Cinderella

Chapter Six

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Part I

"Oi, Draco!"

Draco turned around to see Harry trotting towards him. He smiled warmly at the other man. "Well, well, so you are out of work, then."

Harry reached his side and they walked on together.

"Yeah, since I knew you were waiting for me." Harry grinned.

"Hah! I was just out buying some food. You didn't even cross my mind."

"Is that so?" Harry purred into Draco's ear, leaning close.

"Yeah," Draco answered a little out of breath.

"How about we go on a date tonight?" Harry asked, wrapping an arm around Draco's shoulders.

Draco shrugged him off. "As long as you don't do that."

"Oh, sorry." Harry backed off. "You will go out with me?" Harry asked entirely sure that Draco would say yes.

"Yeah, I said yes already, didn't I?" Draco's annoyance was clear in his voice.

"Hey, calm down. It's just hard to understand you sometimes." Harry shrugged, looking ahead, but saw in the corner of his eye that Draco glanced at him in disbelieve.

"I don't know what to say to that. Is that even a compliment?" Draco wondered out loud.

"You can think about it when you go to bed tonight." Harry smirked and sidestepped to the left when Draco tried to smack him on the head.

When he turn to look at Draco, the other man was smiling, too.

Draco smirked. "Hopefully I am not going alone."

***

Draco was in the bathroom, getting ready for their date when the doorbell rang.

Now, who the hell could that be, he thought as he walked through the house.

He looked through the peephole. He gasped. No it can't be!

Contemplating the situation for a moment, he sighed and calmed his nerves before opening the door.

"Hello, Drake, long time no see."

Draco tried to smile as sincerely as he could. "Theodore, nice to see you."

Theodore Nott hadn't changed a lot since their school years. He was a little bit taller than the last time Draco saw him. There was something ominous about Nott that Draco couldn't put his finger on. During the war Nott had followed his father's foot steps and served Voldemort as a Death Eater. Somehow he had been able to avoid the Aurors so far, and Draco was surprised that he was bold enough to come and see him.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Actually, I'm in a hurry, so--"

"That's so nice of you, Drake," Nott said and pushed past him into his flat.

What am I going to do. If Harry finds him here, I'll be dead for sure or at least he will be. That wouldn't be a great loss, would it?

"Would you like something to drink?" Draco offered, walking behind Nott into the kitchen.

Nott looked around the flat. "Could I have some water?" He sat down at the dining table, taking his coat off and throwing it on the next chair. "Nice flat you have here. How long have you lived here?"

Draco put a class of water in front of him. "I've lived here for a while. Why don't you stop beating around the bush and just tell me why are you here?"

"Drake, have you already forgotten what you promised me all those years ago?"

Draco got confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten. Maybe I should refresh you memory, then." Nott smiled a cruel smile.

***

Half an hour later, Harry was standing behind Draco's door, ringing the doorbell repeatedly. Starting to get impatient, Harry checked his watch. It was already eight thirty. He knew that Draco was very precise about his looks, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Draco! Are you in there? Open up!" Harry banged the door and waited to here some kind of respond, but there was none; not even footsteps. Now that he thought about it, there was no light coming through the kitchen window. Finally it dawned to him that maybe Draco was not home, or maybe he was hurt or something worse.

He took his wand in his hand, mumbling a quiet, "Alohomora" and stepping inside Draco's flat.

He looked around. "Draco?" he called once more, but when no answer came he started to search the house. He turned the lights on as he went from room to room. It became obvious that Draco had been getting ready to go out; some clothes were on the bed, and the bathroom was a mess.

Something was not right. Draco wouldn't leave without saying anything to him, would he? He knew that Draco had been quite enthusiastic about their date, even though, he hadn't shown it openly.

Harry walked into the kitchen and sat down to gather his thoughts. Should he call the Ministry authorities to look for Draco? Maybe he should wait for Draco to come home o his own, since there was no need to call the proper authorities before it was clear that Draco was really missing and not just visiting some old friend or something.

He was getting restless as the time went by. He was sure he had been waiting for hours when just fifteen minutes had passed. He searched his pockets for his cell phone. After finding it, he dialled the number of his muggle friend.

"Hi, Mark, I have a favour to ask. I have to find a person." Harry paused to listen. "Yes, he is the one I've talked you about. The thing is that I can't find him, so I was wondering if you could ask around if anyone has seen him."

Mark promised to get right to it. Harry sat merely twenty minutes when the phone rang again.

"He was seen at the King's Cross with a tall, dark-haired guy about an hour ago. Somebody saw them take some train. Sorry, that's all I got."

"Thanks, Mark, I owe you one." Harry hung up. So, was Draco cheating on him? It was time to find out and time to call Hermione.