Raised a Malfoy

Ch. 5

Third Year

Three weeks. He'd only needed to get through three more weeks of summer vacation with the Dursleys. Instead, his temper had gotten the best of him when Aunt Marge had come to visit and he'd maybe accidentally blown her up into a human balloon. That night had been a hectic one to say the least. After losing his temper he'd packed his things and run away from the Dursleys, possibly imagined a terrifyingly massive black dog, nearly been run over by a bus then transported by said bus to the Leaky Cauldron where upon arriving he'd met the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Fudge had wanted him to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the remaining three weeks before school started but when Harry had written to Draco to let him know what was going on Mrs Malfoy had apparated to the Leaky Cauldron the next morning with no warning whatsoever, in the typical overdramatic Malfoy style, to bring him back to Malfoy Manor.

After the last month and a half of writing letters back and forth, Harry and Draco were back to normal. Things had been tense between them for awhile, even after defeating Voldemort/Tom Riddle together at the end of second year, because of their difference in opinion when it came to the importance of a witch or wizards blood status. Harry knew that Draco had been brought up his whole childhood being taught that witches and wizards with a pure magical bloodline were superior to those with muggle blood mixed into their lineage. Harry had also learned over the last two years of being best friends with the boy that Draco was a proud individual who had a hard time admitting that he was wrong. That was why Harry had believed Draco when he'd written to Harry acknowledging and apologizing for his close mindedness.

Of course actions spoke louder than words so while the letters were a good start Harry was really waiting to see if Draco's behaviour would change. Harry hoped it would. He didn't want to be angry with his best friend anymore.

Upon apparating into the front hall of Malfoy Manor, Harry immediately felt at ease. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly. It wasn't as if Malfoy Manor was home. However, it smelled the way Draco did and it was that familiarity that he suspected put him at ease.

Harry dropped his trunk to the floor and placed Hedwig's cage down beside it. She hooted and flapped her wings restlessly.

"Mother is that you?" called out Draco's familiar voice. He appeared at the top of the staircase, one hand on the banister. "You look green, Potter. First time apparating?"

His stomach did feel a bit queasy, but he wasn't about to admit that. "Nice sunburn, Malfoy," Harry tried to hold back the massive grin that threatened to split across his face but it was just so good to see his best friend again and he couldn't help it. Not to mention Draco really did look comedically red from too much sun. "Careful when we go back to Hogwarts they don't hang you up thinking you're a Gryffindor banner," he teased.

"Shut up, Potter," Draco said, but there was no venom behind his words. "Mother, I thought you said you would pick me up a potion or healing lotion while you were out?"

Narcissa had just finished removing her lightweight fur lined coat when she turned to face her son. "Calm down, I did darling." From the folds of her robes she produced a corked bottle. "You can ingest it or spread it on the area but according to the witch I bought it from doing both will result in a more rapid healing."

Draco came down the stairs to take it from her. He wore a light grey shirt and comfortable looking jeans. He was more dressed down than usual. "Thank you. Why didn't you just send Dobby to get this and to fetch Harry?"

"Because I highly doubt Fudge would have released Harry to an unknown house elf. Besides, Dobby is making Harry's favourite, treacle tart." Harry's mouth watered, the Dursleys had fed him even less this summer than usual.