Hide and Seek

Chapter 6

Draco lay awake in bed for a long time that night. He was too embarrassed to fall back to sleep after Harry Potter, of all people, had woken him up from one of his nightmares like a helpless child. How humiliating. The sun had risen high in the sky before he finally mustered up the courage to go downstairs and face Harry, fully expecting an onslaught of jokes at his expense. But to his surprise and great relief, Harry didn't mention the incident. Granted, he didn't even acknowledge that he had even entered the room, but that suited Draco just fine.

Harry stood staring out of the living room window, sipping coffee from his cup. Draco couldn't help but feel a little bit peeved that Harry hadn't offered to make him a hot drink, too. Okay, so he wasn't technically a guest here and they absolutely loathed one another, but that shouldn't have prevented Harry from making an extra hot beverage. It was only good manners, after all. Draco went into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cupboards for a mug of his own and, with any luck, some tea bags. Draco opened the first cupboard and yelped as a little mouse leapt out over his shoulder and scurried across the floor, under the kitchen table and out of sight.

"Disgusting," he muttered, slamming the cupboard door shut just as Harry rushed into the kitchen with his wand drawn.

"What is it?" Harry grabbed Draco's elbow and tugged him away from the kitchen window. "Did you see someone outside?"

"Oh, for pity's sake, unhand me!" Draco pulled his arm free from Harry's grip. "And you can put your wand away, too. I'm perfectly safe."

Harry frowned. "Then why were you screaming?"

"I did nothing of the sort," Draco protested. "It was merely a verbal exclamation. A mouse jumped out of the cupboard, it caught me by surprise."

"A mouse," Harry repeated weakly. He lowered his wand and gave Draco a withering look. "You're screaming your head off over a bloody mouse?"

"I didn't scream my head off! It was quite a large mouse, I'll have you know. It could have done me some damage."

"You're an idiot," Harry declared before turning on his heel and returning to the living room.

"You'd have yelled too, if you'd seen it!" Draco shouted after him.

He thrust his middle finger into the air and pointed it at the empty doorway, silently cursing Harry, before resuming his search for teabags. He eventually found some in a metal container in the pantry. The list had rusted over, making it difficult to remove, but when Draco finally pried it open, the sweet, earthy aroma of English breakfast tea leaves filled his nostrils and he inhaled deeply. It was simply divine.

Draco popped a tea bag into a cup and stared at it. It was only then, with dawning horror, that he realised that not only had he never made himself a cup of tea before, but he had no idea how to do it. He'd always had a house-elf to perform such a menial task for him. Even when he was out in the Muggle world with Pansy, Muggles brought the tea to him. He momentarily considered asking Harry for assistance but dismissed the idea almost as soon as he'd had it. No, he would not debase himself by asking Harry for help. He was a grown man and an accomplished wizard, he could figure out how to make a cup of tea all on his own.

Draco filled the mug with lukewarm water from the tap and stared at the contents. The tea bag wasn't infusing as he had expected. He prodded the tea bag a couple of times, trying to steep it, but it slowly and defiantly floated back to the top of the mug.

Maybe it tasted better than it looked? Draco took a sip only to spit the liquid into the sink a moment later. No, it tasted absolutely dreadful. Perhaps heating it up would help improve the flavour? Draco drew his wand and prodded the mug with the tip.