Permanent Scars

Chapter twenty-three

Draco had now been seeing Harry now for almost six weeks. He had gotten so used to being with Harry, spending time with him, that it was hard to remember what his life had been like before the accident, before Harry.

Christmas was coming up soon, and he wanted to make sure he got something that Harry would really love. He had looked and looked for the right gift and spent hours rejecting this idea and that idea. Finally, he found a present he thought would be perfect for Harry.

He had been flipping through a wizarding magazine, when suddenly, he had spotted it. It was exactly what he'd been searching for; it would be the perfect gift for Harry. He had decided to buy Harry a Memory Globe.

A Memory Globe was a small, sphere-shaped crystal globe, with silver writing etched on the outside. To use a Memory Globe, the person would start by envisioning the memory they want to preserve. Next, by touching their wand to their temple, they would remove the memory and place it in the globe. Once the memory was preserved, the person activated the memory by tapping the globe twice with their wand. Once activated, the globe projected the memory outward in a three-dimensional image.

Draco had decided that he would put all of his happy memories, of the time he and Harry had spent together, inside the globe. Then, whenever Harry wanted, he could view the memories, seeing them through Draco's eyes.

Earlier that week, Draco had sent his eagle owl off with the key to his vault and a note telling Gringotts how many Galleons he wanted to withdraw.

He was praying that his owl would be back with the money in time to order Harry's present.

Draco, feeling anxious, walked over to the window, opened it, and stuck his head out into the icy wind. Seeing no sign of his owl, he sighed, and then slowly closed the window again. He went back over to his bed and touched the spot where Harry had lain only minutes earlier.

The few weeks that he and Harry had spent together had been some of the happiest of his life.

It was so freeing to just be himself, to not have to pretend to be anything that he wasn't. Draco didn't have to put on a mask around Harry. He knew that he could just be himself, the bad and the good, and that Harry, totally and completely, accepted him for who he was.

Draco was lying on his bed, lost in a daydream about Harry's reaction to his present, when suddenly he heard a tapping on the window.

He ran over and opened it. His owl flew in, a note tied to her leg.

Draco was confused. Where was the bag of money she was supposed to bring back?

He hurried over and untied the note from the owl's leg. Once freed of her delivery, she flew across the room and perched on a chair, where she was closer to the warmth of the fire.

Draco opened the note and read:

Dear Mister Malfoy, I regret that we cannot send the money requested. All money has been withdrawn from the Malfoy accounts, and they have been closed.

Yours truly,

J.P. Morganstein

Gringotts Wizarding Bank

All the money gone? This was impossible. Draco fell to the bed in horror. Now what would he do? No parents, no manor, no money.

Anguished, he dropped his head into his hands. What would he do now? What would happen to him?

Just then the door banged open.

Harry came in and said, "I must have left my Transfiguration book here. I can't find it anywhere. Have you..."

He stopped at the sight of Draco on the bed, clearly distressed.

Harry rushed to the bed, "Draco? Draco, what's wrong?

Tell me what's wrong." He sat down next to Draco on the bed and held him tight.

"Harry, thank God you're here. I just found out that all the Malfoy accounts at Gringotts have been emptied. All the money is gone, every Knut."

He buried his head in Harry's chest and cried. "First, my parents are killed, then the manor is burned, and now, all the money is gone. I have nothing left."

Harry gently stroked Draco's silky blond hair, as he thought about how much he loved Draco. He remembered what his life had been like before Draco, and it was like comparing a black and white film to a colour one. Draco added the life to his life, and he didn't ever want to be without him.

Draco was sobbing. "I've lost everything, Harry. Everything."

Harry held him close and whispered in his ear, "Not everything."