Saving Each Other - Dramione

Shopping

That first night, even though I am safe in my own home, my nightmares are about the battle of Hogwarts. Every time I fall back to sleep I am welcomed only by the same scenes of death and chaos. Every time I wake up my heart is pounding and it takes me a while to remember that the war is over. My other nightmares have all been things I have made up in my head so it is easy to remind myself that it's not real when I wake up but the fact that my nightmares are also memories makes it so much worse.

I consider talking to my parents about it but I just can't. I spend most of the next day terrified that the same nightmares will return so I end up taking one of the two vials of dreamless sleep potion Madam Pomfrey gave me for the holidays. The third night I convince myself that I will be okay without the potion but I wake up from running through the battle only an hour after going to bed. I take the second vial of potion.

***

The next day is Tuesday and Draco and I had organised to go to Diagon Alley to do the last of our Christmas shopping together so after breakfast I put on my coat and scarf and apparate straight to the Leaky Cauldron. It's just after 9 and I'm not meant to meet Draco until 10 but I came early because I still don't know what to get for his present. I talked to Ginny about it before the end of term and tried to come up with a list of ideas but I couldn't think of anything he doesn't already have. The problem with having a rich boyfriend is that there is no way that anything I could afford to get him would be better than what he already has.

I wander down the street without any real idea where I'm going to go. I spot Flourish and Blotts and almost automatically walk towards the front door of the bookshop. I feel more relaxed as soon as I've stepped through the door. I start to walk towards the back where the muggle novels are, thinking I might get Draco another since he enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, but I pause as I am passing the potions section. There is still a week and a half left before term starts again and I can't spend every night reliving the battle.

My head snaps around and I reach for my wand when I hear a gasp and a thud from the end of the aisle but it's just the new shop assistant who has knocked over a pile of books. There are a few moments of silence where he just stares at me before he pulls himself together enough to speak.

'I-I'm so sorry m-miss Granger, I just... Can I help you find anything?' He asks, abandoning the books that are still scattered across the floor.

I'm about to say no but I stop myself. Surely it can't hurt if I just look at the recipe.

'Yes, I'm actually looking for the recipe for a dreamless sleep potion,' I tell him.

'Of course, if I just...' he waves his wand and three books fall off the shelf to lie open on the floor. 'S-sorry about that,' he apologises, his face turning red from embarrassment.

The assistant looks only a few years older than me and I feel a bit sorry for him. I take out my wand and the three books zoom into my hand, still lying open, and the books he knocked over earlier restack themselves. I look down at the first of the books I am holding and see that it is open at the recipe I am looking for. I quickly scan through and assess how difficult it would be to make. The recipe is quite complex and there is no room for error but unlike some potions which can take months to make, this one must be brewed in less than a minute.

I pay for the book, leave the bookshop and go straight to the apothecary across the road where I purchase the ingredients I need for the potion. It's not until I am back on the cobblestone street that I remember I still haven't bought anything for Draco and I've wasted a lot of time already.

I'm back to purposelessly looking through shop windows and I am beginning to get desperate. Why did I leave something this important so late?

Then I see it. Tucked away in a corner there is a door with no shop window but the sign above reads Musique Magicale. I think back to the day when Draco played the piano in Diagon Alley and I know I have to at least look inside.

Instead of a bell jangling when I open the door there is a short melody played by a single violin. I walk down the corridor until it opens out into a display room. There are all sorts of instruments, many I don't even know the names of, floating near the ceiling and piles of sheet music leave barely any room to walk around but the thing that catches my eye is the gorgeous grand piano in the centre of the room.

A door at the back of the room opens and a man with a short white beard and a jovial smile steps through.

'Ah welcome, I 'ave not seen you 'ere before,' the man says in a French accent. He pauses to look at me before saying 'it is Ms Granger no? 'ow may I 'elp you.'

'Well, I'm looking for a present for my boyfriend.'

'It is true it is ze Malfoy boy? I read in ze papers.'

I hesitate but there'd be no point in lying. 'Yes, his name is Draco.'

'Ah yes, Draco zat is it. 'E is not as bad as people say I think. 'E has kind eyes. Now, what is it you want to get for him.'

I've already met quite a few people who've refused to even entertain the idea that Draco might be more than what he did during the war so it's nice to see that someone else sees that he is a good person.

'Well I would love to get him a piano but I suspect that will be a bit out of my price range.'

'I think I might 'ave something more suitable.'

He starts to make his way through the maze of instruments and music to the other side of the room so I follow him. He stops in front of what appears to be a particularly large pile of music but when he waves his wand the paper and dust lifts to reveal an old baby grand piano.

It looks like it's been there for ages and it isn't polished and shiny like the one in the middle of the room but it's gorgeous. It's small enough that it wouldn't take up too much space in our common room but it still looks like a proper piano.

The man sees the excited look on my face and starts telling me all about it. He says that it is a very rare piece but now most people want one of the new pianos that have all sorts of extra enchantments.

'Zis was one of ze first zat you can make small to carry it but when you make it big again it is still in tune.'

'And how much would it be?' I ask, fully prepared to hand over all the coins in my purse.

'I think, er,' he pauses and I wait anxiously to see how much emptier my Gringotts vault will be. '20 galleons,' he decides.

'Wait are you sure. That doesn't seem like much.'

'Ah it is old and no one else wants it. Also, I like you.' He smiles.

I hand over the galleons and leave the shop with the piano in a small cardboard box in my bag.