For 16 Galleons

Chapter Sixteen

The boys were happy to be home. They sprinted across the driveway and into the entryway. Mistress Narcissa greeted them and Draco chattered happily at her about their year. After a few minutes Harry frowned.

"Where's Mrs. Carter?" he asked, almost to himself. His surrogate mum should have been there to ruffle his hair and squeeze him half to death. No matter how much he complained when she did such things in public, he loved the treatment.

Master Malfoy had apparently heard his soft question. "She'll be along in a minute, I'm sure." There was a strange look in Master Malfoy's eyes that Harry didn't understand.

The boys took their luggage up to Master Draco's suite and began settling in. After the episode with Montague and Todd, things had changed a bit between Harry and his master. They weren't tense with each other; they just seemed more aware of how they interacted. Draco had got a letter from his parents explaining in no uncertain terms what they would do to him if he ever treated any slave, much less his own, in the way Montague had. The Malfoys hadn't said anything to Harry but Draco had told him about the letter. It made Harry feel better to know that all the Malfoys disapproved of slave abuse. Still, now that he knew it happened, the thought was always in the back of his mind.

After they finished putting their things away, Draco said he was going to talk with his parents and told Harry to go see Mrs. Carter. Harry rushed down to the kitchens first to grab some biscuits. He was always hungry these days. When he burst through the door he was happy to see Mrs. Carter sitting at the table chatting with Susie. He ran over to her with a big grin on his face and grabbed her in a hug.

"Oh my!" Mrs. Carter laughed as she squeezed him back. "You are almost as tall as me now. What ever am I going to do if my little Harry grows up? Soon you'll be too big for my hugs."

Harry blushed and snagged a biscuit off the table as he sat down. "I'll never be too big for your hugs. Just don't tell Draco."

The three of them chatted at the table while Harry stuffed food in his mouth and drank Susie's tea. He noticed that Mrs. Carter had lost a lot of weight while he was away at school. He didn't think he liked that. Mrs. Carter had always been squishy and comfy. It always made him feel enveloped in love when she hugged and cuddled him. No, he didn't think he liked a skinny Mrs. Carter at all. Trying to be subtle, he pushed the plate of biscuits over and offered her one. She smiled and took it but placed it on her plate without taking a bite. He would have to try and get Susie and Jane to help him fix her.

"Well, dear, I'm getting a bit tired. I think I'm going to lie down for a bit. You be nice to Susie and don't eat too many more biscuits. Tell Master Draco I'm glad to hear he had a good year." With that, she patted Harry on the head and got up to leave. Harry paused in munching on his snack to watch as Mrs. Carter made her way slowly towards her quarters.

**************

Once again, Harry and Draco had to visit Pansy's house a couple of times. Pansy and Sally Ann even came to the Manor twice. Both times, the boys had found opportunities to slip away from the girls and leave them lost in the maze of halls or out on the grounds. The boys were quite proud of their accomplishment but the adults didn't seem to be. They had both been grounded from flying for one week for each incident. It upset them but they decided it had been worth it to get away from the silly girls. They figured they would have got into more trouble if they had stayed with them. Harry was sure they would have ended up saying something nasty or shoving one of the girls into a pond.

One evening, towards mid-Summer, Master Malfoy came home from the Ministry extremely excited. He and Professor Snape had finally perfected the potion and incantations to restore the Great Lord's body. The Great Lord would be checking into his private suite at St. Mungo's this coming weekend for it to be done. They weren't sure how weak he would be afterward and wanted to make sure the best medical staff was on hand just in case. Everyone was very excited.

The following week there was an air of festivity throughout the Manor. It had been a success and Lord Voldemort was happy, healthy and back in his own body. When the boys went to Diagon Alley they found that the rest of the Wizarding World was also celebrating. Wormtail was to be given the Order of Merlin, First Class, for his services. Master Malfoy found it disgusting that the toad would be rewarded for doing nothing more than acting as a vessel. He didn't voice this opinion outside the Manor, however, since he and Professor Snape were also being given Orders of Merlin, First Class. Draco preened for days. Harry came close to throttling him twice.

Harry didn't get to go to the ceremony. He was terribly disappointed, as he would have loved to see the Great Lord in person. He wondered if the Great Lord knew that they had brother wands. Thinking about it, he decided the Great Lord probably wouldn't care that a measly little teenaged slave had a similar wand core. It still made Harry feel good, though.

When the Malfoys got back from the ceremony, Harry practically danced around them in his excitement. His eyes bugged out at the sight of the medal hanging from a black ribbon around Master Malfoy's neck. They all looked so impressive in their official dress robes - Master Malfoy especially. Harry felt his stomach flip-flop about and his heart pound at the sight. He helped Master Draco remove his cloak and listened avidly while the blond told him every detail of the day. Draco had actually got to shake hands with the Great Lord. Harry touched Draco's hand with awe. Draco quickly pulled it away and held it close to his chest.

Harry couldn't keep his eyes off Master Malfoy's medal. A couple of times, while Mr. Arieta was helping the elder Malfoys remove their cloaks and gloves, he had to restrain himself from reaching out to touch it. Master Malfoy noticed and beckoned him over. He bent over slightly and held the medal out for Harry to inspect. Harry hesitantly reached out to touch it. Master Malfoy smiled and nodded so Harry ran his finger over the face of the medallion. It was cold and enameled in several colors. When Master Malfoy began explaining what each symbol stood for, Harry inexplicably found that he had no idea what the man was saying and kept staring at his lips. His stomach was doing flip-flops again and he had no idea why. He quickly stepped back. No one seemed to notice.

The boys went up to their room and talked more about the day.

"You wouldn't believe how good Lord Voldemort looks," Draco said excitedly. "He's got dark brown hair, almost black like yours, brown eyes; he's tall and... he just looks real good," Draco finished and stared dreamily off into space for a minute. Harry suddenly felt angry and flung himself down into a chair. He wasn't sure why. Today had been full of too many unexplained feelings. Draco looked over at him.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing. I don't know. I guess I'm just mad that I didn't get to go to the ceremony too."

Draco came over and squeezed into the chair next to him. They were quiet for a few minutes before Draco sighed and said, "Yeah, I wish you had been there too."

The last weeks of the summer were spent in lazy companionship. Draco often talked about the Great Lord and how impressive he was. He told Harry how he wanted to be a Death Eater and member of the Ministry when he grew up. He said he would take Harry to work with him so Harry could see Lord Voldemort too. Harry found himself thinking he didn't want to meet the Great Lord and didn't think he liked the idea of Draco seeing him again, either. To top it off, he found himself getting nervous whenever Master Malfoy was around. He stuttered and became so clumsy that Master Malfoy had angrily told Draco that if Harry dropped one more dish he was going to be banned from the family dining room. The threat worked and Harry was able to force himself to concentrate on his duties instead of how well Master Malfoy's robes matched his eyes or how aristocratic the man looked when he sat at the head of the table and sipped his wine.

Master Draco harassed him endlessly about his clumsiness. Harry didn't dare tell him it had something to do with his father. He thought about asking Mrs. Carter what was wrong with him but he didn't want to bother her. She seemed to be worried about something. When he had talked to Susie and Jane about giving her more sweets so she would gain weight, they had looked at him funny and changed the subject. She took a lot of naps, too. He was really worried about her.

When September 1^st came along, Harry and Draco were anxious to get back to school but reluctant to leave the Manor. It had been a rather good summer and they weren't quite ready for it to end. Once they were on the Hogwarts Express, they forgot all about home as they eagerly caught up with their friends and made plans to harass their enemies.

To be continued.