Whatever May Come

Chapter 2

Chapter 2!!

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Harry emerged from the elevator onto Level Two the following morning, thankfully Malfoy free, and proceeded down the hall towards the double doors. He found himself hoping that Malfoy hadn't passed the test the day before. Though he hated to admit it, Malfoy had improved greatly in his dueling abilities. He remembered some not-so-innocent scuffles during their sixth year, one which had left the other boy close to death on the bathroom floor. There had been so much blood and Harry had feared the worst. But the boy had recovered, and returned to his normal villainous self.
Needless to say, Malfoy had proved to be more than ready during their fight with the Aurors and Harry wouldn't question it if he saw the man already inside the hall. Sure enough after entering through the doors, he spotted the blonde man seated alone on a bench at the far end of the room. His long legs were crossed, the folds of his trousers sharply creased, his hands folded neatly on his lap. The man spotted Harry when he entered and gave a wave of an eyebrow before turning his attention elsewhere.

The room was no longer an open field, but rather a front office of sorts. Large oak desks were scattered around the room, separated into little cubicles, with a witch or wizard seated in each. Parchment and books littered each of their desks.

"Oi, Harry!"

Harry spotted Ron and Dean seated at a different bench some distance away, signaling him over.

"We were trying to contact you last night, mate," Ron said once Harry reached them. "Mum had a whole feast going in celebration. Even Dean came along."

Harry reached up to run a hand through his hair, not willing to admit that he'd been up all night with a cold sweat. "I was a bit tired actually. I turned in early."

"It's too bad you missed it, Harry. We had a game of Quidditch after dinner. My team won." Dean gave him a winning smile.

"Only because you insisted on having Ginny on your team and she's the best of all of us after Harry!"

"I guess I won't deny that. She is really good," said Dean. He shot Harry an all-knowing look, which Harry did not return. Instead, Harry cleared his throat, feeling heat rising to his face.

Thankfully, Ron had caught nothing and continued, "Anyway, you should come over after training."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Oh, no. You're not getting out of this one, mate. I'm not gonna have Hermione yell at me again for coming home without you," Ron said with a scowl.

"Fine. I'll go home with you," Harry responded with a roll of his eyes. He glanced over his shoulder towards where Malfoy sat and gave a little start when he found the other young man staring right at him.

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Draco allowed himself a small smirk when Potter turned away from him quickly. Since when had Potter become so...jumpy? He watched them for moment longer, the Weasley kid chatting away their ears. Draco pursed his lips. How a Weasley had ever come to be an Auror-in-Training, he didn't know. And that Thomas bloke? He didn't think there was anything special about him. Another Gryffindor out to save the bloody world.
His eyes naturally landed back on Potter, whose hand was ruffling his already disheveled hair. Noble Gryffindor git. It's like he got off on saving other people's lives or something. He supposed it shouldn't come as a surprise that Potter had chosen this line of work. Even at school he'd been an insufferable sort of hero. The Golden Boy. It drove him mad thinking about it. Which is exactly why he'd taken so much effort in trying to stifle Potter into submission throughout their whole Hogwarts years.