Magical Menagerie || Drarry

Part 1

Harry looked up at the Magical Menagerie sign, his hand on the handle. He took a deep breath and closing his eyes briefly he heard Hermione's voice in his mind, that it had been long enough, that he could use a companion, that it was time.

He pushed the handle down and stepped inside and froze. If he hadn't stood outside and stared up at the sign for several minutes he would have thought he was in the wrong shop. The Magical Menagerie in his mind was small and dark, crowded with cages and animals that filled the shop with ominous rustling and a rather unique and pervasive smell that clung to your clothes for hours.

This shop was still small and yet somehow more open, with four large picture windows, two on either wall. They couldn't be real because there were shops on either side, but they were there large and filling the room with light. All of them were showing an idealic countryside with tall waving grass and long stone fences crumbling with age. Large glass tanks lined both walls with rats and rabbits, spiders and scorpions, and other magical creatures. Harry squinted into the glass enclosures which seemed distorted and slightly wrong. When he looked down through the top of one of the rat cages he realized why, they all had extension charms on them. It made small ten gallon cages into many meter's long enclosures filled with clean bedding, toys, food, and water.

The shop counter had been moved forward, nearly in the center of the room. Behind the dark polished wood counter- Harry blinked in disbelief, nearly tempted to rub his eyes- was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy? Draco? Definitely Draco.

He was... different. Good different. He was wearing perfectly tailored grey trousers and a waistcoat in a paler grey over a cream coloured dress shirt, with long cuffs that fit tight to his forearms with a row of small pearl buttons. The gold chain from a pocket watch crossed his waist and matched the gold-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose as he leaned over a ledger filled with his neat, elegant handwriting.

To top it all off, Draco had grown his hair out, still so blond it looked white, and tied it back with a pale blue ribbon. The long hair had fallen over his shoulder, reaching down to his collar bone. Unlike his Father's hair, which had been straight and thin, Draco's hair was thick and curled loosely like his Mother's. It, all of it, left Harry utterly transfixed.

"Can I help you find something in particular or are you simply browsing?" Draco asked in the even pleasant tone of shopkeepers everywhere.

Harry had entirely forgotten what he had come for.

The silence finally caused Draco to look up, the corner of one eye twitching as he recognized Harry. "My extension charms are all up to code and completely certified." He said impatiently, reaching under the counter and pulling out a somewhat battered looking file which he irritably smacked down on the counter, "Here are all my permits. Completely up to date."

Harry blinked and shook himself mentally, "Err, no I'm not- I'm not here to do any-" he waved his hand helplessly at the folder, "-I'm just... supposed to get a pet?"

Draco narrowed his eyes, not looking away from Harry as he swept the fold off his counter and slid it away underneath, "Supposed? Potter, either you are here as an auror in order to harass me, for which I have not earned such treatment," he added acidly. "Or you are here to look at my animals."

"The second one," Harry said faintly.

"In that case, Potter. It is my job to inform you that you are not supposed to get a pet," He said darkly, "You are supposed to want a pet. They are living creatures and deserve to be treated with love, respect and live full and enriched lives. If you are not prepared for that, I won't be selling you anything."