Deeper Than Blood

Chapter 6

It was hard to believe that it had been a week already. Harry had taken Narcissa's advice and took all the potions she provided him with. Bonnie had outdone herself, night after night with feasts aplenty. Harry eventually had to ask her to tone down the extravagance of his meals. He wasn't hard to please, and always felt guilty that she would pile mountains of food on his plates when he couldn't stomach most of it.

Draco had become a close companion, keeping Harry company and keeping him in bed most of the time. They talked about their inheritances, their time at Hogwarts in years past and about the classes they were struggling with. Draco seemed to be doing excellent in all the classes Harry fell short in, and vice versa.

Narcissa and Lucius had done everything possible to make sure Harry was comfortable. They had even moved Hedwig into his room with him. She seemed to adore the large perch they had placed by the desk and was especially fond of the window always being open and a small pile of treats for her to snack on throughout the day.

By the end of the week, Harry was restless. He wanted to get up, to do something. Draco suggested chess, reading in the garden, studying, even offered to square off in a match of Catch the Snitch but nothing sounded like enough.

"Let's go to Diagon Alley. I'm sure you've noticed I need new clothing by now..." Draco's eyes lingered over his body, assessing the poorly fitting clothes.

"I'm glad you see reason. Although, it will be interesting you walking around with your wings and all. Especially since you've learned they're very sensitive when others touch them." He leaned back, thinking about his options. "Alright, we'll go to Diagon Alley if you can learn to retract your wings. The first month or so is supposed to be very difficult for you to master summoning them and putting them away, but once they're where you want them they should stay put."

Harry focused on making his wings disappear and Draco chuckled after a few minutes.

"Try this. Close your eyes. Now, feel your wings?" He nodded. "Picture them folding neatly behind you. Good. Now imagine them merging with your spine, becoming part of your back." The wings slowly disappeared and Draco smiled proudly. "Perfect!"

They had arrived at Diagon Alley in the mid afternoon. Perfect shopping time, the shops had all slowed down from their morning rushes. The fewer people shoving them around, the better off they would be.

Harry paused in front of the stationary shop, thinking to himself. He hadn't bought himself ink or quills since first year...he's just been nicking the ones in the library or using the ones left forgotten in the common room. Shaking his head, he opened the door and walked in. He was going to treat himself to a new quill, ink and parchment if it was the last thing he did.

The bag he left with was a significant one. It held bottles of ink in silver, gold, invisible, black and dark green. He had bought himself plenty of rolls of parchment, all slightly different shades of beige and ivory. He had even splurged and bought himself a few basic quills for class and two really nice ones. One was from an eagle, regal and black. His plan was to use this one for acquaintances and business. The other was made from one of Draco's feathers. It had fallen off one day and Harry had held onto it ever since. It had a nice weight to it, and the silver sheen was nicely accented by the sky blue vein running down the length of it. He wasn't even sure that they would be able to make it into a quill, but the owner made sure to do it quickly for him. Somehow Harry knew Draco wouldn't be upset, but he still wanted to keep a few of his secrets for the time being.

After that, Draco insisted they visit Gringotts. He wanted to stock up before the school year and Harry agreed. It would be nice to have some spare galleons so he could splurge a little more on himself. Draco's extravagant lifestyle was rubbing off on him a little. They were used to things Harry wasn't. Having an owl expert hand pick a curated mix of seeds for her to eat wasn't something Harry would have ever dreamed was a possibility but that's just what they did for their owls. Draco saw Italian shoes as daily wear, Harry had never even touched a pair. He didn't want to be so flamboyant with his money, but it did force him to realize he had sort of been living under a rock.