Monday night Harry went to Ron and Hermione's for dinner, offering a pricey bottle of elf wine to them, in trade for a home-cooked meal and leftovers. They had decided that this was a fair trade on all sides, and a good way to keep Harry from forgetting the world and throwing himself into his work.

Hermione took up the lead in their conversation, filling Harry in on the ministry changes she was working on with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Since the war, Kingsley had hired Hermione as his undersecretary and paid for her to go to school. She was currently in her 2nd year of law school and working with a fierce passion on Kingsley's plan to change the status of werewolves and vampires.

Thank Merlin these two stopped dancing around each other, Harry thought, smiling at the way Ron looked at Hermione across the table when she got passionate.

When Hermione's story ended, she probed Harry with questions about work until he had given all the new information since last week. The only thing he held back on was talking about the Wallbanger, he didn't want them to think he didn't like his new flat for any reason. Also, he just couldn't imagine that topic leading to a comfortable conversation with either one of them. The last thing he needed was a window into their sex life, they were too much like family for him.

After dinner, Harry played a losing game of Wizard’s chess against Ron and then trampled him in a game of Exploding Snap. By the time he was ready to leave his cheeks hurt from smiling so much and he was once again thankful for the friendship they shared.

When Harry left Ron and Hermione’s he decided to walk despite the late hour. He was always putting so much energy into his projects, he hadn’t made time to learn his new neighborhood. A block away from his apartment he looked up to see the sky filled with stars. Having never paid close attention in astronomy class he wasn't able to identify any of them. But he knew Sirius was up there somewhere.

By the time Harry made it back to his flat, it was just after 10 pm. Normally, the first thing he did when he walked in was snuggle Orion. The cat would greet him at the door looking like he had been waiting there since Harry started walking up the stairs, demanding to be picked up and showered with affection. This time, however, he was nowhere to be found. Harry called out for him searching under the furniture, in his bedroom, even the bathroom, but there was no Orion. Bewildered Harry opened the door to his flat and started inspecting the hallway.

He looked over the railing of the stairs first, just to make sure Orion hadn't fallen through the wrought iron. Able to breathe a bit easier after not seeing any signs of a kitten, Harry started to walk down the hallway. He was three doors past his apartment before he heard a noise behind him. Harry swung around and spotted Orion, the kitten was sitting in the middle of the hallway in front of his flat.

"There you are!" Harry said as he started back towards the cat when the door to 394 opened.

Harry froze. This is it, I'm going to see him! He thought.

He watched as a man stepped out and looked at him with surprised storm-grey eyes that he hadn’t seen since the last time he stepped foot in front of the Wizengamot.

" Potter? "

" Malfoy? "

A suppressing silence filled the hall, the two of them staring at each other as Harry's heart beat so fast it felt like a wild snitch in his chest. Draco wore a black button-down Oxford with a leather jacket. He had on a pair of distressed dark blue jeans that hung low enough on his hips that Harry suspected they were spelled to stay up. The outfit was topped off with a pair of dragonhide boots that were mostly black with hints of green on the scales.

For the first time since the war, Harry could feel his magic whipping about in his body starting from his solar plexus, as though it was desperate to cast a spell. It was always that way though- wasn't it? - where Malfoy was concerned. He had the ability to drag an intense reaction out of Harry, every single time they had met, since they were 11 years old.

Orion was the one to break the silence, his meow seeming far louder in the hallway than it ever had inside Harry's flat. Both boys looked at the kitten and then back at each other.

Malfoy recovered first, asking, "What are you doing out here?"

Harry blinked, realizing that Malfoy's familiar drawl was the voice he’d been getting turned on by for the last week.

"Potter?" Malfoy said, impatience lacing the name.

"Looking for my cat," Harry replied stupidly.

Malfoy's brow furrowed and he looked again at the kitten, who was now walking towards Harry, then looked back at him and lifted a questioning eyebrow.

Harry leaned down and scooped him up with his left hand and motioned him a bit towards Malfoy, “Found him,” he said, offering what he hoped was an awkward smile but felt more like a grimace. Another uncomfortable silence followed so Harry tried to fill it, “What are you doing out here?”

“I-” Malfoy seemed to hesitate, then said, “I’m going to meet a client.”

Harry let his eyes fall in an obvious sweep over the outfit again, as his eyes travel back up to meet Malfoy’s he remembers what the sub had said, ‘You’d probably leave me unsatisfied for hours if I had the money to pay.’ Between the words playing through his mind and his eyes reminding himself of how bloody fucking fit Malfoy had turned out to be, Harry was barely able to choke out the next two words, “A client?”

Malfoy narrowed his eyes, “What the hell are you doing in this hallway, Potter? Are you investigating me?”

Flabbergasted, Harry asked, “What?!”

Draco replied through barred teeth, “What. Are. You. Doing. Here. Potter.”

“I-” Harry started, and then corrected, “we,” he awkwardly pet the cat that was now tucked into his chest, “live in 392. You- you’re my- our, um neighbor.”

A slow dawning horror set into every aspect of Malfoy’s expression before Harry cleared his throat and fled the hallway, throwing himself back into his apartment. He set the kitten down and threw himself in front of the fireplace.

“Neville! Neville!” he shouted through the floo.

“Harry?”

“I need to come through. Can I?”

“I’m kinda in the middle of som-”

Harry cut him off, “Please Nev, I really need to talk to someone and I can’t go to Ron and Hermione with this.”

There was a rustling noise from the other side and suddenly it was Blaise’s face in the floo instead of Neville’s. “Hi Harry,” he said.

Harry’s already confused brain took another spin, “Blaise?”

“Nev and I were just going over some projects. So what do you need help with?” he said. Even through the flames, Harry could see the charm in Blaise’s smile.

He considered weighing the pros and cons of having Blaise involved in this conversation and decided he just couldn’t be bothered. He was desperate. “The Wallbanger is Draco Malfoy.”

Blaise’s smile faltered before he took a deep breath and said quietly, “Come on through Harry,” and moved back from the fire.