Chapter Three

Dinner came and went. Tante Constance regaled everybody with stories of her youth and the youth of Harry's grandmother Iris, a woman Harry had never met as she had died just before Harry was born. By the time they looked at the clock it was 12:30 and they all trudged up to bed. Harry said goodnight to his Aunt's and Uncle and went to his room, where Dudley was already asleep and snoring his head off. Harry just shook his head and muttered profanities under his breath as he changed for bed. As he was settling into bed Harry heard a scratching at the window and there on the window ledge was an eagle owl. Harry took a closer look and noticed it was Draco Malfoy's eagle owl, Zeus. Attached to his leg was a letter, confused why Zeus was here Harry unwrapped the letter, his heart beating faster.

"Was it from him?" Harry thought as he strained to read the letter.

Mate,

That is great news about you I so happy for you!

How do you like Zeus – isn't he great I picked him out of our owlery and realized that it was ferrets so I though since he won't be needing him I might claim him for myself.

When Harry read this his heart plummeted , he was angry at his friend for claiming "his" owl for himself. Harry sighed and continued to read the letter.

Can't wait to here where you will be living, the family said Hi and are really happy for you as well.

Keep in touch and good luck in France

Your Best Mate

Ronald Weasley esq.

Harry snickered as he saw how Ron signed off on the letter, but was saddened to the fact that the letter didn't come from the right source. He turned to Zeus and patted him. "So where is your old master, Zeus? Do you miss him? I know I do?" Harry said this last comment in a whisper as he fed Zeus and sent him on his way. Harry got into bed and snuggled up. In the back of his mind there was an inkling of a thought. The thought was of a boy he once knew. A handsome boy, one that has been missing for over a year. A boy that meant a lot to Harry. A boy he could never befriend because they were so different. But now looking back they weren't so different. In fact they could have passed as twins both in looks and in their lives. But as I said this was only an inkling of a thought so as Harry put his head on his pillow he put this thought back in it's place and he proceeded to drift off to sleep thinking of his new life about to start in France, while on the other side of the world another young man came to a few realizations of his own, this was the boy in Harry's inkling of a thought.

It was a cold, white morning that met Draco Malfoy as he trudged along the snow-covered track to get to his favourite fishing spot. Draco and his mother Narcissa had been living in a little hamlet called Railton, near the northern coast of Tasmania since his father's trial some sixteen months before. Draco set his fishing gear down as he looked around at his surroundings; it was a cool winter's day, much colder than it ever was at either Hogwarts or the manor for that matter. As he sat on the banks of Lake St Clair, he looked up at the ominous shadow of Cradle Mountain a chill descended down his back. Draco often came here to this spot, either to fish or just to think about his life to date and if he could have ever changed it for the better before now.

He picked up a lure and threaded it to his line mumbling to himself about how cold it was, he then picked up his rod and cast off. Sitting back down on his rock and looked mournfully out over the lake, thinking of why his mother and him were there in the first place.

Draco stifled a laugh as he recalls the first few weeks of them adapting to their new life and surroundings which was very perplexing for both Draco and his mother Narcissa. For one thing they had never, in the combined years of their lives, been without either servants or house elves and secondly and most importantly they had never not had any money. Narcissa had to sell part of her jewelery collection just to get them settled into a house and to give them Muggle spending money until they found work. They were now virtual paupers living in a country that is, as they put it, 'magically challenged'. There were witches and wizards that lived in Australia but they were few and far between and trying to contact them would alert the scandalmongers as to where they were.

Draco thought of what the scandalmongers would think if they knew that the Malfoy's had to work for a living now. Work now that was a strange new word in the Malfoy's vocabulary, both Draco and his mother came from one of the noblest of families in the world so they weren't expected to work, but since his fathers incarceration, all that had changed.

They both adapted very well to the change of roles and called forth some of their hidden talents to get work in their new environment. Narcissa with her flair for decorating had opened a small interior decorating business and was currently holed up in her new pet project of converting an abandoned Edwardian mansion into a five star Bed and Breakfast whilst Draco, on the other hand converted his knowledge of potions to a more classic role of cooking. Draco, himself, had gotten a job as an apprentice chef at one of the local boutique restaurants.

Looking back at what their lives were turned into after the scandal of Lucius Malfoy being 'outed' as a Death Eater and his incarceration in Azkaban, Draco remembered that he and his mother became cannon fodder for the Daily Prophet with Rita Skeeter doing an expose on the life style of the rich and infamous Malfoy Family. This article made both of them social pariahs so bad that all their former friends abandoned them and even the Dark Lord himself had no further use for them and cast them aside like used and abused toys, the Ministry even intervened and had Gringotts freeze the assets of all the Malfoy's wealth thus leaving Narcissa and Draco penniless.

Narcissa started to grow destitute and in the end had to ask for help from an unknown member of her family. This relative helped her and Draco escape from the media circus that was starting to become their lives.

This was the last straw for Narcissa, she told Draco to pack everything that he owned as she did the same and to meet her downstairs in and hour.

Flash back July 24th 1996 – Malfoy Manor

"Mother, what's wrong? Why do you want me to pack everything? What's happened?" Asked a perplexed Draco as he stared at his mother.

"Draco as you are aware it is no longer safe for us to live here amongst our own kind we must flee into the world of the Muggles and start a new, so grab anything you want to keep and bring it down here. Is that ok my darling?" consoled Narcissa, holding her only child to her bosom.

"Yes Mother." Draco retorted.

Draco ran to his room and pulled out his trunks and packed as much of his room as he could even when he shrunk his entire wardrobe and put that in his trunk he still had just enough room for his one true passion, his family. Draco ran around the house pulling down his favourite relative's paintings and shrinking them so they could fit into his trunk once he was packed he headed down to the grand entrance of Malfoy Manor and waited for his mother.

Narcissa was doing the only thing she could, panic. She went through the house and picked out what was to go with her and Draco and decided to leave what wouldn't fit behind. She composed herself and walked into the kitchen and gathered all the house elves and threw clothes at them telling them they were free to leave the Manor as the family was going away for along time. Once her trunks were packed she stacked them in the foyer with Draco's and whispered a spell to shrink all of them and placed them in the pockets of her robes.

"Draco, turn around and say goodbye to our life, you can thank Harry Potter and your father's master for this," she spat.

Draco's eyes widened when his mother mentioned Harry's name. He didn't blame Harry for what happened, it was his fathers own fault for being stupid, it was never Harry's fault.

"Oh Harry." Draco thought as his mother gathered him up and apparated to the furthest place in the world where she thought no one would fine them.

Draco was startled out of his reminiscing by the ringing of his mobile phone. He picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Oh it's you mother, what, when, I will be home as soon as I can"

Draco hung up the phone. He picked up his fishing rod and reeled in his line he then packed up his fishing gear and slowly trudged back to his beat up ute and decided to head back into town to see what was wrong with his mother.