It took less than a week for Harry and Draco to start arguing again, but they managed to refrain from throwing more than words at one another. In both of their opinions, this was still significant progress. Harry grudgingly pressed the Galleon into Draco's hand, half-suspecting that Draco had deliberately started the argument for the sole purpose of winning the bet. He wouldn't put it past him, but the thought was more amusing than annoying.
To Harry's surprise, he found talking to Draco to be quite therapeutic. He liked being able to talk to someone who didn't treat him as though he were so fragile he'd break if he heard an honest opinion, and at least he could always count on Draco to be brutally honest with him. More surprising still was what an attentive listener Draco proved to be. Harry had only ever heard him brag about himself to anyone who would listen. Although Harry realised that this always seemed to be the case whenever Harry was within hearing distance, and he began to wonder whether this had always been a performance on Draco's part just to get a rise out of Harry. Now that they were friends, he certainly seemed less prone to bragging.
It made him all the more curious to imagine what Draco had been like in quieter moments when he was with his friends in the Slytherin Common Room, or indeed, whether he'd ever had any real friends. Draco didn't spend much time talking about any of them when they were together. In most of the stories Draco shared, he was more often than not alone and Harry became increasingly self-conscious at how often his stories included Ron and Hermione.
Harry found himself surprised to discover that, although Draco's level of sarcasm hadn't diminished, it had lost its malicious edge, and Harry actually found his observations quite funny. What struck Harry most was Draco's alternative perspective towards life, one which Harry had always thought was selfish, but on further inspection found to be quite realistic. He could be accused of having a more tainted and cynical view of the world, but no more than Harry had of the world.
In all, they were getting on quite well. So much so that Harry now considered Draco to be a friend. It still felt strange and new to be friends with Draco Malfoy, but pleasantly so.
Harry continued visiting the cottage more regularly, appearing every other day to help Andromeda around the house, playing with Teddy and spending more and more time with Draco. Andromeda would often shoo them out of the house for a couple of hours saying she wanted peace, and they would go for long walks in the surrounding fields and woods, talking about everything and anything. They'd always come back in time for dinner and Harry would wave them off before Apparating back home later in the evening. Draco was quietly pleased with this new routine. As much as he enjoyed taking care of Teddy, he wasn't much of a talker yet. Andromeda was good to chat about some things, but Harry provided something that the other two couldn't. He was someone his own age with similar interests, something tangible and familiar from his past. One of the few things he didn't want to leave in the past either. They had a surprising amount in common, divergent but equally lonely childhoods which they were both careful not to mention too often, a passion for Quidditch and flying, and were both— to Harry's relief —atrocious at wizard's chess.
"Fuck this," snarled Draco, throwing a chess piece angrily onto the board, having lost the match against Harry. The white knight shook his tiny fist at Draco, but he ignored him. "Quidditch is much better than this."
"Agreed," Harry smiled.
A tap-tap-tapping sound drew their attention away from the chessboard. They wandered into the kitchen to find an unfamiliar barn owl at the window. Draco opened the window and the bird hopped inside. Draco took the bundle of letters and a long, thin package from around the bird's leg before it spread its wings and soared back out of the window. Draco looked bored as sorted through Andromeda's mail, placing it on the kitchen table, only to frown when he realised that one of the letters was addressed to him. Tearing it open he read in silence for a moment. Harry followed Draco's intent grey eyes as they darted across the page and then widened. He dropped the letter and tore at the paper package, grinning widely as he pulled a wand— his wand —out of a box.
"Circe's tits," he whispered. "They actually returned it! About bloody time!"
He swished the wand in a flourish and fireworks exploded in the kitchen.
"What the hell is going on in there?" shouted Andromeda from the garden, marching into the kitchen, then broke out into a grin when she saw Draco's wand. "Well, it's about bloody time."
"Orchideous!" cried Draco and a bunch of flowers burst from the tip of his wand. He handed them to Andromeda and bowed, "For the beautiful lady."
"Oh, very good!" said Andromeda, her cheeks flushing. "But no more explosions in the kitchen, please. If you're going to be blowing things up, do it in the field out back."
"As you wish, m'Lady!" said Draco as he kissed her on the cheek and ran out into the garden like a giddy schoolboy.
Andromeda turned to Harry who had watched the proceedings in silence.
"Was this you?" she asked. Harry smiled but said nothing. She pulled him into a tight hug and whispered, "Thank you."
Harry shrugged. "What's the point of being the Boy Who Lived if you can't take advantage of it once in a while?"
***
"Come on Harry, I want to get this over with."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
Draco tapped his foot impatiently as Harry pulled on his worn sneakers and a denim jacket which resembled a tent more than a coat.
"Why do you even own things that are ten times too large for you?" asked Draco.
Harry blushed. "I don't get the chance to go out shopping very often."
"I'm fairly certain you have never been the size of a baby troll," he drawled, then waved his hand dismissively. "No matter, we shall rectify the situation today."
He pushed Teddy's pram out of the house and down the garden path, Harry trudging along behind looking forlorn. Andromeda had ordered Draco to London to buy some clothes for himself. Reluctant though he was to go out in public, he had to admit that a single pair of black trousers, a shirt and a Weird Sisters crop top did not make for a sufficient wardrobe. Rather than face off against the Wizarding public, Andromeda had asked Harry to escort Draco to Muggle London.
"And buy something for yourself while you're out today, dear," she had instructed Harry. "Your clothes are looking a little worse for wear."
Harry hadn't appreciated the comment, but he couldn't deny that he was in need of a new wardrobe, too. Besides, there was no need to wear Dudley's hand-me-downs anymore. It was time for fresh clothes to go along with a fresh start in life.
"Any particular reason for taking Teddy with us?" Draco had asked.
"Because it gets him out of the house for a bit and I want an afternoon of peace and serenity," was Andromeda's response before hurrying them out of the door.
When they exited the front gate, Harry grabbed Draco's hand. Draco froze looking at the hand tugged snugly into his own. "What are you doing?"
"Apparating," Harry replied simply.
Draco sneered. "Have you completely lost the plot? We can't risk Apparating with a baby."
"Oh." Realising he was still holding Draco's hand— it was warm and surprisingly soft —Harry quickly dropped it and muttered, "Of course. Sorry. Wasn't thinking."
"Evidently," Draco drawled., He pulled out his wand and flagged down the Knight Bus "Come on, you nutter. Oxford Street, please."
When they stepped off of the bus onto the busy street, Draco was reminded why the Muggle world was so appealing.
"It's a nice feeling, not being stared at for a change," he whispered to Harry as streams of people walked past them without drawing them a second glance.
Harry grinned. "I know, it's great, isn't it? One of the major perks of the Muggle world is nobody knows who I am and nobody cares."
Draco nodded, then smirked darkly to himself. His poor father would be having a fit if he heard his pureblood son say such a thing. Harry wasn't surprised to see that the Muggles had taken no notice of them or the purple triple-decker bus that had sped away down the street out of sight. He found that Muggles more often than not paid wizards and himself no mind at all, and that was very much to his liking.
"So, where to first?" asked Draco.
"Dunno," said Harry. "Apart from buying my school robes, I've never been clothes shopping before."
"You've never been clothes shopping in Muggle London before?" asked Draco indignantly. Harry shook his head. "Well, then how the hell are we supposed to know where to go shopping if you've never been either? I only came to Oxford Street on Andromeda's instruction!"
"We'll just have to do some exploring, then. Come on, let's try in here."
Harry wandered into the nearest clothes shop, and Draco followed muttering darkly under his breath.
"You don't mind then?" asked Harry. "Buying Muggle clothes?"
"Not particularly," Draco replied, pulling some clothes off of the rack and handing them to Harry to hold. "I mean, Diagon Alley is a no-go area for me for the foreseeable future. And it's not like I'm going to be wining and dining much nowadays, so I'm happy so long as the clothing is functional and comfortable."
"And black," teased Harry.
"Preferably," smirked Draco. "Or green or silver." He pulled a pair of grey jeans off of the clothes rack and held them up to Harry's waist. "You should try these. They'll fit you better than those monstrosities you've got on."
"Why do you care so much about what I wear?" asked Harry.
"I don't," said Draco, holding more clothing up to Harry's frame to size them up. "But when you stand next to me, your appearance reflects on me. My reputation is bad enough without you being dressed so poorly."
"Thank you for your concern," said Harry sarcastically
"You're welcome," Draco replied unabashedly.
Draco sat waiting impatiently in the changing room for Harry to get dressed, rocking Teddy's pram back and forth and glancing at his watch every so often.
"Christ, what's taking so long?" he shouted. "Do the clothes fit or not? I want to try on my stuff."
Harry popped his head out from behind the curtain, looking sheepish. "I don't know about this."
Draco rolled his eyes. "If it's hideous, we can try something else. Come on, let's have a look."
Harry shuffled out of the changing room, head bowed and one hand nervously holding his arm. "How does it look?"
Draco stared. He was so used to seeing Harry wearing baggy clothes or heavy robes, that he had always assumed that he had a willowy frame underneath his ill-fitting clothes. Now that Harry was wearing clothing that actually fit him, Draco saw to his surprise that Harry had a surprisingly lean figure, the slim-fit jeans and purple Oxford shirt accenting Harry's physique in all the right ways. Draco still hadn't said anything yet, and Harry looked increasingly despondent.
"Christ, it looks worse than I thought," he despaired. "Forget it, I'll go try on the other stuff."
"What?" said Draco, feeling quite flustered all of a sudden. "No! No, you look great. I mean, they look fine. The clothes look fine. Normal. Perfectly normal. Just...hurry up and get changed, I want to try on my stuff."
"You're sure?" asked Harry, running his hand through his hair, still looking unsure.
Draco's stomach flipped at Harry's just-shagged hair and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yes, anything's better than those rags you walked in here with."
Harry smiled and hopped back into the changing room. Teddy, becoming as restless as Draco was, began kicking his legs and whining.
"I know exactly how you feel," Draco commiserated, leaning over the pram and putting Teddy's displaced dummy back in his mouth.
"How are you getting on?"
Draco turned and saw one of the shop assistants walking over to him, a big grin plastered on her face. She was looking at Draco rather intently.
"Fine, thank you," he drawled.
The assistant nodded. "Good, if you need anything just call me over. Anything at all. I'm Anna."
She held out her hand and Draco shook it. "I'm Draco."
"Draco. Mmm, that's quite an unusual name," she leaned in a little closer and gave him a shy smile. "I like it."
Draco grinned more broadly. "I like your name too, Anna. It's very pretty, it suits you."
She laughed softly and glanced at the pram. "May I?" she asked, and Draco nodded. She looked at Teddy and cooed, "Oh, he's so handsome! He looks just like you!"
Draco glanced at Teddy and sniggered when he saw that he was now sporting white-blond hair whereas this morning it had been black.
"Thank you." He wasn't one to turn down a compliment. Perhaps shopping in Muggle London wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"So," asked the assistant slowly. "Are you here with his mum, or..."
Harry pulled the curtain back and came marching over with bundles of clothes, "Sorry I took so long, you're free to go in now. Oh, hi." Harry beelined for the assistant, "I'm just going to buy the lot, can you keep them up at the counter for me?"
Harry placed the large bundle of clothes in the girl's arms, who looked curiously between Harry and Draco for a moment. Then a look of dawning appeared and her face and she smiled broadly, "Of course sir. Anything else I can help with just let me know."
Draco watched her disappear out of sight. Harry snorted.
"What?" Draco asked with mock innocence.
Harry shook his head and sat next to him. "You're completely transparent."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Draco, but he was smirking more broadly than ever.
Draco took just as long in the changing rooms as Harry, which Harry suspected was done on purpose, but he chose not to mention it. When they finally headed for the checkouts, both outfitted with entirely new wardrobes, the shop assistant was waiting for them.
Draco whispered into Harry's ear, "Watch the old Malfoy charm offensive at work. I bet you a Galleon I'll get a date with her."
Harry grinned. "You're on."
Draco fixed his most charming smile on his face, leaned over the counter and raised his eyebrow at the girl. "Why, hello again."
"Hello," she smiled cheerily. "Did you gentlemen find everything that you needed today?"
"Almost," smirked Draco. The girl smiled but said nothing as she started to scan and bag the clothing and rang up the bill for them.
"So, Anna," Draco began. "What time do you get off work—"
At that moment, Harry stepped forward and pulled out his wallet. "I'll get it, dear."
"Dear?" asked Draco confused. He looked at Harry, who winked at him. What was he playing at?
The assistant handed Harry his change and she leaned a little closer and whispered, "I just want to say that you make such an adorable couple. Your little boy's very lucky to have you both."
Draco's smile faltered. "Excuse me? We're, we're not—"
Harry grabbed Draco around the shoulders and preened, "That's very sweet of you to say, thank you."
Draco sneered at Harry, who grinned mischievously back at him. The assistant leaned forward over the counter to wave goodbye to Teddy and frowned. "Oh."
"What?" snapped Draco.
The assistant pointed at Teddy. "His hair..."
Draco looked into the pram and saw that Teddy was now sporting the same shade of auburn hair as the shop assistant. He quickly wheeled the pram around and marched for the exit, "Must be a trick of the light. Goodbye!"
Harry grabbed the bags of clothes from the bewildered assistant and ran after Draco. "I'm very impressed to see the old Malfoy charm offensive at work."
"You bastard," spat Draco. "You did that on purpose!"
"Of course I did," grinned Harry. "You owe me a Galleon."
"Arsehole," Draco growled and stormed down the street, ignoring Harry's laughter.