Harry sank into an armchair in front of the fireplace in his personal fireplace. The chair was a little too cushy for his tastes, but he wasn't about to complain as he allowed himself to relax, silently congratulating himself on surviving his first week as a teacher at Hogwarts. Aside from that first day, he hadn't felt the urge to strangle anyone, done his best to curb the Marauders' antics, and, most importantly, he didn't think anyone had complained about him. Now it was Friday night, and he was looking forward to a weekend free of classes, although he would likely be spending most of Saturday trying to figure out how to grade the assignments for this past week and what to do for the coming few classes.
"And I thought sitting on the other side of the classroom was hard work," he muttered to himself, having gained a whole new appreciation for teachers.
The roar of his fireplace roused him from his introspection as the flames turned green and Romulus Malfoy's head appeared inside. "Mr. Ashworth. I was hoping I would catch you. How are you this fine evening?" the Malfoy patriarch asked pleasantly.
Harry blinked at the sudden appearance of Malfoy's floating, disembodied head, wondering why his benefactor would be calling him at Hogwarts. "Not bad, thank you. And yourself?"
"I'm well. How was your first week teaching?" Malfoy inquired, surprising Harry with the sincerity in his tone.
"Not bad, actually," Harry replied honestly, "it's taken some getting used to, but I'm glad for the work. Thank you again for arranging things."
Malfoy smiled, and Harry could tell where Lucius had gotten his creepy smirk from. "Don't mention it. I merely heard that a position at Hogwarts had opened up, and suggested you for the post. The Board of Governors are the ones who deserve your thanks more than me.
"I will make sure to thank them, as well, when I see them, then," Harry said, wondering just how many on the board were in Malfoy's pocket. Still, he was grateful to the man, and he didn't seem like the evil sort. Well, Harry amended, he was scheming and manipulative, but that was to be expected. Unlike the Lucius of the future, though, he wasn't outright evil. Harry idly wondered what Draco would say if he knew that Harry had made friends with his grandfather. It would be rather amusing if Harry could tell Draco that said grandfather considered him a disgrace.
Malfoy paused for a moment, then spoke, perhaps a little too casually. "Say, Ashworth, why don't you come over to the Manor tonight? It's the weekend, there isn't any work that you're likely to get done tonight, and I would be very interested in hearing how my son is doing in school."
"Sure," Harry answered after a brief moment of hesitation. He wasn't really certain why Malfoy would suddenly invite him into his home, but turning him down at this point likely wouldn't win him any points. He knew that Malfoy had a hidden agenda somewhere. Harry expected it, even. He just hoped that, whatever it was, it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.
"Excellent!" Malfoy nodded. "Would half an hour work for you?"
"Yes."
"Very good. Just call for Malfoy Manor in the floo. I'll be expecting you, Mr. Ashworth. I'm looking forward to our chat."
"So am I. I'll be right over."
Malfoy smiled and was gone from the fire. Harry lingered in the chair for a bit, wondering what Malfoy could possibly have invited him over for, then rose from his chair and went for his wardrobe. Perhaps his extended shopping trip with Bellatrix had been a good thing, after all. The clock chimed the half-hour mark, and Harry realized after getting dressed that he only had five minutes left until he had to leave.
Before he could reach for the floo powder on top of the fireplace, though, a knock on his door stopped him dead in his tracks. "Who's coming to visit me now ?" he muttered to himself, setting the can of floo powder back in its place and heading for the door.
"Yes?" he asked, even before he'd fully opened the door. "Miss Evans…" he trailed off, quickly catching himself. "What can I do for your?" What does she want, he thought to himself.
Lily nimbly sidestepped him and moved into his living room, causing Harry to arch an eyebrow at the uninvited intrusion. She simply seemed to take him inviting her inside as a given, without waiting for it to actually happen. It certainly wasn't something he'd expected from her. Seeing that she was standing in the middle of the room, he closed the door behind himself and moved to sit at his desk, waving her to take a seat.
"Again, Miss Evans, was there anything you needed?"
"I just wanted to drop by and apologize to you about our first class this term," she said quickly, and he could tell she was nervous about it. Bit late, isn't it? he thought. That first class had been Monday morning. Still, he supposed he should take what he could get.
"That is quite all right, Miss Evans," he replied evenly.
"I just…" Lily shrugged. "I didn't mean to question you. I guess I was just used to the way Professor Slughorn did things, and having things change mid-year was… confusing. I had worked out a study plan and everything already, but since you're going through the material in a different order…"
So that's it, Harry mused. She was upset because I nixed her carefully-planned study habits? He mentally shrugged. As long as it wasn't anything serious, he didn't particularly mind, as long as she didn't keep it up. And it wasn't as if he couldn't sympathize with her. Snape's stint as a DADA teacher during his third year while he was replacing Lupin had been rather traumatizing, as well. Harry dearly hoped he hadn't left the same kind of impression.
"I suppose I was a little short-tempered, myself," he admitted carefully.
"So let's just not worry about it anymore," Lily smiled brilliantly at him. "I'm sure you know what you're doing, Professor Dumbledore would never have approved your appointment otherwise."
"I'm sure," Harry said, idly wondering if he would be able to budge his mother out of the room within the next… he glanced at the clock. Two minutes?
"Now," Lily continued, seemingly having no trouble transitioning from one issue to the next, "I could swear have I have met you before. You just seem so… familiar. Would you terribly mind telling me more about you? I think it'd be so thrilling to be able to tell my parents if we had met before."
Though Lily's behavior bordered on being presumptuous, and though Harry needed to be at Malfoy Manor shortly, he just couldn't seem to find the words to send her away or hurt her feelings. Harry took a seat and began listing off the places Harry Ashworth had lived. The mastery of the forgers' skills in identity manufacturing was soon made manifest. Though the Evans family seemed to travel quite often, never had they crossed paths with the fictional Harry Ashworth. Ashworth had never been near tourist attractions during tourist seasons.
A clock chimed the half-hour and Harry took the distraction it provided to end the conversation. "I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but I'm afraid that I must cut this short," he announced, standing up.
Lily took the hint, stood and made for the door. "Perhaps we'll figure this out another time," she said. "Feel free to call me Lily, though."
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