The 12 Days of Christmas or a HarryDraco Fairytale

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On the fifth day...

Harry stood and stretched his back, looking around the mostly gutted room. There was the bureau and bed still, but he had put the artifacts in a bag. He had no knack for the spells that would detect what was cursed and had simply put it all in a sack. He would drop it off later on, when he went out to Diagon Alley, and make sure that what wasn't cursed went to families and orphans who needed such items.

His stomach grumbled, reminding him why it was a good thing he had finished when he had. A tempus charm proved it was almost dinner time and he had missed lunch. Smiling, and satisfied with the day's work, he closed the door and went downstairs.

As he passed Sirius' room, he felt his anger build up. He had locked this door for a reason! How had Malfoy gotten in there?

"What are you doing?" he yelled, not caring how much he might have scared Draco and he missed the look of confusion and fear that briefly crossed over the other boy's face.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Draco yelled back. "I'm doing what I volunteered to do!"

Harry snarled and pulled the other boy out of the room before redoing the wards on the door. "That was Sirius' room! I had it locked for a reason!"

"Then you should have told your house-elf that!" Draco hissed.

Kreacher? Harry shook his head. Later. "What do you mean?"

"When I couldn't get the door unlocked, your house-elf opened the door for me," Draco replied.

Harry's fists clenched in an effort to keep from punching Draco. "Did it ever occur to you that it was locked for a reason?"

"What does it matter?" Draco asked. "He was a murderer! The man who betrayed your parents!"

No sooner had Draco said the last word than he was falling backwards, blood flying from his face. Harry quickly followed and was punching every bit of Draco he could. When he paused for breath, his anger melting away, Draco retaliated.

Neither of them knew how long they fought for, but it ended when they rolled to the end of the hallway and down the stairs.

"Damn it, Potter," Draco moaned.

Harry tried to throw in a last kick as he held his ribs and then laid his head back down on the floor. "Good thing that didn't happen back in school."

Draco chuckled. "Just call that house-elf of yours. I'm pants at healing spells and I know I twisted my ankle on that fall."

^v^v^vHPDM^v^v^v

Kreacher, of course, healed Harry first and once Draco was fixed up, Harry asked, "Why are you still here Kreacher?"

Kreacher narrowed his eyes as he bent low to the ground. "Where else would I be, Master?"

"I thought you had died," Harry said. "Why didn't you tell me you survived?"

Kreacher twisted his pillowcase in his knobbly hands and glanced at Draco. "M-mistress Bellatrix told me to stay hidden, Master."

Harry sighed. Of course. And since the insane witch had died, Kreacher had kept obeying the order. Harry didn't want the elf around the house, but he certainly couldn't release him. There were still plenty of enemies out there. Luckily, there was only Draco left of the Black family.

"Kreacher, I have no use for you here," Harry said and nearly laughed at the way the elf's eyes bulged at the sentence. "I want you to go to Hogwarts. You will only ever speak to Headmistress McGonagall and the other house elves as it pertains to your duties in the castle. You will only return here if I call you and you will not leave Hogwarts. Is that clear?"

Kreacher screwed up his face in concentration, but finally nodded and popped away.

"And why don't you want the elf here?" Draco asked.

"Because he's no use here," Harry said. "He'll nick most of the stuff I try to get out of here and put it in the burner room. If I tell him to clean the house, what am I going to do all day?"

"Get a job like most normal people?" Draco suggested with a smirk.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He started making a pot of tea. "I like doing things for myself. Makes me feel like I have earned the right to use the place I live in."

"Is that what I have to do then?" Draco asked with a snarl in his voice.

"No," Harry answered. "I was only talking about myself. You aren't exactly my guest, so you do need to do your part of the chores. It's only fair, right?"

"I suppose it's how those without servants do it," Draco sniffed.

Harry turned, ready to start another fight, but raised his eyebrows at the joking look on Draco's face. "It is."

Draco sighed and put his chin in his hand. "I'll get used to it. Sooner or later."

Harry laughed.