The Aftermath

Chapter 10

It was Harry's birthday and he was chilling at the Leaky Cauldron with Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Dean. Always the last to have birthday celebrations out of everyone close to him. At least it fell over summer break so he didn't have to worry about an in-school celebration. He'd been to enough to know that that kind of attention was not his thing. He was more than happy with the small celebrations he'd been used to over the years. The only thing off about this particular birthday was that Ron wasn't there. But he had come to terms with the fact that Ron's issues were not his issues.

"Eighteen Harry. How does it feel." Dean said as he patted him on the back forcefully enough to make Harry choke and have to restart his response.

"Good. I didn't even think I'd make it to thirteen at one point. Yet here I am." Harry eyed a particularly cute waitress and gave her a slight head nod. She found a reason to come over and tell him her name. He was unconcerned if she only wanted him for his fame. She was cute and willing, that was enough.

"No shame, no shame," Hermione said as she took another sip of her butterbeer, adult potency. It went on like that for a while. Presents opened. Stories told. As time passed, Harry came to a realisation. That even though the past seven years of his life were filled with so much angst, worry, and anxiety about whether he would indeed live this far, there were a multitude of good things that happened as well. His life wasn't nearly as far off from a typical teen as he thought it was. By wizard standards, it had been okay. Not bad at all really.

Luna nudged him to bring him back to the conversation. He had zoned out while contemplating. He took a look around at them and smiled. They all smiled back and raised a toast to the upcoming year. Their final year as students. Amidst the toast a beautiful dragon, purple with a bit of grey sheen, landed on the table. It was small enough to hold in the palm of one's hand. Everyone played with it for a while before it seemed to get annoyed and flew towards Harry. Harry eyed it up as it sat in front of him; small bits of smoke escaping from its nostrils. It was a very good piece of magic. Something he imagined his mother could do. He thought back to Slughorn's story about the goldfish transfiguration charm she had sent him.

When he touched it, it turned into an envelope of the same colour. Everyone looked with hightened inquisitiveness. Who could be sending Harry letters?  Especaĺly in the form of beautiful transfiguration magic.

"Well, open it." Hermoine said after the staring went on for too long.

Harry opened it and admired the perfect penmanship. Shiny black ink on weathered looking yet strong parchment. He began to read.

"Go to Eelyops and give them this receipt. Happy birthday Harry." It was signed with a family crest that no one seemed to recognise. But they all had an idea. Whoever sent this did their research. The envelope itself turned into a receipt without anything on it except the shop name. It was probably going to reveal the item only after the merchant had seen it.

All of them got up with too much excitement to see what this mystery person had purchased for Harry. Neville almost tripped over the bricks as the wall opened because everyone was too eager to wait for it to fully expand. It caused a bit of a fumble as he bumped into Dean and caused a domino effect that had them all struggling to hold themselves up. It was a site to watch. A few onlookers laughed. After the misstep mishap it was decided the shop wasn't going anywhere and they walked like normal humans the rest of the way.

The sales merchant smiled as Harry handed over the receipt. Knowing immediately what it was and who it was from. And she was a little impressed by the simple yet effective magic that went into making this receipt. When she came back she had a Dracanis with her. Same colours as Hermione's and a little bit older than her's was when she first got it. But still in the bonding stage so it could form a relationship with its owner.

"That's a nice gift, Harry. I wonder who got it for you." Luna said as they left the shop and decided to shop for things they knew they needed as their class schedules hadn't arrived yet. Harry just shrugged. He couldn't think of anybody. 

After the shopping was done Hermione and Harry found themselves back at the leaky cauldron alone. Talking about how a very simple day of food, drinks and school shopping was more than what Harry needed. He enjoyed it immensely. Just being regular and his friends made good on their promise not to let a single reporter or fan near him. They both chuckled a bit at the headlines that would create. There was always something to write about.

"You know having a companion might just help you. I mean I didn't even realise how much I missed Crookshanks before Severus."

"Maybe that's why this person got it. Somehow they knew losing a friend, dealing with killing the dark lord, and the lingering nightmares where getting too much. And I definitely miss Hedwig."

The two nodded in response to that observation. Silently they both came to the conclusion that it had to be another student. Someone who was also going through and felt he needed some cheering up without all the extras. Simple yet effective. The real question was who?

Draco watched from a distance as his letter landed on the table. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at how much they appreciated his charm. And he was even more impressed when the dragon got annoyed with all the attention and landed in front of Harry. Much like Draco would have. The attention was good but after a while, the novelty wore off and he was just going through the motions. He was glad he no longer had too and that his magic showed this. 

Draco had transfigured his appearance somewhat so he wouldn't be recognised. Not something a full pollyjuice potion would do. Just some minor alterations. The only thing that seemed to recognise him, to no surprise, was Hermione's Dracanis. He was happily running around playing with anyone he deemed worthy enough to pet him.

Draco looked back at the table to see that Harry was admiring his penmanship. Something Draco took pride in. And when they all got up from the table in a rush he followed them at a safe distance. He managed to speed by them when they slowed down because he wanted to be in a good place in the shop to catch Harry's initial response. It wasn't too long after he got there that they walked in. The way Harry's eyes lit up when he saw her was worth all the secrecy. After they left he walked over to the merchant and thanked them for going along with his plan. He decided not to stalk Harry any longer. Let him have his privacy. But he was going to remember that look of sheer happiness until the day that he died.