Harry, I figured out the significance of the number 60. Firecall when you get this note.

Hermione

Harry was about to step through his fireplace when the same shape he'd seen a week and a half ago slithered across the floor and onto his foot. He shouted and flailed his leg, though he knew it would be to no avail until—

"Zion, get off Potter. He's got nothing against you," Malfoy said sternly, walking into the living room and picking up the lethifold. "Unless he does. Do you, Potter? Is that why he's so intent on mauling you?"

"Lethifolds don't maul, do they?" Harry asked warily, looking at the creature wrapped around Malfoy's forearm.

"It's more a devouring than anything else," said Malfoy, idly stroking the lethifold.

"Well, thanks for calling him off, then." Harry sat down, assuming that Malfoy wouldn't be leaving just yet.

"Thanks for not trying harder to destroy him," Malfoy said dryly. "I don't know what's wrong with him. I got him a shock collar, but it hasn't done anything to stop him. I think he's too strong to feel it. Or too thick."

"Shock collar? Like the mad things Muggles put on their dogs to keep them in their yards?"

"Yes, one of Father's few Muggle indulgences," said Malfoy as he adjusted the collar around one of the lethifold's entirely undefined limbs and settled into the chair opposite Harry's. "All of the peacocks had them."

"Had?"

"Mother and I hate the peacocks. Since Father's on the continent, we let Zion eat them in their sleep."

"Oh. Right."

"And before you ask, Potter, I haven't worked out why Zion keeps coming back here," said Malfoy. "Normally, lethifolds only attack while the victim is asleep. And you certainly aren't asleep this time."

"Well, lethifolds also only live in the tropics, and that one comes from a colony that lives comfortably in the Isle of Wight, so I suppose anything's possible," Harry said.

"How do you know so much about lethifolds, Potter?"

Harry shrugged. "Knowing where they're from isn't all that much. Hermione—" Harry hesitated. "Sorry, that name's probably not your favorite one to hear right now."

Malfoy cocked his head at Harry before laughing, something Harry added to his brand new "Things I'd Like to See Draco Malfoy Do More Often" list.

"Don't worry about it, Potter," said Malfoy. "That's in the past now. What sorts of theories does she have? You told her about Zion's first escape, then?"

Harry blushed—rather inexplicably, he thought. He ignored Malfoy's smirk and said, "Yeah. Well, we went over it a bit. Mostly I don't understand how you both slipped through the wards."

"Well, Zion's a creature, not a witch or wizard," said Malfoy. "And I am technically a member of the Black family. And even if I wasn't, do you think it would be so hard for me to break through wards?"

"They're pretty good wards," Harry said weakly. Malfoy smiled, not unkindly, and Harry steadfastly ignored the odd feeling in his stomach.

"So, what'd Hermione have to say?" Malfoy asked.

"You still call her Hermione?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Harry shook his head at Draco, who he'd call Draco now, he supposed, because if Draco could call Hermione by her first name, then why couldn't he—oh, sod it. "Dunno. Anyway, she said that lethifolds sense what the nearest human needs, and where they need to go to find it."

"Yes, I'd thought of that, but try as I might, I can't figure out what I need from you or your house," said Draco.

"Could this have something to do with that life debt I owe your family?" Harry asked.

Draco looked thoughtful. Thinking. That was another thing Harry could add to his list. "It could, I suppose. But then that would be you needing me, not me needing you."

"Not necessarily," said Harry. "You could need me to repay you for ... something. I don't know. What have I done to hurt you lately?"

"Sadly, you seldom do anything to hurt me anymore." Draco sighed and mock pouted, a third item for Harry's list. "I sorely miss our rivalry, Potter. No one's ever been quite the same kind of bastard to me as you were."

Harry grinned without meaning to. "I could say the same to you." They looked at each other for a moment, Harry grinning and Draco on the verge, until Draco cleared his throat loudly and stood.

"Well, I apologize for Zion's intrusion," he said. "I should be going."

"Wait, you apologize?"

"Yes. Of course. Why is that so shocking?"

"It's just that I've never heard those two words in succession from you. It's very disarming, see."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'll remember that in the future when you need a good hex. See you around, Har—Potter. I'll let you know if I puzzle anything out."

"You too, Draco," Harry said, allowing himself to use Draco's first name, though Draco had only borderline used his. Draco's cheeks went slightly pink—list item number four, Harry supposed—and he walked out of Grimmauld Place, Zion still firmly wrapped around his arm. And this time, Harry didn't even try to avoid looking at Draco's retreating form.