When Teddy stumbled blearily into the kitchen the next morning, he and Malfoy sat quietly as Harry made breakfast.
Teddy needed to go back to Hogwarts soon, but Harry didn't think it was time just yet. Plus, he'd made other plans.
"We're going to New York," he said, shoveling eggs onto three plates already containing bacon and toast, no bacon for Malfoy.
"Yeah okay, Potter. Just tell me when the Portkey is." Malfoy flipped open his paper and grimaced at whatever he saw before tossing it back on the kitchen table.
"Today at 4. There are only three candidates left to test and two of them live in New York." Harry put the plates in front of Teddy and Malfoy and took one for himself along with some of the coffee Malfoy had made.
Teddy looked up from his plate and shook his head at Harry. His eyes were blood-shot and his hair was black, making him look like something out of a Halloween film.
"What're you talking about?"
Harry smiled flatly at Teddy and pushed his plate closer to him so he'd take a bite. One he did, Harry answered his question. "I got a Portkey for 4 p.m. that will land in America at 11:02 a.m. their time. Once we're there, Malfoy and I have to find some people for a project, but that won't take long. We can spend the rest of the time exploring.
"What about school?"
Draco spoke up this time. "I already owled McGonagall to say you won't be in until the start of next week." It was a Friday and this gave them plenty of time.
"So I guess we're going to New York, then," Teddy said, without a hint of enthusiasm.
"So I guess we're going to New York," Harry repeated.
Malfoy just frowned.
When Harry was walking down the hall of the Janus Thickey Ward at 2 later that day, he couldn't help feeling guilty. It seemed like taking advantage of Neville's parents somehow, to steal their DNA without them noticing, but he didn't see another choice.
When he got to the room, Mrs. Longbottom was asleep. Harry hadn't known it before, but Frank had apparently died years earlier. He felt sorry he'd never asked Neville about that.
It would have looked odd if Harry had left quickly, so he sat by her bedside and waited. She was much older than the last time he'd seen her. Her hair was grayer and her face was sunken in. She didn't look much like Neville anymore.
The woman he was sitting in front of was not the person who had killed Lucius Malfoy, and yet her DNA might have a clue as to who did. It would have been easy to pluck a hair out or something, but that didn't feel right. Harry couldn't collect a sample.
Then Mrs. Longbottom woke up. She looked directly at Harry and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Longbottom. I'll show myself out."
The woman stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and he looked down. In his palm was a candy wrapper.
Harry swallowed heavily and nodded. "Thank you."
She didn't say or do anything else and he took that as his cue to leave.
Back at Grimmauld Place, his bag was packed and the candy wrapper was safely in his desk. The fact that he hadn't had to take the DNA by force didn't change his decision. They were still going to New York.
Malfoy claimed to be annoyed by Harry having purchased the Portkey for them and Harry told him he could pay him back by helping Ron go through questionnaires for The Problem.
"Fuck you," Malfoy said with a laugh.
They were back to their usual.
"So what's the plan?" Teddy asked. They had 10 minutes until their Portkey activated and they were all waiting around it to be safe.
Harry began outlining their schedule and Malfoy stopped him.
"Potter, between the dinner with the Shaw's tonight and seeing Gibson on Monday evening, we have a full four days in New York. We aren't wasting it doing whatever it is you Gryffindors imagine is relaxing."
"Well, I was thinking maybe a Quodpot game."
"I'll stop you there," Malfoy said and Teddy snorted a bit. "There's no way I'm going to watch a bunch of ruddy Americans run around making fools of themselves."
"It's just one game!"
"I have an idea," Teddy said and both he and Malfoy shut up immediately.
"I've been doing muggle studies at school. Maybe we could go to a baseball game or something."
"Er," said Malfoy.
"Sounds brilliant!" said Harry.
Malfoy was in a mood from when the Portkey landed to when they checked into their rooms. Harry and Teddy got a room with two queens and Malfoy got his own space which Harry followed him into once Teddy got settled.
"Why are you being an arse about this?"
"I'm not being an arse," he said like an arse would.
Harry rolled his eyes and fell back onto Malfoy's bed.
"Potter, stop that."
"No. We're here with Teddy for the next couple of days and I want it to be fun for him. So not only do you have to not be an arse about anything as unimportant as baseball, you have to stop being so hard to relate to before I kill you."
"I'm not hard to relate to."
"I know basically nothing about your life, Malfoy, and I went to school with you for 7 years, give or take a year. Your childhood may be common knowledge but I haven't talked to you more than is polite since the war and you bloody well know it."
"We should rest. If we don't want to crash at dinner tonight, we need to get on New York time."
Harry groaned and squirmed around on the bed.
"Potter."
"I'm not leaving till you summarize your life story. Please use as much detail as you see fit, though leave out the gross bits."
"What gross bits?" Malfoy demanded.
"I dunno, it's your life, I figure there are gross bits."
Malfoy huffed he sat down but he told Harry the basics.
His father had gotten released from Azkaban thanks to a willingness to report fellow Death Eaters after only serving 3 years of his 10-year sentence. Malfoy had been engaged to Astoria at the time, despite not being in love with her. He did love her dearly as a friend, though, and wanted to marry her. They stayed engaged for two years after his father got out before Malfoy learned that Astoria's mysterious illness wasn't going to get better. He couldn't stand the thought of putting her through childbirth when it would kill her, so he'd called the wedding off as his only real reason for marriage was to produce an heir. He regretted it now because she'd gone on to marry another man who didn't love her and had had a child anyway, taking more energy out of her at the later date than it would have if it'd been Malfoy. He hadn't been back to see Astoria before Harry had gone with him.
His only friends these days were Parkinson and Goyle. Zabini had fucked off to France right after the final battle and no one had heard from him since. Malfoy's mother has grown more protective of him over the years, though he hadn't thought it possible. She told him day after day that she'd do anything to make him happy.
He when his father was murdered, he was engaged to a new girl via his instructions that he'd never met before, but who was Pure-Blooded and would produce him an heir. The wedding was called off.
"And that's that."
"You really would have married Astoria? Even though you didn't love her? That other woman too?"
"I wasn't in love with her, Potter. There's a difference. I loved her, most pureblood marriages don't even have that. I needed to marry, and I was prepared to."
"I just can't believe you'd doom yourself to a lifetime of unhappiness."
"I'd have been happy. I would have." Malfoy stared out the window. "And besides, you're one to talk."
"What do you mean?"
"This stupid project of yours to fix The Problem and find yourself a wife when it's quite clear that isn't what you want."
"Shut up."
"I'm just saying. I've seen the way you-"
"Don't. Say it. If you say it, then it's real, and it's something I have to deal with."
"Okay."
They sat in silence until Harry walked back to his room later and passed out for a few hours. When Teddy woke him up at 4 to ask if he wanted to go exploring with him and Malfoy, Harry agreed. He'd promised Hermione he'd get her a present, after all.
When Malfoy heard about the present promise, he dragged Harry and Teddy into a shop of his choice despite their protests. Harry tried to reason with him that Hermione wouldn't want a purse, or earrings, or a scarf and that she'd instead want a book or a nice set of pens. Malfoy had laughed and told him the whole point of gift-giving was to buy them something they wouldn't get for themselves.
They looked around and Teddy examined a row of snow globes and then an array of condoms that said stuff like, "no glove, no love," and "remember the election with your next erection," which Harry lead him away from.
He got Ron a t-shirt that said "I ❤️ NY," and Rose and Hugo race cars that looked like a Taxi Cab and a Police Car respectively.
Malfoy helped him pick a scarf for Hermione as well as a photo album that had the New York City skyline across the cover in Red, White, and Blue that he thought was just the right side of tacky.
When they had finished up all their purchases and bought foot-long hot dogs from a vendor which Malfoy grimaced at and declined, it was 6:30 and they had half an hour drop Teddy off at the hotel and get to the Shaw's flat.
Luckily, they had the exact address and were able to Apparate with 5 minutes to spare.
Harry glamoured himself and then Malfoy made him wait until it was exactly 7 before he could buzz the intercom.
"Erm hi, it's Draco Malfoy and," he hesitated, "Doug Harper here to see you."
Malfoy made a face at him.
They were allowed up and took the lift. The woman who opened the door looked like she was in her late fifties. Her hair was dyed red and her lipstick matched, but the strangest part about her was the Brooklyn accent. She was friendly and invited them into where she'd set the table.
Her husband was already seated and he looked to be a few years older, though his hair was a more natural auburn colour and his beard only reached his shoulders.
They talked about Malfoy's family and the war reparations and how sorry they were to have missed some of the big social events since. When Harry tried to slyly ask why they'd left the country in the first place they just blathered on about needing a fresh start and Malfoy kicked him in the shin.
"You look so much like your father," Mr. Shaw said to Malfoy. "He was so ambitious when he was your age. Your mother always knew how to keep him in line, though."
"Oh Finnley, don't get carried away. These boys don't need reminiscing."
Mr. Shaw tilted his head to the side and nodded. "What do you do Doug?"
"Oh, I'm a uh... handyman. For magical appliances."
"Ah well, what do you know? Maybe you could take a look at my tap in the basement? I think somethings wrong with the washer."
Mr. Shaw took him down the stairs to the basement. Harry was pretty sure he could fix a tap after doing it for the Dursley's a few times, but he was still nervous. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the lights went out. Was it a power failure?
"You okay, Harry?"
"I'm fine. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that you responded to Harry."
They stood there in the dark for a moment before Harry whispered, "Lumos."
"You really believed I was dumb enough to think I'd get contacted by my past twice in one month with no explanation? A man like me plans for these kinds of things, Harry."
These kinds of things? How often did people indirectly accuse him of murder?
"You came a long way for my DNA, and I'm guessing you've gotten it somehow already." They had. Malfoy had swabbed a fork when no one was looking. "I'd be careful with how you proceed if I were you. You might wish you didn't know the answer once you get it."
Mr. Shaw flicked the main light back on.
Something occurred to Harry as they walked up the stairs. "If you knew who I was and if you don't want us to have your DNA, why'd you let us in?"
"I thought you deserved a warning. Thought he did too."