How are you supposed to get rid of the smell? Is it like being sprayed by a skunk? Do I need to bath myself in tomato juice?" Harry asked anxiously.
Draco walked over to the cupboard to retrieve what he had brewed earlier that negated the effects of the potion. It was in a powdered form so that it would keep longer. "You need to spread this into a hot bath and soak in it for at least one hour." Handing the small packet over to the Gryffindor.
"Thanks." Harry's hand brushed with Malfoy's as he took the item. "I am sorry I accused you."
"Whatever." Malfoy replied flippantly turning his back to him.
Harry could hear the wounded tone underneath though. Just as they were starting to get along he fell back into old habits. He knew he'd made a big mistake. Just when he was going to apologize again Malfoy addressed him.
"You should go. You're stinking up the place." Draco exclaimed with a snide tone.
Harry knew there was no point trying to get through the blonde when he was in one of these moods. He had his emotionless mask up to protect himself. He would just have to return tomorrow and try again.
"I'll have some sent over to the ministry, shall I." George exclaimed with a smirk.
Harry sent a glare back at the red head as he left. A hot bath was calling his name.
.0.
Once he'd gotten back to Grimmauld place, Harry asked Kreacher run him a bath. The house elf popped out of existence after nodding at the command. By the time Harry had climbed to the top of the stairs and reached the bath room the claw foot tub was already filled with steaming hot water.
He closed the door behind him and walked over to the tub to check the temperature. Finding it an agreeable he reached into his pocket to retrieve the packet that Malfoy had given him. He ripped it open and spread it over the water. The purple powder dissolved turning the water a smoky colour.
Taking off his glasses he placed them on the counter. Undoing all the clasped Harry stripped off his putrid robes. He would have to get them dry cleaned most likely. He tugged his shirt off throwing on top of the pile.
When he pulled his jeans off, he discovered that the majority of the smell was coming from the clothing item. Harry decided that they were garbage now, knowing it would be impossible to completely get rid of the smell. He better burn them just to be safe.
Once he was completely nude Harry gave a sniff of his arm to see how bad the damage was. He hoped that his clothes took the brunt of the prank. He smelt like he hadn't bathed in weeks even though he knew it had just been since this morning.
Climbing over the rim of the porcelain tub, Harry sunk into the hot water. He rally hoped that this stuff worked. Dunking his head underneath the surface he immersed himself in the water. He gasped for breath when he broke the surface again.
He soaked deep in thought with just his head above the water level.
As soon as he realized what had happened he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Malfoy was behind it. It was an ingrained response that had been happening ever since Hogwarts. If anything bad happened that the blonde prince of Slytherin must have some hand in it.
In second year when the chamber of Secrets had been opened his first thought had been 'The heir of Slytherin must be Malfoy.' It slipped his mind that if there was even the slightest chance that Malfoy was related to one of the founders of Hogwarts he would be bragging up a storm. He had always had a big mouth. They had even gone as far to convince Hermione to brew the polyjuice potion to catch him in the act.
It never actually was though, except for sixth year but that was a whole other kettle of fish. As soon as Malfoy had something better to do than insult him and compete against him in Quidditch; it had rankled him. He found himself following the blonde Slytherin around at all times of the day. Hermione always said that he was obsessed with Malfoy.
It was proof that the blonde was never far from his mind that he was always the first thing to pop into his mind. He wondered why that was?
Harry soaked deep in thought until his fingertips were wrinkled. It wasn't until the water had grown bone chilling cold did he climb out.
o0o
Harry had a busy morning so he hadn't able to stop by the shop that morning. There was also supposed to do something that afternoon and probably in the evening. Knowing he shouldn't eave this misunderstanding hanging between them he had to use his only free time that day to make it happen.
Rushing over towards Weasley Wizard Wheezes on his lunch period. Harry stormed into the workroom and found Malfoy exactly where he thought he would be; slaving over some potion or other. Realizing the blonde hadn't realized he entered yet, Harry psyched himself up.
Deciding to get the apology out of the way, he bit the bullet. "I'm really sorry that I jumped to conclusions." Harry knew he had insulted the Slytherin and he did not easily forgive.
Draco jumped at the sudden voice that broke the silence. He snapped his head up and then scowled when he realized who it was. "Oh it's you." He sighed as he observed Potter's form hat was wearing muggle clothes. The outfit kind of threw him off. "Where are your auror robes?" It was actually weird to see Potter out of his auror robes. Draco had gotten use to the grey trench coat on the brunet. It was weird to see him in everyday clothes.
"They're at the dry cleaners." Harry replied with a deep sigh. He couldn't bring himself to put on the robe that morning, no matter how much it was a uniform requirement. He had some explaining to do to his training auror that morning though.
Draco sniffed at the air trying to discover where the strange scent was coming from. "Are you wearing, cologne?" He never pegged the Gryffindor for the kind who cared how other people thought he smelt. Draco actually enjoyed Potter's natural scent that smelt clean and manly.
"Maybe." Harry replied uncomfortably shifting his feet on the spot. "I'm just wearing it to mask any lingering odors." After getting dressed that morning he was unsure if the stench was completely gone. At the last minute he threw on some old cologne he had found in the bathroom. He suspected it had been Sirius's because he had always smelt good.
"If you used the remedy you should be fine." Draco rolled his eyes at the dramatization of the situation. It was a small kiddy prank that first years used. It wasn't the end of the world.
"I think it sunk into my pores." Harry exclaimed over the top, holding up his bare arm. Harry had to take another bath in the morning before the smell was completely gone.
"It is all in your mind." Draco tried to get into the brunets head.
Realizing that he was actually having a conversation with Potter, he turned back to his work. Draco was determined to stay angry with Potter at least for a little while. The best way to show he hadn't forgiven the Gryffindor yet was to give him the silent treatment.
"Will you forgive me?" "Harry asked and received no response. Malfoy had his back to him and was working on something. "Well, are you going to answer me?" The blonde was clearly pretended he didn't hear him.
'The reason that Potter always seeked his company out was because he liked the conversation they had. As a punishment he would take them away.' Draco thought to himself as he tried to resist responding.
"Fine be that way." Harry exclaimed standing up in agitation. "I'll be back tomorrow. Then maybe you'll be more grown up.
.
The next day when Potter showed up again in his normal robes, Draco couldn't resist pointing something out that he had just noticed."You do realize your robes are a foot or so too short right?" Draco commented blandly. He was very familiar with aurors and the trench coats usually reached the floor.
"It's how they're made." Harry looked down at his outfit self-consciously. That morning he had to run to pick it up from the dry cleaners. He agreed the training robes made him feel like a teenager who had just gone through a growth spurt. "It's so the public doesn't mistake us for fully trained Aurors." He explained the reasoning behind the length.
"Right." Draco drawled condescendingly. Turning back to his work he focused all of his attention on brewing. He decided he wouldn't give Potter any attention that day. It always seemed like it took him a couple minutes to remember this plan.
"I know I wrongly accused you. It was a tiny slip up but you're acting like it was a huge insult." Harry started to rant nervously. "Can we just go back to the way it was before?" Malfoy didn't responding to his statement at all.
"Are you listening?" Harry walked over to stand beside the blonde. "Malfoy?" The Slytherin turned and walked to the shelf to grab some ingredients.
Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had noticed every time he came into the blonde's field of view he would turn the other way. He quickly dash in front of the blonde, he got a slight reaction of surprise in the grey eyes before they reverted to their emotionless voids. Malfoy started to read the recipe.
"Are you going to properly look at me?" Harry snapped, he grabbed Malfoy by the shoulders to pin him against the cupboard. He tried to force the Slytherin to look him in the eye. The grey eyes avoided looking at him as if at all costs.
George was entering the work room when he noticed their position "Harry, what are you doing?!" He cried in surprise rushing over. "Release Draco this instant." He knew that they didn't always get along and they bickered a lot but George thought that they were over the physical fights of their past.
Harry released his hold on Malfoy who calmly went back to working as if nothing happened. He knew it must have looked like he was inches away from beating the Slytherin to a pulp. "Malfoy is refusing to talk or even acknowledge me, over that stupid accusation." He snapped stomping away from the blonde to put some distance between them.
George raised an eyebrow at this. The fact that Draco was pretending that Harry didn't exist was bothering the brunet so much was an interesting observation. If Harry didn't care about Malfoy's opinion it wouldn't matter so much to him. "Draco can you just hear Harry out?" George sighed about having to be in the middle of these two. "He was trying to talk to you.
"I don't hear anything George." Draco exclaimed dramatically, pretending he didn't know what his boss was talking about.
Harry frowned and stomped out. Malfoy was just holding a childish grudge against him. He shook his head when he realized he was talking about the boy who held a grudge all through school because he wouldn't shake his hand in first year. He was getting nowhere.
"You know Harry's really sorry right?" George inquired, wondering how the blonde could ignore Harry's groveling at his feet. He felt this dance between the two had gone on long enough.
"Oh I know." Malfoy replied with a devious smirk. Reverting back to his normal attitude. "I'm just making him pay for his mistake."
"So you're making him suffer." George exclaimed with understanding. Slytherin's were truly devious. "How long are you going to keep that up for?"
"Until I feel like he has paid his dues." Draco shrugged not really knowing himself.
.0.
Harry did what he always did when he didn't know how to solve a problem; he asked Hermione.
He floo-ed into the burrow straight after his long day of auror training. When Harry stepped out of the fireplace he found both his friends on the couch reading.
"I didn't know you were coming." Ron looked up from his text book, surprised at his best friend's entrance. "Harry mate. Glade to see you." He threw the book away glad for an excuse to stop studying. They had a text on different types of shield charms the next day so Hermione was forcing him to study so he would get perfect.
"You know that I invited you to dinner days ago." Hermione exclaimed flatly crossing her arms and sitting back on the couch. She had expected to receive an owl informing them Harry would be coming but he just showed up well after dinner was over.
"Sorry I completely forgot." Harry apologized since it had been pushed from his mind. "Something happened, I need your help."
"What is it?" Hermione asked, looking up intently. As long as he had a good reason she would forgive him.
"George tested out one of his pranks on me. It sort of went off at the ministry…" Harry started to explain with a deep sigh. It had been totally humiliating since it was where he would end up working someday.
"That was you?" Ron gaped, trying to hide his amusement. The auror department had actually been closed down for a short amount of time for cleaning. He had heard through the grapevine it had been a prank gone wrong. It hadn't smelt right when he went in that morning.
"Yes and I pointed the finger at Malfoy and now he isn't talking to me." Harry slumped into the couch. It seemed like the only acknowledgement he received were insults. "What should I do?" He begged her to tell him the solution to his problem.
"You're talking about Malfoy like he was a bird you were dating mate." Ron pointed out.
Harry blushed deeply at the insinuation.
"Maybe you should treat it that way." Hermione exclaimed calmly. The two males looked at her like she was crazy. She sighed and sat forward to explain it more clearly. "What do you do when you have pissed a girl off?"
"Buy her flowers, chocolate, that shit?" Ron exclaimed with some confusion still in his tone at what she was getting at.
"Exactly. You buy them a gift to show how sorry you are." Hermione smiled when it hit them. "Along with a proper apology of course."
.0.
Draco was making a list of potion ingredients he needed restocked when something was placed in front of him. "Chocolate?" He looked up to see Potter with an unsure smile on his face. "Why?"
"Since you like chocolate so much, I thought I'd buy you some as a peace offering." Harry explained his reasoning behind the sudden gift. The blonde narrowed his eyes and poked the box with distrust. "They aren't poisoned!" Harry snapped defensively.
"I doubt you have the balls to off me." Draco replied scoffing mockingly. Opening the box suspiciously to see a selection of high quality chocolates. "I'll keep a bezoar on hand just in case." Selecting a wedge shaped one he popped it into his mouth. When the taste combination of orange and chocolate melted his mouth he groaned in pleasure. "You're forgiven."
If Harry knew all he had to do to make Draco Malfoy act like a decent person was supply him with chocolate, he would have sent an owl every day at Hogwarts.
o0o
Harry smiled when he saw the grey knit cap making its way through the crowd. It was getting closer to Christmas so the Alley was more busy than usual. He was glad they had finally made up.
He frowned when he noticed a small group of men pointing at Malfoy with suspicious eyes. One of them took out a wand. Harry stalked up behind them and grabbed the leader of the group's wrists before he could even finishing casting. "Don't even think about it." Harry warned. They ran away when they realized who he was.
Harry put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. Malfoy whipped around and sighed in relief when he realized who it was. "Oh, it's you."
"What's all this?" Harry asked, gesturing to the overflowing shopping bags. He doubted the blonde was Christmas shopping.
"Potion ingredients." Draco forced a bag into Potter's arms. Then he carried on walking back towards the shop. "Thanks for the hat. It's working great."
"You're welcome." Harry didn't want to tell him about the close call Malfoy just had. Maybe it wasn't just his platinum hair that gave him away but the way that he carried himself. As the Slytherin walked he seemed to almost glide and held himself with confidence.
He was following Malfoy down the street when he heard a shriek. A blonde girl ran up to him. "Can I have your autograph?" She thrust a picture of him suddenly in his face. Malfoy hovered to the side and looked at his feet. Harry quickly signed the picture just to get rid of the girl. Once the fan had streaked off to show her friends he turned to the Slytherin. "Sorry about that."
"Well I guess you have a job as a celebrity to the public" Draco snapped and started to stomp back to the sounded close to something the Slytherin would have said back in school.
There was an awkward silence as they made their way back.
...
The bell jingled as they re-entered Weasley Wizard Weazes.
Verity popped into the room. "Oh it's just you. I thought you were a customer."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Draco rolled his eyes as he stripped off his coat and scarf. When Malfoy removed the hat his hair was a little stat-icky and he tried to flatten it out.
"It's just so boring this time of day." Verity complained leaning on the register showing her cleavage. No one came in till school was let out this time of year.
"I have work to do. Why don't you go bug George or something?" Draco suggested.
"Good idea." Verity smiled and walked over to her boss's office, without knocking she entered. "Are playing that bloody game again?" She slammed the door behind her.
"They should just fuck and get it over with." Draco scoffed and started to ascend the stairs.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, following behind him. "I saw her flirting with Charlie at the grand re-opening party."
"Oh please, Verity flirts with Charlie to make George jealous, which works, except she doesn't realize it." Draco rolled his eyes at their silly behavior. "It's obvious that they like each other."
"What are you going to do, lock them in a closet together?" Harry asked sarcastically as he placed the bag on the work table.
"Whatever works to stop them dancing around each other." Draco exclaimed as he started to unpack his bag. He pulled ingredients out and lined them up on the table. With Christmas coming up they had to keep up with demand.
Harry decided to follow the blonde's example. "What the hell is this?" He held up a jar of pink goop he came across while unpacking the bag Malfoy had given him.
"It's stink sap." Draco plucked the jar from his hands and placed it on the shelf with the other wet ingredients. "We use it to make the jelly for the candy."
"That's disgusting." Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. He knew it was an animal by product.
"They've used it for centuries in all the shops." Draco shrugged off his revulsion.
"I never want to eat every flavoured beans again." Harry exclaimed with a turning stomach. He always knew that jelly candy wasn't good for him but he had never questioned before what it was made of.
"Just don't think about it." Draco suggested seriously. Knowing how candy was actually made was what made him so into chocolate. He had a sweet tooth but he wasn't willing to eat something made of beetles to sooth it. Chocolate was safe and had only three main ingredients that didn't make him want to heave hearing where they came from.
"You know that George is trying to convince me to have dinner with his mother?" Draco exclaimed as he stuffed ingredients into the right drawers. It had been on his mind a lot lately.
"Of course I do, I was there when Molly sent out the invitation." Harry replied as he sniffed one the ingredients and scrunched his face at the smell. He pushed the root away from him.
"So George wasn't lying about that. Mrs. Weasley really wants to meet me?" Draco asked with a sigh.
"Yes." Harry nodded. "Why would he lie about something like that?"
"I guess I'll do it." Draco sighed in defeat. He knew that George would never stop asking till he agreed.
"Great." Harry smiled brightly as he walked towards the entrance. "Hey George, Malfoy finally agreed to dinner at the burrow." He yelled over the landing.
"Oh thank god." George cried with relief from inside his office. Every time he had seen his mother lately she inquired about the dinner. He looked forward to finally informing his mother that they had the green light.
…TBC