TRIGGER WARNING: ALLUSION TO AN ED.

It was late when Harry finally awoke. He blearily rubbed his eyes, trying not to fall back to sleep. Swinging his legs over the bed, he took a drink of the water he always kept on his nightstand. Beside it a couple of small white pills sat patiently waiting. Harry groaned a bit and quickly downed them, preferring to forget about the medication all together. 

"Embarrassing" he muttered. Stretching and now fully awake, he stood and meandered into the kitchen, Orpheus once again around his feet.

"Time for breakfast boy." Harry sleepily smiled at his companion. He opened up the cupboards and frowned when he saw the one measly tin of cat food left.

"At least there's enough for this morning," He shook the sad can.

Orpheus meowed loudly, patience running thin. As Harry scooped the distinctly smelling food into his bowl, the fat cat nearly crashed into him, running to reach his tasty breakfast."I'll have to run by the shop to get some more I suppose." Harry sighed, scratching the now eagerly feasting cat behind the ears. Straightening, he took in the sight of his tiny kitchen and the mess that lay in it.

Scraps of his baking adventures with Margaret yesterday remained all across the counter; a bag of flour, spilled dough and some sort of sticky syrup, bowls and spoons awash. He frowned, displeased with his past self for not cleaning up after she had gone. He wet a rag and began wiping down the many dirtied surfaces, watching the tower of dishes grow in the sink by the minute. By the end he had worked up a sweat, but smiled at the now sparkling kitchen, happy with his work.

Orpheus, now having finished his meal, cooed from below. Harry promptly scooped him up and proudly displayed his hard work.

"Not to bad right? Looks nice." He said, knowing full well it would be a disaster once more by the end of the night.

The cat gave a little nod as if agreeing, but with a sentiment of "I could do it better."

That's just how cats are I suppose, Harry thought to himself as he placed him back onto the floor.

Opening the pantry, he grabbed a protein bar off the shelve and unwrapped it. Just as he began to take a bite however he pulled away. His stomach rumbled, unhappy. But he stared at the little corner, where imprints of his teeth glared back at him. His hand shook a little. He tried again to take a bite, but something stopped him. Sighing, he pulled the wrapper back up and set it on the counter.

"I'll just eat later." he reasoned, "Best to get the chores errands out of the way before I do anything else."He pulled a broom out of the closet and began sweeping, knowing full well there was nothing to be swept up. And so the day continued like this. He managed to clean all the windows, wipe down every surface and vacuum every rug before he ran out of things to do. With nothing left to clean, he decided to finish the protein bar. If there was one thing he learned growing up, you don't let food go to waste.

So, slowly and painfully he took small bites, one at a time. Needing a distraction, he decided to catch up on some reading while he ate. Hermione had lent a book on famous quidditch matches to him months ago and he had yet to finish it. Once he had finished the protein bar, he swallowed down a bit of anxiety with it and continued reading. It really was fascinating. He became so enraptured by the book that hours passed without him realizing. He finished close to dinner time and set aside the book. 

Orpheus curled up next to him, meowing and ready to eat. "We've run out of cat food." He explained. The cat turned and stared at him, a ravenous plea in his eyes. Harry sighed as he knew he'd have to go fetch the cat food before Orpheus grew irritated.

"Making me go out are we? Hangry little thing." he muttered towards the unaffected feline.With his task at hand, he made his way back to the bedroom and opened the creaking doors to his closet. He ruffled around the contents for a bit before deciding on a simple pair of trousers, sneakers, a t-shirt and button up. He quickly dressed, and studied the outfit in the mirror. Satisfied with it's flowing silhouette, he grabbed the key to his flat, his wand, and wallet before striding back into the front room.

"I'll be back soon, don't miss me too much." he lovingly pet Orpheus. On a rack next to the front door hung a couple of jackets, a coat and one silvery flowing cloak. Harry hesitated, but at the last moment decided to take the invisibility cloak with him, stuffing it into a messenger bag hanging beside it.

Once again ready to go, he stepped out the front door and made his way out of the building.

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20 minutes later he was strolling through the open air market in a park south of his flat, slowly making his way through the many stands there. He saw all sorts of delicious pastry's and baked goods and had to remind himself of the bread he had baked just yesterday with Margaret.

Unable to stop himself however, he bought three freshly made croissants. One filled with chocolate, one filled with cream, and the last one stuffed with peach preserves.I'll give them to Ron and Hermione next time they come round, he tried to rationalize with himself. 

On the other side of the park, he could see lights and hear music pounding. As he came around a corner he could see what appeared to be a birthday party going hard with an open bar on the far side. Deciding to stay far away he turned back towards the far side of the market.

Moving on, he wandered around for a while until he came across a stand with some delicious looking gala apples. Some of Luna's favorite, he remembered. Decided to grab a few in case she popped in this week, he because looking for the perfect few.

Carefully looking them over, he selected two or three and got in line to purchase them when someone backed into him.

"I am so sorry," the woman flipped around to apologize. She looked to be around his age, with long curly brown hair and big hazel eyes. In her hand was a full full wine glass, from which she took a long sip.

"You're ok." Harry said, turning back to the line. He saw it had moved forward a bit and stepped up. The woman stepped with him.

"No really, I am so so sorry. My friends were distracting me and being annoying." she glared a group of bubbly girls not to far from where he was standing. Harry could smell the faint scent of alcohol on her breath and took an unconscious step back.

"I get it. I have friends like that too." Harry smiled.

"I love them to death, but sometimes they are the worst." she sighed, tossing a strand of hair over her shoulder. She took another sip of her wine.

Harry laughed, "Understandable. I have this one mate who has no sense of personal space. Almost always ends up sitting on top of me."

The girl grinned, "That sounds just like my girl Nicky. Have I seen you around here before? You look so familiar to me."

"I come every couple weeks when I can." Harry vaguely explained."Oh I see. Maybe we've crossed paths before." she batted her long lashes at him, now clearly a bit tipsy. Harry realized she must have come from the party at the other end of the park, recalling the open bar.

Growing faintly pink Harry replied, "I think I'd remember if we'd met before."

She gave a playful gasp, "You saying I'm memorable? Is that a good or bad thing."

"I don't know yet." Harry shrugged. 

She laughed melodically, "Want to swap numbers? See if I become a good or bad memory?"

Certain his face was now bright red Harry could only cough at the suggestion. 

"Already getting tongue tied?" she laughed, "You're so cute."

In the background Harry could hear her friends cheering, loudly at the blatant flirting. Each of them were also holding wine glasses and drinking heavily as they watched the interaction.

"I'm sorry miss but I think you might be a bit drunk." He said, now shy and nervous.

"Only a little, but that makes things more fun." she admitted.

He set down the apples he was holding, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to turn down the offer. You're not quite thinking straight at the moment and it wouldn't be very kind if I took advantage of that."

"Oh please? It wouldn't be anything fancy, maybe dinner and breakfast?" she smiled.

"No thank you." Harry insisted. She pouted rather child like and stomped away.

Her friends all looked disappointed, and some of them even angry. Harry quickly moved away from the stand, any desire to shop now dissipated. He left the market and combed the streets for an empty place to apparates away, wanting to get home as soon as possible.

Sure enough he found a small hidden corner behind a nail salon and pulled his invisibility cloak out of the bag. He quickly tugged it over his head, making sure he was completely concealed. Then, he shut his eyes, gathering his concentration and twisted, his insides flipping as he apparated away.

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When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find himself not at home, but rather, standing in front of Olivanders Wands in Diagon Alley.

"What the...?" he muttered, spinning around. He was definitely in Diagon Alley, he'd recognize these wonky buildings anywhere. Wondering how this could have happened, he turned and looked back at Olivanders.

I guess I have been thinking of this place a lot recently, he reasoned, only natural I come here eventually.

Deciding to make the most of it, he stepped inside the shop, still underneath the invisibility cloak. The entire looked exactly the same as it did when he was just twelve years old. The walls were stacked high with wands of every kind, ladders running back and forth across the shelves to give access to the magical lightning rods. The only difference was the young woman sitting behind the desk rather than Olivander. 

Harry remembered reading something about it in the paper. Olivander himself found that he could no longer force himself to craft wands after the events during the end of Voldemort's regime, and so his niece had taken over the shop. People were apparently in uproar at first, but over the past year her abilities had shone through and was just as requested of a wandmaker as her uncle. Some say she was tutored by him for years and that her talents may surpass the originals in years to come.

When the bell above the door rang, her head had snapped up. Now her eyes, so similar to those of her uncles, scanned the room suspiciously.

"Who's there?" she said, tucking a piece of her blond hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck.

When Harry failed to respond, she came around the counter, moving towards the door. He ducked out of her way, and watched as she waved her arms around blindly, searching for an invisible costumer. When she found nothing, she returned to the desk and the wand sitting upon it.

Harry gave one more glance around the room, soaking it all in. The memories that came back simply standing there was astounding. This is where it all started. Where he got the wand that would defeat the most feared wizard within twelve centuries. This is where his journey as a wizard began, and where he first known the significance of the name Voldemort. Slowly, anxiety began to build in his core, and his skin grew warm with discomfort, and he exited the shop, shaking his head.

But for the second time today, he was run into by a hurrying passerby. Both bodies went tumbling to the ground, the invisibility cloak flying into the air.

Head and chest smacked firmly on the pavement, it took the wind out of Harry, panic filling him when he struggled to take a breath. When he did manage to take a breath, it was shallow and accompanied by the same intake of air from the person he'd run into.

Sitting up, he turned to check that the other person was alright, "I am so sorry about that, I didn't even see you-"

He stopped. Blond hair. Pale aristocratic features. Grey eyes.

He'd run into Draco Malfoy.

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2096 Words

Trigger Warning Explanation: Harry struggles to eat a protein bar and says he will save it for later. This causes a bit of anxiety when he does eventually finish it.