An excited squeal from Draco brought Harry’s attention back to the younger Malfoy as he watched Draco open part of the last present from his father. Without offering a word of explanation, Draco bounded to one of the ebony doors in the back of the room (one which Harry hadn’t seen him use yet) and disappeared down the stairs that this particular door led to. Harry followed at a slightly slower pace.
The stairway opened up into a large room with stone walls and floors, and long ebony tables. Harry blinked. A potions laboratory? Someone, somewhere, had to be kidding him. But no, there was Draco, setting up a bunch of equipment, looking now and then at a book that lay on the table next to him for reference as to where a particular piece went.
“So…what is it?” Harry asked as Draco stepped back to look at the contraption of glass and pewter.
“It’s a distiller.”
“A what?”
“A distiller. You know how when you use things taken directly from nature, sometimes there are anomalies in the substances because they were alive at one point?”
“I’ll pretend I know what you’re talking about. Go on.”
“Well, you put whatever solution it is you want to purify in here.” Draco pointed to one end of the equipment. “Then you heat it. It boils and the vapor goes through here—” Draco’s finger traced the glass piping, “-leaving behind any anomalies; and as it does it cools and condenses over here, back into solution.”
“Okay…but why haven’t we used this in class then?”
“Well, all the ingredients you get from a shop are already purified, but you don’t have any controls on it.”
“Controls?”
“You don’t know how it was done. It just leaves more margin for error.”
Harry nodded. “Right.”
“You really don’t like Potions, do you?”
“Not my favorite class.”
“That was apparent.”
It wasn’t until later in the day that Draco remembered that the present Harry said he might want to open was still sitting near the chair, unopened. Draco looked at it curiously. Why would Harry say that? Maybe it was a present from Harry? Draco remembered his own present for Harry was still sitting at the bottom of his trunk. For some reason he had held back giving it to the House Elves to give to Harry. He wondered if the present was really appropriate for his current…standings with Harry.
His fingers began working, almost as if by their own will, on the wrapping paper. The silver paper came off easily and Draco was faced with a small white box. Opening the lid his eyes widened. Carefully he lifted the chimes from the box and just held them for a moment. He’d been looking at these for years, ever since his first visit to Hogsmead with the other students. Of course, in public he had a reputation to maintain so he couldn’t just go in and buy them unless he was going to give them to someone else, and that wouldn’t be the case.
In the box underneath the charms was a small note. Written in somewhat messy but legible writing were the words:
Happy Christmas Draco, From Harry
How did Harry know? Somehow Harry had figured out that he wanted the chimes. No one else had figured it out in how many years yet somehow Harry had. Harry had put that much thought into it…Suddenly his own gift to Harry didn’t seem so inappropriate any more.
Harry looked up from his Transfiguration essay as Draco walked into his room. In his hands the boy held a thin present wrapped in dark red paper, almost a wine color.
“Happy Christmas Harry” Draco murmured, holding the gift out to Harry. When Harry took it the other boy left the room and left Harry blinking in astonishment at the gift. Draco had actually gotten him one?
Harry put down his quill and all thoughts about the metamorphosis of Reptilian Snagweed seemed to fly out of his head. Carefully he began to undo the paper and revealed…a mirror?
He looked at it for a minute but saw no reflection in the mirror. Hmm…not a normal mirror then. What was Draco—
The surface of the mirror seemed to swirl and Harry found himself looking at…Draco. He could see Draco shifting all the presents that he hadn’t bothered opening off his bed and telling a House Elf something pertaining to them. He looked as if his mind wasn’t really on what he was doing. So this was Draco right now?
Harry thought for a moment. Did this mirror show him anyone? Harry noticed that as soon as he stopped thinking about Draco the mirror’s image faded. How about Ron?
The image swirled and he could see Ron sitting in the middle of his family while they were opening presents.
Hermione?
She was eating lunch, the remains of presents still strewn around the table and a book (Harry assumed it was new) open to the thirtieth page.
Harry frowned a bit as the image faded. It was cool and all, but what was the point really? He doubted Draco would have given him a gift on a whim so there must be a point to it other than the obvious one.
The mirror showed people…well, maybe the person didn’t have to be alive…
Unbidden, thoughts of Sirius and his parents flowed into his head. The image swirled and there they were smiling up at him. They weren’t moving, like the other pictures had, but they were still there, standing against a grey background.
Harry heard a small yelp before Draco appeared through the wall looking slightly shaken. “Harry, the bond’s going crazy. Are you okay?”
Harry smiled as the image faded and he looked up at Draco. “Thank you Draco.”
Draco shifted minutely, as if slightly embarrassed. “You’re welcome…and thanks for the chimes too…”
There was a small pop and the same House Elf from the day before appeared in the room. Its large eyes sought out Harry. “Master Lucius is wondering if Master Potter is wanting to invite any relatives for dinner tonight, sir,” it squeaked out unsurely.
Harry blanched. The Dursleys…here? Death Eater or not, if the Dursleys actually came to Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy would kill them before they got to the main course. And though it would be rather funny to see their expressions at his current living arrangements… no it would be better not to invite them.
Draco and Harry walked into the dining room (the large one) that night to see that Lucius was not the only one waiting for them. Harry almost ran into Draco as he stopped dead right inside the door.
“Hello Mother.” Harry heard him say. Mother? Harry looked around Draco’s shoulder to see that Narcissa Malfoy was standing a little to the right of Lucius.
“Hello Draco dear.” Her voice was sickly sweet. As Draco moved into the room, she saw Harry behind him. “And Harry too. I didn’t know you were staying here.” A quick look at Lucius which Harry did not like and she continued. “If I’d known I would have bought you a present too.”
“Please don’t worry about it, Mrs. Malfoy.” Harry managed to get out, noticing the tension that seemed to be radiating off the two male Malfoys. Something was wrong here and Harry wasn’t quite sure what yet.
Dinner was not the most pleasant of affairs, even though an outsider would not have known were one to be watching somehow. Harry was surprised at how well all of the Malfoy family could act, as it was obvious that Narcissa’s visit was not planned or wanted by the other two. Yet, they were all painstakingly cordial to each other. He was very happy when dinner was over and Draco asked if Harry and he could be excused from the table.
“Oh of course dears, run along.” Narcissa said with one of her smiles that never seemed to reach her eyes.
Draco seemed to ignore Harry after they left the room and Harry could tell this was not a good night for questions. If he wanted some answers he would have to find out himself. Draco had long since disappeared towards their rooms and Harry heard the scraping of chairs against the floor that meant the other two Malfoys were getting up from the table. No time to get the invisibility cloak now.
Harry slipped into one of the alcoves far from the doorway and gave silent thanks to whichever Malfoy it was that liked dark corners and had made this particular hall with many of them.
Lucius and Narcissa entered the hall a few minutes later, neither saying a word or looking as pleasant as they had a few minutes ago when he and Draco had been in the room. Lucius led the way down the hall towards the door that Draco had said was his study. Only when both of them had entered the room, did Harry move from his hiding place to one closer to the open doorway, behind a large statue of a sphinx.
Harry jumped slightly as a voice whispered in his ear:
“It seems we had the same idea.”
Harry nodded, looking at Draco who had appeared at his side. “Can we hear what’s going on in his study from here?”
