A Predicament

Disclaimer: First all let me say that I do not own any of this but the idea. All characters and locations are the sole property of J.K. Rowling, and no infringment is intended.




Chapter 2 - June 7, 2006 9:15 a.m.

“Well you could have warned me that the village barely qualified for the name, Potter. Fifteen houses and a hundred miles from the nearest civilized town.” Huffing Draco swept in the entrance of the modest two story cottage.

“Don’t exaggerate, it’s eleven miles to the nearest big town.” Harry smiled.

“Define ‘big town’.”

“Has a cinema, and a cab company.”

“A what and a what company?”

“Never mind,” Harry grinned, “Look this should make you happy, if it’s so far from the ‘civilized world’ then no one will know who you are.”

“Small favors.” Draco swept up the stairs. “Which bedroom is mine?”

“Any of these three,” Harry pointed to the three of the four doors.

“I thought you said there were four bedrooms.” Draco immediately went to the door Harry had left out, automatically assuming that it must be the best of the four bedrooms. It was the lavatory.

“The fourth is on the first floor, and isn’t really going to be appropriate for someone to live in just at the moment.”

“Really? Why’s that?” Draco asked as he began poking his head into the rooms trying to decide which was the largest.

Harry smiled sadly, “It seems that no one cleaned up the house beyond removing the bodies.”

“Bodies?” Draco was so startled that he stubbed his toe on the door frame, “What do you mean bodies?”

Harry stared at him for a long moment, “I thought your father or Severus would have told you, I inherited this house from my parents.”

“So? I inherited the Manor from my parents, and they didn’t leave any bodies behind.”

“Voldemort killed my parents.”

“Yes, I know. So?”

“Here.”

“Here what?”

Harry’s laugh was bitter, “He murdered them in this house, Malfoy.”

Draco had the grace to look embarrassed, “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“And no one cleaned up beyond removing the bodies?”

“No, the house was left exactly as it was the night they died.”

“And what was so special about that room? I thought He used the Killing curse on them.”

“He did. But one of the others with him had to… subdue my father. Which obviously involved a knife and a fair amount of blood. Both were still on the floor when I arrived this morning. So I don’t think anyone will want that room right now.”

“Fair enough. I suppose this room was yours, there’s a crib in it and it’s covered in baby items.” Draco said airily.

Harry’s breath stopped for a moment seeing the things that his parents had surrounded him with. There were little stuffed dragons. Tiny golden snitches and broomsticks were painted on the walls. There was a stuffed animal in the crib. Harry took a deep breath and crossed the room . He pulled a stuffed stag out of the bed, and a baby quilt. The quilt was made of five very different sets of patches in an X pattern. The top left was a snitch and stag horns on black jersey. The top right was a pair of yellow eyes and a broomstick on a patch of very faded denim. The bottom left was a full moon and a book on a piece of chocolate corduroy. The bottom right was a rat’s face and a wand on white cotton. The center square was a lily and music note on sage green silk. Harry’s heart clenched painfully as he looked at the pieces of his parents and their loved ones.

“Are you crying, Potter?”

“No,” Harry cleared his throat, “The dust is affecting me.”

“Hm…” Draco pulled out his wand and waved it, “Scourgify.”

“Thanks,” Harry shook his head to clear it, “I never can remember that one.”

“Yes, well… I am going to take this room. It’s not the largest, but it seems to have been a guest room, so I won’t have to clear out any personal … things, of yours or your parents‘. I would highly suggest you remove any personal items from the other room, and give it a good cleaning before Severus arrives. It’s quarter to ten, so that gives you just over two hours. Also have you got anything in the house to eat? I know Severus will want something fresh and warm when he gets here.”

Harry’s head was spinning. “Yeah, I went to the market this morning before I came here.” He supposed he would give Severus the master bedroom and take his own old bedroom for himself, it really just needed a little updating, and of course some grown up furniture. He folded the quilt and set it back in the crib, his own room could wait, he was sure Severus would want to come to a clean room and freshen up, maybe even take a nap on a comfortable, clean bed.

He crossed the hall to the third bedroom. When he opened the door he couldn’t hold back a smile, the room was plastered in red and gold. There was a king sized four poster bed with red curtains. All the furniture was in cherry wood. A lady’s dressing table, two large dressers, an armoire, and two small nightstands. Every surface had at least one picture on it, pictures of Lily and James separately and together, pictures of the four marauders, and pictures of Harry as a baby.

Smiling sadly, Harry rolled up his sleeves and pulled out his wand. After an hour of cleaning and transfiguring the room looked nothing like what it had been. The bed was now covered in light brown coverings, the lady’s dressing table was now a desk with a comfortable chair, and the second dresser was now a loveseat. The entire room was done in warm honey tones. Harry smiled, satisfied that the room would, if not be comforting to his former professor, it at least wouldn’t offend him.

Harry levitated the two large boxes, now containing his parents belongings, to his own room. He sorted all the pictures of his parents and the marauders out of the boxes and left them in the middle of the room. Closing the boxes he shrunk them down. Then he began updating his own room. Much as he loved the snitches and broomsticks he knew he would catch all kinds of hell from his new housemates if he kept them. So he applied a coat of pale blue paint over them, but he left the small strip of wall behind the door unchanged, keeping that reminder of his parents efforts on his behalf. He changed the crib into an adult bed with a white and blue quilt and conjured a nightstand. He changed the changing table into a dresser, enlarged the armoire, changed the rocking chair into a comfortable chair, and the toy chest after the things were removed became a desk. He placed the pictures on the walls and atop the dresser and nightstand, and tucked the small quilt under a pillow. He brought his clothes, and the clothes he’d had made for Severus up from the entry hall.

Just as he was finishing unpacking Draco popped his head in the door, “Aren’t you finished yet?”

Harry sighed, “Just. Are you done with your room?”

“Yes. I suppose you want to see?”

“Not if you’d rather I didn’t.”

“No, no, come on, we only have about twenty minutes until Severus arrives, and you’ll need to make something for us to eat.”

“You know you could cook too.”

“Only if you want to waste your money, food, and time.”

“Huh?”

“I am a terrible cook, Potter. Severus wouldn’t eat it, even when we were the only two living in that house.”

“Ah, oh well, I don’t mind it, and I am decent at it.”

“Besides, with as much as Severus and I will be in the lab, it will be more efficient for you to cook.” Draco opened the door to his own room.

Harry smiled, it was almost exactly what he had been expecting. Black walls, green and silver fabrics on the bed, ebony furniture, and the windows had been sealed up and painted over. “Isn’t it a bit dark, Malfoy?”

“I like dark.”

“Obviously.”

“I saw what you did to Severus’ room. You know he’ll change it as soon as he sees it.” Harry didn’t have to turn around to see Draco’s sneer, it was evident in his voice.

“I would be very surprised if he didn’t. But at least it’s clean, comfortable, and not going to offend him with Gryffindor colors like it would have before. I don’t know his tastes, so I chose neutral colors and furniture. I doubt he will want something this dark after being imprisoned for the last six years. Either way, if he changes it I won’t be offended.”

“You know, I don’t know if I like you anymore.”

Harry blinked, “What?” That one had come from left field.

“It used to be so much easier to get under your skin, now you’re just so … fair,” Draco said in disgust. “I liked you better when I could get a rise out of you. What the hell happened to you?”

Harry turned and started down to the kitchen, and Draco followed like a puppy.

“Well, Potter?”

“I grew up, Malfoy.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Harry began rummaging in the pantry for pasta and tomato sauce, spaghetti sounded good for lunch, “It means, I saw too many things I wish I could forget, and getting upset or hurt because someone I don’t know all that well is going to want to change the generic decorations I put in his personal space just doesn’t seem all that important anymore.” Harry put a pan of water on to boil and started browning ground beef. He glanced up at the blonde and saw him pouting. “Are you all right, Malfoy?”

Draco straightened up and sneered, “Of course I’m all right. Why would you even ask?”

Harry returned to lunch, “I dunno, you just seem high strung all of a sudden.”

“I am not high strung, Malfoy’s are never high strung.”

“Whatever you say,” Harry drained the meat, “But if it’s not nerves, then why are you suddenly trying to pick a fight with me, and with such lousy material?”

“I like picking fights with you, we made good enemies, Potter. And my material isn’t lousy, I’m just a bit rusty, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Harry considered this, “Alright, I’ll accept that. Let’s make a deal, when you really want to fight, tell me. I’ll keep up my end. But no more than twice a day. Deal?”

Draco’s jaw dropped. Harry fucking Potter was mocking him. He scowled and clenched his fists. “Where is the potions lab? I have to make sure everything is set up the way Severus likes.”

“First door to the left is the basement, you two have the whole thing for a potions lab, but there are no supplies down there. Severus is going to order everything you’ll need when he gets here. But you could always go clean it.”

Draco sneered and stomped away.

Harry smiled and took out a knife and a loaf of Italian bread. Cutting it into thick slices he placed them on a baking sheet and spread olive oil on them and put them under the broiler to toast. There was a knock on the door just as he was taking the bread out of the oven.

Draco came running up the stairs and skidded to a halt just in front of the door, and began smoothing out his robes. He was anxious to see Severus again, he’d missed the man.

Harry smiled and opened the door. Severus looked like hell, but that was to be expected. He was thinner than Harry ever remembered him being, and there was a haunted look in his sunken eyes. “Hello, Severus, come in.” Harry opened the door wider and moved to allow Severus to step inside. There was an Auror with him, but the man just tipped his hat to Harry and walked away. Once Severus was inside Harry shut and locked the door.

“We have a room and some fresh clothes waiting for you upstairs, and lunch is almost ready.” Harry said. As he moved to show Severus upstairs, he realized that Draco was gone. Harry shrugged and led Severus to his room. “There are fresh clothes in the dresser and wardrobe, and that little door leads to the bathroom. Just come down when you’re ready.”

Severus spoke for the first time, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry said and shut the door.


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