Chapter 04
“You’re telling me that you didn’t talk to him any more after this? Harry! You have been dying for a chance to talk to him for months and then you are given an opportunity like this and you don’t take it? You are crazy and you really need to work on your social skills,” Luna was lecturing Harry for about ten minutes at this point, walking up and down in the office with a book about moon phases in her hand. She had already been at work when Harry arrived and while he was still buzzing with the happy feeling of his earlier interaction with the blond stranger, he was now feeling stupid. Luna was right, he had been admiring him for such a long time now and he had blown his, probably only, chance out of the window.
“What do you suggest I would have done, uh? Ask him to sit with me? Invite him for coffee? All of that seemed like too much. Look, he works a lot and I don’t want to distract him from anything important and maybe he doesn’t even want to talk to me but he has just been nice enough to give me back my notebook,” Harry argued, fidgeting with a pen in his fingers as he watched Luna flipping through her book, still pacing up and down between their desks.
“Nonsense, Harry. He knew it was yours and he cared enough to give it back. How many businessmen do you know that are that kind and actually care if a stranger is getting their things back?” Luna replied, raising her eyebrow at him and Harry shrugged.
“Actually, I don’t know any businessmen at all so I can’t really tell if they are usually like this or not. I don’t think you can really tell by their job or anything if they are nice people or not,” Harry grinned sheepishly at his friend and Luna huffed, sitting down again.
“You are the worst. You never come to me again and complain about being single and not finding someone to date,” she said, shaking her head. Harry smiled fondly, because he knew that Luna would always listen to him and she knew that, too.
Harry was still thinking about the interaction on his way home and he stared at an empty seat across from his own almost all the way back home. What could he do to engage into a conversation with the blond? Sure, he was getting on the train before Harry, so he could simply just go ahead and sit with him, right? But was that really a good idea? He doubted that, since the blond always seemed to work on the train and Harry didn’t want to mess with his work schedule or anything. They wouldn’t have to talk all the way through though, they could just sit with each other and be company for the train ride. Harry could see himself working a lot better when he had someone right with him who was working as well. Though, who was he kidding, there was no chance that he would get something done with someone as handsome as the kind stranger right across from him.
It was frustrating and annoying, and Harry wished he would have never taken the train to work in the first place. Now that he knew that the man was there, he couldn’t bring himself to stop though, or sit on the other end of the train.
“You’re obsessive,” Harry muttered to himself as he unlocked the door to his house and was greeted with the two kittens, loudly complaining about the lack of food in their bowls.
“You just have to say hello and sit down on the seat right across from him. That’s it. You can do it.” Harry was sure that convincing himself that day was working more or less well but at least he could tell Luna later that he had tried. It was a really cold morning this day, Harry’s breath was leaving little puffs in the air and he had reached for a scarf and gloves that morning. He was thankful when the train arrived at his station and he climbed into it, where he was met with a nice warmth that made him shiver. His eyes automatically went to look for the blond and he spotted him easily. He stood out among the rest of the other few passengers, working away, looking fresh and awake as always.
Taking a deep breath, Harry walked over to him, smiling shyly.
“Good morning,” he said, quietly enough to not draw the attention of the entire train on him but hopefully loud enough for the man in front of him to hear him. The blond looked up, surprised at first and then he smiled.
“Good morning,” he replied, and Harry’s smile grew a little.
“May I sit here?” he questioned, gesturing towards the free seat right across the other man, who simply nodded so Harry sat down. He loosened his scarf and took of his gloves, storing them in his bag so that they wouldn’t become the next thing he was going to lose on the train. He then took out his notebook and a pen and he could see the stranger raising his eyebrow just slightly.
“To be honest, I am rather curious about the content of your notebook. I considered looking into it, but I was raised to not be rude, so I didn’t. May I ask what you’re using it for?” Surprised, Harry looked up when he was asked by the blond and he was grinning sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Oh, right. I figured you might have taken a look inside, surely everyone is curious if they find something like that. Now, I attempt to write my first novel and this is pretty much my outline for it, as well as character descriptions and everything else I might need to make sure the whole thing will make sense in the end,” Harry usually felt a little awkward talking about writing a novel, because it usually sounded like a dream and not like something he was really doing with the goal of finishing it and getting it published.
The blond nodded slowly, locking the screen of his tablet and putting it on his lap.
“I can imagine why you have been so relieved to receive it back then,” he replied.
“The commute into the city must be a good place for some inspiration. A lot of people and landscapes to look at and to draw inspiration from. It makes sense that you work on that a lot during your mornings,” he added and Harry nodded, not feeling so awkward anymore since the other seemed to take him seriously after all.
“Exactly! Its not like I’m trying to add certain people into the novel or something but sometimes people have a special habit or an outstanding feature and then I think that it would make perfect sense for one of my characters and I write it down. Sometimes I just think of something and I have to add it to my notes before I forget about it,” he brushed his hand over the cover of the notebook, the colours already fading slightly with how many times he had used it, opened and closed it and carried around with him. There was a tea stain on one of the edges and some pages had smudged ink because he had been too hectic when writing down something.
“Have you drawn any inspiration from me then? Considering that we share the same train for quite some time now?” The blond joked and Harry felt like he was caught. Had the man noticed him watching?
“It’s a writer’s secret. I think you have to buy the book eventually and find out for yourself,” he replied teasingly and shot the other man a grin, who looked rather amused by the answer.
“Fair enough. You just have to let me know when you’re done with it. Also, I think it is very rude that I did not introduce myself. My name is Draco Malfoy,” the blond, Draco, said, and Harry nodded slowly. He was sure he had heard or read about that last name before, and he wondered if maybe it was one of the bigger investment companies in the city. He made a mental note to pay more attention later that day to see if he would spot the name somewhere.
“I’m Harry Potter. It’s odd, isn’t it? How we share a train with the same people for weeks or months everyday and know nothing about them?” Harry hummed, glancing out of the window. The grass was still looking a bit frosted, but it was shimmering slightly as the sun was rising. Harry liked the early mornings when the world looked like this.
“Its so much nicer out here than it is in the city. Though, I have to say the city life has its perks, but nothing beats mornings outside of the city,” Harry looked up as the other man spoke again, looking like he had been watching Harry admiring the landscape outside of their train and Harry nodded in agreement.
“It truly is so much more beautiful out here. I could never live in the city; I’m already overwhelmed going there everyday for work. Its far too busy and too loud for my liking,” he scrunched up his nose and shook his head, making Draco laugh.
“I understand that. I used to live there because I didn’t want to deal with the commute every morning but honestly, its worth the time that it takes,” he replied, looking down at his tablet when the screen was lightening up.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to keep you from working,” Harry said, hoping that he wasn’t much of a distraction.
“You don’t. I just check a few things before I go into work. Its nothing of importance. Having a little chat before starting my day is a far better way to spend my morning, if you’d ask me,” Draco turned the screen off again and put the tablet into the bag by his side so Harry was packing away his notebook again as well. There was no chance that he was going to get anything done, now that he had the full attention of the blond stranger that he had been admiring for weeks now.