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It was a cold and rainy Monday morning during the winter holidays - the last Monday to be precise. Harry was supposed to meet Draco in the common room shared by all houses.
After the war it had been decided, that unity between the houses was much needed. To help along with the process a big room near the large hall had been redecorated to be used as a common room, with tables for learning together, couches for chatter and book nooks for those who wanted a bit more privacy. The room was devoid the house-colours, so no one would feel left out, though above one of the fireplaces there was one big Hogwarts crest. Below which there were the crests of every house.
In front of said fireplace Draco paced back and forth restlessly, a crackling fire in the hearth. Harry should have been there Minutes ago, Draco grumbled. His gaze flickered repeatedly from the clock above a side-table, opposite the entrance to the huge entrance door, above which another clock was situated. Harry was already fifteen minutes late; maybe Draco should just leave. This would probably have been an awkward get-together anyways. He decided to wait another five minutes before leaving to get some more studying in.
Draco stopped his pacing and turned away from the two clocks opposite each other and sat down on one of the soft, light brown sofas. He pulled out his wand and summoned one of the books on Runes from one of the ornate bookshelves lining the walls. Opening the book on the chapter on germanic runes, he started reading. Just then the entrance burst open and Hermione came rushing in. Out of breath, she hurried over to Draco. She stopped short of Draco, took a moment to catch her breath, then panted:
"Harry will be another half hour - he still has to finish his potions homework." Draco heaved a sigh. The homework was due tomorrow morning. It was just like Potter to wait until the last minute and only doing his assignments when Hermione made him do them. He nodded:
"Of course he will. It's Potter we're talking about, wouldn't be him, if he wasn't late." Draco had meant to sound annoyed or maybe even biting, but somehow it came out resigned. Hermione smiled thankfully and as she turned to leave, Draco went back to his book. He really hoped she went right back to Harry and Ronald to force their progress along.
Harry would have to make up for the time he left Draco waiting, Draco decided. He would simply force - no, no that wasn't right - more like convince Harry to show him his wand if he truly wanted to meet with him. That was actually a good idea, he mused. Satisfied with himself, he started up his reading once again. However because of his anticipation he now no longer could concentrate on the contents of the book. Every few minutes his Gaze drifted from the words back to the clock above the entrance. Draco had just turned back to the book when the entrance was thrown open once again and Harry stumbled inside.
"Potter, have you finally given up on trying to complete your homework? Or couldn't you stand being apart anymore and had to come to me at last?" Draco asked. He sat the book aside on the coffee table in front of the sofa he was sitting on and stood to move closer to Harry. When Draco stopped in front of him, Harry took a step back, so he wouldn't have to lean his head as far back to look at Draco.
"Actually , I've had it finished for fifteen minutes. I just wanted to give you the time you need to come up with all those stupid little remarks," Harry said grinning cheekily at Draco. He seemed to expect some kind of response. But Draco had his idea from earlier in mind, when he stepped closer to Harry once again.
"You kept me waiting, Potter, even though it was you, who wanted to meet me so desperately. You owe me for keeping me waiting for such a long time!" Draco emphasized each you excessively, as if he needed to make it obvious who was in the wrong here. Harry sighed and asked:
"What do you want?" When Draco started to grin almost maliciously, Harry began to pale.
"If you really want to meet with me, you'll have to show me your wand," Draco said, scrutinizing every little movement on Harry's face. His eyes narrowed, as his lips turned downwards and a frown made his smile vanish. A groan made it's way past Harry's lips, before he could stop it.
Of course he wanted to meet Draco and finally bury the hatchet. Their little feud had been going on for long enough. He wished for them to become if not friends at least fellow students that could talk without hexing each other every time they talked for more than a few seconds. But he absolutely did not want to show Draco his wand. That was something private. Only a few people had seen it after the war. Draco certainly wouldn't understand, why he had kept it after everything.
Harry straightened his shoulders and walked past Draco with his head held high, clearly trying to imitate Draco. Then Harry sat down on the sofa where Draco had been reading as elegantly as he could and patted the space beside himself invitingly. Life seemed to return to Draco, who had been frozen to his spot. He moved towards the couch with clumsy steps and let himself fall onto it.
"You really need to practice that," Harry snorted, delighted by the show. Draco made an inelegant noise.
"I would never stoop so low as to become a carbon copy of you. But you are free to take up my clearly superior mannerisms." Harry did not want to get to the uncomfortable condition Draco had set. So he tried to stall as long as possible and pretended to be offended. Hoping Draco would take the bait and forget about this whole ordeal - to no avail.
"Potter, I can tell," Draco grumbled. Harry looked like he tried to feign innocence, but Draco could see right through him.
"What can you tell, Draco?" Harry drawled the name lasciviously. He truly did want Draco to see his wand.
"You know exactly what I mean, Potter. I want my compensation for all that waiting I had to endure!" Draco was growing impatient; he simply had to know what the fuss was all about. Harry made such a secret of it, not using it in class at all. The teachers had made an exception for Harry. In class he only had to do the theory, and afterwards in private with only the teacher present. Except for potions where he did not need his wand. Harry sighed deeply and began to explain:
"As you surely know, if you were there, Voldemort turned to ash when he died - along with everything he carried with him. He had your mother take my wand from me and had it in his pocket when he did. So it unfortunately disintegrated along with everything else." Harry had to pause. Swallowing heavily. The loss of his own beloved wand was hard to accept. Keeping his emotions in check he braved on through the story:
"He had the Elder Wand with him as well. So that is gone as well. The only one Voldemort didn't have on him was his own. He had left it with Snape in the Shrieking Shack. I found it there when Hermione, Ron and I recovered Snape's body. What we - Ollivander, Dumbledore and me - always kept hidden was that Voldemort and I had identical cores in our wands. We each had a phoenix feather given by Fawkes. That means his Wand is compatible with me. And so instead of searching for a new one I just kept his." Harry's voice got quieter towards the end until Draco could barely understand him.
Draco's eyes had grown wider and wider the more Harry revealed.
"You have Voldemort's wand - and you use it?" his voice was squeaky from - was it excitement or something akin to panic, Harry could not tell.
Harry nodded before he could change his mind. Hesitatingly he pulled the wand from its holster, hidden in his sleeve. If it was even possible Draco's eyes grew even wider. He reached out as if to touch the wand, then hesitated midair to wait for permission. A small nod from Potter and his Hand reached the last few inches and reverently let his fingers slide across the white surface.
"Incredible - does it really work just like that? No flaws or anything?" Draco asked, his incredulity evident. Harry nodded silently - overwhelmed by the exhausted relief he felt at not being judged like he had feared. Slipping the Wand back into the holster he let out the breath he had been holding since Draco had touched the wand, tension leaving his body.
"I think we should continue this meeting another time - this was pretty exhausting," Harry said. Draco smiled in answer - not mockingly or condescendingly, but cheerfully - and agreed:
"Yes, of course. We can meet again tomorrow. I'll be expecting you here at eleven, Harry."