Cheers, Potter.

It's him.

Content Warning: Medical emergencies and injury detail, emotional distress, panic attacks and general calamity. Take care of yourselves and be safe <3

Draco's POV

"I can't believe you're working on a holiday," Connie huffed from the sofa, watching me pack my things into a bag, ready to dash out.

"You visiting me isn't a holiday, Connie," I chuckled.

"First of all, how dare you," she pouted and folded her arms, "my father will hear about this."

That phrase had lost its edge since the first time she had accosted me with it, learning it from Harry no doubt, assaulting me with a cascade of petty memories and cringe-worthy moments from my childhood. Now, it just made me smile.

"Can't you just call in sick?" she asked for the sixth time in as many minutes.

"No," I replied flatly. I finally had a job that I loved and had worked hard for. It hadn't been handed to me on a silver platter with a fortune on the side. I was earning terrible money and working exhausting hours and I adored every second of it; I wasn't about to mess any of that up.

"Can I come with you?" she suggested.

"Absolutely bloody not," I shivered at the idea, "you'd be the worst ride-along ever."

"I resent that accusation, Malfoy," she said without malice, "I'd be the best trainee–"

"You know," I said, musing, "you're just as annoying as you were 6 years ago,"

"I do know that," she replied, her smug face plastered on, "it’s a mastered art," she began spelling things in my flat to start flying around the room, occasionally knocking me on the back of the head. Paul McCatney watched the objects swim through the air with the greatest attentiveness.

Connie had been the only human constant in my life since leaving Hogwarts; Pansy and Blaise had flitted in and out of my life since she took off on her round-the-world adventures and he took up that exorcist job. We’d started to see each other less and less as time went on because our schedules were polar opposites, I was almost always working and when I wasn’t, they were out of the country. I missed them. A lot. We’d fallen out over my lack of free time too often to keep track, them thinking I simply didn’t care enough to get out of work.

Connie always stayed around though. Like a bad smell. She visited me as often as she could, coming down to London for every holiday. Her parents didn't even seem to notice when she didn't come home and if they did she'd say that Hogwarts was on lockdown or something ridiculous; they didn't ask questions.

I made friends at Oxford too. In fact, I was surprised at how easy it was to make friends when people were not predisposed to dislike you at the mention of your name. I liked the anonymity of muggle life. I met a girl who was studying literature and we got along immediately. Charlotte was fantastic. She was friendly and kind but had a sharp wit that I found endlessly endearing. She was so incredibly loyal which I discovered when she fiercely defended me against people being unsavoury about my sexuality. She'd make a great witch, I thought, and I found she reminded me of Ron Weasley, not least because of her blazing red hair. Connie liked her too so she fitted into our jigsaw family really well.

"What are you thinking about?" a voice from behind me came, followed by a peck on the cheek.

"He'd best be thinking about calling in sick, or I'm going to hurl something at his head." Connie replied to the man who had emerged from my room. She must have heard him coming because the flying objects had desisted, much to Paul’s displeasure.

Charlotte had introduced me to her brother, Luke, a few years ago and since then we'd gotten close. I liked it when he was around and he could tell, so he did his utmost to make me blush awkwardly as much as he possibly could. The bastard. I'd really tried to not get feelings for him because we had an arrangement that suited us, but he was just too perfect to dismiss.