Hey all! Thanks so much for the amazing reviews last chapter! They motivated me too get started on this chapter, so here we go!
Oh, I forgot to mention as well: Abusive!Dursleys, James and Lily are still dead, Sirius is NOT in Azkaban, and Remus is still a professor, but for history (for he'd make an amazing history teacher).
Draco sighed, closing the book that he had taken from the house library and setting it on the coffee table. He had spent the last couple of hours just wasting time, reading books on history or just fantasy books. He had gotten a couple of texts from Theo and Blaise, as well as Tracey and Daphne, but that was all.
Mostly, he had just been waiting for the new neighbors to arrive.
He looked at the clock, sighing once again.
It seemed time just couldn't move fast enough.
Emerald green eyes peered out the window, watching as the moving truck passed by shops, houses, and stores. They passed a park where kids were climbing all over a jungle gym, laughing and screaming. People walked down the street or through the park, dogs on leashes. Some of them were jogging with the dog in front or beside them.
The truck slammed to a stop, causing the emerald-eyed teen to bang his head against the window. His cousin beside him snickered
"Watch it, boy!" his uncle snarled from the front seat.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon."
His Uncle humphed.
His cousin snickered again, giving him an evil smirk. "Hey, Potter, think you'll find your soulmate soon? I doubt it, 'cause who would want you as their soulmate?"
He ground his teeth together, turning back towards the window, ignoring his cousin.
"Oh, gonna ignore me, huh?"
He stayed silent.
His cousin leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "What if I tell mom and dad that you're gay?"
His breath hitched as he turned his head, his eyes flicking to meet his cousin's. "Please," he murmured. "You know what Uncle Vernon would do if he found out I was gay."
The smirk widened. "Yeah, he'd beat the shit out of you. Something I would love to see."
He winced.
"But I'll stay quiet for now. Not for you, mind you."
He breathed a sigh of relief, turning away from his cousin just as the moving van before them pulled to a stop before a house. Uncle Vernon pulled the car to a stop, shutting off the engine as he snatched the keys out of the ignition and opened the door, clambering his way out. Aunt Petunia, the horse-faced woman she was, followed him, clambering out of the car from the passenger side. Dudley climbed out, almost slamming the door on Harry's hand before Harry caught it.
A small scowl on his face, Harry slid out of the car, closing the door gently behind him as he stood behind his relatives.
The doors to the moving van opened and two men clambered out, stretching and conversing with each other. One of the men walked over to Uncle Vernon and said, "We'll need some help bringing in some of the furniture and boxes, if you don't mind."
Uncle Vernon's mustache bristled slightly. "Harry'll help you," he replied gruffly.
The man nodded, tipping his hat slightly, then walked over to the back of the van, where he and the other man opened the back and jumped in. Harry, receiving a scathed looked from his uncle, made his way over with a sigh. Standing at the end of the ramp, he looked back and watched as his relatives entered the house, turning back around at the clearing of a throat.
He flushed slightly, turning to the men. "Sorry," he mumbled.
One of the men laughed. "It's okay, kid," he said. He held out a box. "How many of these can you hold?"
"I can probably carry three, if I'm able to see over the third one."
"Alrighty then!" the man said cheerfully, setting the box in Harry's arms. "Name's Chad, and that one over there—" he hooked a thumb over at the other man picking up another box "—is Matt. Thanks for helping us, even if your uncle did volunteer you."
Harry shrugged, shifting the box in his arms. "I'm used to it," he told the man as he set another box in his arms. "Uncle Vernon's like that."
"A right bastard?"
Harry laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that he is."
"Then I pity you."
Harry chuckled. "Not many people do."
The other man, Matt, made his way over with a third box and gently set it on the other two. "You got them okay?" he asked as he and Chad watched Harry hold them.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He gave them a smile. "I'll be back."
He squeezed his way through the slightly open gate and made his way up the walk. The grass of the yard was clean cut and dark green, full of life. There was a tree in the corner old the yard that had several apples growing on the branches; several squirrels ran from branch to branch and a nest of bluejays could be seen sleeping. Flowers had been planted all around the edges of the yard, as well as some vegetation that were still growing. A bench with an engraving was sat snug underneath the tree, shielding the bench from the rays of sunlight.
Climbing up the steps, he nudged open the door and entered the house.
The walls of the hallway were a creamy yellow color, like crème brûlée, and were covered in several picture frames already. (Aunt Petunia had stuffed some of the small ones in her purse. To Harry, it looked like she had time to put them up.) The floors were a rich mahagony floorboard type, smooth and clean to the point he could see his face in it.
He poked his head into the living room, looking around. The walls were the same color and the floor was the same, but there were a couple of windows looking out into the street and out into the neighbor's house. There was a small fireplace that had a grate over it, several prices of firewood already set in it.
Turning away, he made his way into the kitchen, shoes squeaking against the floor.
"Stop that squeaking, boy!" his aunt shrilled when he stepped into the kitchen. "You'll leave a mark on the floor, and God forbid, leave dirt behind!"
He rolled his eyes, setting the boxes down. I swear, it's like she has OCD.
"Don't roll your eyes at me!"
"Yes, Aunt Petunia."
"Hurry up, set them down! Go and help those men, you miserable and pesty boy!"
Pesty? I'M pesty?
Sighing and shaking his head, he made his way back to the front door and into the porch, where he stood for a few seconds.
Chad and Matt were dragging a couch out of the van, talking okver to each other from the ends. The yard, from the porch, looked beautiful, almost like Beauty and the Beast (to him). There was a bluejay hopping along the ground, peeking its beak into the ground, searching for worms.
He made his way down the stairs and down the walk just as Chad and Matt began their way up the walk. "Need any help?" he asked.
"Nah—" Chad grunted. "Just get some more boxes, of ya can. Me and Matt got this, don't worry."
He shrugged. "Okay."
Chad nodded at him, then ambled the couch up the porch, Matt grunted as they did so. He turned to the van, clambered in, then began to look for the boxes with his meager things in it. He founds his, then grabbed two other ones.
He picked them up and walked backwards towards the ramp slowly.
"You need any help?"
He jumped, dropping the boxes, whirling around.
"Wha—"
The words died on his lips as he met stormy grey eyes staring at him.
WHOO!
CHAPTER TWOOOOOOO IS HERE!
Yay!
I haven't abandoned this, I swear! I had to think really hard on how I wanted this to go, and it took me about three hours to write.
Be glad I wrote it for you all (it didn't take three hours, took me, like, four days to write it).
Anyway, looking forward to reviews!