The Boy Who Lived

Life Never Goes to Plan

As always in Harry's life, matters were never quite as simple as he wanted and they never went to plan.

On the morning of his twenty-second birthday, Draco watched from his bedroom window as Harry stepped through of the Wards of the house for his morning run with Hercules and was immediately swarmed, incessantly, by reporters who had camped out in the small central garden which the terraced-houses of Grimmauld Place bordered. The house was still a secret location but gradually, people had tracked the vague address and occasionally this would happen until there were complaints from Harry's Muggle neighbours which were dealt with by the Statute of Secrecy Task Force. It tended to become a tad alarmingly noticeable when strangely-dressed reporters with magical cameras gathered en masse in public places.

Hercules and Harry ignored the rabble and took off at a healthy pace which quickly left the desperate and wheezing reporters in their wake and caused Draco considerable amusement.

Draco and Teddy cooked bacon sandwiches for breakfast and, as they waited, Draco turned to the mountain of post which a whole parliament of Owls had delivered. A quick sorting removed the cards sent by actual friends from the ones from the plethora of strangers and well-wishers. There was also a magnificent Bengal Snake Owl which brought a letter bearing the Gringotts seal.

'Look, Uncle Draco, it's Da...' Teddy was staring at the front page of The Daily Prophet. So, that was why Harry was being targeted so fervently by the press again. He stared over Teddy's shoulder at a relatively old picture of Harry on the front cover.

He groaned aloud, 'oh, Harry's going to hate this.'

News had broken about Harry's inheritance. He had told Draco about the exact reason behind Pansy's re-emergence into their lives and also the dreadful meeting with Gide. Despite the request for secrecy, it appeared someone in the Ministry's Department of Genealogy had leaked official documents directly against both Kingsley's and Harry's requests. The Daily Prophet took great glee in reiterating Harry's status as single and named him the most eligible bachelor in the world.

Draco snorted at the ludicrous assertion and then, maybe, agreed a little.

'What does it say, Uncle Draco?'

'A lot of nonsense, Teddy.'

'What, lies?'

'Not really, but not truths either.'

'I don't understand.'

'Well, they kind of make stuff up by guessing if they don't know the answers. Like they are trying to guess if your Da and Aunty Hermione are getting married.'

'Oh. Are they?'

'No, that's just it. The people who write this stuff like to guess.'

'Aunty Mione stays over sometimes, though not for a long time.'

'Hmmm!' said Draco. 'Well, they're very good friends but it doesn't mean they're getting married.'

'Is it like when you and Da sleep in the same bed?'

'How do you know that?'

'Sometimes I hear when you shout in your sleep and Da goes to your bedroom.'

'Oh...' said Draco, quite sure he was blushing. 'Yes, I guess it's like that.'

'Oh, okay,' said Teddy, tucking into his sandwich.

The paper then went on to mention that Harry was, officially, as yet to announce finding his soulmate. There was the usual speculation and, as expected, another mention of Hermione was made. Draco's stomach clenched a little at that.