Wot In The Harri Potter?

6 - Return

Standing in the living room some time later, Draco and I are in the process of packing Lily's items as she naps in the bedroom, when the tone of a mobile phone goes off, sounding suspiciously like a jazzed up version of Greensleeves.

I stare open mouthed as Draco removes a slim black phone from the inside of his jacket pocket, glancing down at the screen and sighing heavily.

"Sorry, gotta answer this," he says, throwing me an apologetic look before hitting a button and pressing the phone to his ear.

"I know- I should have explained where I was," Draco immediately says as a woman's voice shouts angry, incomprehensible words at the other end. "I'm fine. I'm alive. I just stayed at a friend's house."

Silence as the woman's voice speaks again. Draco turns away from me.

"Look," he speaks furtively into the phone, "there's something you need to know. We're going to have some new house guests stay with us. If you can get the house-elves to make up one of the spare rooms-"

More shouting.

"Two. The thing is, I found her: I found Harri Potter. And I'm bringing her home."

The woman's tone on the other end of the phone immediately changes. As she speaks in a hurried voice, Draco turns to glance at me, his lips flickering up at the corners, his eyes twinkling softly.

"She has a child, Mother," he explains into the phone, not taking his eyes away from mine, "a beautiful little girl with red hair and a hand me down baby grow."

I reach out to whack his arm, but he quickly dances out of the way, chuckling. "Yes," he replies into the phone, "definitely a Weasley."

"You are an evil little git," I snarl after he hangs up and smirks at me, "you know that, don't you? And since when did you, Draco Malfoy, own something so Muggley?!"

Draco tosses his phone in the air and catches it. "Since wizards realised that owls are a lot slower and a lot messier way to communicate. You'll find that most of us own one these days. Seamus Finnigan has even opened up a shop in Diagon Alley: 'Finnigans Fones For U'."

"I- he- what?!"

Suddenly, I feel intrigued, wanting to know more. I'd cut myself so much away from that world, that I found myself hungry for more information.

"So, what else have I been missing out on?" I ask quite casually as I go back to folding up Lily's vests. "Do you see much of the others?"

Draco hesitates, his hand freezing above the open suitcase. "No... not really."

"What?" I look sharply up at him, frowning. "Why?"

"They betrayed you," he murmurs quietly, anger flushing his face. "How could I even look at them again?"

"They were frightened. They were in a desperate situation."

Although Goyle could go join Crabbe and blow himself up after their vile little stint in the Room of Requirement.

"What about Blaise, and Daphne?"

"I catch up with Blaise every now and then. We'll go for a drink sometimes."

"And Daphne?" I prompt.

"Yeah. I see her too."

"And how are they both? Happy?"

"Coping."

I raise an eyebrow at him.

"None of us are the same since the war, Harri. It didn't just affect you. It literally tore entire families apart. If people didn't die, they ended up in Azkaban for life. My father, for one."