Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character, places etc. nor do I make any money from this.

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Chapter One: Unexpected Visitor


“Night, Colin,” Draco called, before Flooing home from the apothecary store he owned on Diagon Alley. He had left school only a little over a year before and believed he had already done quite well for himself. Of course, his inheritance had helped.

He stepped out of the fireplace into his small, but comfortable, apartment, shrugged off his cloak, and headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He was in for yet another night alone, which was all too common these days. He had decided he would make a start on this months accounts for the store, ‘at least it’ll give me one less thing to do tomorrow,’ he thought with a sigh.

Draco had eaten, cleared away the mess, and had just sat down to begin ‘doing the books’ when a light, hurried knock came from the door. ‘Who could that be? I wasn’t expecting anyone,’ he thought as he made his was to answer the door, picking up his wand and placing it in his pocket, just as a precaution.

He slowly opened the door and peered out into the dimly lit corridor of the small apartment block. Utterly confused, he opened the door wider, he was sure he had heard a knock; however, the whole corridor was empty.

“Just shut the door already,” a voice spoke from behind him. Draco jumped and then noticeably tensed up. The voice had not sounded threatening; in fact, it was vaguely familiar, though Draco could not immediately place it.

He closed the door and turned around, his wand raised, “show yourself.”

“Promise you won’t hex me or anything?” the invisible person replied, and a light instantly went on in Draco’s head.

Slowly lowering his wand, Draco said, sceptically, “Harry?”

Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak, “The one and only,” he smiled, “long time, no see Draco. How are you?”

“Slightly confused as to why you had to sneak into my apartment, but otherwise fine,” the blond replied.

“Yeah, well there’s a good reason for that, this isn’t exactly a social call.”

‘That can’t be good,’ Draco thought. Harry was an Auror, and if he was not there for a social call, then he must be there on business, which could only mean on thing. Draco was in danger.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the door. He may have felt scared, but he would have rather kissed Dumbledore’s arse, than let it show.

“There’s been a tip off at work that some Death Eaters are after you. I checked with some of my sources and many believe that they were young followers. They could even have been at Hogwarts when we were. My boss doesn’t think you are in immediate danger, but I’ve been instructed to stay with you for tonight. It will be decided tomorrow, if you need to be moved somewhere more secure.”

‘Great, just great,’ Draco had not seen Harry since the end of their final year at Hogwarts. They had formed an alliance; you could even go as far as to say a friendship, during that year. Draco had helped fight against the Dark Lord in the final battle. There had also been things happening during that year which had terrified the Slytherin, more than Voldemort himself. Now that Harry was, temporarily, back in his life, Draco was worried the past would repeat itself.

The blond motioned for Harry to sit down, “Would you like something to drink?” he asked as the other boy plonked himself onto Draco’s black leather couch.

Harry frowned at him, “You’re not going to argue or throw a tantrum about this?”

“Potter, I am almost twenty years old, I do not throw tantrums,” Draco retorted, “and arguing would get me nowhere, there isn’t exactly much I can do about the situation, is there?”

“Not really,” Harry answered, shaking his head.

Harry requested a cup of coffee and Draco took his time preparing it. When he finally returned to the living room Harry was looking at the pictures the blond kept on the mantel. His attention seemed captured by the photograph of himself, Draco and the remaining members of the D.A. that had been taken on their last day at Hogwarts. The group were smiling and waving, as if they had not seen the midst of a battlefield or lost people they cared for.

“Do you miss it?” asked Harry, turning around to face Draco and taking his coffee.

“The D.A. or Hogwarts?” he questioned.

“Hogwarts.”

“Sometimes,” the blond answered.

Harry sat down and began sipping his drink. “I miss it, but I don’t think I’d ever want to go back,” he told Draco.

“Me neither,” Draco admitted. Although, had entertained the idea of returning to the school as a teacher. He had quickly dismissed these thoughts however, when visions of turning into Snape had entered his head.

“Sorry, I’m not going to go all sentimental on you,” Harry apologized, “the picture just brings back memories, you know?”

“Yeah,” Draco replied, he didn’t know what else to say.

The boys sat in a, oddly, comfortable silence for a few minutes. They were both thinking of the events that has taken place that final year.

After a while, Harry spoke again, “So, what have you been up to this past year? I hear you own a shop on Diagon Alley.”

“Yeah, it’s an apothecary store; I bought the place a couple of months after leaving school.” Draco told him.

“It’s doing well then I take it?” the raven-haired boy asked.

“Not too bad. I was going to do the accounts tonight, but I had an unexpected visitor.” Draco smiled.

Harry returned his smile and Draco felt an old feeling wash through him, which settled in his stomach. “What about you? Is The Auror life working out for you?” Draco always knew Harry would achieve his dreams of becoming an Auror and was not surprised when he found out.

Harry seemed to think about the question, “Lets just say, it is not what I thought it would be,” he said finally.

“Why not?” Draco asked curiously.

“It’s just not as…fulfilling or exciting as I thought it would be. Most of the time I’m either dealing with minor things or sat at my desk twiddling my thumbs,” informed Harry.

“You must be glad someone’s out to kill me then,” Draco joked.

“I’d rather twiddle my thumbs everyday, than have you in danger,” Harry replied, then quickly averted his eyes from Draco’s gaze.

Draco was speechless; he had not expected Harry to say something like that. The feeling in his stomach intensified and he felt his chest tighten slightly.

The blond decided it would be best to change the subject, “So, do you still see Weasley and Granger? What are they up to these days?” he figured talking about Harry’s friends would be safe ground. However, it occurred to him that he was actually interested. Working on Diagon Alley meant he regularly saw people from school; however, he had not once seen any of the Golden Trio. Though he had heard of Harry’s job as an Auror, he had not heard anything of the other two.

“Well, Ron’s a trainee mediwizard; he works in St. Mungo’s accident and emergency department. He’s really grown up since school,” Harry informed him. Draco was surprised; he had never pictured Weasley making much of himself. “And Hermione,” continued Harry, “is studying to be a master in both Potions and Charms.” Harry finished talking and a sad expression settled on his features.

“You don’t see them as much as you’d like to, do you?” Draco guessed.

“I still see them a lot, it’s just weird. At school, I saw them both everyday, now it’s once or twice a week, providing they aren’t busy,” admitted the Gryffindor.

“At least you do still see them. And you know they’d still do anything for you,” said Draco.

“I know,” Harry replied, “Do you still see anyone from Hogwarts?”

“Mostly Colin Creevey, he works for me, other than that I’ve seen a few people around Diagon Alley. That’s about it.” Draco said, realizing he sounded like a complete loner.

“Colin? He annoyed me so much during our second year, him and that bloody camera,” laughed Harry.

“Well he’s certainly grown up a lot since then,” the blond laughed back.

Silence fell upon them once again as they both became lost in their thoughts and memories. In the short time Harry had been there, Draco had changed his mind, he was glad to see Harry again. Even if it did mean he was in danger, he had missed the other boy everyday since leaving Hogwarts.