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Chapter 10: Harry Potter and the Return from Hogwarts

The first day after he got back at an ungodly hour from Hogwarts, Harry skated over to the roller rink that he had missed so much during his school year. He did not bother to make breakfast for his relatives or even wish them a good morning before lacing up and heading out to prolong his avoidance of them as long as possible.

The rink lacked the stateliness of the Hogwarts arena, but the green and silver bricks were a welcome sight even if the parking lot has been cultivating weeds since his last visit. Harry found the door locked but hoped that Draco wouldn't mind him using a simple Alohamora to open it. The place reeked of dust and allergies; he coughed as he skated around the entrance area to the arcade in the back.

"Draco?" He called. He knew that it was early yet, but that boy certainly did not need any more beauty sleep. There's a limit on how handsome someone can be. "Draco?"

Harry jumped over the ledge from the carpet to the rink and stopped in his tracks once he looked up. Draco was lying in the middle of the floor with his skates on his feet but his knees pulled to his chest, wearing only his boxers.

Harry rushed to his side to check that he was breathing and sighed in relief when the blond's toned chest rose and fell. The black-haired boy settled back onto his heels and then sat with his legs pulled to his chest to watch his friend/crush.

Sun glittered in through the window, sparkling off the trophies on the wall and the metallic paint of the counters, but none of that brilliant light woke the boy. Harry imagined Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy apparating back home with Draco last night once the train arrived in the dark and then not noticing when he snuck out here to finally skate on his home turf again. Harry understood. He had practically done the same thing.

Chancing to stroke the boy's cheek as he slept, Harry reached out his hand but was stopped when Draco rolled over towards him and then stretched himself out. Harry started scrambling backwards to avoid shocking the other skate, but Draco's eyes fluttered open before he could get more than two meters away.

"Harry?"

"Um, hi, Draco." Oh, how sweet that name sounded on his lips! "I'm sorry that I just barged in here. I just wanted to skate."

"Sorry?" Draco clambered to his feet and adjusted the waist band of his boxers before waving his hands around in sleepy movements. "Don't be sorry. I was skating last night. At one point I fell, and then I guess I fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes and took one final shoulder stretch before placing his hands on his hips and starting to skate in a line absentmindedly until him and harry were just close enough for comfort. "Have you 'ad breakfast?"

"Um, yeah."

Draco sighed and looked towards the door that led to there home. "Well, I obviously haven't. If you wanna skate around, you can, but I'm gonna get something to eat."

"Skating can wait." Harry shook his head. Merlin, he need a haircut, but he liked to think that Draco fancied long hair. "I just really wanted to, um, see you, er, um, hang out."

Draco nodded and led him off into the depths of the maze behind the rink. "Sounds good. I could use some relaxation after everything. You're okay, right? Your arm's better?"

Harry shook it to demonstrate its regained strength even though an ache still nagged at his elbow and tried not to let Draco see him grimace. He had taken off the sling last night so that he could return to skating. His aunt and uncle were never the wiser.

"Well, you know, just take it easy. I would rather just do some endurance training today rather than speed or skill."

"Oh, righ'."

"Remember," Draco warned him as he pulled out Harry's chair at a jade breakfast table, "I am still your coach."

Harry nodded his head in agreement as a house elf brought Draco a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon that he bit into immediately. "Ugh, Dobby, this is nowhere near as good as the food at Hogwarts, and you've forgotten to offer Harry anything."

"Oh, really, I'm full still," Harry muttered as the creature turned around in a circle to feast his eyes on the Boy Who Lived.

"Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er, yeah." Harry shrugged and let his feet slide back and forth on the stone floor.

"Stop your staring and go clean up the kitchen!"

Dobby started wringing his hands and then scurried off through a small tunnel in the corner behind a ficus.

"Sorry about him," Draco apologized. "He's always underfoot. I keep telling Father to get a new one, but he's been with the family for too long and Father won't hear of it."

Harry cast his eyes down to his lap so that Draco could not see his disappointment that his cherished friend had been so rude. Sure, he had already seen him go at Ron, but there the feeling was mutual and Ron could certainly fend for himself. Here. Dobby was already a helpless minority, so Draco was kicking him while he was down.

"You all right, Harry?" Draco asked through a mouthful of crunchy bacon that was still delicious despite not being of Hogwarts caliber.

"Um, do you, well, always treat him like that?"

"Yes," Draco replied as if Harry had just asked him whether or not McGonagal was a cat.

"Oh."

"You alright?"

Harry chuckled at his childish show of emotion and placed his hands in his pockets to stop their fidgeting. "Yeah, still waking up I guess."

Draco nodded and polished off the rest of his food before leaving his empty plate on the table and leading Harry down a ramp to a dimly lit room that he quickly illuminated with what he called a Deluminator. "Welcome to Casa del Draco," he said with bravado as he spread his arms wide and skated across the vast room to a walk in closet.

Harry ran his hand along silver-stitched wallpaper covered in pictures of Draco's family, all unsmiling, and posters of famous Wizard Racers with competitive looks on their faces. On the side wall, trophies had been positioned across from the window wells so that any light that did come in reflected off their gold surfaces. All of them had a plaque on the bottom, and most of them read a variation of: DRACO MALFOY Winner of the Malfoy Roller Derby Competition with different dates and age groups in the bottom lines.

Draco emerged from his closet with a handful of clothes and started stripping down, explaining, "Oh, yeah, the trophies. I always win the competitions here, so Father has the plaques done up beforehand."

"Impressive," Harry replied as he kept his eyes locked on the figurines of skaters even as a naked Draco danced in and out of his peripheral.

The blond god broke his trance with a light punch on the shoulder as he skated towards the exit. Harry followed the path of Draco's skates as they pushed him forward with every stroke, focusing his eyes on the boy's exposed ankles. When they returned to the rink, the rest of the Slytherin ex-first years was waiting outside the door. Draco reprimanded them, "Don't you know alohamora?"

Pansy tried to kiss him on the cheek as she walked past before he skated backwards, and she replied, "Do you seriously think that I paid attention to a word that bumbling idiot said? Why will I have to know charms when I am a professional roller skater?" The gang rolled their eyes and collectively moaned which put Pansy on the defensive. "What? You don't think I'll go pro?"

"Pansy," Draco assured her, "none of us think you will go pro. You'll have to work hard to even be considered for my father's team." The group erupted into laughter as she sneered but let Draco lead her to the rink with an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, we can't all be Harry Frickin' Potter! You know, if I had raced him, Flint would have certainly let me on the team."

"Pans, there was no room."

Harry added as he started on his laps, "That's why Draco didn't make their team. They already had a jammer."

Pansy snorted but regained her composure before turning on the charm. "Well, you'll make it next year, Dracie."

Draco shrugged her off his arm and started following Harry around the rink, explaining to Blaise the plan to build up endurance while Crabbe and Goyle sat out with Millicent. They claimed that they were still recovering from the train ride home, but judging by their skill as seen in the roller skating course at Hogwarts, their interest had flagged greatly. Pansy kept glaring at Harry but joined in with the quartet of skaters anyway even as she started to fall behind and be lapped by the boys even though they were taking today at a slower pace.

After about twenty five laps, the kids were startled as a door rattled in the back and Lucius emerged in black robes. "Kids," he addressed them with a nod. "Glad to be back?"

They all nodded with their shoulders back and hands clasped behind their backs in forced respect.

"Good. I'm not going to open up today, so you guys can skate all you want, but be ready to work tomorrow."

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," the Slytherins chorused.

"Oh, and Harry?" He added before apparating to the Ministry for work. "Would you like a job, too?"

"Oh, yes, sir, that would be very generous of you."

"I could use someone like you to teach or something. Some of these others are useless and many of my other instructors are, shall we say, occupied. By the way, how did you like Gryffindor?"

"Well, it's no Slytherin," Harry lied with a forced smile.

"You're right," Malfoy muttered. "Smart boy. Train hard, kids." Then, with a pop, he was gone.

All the kids tried to resume their skating, but it took a few laps for them to fall back into it and it took a whole lot of restraint on Pansy's part to not bring up the idea of expelling Potter from the rink for being a Gryffindor. But Draco wanted him there, and that was all that mattered.