OOO

It was past ten and they were working their way through a third bowl of popcorn. Draco had gotten his Indiana Jones and, as the rest were apathetic, Theo had chosen the next movie – something which Draco rather regretted.

"Ok, so who's that guy again?"

"Victor Laszlo; watch the movie."

"And what are they supposed to be singing?"

"It's the Marseillaise, Draco. Watch the movie!"

There was silence, save for the movie, for about five minutes. Then…

"This movie's boring. Why aren't there any explosions?"

"It's a classic, Draco!" Theo admonished him in a whisper. "Now shush!"

"But…"

With a flip, Theo upturned the remains of the bowl of popcorn onto Draco's head. Harry and Ginny sat up at attention, afraid a fight would break out, while Luna continued to blithely watch the movie. Taking the bowl off, Draco glowered at Nott for a moment, and then broke out into a grin as he brushed the kernels out of his hair.

"Nice one," he whispered, giving Theo a nudge which Harry and Ginny exhaled in relief.

He stayed quiet until the very end, as Bogart and Rains walked off into the fog.

"Well, that wasn't too bad I guess. For not being in color. Or having high speed chases with people jumping off of buildings."

"You should watch more classic cinema, Draco."

"I'll leave that to you," he winked. "And just watch my movies a few dozen times more over."

"Draco has a very short attention span sometimes," Luna remarked. "And he tends to be easily amused."

"It's getting late, Draco. Should we be getting back?" Harry turned to the chuckling silver-haired boy.

"Yeah, I guess. When do you guys want to meet next?"

"Day or two, I'd say," Nott offered. "And if I might – could I plan the food for next time?" He looked at Ginny. "If that will be alright with your mother."

"I'm sure she would be happy to let you work in the kitchen. What were you thinking of?"

"As odd as it might sound, I was thinking we could try an American style picnic. You know, potato salad, fried chicken, hot dogs, that sort of thing. Maybe build a fire pit, roast some stuff. I don't think any of us has a grill but if we did, we could barbecue."

"We could buy a grill," Draco offered. "Since there's not a whole lot to buy at Hogwarts, my allowance has been stacking up. I'm sure we could go out with Dragon and find something. A grill, maybe a book or two on grilling…"

"Should we go out tomorrow to plan it then?" Harry suggested. "If we need to get all that stuff, it sounds like it's going to take some time."

"Well I think a day out and about shopping sounds like fun," Ginny added. "We haven't gone to London in ages."

"I'm surprised you suggested an American style Theo," Luna said thoughtfully. "You always seem very proper. But I like it!" She smiled and clapped. "And I would love to go out in London again! It's an excellent place for finding city-dwelling creatures you know."

"Then that's settled! Can we all meet here around ten? Is that alright with your dad, Luna?" Draco asked.

"Of course! Daddy loves it when you come over. Says that it makes the house ring, if only for a little while."

"Then I'll see you guys soon!" He stood and more crumbs of popcorn fell to the floor. "C'mon Harry, we'd better get going. Mum will be waiting."

"I'm ready." He stood as well and they went outside to find Dragon waiting by Tywyll, then headed home.

"Thank you for the lovely evening, Luna."

"It's always a lovely evening when we're all together," she smiled. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Nevertheless, thank you much." He turned towards Ginny. "I suspect your mother will be waiting as well. We should get home so that she doesn't have to worry about us too."

As they walked, Ginny looked up at the stars. "You know," she began, "I don't get that movie."

"What? Indiana Jones or Casablanca?"

"The second one," she looked at him. "Casablanca. I mean… it was good and everything. But I didn't care much for the ending."

"Why not?" Theo looked at her, curious. "It's a classic ending."

"I know that. It's only that… we'll, I didn't think she should have gone with Victor. I mean, she loved Rick didn't she? And he liked her? I don't know why she didn't stay with him."

"Because," he explained with a shadow of a grin on his face, "she loved Victor Laszlo too. It happens sometimes, caring about two people and having to choose. And Rick knew that Victor needed Ilsa more than he did. Without her to support him, Victor might have failed in his cause and Rick didn't want to see that happen. Like he said at the end, he knew she would regret it eventually. And he cared about her enough to want to spare her that regret, even if it meant she left him."

Ginny paused, considering this. "I still think she should have stayed with Rick," she said in a decisive tone. "If Victor couldn't make it on his own, that's his problem."

Theo laughed as the Burrow came into view. "How very romantic of you," he replied as he pulled the door open for her.

OOO

By the time they returned home, it was late enough that they headed right to bed. Exhausted and excited about the next day, Draco slid between the sheets and dropped off into a sound sleep. Harry drifted off as well. However, before he knew it, his head felt like it was splitting yet again and he was sitting up, sweating.

As he tried to sort out the images that had permeated his mind, Harry noticed a sliver of light on the floor widening. He twisted around to see the door open, light streaming in from a lamp in the hall. And in the doorway, a dark silhouette framed by the light, was the tall figure of Mrs. Malfoy. She glided into the room, a candle in hand, and looked down at him.

"Harry?" She set the candle down on the bedside table, next to his glasses which he hurriedly put on. "I heard something in here. I was wondering if you were alright."

"It's nothing Mrs. Malfoy," he shrugged. "I'm sorry for waking you and Mr. Malfoy."

"Oh, don't worry. Lucius sleeps quite soundly," she smiled. "I'm something of a lighter sleeper… and I am used to listening for such noises. Draco had bad dreams every now and again in his younger days," she explained. "Is that what's troubling you? Nightmares?"

"I guess." He shrugged again, not really wanting to talk about it with her. He was fairly certain it was a snatch of memory about the night his parents had died. Not something that he wanted to discuss much with Sirius, let alone Narcissa Malfoy.

"Would you like a potion to help?" She offered in a sympathetic tone. "It's a somewhat weaker version of the dreamless sleep potion. It won't knock you out quite so deeply but it should dampen the worst of the dreams."

"I, uh… I suppose."

She nodded and returned shortly with a flask and a glass. She poured some of the potion in the glass and gave it to him, then set the flask on the bedside table.

"In case you need more," she explained. She pulled out her wand and, with a wave, one of the chairs in the room was drawn up to the bedside. "You know, it used to help Draco somewhat if he talked about it."

Her tone was reassuring; yet Harry still regarded her warily. He finished off the last of the potion in the glass and set it on the table next to the flask and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.

"It wasn't anything important. Silly, really, I guess. Nothing."

She leaned in and brushed back his hair. "Was it your parents?"

He recoiled and stared at her in shock. "How did you know?" He managed to croak.

Narcissa smiled, sympathetically. "I have a child too. Children worry, especially about those close to them. And in the case of a boy such as you – what else would be the stuff of nightmares?" Reaching over, she patted his hands which were folded on the blanket. "It isn't anything to be ashamed of, you know. Caring about your family."

Harry flushed. "It's just…"

"I'm sure your aunt and uncle weren't at all sympathetic, were they?" She asked, a disparaging tone creeping into her voice ever so slightly.

He shook his head. "They hated my mum. Hated magic. Said that my parents died in a car wreck, said that my dad was worthless, left me in that stupid closet and nobody cared if I had nightmares…" He gripped the blanket furiously.

"How awful," she murmured, not without sincerity. "You deserved better than that, Harry. I hope you understand that."

Too choked up to speak, he nodded and turned away. "I'm sorry," he finally whispered. "I haven't talked about this much. To anyone. Not even…" he nearly said 'Sirius' but caught himself. "… not even Draco or Theo," he finished. "Not in depth." He leaned back and took a breath; it was probably a bad idea, what he was about to do, but sympathetic adult ears were rare and he felt her sympathy an irresistible draw. "There's all this laughing and flashes of green, the curse I guess and then everything is impossibly cold. And when I dream, my head aches and it feels like all the hatred in the world is pointed right at me."

Narcissa nodded and allowed him to go on, yet felt slightly disconcerted. After all, how did one respond to someone who had survived a killing curse? It wasn't as if anybody had ever done so before. And his parents… they had been talented, by all accounts, but were such bloody fools, she thought. And his mother was Muggle-born as well. Their fates were foreseeable, to say the least. And it left their son in the hands of people who were decidedly horrid.

Though his parents were gone, however, there might still be hope for young Harry Potter. Narcissa smoothed down his hair and kept her face carefully set to avoid showing Harry anything but sympathy.

"Get some rest," she murmured. "It might have been frightening but it was only a dream. Nobody here hates you or wants to hurt you. The past is behind you, Harry. Do not allow it to frighten you."

Nodding, he set his head back on the pillow. As he closed his eyes, the potion took effect and the sleep he drifted off into was sound. Narcissa smiled, and then pulled the blanket back over him, puffed out the candle, and left the room quietly, closing the door behind her and heading back to her still-sleeping husband.

OOO

"I suspect you two will be out and about today?" Lucius looked at Harry and Draco over the spread of the breakfast table. Draco nodded an affirmative and his father smiled. "Don't get into too much trouble then. And Draco, here." He passed him a letter. "This came for you this morning by an owl that belongs to, if I'm not mistaken, Amelia Bones."

"Yeah, it's from Susan," he said, scanning the contents and looking at the signature. "Says she thought it'd be fun if the Hufflepuffs hung out for a day or something."

"Hufflepuffs?" His mother looked at him. "And which Hufflepuffs would those be?"

"Susan, Hannah and Ernie. At least those are the ones in my year. I don't know Justin very well, Zach hates me… maybe Cedric would come, but he's a bit older than us and probably doesn't want to be running around with a bunch of kids."

"I see." Lucius shot a look at his wife. "Well, if you do go traipsing about with them, remember to be considerate of your guest – even if he isn't in your house," he said with a smirk at Harry.

"I'll write her back later," he said, shoving a last spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "Come on Harry!" He swallowed. "We're going to be late!"

Grabbing a jacket, he dashed out of the door.

"Thank you very much for breakfast," Harry said, giving Narcissa a little smile. "Might I go now?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Go and have fun."

"Harry!" Draco called from the foyer.

"Coming!" Harry called back and ran towards the sound of the other boy's voice.

"Good manners that Potter boy has," Lucius said approvingly.

"Hufflepuff," Narcissa huffed. "And he doesn't get on at all with Smith…"

"Now 'Cissa, don't start this again," Lucius sighed. "He will be fine where he is. And Bones is quite high up in the Ministry. Being friends with her niece is certainly not a misstep. Besides," he smirked, "if you could get such worries out of your head, since it seems that we are to be left again to our own devices, I thought we might go out ourselves."

"Charmer," she smiled at him.

"Of course."

OOO

"Will your get together be Hufflepuffs only?"

"I'm sure they won't mind you coming," Draco assured Harry as they walked towards the Burrow, dragging the grill. Draco had kicked off his shoes and was wiggling his toes in the grass lining the walk. "They're friendly, you know that." He took a deep breath. "You know, this will be the first time I've ever really met Mr. Weasley."

"Seriously?" Harry's eyebrows shot up. "You've always spent a lot of time with Ginny."

"Yeah, but our dads have never been on good terms so we've always kinda avoided the issue."

"And we're going over today because…?"

"Because," Draco grinned, "it would be cruel to deny him the chance to work on something so Muggle as a grill with us."

Ginny rapped on the door and Mrs. Weasley opened it a moment later.

"Children!" She beamed. "I thought you were going over to Luna's today. What brings you all to the Burrow?"

"We got a grill mum!" Ginny gestured behind her to where Draco and Harry were leaning against the large cardboard box. "Can dad come out and help us put it together? Please, please, please?"

"Why I'm sure he would love to dear!" She laughed. "But where on earth did you get a grill? And why?"

"It was Draco's idea," Ginny went on enthusiastically as they pulled it out on the lawn and started unpacking it. "Draco and Theo. Theo wanted an American picnic and Draco said we should get a grill and he went ahead and bought one!"

Mrs. Weasley looked at them throwing about the silver pieces, shook her head and sighed. "You children…" she laughed as she went back inside, calling for her husband.

A moment later, Mr. Weasley bustled out, rubbing his hands together and flushed with excitement.

"Is it true what Molly tells me? That you've got a Muggle cooking contrivance?!"

"Yeah!" Draco waved and grinned. "Hi Mr. Weasley!"

For a moment, Arthur Weasley faltered; but he kept smiling and nodded. "Draco Malfoy, correct? And Harry Potter!" He beamed and shook there hands, Harry's first with great enthusiasm and Draco's, somewhat more reluctantly and with a glare from his daughter. Draco, however, pumped the man's hand as though meeting him were the experience of his life. "And Luna, lovely to see you dear… And Theo!"

"Hello, sir," Theo mumbled, looking over the plans.

"Now what is it you have there?" Mr. Weasley knelt down next to him and started to look over the numerous, complex diagrams.

"The grill," he replied. "Or at least what is hopefully supposed to be a grill if we do this right."

The said grill was now fully unpacked and in pieces at Theodore's feet and he sat mulling over the paper with Mr. Weasley, each occasionally picking up various pieces and turning them over in his hands, as if considering what to do with them. Kneeling in the grass, Theo spread out the instructions and clutched a screw driver, taking a deep breath.

"Need any help?" Ginny offered.

"Yeah, probably. Alright, let's see. I think I've got it. Hand me those legs over there, would you? And the wheels?"

"Here, Theo," Mr. Weasley held the pieces steady while he forced them together while Ginny and Harry went about arranging things into neat, orderly rows and then worked on another pair of legs.

Then Theo looked over.

"Draco! The charcoal is not for playing with!"

Draco threw up two black-smudged hands apologetically. "Sorry!" He grinned, standing up and walking over, though not before reaching down and smudging Luna's nose first and then wiping his hands clean on Dragon's fur. "I'll help."

For a fraction of a second, Mr. Weasley looked reluctant, but then he moved to make room for Draco. The silver-haired boy rambled on with his friends about what they would cook once it was built and about the interesting nature of Muggle inventions. Mr. Weasley tentatively mentioned airplanes, sending Draco off on a tangent about rocket ships, the Wright brothers and the Bernoulli effect, distracting them both to the point where they practically stopped working on the grill, needing a throat-clearing reminder from Theo to get back on track.

Gradually, however, it came together. Once it began looking less like a pile of parts and more like a barbeque, Nott rocked back on his heels and gave them all a nod.

"I think Mr. Weasley and I can finish it from here."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Draco asked, brushing his hands off on the grass.

"Luna, your father has a darkroom, right?" She nodded. "Why don't you go back home really quickly and develop some of the pictures we took today?"

"Perfect!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'll be my mum still has some scrapbook stuff lying around. She used to make albums all the time back when Bill and Charlie were kids but I think she gave up on it after Fred and George."

"Wonder why?" Theo smirked.

"Very funny. Come on, Luna, we'll use the Floo port and be back in a jiffy."

"Will they be moving pictures?" Harry wondered. "I mean the camera looked Muggle…"

"Oh, they'll move," Luna smiled. "The secret isn't solely in the camera – it's in how you develop them too."

"I'll go with them," Draco volunteered. "Why don't you guys finish up here and we'll be back soon?"

"That sounds alright by me," Mr. Weasley smiled. "And you lot will stay for dinner, won't you?"

"If you insist," Draco winked, and then went inside with Ginny and Luna.

After they had put the finishing touches on the grilling machine and draped it with the nylon cover it came with, Mr. Weasley stood back and looked at it with a satisfied grin.

"That's a good job, that."

"I would agree," Harry nodded.

"Hey, Harry? Want to come up and see my room?" Theo offered.

"Sure!"

They dashed inside the Burrow as well, while Mr. Weasley stayed outside, still regarding the grill. After a few minutes lapsed, his wife came outside and joined him, taking a short break from preparing dinner.

"Looks like you accomplished a lot."

"We did." He turned to her and smiled. "The Malfoy boy was with them, you know."

"I saw. And how did you get on?"

"I must admit," he sighed, "Ginny's friends do have a way of surprising me." Suddenly, he frowned and turned towards his wife. "You didn't knit him a sweater too, did you?"

"Well of course, dear." She looked surprised. "After all, it would have been dreadful not to give him anything – especially after he got Ginny that Nimbus."

"She's got a Nimbus?! Where's it been? How come nobody tells me any of these things?"

"Get ready for dinner, love," she chuckled. "It will be ready before you know it and you don't want to get there late; otherwise there might not be anything left."

OOO

A/N: Another day, another chapter. Thanks to all who answered the poll; I have a few tendencies/inklings and this helped loads. And on a completely unrelated note – have I ever mentioned that I love foreshadowing?

Things to look forward to next chapter – more on the day in London and more on Ron. :) To be posted soon!