Moving in
The trio landed in dingy alley, scaring the wits out of a stray cat that had been napping nearby. It darted out of the alley with a yowl. They followed it out to the quiet muggle street beyond.
“Number 12?” Severus asked. Potter nodded.
“Yep. Sirius left it to me. I’ve done some renovating, you’d hardly recognize the place now.” He continued on in a conversational tone as they walked down the road. Just before they reached house number 12, Potter stopped and started searching his pockets.
“I almost forgot about the Fidelius charm,” He handed Draco a folded piece of paper which burst into flames once he’d read it. They made their way up to the front door and Severus felt the wards wrap around them, inviting them in.
Potter was right when he said Grimmauld place would be unrecognizable. Gone were the creaking dark wood floors and old faded wallpaper. The foyer was light and airy now, with the walls painted a soft eggshell colour and the floor had been replaced with a muted yellow wood, a circular blue rug in the center of the room for a pop of colour. Potter had had the place fitted with electricity if the rather chic minimalist wall lights were anything to go by. From what could be seen of the house beyond, it seemed to be decorated in a similar fashion. Severus was slightly impressed by how welcoming the place looked now as compared to how depressing and dark it looked like before.
Just then, a loud feline trill came from within the house and a ball of fur flew in their direction, slamming into Potter’s legs and almost toppling him over. He let out a bark of laughter and scooped up the ball.
“Looks like Minou decided to come and greet us.” The beast let out a rumbling purr at her name.
“You named your cat ‘kitty’?” Draco raised an eyebrow. Potter shrugged and put the cat down.
“It’s as good a name as any.” He turned and put his keys in a bowl on the small table nearby. There was also a vase full of fresh flowers on it, Severus noted.
“Come on then, I’ll show you to your rooms.” Draco and Severus followed him down the hall and up the stairs. The rickety old wooden banisters had been replaced by sleek, brass ones and the stairs themselves were the same wood as the floors.
Potter led them to the first floor which had five doors leading away from it. He gestured to the two on the left.
“Bedrooms are along there, the bathroom is the first room opposite them. You should get settled, I’ll send Kreacher to call you for tea in about an hour.” He nodded at them and wandered back downstairs.
Draco and Severus exchanged a look before going into the bedrooms. They had the same light colour scheme as the rest of the house and the furniture was a nice upgrade from the depressing, ominous tastes of the Black family.
Severus took his time putting away his things and changing into some comfortable robes. Since he didn’t really have many things to begin with, he was done fairly quickly. All the while, he couldn’t help but wonder about Potter’s odd behavior. So far, he hadn’t so much as thrown a nasty glance at them. It was slightly unsettling given their history.
He decided to worry about Potter later and went over to see what Draco was up to. His door was open slightly and as soon as Severus walked in he was smacked in the face with a wadded up shirt.
“Sorry!” Draco glanced over his shoulder at him before going back to thee massive pile of clothes that had taken up the whole bed and was spilling on the floor. “I couldn’t decide what to bring with me, so I brought everything.”
“When do you think you’ll ever get the chance to wear your fourth year Yule ball robes again?” Severus prodded the garments with his foot apprehensively. Draco snatched them off the floor and glared at him as though he’d just kicked a baby.
“Well I couldn’t just leave them behind, these are memories,” He insisted. Severus pointed to the wardrobe.
“And that’s limited space, you can’t keep all of this. You haven’t even unpacked anything else just clothes!” Draco just looked at him.
“Well, what else was I going to bring?”
“Oh for Merlin’s sake.”
Severus was saved from banging his head against the nearest hard surface by Kreacher popping into the middle of the room. The old house elf looked a lot healthier than he last saw him, he was even wearing a clean, flowery pillow case.
“Master Harry is calling you to the sun room for tea.” The elf looked around the messy room in disapproval. “Kreacher will tidy Master Draco’s room until then.”
“Excellent. Come on, Draco.” Severus pulled him out of the chaotic room, with mild protests from the blonde.
“Don’t throw anything away!” He called out and just managed to hear Kreacher grumble in response before Severus dragged him down the stairs.
Grimmauld place hadn’t had a sun room the last time he’d been here, but Severus remembered an enclosed patio that had been used for storage. His guess was right as he approached the room and heard the faint clink of dishes from within. They entered to see Potter setting teacups on a table, surrounded by a rather tasteful amount of house plants.
“Ah, here you are! Come and sit, I’ll pour you some tea.” He gestured to the comfortable looking wicker chairs around the table. The two settled down and looked over the lavish selection of tea time snacks. There were many kinds of pastries and little sandwiches and there was even a cake tower with the most delicious looking cakes. Potter placed cups of tea before them before sitting back with his own cup. Severus tentatively took a sip of his tea and was surprised to find it prepared exactly the way he liked it. Draco decided to nibble on a chicken sandwich.
“So, how do you like the place?” Potter asked.
“It’s actually quite nice. I honestly didn’t expect you to have such good taste in interior design,” Draco gave the room an approving look.
“The garden’s been cleaned up too.” Severus observed the well groomed lawn beyond the glass patio doors.
“Thank you, I tried my best. It was rather depressing to stay here as it was. Too may memories. So I decided to make myself busy.” Potter smiled and sipped his tea. There was a small meow from the door and they turned to see Minou trot into the room. Much to Draco’s surprise, she hopped up onto his lap with a purr, eyeing his sandwich but otherwise content to just sit. Severus bit back a grin at Draco’s shocked face and Potter just shook his head in amusement.
“Little madam thinks she owns the place. You’ll have to lock your doors at night if you don’t want her in your room. She knows how to use door knobs.” Minou’s purrs grew louder and she looked very pleased with herself.
They sat in a somewhat comfortable silence for a while, making their way through the snacks. After a while, Potter spoke again.
“Do let me know if there’s anything you two need, this is now your home as well after all. You’re free to go anywhere in the house. Except my room, well, you should ask me first. The attic too because there a bunch of things just shoved in there and it needs to be sorted.” Potter started rambling.
Severus coughed lightly. “Thank you for the offer, Potter. I think Draco here might need a bigger wardrobe if I’m being honest.” He narrowly the elbow his godson jabbed at him.
“Oh, that can be done.” Potter smiled slightly. Severus and Draco glanced at each other. They were fully expecting a snarky comment.
The rest of tea time was rather uneventful. They had awkwardly offered to help with taking the dishes to the kitchen, but Potter waved them off and encouraged them to go and explore. They decided to wander into the garden. Flowerbeds lined most of the perimeter of the lawn and there was what looked like a fruit tree with a stone garden bench under it. They sat together thinking about the events of the day. Beside them, Minou was prowling through the grass, stalking a stray butterfly. After a while, Draco spoke.
“Well, this seems to be going alright?” Severus raised an eyebrow.
“Why was that a question?”
Draco spluttered. “I don’t know! He’s just too different. Why is he being so damn nice?”
“I wish I could answer that. It feels like there’s a catch,” Severus sighed. “I think we’ll just have to keep our wits about us. This really does feel like it’s too good to be true.” It was only a matter of time before Potter’s kindness ran out. With a history like theirs, it was bound to.