It's Just 12 Inches of Wood

It’s Just 12 Inches of Wood by The Coven

Author: Graballz

Beta: Miss Nikki

Author's note--*falls over laughing*

For anyone who missed it, we wrote a fake chapter for April Fool's Day and pranked everyone with it. If you would like to read that chapter, email me graballz@gmail.com and I will send it to you, complete with the original author's notes and everything.

But here is the REAL Chapter 12, and let the story continue! Enjoy!

~Graballz

Chapter 12

Maybe We Should…Maybe We Shouldn’t

Harry was able to wake Draco when his alarm went off every time; he continued to reset it for every couple of hours, just to make sure. The blonde was gradually getting more and more irritated, which Harry took as a good sign. When his alarm went off for the final time in the morning, they got up, showered and dressed, and took a taxi down to the wizarding branch of the police station, writing down their recollections of the previous day and affixing their signatures to the bottom of the parchment. In Turkey, the Ministry did not handle law enforcement; the police department had its own wizarding section that worked alongside the Muggle officers. Luckily, they didn’t see Ash at all and Flooed back to Britain from the Turkish Ministry.

As they popped out at the Ministry of Magic back in London, Harry insisted on taking Draco to St. Mungo’s for a check up, with Draco protesting all the way. They waited all morning, finally leaving the wizarding hospital after lunch with the pronouncement that Draco would be fine in a few days but that Harry should keep an eye on him today and tomorrow (and that they should come back if Draco started experiencing a whole list of symptoms).

“Honestly, I’m fine,” Draco remarked irritably. “Stop fussing. I don’t want Ollivander to think I can’t do my own damn job.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry grouched. “I’ll try not to embarrass you in front of him.” After leaving St. Mungo’s, they had Apparated to Diagon Alley and were arguing while walking towards the wand shop.

“Good, because you can’t seem to help embarrassing yourself—Salazar’s beard! What happened here?” Draco cut himself off from playfully insulting Harry when they saw the broken glass panes of Ollivander’s wand shop. The sign still said ‘Closed’ and the time was overdue, they saw.

“Robbery,” Harry guessed. “But where’s Ollivander? Is he okay?”

“How should I know?” Draco retorted. “Where does he live?”

“Oh, like I’m supposed to know that?” Harry drew a blank.

“Perfect,” Draco threw up his hands. Harry started towards the door, palming his wand. Draco caught his arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to investigate,” Harry said. “If Ollivander is hurt, chances are, there’ll be a sign of a struggle.”

“What, are you an Auror now?” Draco said under his breath. “Maybe we should…get someone. If we go in there, they’ll blame it on us.”

“Are you kidding?” Harry snorted, not realizing that Draco’s ludicrous suggestion stemmed from years of Slytherin paranoia. “We’ve been in Turkey; they can’t think we did it.”

“They can and they will, Potter,” Draco warned. “Well, maybe not YOU, Golden Boy, but they’ll certainly think I did it.”

“Along with your homicidal tendencies to harm small, furry creatures?” Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco. “I’ll vouch for you.”

“Fine, but if we get in trouble for this, it’s all your fault,” Draco wagged his finger, sounding a lot like Hermione. Harry nodded and cast Alohomora on the door, watching as it opened easily. It had been locked, but the glass was cracked as if a stone had flown through it.

Harry stepped into the shop; the sound of each shard of glass crunching under his shoe seemed magnified, and he was sure that the store owners of Knockturn Alley could hear them walking. The counter itself as well as the interior of the shop looked unharmed until Harry peered down the nearest aisle of wand ingredients and groaned. The floors were literally unwalkable due to the broken jars and upturned boxes that had once been neat, categorical stacks of wands in various stages of craftsmanship, as well as finished products and raw ingredients.

“Put your hands in the air and if you reach for your wands, you will be hexed!”

Neither Harry nor Draco knew that anyone was behind them, and the scream startled them both. Harry still had his wand in hand, but he and Draco threw their hands up into view and spun around.

“Well, well, what have we hear?” Auror John Dawlish glared from the doorway, his wand pointed at the two boys. “The famous Harry Potter and the notorious Draco Malfoy, caught in the act of vandalizing and robbing Ollivander’s wand shop. This is mighty interesting.”

“Get bent, Dawlish,” Harry retorted. He had never particularly liked the man, but they had both been members of the Order of the Phoenix. As an Auror under Fudge, Dawlish upheld the position of his superior (that Harry was nothing more than a delusional pathological liar) until the evidence of Voldemort’s return was incontrovertible. However Harry hadn’t quite forgiven him for trying to arrest Hagrid in his fifth year.

“Hostile, Potter? You wouldn’t be trying to resist arrest, now would you?” Dawlish tried to look tough, but Harry wasn’t intimidated.

“Arrest? We haven’t done anything wrong!” Draco protested. “We work here! We just got back to find the place looking like this!”

“A likely story, Malfoy,” Dawlish sneered. “As if anyone would listen to what YOU have to say and take it as truth.”

“Listen, you prig,” Harry said furiously. “It’s true; we work for Ollivander, and we just got back from Turkey. Check with the Floo people!”

“I don’t have to check with anyone, Potter,” Dawlish spat. “And right now, you both are coming in for questioning due to the suspicious nature of your activities in a shop run by an elderly man who is also missing.”

“Ollivander’s missing?” All of the blood drained out of Harry’s face. He fervently hoped the old man was okay; he had already been kidnapped and tortured once by Voldemort. He didn’t deserve more.

“Well, he’s not here, is he?” Dawlish grinned triumphantly at his logic. Harry rolled his eyes and suddenly pointed his wand at the Auror.

“Stupefy!” He yelled, and the Auror collapsed where he stood, knocked out cold before he could even react. Draco’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t know whether to be impressed at Harry’s magical prowess and congratulate him or yell at him for being so stupid as to attack a Ministry employee. He didn’t have to make that call, since Harry immediately turned on his heel and began to pick his way through the rubble towards the back office.

“Where are you going?” Draco settled for huffing, following the Gryffindor.

“To Ollivander’s office,” Harry replied over his shoulder.

“I can see that.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Shut up and answer my question,” Draco snapped, not in the mood for Harry’s cheek. “You know what I want to know.” He stood in the doorway, frowning with his arms folded across his chest as Harry picked the magical lock on Ollivander’s filing cabinet and opened a drawer. “Well? Don’t you fucking ignore me; answer me!”

“You told me to shut up,” Harry reminded him, not looking up as he rifled through their boss’ folders. “Am I allowed to speak now?”

“Since when do you listen to me?” Draco groaned, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. “And yes, Potter, speak!”

“Arf!” Harry barked, grinning mischievously. Draco held his frown of stone, unmoved by Harry’s playfulness. “Hey, did you know Ollivander’s first name is Ludwig?”

“What?” Draco didn’t know that, and against his will, he showed interest by walking over to stand next to Harry, peering at the parchment the Gryffindor held out. “Ludwig Ollivander? No wonder he doesn’t use his first name.”

“Kinda sounds like ‘earwig’,” Harry mused. “Not a very pleasant connection.”

“What?” Sometimes Harry’s mind was completely foreign to Draco.

“Ludwig…sounds like ‘earwig’,” Harry explained. “It would be like naming your kid…oh, I don’t know, Scorpion or something dumb like that.”

“I am named after the dragon constellation,” the blonde replied in a superior tone. “‘Draco’ is the Latin word for ‘dragon’. Does that make my name dumb?”

“No, that’s not what I said,” Harry swatted at him. “If you were to name your kid Scorpion, or if your parents had named you Dragon, or if Ollivander’s parents had named him Earwig, then yes, THAT would have been dumb. But your name is Draco and his name is Ludwig, which doesn’t necessarily have pleasant associations, but hey, that’s your name,” Harry shrugged.

“Okay, so by your logic, a son named Scorpion is dumb, but if I named my child, oh, say Scorpius, that would be okay?” Draco screwed up his face, trying to understand and wishing there was a brick wall nearby that he could bang his head on.

“No, Scorpius is just a dumb name all around,” Harry began to giggle. “You wouldn’t ACTUALLY name a poor, defenseless baby that, would you?”

“So what WOULD constitute an appropriate, not-dumb name for a baby?” Draco countered, neatly dodging the question. “What would you want to name YOUR child, for instance?”

“Depends on if it’s a boy or a girl,” Harry responded promptly. “They’d get named after my parents; James for a boy and Lily for a girl.”

“Well, I would hope it wouldn’t be the other way around,” Draco said sarcastically, knowing that any jokes about Harry’s dead parents would cross a line. “Do you honestly think it would be a good idea to have a miniature Lucius Malfoy running around?”

“Mmmm, no, scratch that,” Harry pretended to think for a second and then laughed. “Stick with Scorpius, in that case.”

“I might go with Severus for a middle name,” Draco said suddenly. “You know, after Snape, since he was my Head of House and favorite professor and all.”

“What about Albus Severus?” Harry offered, his face lighting up. “After two of the greatest, bravest wizards of all time. What?” Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion when Draco’s mouth dropped open and he got an indescribable look of horror on his face.

“If I EVER hear of you bestowing upon an innocent, defenseless child THAT atrocity of a name,” Draco began. “I will have to personally come to your house and bitch-slap you back to reality. Albus SEVERUS? Are you out of your mind?”

“What’s so wrong with it? I kind of like it,” Harry said defensively.

“That’s why you’re a tasteless Gryffindor,” Draco replied. “And thank Merlin you have me to tell you.”

“So you’ll…be my taste?” Harry asked with a smirk, causing them both to crack up one last time. “Okay, back to topic. I found Ollivander’s home address, and I thought we should start there to see if he’s REALLY missing.”

“And what are we going to do with the Auror you Stupefied?” Draco reminded him as they went back to the front of the shop, where everything was just as it was when they found it, including Dawlish who was in a heap on the floor.

“Put him on the doorstep,” Harry replied, spelling the unconscious man into the street, locking the door behind them, and casting as powerful of a ward as he could to protect the wandmaker’s shop. Draco glanced over his shoulder doubtfully as Harry set off down the street.

**********

The address they Apparated to was a nice but not overly luxurious wizarding apartment complex. There were only four flats in the entire building, and no one answered the buzz for Ollivander’s number. Harry and Draco exchanged worried glances and used magic to open the gate to get to his door. Draco rang the doorbell and knocked several times while Harry tried to peer in the windows, chewing on his lip.

“His blinds are down; I can’t see in,” the Gryffindor reported, pointing his wand at the lock.

“This really COULD be breaking and entering,” Draco warned.

“We have to make sure he’s okay,” Harry answered, using a Blasting Curse to remove the door. They stepped into the flat and looked around. They were in the entrance hallway, with stairs to their immediate left that curved around a corner, not allowing a visual from the hall. There were two doors on their right and one at the end of the hall, and Harry opened the first one. It was a bedroom, and it was decorated in soft lavender, obviously a girl’s room.

The second door proved to be a bedroom as well. The bed was rumpled and unmade, as if someone had recently been lying in it. Harry put his hand on the sheets.

“Still warm,” he said.

“Of course it is! What in the consternation are the two of you doing in my bedroom?” Ollivander croaked in a raspy voice, glaring at them from the doorway as he hobbled into the room.

“Ollivander! You’re okay!” Harry exclaimed, restraining himself from hugging the old man as he pushed Harry out of the way so that he could lie back down. Draco smiled in relief as well.

“I’m sick, if you hadn’t noticed,” the old man pointed out. “My daughter’s been at her home, unable to get out of bed all week. I woke up two days ago feeling like this, and little Elise can’t mind the shop by herself. Speaking of, where is she?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Harry said, surprised, as he turned to Draco, who also shrugged but volunteered to check upstairs. As the blonde hurried out of the room, he noticed that the door at the end of the hall opened into a bathroom, which was presumably where Ollivander was when they entered.

He walked up the stairs and found the living room, dining room, and kitchen. There was a large dining room table right behind the couch, since it was one big open room with a smaller kitchen off to the left.

“Elise?” Draco looked around, spotting a young girl of about ten hiding in the far corner, behind the other couch. He knelt on the cushion, looking over the back at her, his heart twisting at the tear streaks on her scared little face.

“Hi, Elise,” he said softly, smiling to hopefully reassure her. “I’m Draco, and I work for your grandfather. Do you remember seeing me in the shop?” The little girl nodded, some of the fear leaving her face as she swiped at the wetness. “Good. Olli—I mean, your grandfather is downstairs in bed, and he sent me to check on you.”

“I was up here making him some soup when the door buzzed,” Elise explained. “Great-Grandfather told me never to answer it, so I didn’t, but then I heard him coming up the stairs. By the time he pushed the button, there was no response, and he went back down to go to the loo. Then the doorbell rang and I heard knocking, and I didn’t know if Great-Grandfather had gotten it. Then I heard a loud bang, so I hid because I was afraid.”

“I’m sorry, Elise,” Draco said, holding his hand out to the little girl to help her out from behind the couch. “We didn’t mean to frighten you; Harry and I went to the shop and you two weren’t there, so we just wanted to make sure you were okay. We didn’t know that your great-grandfather was sick.”

“I’m taking care of him,” Elise announced proudly, still clutching Draco’s hand as they walked down the stairs.

“So you live here with him?”

“Yup, my mummy is in heaven, watching me to keep me safe,” the little girl said. “And Grandmum misses Mum so much that it makes her sad to have me around for a long time.”

“How long ago did your mum die?” Draco swallowed around the lump in his throat; he knew how it felt to be in the way. They paused in the hallway.

“She became an angel when I was a year old,” Elise suddenly looked older and wiser. “I was with my daddy at home while Mummy went to the store with Granddad to get some more diapers for me. Grandmum said that it was a very dark and rainy night, and that the Muggle driving the car was going too fast and didn’t see them. Great-Grandfather took me in, though, after my daddy went away.”

“Did he die too?”

“No,” Elise shook her head. “He just left. I don’t really remember them, so it’s hard to miss them sometimes. Grandmum cries a lot, but I still have her and Great-Grandfather. They’re both sick right now, though, so I’m in charge until he gets better.”

“You poor thing,” Draco murmured, trying to imagine how he would feel if he had lost his mother and grandfather at once, and then had his father walk out and his grandmother say that he caused her too much sadness. Little Elise was lucky that she had Ollivander!

“Harry, you shouldn’t wear Great-Grandfather out,” Elise barged into the room, hands on her hips, feeling braver now that she realized she knew the two men who had come to call. “He’s very sick, and he needs his rest.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Harry chuckled. Ollivander looked more disturbed than before Draco had left, the Slytherin noticed, though the elderly man’s face lit up when he saw the little girl. He opened his arms, and Elise climbed onto the bed and laid her head on his chest. “Alright, we’ll head back to the shop now. And don’t worry, Ollivander; we’ll get everything cleaned up and sorted out.”

Harry paused to fix the broken door on their way out, waving cheerfully to Elise after she struggled off the bed to watch them leave. On their way back, Harry let Draco know that Ollivander had had no idea that his shop had been vandalized. He had fallen ill two days ago, right after his daughter had gotten sick as well, Harry recounted, and decided that a few days of not being open wouldn’t kill business. They were to file a report with the Ministry, Ollivander ordered, get the shop cleaned up and put back in order, and if any customers came in needing wands, they were to help them as much as they could, write their order down (as well as their contact information) and Ollivander would be back to the shop as soon as he was feeling better.

**********

Dawlish was gone by the time they returned, and there was no sign of anyone else having been around the shop, much to their relief. Just as they were walking up to the door, there was a ‘crack’ behind them. Both boys whirled around, wands drawn, but Harry stowed his immediately, a big smile breaking over his face as he hurried down the steps to hug the woman who had just Apparated into Diagon Alley.

“Tonks! I’m so glad you’re here!” Harry exclaimed, pulling the surprised Auror in for a quick hug. Draco didn’t quite lower his wand, but he raised his eyebrow as Tonks’ pink hair abruptly switched to a shocking blue.

“Wotcher, Harry,” she recovered nimbly, her purple eyes flicking to Draco. “Cousin.”

“Nymphadora?” Draco was faintly surprised. He had never actually met his cousin in person, but he knew her name and that she had married a werewolf. He had no idea she was an Auror, and his heartbeat quickened. She was the only cousin he had, though she wasn’t a Malfoy or a Black, and he wondered if she would take advantage of the situation as Dawlish had. Harry seemed to trust her, and that gave Draco cautious hope.

“What are you doing here, Tonks? How’s Remus? And Teddy?” Harry glanced hesitantly between the two, shrugging and deciding to stay out of their family issues. Her face lit up.

“We’re all good, thanks for asking,” she beamed. “Teddy-bear is about a year old. You’ll have to come by and see him. And Remus too, of course.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “You’re still living at your mum’s?”

Tonks nodded, growing somber. “Yeah, she’s still having a hard time adjusting to Dad’s death, but she absolutely adores Teddy. We have a built-in baby-sitter, which works out smashing for us too.” She winked mischievously as her hair turned to a silvery gray, reminiscent of her husband during the full moon. Harry was scandalously curious but wisely chose not to ask Tonks about her and their former professor’s kinks.

“Remus Lupin, our third-year DADA instructor?” Draco broke in finally. Tonks sized him up for a second and then smiled in a friendly manner, which put Draco a bit more at ease.

“The one and only,” she said fondly. “Oh, Harry, did I tell you? He’s teaching again! University this time!”

“Oh wow! Where?” Harry hadn’t heard that Remus found a job, but he was glad.

“It’s in Germany, actually,” Tonks made a face, her hair flashing black for a second. “It’s some long German name I can’t pronounce, and I can recognize the name of the town it’s in, but you’d have to give me a map to be able to point to it.”

“Remus lives in Germany?” Harry sounded a bit stricken and taken aback.

“No, no,” Tonks hurried to explain. “He Flooes from our house to the Ministry, and Kingsley gave him International Floo authorization, even though the Creatures Department denied him at first.” Tonks grinned widely; she and Remus had fought alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt, the current Minister of Magic, in the Order of the Phoenix along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, the rest of the Weasleys, and a lot of other people. The Order had dispersed somewhat after Voldemort died and everyone went back to their regular jobs. Without a reason to gather, some lost contact but most of the core Order people kept in touch or saw each other on a regular basis, since quite a few of them worked at the Ministry. Though the laws concerning werewolves were still highly unfair, Harry was glad that Kingsley had ‘pushed the envelope’ (so to speak) and given their friend permission for international travel.

“Oh, so he just Flooes back and forth every day,” Harry nodded in understanding and approval.

“Every other day,” she corrected. “And sometimes he’s gone for a weekend here and there for werewolf conferences or meetings and what not. You know how he was undercover for the Order trying to convince the werewolves not to join You-Know-Who? He still does a little bit of that on the side; not about You-Know-Who, of course, but going and talking to isolated werewolf packs to try to convince them to join back into wizarding society.”

“Wow,” Harry was impressed. “So you never answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“We had gotten a report of vandalism and a possible break-in at Ollivander’s,” Tonks’ hair turned an angry red. “Dawlish and I were assigned to this one. I wasn’t quite ready to go, but he left anyway. Then I get here to find him unconscious on the step, so Merlin knows what happened to him and who got away. I took him to St. Mungo’s for them to figure it out, and I was just coming back when I ran into you two. Your turn, Harry; why are YOU here?”

Draco held his breath, wondering if Harry would own up to Stupefying Dawlish. It sounded like he might be able to get away with it, if only his stupid Gryffindor morality didn’t rear up and bite him in the ass. The Slytherin in Draco had several believable lies already planned and was screaming for the chance to smooth things over, but he held back; Tonks had addressed Harry first.

“Draco and I work for Ollivander now,” Harry turned a bit pink. “We’re his apprentices, and we gather wand ingredients for him. We just got back from Turkey earlier, and we found the shop like this. We were investigating when Dawlish showed up and tried to blame it on us.” Harry looked angry at the memory. Draco noticed that Tonks grimaced but let Harry talk. “He comes in and starts being a jerk, threatening to arrest us for no reason at all, and he insulted Draco.”

Draco blinked; Dawlish had said that he was untrustworthy. Harry had considered that an insult? Draco was torn, strangely touched that Harry had done what he had done out of a protectiveness of Draco and yet irritated because the insult hadn’t even been a good one.

“What did you do?” Tonks had a smirk on her face, and she sounded more amused than upset.

“He was going to take us in for questioning when we hadn’t even done anything wrong! And he implied that Ollivander was missing, so I Stupefied him. He was wasting our time,” Harry shrugged offhand, justifying his actions.

“Ollivander’s missing?” Tonks said in alarm. “Again?”

“No, no, he’s fine,” Harry rushed to reassure her, and she relaxed. “That’s where Draco and I just got back from. We went to his flat, and he’s only sick. He didn’t even know about the break-in.”

“Was anything missing, from what you could tell?” Tonks asked, business-like.

“Nope,” Harry shook his head. “Just the broken glass, like kids had run by with stones or something. The shelves are all broken and the ingredients are messed up, but the door to the office was closed, and IT wasn’t disturbed.”

“I’m sorry, Harry, Draco, but I just have to ask this for the record,” Tonks began apologetically, but Harry waved his hand to say it was alright. “Do you both solemnly swear that neither of you had anything to do with this?”

“I solemnly swear,” Draco said formally, putting his hand in the air.

“That I am up to no good,” Harry finished, exchanging a pointed look with Tonks before they both doubled over, laughing. Draco’s hands flew to his hips, not getting the joke.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist,” Tonks giggled like a teenager, her hair bubblegum pink again. “But it really is a serious question.”

“I swear that we didn’t have anything to do with it,” Harry said. “Solemnly.” And that cracked them up again.

“WHAT is so funny?” Draco fumed. He absolutely could not stand to be left in the dark.

“Remus, Sirius, and my dad made a secret map of Hogwarts when they were there,” Harry finally got control of himself enough to explain without gasping for air between words. He deliberately left out Peter Pettigrew, since the man had betrayed his parents and paid with his life. “It looked blank, but if you tapped it with your wand and said ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good’, then it would show you the location of everyone who was in Hogwarts at that moment. Not what they were doing, but just where they were. I used it quite often with my Invisibility Cloak.”

“And that’s how you knew where I was all the time in sixth-year?” Draco was still angry, but he was quick on the uptake. Harry nodded.

“Well, the Room of Hidden Things didn’t show up on the Map, but whenever you had Crabbe and Goyle standing guard, their names were on there, and I couldn’t figure out why they were in a deserted hallway so far from Slytherin,” Harry said.

“Pretty clever of you,” Draco admitted sullenly, and Harry looked at Tonks again, grinning.

“No, they were the clever ones,” he said, and Tonks nodded; she knew about the Map, of course. “But that was a pretty good joke.”

“I liked it,” Tonks grinned back. “Well, I need to go inside. I take it the two of you went in earlier?”

“Yeah,” Harry suddenly felt like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Did you touch anything? Clean anything up? Fix anything?”

“No, we just looked around and then picked our way back to the office,” Harry remembered. “I found Ollivander’s address in his files, but the office was just the way he left it while we were in Turkey.”

“Alrighty,” Tonks unlocked the door with her wand and stepped inside gingerly, followed by Draco and then Harry. “Lots of glass everywhere,” she commented as they crunched through.

“But no stones or bricks,” Harry pointed out.

“Zonko’s had these Dissolving Stones at one time,” Tonks said thoughtfully. “The Ministry pulled them off the shelves because of incidents like this. D’ya think Fred and—well, d’ya think George would have started selling them again? Or something similar?”

“I haven’t talked to George in a while,” Harry said. “I honestly don’t know; I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if he did. They have all kinds of stuff.”

“I’ll find out,” Tonks promised, heading behind the counter to take a look at the mess in the aisles. She let out a low whistle, disappearing from sight for a second as she stooped and then set something on the counter. “Well, look at this.”

“What is it?” Harry asked curiously, and he and Draco moved to the other side of the counter to examine the black object that was flat on the bottom and rose into a point. He glanced sideways at Draco, wondering why the blonde was being uncharacteristically silent, resolving to ask when they were alone.

“There should be three more…” Tonks walked away and returned about a minute later with a miniature forest tree that was about the same size as the mountain-shaped object. “Maybe over here…” She went back to the open area of the shop and scanned the ground. Harry had no idea what she was talking about, but when he looked to Draco, he saw that the blonde was checking the floor around the other aisles.

“I found this,” Draco volunteered, returning with a flat blue object with several bends in it that was about the same size as the mountain and the tree.

“And here’s the bridge,” Tonks finished, bringing a small grey stone-looking bridge to add to the collection.

“Would someone like to fill me in please?” Harry huffed, and Draco regarded him solemnly.

“Trick-or-Trolls,” Tonks replied. “We were briefed on them, but they’re fairly new and I hadn’t seen them in use before.”

“What ARE they?” Harry asked impatiently.

“They’re a new Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes product,” Tonks replied. “If you tap on the bridge, three trolls pop out and run around for a bit. Then they turn into a mountain, a tree, and a river.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you pay attention in ‘Care of Magical Creatures’?” Draco broke in coolly. “We studied trolls; there are three types. Would you care to guess what they are?”

“Mountain troll,” Harry replied instantly, glaring at Draco for his superior tone. “And I’m going to guess a river troll and a…tree troll?”

“Forest troll,” Draco corrected witheringly.

“Why were you briefed on them?” Harry frowned, turning back to Tonks, who had picked up that something was slightly wrong between them.

“After the war, the Ministry ordered Zonko’s and Wheezes to submit a list of all of their products and their functions,” Tonks said. “And they have to report any new products that they produce.”

“That’s dumb,” Harry said bluntly. “Why?”

“To show that they are cracking down on crime and tracking down criminals when in reality, all they are doing is interfering with the lives of innocent citizens,” Draco jumped in before Tonks could.

“It’s just a precaution,” the Auror replied, giving her cousin a warning glare. “It’s not like the Ministry regulates what they can and can’t produce. We just want to be informed of what’s out there.”

“Like you ‘didn’t regulate’ those disappearing stones?” Draco pushed.

“I am not going to debate the effectiveness of the Ministry with you, Draco,” Tonks said firmly.

“Now there is an oxymoron,” Draco sneered. “And speaking of morons…” he added under his breath. Harry’s eyes narrowed; did Draco mean HIM or perhaps Tonks?

“Being a pureblood does not make you superior,” Tonks hissed, also under her breath. Her hair had turned a deep blood-red again. “Same with being a Malfoy, as should be apparent nowadays.”

“Do you need a den for your little werewolf cub?” Draco snarled back, and that was when Harry jumped in between them, putting a hand in the middle of Draco’s chest and pushing him back a bit, twisting his head back and forth to look at them both.

“Alright, enough,” he said, giving Draco an incredulous look.

“I’m going to go visit with George to see what he knows about this,” Tonks’ face was red as she gathered the objects on the counter. “You two can start cleaning up if you want, but if you find anything unusual or out of place, just leave it for me. I’ll be back shortly.”

“It’s a wand shop,” Draco snarked. “What ISN’T ‘unusual’ or ‘out of place’?”

“Got it, Tonks,” Harry shot a hard look at Draco. “See you in a bit?”

“Bye, Harry,” she replied, pointedly ignoring Draco as she walked out.

**********

“What the hell was that?” Harry exploded, putting his hands on his hips. “Why were you being such a prat?”

“Oh, and of course she was being nothing but warm and sweet to me too,” Draco shot back.

“Your remarks were uncalled for, Draco,” Harry folded his arms stubbornly. “What’s your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem, Potter,” Draco spat back, and Harry sighed.

“No, I meant, what’s going on? What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?”

“Like you care,” Draco said nastily.

“I do,” Harry stepped into the blonde’s personal space, his arms unfolding to slide around Draco’s waist and pull their bodies together. He carefully watched Draco’s face change from irate to surprise. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t care.”

Draco didn’t quite know how to react to Harry’s tactic. His first instinct was to push the Gryffindor away, but deep down, he did like being held and didn’t want the contact to end. He was still angry and a little hurt, and when he felt like that, he tended to lash out rather than talk about his emotions. He wanted to be able to be open, but his paranoia about getting too close prevented him, though he was fighting it as much as he could. He remembered how he refused to talk to Harry for a couple of days after the whole ‘Aiden’ thing. Harry had said that Draco could trust him, and Draco had believed it…then. Here, now, though, in the light of day, he found he was fairly skeptical. Their easy, flirtatious camaraderie seemed to have stayed in Turkey, he thought bitterly.

“You can tell me,” Harry murmured, seeing the struggle in Draco’s eyes. “Please, Draco, I want to know. Don’t put that wall up,” he begged, raising one hand to Draco’s cheek. Draco closed his eyes, leaning into the touch as he debated.

“I was…angry from before…” Draco whispered haltingly, keeping his eyes closed and just feeling Harry against him. “When you and Tonks were laughing about the Map…and I was left out. I can’t stand being left out or ignored…as you know, since I was a complete arse to you after you snubbed me in first year. And growing up with my father, when he would talk about the ‘old glory days’ and how purebloods were so superior, he and my mother would exchange these little smirks and would never explain. He liked to keep me in the dark; it was a source of amusement for him.” Draco’s voice had grown stronger and bitterer, and Harry could feel his body tensing from old, entrenched anger.

“I’m sorry, love,” Harry said sadly, stroking Draco’s face. “I didn’t realize…”

“That’s also why I was so bothered by Aiden,” Draco opened his eyes suddenly. “It seemed like he knew something about you that I didn’t, and I’ve known you longer.”

“Well, there’s still a lot we don’t know about each other,” Harry said reasonably, almost apologetically. “But I want to learn about you, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about me.”

“Are you angry with me?” Draco asked in a small voice.

“No, of course not!” Harry was surprised by the question, and he renewed his stroking of Draco’s cheek. “Do I seem angry?”

“Sorry, it’s just that…Slytherins often SAY they’re not mad, even if they are,” Draco looked down, and Harry tipped his chin up.

“I will always be honest with you,” he said, looking intently into Draco’s eyes. “And I hope that you will tell me the truth and not lie about your feelings?” Draco nodded, but without conviction. “I’m a Gryffindor; I do better with straightforwardness, so please be blunt?”

“I’ll…try,” Draco replied, not wanting to make a promise he couldn’t keep. Harry seemed to know that that was as much as Draco could offer, and the black haired boy smiled, accepting it with a kiss that melted the last remnants of Draco’s anger for good. “You’ll answer anything?” He asked into Harry’s mouth.

“Mmmm-hmm,” Harry hummed.

“What do you want to do to me right now?” Draco’s eyes lit up, and he let out a wicked chuckle as he subtly ground his hips against Harry’s, able to feel that they were both hard.

“Something that we probably don’t have enough time for, you evil, evil thing,” Harry replied breathlessly, pulling Draco more firmly against his body. “Tonks will be back any time. And we’re supposed to be cleaning up.” That assertion didn’t stop either of them from snogging more intently and grinding more heavily.

“Malfoys don’t ‘clean up’,” Draco murmured, extracting himself from Harry’s grip and walking away seductively, wiggling his arse. He smiled when the Gryffindor followed him, and Draco led them back to Ollivander’s office, where he spelled the door Locked and Silenced. “There, now even if she DOES get back, she won’t interrupt us.”

“You’re such a bad influence,” Harry groaned, moving closer again and rubbing their clothed erections together again.

“Someone’s got to corrupt you,” Draco teased, and Harry managed a smile, since the irony was that Harry was more experienced (and thus, more corrupted) than Draco, who had been a virgin before their little dip into the enchanted water on the island.

“So do you want to shag me this time?” Harry offered carefully, turning serious as he dragged his fingertips up and down Draco’s back in a sensuous massage.

“No, not here,” Draco bit his lip in vexation for a second. “Like you said, we don’t have much time, and I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I will teach you everything you need to know,” Harry promised, pulling Draco’s face closer and thrusting his tongue into the blonde’s open and willing mouth. “Later, when we don’t have a time constraint.”

“It’s a date,” Draco agreed, his cock twitching at the thought and the expectation that he was about to get fucked again, in their boss’ office. Harry’s hands opened the front of Draco’s pants and pushed them, along with his underwear, halfway down his thighs and came back up to grasp the blonde’s stiffness, using a hand-over-hand motion to make Draco gasp.

Suddenly Harry sank to his knees and wrapped his lips around the head of Draco’s cock, using his tongue to slick the soft velvet before he began bobbing his head, taking in his length little by little. It was only Draco’s second blow job, and his knees nearly buckled. He reflexively buried his hands in Harry’s messy black hair, and the Gryffindor glanced up at him, nodding in encouragement as he continued to deep throat the blonde.

Harry’s nose brushed against the soft blonde curls of Draco’s groin, and he could feel Draco’s pulse quicken through his cock. The underside of his ridge was throbbing, and Harry backed off completely, pointing Draco’s shaft upward so that he could lick the pulse point. His hands kept tightening in Harry’s hair, and then Harry brought his other hand up between Draco’s thighs to fondle his sac.

Draco opened his stance as wide as he could, considering his pants were still a hindrance. Harry smiled, sucking on the head of Draco’s penis as he pushed the trousers down farther and then resumed petting the blonde’s balls, rolling them gently as he continued to fellate Draco.

Harry paused to whisper a lubrication spell and then gently wormed a slick finger in between the Slytherin’s arse cheeks to circle his hole. Draco still felt just as tight as the first time, and Harry was careful as he pushed the tip of his finger in, pausing to gage Draco’s reaction.

Draco whimpered and tensed when he felt Harry’s finger probe his bum. He closed his eyes, fighting to keep from crying out as the entry burned a little. Harry licked up and down Draco’s shaft, hoping to distract him. He deliberately hollowed his cheeks as he sucked on Draco’s cock once again.

The Gryffindor could feel Draco’s muscles clenching around his finger, but it was because the Slytherin was nervous, not because he was aroused. Harry pulled his finger out, standing and drawing the trembling blonde to him; he pressed his lips to Draco’s softly, coaxing and teasing rather than demanding or forceful.

Gradually Draco relaxed again, moaning when Harry’s hands slipped under his shirt to brush lightly over his chest. Harry rubbed his thumb in sensuous circles around Draco’s areola until the nipple hardened enough for Harry to roll between his fingers. Draco arched against him, throwing his head back and Harry lifted his partner’s shirt enough to fasten his teeth around each pert nub alternately, soothing with his tongue until Draco’s pleasure noises were almost constant.

He guided the blonde from the middle of Ollivander’s office over to the desk, never letting his lips detach from the Slytherin’s. He made sure to keep their bodies in close contact as he firmly turned Draco around, pulling the Slytherin’s bare buttocks against his front as he bent Draco’s torso over the desk a little.

Draco’s breath caught in his throat when he heard the sound of Harry undoing his pants and pushing them down. Harry’s lips were on the back of his neck a second later, working hungrily to provide reassurance as he ground against Draco’s backside. Draco found himself breathlessly pushing back, enjoying the frottage. He could feel Harry’s hands on his hips, caressing and teasing closer to the top of his crack. He knew what Harry’s whisper meant, but this time when the slick finger penetrated him, Draco only gasped and moved his hips back against it, subtly asking for more.

Harry reached in front of Draco and turned the blonde’s head to the side, capturing his mouth in a searing kiss as Draco’s body language indicated his permission. Harry added a second finger and then a third, causing Draco to whimper into the kiss and finally pull back, needing air. He used the remainder of the lubrication to prepare his own aching member, sliding the head up and down the crack, loving the way Draco’s toned back arched and twisted in response.

Draco leaned forward, placing his palms on the desk firmly and pushed his bum out a bit as the head of Harry’s cock deliciously invaded him, the painful burn of entry cleverly masked by the teeth that scraped over the muscles above his collarbone, where his neck and shoulder met.

Harry let out the breath he had been holding as his sex invaded the most intimate part of Draco’s anatomy. It was one thing to do it under an enchanted dome after having fallen into enchanted water, but now, they were both clear-headed, sober, and it was happening because they wanted it to. He didn’t dare move until Draco gave him a signal, and he caressed Draco’s hips while he waited for the blonde to get used to the sensations.

“Harry, please,” Draco said throatily, staring sightlessly at the wall as he began to push his arse back against Harry, hinting. Harry’s hands immediately gripped his hips, and his first powerful thrust whacked Draco’s prostate, dead on. “OH!” He gasped, and that was all the encouragement Harry needed.

“Yes, Draco, yes,” Harry chanted, reaching around to catch Draco’s member in his hand. The blonde made a whining noise in the back of his throat; his entire body tensed, and he cried out Harry’s name in climax. Draco’s anal muscles clenched around Harry, causing unbelievable tightness, and the Gryffindor threw his head back and practically howled as he buried himself deep in Draco’s recesses and came.

Draco flopped forward onto his elbows, bent over the desk and panting. Harry had just enough strength left not to fall on top of him as he laid his cheek on Draco’s shoulder blade in recovery. They both started when they heard the bell in the front of the shop, and then Tonks’ voice started calling for them.

“Tonks, we’re in here!” Harry hollered as they scrambled for their clothing. Draco paused a moment, flicked his wand, and then glared at Harry as he kept dressing.

“Try now,” he said. “It helps if the room isn’t Silenced.”

“Oh, right,” Harry glanced at Draco, wondering why the blonde was frowning so ferociously. “We’re back here, Tonks! We’ll be right out!”

“Okay, Harry,” they heard the Auror call, and they both let out a simultaneous relieved breath. They looked at each other, and Draco couldn’t quite hide a smile. That made Harry laugh, though he wasn’t sure why, until they were both openly laughing and smirking.

“You okay now?” Harry laid his hand on Draco’s cheek, turning serious. The blonde stopped laughing, subdued, and nodded.

“Just got nervous,” Draco explained, running a hand fondly through Harry’s hair. “And then your hair was sticking up, which made me laugh.”

“That’s nothing new,” Harry replied happily, giving Draco a quick peck on the lips. He turned and walked out of the office towards the front room, and Draco was about to follow when he felt something start to slide out of a very specific area. His face flamed and he quickly cast a Cleaning Charm to dispel the remainder of Harry’s excitement. He appeared in the front room to find Harry watching for him, snaking an arm around his waist as he faced Tonks.

**********

“Hey Tonks,” Harry greeted the Auror, who smiled cheerfully at him before glancing warily at Draco. “Draco has something he wants to say to you.”

“I apologize for my earlier rudeness, Nymphadora,” Draco said stiffly. “I should not have said those things that hurt your feelings, and I take them back.” Tonks’ eyebrows rose in surprise, but she quickly recovered.

“I’m sorry, too, Draco,” she smiled, holding her hand out for Draco to shake.

“So what did you find out from George?” Harry asked as soon as the two cousins had made their peace.

“The Trick-or-Trolls are definitely a Weasley product,” Tonks replied, pulling the four objects out of the pouch at her waist and Unshrunk them. “George said that the trolls aren’t very big and shouldn’t destroy a house or a shop. The concept was a practical joke for a co-worker’s desk or a sibling’s bedroom. Someone would have had to use an Engorgement Spell on the trolls in order to account for this much damage.”

“Who?” Harry wondered aloud, fists clenching.

“When I know, you’ll know,” Tonks promised. “He was very helpful, giving me a list of customers who placed an order for a Trick-or-Troll. None of the names on the list stand out as rogue Death Eaters or anyone who was known to have a grudge against Ollivander; they were all kids on that list. But we’ll run it down, just the same.”

“So is the bridge what broke all of this glass? Surely not,” Draco changed the subject, eyeing the small piles of the shattered windows.

“No, his best guess was the Dissolving Stones from Zonko’s,” Tonks replied, frowning. “I mean, they haven’t been out of production THAT long, so it’s possible that someone had kept them. They’ve long since dissolved, so theoretically, we’ll probably never know for sure unless we find a suspect.”

“And was there someone who purchased both a Trick-or-Troll as well as Dissolving Stones?” Draco asked, his brain whirling logically to uncover the suspect.

“No idea,” Tonks shrugged. “Zonko’s didn’t have their customer list.”

“Bugger,” Draco swore.

“Not necessarily,” she said. “We can still assemble pictures of all of George’s customers and see if anyone from Zonko’s can recognize one of them. I see you guys didn’t get anything cleaned up.”

“No, we got distracted,” Harry glanced sideways at Draco, trying to hide a smirk.

“Anything interesting?” Tonks asked innocently, and Draco bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing or snarking.

“Not that’s relevant to the mess,” Harry chortled, and Tonks gave them both strange looks before rolling her eyes and telling them that she was going to go for now and start following up on the leads she had.

“I’ll be in touch later,” she said, hugging Harry and shaking Draco’s hand again before Disapparating, taking the bridges and trolls with her.

“I guess we should go ahead and start then,” Harry said with a sigh, rolling up his robe sleeves.

“What are you doing?” Draco asked in confusion. Harry looked at him blankly.

“Getting ready to clean,” he indicated the piles of glass on the floor.

“Use your wand, you git,” Draco replied, raising his own in sweeping motions like a broom and the scattered glass moved itself into a central pile. Harry flushed; even after years of having magic at his disposal, his first instinct was to roll up his sleeves and clean the Muggle way.

“Good call,” Harry said wryly. “Let me do that. You’re better at knowing and recognizing the ingredients. Go see what you can salvage while I get rid of the glass and fix the windows.”

Draco merely raised an eyebrow at being ordered around, but he complied. They worked mostly in companionable silence, chatting every so often. Suddenly Draco looked up, no longer able to see as well, and he cast a Light charm.

“It’s dark out,” he observed, and apparently Harry hadn’t noticed either because he whipped around to stare out the window.

“We should probably call it a day and come back tomorrow,” Harry suggested, and Draco nodded in agreement. They looked around the shop, satisfied with the progress they had made thus far. At least the glass was no longer scattered around (though Harry had had to use repeated Sweeping Charms to get all of the small slivers) and the windows were temporarily repaired. They would shatter if subjected to another act of vandalism, of course, but the weather would not be able to affect the inside of the shop anymore.

Draco had also used localized Sweeping Charms to put the glass in different piles down the three ingredient aisles he managed to clear. There were still several more that he hadn’t touched, and the ingredients were placed haphazardly back on the shelves, waiting to be sorted.

They each finished what they were doing and met awkwardly outside the front door, not exactly sure what to say after Harry cast a Locking Charm on the shop. Draco didn’t want to admit that he would be receptive to a good-night hug and kiss, and while he guessed that Harry wouldn’t mind, there was still a corner of his brain warning him against getting too close to the Gryffindor or initiating too much affection.

“To my flat?” Harry turned away from the shop and offered Draco his arm.

“What?” The blonde was startled.

“What?” Harry didn’t understand why Draco looked confused. “The Healers said to keep an eye on you today and tomorrow. We could go to your place if you want, but I just thought I’d offer for you to come to mine.”

“You’re inviting yourself over to MY flat?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, not unless you want to come to mine,” Harry rolled his eyes; he expected Draco to catch on quicker, but apparently his Slytherin brain wasn’t making the connections.

“But…if I have MY own flat, and you have YOUR own flat, then why do we need to decide on one or the other? I’ll go to mine, and you go to yours,” Draco blinked at the simplicity of the suggestion.

“You’re joking, right?” Harry was not amused. “I have to watch you! Did you honestly think I’d let you spend the night alone when there’s a possibility you have an undiagnosed head injury and might not wake up?”

The light bulb clicked for Draco, and he smiled, cherishing the Gryffindor’s over protectiveness while at the same time chuckling at Harry’s assumption that they would spend the night together.

“Ah, I see now,” the blonde threaded his arm through Harry’s elbow. “We can go to yours.” Suddenly a sobering thought occurred to the Slytherin, and he stiffened. “Are you going to want to—you know…?”

Harry was confused for a split second before he realized what Draco was talking about. “What? Oh, no, we don’t have to. I mean, not unless you want to. And not right away. Unless you want to, of course. But no pressure, okay? It’s okay if you don’t…” he babbled, trying to relieve Draco’s fears of the expectation of sex if they spent the night at each other’s flats.

It was one thing to sleep in the same bed when they only had one hotel room, but Draco had gotten nervous that they were voluntarily electing to spend the night together for no other reason than they wanted to (well, except Harry’s flimsy medical excuse, but Draco felt fine; he knew he didn’t have a head injury and would wake up like normal).

“Draco?” Harry bit his lip when the blonde didn’t respond right away. He had a faraway look in his eye that Harry took to mean he was trying to decide whether to panic or not. He touched Draco’s arm, waiting until those grey eyes slowly rose to meet his. “I don’t want to do anything you’re not ready for; I just want to be sure you’re okay. Will you let me hold you? Please?”

Draco nodded his head several times, averting his eyes. He did want to sleep with Harry, but he knew it wasn’t quite the right time…yet. He closed his eyes as Harry Apparated them back to his flat. The Gryffindor gave him the grand tour, ending with the bedroom. Harry stripped down to his pajama bottoms, handing Draco an extra pair to borrow. They climbed into bed, and Harry laid on his back, gently directing Draco’s head to the hollow of his shoulder. He smiled when a pale arm slid hesitantly over his torso, and they exchanged good night murmurs.

**********

Tonks’ Ministry report concluded that the vandalism was caused by a group of almost-Hogwarts-age boys who were just ‘having a bit of fun’. Harry and Draco had the shop entirely cleaned up, ingredients sorted, and everything was repaired by the time Ollivander returned the next day. He hobbled around the shop, coughing every once in a while, but everything met his inspection. He motioned Harry and Draco into his office, sitting down at his desk chair, and asked about their journey to Olympos and Chenarenn.

The two boys gave him a carefully edited version, but they didn’t have to omit how beautiful her dwelling place was or the majesty of the ruins of the sites they visited. Ollivander sighed contentedly, turning back to his desk, a bit misty-eyed and nostalgic for his own days of travel.

“Well, boys, I have your next—oh, Merlin! Did you boys leave the Turkish poppies I asked you to bring back in the office?” Ollivander exclaimed, pulling his hand away from the paperwork he had been searching through. The old man’s hand was covered with a milky white substance, and both Harry and Draco turned a deep red. The wandmaker made a noise of disgust as his eyes roamed over the desk. “That’s odd; there should be poppy pods around. They must have burst during the night. I didn’t tell you that you’d have to store them properly, did I?”

“Um, the Turkish poppies?” Harry replied hesitantly, pulling his wand. “Here, let me clean that for you.”

“No, no, I’ve got it,” Ollivander located an old rag and wiped his hand off. “Godric’s gonads! It’s all over the desk!”

“Oh, yes, the Turkish poppies we brought back for you,” Draco blurted, throwing Harry a ‘shut up now’ look, since the Gryffindor seemed incredibly guilty and on the verge of confessing; the blonde wasn’t Slytherin for nothing. “We left them on the desk when we first got back, not knowing that they had to be stored a certain way; I…saw that they were…open and sort of scattered right around…there, and I…threw them away. I didn’t realize they had…burst…all over your desk. My apologies.”

“No worries, lads,” the old man grunted, finally drawing his wand and Scourgifying the papers. “It’s not the first time that’s happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It’s just a shame that you brought them all the way back from Turkey for nothing.”

Harry and Draco exchanged a meaningful look. The bell from the front of the shop dinged just then, and the two jumped up, tripping all over each other to get out of the office and to the front to help the customer. Ollivander watched them go with an amused smile, shaking his head and turning back to his newly clean desk to find the photographs he had been looking for that would be relevant to their next assignment.

“Nice save,” Harry whispered as soon as the customer left. “Maybe we shouldn’t have sex in the office anymore.”

The customer had only wanted to know the price of a single ingredient to replace the core of the wand and had declined to speak with Ollivander after Harry explained that the wandmaker had to reform the wand if the core ingredient was faulty; the customer couldn’t do it themselves.

“Oh, y’think?” Draco retorted sarcastically as they both snickered. They had the grace to feel embarrassed, though, and they resolved never to tell Ollivander what the milky substance had really been.

**********

Author's note--See? No more April Fool's! (AND you got sex out of it! Even if it WAS just a quickie...) As far as bottom!Harry goes, yes, there will more than likely be a sex scene where Draco tops (c'mon, he needs to lose his virginity for that too, don't you think?) but I think that most/all of us Coven girls are big fans of top!Harry and bottom!Draco.

The "Dissolving Stones" and the "Trick-or-Trolls" are completely my own ideas. (Let me know if I explained it well enough...if anyone was confused, I can try to explain it better!)

As you may recall from Chapter 4 of this story, we had said that we were going to try to make it as DH-compliant as possible...which was why Fred remained dead. (Sorry to those reviewers who asked for him to be alive again...) BUT we needed Tonks and Remus alive, so THEY didn't die!!! (So far, Snape's 50/50 right now...we haven't needed him...yet...so we'll see whether HE is alive or dead later, but time to celebrate that Remus and Tonks are alive AND they have Teddy!)

Did you enjoy the little "Scorpius/Albus Severus" type of discussion Harry and Draco had regarding their 'future' children's names? I personally giggled while writing that entire section.

Also, I really did do research on flowers and pods to find out which ones emit a "milky white substance" and I came up with Turkish poppies. I hope you all appreciate the irony and double entendres there.

And lastly, Harry and Draco spent the night together last night so that Harry could make sure that there were no repercussions from Draco's head injury (and NOT from the headboard *giggle*), and there are not. Draco is fine and will continue on like normal...(hopefully).

Thank you AGAIN to our amazing readers who reviewed!!! I hope you like the REAL chapter, and thanks for reading!

~Graballz