An Interference of Portraits

A Blast from the Past

A/N I love this casting of Timothee Chalomet as Regulus Black <3

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It was only after I had wandered away that I realised the stranger in Merrion Square had addressed me by my name, despite my never introducing myself. I sighed, wondering how long before something got into the papers. And then I thought that maybe it wouldn't.

I stopped at a bookshop on the way back to the hotel and found a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray. But when I got back to our twin room, I found that Draco's stuff was gone and I could only assume that he must have returned to London. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I still didn't understand why he'd got so upset with me but I felt sad and I missed him and I wanted to tell him about the man in the hat with his green carnation. I liked what the man had to say. It had given me something to think about on my walk back to the hotel. So much so, that I walked back along Temple Bar without even considering the crowds on the streets until I got to our hotel.

I only saw Draco once in the next twelve days, but that wasn't to speak to, and nor did I hear from him, though I repeatedly hoped he might come by to use the office or somehow end up at mine for dinner.

The day I saw him, I was upstairs on the top floor of the house, attacking the last bedroom and finally getting through the junk to reach the window. As I looked out, I saw his familiar white-blond hair. He was sitting in the central railed garden area in the middle of Grimmauld Place between the four-sides of identical tall Georgian terraces. He was looking up at the space where my house should be.

I charged downstairs, pleased and relieved to finally see him.

I flung open the front door and—

'HARRY!' I was greeted by a 6'4'', strawberry-blond, Dutchman with a rucksack as he stepped into view. I'd last seen him in New Zealand.

My heart sank.

'Johan?'

'Hi, man...'

'Hi?' I said, confused. 'How did you find me? Find the house?'

'You'd mentioned Grimmauld Place, London. So I came here and hung around because I didn't know which number. Then everything shifted and you opened the door... Pretty neat spells, man...' he said, stepping forward with his arms wide for a hug.

I glanced towards the bench where Draco had been sitting. He was nowhere to be seen but there was a tell-tale wisp of Apparition grey smoke lingering where he'd been.

'I missed you, man,' and Johan was sweeping me into a huge bearhug on my front step.

I sighed heavily. And ushered him inside quickly. He simply dumped his rucksack and jacket in the middle of the hallway, much to my annoyance.

'It's meant to be an Unplottable house,' I said, irritated by the turn in events.

He shrugged and grinned happily. 'I guessed. I hung around a bit yesterday too. Glad it wasn't so long today. So good to see you, Harry,' and to my horror, he was leaning in for a full-on kiss on the lips.

'Sure, you too,' I said, ducking out of the way and heading down to the kitchen before The Portraits caught whiff of something unusual and wanted to interfere. 'Last I heard, you were in Mongolia.'

'Yeah, then I woke up one morning and kinda realised I was lonely and missing you, so I thought I'd travel back across northern European and head to England to find you...' he said, following me through the house. 'I thought it couldn't be that difficult, seeing as I had part of your address.

'Oh... coffee?' I offered.

'A beer would be great.'

It was at that point that Mr Kreacher appeared and started to arrange drinks for me and Johan.