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It's Just 12 Inches of Wood	By : TheCoven Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 15526 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and
situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but
not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast
Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money
is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

It's Just 12 Inches of Wood.

Author: ZooArmy.

Wonderful Beta: DracaMalfoy and THANKS to GRABALLZ for fixing the first part of the chapter. It's perfect..

So, this is the first chapter of a small project some authors of AFF.net
started here and I�m REALLY curious about the outcome. Hopefully, you�re too.

Sorry for the lame title, but I�m really lacking some ingenuity at the moment
(Okay, yes, you caught me, I always lack ingenuity). Monumental ideas are
always wanted and highly appreciated. (^_^;)

REVIEWS give the writer a good feeling
and bring them good luck, did you know that?

Chapter 1

Out of the rut

Harry stood in front of the shop window and stared at the display, deep in thought. Did he really want this? If not, he could always quit, he told himself and sighed heavily.

This morning, he had found a small advertisement in the Daily Prophet, and at first glance, it sounded perfect for him. Gathering ingredients for old Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker sounded like the perfect excuse to travel, which would almost certainly get him out of his rut. Harry�s biggest revelation this week had been that his life had become little more than eating, sleeping, sports, and meeting friends�with an unhealthy dose of �boredom� thrown in for good measure.

After his last year at Hogwarts and the defeat of Voldemort, his life had gotten a bit�Harry had struggled to find the right words to describe his newfound freedom�dull. �Dull�, �unfulfilling�, and �utterly without sense� were the adjectives that characterized his life post-Dark Lord.

But now, he stood to change it. Wasn�t that proof enough that he wanted to give his life purpose again? And with a little sprinkling of excitement and perhaps danger thrown in�not that Harry was particularly missing the attempted assassinations by the Death Eaters, mind you�but if he could get through the day and have achieved something, that would certainly make him more content with his life. Yes, he wanted this! Definitely! Smiling happily at his decision, Harry looked up and down the street before he went to the entrance and stepped into the shop. The small bell above the door tinkled, announcing his presence.

It was shortly before closing hour, and the shop was completely empty, except him. He heard the rolling of the shelf ladder, and only seconds later, Mr. Ollivander, the shop owner, appeared several rungs above the ground with a polite expression that broke into a broad grin upon seeing the Boy Who Lived.

�Ah, Mr. Potter, I wondered how long it would take you to stop staring at my empty shop window and find the entrance,� the wandmaker�s tone was veiled with mild sarcasm, trying to deliver the jibe without offending the black-haired boy. The old man hadn�t changed much during the war, Harry mused. Ollivander had been forced to close his shop shortly before hell had broken free in the wizarding world. During those days, Diagon Alley had not been a safe place, causing several of the most popular shops to abandon their business. Now, though, one year after Harry�s victory, new, trendy shops were popping up all over the place, but all of the Alley�s old favorites were once again open and thriving. If the wandmaker had changed at all, it seemed to Harry, he seemed older, more haggard, and slightly frailer than Harry remembered of the man eight years ago.

�What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?� Ollivander�s cool tone broke through his thoughts. �Surely your wand is not troubling you? Holly and phoenix feather, yours is, eleven inches. You had a good feel for it, even before you knew it was yours.� He stood behind the counter, Harry noticed in surprise. He hadn�t even seen Ollivander had come down from the ladder, and he mentally scolded himself for getting lost in his thoughts too often lately, and then he realized that Ollivander was still waiting for an answer.

�I�I saw your advert in the Daily Prophet this morning, sir,� he replied haltingly, suddenly nervous that perhaps the wandmaker would refuse him or that the position had been filled earlier that day.

�Ah,� the man�s eyes lit up. �So you�ve given up on your plans to become an Auror, then, Potter? I must confess that I approve of that decision.�

One of Harry�s hands absently brushed over the lightning bolt scar, and then he twisted them together. Ollivander was nice enough, he supposed, but sometimes his behavior was rather�odd.

�Not exactly �given up�, sir,� Harry replied, his mouth dry. �Ever since the defeat of Voldemort�� the wandmaker didn�t flinch, and Harry scrunched his eyebrows. �I don�t have a desire to work for the Ministry. I�ve endangered my life long enough, I think, and I don�t really feel like becoming an Auror anymore. Maybe I�ll try later, in five years or so�� The Gryffindor trailed off, not liking the expression on the old man�s face. Had he said something wrong? He recalled what he had said seconds ago, but nothing had been offensive. He didn�t know why Ollivander had stopped smiling.

�Oh, Mr. Potter, if you�re looking for something unperilous, then this will not be the right profession for you. After all, procuring ingredients for wands, integrants, I might say, is not easy. You would travel with a partner, which is less dangerous than traveling alone, but obtaining phoenix feathers, unicorn blood, elf-hair, or Centaur tail hair, to name but a few, is nothing to treat lightly. It is true that it might be a bit tamer than you are used to, but trust that it will be far from �safe�.�

Harry gulped audibly, feeling a slow rise of panic start to well inside him. He thought that his decision was reasonably sure, but hearing Mr. Ollivander�s words made him doubt himself. It sounded fun and exciting, of course, but danger again? Nice and easy sounded good for a while, but the last year had been danger-less but dull. He had taken a little over the first half of the year to heal�both physically and mentally�and at that point, all he had wanted was to get his life back and get away from the media that hunted him worse than the Death Eaters had before. He hadn�t thought much about fighting, protecting, or danger, but then that had led to the second half of the year, which had been excruciatingly long.

The flood of reporters had ebbed down to a sufferable amount and Harry had free-time on his
hand. If he�d have had so much time on his hand while being at school, he thought,
he�d have written nothing but perfect tests and gotten perfect marks, because
he�d have had A LOT of time to study.

Getting a girl- or boyfriend was out of question, as well. It wasn�t like he
hadn�t tried, but many people didn�t dare approach him, because of his
�status�. Once, in a club, a girl had fainted when he had asked her to dance.
Another time a boy had bolted, when he had asked him to dance, all the time
screeching �Oh my god, this is too much. This is too much�. And those people
who didn�t faint, bolt and dare approach him, he soon
found out, were only obsessed with him as �the saviour� or wanted their five
minutes of fame.

All in all the last six months had been horribly lonely. His friends, Ronald
Weasley and Hermione Weasley, n�e Granger, had tried to spend as much time
possible with him, but their jobs kept them busy. Ron had turned his second
childhood dream into reality and run through Auror
training. His first childhood dream, to become professional Quidditch
player, would most likely stay what it was � a dream. Hermione worked at the
ministry, but never really told what exactly she was occupied with, always
saying it was confidential.

�-ter? Mr Potter?� Harry snapped
out of his trance-like state and scolded himself mentally for loosing himself
in his thoughts again.

�I�m sorry, Ollivander.�

�Oh it�s nothing. Why don�t you stroll a bit around the shop to think about
your decision while I close the shop?� Harry nodded. Actually he had come to a
decision already. He wouldn�t survive another year, or even half-year, full of nothingness
and without some action, but obtaining permission to look through shelves laden
with boxes and boxes full of wands was too tempting to tell Olivander
his decision now.

He stepped into the first aisle and was in awe. He couldn�t see the end of the
aisle; the shelves on both sides seemed to go on for ever.

**********

Ollivander looked after Harry Potter until he
vanished inside one of the many magical aisles. If that boy would work for him,
he could be rather sure to get every needed ingredient from every ever so
dangerous place. Before the war, he had felt strong and young enough to travel
the magical world of Great Britain
or Russia, once he had been
in Sweden
as well, but now he felt emaciated.

He was still of unimpaired mental faculties to manufacture wands, but his body�
his body didn�t follow his mind anymore and he thought hiring two young, adventurous
men to get him everything necessary was the best idea he had in a long time.

Ollivander went over to the shop entrance and turned
the �Open � Closed� sign around, showing outwards �Closed � we�re back for you
in 13h 59min 55sec� and the time counted down. He pulled the key out of his
pocket and put the key in the lock.

A knock was heard from outside and pulled him out of his musing and every
evening routine. He looked through the glass of the door, saw a familiar face
and opened the door. The small bell chimed again. �Good evening, Ollivander, is it already due closing hour?�

�Good evening, Mr Malfoy. I hope it�s a good sign to see you so soon again.� Ollivander said good-humoured and received a small smile
from Malfoy, what was more than many people would ever receive.

�Yes, I hope so myself. The post is still vacant?� Draco asked hopefully and
stepped around the small man into the shop.

�Oh, does that mean you made a decision and want to work for me?� Draco only
nodded and Ollivander produced right away a piece of
parchment out of the blue. �That�s wonderful, Mr Malfoy. This is the contract.
The payment will be��

�I don�t care about the payment. I don�t do this for money, but to do
something.� Draco butt in. He pulled out his wand and
signed the contract without reading it, let alone making sure that his name was
written correct.

�Don�t you want to read the contract?� Ollivander
asked stunned, but rolled the parchment up and let it disappear in a small
cloud of smoke.

�No. You can send me a copy to Malfoy manor. I�ve got to go now. I wish you a
good night, Ollivander.� Draco opened the door and
stepped out.

�Ah, Mr Malfoy.� Draco turned around and looked at the
old man that seemed a bit taller now that he had stepped two steps down.
�Please, be here tomorrow morning nine o�clock.� The blond young man nodded and
the older man closed the door slowly.

�Ollivander!� Draco called
and the wand-maker paused. �Eurm,
thank you, for giving me this chance and trusting me.� He apparated away, before the other had a
chance to respond. Ollivander closed the door
and locked it.

�Mr Potter?� The small man called and heard the well-known sound of his shelf
ladder.

�I wanted to do this, since I entered this shop for the first time.� Harry said
happily, when he appeared on the ladder and came to a halt at the beginning of
the shelf. �Did you have another customer yet? I heard the small bell.� The
brunette climbed down the ladder and went over to the shop-owner.

�Ah yes, that was your partner-to-be. That is, if you want the job.�

�Who will be my partner?� Harry asked, not even trying to hide his nosiness.

�Will be? Does that mean wandering my shelves helped you and you made a
decision? But as I already said, it�s no job to expect office work.�

Harry snorted and looked down at Ollivander. �I
thought that much and I want to do it.� The boy-who-lived stretched out his
hand and held it out for the other. �Will I get the job?� Ollivander
took the hand and shook it with a firm grip.

�Yes, Mr Potter, when you�ll have signed this contract�� like before, he
produced a piece of parchment out of the blue. �you�ll
be one half of my two new assistants, providing me with ingredients.� Harry
grabbed the roll of parchment and unrolled it slowly. �The payment will be��

�I don�t care about the payment. I don�t do this for money, but to do
something.� Harry butt in. If Ollivander had a
d�j�-vu he didn�t show it at all.

Unlike Draco, Harry read the contract from first to last line and signed it afterwards
without questions or objections. The wand-maker let the labour contract vanish again
in a puff of smoke and see Harry to the door. �I await you to be here tomorrow
morning at nine o�clock.� Ollivander said while
unlocking and opening the door.

�Alright, Ollivander. Have a
good night.�

Harry waved once more through the closed door and apparated away to his flat in a suburb of London. The moment he felt the floor
under his feet he hit his palm against his forehead. Blimey, he�d forgotten to
ask who his partner would become. Well, he would know it in some hours and it
couldn�t be that bad, could it?

He had made a right decision, a good decision, Harry thought when he went over
to his bathroom and stripped down on the way, leaving a trail of clothes
behind. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Cold water hit him
mercilessly and he jumped aside. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn�t remembered
to wait a moment before stepping under the water jet, not to loose vital body
parts by frostbite.

As soon as the water had a pleasant temperature, close to scalding hot, he
began washing his body and hair. He turned the water off, when he was done and
stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel from the rack he towelled himself,
threw the wet towel over the shower glass door and went out into the living
room � stark naked.

�Harry!� Hermione screeched and the brunette thought his heart would cease to
beat. He looked with huge shocked eyes at his two best friends sitting on his
sofa and tried to cover himself as fast and effectively as possible. �Where
have you been?� the girl yelled. Ron sat next to her, looking like he felt
sorry for Golden Boy.

�Er, under the shower.� Harry said dumbfounded.

�No, you pillock. Where have
you been all day? I�ve tried to fire-call you all day, because we haven�t seen
us for full week.�

�Herm, if you haven�t noticed yet I�m naked and I start freezing.� Harry said
sarcastically, sounding a bit annoyed and embarrassed at the same time.

�Merlin, as if you�ve something I haven�t seen already.� Hermione retorted and
pursed her lips.

�What? You�ve seen Harry naked?� Ron yelled.

�No, Ronald! But seen one, seen �em all.� Hermione
retorted again and rolled her eyes.

�But, but, I don�t look like��

�HEY! Could you please stop discussing my genitals?� Harry cried before he
stormed off to his bedroom. He came out again, wearing jersey pants and muscle
shirt and flopped down on one armchair. �So, why again did you intrude my
home?�

�We didn�t intrude your home!� Hermione said indignantly.

�You�re here. Inside my flat. Without
my consent. - That�s trespass.� Harry said, an
evil smirk on his face.

Hermione�s mouth stood wide open and Ron needed to suppress his laughter.
�That�s� That�s� oh, Harryyyy. AAARGH.
Just tell me where you�ve been.�

The brunette chuckled amused and threw his legs over one armrest. He picked at his
nails as if nothing concerned him. �I was in Hogsmeade
all day and then I got a job.�

This time both his best friend�s mouths stood wide open and he enjoyed the
display with relish. His little revenge for �burgling� his
flat for the umpteenth time. �You� WHAT? Oh, Harry that�s great. What, where will you work?�

�I�ll work for Ollivander and travel around to
get him his ingredients to manufacture wands.�

�That�s so cool.� Ron said.

�Uhum.� Harry answered.

�That�s dangerous.� Hermione said.

�Uhum.� Harry answered.

�You�re nuts.� Hermione said.

�Yeah, I always had such feeling.� Harry said dryly and Hermione glared daggers
at him. �Herm, cool down, I won�t travel alone. I have a partner I�ll get to
know tomorrow.� He could see the relief in the girl�s eyes and needed to bite
the inside of his cheek not to groan or roll his eyes.

About one hour later, the married couple left the flat and Harry grabbed some
food from the fridge and snuggled in a large blanket in front of the telly.

**********

He had been so nervous this morning that he hadn�t eaten breakfast, just the
thought of food nauseated him. And now he stood in front of Ollivander�s,
half an hour early. He had tried to look good, you could never know if your
partner would be a real cutie or maybe handsome. He looked good, not
overdressed, but good. He wore a mint green button-up shirt instead of a
t-shirt and black well-fitting jeans instead of loose-fitting one. The only
thing that drove him up the walls was, as ever, his hair. It was a mess.

In the end he had given up, threw his brush in the bin and apparated
to Diagon Alley, only noticing that he was early when
he stood in front of the closed wand shop. Harry read the small sign in the
door. �Closed � we�re back for you in 00h 29min 14sec�. He was about to turn
around and look for something to do for the next 30minutes, when the door
opened and Ollivander yelled from the inside. �Come
in. It looks like rain.�

Harry didn�t need to think twice. He took the two steps and went into the shop
that looked so small from the outside, and closed the door with another chime
of the small golden bell. �Good morning, Ollivander.�
He called into the empty shop.

�Good morning, Mr Potter.� The wand-maker looked out of one aisle. �Aren�t you
a bit early?� Harry smiled sheepishly. �Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?�
The small man asked and a bar stool appeared next to the counter that Harry
could sit easy.

�Yes, coffee would be wonderful, thank you.� A loud rumble was heard outside
and in a blink of an eye, rain fell in sheets. Harry took the bar stool and
sighed in relief. By now he would have been drenched, if Ollivander
hadn�t let him in. The sky was pitch-black and was only relumined
with lightning that was closely followed by thunder.

�A nice way to start a new job.�, Harry thought. Ollivander appeared with a mug of hot steaming coffee, a
sugar basin and coffee cream on a small tray. �Thank you, but don�t you drink
one as well?� Harry asked confused and poured a bit coffee cream in his coffee.

�Nah, the caffeine isn�t good for my�� they were interrupted by the small bell.
Golden Boy looked over to the entrance and saw a tall, lean figure clad in
black stepping into the shop. His face was hidden under the hood of his cloak
and the water dripped off the fabric and pooled on the floor in a small puddle.

Harry stared flagrantly and thought that he just had witnessed the sexiest
made-for-a-movie appearance ever. �Good morning, Ollivander.�
The foreigner said and Harry tried not to think anything. What if the other was
ugly or even worse, dumb as a pole?

�Good morning, Mr Malfoy. Seems like the weather wasn�t on your side, huh?�

�MR MALFOY???�, Harry�s mind screamed at him. This
couldn�t� this wasn�t� no, no, there were more Malfoy�s around, right? RIGHT? This couldn�t be� The foreigner took his hood down�
it was� bollocks� it really was Draco sodding Malfoy
with all his blond hair and pale skin and grey eyes.

Harry groaned loudly and slammed his head on the counter top. He had thought of
Malfoy as sexy. Yuck! The green eyed young man lifted his head after a moment
and looked into two pairs of eyes that watched him suspiciously. �Mr Potter, Mr
Malfoy� Ollivander said when he procured another bar
stool for Malfoy and placed it on the other end of the counter. �I think you
know each other. And now you will become my two assistants.� The small man
vanished again to get another coffee.

He felt Malfoy�s eyes on him and wanted to slam his head back on the top. What
had he done to deserve this? Was god that angry with him? He lifted his eyes
and stared back at the git in black.

�Potter.� Malfoy said and Harry didn�t know what he
should make of it. The Slytherin prick had said his name neither with contempt
nor with any niceness. Was he bloody Switzerland, or why did he keep it
neutral?

�Malfoy.� He said and tried too to put no emotion in
this one word. The blond only smirked and Harry thought he was back at
Hogwarts. All the emotions that only a Malfoy could create in him flared up
again. Malfoy�s smirk only broadened when he glared at the snake and suddenly
it dawned on Harry.

The bloody git toyed with him; he wanted to see Harry erupt because of him. The
brunette�s anger vanished at once and a smirk appeared on his lips that
rivalled Malfoy�s.

�Someone cheered too soon. No way will that happen ever again, Malfoy.� Harry
thought when he brought his mug to his lips, never leaving Malfoy out of his
eyes.

-

- -

- - -

REVIEWS taste like chocolate! I like
chocolate.

THANKS FOR READING!

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It's Just 12 Inches of Wood