Grimmauld Place had never shined as much as it did in this moment. Kreacher had never seen his master in such a state, but he was happy to see him out of his room and moving around. Kreacher enjoyed Master Harry trusting him with tasks, and he was pleased to see Harry using the kitchen every day now.

When Malfoy finally knocked on Harry's door, Harry practically jumped out of his skin. He had been in the kitchen, preparing dinner for himself, Kreacher, and hopefully Malfoy as well. Wiping his hands on a towel slung over his shoulder, he dropped it onto the counter and opened the door.

Draco almost stepped backwards due to the sheer intensity of the emotions in Potter's eyes.

"Hello Potter."

And Merlin be damned, Potter gave Draco one of his breathtaking smiles, and a small nod.

"So, I have a gift for you. I hope it's not insensitive or anything of that nature, because I didn't intend for it to be. But when I was out and I saw him... well, here."

Draco extended his arm, and Harry was shocked to see a small owl hopping up, resting upon Draco's shoulder. When it turned its head to look at Harry, he inhaled sharply at the bright green color of the owl's eyes. Cautiously, he held up a hand and the owl hooted happily, quickly perching on his shoulder after nuzzling into Harry's hand.

Staring at the owl on his shoulder, it looked right back at him. Harry noticed that it had a small nick on its forehead, and laughed quietly. The messy mass of feathers, the small mark, and the bright green eyes were an uncanny likeness for Harry.

"I call him Scarhead of course, but you're free to naame him whatever you like. He's very affectionate, quite cute. Don't let him fool you, he may be tiny but he's got quite a bite."

The owl seemed to nod its head in agreement, and Harry was overtaken by emotion.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you-"

"Would you like to come in?", Harry asked, effectively cutting off Draco's rant.

"I- what? Yes, thank you."

When Harry and the owl both tilted their head to the side, seemingly questioning Draco, Malfoy could not hold back the laugh that had been bubbling up inside of him after confirming the likeness between the two.

Harry was shocked as he closed the door behind Draco. The Malfoy he knew never laughed like that. There was always a malicious undertone. It was nice to have moved past that.

"I did buy a new cage for him. He has a pension for breaking out and finding himself in troublesome situations like someone else I know. There's some food for him in here too- Why are you staring at me?"

Draco had just set everything down on an end table after taking off his shoes, and turned to find Potter staring at him. The little owl flew on top of his cage, and Harry practically tackled Draco into a hug. Draco got a face full of hair, but he didn't mind. Much.

Cautiously, he wrapped his arms around the younger man, feeling tears well up in his eyes. It had been too long, if ever, since he had received a proper hug.

"These are tears of joy right? And I didn't offend you?", Draco clarified.

"Correct."

"Good. Now, where do you want Scarhead set up? I can help and then be on my way."

"Dinner?"

Draco stopped in his tracks.

"Are you asking if I would like to stay for dinner?"

Harry nodded profusely, the slight red tint to his cheeks not going unnoticed by Draco.

"I'd love to Potter. Thank you."

Harry led Draco into his bedroom.

"The bedroom already, Potter? How scandalous."

Harry laughed, enjoying how easy it was with Draco around. He was worried it was going to be incredibly awkward. Instead, the atmosphere was light.

"I kept Hedwig with me", he replied with a shrug.

Draco sat on Harry's bed while he rearranged some stuff to make space for the cage.

"Is it wrong that I expected your room to look like the Gryffindor common room threw up all over it?"

With a laugh, Harry set the cage down and started scribbling a response before tossing it to Draco.

"Contrary to popular belief, my favorite color isn't red. It's silver."

Draco gasped dramatically.

"Wait until the masses find out. It will surely cause an uproar. Ha. Uproar."

Harry snorted and couldn't bite back his retort.

"You're so stupid", he said teasingly.

"Flattery will get you everywhere Potter. I'm already in your bed.You're welcome to join me, Scarhead."

As Harry turned around, he lost it as the small owl flew over to nestle into Draco's neck.

"Close enough", Draco replied, fighting back his own laughter. "I'll take what I can get."

"I can't believe you replaced me with an owl", Harry muttered.

"As if. You leave quite the lasting impression Potter. I'm sorry to inform you but it's been over a month with me. Your 30 day trial period has ended and I don't accept returns anymore. You're stuck with me I'm afraid."

"Good."

Harry settled Scarhead into his new home, and motioned for Draco to follow him back downstairs. He gave him a quick tour, pointing out which room was which.

"Does it get lonely in this big house all alone?", Draco asked quietly. "The Manor drives me insane most days. The only reprieve I get is from our letters and calls."

"I have Kreacher."

"Yes Master Harry? Oh, a Black!"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Narcissa's son. Kreacher has heard much about you sir."

Draco looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and Harry was looking everywhere that wasn't Draco.

"Dinner will be done soon Kreacher."

"Of course Master Harry. I is coming back when it is done if you don't need Kreacher."

"I just wanted you to meet Malfoy."

With a nod, Kreacher was gone with a pop.

"So, what's for dinner?"

Harry slid Draco a written menu.

"Very fancy. Can I watch you cook?"

With a nod, Harry motioned for Draco to follow him into the kitchen, where he promptly sat on the counter, swinging his feet.

"I just cleaned that", Harry mumbled.

"I assure you my dear Scarhead that I showered before I came and that my clothes are clean. Can I set out plates or something?"

Harry pointed out the cabinet where he kept his dishes and allowed Draco to help.

"It really blows my mind how you can do all of this, yet you struggle in potions."

"You said you'd blow up my kitchen", Harry scribbled as he stirred with his left hand. "Same concept. Plus, Snape hated me because I look like my dad and he never got over my mother. I've never been so thankful to not be a girl."

"That's just... something. Anyways, there has to be a better method of communication than you just scribbling. When I get back to The Manor I'm going to scour the library. And don't even tell me that I don't have to, because I want to. We're friends. Aren't we?"

"Of course we are", Harry answered fiercely.

"Wonderful, it's settled then. It may take a bit of time because there's so many books, but we'll think of something to make things easier for you. Now, what the heck does this muggle device do?"

Harry ended up making Draco a list of all of the muggle items in his kitchen, along with descriptions and quick sketches of the appliances.

"If this is what Muggle Studies is like, I'm glad I never took it. Seems exhausting when you have magic."

"I couldn't use magic growing up obviously. I didn't even know I was a wizard until Hagrid quite literally busted down my door."

"I'm sorry? So you had no clue who I was when you rejected me?"

"None at all. You reminded me of my cousin, who equated me to being a waste of space. To cut it short, the muggles who raised me hated me, and I had to do all of this stuff by hand. Anyways, the last thing my cousin said to me was that he didn't think I was a waste of space so there's that at least. We write monthly, but I just can't deal with that."

When Draco finished reading the note, he looked at Harry in a new light.

"You're pretty great now though", Harry added quietly.

"You're not so bad yourself Potter. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship. Beautiful because I'm the other half of course. You're alright I guess."

Harry laughed and smacked him with the dish towel.

"Hey! Prat. This is why I like the other Scarhead better. He's cuter, but you're about the same size I suppose", Draco added with a smirk as Harry sputtered.

"You're not even a full head taller than me!", Harry yelled defensively.

He clamped his hand over his mouth, realizing these were the longest sentences he had uttered in awhile.

"The return of sassy Potter. Oh how I've missed him. Brings me back to my childhood", Draco joked, fake wiping a tear away.

"You're insufferable."

"You said I was pretty great a few minutes ago, you can't lie to me now."

The rest of the night passed by in a similar fashion. Draco was raving about Harry's meal, and Harry was beaming under the praise.

"Oh shoot it's already midnight? Sadly, I must take my leave. I told Mother I was going to see Blaise, which I did earlier today so it wasn't technically a lie. He's covering for me. I didn't tell him I was seeing you because I didn't know if you wanted to tell people we were friends, I just said I needed to get out.

Anyways, I had a good time Potter. Thank you for having me over. This was a lot of fun. If you're up for it... I'd like to do this again sometime?"

"I'd love to. Anytime."

Draco hesitated at the door and turned back to face Harry.

"Take care of little Scarhead."

"Of course."

Harry pulled Draco in for a hug.

"Goodnight Malfoy."

"Take care Potter."

As Harry watched Draco apparate back home, he had a giant grin on his face.

"Draco Malfoy", he spoke quietly to himself as he headed upstairs to bed.