Cursed Heritage

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

A/N: Thank you SO much to the 2 very nice people who left a review!


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Chapter 2: Last Days of Summer^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mrs. Weasley took no time in getting Harry settled in. To his amusement, Ron’s bedroom walls were still covered in Chudley Cannon posters. They were in last place in the league again this year, as they were every year, yet Ron still managed to find faith in them from somewhere.

After dumping his stuff, he went to make his way downstairs for supper. Mrs. Weasley always insisted on feeding him when he arrived, no matter what the time, as though he hadn’t eaten in a month. But then the first few times he had been to the Burrow, he had appeared slightly underfed. After all it was only lately that the Dursleys had started to treat him better.

He was walking out of the room, while Ron was going on about an article in the latest copy of the Quibbler that Luna had sent him, when a wave of dizziness swept over him. His head span, and he collapsed against the doorframe for support. Not again, he thought desperately.

“Hey, are you ok?” Ron broke off what he was saying about griffins, and hurried over.

As his vision slowly cleared and his head stopped pounding, Harry looked up. “Yeh, I’m fine. Just felt dizzy all of a sudden.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Ron looked at him anxiously.ou dou don’t usually ‘go all dizzy’ for no reason.”

“No, I’m fine. Honestly. I probably just got up too fast.”

“Right, well ok then, let’s go down, otherwise Mum will come up and start fussing. You know what she’s like!”

They made their way downstairs to the kitchen. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were already there, as was Ginny who seemed to be having an argument with her Mum about where she had left her dress robes.

“…but Mum, I know I didn’t leave them at Hogwarts. What on earth would I leave them there for?”

“I have no idea, but you’re going to need them this year for the Yule Ball, and. . .oh, Harry, Ron, there you are.” Mrs. Weasley looked quite glad for the interruption.

Looking around, Harry could see that the twins were sat in a corner discussing something in quiet voices, and Mr. Weasley was reading through some papers, muttering to himself. They all sat at the table, and began to eat. Supper passed quickly, with everyone trying to talk at the same time. Fred and George still ran their joke shop, and were keen to tell Harry all about the proceeds, as well as some of the new stock recently invented. He felt quite awkward listening. It was obvious that although Mrs. Weasley had got used to the idea, she still did not exactly approve, and he had never quite gotten around to telling everyone that it was him who gave them the money to start it in the first place.

However, the conversation passed without incident, and soon everyone was tidying up and going to bed.

*************************************************

The next week passed fairly quickly. The weather was still scorching hot, and he spent a lot of time playing quidditch with Ron, Fred and George, and Ginny in the field next to the garden. The position of captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team had eventually passed to Harry the year before, though he knew that without Ron’s help with tactics, he wouldn’t have been able to do half as good a job.

The summer eased its way into their last week of holidays, and frantic hunts for robes, books, brooms and other lost school supplies began. Harry couldn’t see how three people going back to school could turn an entire house upside down, but somehow he, Ron and Ginny managed it. Mrs. Weasley, surprisingly, took it quite well and simply helped to organize the chaos.

On the morning before they were due to go back, Harry and Ron got up early. They were going to make a quick trip to Diagon Alley for some last minute bits and pieces that they had forgotten or lost, and wanted to leave early so that they could be back in time for lunch, and spend a lazy last afternoon outside in the garden.

As Harry was pulling his shirt on, he felt the familiar dizziness washing over him. He felt the room begin to spin, and his vision blacked out.

This had been happening on a regular basis throughout the summer. It had started with headaches a week or so after leaving Hogwarts, that had gotten progressively worse. After his seventeenth birthday however, he had started having dizzy spells, waking up in the night soaked in sweat and boiling hot, his joints ached and the headaches were getting more frequent. Somehow he had managed to hide it from anyone, not wanting to worry anybody over what was possibly nothing important. Over the last couple of weeks however, he had been wondering whether to tell someone about it. The only person he could think of that he would want to bother was Sirius, and he had enough to deal with, sorting out his affairs with the Ministry.

As the room stopped spinning he realised that he ached all over and felt feverish. As he sat and waited for it to pass, he decided that maybe it was time he asked someone for help.

***************************************************

Diagon Alley was busier than usual due to the masses of students walking around buying last minute items needed for the new term. It seemed that no matter how much time there was over the summer, some things were always left until the day before term started.

Ron and Harry had both replenished their potions supplies. They had found out the hard way that Snape expected his N.E.W.T. Potions class to be prepared for any situation, and God forbid anyone who ran out of crushed salamander eggs half way through a lesson. Quills and parchment had been bought, though the books they needed had been delivered by owl post to the Burrow the week before.

As they made their way into Florean Fortescue’s for ice cream, a voice called out, “Hey, Ron! Harry! Wait up.”

They turned around. Hermione had followed them into the shop and was smiling happily at them. Ron beamed and greeted her with a kiss. Harry had told Ron how pleased he was for them, and Ron had spent ages trying to assure him that it wouldn’t change their friendship. Harry was not naïve enough to think that it wouldn’t change at all but he was glad that Ron had said it all the same.

“Widn’idn’t you guys let me know that you were coming here today?” Hermione asked while trying to decide between mango or passionfruit flavour.

“Well it was a rather last minute decision. Sorry. Anyway, what are you doing here?” Harry asked.

“Well I didn’t need to come, but my parents haven’t been here for a few years so we decided to make a trip. They went to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink, I said I’d meet them in there in a few minutes.”

“I bet they’re talking to Dad, he went there about half an hour ago. Said he couldn’t cope with Mum and Ginny in a robe shop!”

Harry paid for his ice cream. “I’ll just wait outside. It’s too hot in here.” He made his way to the door as Ron and Hermione nodded and waited to be served.

As he stepped outside, he caught a flash of sunlight on blond hair walking towards him. He groaned inwardly. There was no mistaking that particular shade of white-blond. Only the Malfoys had hair that colour. He sighed. Draco had never taken the Dark Mark and had even supplied the Order with a surprising amount of valuable information in the fight against Voldemort, but he had made sure to pretty much stay out of the way of Harry, Ron and Hermione. The insults had stopped, and petty fights were no longer picked. In fact he had even gone as far as to apologize for his past behaviour, but he was still less than friendly, and Harry suspected Ron had never quite forgiven him for some of the things that had been said over the years. A confrontation today was the last thing he needed.

Draco seemed to be headed to the ice cream parlour, and as he caught Harry’s eye he smiled slightly. Harry couldn’t help but notice how the expression lit up his face, making him look almost pretty. He walked over and stood next to Harry. Harry had grown over the summer and was now a respectable 5’10”, but Draco was a few of inches taller, and he had to look up slightly to meet his eyes.

Even though it was hot, Draco was wearing tight black trousers which clung to his legs and tied with cords on either side of his hips, with a fitted black silk shirt, open at the top, and with sleeves that flared at the wrist. He had on heeled leather boots, and his hair which hung in soft waves to his shoulders was loose and framed his face softly. Harry felt rather scruffy in his faded s ths that were slightly too big around the waist, and his green t-shirt scu scuffed trainers.

“Hi.” said Draco.

“Hi.” He felt slightly confused. Draco had never gone out of his way to talk to him before. Though they had worked together in the battle against Voldemort, he had never talked to him voluntarily, to be friendly. He couldn’t help but notice the heat that swept through him when he met Draco’s liquid silver eyes though, nor the way his stomach flip-flopped in anticipation. . .of what? “So did you have a good summer?” He winced inwardly at the inanity of the question.

Draco smirked. “Yes, Potter, actually I did. Watch your ice cream, it’s about to melt all over the floor.”

Harry hurriedly licked his ice cream and shifted awkwardly as he saw Draco watching him. “So, are you looking forward to going back tomorrow?”

“Yes I am to be honest. There isn’t that much to do at home. It’s easy to get bored. I assume Weasley’s around somewhere?”

Ron and Hermione chose that moment to exit the shop, almost walking into Harry. He turned round in time to see a long-suffering expression pass over Ron’s face before he asked, “What do you want, Malfoy?”

“I came over to say hello to Harry actually. I assume that isn’t a problem?” Draco raised an eyebrow in question.

Ron sighed. “Come on Harry, ‘Mione needs to meet her parents.”

Harry who had felt a peculiar sensation of contentment at the sound of Draco calling him ‘Harry’, was staring into space.

“Harry!” Ron waved a hand in front of his face.

“Oh, sorry. Yeh ok, got to go. See you later Draco.”

Along with Ron and Hermione, he turned and started walking towards the Leaky Cauldron, wondering why he felt such an acute sense of loss by leaving Draco standing outside the ice cream parlour.

He also realised that his headache had disappeared and he felt better in general than he had since the beginning of the holidays.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^End of chapter^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


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