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The Years After	By : Araea Swiftwind Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2598 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any money off the writing of this piece of fiction. The views expressed herein do not in any way reflect the views of J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros. and their affiliates.

Chapter List
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Part 12 – Chapter 10 - July 31, 1992

The entire family was situated in the dining room that afternoon. Someone had instructed the house elves to decorate the room with multicolored streamers and large balloons. On the back wall was a banner that read: "Happy Birthday, Harry."

Harry looked around at everything and blushed. He'd never seen so many nice things, and they were all for him. He didn't know what to do. "Thank you, everyone. This means a lot to me. I've never had a birthday before."

Draco gave him a rather large grin and said, "Now's as good a time as any to start." Harry thought he sounded an awful lot like Uncle Severus.

Giving everyone an equally large grin, he asked, "Am I really twelve?"

Voldemort answered, "Yes, Harry."

Narcissa smiled at him politely and asked in her soft voice, "Don't you want to blow out the candles on your cake?"

Harry looked at her quizzically. He'd never heard of blowing out candles. "Why?"

Lucius explained, "You make a wish before you blow out the candles. If you don't tell anyone what it is, it will come true.”

A look of wonder crossed Harry's face. "Really?"

Severus answered grumpily, not particularly enjoying the festivities, "Yes. Now blow out your candles and make your wish."

Giving a shy smile, Harry said, "Okay, here goes..."

He wished more fervently than ever before that he'd have someone to love him. He knew that Uncle Marvolo cared about him, and Uncle Severus...maybe even Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa. But no one loved him like they loved Draco. Or like Aunt Petunia loved Dudley. He didn't get hugs and kisses from anyone. He wasn't the most important person to anyone. He just wanted to be loved like other people were loved. He closed his eyes tight that thought foremost in his mind as he blew out the candles. 'Let me be loved.'

When he opened his eyes a moment later, everyone was smiling at him. They weren't the large smiles that Draco usually gave when he was really happy, or the genuine smiles that Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa shared, but they were the little polite smiles they usually gave when they were slightly amused by something. Harry sighed inwardly and pasted on one of those smiles for himself. 'I wonder how long these wish things take to work?'

O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O

That night, Harry went to bed a bit sad. No one acted like they loved him all day. He just got those private little smiles and a few gifts that were nice, but didn't really seem like things he'd love. He'd gotten a new pair of boots and some gloves made out of some sort of scaly material. They looked durable and expensive, but he had no idea when he'd ever use them. It wasn't like he ever went outside or got dirty. He also received a silver pocket watch that, if you turned the nob widdershins four times, would bring him back to the Manor if he were ever in trouble.

Severus had given him a Muggle book for him to read by Jules Verne—Journey to the Center of the Earth or something like that. He said it was a nice story full of fantastic new things and adventure. Harry liked the sound of that, so he treasured the book. It was the closest thing he had gotten to something he could love. Draco hadn't gotten him anything at all. He felt bad about getting Draco something, now. Obviously the boy didn't like him, and made no effort to hide it.

There was a soft knock on the door. It was late and Harry was comfortable in bed and didn't want to get up. Plus, he had trouble climbing into the bed on his own since it was so high. In light of that he decided to call out instead.

"Come in" he called softly.

Draco opened the door a tittle and squeezed inside. With a quiet "click" the door shut behind him. He padded over to the bed and heaved himself up—he was taller than Harry, so it was easier for him to do.

Harry looked steadily at Draco. “Did you need something?”

The older boy looked at his hands as he confessed, "I...I didn't know what to get you for your birthday. As I was looking for things, I realized that I don't really know you very well. So, I thought maybe I could talk to you a bit, and then when I knew you better, I could get you something. Anything you want."

Harry frowned. "You don't have to."

"But I want to. You're practically a member of the family, and like I told you, family takes care of each other. That doesn't just mean making sure they eat and use the toilet. It also means giving them the things they want and need, making them happy," Draco replied earnestly. After hearing more about Harry’s early life the day before, Draco was feeling much better about the boy being in the house. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure that they would be close friends, but family weren’t always friends.

"But...you don't even like me...why would you want to make me happy?"

Draco gave his own small frown. "I told you, that's what family does. And who says I don't like you?"

Harry pressed, "But you hardly ever talk to me. Yesterday was our longest conversation ever, and we were talking about the bad things that happened to me..."

The blond scoffed. "That doesn't mean I don't like you. I spend a lot of my time during the summer studying for school in the fall and taking lessons with Uncle Severus. I don't really talk to anyone much."

The raven-haired boy felt a little foolish. "Oh."

"My father told me something that you might find useful. Just because something seems like one thing, doesn't mean it isn't something else. It doesn't do you any good to assume, because you're often wrong," Draco intoned, trying to sound like his father. Harry privately thought he had a ways to go.

"He said that?"

"Well, not in so many words, but that was what he was driving at." Draco fiddled with his fingers as he explained.

"Oh."

He continued, "So, just because it seemed like I didn't like you because we didn't spend a lot of time together doesn't mean that I really don't like you. Like I said, I'm busy, that's all."

"Okay."

Draco gave Harry a brilliant smile in the hopes that the other boy would open up a bit. "So, why don't you tell me more about you? I already know enough about what your life was like when you were growing up, so how about what you like and don't like?"

"Oh, um..." Harry floundered around for a moment, not sure what to say.

"It's okay. I promise I won't laugh." Draco had assumed, again, that he knew the reason for Harry's silence.

“It's not that. I just...don't really know.” A rosy blush suffused Harry's face. Somehow, Draco always managed to make him feel stupid and young.

Draco ignored the blush and turned up the wattage on his smile. "Weeeell, why don't you start with what you've seen so far in the Manor and liked?"

Harry privately thought that it was a decent idea, but he wasn't going to tell Draco that, lest his head get any bigger. "Hmm...I guess I like how comfortable this bed is, and how warm I am when I'm in it."

"Okay, what else?" Draco looked eager to hear whatever Harry had to say. It made Harry feel a little uneasy.

"Um...I like the color green." Harry was still blushing, his face feeling too warm for comfort.

“What shade? Bright green, dark green, emerald green?”

“All shades, I guess.”

Draco nodded in acceptance. "What about animals?"

"Um...the only animals I've seen are the ones for the houses of Hogwarts and your weird albino peacocks..." In Harry's opinion, peacocks were strange monsters that sounded like frightened children, not something that should be kept as a pet.

"Well, do you like any of them?" Draco was getting a little pushy.

"I guess I like the Lion and the Snake."

Draco nodded in understanding before launching into his next question. "Do you like Quidditch?"

Harry's head was spinning slightly and he was growing confused and more than a little overwhelmed. When Draco was focused, he was a little scary. "What's Quidditch?"

"I'll take that as a no... Quidditch is a sport that's played with brooms like the ones we got for Christmas."

Harry felt that that wasn't much of an explanation, but ran with it anyways. "Oh, I haven't gotten a chance to use my broom yet. I don't even know how."

"Well, maybe I can teach you tomorrow. I think I have some free time in the morning before my lessons with Uncle Severus start."

Harry smiled. "That would be nice. You can call that my present if you want."

Draco shook his head. "No, no, no. I have to get you something. Something that costs money."

"Why?" It seemed like an awfully silly rule to him.

"Because that's how Malfoys show their affection. We buy each other expensive gifts they we know the other person will like."

"But, what if I don't want something expensive?" Harry asked, suddenly quite curious of the answer.

Draco paused in thought. "Hm...I hadn't thought of that before. No one else has ever not wanted something expensive. All of my friends come from families with money. They expect fancy presents."

Harry said slowly, "I don't need fancy things to be happy..."

The blond haired boy wrinkled his brow in disgust and confusion. "That's so strange...if Crabbe, Goyle, or Pansy didn’t get something that cost a lot of money, they’d flip."

Harry secretly thought that Draco would, too. Instead of saying that, however, he asked, "You have other friends? What are they like?"

"Oh, of course I have other friends. I'd be awfully lonely at Hogwarts if I didn't. There's Blaise and Pansy and Crabbe and Goyle...I know Millicent, Daphne, and Theodore too, but we aren't really friends. Blaise is a tall black boy with a quiet manner but a sharp wit. Pansy is blonde like me, but not as attractive. She's also pretty mean when she wants to be, which is almost all the time. Crabbe and Goyle are probably my closest friends. They aren't very bright, but they're incredibly loyal—well, as loyal as any snake, I suppose. Their first names are Vincent and Greg, but no one calls them that."

"Such odd names. I wish I had an odd name..." Harry said wistfully.

"Trust me, Harry, your name is odd. Harry. It's so…simple. Nothing like Lucius or Draco or Narcissa. Those names have character."

"Yeah...I'm just Harry. Boring old Harry stinking Potter."

Draco's eyes went as wide as saucers. Did he hear him correctly? "Wait, wait, wait. Your last name is Potter?"

Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion, not sure why it mattered. "Yeah. My parents are James and Lily Potter. Why?"

"Oh. My. Merlin!” Draco squealed like an eleven-year-old girl at a Jonas Brother's concert. “I can't believe I've been living with such a famous person all this time and I didn't even know it!"

Harry looked at the other boy sideways. Had he lost his marbles? "A famous person? Uncle Marvolo's always been a famous person...you're the one who told me that..."

Draco sighed and shook his head. "No, not the Dark Lord. You, stupid."

"I'm not stupid..." Harry murmured. He was getting pretty sick of Draco always putting him down for his lack of knowledge.

"Oh, I didn't mean you were really stupid...I just meant... Great Mother, I can't believe you don't know who you are...I mean, I can, knowing what I do about your horrible Muggle relatives...but still..."

Harry was incredibly confused. "Draco...what are you talking about?"

"You. You're famous, Harry." Draco beamed at him, incredibly happy of that fact.

"Why?" Harry had a bad feeling that he wouldn't like the answer to that question.

Draco suddenly went pale as he realized what he had been saying. He almost spilled the beans. Of course, he hadn't been specifically told not to tell Harry anything, but if the boy didn't know yet, then that must mean no one else wanted him to know. 'Draco, you can be incredibly stupid, sometimes.'

"Um...well... anyways... I think I've got enough information now. I'll get you that present soon, okay?"

The bad feeling got worse when Draco avoided answering. He hated it when people kept things from him. It made him feel like he wasn't important enough to know. And when that thing that they were keeping secret was about him, it made him mad. He had a right to know! "Draco, tell me."

"Goodnight!" With that, Draco sped out of the room like the bats of hell were on his heels. He knew that if he told Harry what he was about to tell him that they would be the least of his worries. He almost blew it, telling Harry that his Uncle Marvolo tried to kill him...and that everyone else thought he'd succeeded...it'd kill him if he found out.
- 11
- 12
- 13
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The Years After