The Manor

Doomed

Harry and Jed were in the office when Draco reappeared.

'It will cost an extra 100,000 Galleons to do the roof,' Harry said without preamble.

'Okay,' said Draco.

'Just "okay"?' Harry said.

'Yes.'

'Draco, I can't agree to this without some sort of guarantee. I can't have you leaving me high and dry.'

Draco walked out and then returned five minutes later with two large hessian bags full of galleons. He heaved them onto Harry's desk. 'That's half now, you can have the other half on completion.'

Both Harry's and Jed's mouths were open.

'What?' Draco said with an air of smugness.

'You just happen to have 50,000 galleons on you in cash.'

'I get paid in cash. Gringotts and the Ministry have been somewhat light-fingered with my money since the war. It's safer this way.'

Jed blinked.

Harry picked up the bags and said, 'I'll put these in the safe for the time being. Jed, that's a go ahead. I'll get the plans drawn up and submitted to the Ministry by the end of the day.'

At least, if Draco didn't have the other half, he'd be able to pull the difference together with a bit of careful manipulation of his funds.

Draco smiled, looking very pleased with himself.

When Jed left, Harry said, 'do you have any other spare change you want putting in the safe? I trust these guys with my life but it's still not a good idea to have that sort of money lying around. When I go to London, I'll talk to Bill and sort out a new bank account for you. How much money has gone missing?'

'There's no point, Harry.'

'There's every point. Plus, you should be earning interest on this.'

'I'm well aware.'

Harry sighed.

He spent the afternoon at his draughtsman's table, drawing up the plans for what he wanted. Occasionally, Draco would lean in and tell him to change something but mostly they sat in awkward silence. Then Luna turned up and they discussed the new floor arrangement. Finally, Harry disappeared off on his motorbike to London to submit the plans in person and to visit Gringotts.

The good news was Harry's contact in the planning office agreed to the changes straightaway.

'We don't need to worry others about the additional roof space,' Webberley said dismissively. 'The Manor's tucked away from sight and doesn't exactly overshadow anyone. And your designs aren't ruining the integrity of the building, Mr Potter.'

Sometimes, Harry's name had its benefits. Well, a lot of the time. He supposed it was the Slytherin side of him and, these days, he wasn't ashamed of using it to his advantage.

That night, Ron and Hermione came over for supper and Draco disappeared into his Potion's Lab.

'Bloody hell, what's he doing here?' said Ron.

Harry scrubbed a hand through his hair, messing it up more than usual. He wasn't sure where to start with that explanation.

'Just checking up on what I'm doing, I suppose. It was his home, after all.'

'Is he staying with you?' Ron asked.

'Yeah, you could say that.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow. 'And now the actual version of events, Harry.'