Expecting The Unexpected

Chapter Seven - Christmas

Harry and Draco emerged from the Hogwarts Express, both feeling excited. Draco's excitement, Harry assumed, was down to seeing his mother in a couple of hours' time. But, whilst Harry would be lying if he said he said he wasn't really looking forward to seeing Andromeda and Teddy, his excitement was all for the two weeks he had ahead with Draco.

He said goodbye to Ron, Hermione and Ginny (who had ridden the Express to keep Harry company, and were all Apparating to The Burrow from King's Cross), and promised them he'd see them on Boxing Day. He saw Ginny saying an emotional goodbye to Neville and didn't so much as feel a pang of jealousy. As soon as his friends had Disapparated, he turned to Draco with a grin.

"Ready to conquer your fears about Muggle transport?" he asked. Draco swallowed but nodded. They stepped through the magical barrier and emerged onto the Muggle side of King's Cross.

Unwilling to make a large Floo journey due to the nasty nausea and sickness it caused, Harry had convinced Draco to travel to Andromeda's via Muggle train, pleading with him that the Floo journey to The Burrow on Boxing Day would be more than enough for him. Draco had agreed, as Harry knew he would, and it lightened his heart to know that Draco was doing this for him, despite clearly hating it. He fumbled with the notes in his wallet and stood in front of the automatic ticket machine in slight confusion (what did he know about travel 'zones'?) but eventually managed to purchase Underground tickets.

"You sure the Muggles won't notice your bump?" Draco said in a low tone as he and Harry headed for the escalators.

"They don't notice anything. They're Londoners," Harry replied. "Look." And true to Harry's words, hundreds of Muggles were bustling around them, hurrying down escalators and full-speed, clearly desperate to catch the next train rather than wait a whole two minutes for another one, or had their nose buried deeply in their copy of the Metro. No one was looking at, or in any other way interacting with, anyone else around them. "Besides, if any do notice, they're hardly going to think I'm pregnant, are they? They'll just think I'm a bit tubby around the waist. But this coat hides most of the bump anyway."

Harry quickly explained how the Tube map worked, and showed Draco where they were and where they needed to get to, which was Waterloo Station. After deciding they needed to change at Oxford Circus, Harry led Draco to the Victoria Line. He realised that Draco was breathing heavily and was slightly panicked.

"For someone who spent as much time underground in the Slytherin Dungeons as you, I'd have thought you'd be used to this," Harry teased good-naturedly. Draco glared but didn't answer.

They stepped onto the southbound platform which had a couple of hundred Muggles already waiting. They'd managed to arrive in London bang in the middle of the evening rush hour. The closeness of all the people was making Harry very hot and uncomfortable; there was no fresh air circulating on the platform. He became aware of the familiar sickness in his stomach that he'd not felt for a few weeks now, and also a little faint, and suddenly wished they'd taken the Floo after all. Draco must have realised, for he reached into his rucksack and pulled out a bottle of water, perfectly chilled, which Harry accepted gratefully. He also felt a cool breeze wash over him, and noticed the tip of Draco's wand poking discreetly out of his sleeve. Harry could have kissed him.

Just then he heard a low rumble, and in the next moment a train shot out of the tunnel, filling the entire length of the platform. "That's a train? Where's the engine, the steam?" he heard Draco sneer, but Harry ignored him, pulling him instead towards the doors.

Everyone tried to push into the train before letting others off, then, once on, ignored the driver speaking over the intercom instructing passengers to fill up all the space inside the carriages and not stand right in the doorways. He saw a sign, 'Please give up this seat for the elderly, disabled, or pregnant women ' and laughed wryly. He could have killed for a seat right now.