Unfinished Business: Shattered Pieces
DISCLAIMER: Look at first chapter.
WARNING: Look at first chapter.
The Beginning
"Ah, Harry. It's good to see you," Kingsley Shacklebolt greeted Harry with a handshake as the Auror arrived at the designated Portkey location. "Almost everyone else has already arrived, though we can't begin until the last of the enchantments go up. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy the refreshments. I daresay that the creampuffs are quite delicious."
"No thank you," Harry declined with a pleasant smile. "Do you know how long it would be before the enchantments are up or if they need any assistance?" The Auror asked as he followed Kingsley towards what looked like an abandoned warehouse in the middle of an empty street.
"Always thinking of work, aren't we Potter?" A smug voice sounded behind him.
"We're here for work, Malfoy," Harry said as he turned to the blonde while Kingsley disappeared into the warehouse. "I am anyway. You on the other hand… Why are you here?"
"Tactful as always, Potter," Malfoy smirked as he walked up to the Auror. "It's nice to see that you haven't lost your Gryffindor traits," he said as he walked up close to Harry before passing him and entering the warehouse.
"The same traits that saved your life, you mean?" Harry countered. "Since, if I had been a Slytherin, I'd say you wouldn't have lasted very long with that Fiendfyre."
"I dare say that you're right," Malfoy said, slowing his step as if reminiscing. "Poor Crabbe. He had more power than he did cunning. Most Slytherins don't have that problem."
"Unbelievable," Harry scoffed as he passed the blonde. "You don't even have any feeling towards someone that used to be your faithful follower throughout your school days."
"Faithful, until he disobeyed me and got himself killed in the process. I'm surprised you're sticking up for him, though, seeing as how he tried to kill you before I stopped him."
"Why are you here?" Harry stopped walking and asked again, this time a little more annoyed than confused as he placed his hands on his hips in irritation.
"Every year, one Head from each department in every European Ministry is asked to attend this little soirée," Draco started explaining.
"I know that," Harry interrupted. "I'm here for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Auror Office."
"It's not surprising that you ended up there," the blonde smirked, reminding Harry of James for some reason. "I'm here for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Beast Division."
"You've got to be kidding me," Harry said in disbelief. "You're the head of that department? You're the last person I expected to be working in that position."
"Well, after Granger- sorry Mrs. Weasley Jr- left the department, there was an outbreak of werewolf activity."
"I remember. Seventeen dead. They weren't looking to change anyone. They just wanted to kill Muggle-borns. Ron and I were the ones sent to track them down and bring them into custody."
"And no one could figure out what to do with them," Malfoy said with his usual smugness. "No one wanted to put them in Azkaban since the Dementors were no longer trustworthy by the Ministry."
"So what did you suggest they do with them? Put them on probation in Muggle London?" Harry asked scathingly.
"What's a probation?"
"Never mind," Harry shook his head.
"The idea actually came from Barty Crouch Jr and what he did to me in 4th year," the blonde said as he lifted a glass from one of the waiters walking passed them and took a sip.
"You transfigured them?" Harry asked, looking quite impressed.
"Into fish. It was unorthodox, though quite educational. Apparently, you can transfigure a human into a fish but not a werewolf."
"What happened?"
"They broke the tank and killed each other. Though it did lead the way to reclassifying werewolves as part beast, part being," Malfoy said as he took another sip.
"I could've told you they were different," Harry scoffed.
"Maybe, but sometimes, even for a wizard, seeing is believing. You should know that better than anyone."
"Wait, so does that mean you were the one that let the Wolfbane potion become readily available to wizards."
"My father does own an apothecary and the ministry gives us a hefty sum for brewing the potion for them."
"Unbelievable," Harry shook his head. "Even when helping people you know how to extort from them."
"It's a skill. I know," Malfoy smirked.
"Well, thank you anyway. I know people out there who are grateful for what your family is doing, even if you are doing it for selfish reasons."
"You're welcome, though I'm pretty sure there was an insult in there somewhere," Malfoy smirked.
"You noticed," Harry smiled as he lifted a glass from another waiter walking by. "You're not as dumb as you look. See you around, Malfoy," he said, saluting the blonde before walking away.
"See you around, Potter," the blonde said with a certain gleam in his eyes as he watched the Auror walk away.
"Slytherin!" The hat shouted, shocking many in the room.
"You've got to be kidding me," James groaned.
He watched the Deputy Head take the hat off of his brother's head before Albus walked towards the Slytherin table. Though Albus looked remorseful when he turned to his brother, the moment he sat down beside the Malfoy boy, a huge smile brightened his face. James shook his head. Their mother wasn't going to like this. When he saw that his brother was also sitting next to BJ Zabini, James realised that there were bigger things he needed to worry about.
"I'm sure he'll be just fine," Molly said as she turned to her cousin. "Zabini wouldn't do anything to hurt your brother."
"But he will try to use him," James countered. "It's just the kind of thing that jerk is capable of doing."
"You know, if you'd just go out with him, just once, he would get off your case," Dominique said beside Molly.
"Are you out of your mind? Zabini is a bully, he's arrogant, and he's obnoxious."
"Funny, a lot of people say the same thing about you," Molly pointed out.
James opened his mouth as if to say something, but his cousin's words shocked him into silence. In fact, he didn't speak again for the rest of the welcoming feast. It wasn't until they were heading up to bed that James finally spoke.
"Do people really think I'm a bully?"
"Not really," Dominique appeased.
"But some do think you're a little arrogant."
"Don't get us wrong. People like you, and they absolutely love the pranks you and Frank come up with," the blonde added at the sullen look on her cousin's face, mentioning one of James' friends and roommate.
"But unlike Frank, they think you're a little full of yourself," Molly said bluntly.
As James stood at the bottom of the stairs, his cousins went up to bed, one chiding the other for her candidness.
After spending hours upon tedious hours listening to Aurors from different ministries talk about their methods for decreasing dark wizard activities, Harry felt like he was going to combust with boredom. By the time the first day of the seminars was over, he was just about ready to collapse in a dead sleep.
When he finally got on the elevator to go to his room, he thought that he had finally earned a reprieve from his fellow Aurors until he realized that all Heads from his ministry were placed in the same wing of the hotel they were staying at. That meant that he had to spend the entire elevator ride, as well as the walk to his room door, in the company of Cormac McLaggen, an Unspeakable.
"I don't know why they keep sending a Head from my department here," McLaggen complained as the elevator reached their floor. "No one from other countries are willing to share their knowledge long enough for there to be any real progress."
"Is that so," Harry said, barely listening as he started walking down the hall.
"I guess the only upside is that I'm in the company of the great Harry Potter again," he said as a hungry look gleamed in his eye as he gazed at the saviour.
"How lucky for you," Harry said habitually.
"Actually, lucky for you. I'm now one of the few people who have full access to the entire floor of the Department of Mysteries. I even have access to the Love Chamber now. Did you know that making love in there is one of the most intoxicating things in the world?" McLaggen boasted. "I could take you there if you wanted."
"I think I'll pass," Harry declined with barely contained distain.
Harry was used to this kind of attention from McLaggen by now. Being the Head Auror meant that he had a lot of dealings with the older man's department. Unfortunately, McLaggen never seemed to take the hint that Harry wasn't at all interested.
"Are you sure," McLaggen said as he leaned in closer to the savour, who had reached his room door. "We could whip over there right now and I could do thing to you that would make your feet curl," he whispered seductively.
Harry refrained from snapping at the man before him, thinking that he would rather a stiff drink over being in McLaggen's company for one more minute.
"I think I'll just go to bed instead," he said, breathing out to calm his frayed nerves before turning to the door behind him and swiping the key to get inside.
"It's your loss. You know where to find me if you change your mind," McLaggen said as he waved to Harry.
"Hopefully not," Harry mumbled as he closed the door.
Sighing as the door clicked shut, Harry closed his eyes and rested his head on the door. He sighed once more before turning around. As he continued to rest on the door to collect himself, he opened his eyes to survey his surroundings. What he found was not what he was expecting.
Harry couldn't ever remember staying at a high-end hotel before. Though he did have a vague sense that he had been in a hotel room before, he never expected anything like what he walked into.
For a moment, Harry wondered if he had arrived in the room too early since there were still clothes lying on the bed. He knew this was the room since it coincided with his birthday.
Harry was busy wondering if the previous occupant hadn't had time to leave yet when he heard movement coming from the left of him. It lead to a room Harry guessed was the bathroom since he saw wisps of stream coming from underneath the door. Before he could even move, the door was pulled opened and the last person he expected walked out.
"Malfoy?" Harry said, finding the situation more and more confusing.
"Potter?" Malfoy said, just as confused as Harry was.
"What are you doing in my room?" Harry asked, his tiredness and previous conversation with McLaggen making him very irritable.
"I believe you're mistaken, Potter. You are the one currently in my room."
"This is room 731," the Auror said, as if explaining everything.
"I can read, started learning when I was two actually," Malfoy said as he walked over to his robe that was lying on the bed. "And as you can see, that same number is on my room key."
As Malfoy spoke, he had revealed a key card identical to Harry's own, right down to the number printed in bold letters one the back.
"But that's not possible," Harry said as he took out his own card and showed the blonde. "We couldn't have possibly been assigned the same room. There must be a mistake."
As Malfoy took the card from Harry, the former Gryffindor walked over to the phone that was by the bed and dialed the number for the front desk. Meanwhile, Malfoy busied himself with drying off. He had, after all, just come out of the shower. He was currently only wearing a towel around his waist.
Draco reached into his robe again and found his wand before aiming it at himself and casting a drying spell on his body. Then he proceeded to toss the towel onto the couch on the other side of the room. He was interrupted from his nightly routine just as he bent over to pull on his night pants.
"Do you mind not doing that in the open? Please have some decency. We're not school children anymore," Harry said as he turned away from the sight of the blonde's backside.
"I'm not ashamed of my body," the former Slytherin said nonchalantly as he pulled up his pants. "You're lucky I put these on at all. Usually I find walking around in my room naked to be much more relaxing," he teased as he walked past Harry. "Speaking of rooms... What did the front desk say? Nothing good I bet with the sour look on your face."
"They are sorry for the inconvenience but all of the rooms are currently being occupied while the conference is taking place," Harry huffed, folding his arms as if his favorite teddy had been taken from him.
"In other words, we're stuck together," the blonde summed.
"So. It. Would. Seem," Harry agreed, his irritation growing.
"Then let me be the first to say that I call dibs on the bed," Malfoy said as he flopped gracefully on the king-sized bed.
"Hold on a moment," Harry fumed as he unfolded his arms and turned to the blonde. "You can't just decide something like that so flippantly. We'll be staying here for a whole week. We need to set up some rules," he pointed out. "Fair rules so we don't end up killing each other before the week is done," he added when it looked like the blonde was going to speak.
Harry could tell that this was going to be a long week.
"The first thing we should do is to see who gets to sleep on the bed tonight," Harry continued as he searched through his pocket. "I have a coin. We'll flip it to see who gets to sleep in it first."
"Heads," Malfoy called out as he sat up on the bed.
"Okay. Heads, you get the bed tonight. Tails, I get the bed tonight."
Harry held out his left hand as he tossed the coin in the air with his right. As he was about to catch it to determine the winner, the coin was snatched out of the air before him, shocking Harry momentarily.
"Heads it is," the blonde said without even looking at the coin. Then he proceeded to pocket the coin before flopping back down on the bed.
"Fine," Harry sighed, too tired to argue any further. "Tonight, you can have the bed. But tomorrow it's my turn," he said as he headed for the couch.
Too tired to even remove his clothes, Harry practically dropped down on the couch and fell asleep without so much as another word to his roommate.
Draco watched as the saviour of the wizarding world dropped ungracefully onto the couch that still had the used towel draped over it and fall right asleep. He sighed as he watched Potter move around to get more comfortable on the couch. He didn't know why but the sight of the Head Auror sleeping on the sofa disturbed him.
At first, he had assumed it was because he had no desire to share a room with the saviour of the wizarding world, but he quickly dismissed that thought. In fact, he found that he was quite looking forward to the week they would be rooming together, though he wasn't quite sure why.
Then a weird feeling erupted in the pit of his stomach when he saw Potter turn his head to the side, making his raven locks fall into his eyes. Without thinking, Draco got up from the bed and towards the couch. Then he bent down and placed his arms underneath the Auror before lifting him up from the cushions.
Suddenly, the shorter man moved in Draco's arms. He froze, thinking that his roommate would wake up at any moment and berate him for his actions. Instead, Potter only curled up into the embrace before falling into a deeper sleep.
Releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding in, Draco carried the sleeping man over to the bed before placing him on the other side. Then Draco stood up, watching as the man before him slept.
As Draco pulled the Auror's glasses from his face and placed them on the night stand by the bed, dark raven locks fell over the saviour's eyes. At the sight, an indescribable urge to run his fingers through the man's dark locks surprised Draco a bit, but not enough to stop him from doing what he was about to do next.
End of Chapter: The Beginning
