Hide and Seek

Chapter 7

By some miracle, Harry and Draco survived their first week together at the cottage. Sure, they had threatened to hex each other on several occasions, but they managed to throw nothing more than verbal insults. Harry, however, was convinced that if they didn't kill each other, they might die of boredom instead. Aside from walking the perimeter twice a day and checking that the warding was still intact each evening, there was frustratingly little else to do. Draco managed to keep himself occupied by reading through the books in the office, but Harry had never been a big reader, and there were only so many times he could play Solitaire in a day. Harry didn't want to admit it, but sometimes, he would start an argument on purpose just to stave off the boredom. He suspected that Draco did the same, although he'd surely deny it.

Still, the two men had fallen into a routine of sorts. Draco would start off the day by complaining about how awful the living conditions were while Harry would stand by the living room window, sipping his coffee and trying his best to tune out Draco, although he seldom managed to do so. At least twice a day, Draco would threaten to 'break free from this hellhole', and Harry would hold the front door open for him, inviting Draco to leave, although he never did. Come lunchtime, Harry would make them something to eat while Draco would hover over his shoulder, occasionally giving unhelpful pointers about how he would have done it differently. Considering Draco had only mastered boiling an egg in recent days, Harry tended to disregard his advice. After lunch, Draco would stomp upstairs and take refuge in the upstairs office to read for the remainder of the day before dinner prep, which followed much the same pattern as lunch.

It was a monotonous existence, not dissimilar to his time hunting Horcruxes. Granted, the cottage was much more comfortable than a drafty tent, and at least here, they would have supplies sent on a regular basis. There were too many nights that Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone hungry on that mission.

The only thing that broke up the monotony was Draco. It amazed Harry how Draco's list of complaints seemed to be never-ending. He would complain about Harry using up all of the hot water during his morning shower, how Harry never offered to make him a cup of tea, how cramped the cottage was, how lumpy the settee in the living room was, how messy the garden was, how grey the sky was...

If Draco wasn't complaining about something or they weren't dying of boredom, they were arguing. Most of their arguments stemmed from Draco's apparent inability to clean up after himself. Harry was hardly house proud, but everywhere Draco went, a mess would be left in his wake. Leaving dirty clothes all over the place and allowing the dishes to pile up next to the sink was bad enough, but what really irked Harry was that Draco would rearrange things whenever Harry wasn't looking. Harry would go into the kitchen and open a cupboard, expecting to see mugs, but instead, he'd find saucers and plates.

He was undoubtedly the most annoying person that Harry had ever had the displeasure of living with. But what made Draco all the more annoying to Harry was just how good-looking he was to boot. It was infuriating, really, that someone so handsome could be so irritating. Objectively, Harry had always known that Draco Malfoy was attractive. Tall and slender with a complexion as pale as marble and patrician features, he was definitely Harry's type in every way except for his self-entitled attitude.

Not that Draco was always annoying. There was the odd moment where Draco's behaviour took Harry by surprise, although it tended to happen whenever he thought Harry wasn't looking. Like this morning, after breakfast, Draco took the breadcrumbs from his leftover toast into the garden to feed the starlings. Harry had watched from the kitchen window as the little birds pecked greedily at the food on the grass while Draco chatted away to them. It reminded Harry of Hedwig, and the many hours he would spend talking to her while they were both caged up at the Dursleys. However pleasant company a bird could be, it spoke of someone that was very lonely.