RP: Avoiding the crowds

[rar_draco]

Date: March 13, 1999
Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter
Location: Hogsmeade
Status: Private
Summary: Draco is avoiding Diagon Alley, and he runs into an old enemy
Completion: Incomplete

It was worse today, he suspected, than it had been yesterday. He'd had to leave Diagon Alley simply because of the pressure of the glares pointed in his direction, so

Comments

[rar_harry]

Harry realised just how long it had been since he'd been to Hogsmeade. During NEWT courses, he'd got so used to coming here more days than not, and going to the park. It had been about two weeks since he'd even brought Dodger here. So, now that it was time to stock up on sweets and quills, he'd gone to Hogsmeade instead of Diagon.

Yesterday's NEWT results had put him in a great mood. Last night, he'd celebrated on the roof with Ron and Hermione (and some firewhiskey), just talking about everything and nothing. What a load off; now he and Ron would both be able to apply for Auror training. It was with a grin that he went into Scrivenshafts, catching the door just before it closed behind the person who'd just walked in. He was inside before he realised who it was.

"Malfoy? What're you doing in town; thought you moved back to the palace."

[rar_draco]

Draco became aware of Harry moments before he spoke to him; and watched him in those unguarded moments as he came in through the door behind him, very aware of just how...human he was. The moment suspended, just temporarily, and then ended as Potter spoke, reminding Draco that this wasn't a normal person; this was Harry Potter, the kind of person people noticed in the streets and didn't want to take a long walk off a short cliff. A hero. And yet he certainly made no effort to look the part -- his hair was as messy as ever. Somehow, having to think of Potter as being human made his own failings in comparisson stand out a little brighter.

Draco snorted derisively.

"And I thought you lived in London," he said, "Apparently, we both prefer shopping in less crowded venues. Do you have a problem with that, Potter?"

[rar_harry]

Harry shrugged; it was, he supposed, a fair point. "Just figured you'd have everything you'd ever want at the Manor. Complete with peacocks," he lifted a brow and stood aside slightly as a woman brushed past him. "Anyway, I've never been one for crowds."

Shaking his head, he added carefully, "No real mystery why you'd be lying low, I reckon."

[rar_draco]

"Do you use a communal toothbrush?" Draco asked, pointedly, stepping back out of the path to the door and peering at Potter. "No; you have your own. The same goes for quills. There's a certain...comfort in having your own. Caesar destroyed my best eagle feather quill this morning; crowds or not, I have to replace it -- it's Goyle's birthday today, and he'll be expecting me to write."

Draco met Potter's eyes briefly, and then nodded, just slightly. "I wish the Daily Prophet would decide which side of the fence they wish to be on and stay there. One moment, I am being supported; the next, I may as well be Bellatrix herself, for all they care." It was almost hypocritical of him to resent it; the parallels between his situation and the one Potter had been in in were not the slightest bit different. He almost laughed at the similarities, but decided at the last moment that it wasn't actually the slightest bit funny.