- Hp Dong Nhan Eng Seven Years Too Late Chap 6

Tùy Chỉnh

Harry tasted of coffee and minty toothpaste and Draco opened his mouth to accept the Gryffindor's tongue, kissing him back before he could remember all the reasons why he shouldn't be standing in his kitchen kissing Harry Potter. 

Those reasons were supposed to be hovering right there in his mind at the ready, but before he even had the chance to catch up to what was going on, the be spectacled Auror was lifting his head. 

Draco felt like his brain was operating on only half a cylinder when Harry pulled his radio off his hipand talked into it. Naturally, he'd been losing his mind and Potter had been perfectly capable ofhearing his radio. He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment then brushed his fingers through his pale hair. Gathering his composure took effort. 

"I have to go," Harry stated awkwardly.

Draco's lips twisted. "Of course you do. It's what I've been expecting you to do all along." 

The Auror wouldn't be leaving just his house, either. Before long, he'd leave Little Whinging, as well. The blond knew it down in his bones. Harry Potter and the town of Little Whinging were not destined to grow old together, any more than Draco had been destined for something other than heartache where the Gryffindor was concerned. 

His gaze flicked to the phone that hung on the wall when it suddenly rang. 

"Early caller," Harry stated. 

"That's ironic coming from you, don't you think? Considering that you're standing here in my kitchenat this hour." Draco snatched up the telephone. 

"Hello?"

"Meet me in two hours." The call severed, and though the voice had been abrupt, Draco still recognized the caller. Brody Paine. His face paled. Aware of Harry watching him, Draco hung up and tried to look nonchalant.

"Wrong number," he shrugged. 

'He's lying' Harry thought. 'Why?' 

The Gryffindor had his own duties to take care of. Ones he wouldn't shirk. If there was one thing Harry knew about, it was taking responsibility for things. There were only two people in Harry's life that he'd failed, and one of them had just lied, for unfathomable reasons, about the phone call he'd just received. Indulging his curiosity would have to wait, though. 

"I'll let you know about Eli's schoolwork if he's not feeling better by Monday." 

"Fair enough," Draco replied, his voice careful because he didn't want to spar with him over his
son's supposed cheating. 

The blond sidled past him in the small kitchen and walked through the living room. 

Draco waited at the front door, going through the motions of showing him out, without uttering
another peep. The second Harry was out on the porch, the door shut behind him with a click.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later Harry had just arrived at the new supermarket on the far side of town to deal witha fender bender. Seeing how he was supposed to be a normal police officer doing normal policemanduties he had no choice but to take the call. 

Lifting his head from his notebook that he had been writing the two upset motorists statements on, he saw the familiar little blue sedan barrel into the parking lot. 

Harry scratched his name on the report and climbed out of his warm vehicle to finish dealing withthe annoyed drivers involved in the minor accident and send them on their way. 

Draco's blue sedan was still parked in the lot when he finished, so he hooked his radio on his belt and headed toward the entrance of the store. 

Inside, the place was fairly bustling. Clerks were stocking special holiday displays, and Christmas music was coming from the speakers. This store hadn't been there when Harry had lived in Little Whinging. It was one of the additions to come after he had come of age and left the Dursley's for good. 

There was a small coffee counter near the entrance of the supermarket and he bought himself a tall cup of the hot and strong beverage, sipping it as he hung around watching the shoppers. He garnered as many curious looks as he did friendly smiles, and his coffee was about a third down when he spotted Draco entering one of the checkout lines behind a tall brown haired guy and a thin girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old. 

Draco wasn't paying much attention to the man, who was unloading his basket for the clerk, but he was giving the girl plenty of it, seeming to be talking a mile a minute. When the guy had paid for his two plastic bags of purchases, Draco put down his bag of – Harry angled his head, trying to see better - flour. It had sure taken him a while to choose one large bag of flour. 

Draco was giving a friendly wave to the girl, who was following the guy right past Harry. He wasn't sure, at first, what made him take second stock of the man as he took the girl's hand in his and left the store. Maybe it was the way the guy seemed to be cataloguing his environment as thoroughly as Harry did when he was on assignment.

From his position near the sliding glass entrance, Harry watched the two cross the parking lot. They got into a late model short bed, parked two spots down from Draco's sedan.

"What are you doing here?"

Harry looked back at Draco. There was probably something wrong in the way he took perverse
pleasure in the blond's annoyance. 'Just like in the old days', Harry thought with a wry grin.

"Drinking my coffee, sir."

Draco's lips firmed and he sniffed. 

"Too bad they don't sell donuts at the coffee counter, too."

Harry twitched a smile. "Never been one for donuts. I used to leave that for Dean."

Surprise lifted Draco's eyebrows. "You didn't used to mention your partner so easily."

Dean Thomas was Harry's first partner when he had first joined the Aurors. Now he refused one,
although he did work with the others from time to time, mostly Ron and Terry.

"His death was a long time ago," Harry intoned with a shrug.

"Yeah," Draco said. "I remember."

Harry would have been surprised if Draco hadn't remembered, considering how messed up he'd been about it. Aside from the Ministry shrink he'd been forced to see because of his guilt, Draco was the only one with whom he'd been able to voluntarily talk about it with.

Admitting to the blond that his partner had caught an Avada Kedavra during what should have been a routine follow up on an investigative lead that Harry had uncovered hadn't been easy. And he'd never been able to admit to the blond that he'd felt bound to help the ones Dean had left behind.

Ginny and Eli.

It was odd how things worked out. Ginny had dated Dean at the end of fifth year at Hogwarts and then broke up with him in sixth. Harry had then dated her for awhile before calling it quits, fearing that he was putting her in danger with Voldemort if he stayed with her. Dean and Ginny had then gotten back together just before all hell had broken loose in the wizarding world and had been madly in love. He was sure they still would have been together till this day if he hadn't dragged the other Gryffindor into the line of fire so to speak.

He jerked his chin toward the bag in Draco's hand, wanting to think of something else. 

"Findb yourself in sudden need of flour, did you?"

Draco's pale lashes swept down. "I'm making cookies for the school fundraiser next weekend."

"What kind?"

"The money raising kind," the blond drawled. 

"Want to donate something? We sell Christmas decorations and craft projects, all sorts of things. Raffle tickets, too."

"What kind of cookies," Harry asked again, totally amazed that the blond knew how to bake.

"Why?" Draco asked with a sneer. "Are you the cookie police now, too?"

"Just curious," Harry shrugged. "My favourite is peanut butter, but the way."

Draco's lips twisted. "I'll be sure to make oatmeal raisin then."

Harry stopped himself from grinning and when Draco turned around to acknowledge someone
calling his name, he thought he caught the blond fighting one, as well.

Draco waved to the two boys and their harried looking mother then turned back to Harry.

"They were students of mine from last year, twins. They were a handful in class. Still can't imagine what they're like at home."

"Double the trouble," Harry answered thinking of Fred and George Weasley.

"Who was the guy in line?"

Draco looked away. "What guy?"

"The one in front of you, with the little girl," Harry replied.

"Oh, him, they're new in town," Draco stated off handedly.

"How recent?"

Draco shook his head, shrugging. "I don't know, a few months. He's some sort of freelance writer, I think. Doesn't come into town much."

"Does the girl go to your school?" Harry continued to question.

"Megan? Not yet." Draco shifted the flour sack. 

"Her dad told me that his wife died this past summer. He says that Megan's not ready for school, so he's home schooling her. That's how I know him. I've, um, given him some school materials for her," Draco told the Gryffindor, reciting the agreed upon cover story.

Harry drained the rest of his coffee and dropped the cup in the trash bin behind him. Something felt odd, even though what Draco had said certainly sounded plausible. Call it Auror's instinct. Harry reached for the bag in the blond's hands.

"Twenty pounds of flour seems a lot for cookies."

"I make a lot of cookies," Draco drawled as he surrendered the bag to him and sailed out the sliding door, walking quickly to his car, flipping the collar of his coat up around his neck. The blond was tall, but Harry was a good three inches taller and he kept up with the Slytherin
easily. 

"You never did answer my question this morning, Draco."

The Slytherin yanked open his unlocked car door and didn't pretend that he didn't understand as to what question Harry was referring to. 

"I told you that my love life was none of your business." 

He grabbed the flour from the Gryffindor and heaved it inside the car. A small puff of white powder shot out of the bag. Draco muttered an oath and slid behind the wheel, swiping his hand over the passenger seat to dust away the bit of flour that had escaped and settled on the seat.

Harry stepped in the way of the door, preventing him from closing it on him and he leaned down.

"Are you involved with someone now?"

Draco fumbled with his keys, trying to fit one into the ignition. 

"What if I am? Will that give you reason enough to leave me alone?"

"The only thing that would do that," Harry told him. 

"Would be a wedding ring on your finger, and I don't happen to see one."

With every passing hour, The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Become-Hero seemed to be increasingly glad for that fact. Draco finally succeeded with the key, and cranked the engine over. 

"Move away, then, so I can go buy myself one."

The corner of Harry's lips lifted.

"Go bug someone else, Potter. I have things to do." Harry couldn't help the smile that was taking over his face. 

"Cookies to bake; peanut butter."

Draco put the car into gear and Harry hastily stepped away from the door, but he still saw the
triumphant grin the blond gave when he pulled the door shut and finished backing out of the
parking spot. A moment later, he was buzzing down the row of cars and turning out onto the
highway.

Harry strode to his unit and climbed behind the wheel. He pulled out his magically charmed cell phone and dialed Ron's matching one at the Ministry of Magic.

"I need to know everything there is to know about a supposed freelance writer with a daughter named Megan. The girls being home schooled, lost her mother recently." Harry described the man and girl, their muggle vehicle and gave Ron the license plate. He wasn't sure if anything would come of it, but his suspicious were aroused.

Ron's voice crackled through the line. 

"Where'd he come from? Do you think he's a Death Eater?"

"I'm not sure, but something's up. Can you do it?"

"I'm on it, mate," Ron affirmed before hanging up.

Harry sat there, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he watched the comings and goings in the parking lot. The idea that he might one day be investigating the possible appearance of

Severus Snape who seemed to be affiliated with the trafficking of some strange drug or potion to muggles in Little Whinging, of all places, would never have occurred to him. Now the possibility of some unknown Death Eater popping up, it was just too weird a coincidence. And Harry didn't trust weird coincidences.

It seemed like small towns all over Britain seemed to be the preferred hiding places of those dark wizards and witches, probably because they weren't comfortable being around too many muggles such as what would be in a large city, even though a larger town would make them harder to find.

Little Whinging was merely the latest where Harry had been sent, and given his history with the town, he'd been awarded the assignment of uncovering Snape's hiding place and the reason behind this drug, and the duty to eliminate it. Harry had been glad he hadn't had to explain himself when he asked to go. The ministry officials had just nodded, no questions asked, besides he had a score to settle with the Potions Master.

His cell phone buzzed. "Harry, here."

"His name is Brody Paine, a half blood wizard." Ron stated from the other end of the line. 

"But he's off the grid. I can't find anything else about him at all. How'd he cross your path?"

"He didn't," Harry returned. 

'Not yet, anyway.' If there was one thing Harry knew, it was that this

Brody Paine was either one with the dark, or something unknown, and no matter how Draco made it seem, there was something going on.

XXXXXXXXXX

On Monday, Eli Potter was back in class with a vengeance. It didn't seem to matter what tack Draco took with the boy; he was bound and determined to cause mischief. Oh, he was good at it, reminding Draco of himself. The Slytherin never caught him flagrantly in the act. 

He didn't actually see him smear glue on Chrissy's desk chair. He didn't actually see him exchange the lunch meat in Jonathan's sandwich with rubber erasers. He didn't actually see him do anything, but by the afternoon recess, Draco's students were practically at each other's throats.

Finally, during the kid's chorus practice, Draco called Harry.

"Has he had trouble adjusting to his mother's death?" Draco asked after relaying the problem to a surprised Harry. It wasn't something that had really occurred to him until Brody's panicked call that weekend. Megan, whose real parents had been killed recently, had been giving him fits. Yet when Draco had met them at their agreed upon place, the supermarket through which everyone in town eventually passed, the child had seemed perfectly fine and typically quiet to the blond.

"He did at first," Harry admitted reluctantly. 

"Ginny's cancer was so sudden, but I had him in counselling. I don't think Eli handled the loss in any unusual way, or that he put off grieving his mother. It was over a year ago now."

Draco sighed. Maybe it was something about him that Eli was taking exception to. 

"I'll talk to him about it," Harry's voice traveled down the line sounding less than pleased and a bit dismissive.

"Listen, my judgement isn't off on this," Draco responded a bit huffily, responding to Harry's tone.

"I said I'll take care of it. Anything else?"

Draco frowned, his blood boiling with irritation. "I guess not."

"Thank you for informing me of the problem," Harry said in a clipped tone before hanging up.

Draco looked at the buzzing receiver with a scowl before putting it back on its cradle. Maybe if he
talked to Eli himself after school today he might be able to figure out the problem. Stupid Potter
didn't seem to believe that there was one, so that left it to him to help the boy. The blond thought that maybe if Eli was out of the school environment, away from the other kids, he might open up to him. 

It was worth a try at least.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Eli, I'd like you to wait, please," Draco told the boy after the final bell had rung

He shot his teacher a wary look, his backpack halfway to his shoulders. 

"My dad's expecting me."

"I know," Draco stated. 

"I promise this won't take long."

Eli's lips pursed. He dropped the backpack into the cubby attached to his table and flopped down on his seat. His gaze followed the other children who were making their typical mad dash home for the day.

Draco waited until the classroom was empty and utterly silent. He didn't look at Eli, he just picked up the erasers that Jonathan had pulled out of his sandwich, and walked over to Eli's desk where he set the items. Sadly, for poor Jonathan, one of the erasers had teeth marks in it.

"I believe these are yours."

Eli wrinkled his nose, picking up the eraser with the bite taken out of it. "Gross."

"I think so." Draco returned to his desk and began packing up his book bag. 

"Fasten your coat. We're going."

"Where?" Eli questioned, his tone suspicious. As well it might be, given his behavior. 

"Home," Draco responded.

"You're not keeping me after school?"

"I'm going to walk you home," Draco told the amazed boy.

Eli's jaw dropped a full inch. "But, why?"

"Take a guess," Draco returned dryly.

The eight year old groaned a little. His teacher was going to take him home and then tell his father everything he had done and he'd probably get a non-stop lecture all the way. He zipped up his parka, though, and shouldered his backpack. 

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he grumbled.

Draco pulled on his coat, but tossed his scarf into his book bag. Since the snowstorm that had hit, the weather had climbed back up to a more tolerable and usual temperature.

Eli shuffled along beside the blond as they left the school building. 

"Don't you got a car?" He asked when Draco didn't turn toward the parking lot.

"Have a car," Draco corrected. "And yes, I do, though I don't need it for coming to school." 

He pointed across the school yard. "I live over there, across the street from the park. Students aren't the only ones who walk to school."

"Weird." Eli squinted, as if the idea had never before occurred to him.

Slipping the strap of his bag over his shoulder, Draco pushed his bare hands into the pockets of his coat. "Do you like Halloween?"

Eli shrugged. "It's okay."

"It's one of my favourite days."

"More than Christmas?" Eli questioned as he kicked his shoe against a mound of snow, scattering it.

"Well, maybe not Christmas, but it's a close second," Draco grinned.

"You get to dress up and get candy, but you don't get presents."

"That's true," Draco chuckled and then pointed. "Let's sit on the swings for a sec."

"You're a teacher," Eli stated. "Swings are for the kids."

"Well as it happens, I like swings and you never get to old for them," Draco smirked, his voice droll.

"So I reserve the right to still use them when I feel the urge."

Eli shook his head as if he found his blond teacher increasingly odd.

Draco dropped his book bag on a patch of gravel where the snow had melted away, then slipped
onto one of the swings. The cold, metal chains screeched at the movement. He managed not to
wince.

Eli, however, found the sound fascinating, for he took possession of the swing next to Draco and made a point of swinging back and forth, causing a similar noise.

"So, I suppose you know what I want to talk with you about."

The boy didn't stop swinging. "I guess."

"Eli, I want to help you. I really do. I don't want to see you expelled from school. You've just arrived here."

He didn't reply and Draco hid a sigh. 

"You know," the blond continued. 

"Your dad thinks that I'm the problem and if he's right, I'd like to make things better." He tipped his toe against the snowy ground, pushing the swing back several inches. The cold chains groaned again.

"That's 'cause you gotta. It's your job." 

"Actually..." Draco lifted his toe and let the swing glide forward. 

"...if I were sticking to the rules of my job, you'd have already been at least suspended."

"Then how come I'm not?" Eli questioned.

Draco dug in his toe again, pushed back until his boot barely reached the ground, swayed forward once more. "I don't know. I guess I kind of like you." 

The fact of the matter was that Eli Potter reminded Draco of himself in a lot of ways.

"Better than the other kids?" the boy asked curiously.

"I like all of my students," Draco assured him diplomatically. "What was your mom like?"

At that, Eli shot him a surprised look. 

"Why?"

"I'm curious."

"Why?" the boy asked again.

"Because you're my student and I'm interested." 'Because your father was married to her' Draco thought, but he couldn't say that. 

He was having enough trouble trying to get to the bottom of Eli's issues without his own emotions being added into the mix.  Eli let out a sigh much too large for a boy of his size and despite himself, Draco's heart squeezed.

"She smelled good," he said finally. "Like...like summer days."

Draco let his swing go still.

"Grandma Molly doesn't smell like Mom did," Eli went on.

"Do you see a lot of your grandma Molly?" Draco asked softly.

"I guess. I spent the nights there when Dad had to work. She'd cook all the time. Dad just orders
takeout. Not that there's something wrong with takeout," Eli hurried to defend his father. 

"Mom ordered it a lot, too. You know. 'Cause my dad worked a lot. Before we came here, he usually had to travel a lot to different places." 

Eli was being honest. He knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about his dad being a wizard and an Auror and even though he knew his teacher was also from that world, he thought it best to just skip talk of magic stuff. 

Draco moistened his lips. "I imagine you must miss your mother a lot." 

The blond had that in common with the boy, too.

Eli's lashes lowered, avoiding his teachers gaze. He pushed the swing a little higher.

"If I ask you a question, will you be honest answering me?" Draco questioned.

Eli's knees bent as the swing sailed backward. "What?"

Draco watched him swing forward again and stood from his own swing. When the boy's swing pelted backward, the blond stepped in the path and caught the chains when he plowed forward, stopping him in midair.

"Cool," Eli breathed.

Draco held him there until the boy's eyes met his grey ones. Not necessarily an easy task, because the wiry boy was heavier than he'd have thought. 

"Do you dislike me for some reason?"

A shadow came and went in those brown eyes. 

"No," Eli replied, his voice low and Draco believed him. Not until that moment had he let himself acknowledge how concerned he'd been that the boy's actions were about him.

Draco let out a soft sigh. "Okay." 

He stepped out of the way and the swing dipped forward, finishing its arc.

"How come you haven't turned me in to the principal?"

Eli's voice was barely audible as he dug his feet into the ground, trying to pick up speed once more. Draco eyed him. Eli straightened his legs as the swing went forward, and put his entire body into it as he swung backward. 

"Would you have preferred it if I had?" 

"Least my dad couldn't ignore that." Eli suddenly let loose of the chains and sailed out of the swing, jumping to the ground. He landed on his feet, but barely.

"Eli!" Draco ran over to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Merlin, Draco hadn't even brought his wand with him today. If the boy had fallen... The blond
crouched beside him, balanced on his heels. 

"Did you hurt yourself?"

Eli just shook his head. "I'm fine, all I did was jump."

Draco looked up to the clear sky. All he'd done was jump, same as he used to do when he'd been a kid, same as he'd seen dozens of other children do. Somehow, it had never made his heart simply stop before. 

'Merlin, I'm getting old.' "Right. So what do you mean about your dad?"

The faint breeze plucked at the fine dark strands of the young boy's hair. 

"When my mom was around, he used to lecture me when I got into trouble." He chewed at his lip. 

"She said it's 'cause he loved me."

"And now?" Draco asked, fearing the answer.

Eli lifted his shoulder in his signature shrug. "And now he doesn't care."

"Oh, Eli," Draco breathed sadly. He managed not to hug him, though he suddenly wanted to, badly.

"Of course your dad cares."

"He only dragged me here with him 'cause he had to," the boy complained.

"I'm sure he has you with him because he wants you with him."

Eli rolled his eyes, but Draco caught the glisten in them and knew the uncaring act was completely and totally feigned, just as his had been when he'd been at Hogwarts. 

"He is only here for a while," Eli admitted. 

"We're going back home when his work is over. He said so."

The revelation shouldn't have been a shock for Draco, yet it still settled inside him, dark and
unpalatable.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Draco jerked and very nearly fell off his heels as the harsh question accosted them. Harry was
striding toward them. The blond could see his cruiser parked on the street. 

Draco gave Eli's shoulder a slight squeeze, and pushed himself to his feet. "Harry."

The irate Auror barely spared his son a glance. 

"Get in the car, Eli." Harry waited until his son was well on his way toward the vehicle before he spoke again. 

"Care to explain yourself, Malfoy?"

His voice was tight, abrupt and his eyes were like shards of green glass.

Anger, Draco hadn't expected. "Eli and I were talking."

"Ever think that you should have consulted his father before you took off with him?"

Draco's lips parted. He made a point of looking around the wide open grounds of the park within
eyesight of the school. "I hardly consider this taking off."

"When you don't have my permission, I don't care if you were just stepping off the parking lot curb at the school."

Draco winced. "Potter, come on, this isn't Knockturn Alley here."

Harry snorted. "And you think that makes it all right? Didn't I tell you I'd handle this myself?"

Draco could have argued, but he could see the boy's face from where he was standing. Eli had
stopped midway to his father's police cruiser and was watching them, worry written over his
features. 

"You're right," the blond returned quietly. 

"I should have spoken with you first, my apologies."

Harry's eyes narrowed, as if he didn't quite know how to take Draco's abrupt agreement. The blond walked over to the swings and picked up his book bag. This time it was Harry who was walking away from him when he took a look back.