At Your Doorstep

Thank you for all the reviews!

Now that the interlude is done and over with… Let’s get back to the main course. Let me introduce you to…

The Mysterious “Man”! Muwahahahahaha! No, seriously, a surprise guest is coming. :D I mean, just look at the title of the chapter xP

Chapter 15: A Chance Meeting

Harry turned around and looked behind his back for the umpteenth time. Harry and Draco were walking down the dirt road to the center of the village. Harry had bothered both Draco and Snape multiple times, asking them to take him to the flower shop. He so didn’t want to stay in the cottage by himself anymore. Sure, he went out, went shopping, bought some things. Harry had gotten another wand by special order from Ollivander’s. His new wand wasn’t as good as his eleven inch, holly, phoenix tail feather cored wand; the new one was a twelve inch, mahogany, with unicorn tail hair as the core. Sometimes Harry had trouble casting spells; some spells would come too strong while others might not be cast at all. The green eyed man was working on it.

Today, it was a gloomy January morning. Crispy, cold wind whisked across their faces, making their cheeks flushed. Harry pulled his coat tighter around himself and shivered. He looked back again, only to see a dirt road, white snow, and their footprints.

“Draco… I feel like somebody’s following us.” Harry whispered and leaned closer to his blond lover. Draco rolled his eyes and draped his arm across Harry’s shoulders.

“Nobody’s behind us, nothing is following us,” Draco said; he looked back just to make sure. “There is nothing. You’re too paranoid.”

“Yeah… Maybe it’s just the wind…” Harry said, sounding not entirely sure. “Come on, Severus will think we got lost or something.”

Draco snorted and together with Harry, quickened his pace; Severus was waiting for them at the shop after all.

When both men went around the curve of the dirt road, a person stepped straight out from a tree trunk. Having put a Disillusion Charm around the whole tree, Harry and Draco passed by the person unnoticed. Hard, brown eyes followed their backs; lips curved into an amused smile.

“So this is where you’ve been living,” The person chuckled, the brown eyes narrowed slightly, “I’ve been looking for you, Harry.”

A hand went up; fingers went to a necklace around the person’s neck. The digits touched a jade green pendant dangling on the gold chain.

“And now, I finally found you.”

HPDMSS

“Does it really take that long to come to the shop?” Severus asked once Harry and Draco stepped inside. “You know, it’s a good thing there aren’t any urgent deliveries today.”

Draco took off his long coat and hung it on the rack next to the shop’s door. Harry followed suit and then walked to the counter where Severus was sitting, writing something down in a notebook.

“It’s my fault, not Draco’s,” Harry said. “I stopped every ten steps we took; I had the feeling that somebody or something was following us.”

Draco sauntered over to the counter, smirking. He draped his upper body across the countertop, elbows planted firmly on the surface; his hands cradled his head and grey eyes looked at Harry mischievously.

“It was probably a squirrel or something,” Draco grinned, his white and even teeth showing. “Even if there was someone, we would’ve seen him or her. There wasn’t much for a person to hide behind.”

“I don’t know… I just… I felt this presence behind us,” Harry muttered. “It was weird… I-I felt this faint vibration of magic and it wasn’t yours, Draco.” Harry added quickly when the blond opened his mouth.

Severus frowned; if Harry felt the vibes, he couldn’t be wrong. Only someone with high levels of magical powers—such as Harry—can sense others’ magic auras. Snape himself could sense auras as well; Draco can as well, but not as well as Harry or Severus.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just the wind?” Draco offered, waving his hand in the air in a carefree gesture.

Harry growled and then scowled at Draco when the blond laughed at him. “I’m sure it wasn’t the wind.” Harry sniped, “Wind doesn’t vibrate against our skin.”

“Harry’s right, Draco…” Severus murmured, “It wasn’t the wind; it had to be a person. Someone with a good amount of magical energy.”

“Do you mean that somebody was stalking us?!” Draco demanded; he was no longer leaning over the counter. “Who the hell would stalk us?”

A look of concern crossed Harry’s features, “Maybe it’s not us, per say… Maybe it’s just me.”

“You?” Draco arched an eyebrow at the brunet, “Why you? Actually, who would follow you all the way to this little village that’s almost hidden to mankind?”

Severus rolled his eyes at Draco’s statement while all Harry did was scowl. The only thought in Harry’s mind was that if his captor wanted to find him, there were many ways to do so. With that being the case, the brunet wouldn’t be all too shocked if his kidnapper did find him.

“You forget, Draco, that my kidnapper is still out there and probably looking for me.” Harry griped, “It could’ve been him…”

‘Or her…’

“Do you really think that whoever it was tracked you down all the way here?” Draco asked and waved his arm at the direction of the village outside the store.

“Yes, I believe so.” Harry murmured; he put on a small smile for his lovers. “Well, I’m not too worried; I have you two to protect me after all.”

Draco scowled and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “I have half a mind to tell you to go back to the cottage right now. We have wards surrounding the whole house… If the bastard really did track you down, he won’t be able to get past them.”

“I’m sure he won’t try anything in broad daylight and with so many people around.” Harry reasoned, “I just don’t get why he… or she, is so desperate.”

Severus closed the notebook he was writing in; he walked around over to Draco and took the blonde’s arm, pulling Draco with him. Malfoy protested but with one hard look from the florist, Draco quieted down. Snape looked behind Draco’s blond head and caught eyes with Harry.

“Harry, can you do all the counter work today? Draco and I have to work on some new oils. I just harvested some Calla Lilies and need to tend them right away.”

Draco arched an eyebrow but remained silent; something was going on in Snape’s mind, he was sure of it.

“Counter work?” Harry balked, “I never did any cashier work… Are you sure you want me to?” He was so distracted with his thoughts that Harry didn’t notice he was using a towel to wipe the counter.

“You’ll be fine, Harry,” Draco piped up, “there are price tags on the already made bouquets. If a costumer wants something, such as oils, you can come to the lab and ask us for them.”

Harry nodded and let go of the towel; he stiffly walked to the cashier and sat down, looking extremely tensed. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and looked heavenward.

“Harry, you are going to scare all the costumers away with that look!” Draco let out a bark of laughter; Harry groaned and looked at Snape.

“I told you I never sat behind a cashier before! What if people ask me about flowers? I don’t know shit about flowers.”

“I gave you that book awhile ago,” Draco said, “You’ll be fine! Mostly the costumers just come in and buy bouquets; they don’t really ask questions.”

“Fine!” Harry threw his hands in the air, “I’ll stay here, take money, give change, and tell them to have a nice day.” Harry put on a sweet smile for his lovers. “Happy now?”

“Very,” Snape drawled. “Come along now, Draco, we need to start on the oils straight away.”

Once Severus and Draco disappeared behind the door to the lab, Harry sighed and swiveled around to face the front of the shop. People, old and young, walked passed the flower shop. Even though it wasn’t snowing on that particular morning, wizards, witches, and Muggles alike all had on fairly thick coats. After waiting ten minutes and still no costumers, Harry got bored and looked under the counter. There were a couple of books inside the open space underneath the counter. Potter took one out and read the title.

Flowers and Herbs: What to do with them.

Harry scoffed and opened the text right in the middle. He was flipping through the colorful pages when the bell jingled as the door opened.

“Excuse me?”

Harry slammed the book closed and pushed it aside. He looked up, putting on a smile; he was ready to greet the first costumer of the day. His smile dropped, however, when he saw the person’s face. It had been three years, but Harry still recognized the facial features. The person gasped when Harry looked up.

“Oh my god… Harry, is it you?”

HPDMSS

“Severus, I thought you said that the Calla Lilies needed two more weeks until they are ready to be picked.” Draco hissed as soon as the door closed behind them. Severus grunted and let go of the blonde’s arm.

“I did; it was just an excuse.” Snape muttered, “We need to do some spying.”

“Spying?!” Draco spluttered, “How? Why? Who are we spying on?”

Snape’s lips thinned into a line, his eyes bore into the closed door, as if he could see Harry on the other side. Draco followed Severus’ gaze, looked at the door and then back at the older man.

“We’re going to spy on Harry? Why?” Draco asked, perplexed.

“We’re not spying on him. I want to see every one of our costumers we have today.” Snape whispered, “If what Harry told us earlier was true, the person might actually come here. I have a suspicion that Harry’s kidnapper was somebody he knew.”

“What made you think that?” Draco demanded in a harsh whisper, “Harry said he couldn’t even see the person’s face on the night he was captured.”

“I know he didn’t, but it can’t be just some coincidence that the bastard was roaming around in the streets. He or she would have to know where Harry lived, followed Harry, and attacked when the time was right.”

Draco chewed on his bottom lip, looking thoughtful. “You know… that makes sense.” He went to the door and carefully opened it, with only a crack wide enough for him to peek through. “Well, nothing’s going on right now… Harry’s sitting there, reading.” Draco closed the door again and walked back to Severus. “Since we’re in here, how the hell are we going to spy?”

“Do you forget that you are a wizard, Draco?” Snape took out his wand and smirked at the blond; Draco puffed out his chest and frowned. “Well, there is this spell; it will let us see the outside but nobody on the other side can see us.”

“Oh. Right…” Draco nodded in understanding; he moved away from Severus and waved his hand at the door. “Do your thing.”

Severus sneered and pointed his wand right at the door. A beam of blue shot out from the tip of his wand and hit the wooden door. The mahogany panel shimmered a bit and then it was as if a layer of filth was being peeled off, the other side being revealed. Both Draco and Severus could see the back of Harry’s head perfectly clear.

“Can we hear Harry at all?” Draco asked, he was standing right behind the door.

“We should… Just keep your eyes open for any suspicious looking people. Like ones that we don’t usually see around the village.”

Draco was about to answer when the bell jingled; his eyes widened when he saw the new costumer walking in.

‘Looks familiar… can’t remember the name though.’ Draco thought; he turned to Severus and waved him over. “Look Sev, somebody just came in.”

Severus strode over to the door and watched as Harry slammed the book closed; he also saw the way Harry jolted when the brunet saw who his costumer was.

“Oh my god… Harry, is it you?” The soft voice traveled through the door and into Draco and Severus’ ears.

Draco grabbed Snape’s arm, “Who is that? You should know; you were a professor when we were students… That person looks familiar, but I can’t remember the name.”

Severus frowned at the person who was now wearing a shocked expression. He took in the black hair, lean body, round eyes, and fair skin. His eyes widened in recognition.

“Draco, that’s…”

HPDMSS

Harry stood up from his stool and walked around the counter. He smiled and held out his hand; the person took it with a huge smile; brown eyes sparkled as Harry drew the person in for a hug. Harry pulled back and his smile grew a bit wider. It had been so long since he saw…

“Cho! What are you doing here?”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: I am very evil to leave the chapter off like that :D *giggle* Cho Chang makes an appearance!! Puwahahahahaha! But, is she the mysterious "man"? Sorry that the chapter was so short; I did it on purpose... ;P