When Harry last came to Malfoy Manor, he saw a massive, creepy castle. It was spooky like Grimmauld Place, but bigger and more spectacular. He was unprepared to see it bright and cheery. Perhaps it only looked gloomy and dangerous on foggy days.
He stopped at the intricate wrought iron gate, examining it. It was a complicated tangle of curved steel. When he'd been dragged through it, all those years ago, his kidnappers had used some sign or word to gain entrance. He glanced around for an intercom or a button or some way of making himself known, but there was nothing.
"Uh," he said and cleared his throat. "Draco? It's me. I was-"
The metal bars of the gate reacted to his voice. They twisted and unknotted themselves without a sound. A moment later, they'd separated enough to let him through. Normally, he'd be nervous, suspicious, cautious, but that day he was in a hurry. He stepped through and rushed up the gravel path.
"Draco?" Harry shouted as he walked. "Can you hear me? I'm here to help."
He caught a glimpse of something white out of his peripheral vision. He turned and stopped, reaching for his wand, but relaxed when he saw what it was.
Peacocks. A dozen white peacocks. Had those been there before? Why would the Malfoys have them? There was something creepy, almost unnerving about them. He'd recently suspected peacocks had some inherent magic. Perhaps albino peacocks had even more power.
There was a loud crack in front of him. Harry jumped back in surprise as Winky the house elf appeared on the path. Her eyes were round, red with sorrow, and filled with rage.
"Winky, what happened? Is Draco alright?"
"This is Harry Potter's fault!" she squeaked, pointing at him. "You is done this to Master Malfoy!"
Harry's stomach clenched.
"What happened?" he said again.
Winky didn't answer. She turned and stomped up the path to the manor's giant doors. They opened at the snap of her fingers, creaking as they swung wide. When they'd stopped moving, he was able to hear something from inside.
Someone was screaming, howling.
Harry rushed through the entrance hallway and into the drawing room. He only had a moment to realize the last time he'd been there, he'd nearly died. Dobby saved him at the cost of his own life.
Little had changed in the intervening years. It was still grey and gloomy. A pipe organ still stood along one wall. The massive chandelier had been returned to the ceiling.
The biggest difference was the addition of a red fainting couch. It was jarring, compared to the other, more somber, furnishings. It was also a much more modern piece, clashing with the older styles.
Malfoy lay on that couch, howling at the ceiling.
"Draco," Harry said. "Are you alright?"
Draco sat bolt upright. He jumped to his feet and rushed to Harry.
Then he hugged him. Draco Malfoy hugged Harry Potter. He wondered if Draco was hallucinating. Then he wondered if he himself was hallucinating.
"Harry!" Malfoy said, "I'm so glad you're here."
"Draco, what are you doing?"
"Echolocation!"
"Draco," Harry said, "we need to get you to a healer. You've been cursed."
"Not cursed!" Malfoy said, releasing him. "Blessed!"
A howl sounded from a distant room. Harry jumped at the noise.
Malfoy took a deep breath and howled at the ceiling again. A moment passed, during which Harry considered knocking Malfoy out and dragging him to St. Mungo's. Then another howl emanated from the house. This time it seemed closer.
Draco howled at the ceiling again. The other howl responded close by, very close by. The two men turned to stare at a tall door at the far end of the room. The knob turned and stopped. There was another howl, and the door slammed open. A shimmering blue figure stood in the doorway.
"Oh my God!" the figure said. "You're right! Six hundred bottles."
She was a petite woman with curly black hair and pale brown eyes. The shimmering blue was her tight satin dress. A small, black purse was slung across her shoulder. She carried a wine bottle in each hand.
"Found your way back, ok?" Malfoy said.
She smiled and cupped her hands around her mouth as best she could with the wine bottles. She let out a loud, silly howl. Malfoy howled back.
"Come! Meet Harry."
The woman walked forward. The floor clacked under the heels of her black stilettos. When she came close, she put the two wine bottles down on the floor and extended her hand.
Harry, still stunned, shook.
"Harry, this is Ashley Bloom. Ashley Bloom, this is the famous Harry Potter."
"Enchante," she said.
"I'm not famous," Harry said.
"He's just being modest," Malfoy said, trying to ruffle Harry's hair. Harry dodged his hand. "See that scar on his forehead? That came from a death curse. Nobody ever survived a death curse but him. And he was only a baby! Then, when he was only seventeen, he killed one of the worst dark wizards ever!"
"Oh, my" she said. "Join us for a glass? Drakey has the most impressive wine collection."
"'Drakey?'" Harry repeated, soundlessly.
She turned back to pick up the bottles, but they had vanished. Winky, standing nearby, had taken them. One was chilling in an ice bucket. She expertly decanted the other into three glasses, then brought a glass to each of them.
"Thank you, Miss Winky," Ashley said.
Then she took something out of her purse and gave it to the little elf. Winky, eyes suddenly brimming with tears, took it. There was a crack, and she disappeared.
Harry suddenly remembered why he was there.
"Draco, are you feeling alright? After the flight. Your nosebleed. I think it was a curse. I think it came from me."
"Oh, that!" he said with a smile. "I'm fine. Funny story. It's how Ashley and I met."
"Funny?" Harry said, hollowly.
Ashley and Draco didn't hear him. They'd clinked glasses and were giving each other nose kisses. Harry found a chair and sat down.
"You should start," Ashley said.
"Right," Draco said, turning to face Harry. "You remember that number the flight attendant gave me on the way back from Bulgaria?"
"Yes," Harry said. "It didn't look like a European number."
"You were right. It wasn't. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, I get back home, and the nosebleed won't go away. I try pinching it. Brew a clotting potion. It's stubborn. Finally, Winky dispels it. I figure it's over, so I can finally call the number."
"But he doesn't have a phone!" Ashley said, as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
"I don't have a phone!" Malfoy said, eyes wide with mirth. "I go down to Salisbury to find a phone box. Only, there aren't any. I keep walking around, street after street. Problem is, I don't really know what phones look like. I've only seen them around the outside of Ministry of Magic offices, and they're not real."
"They're not real?" Ashley said, shooting him a confused look. "What are they?"
"They're visitor's entrances. You type in the right number, and it lets you in."
"Woooow," Ashley said. "That's so James Bond!"
Draco and Harry stared at her, uncomprehending. She looked back and forth at their confused faces.
"James Bond? Secret agent. Started as a book series. Became movies. Drakey, it's one for your list!"
"For my list!" Draco's eyes went wide with joy. He stood and crossed the room to a small table. On it was a quill and notepad. He muttered "James Bond" as wrote.
"It's a thing Drakey and I do," Ashley said, leaning towards Harry. "If one of us doesn't know something about the others' culture we write it down so we can explore it later."
"'Drakey,'" Harry said again, unable to form a more coherent thought.
"Anyway," Ashley said, "I come out of the bodega and there's this boy standing in the street-"
"Handsome boy," Malfoy said.
"Handsome boy," Ashley said, squeezing his hand.
"'Handsome?'" Harry said. They ignored him.
"And his nose suddenly explodes with blood. Like, fountains. He's standing in the street, blood down his face, staring around. I run over and pinch a tissue on his nose."
"And I faint."
"And he faints, dead away. I say to him 'Don't worry. I'm going to call you an ambulance.' Right? I get out my phone. And his eyes spring open. He grabs my hand and says-"
"Wait!" Draco said in an exaggerated whisper, hand clutching his chest. "Call this number. And she says-"
"Oh, honey, that's not the girl for you."
They laughed. Harry stared at them, confused.
"Play him the number."
Ashley took her cell phone out.
"I use this all the time," she said as she dialed. She turned to Harry. "This is called a 'cellular telephone.' I use it to communicate with other people over a great distances."
"I'm familiar with the concept," Harry said.
Ashley put the phone on speaker when the call picked up.
"Hello," a male voice said, "this is not the person who gave you their number. They didn't feel comfortable rejecting you in person, so they sent you this message. Please don't take it personally. There are plenty of fish in the sea, as the saying goes. Good luck finding yours."
Ashley clicked the phone off.
"Harsh," Draco said.
"But you understand now, don't you Drakey?"
"It's not okay to hit on someone at their job," Draco said in flat tones, as if he was reciting a memorized speech. "They're just being nice to me because they have to."
She kissed him.
"So, he shouts 'WINKY!' and this kobold appears," she said.
"Winky's an elf," Draco said.
"Honey, I played a half-elf in college. That is not an elf."
There was a crack as Winky appeared next to the couch. Ashley jumped a little.
"Sorry, Winky," she said. "I was just telling the story of how we met."
Winky bowed stiffly and was about to disappear when Ashley handed her something from her purse again. Winky took it with stiffly controlled rage and disappeared.
"Winky appears and tries to get me to St. Mungos," Draco said, "but she can't. I'm too heavy. And Ashley-"
"Never seen an elf. Never believed in magic," Ashley interjected.
"She gets a car with her phone and the two of them drag me there. I'm half dead, delirious. Doctors take a week to dispel the curse."
"God," Harry said, "Malfoy, I'm so sorry. That's my fault. I-"
Draco waved away the apology.
"You're missing the point. She's there every day. Sitting by my side with Winky. Won't leave."
"Did you know they'll bring you fresh clothes at the hospital?" Ashley said. "And you don't even need to shower. They just do a spell. Fixes your makeup, too." She sighed. "I'm so jealous of you magical types. A fresh makeup spell."
"Aw, honey," Draco said. "I'll do your makeup whenever you want."
Ashley turned to him, looking suddenly serious.
"Draco, that is literally the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me."
They did the nose kiss thing again. Harry fought the urge to fake vomit.
"I know what you're thinking," Draco said, standing up.
"Pretty sure you don't," Harry said.
"I haven't been exactly… Supportive of non-magical people," Draco said, lowering his voice and stepping closer to Harry, as if he was telling a dirty secret.
"To put it mildly."
Draco glanced nervously back at Ashley, but she didn't say anything. He relaxed and continued.
"Ashley changed my thinking. She showed me you don't have to be able to do magic to be smart or kind or funny. And she can do things we can't! Honey, show him a thing!"
"A thing?" Harry said.
Ashley took her cell out again. "What kind of a thing?"
"Any kind of a thing," Draco said, flopping back on the couch again.
"Um, okay. How about… Hey Google!" Her phone binged. "What's the weather like in Abu Dhabi right now?"
"Right now in Abu Dhabi," the phone said in measured tones, "United Arab Emirates, it's sixty-two degrees and clear. Tonight it will be fifty-eight degrees and clear."
Draco laughed and looked over at her phone.
"Your pictures move too? I thought that was only a magic thing."
"That's a livestream," she said. "That's what it looks like outside there right now."
"Right now? That's amazing."
They seemed to have forgotten Harry was there. He watched them, perversely fascinated.
"We should totally go!" she said. "Can you beam us there?"
"Beam?"
"You know, like use a transporter. You guys can teleport, right?"
"Apparate," Draco said. "Problem is it gets dangerous the farther you go. We could end up splinched into one person."
"If it was you, not sure I'd mind," Ashley said, leaning over to kiss Draco.
Harry cleared his throat.
"Oh!" Draco said, "Harry, do a thing!"
"Uh," Harry said. "I don't…"
"Do a patronus charm," he said, turning to Ashley. "Harry's an expert with them. It makes a kind of magic ghost in an animal form. The form is related to your true personality. It's very difficult magic. You have to clear your mind and focus on one happy memory."
"Uh," Harry said again. "I'm not sure I…"
"Honey, don't put him on the spot," Ashley said.
"No," Harry said, putting his wine glass down and standing. "It's okay."
He drew his wand and cleared his thoughts. He dug into his memories, but they moved and shifted. In spite of what Krum had done, they were still fractured. He gritted his teeth and concentrated.
It was his wedding day. Ginny was in white, a silver tiara in her red hair. He leaned over to kiss her.
She was dying in St. Mungos, drooling blood.
"Expecto patronum," he said. Nothing happened.
He was holding a baby. It was his daughter, Lily. She looked up at him and, for the first time in her life, smiled.
Ginny was snarling at him. Furious he'd named her Luna.
"Expecto patronum," he said. Nothing happened.
He was holding Luna, carefully putting her in bed and pulling the covers over her. She muttered something he couldn't understand, then fell asleep. Her smile was angelic.
Ginny shouted at her I saw you! Luna was running away, crying.
"Expecto patronum," he said. A tiny wisp of silver light billowed out of his wand.
He let out a deep sigh and sat down. Draco and Ashley watched him from the couch, their faces serious.
"Honey," Ashley said, standing up, "I'm going to visit the powder room. You two should talk."
"Okay," Draco said, "if you get lost, you know what to do."
Ashley looked up at the ceiling and let out a loud howl. Draco howled back and watched her until she'd closed the door behind her.
"So, what do you think?" Draco said.
Harry stared. Draco Malfoy wanted his opinion on a girlfriend. The world made no sense.
"Harry, I don't have many… I don't know who else to ask. Am I nuts? We're from different worlds. I never met any non-magical people. I was taught they were stupid, brutish, only good to be dominated. I believed that. But now…
"Look, half the paintings in the house scream when she walks by. The heads of the other pure-blood houses are shunning me, but I was done with them after Astoria died. No one even sent a card. I know people get blinded by infatuation. They regret it later. I trust you. Is she right for me, or am I being an idiot?"
Harry stared at his sallow face. The wrinkles around his eyes and receding hairline matched Harry's. However, there was a glow there, a happiness Harry never saw in the mirror.
"Draco, at our age even infatuation is a gift. Don't overthink it. Just be happy."
Draco smiled and hugged Harry again.
"You need to find someone, too," he said, squeezing Harry before grabbing his shoulders and holding him at arm's length. "You know who I always thought was perfect for you?"
"Hermione," Harry said immediately. Everyone always said that.
Draco frowned.
"No," he said. "She was never the type for you. For anyone but Weasely, really. I mean, she's pretty and smart; I even asked her out, once."
Harry's eyes widened. "You're kidding."
"That's what she said. But nope. Early third year. My father was being especially overbearing, and I thought 'This would really piss him off.'"
He remembered Malfoy laughing at Hermione as a stray densaugeo curse hit her in the mouth. Her teeth had grown explosively, painfully. His laugh had seemed forced, angry. That must have happened after she turned him down. Boys could be such vicious creatures.
"She's one of those girls who could only fall in love once. The moment she saw Weasely, it was over."
Harry nodded. He always felt Ginny was like that, too. She'd nearly fainted the first time she saw him. Later, he found out she'd dated other boys hoping he'd notice and be jealous. It worked.
"No, I thought you should date… Uh…" He snapped his fingers, frustrated. "Angry girl. What was her name? Shoot. She was always arguing with people. 'That's not true. It's a lie. I can't believe you're dumb enough to fall for that.' Oh! Luna! Luna Lovegood."
Harry blinked. "'Angry Girl?' I've never seen her angry."
"Oh, no, because whenever you'd walk in the room, she'd go all…"
Draco's face became Luna's trademark dreamy smile. It was eerily accurate.
"Then you'd leave, and she'd snarl at everyone again."
Harry smiled. "Maybe I'll look her up. But you. Are you sure the curse is gone?"
Draco nodded. "Checked over by the best healers several times."
The door swung open, revealing Ashley holding another bottle of wine.
"Look who didn't get lost!" she said and let out another howl.
"You want to stay for dinner?" Draco said, smiling at Harry.
An hour later, Harry walked out of Malfoy Manor. The massive front doors closed with a thunk behind him, shutting out the sound of laughter. In the silence, he heard tiny sobs. He looked down at the front step to see Winky, sitting with her head in her hands. He sat down beside her.
"She's not so bad," he said.
"'Not so bad?'" Winky stared up at him, aghast. "Does you not see what she keeps doing to Winky?!"
She grabbed a handful of something out of a pocket and held them up to Harry's face. In her open hands were piles of bills. There must have been hundreds of euros.
"SHE KEEPS GIVING WINKY TIPS!" the elf said. "What is I going to do with all this money?"
She collapsed into tears again. Harry sat, staring, as the little elf cried for several minutes. When she finally seemed to be under control, he patted her on the back.
"I know Draco makes you spend all your money on yourself," he said, "but there is a way for spend it all and get nothing in return."
Winky looked up at Harry with guarded hopefulness.
"There's something called cryptocurrency," he said.
