Most of Knockturn Alley had been ransacked by the ministry after the Battle of Hogwarts, but something stores and stands remained. Some former Death Eaters worked there—the ones who weren't sent to Azkaban. The street was still dark, and lined with stands selling shrunken heads, Dark artifacts, and grotesque ingredients. He turned into Shyverwretch's Venoms and Poisons, dodging a creepy witch trying to sell him a mysterious creature in a jar. The inside had a similar feel to Borgin and Burk's, but contained more liquids and smelled more of acid. The whole place reminded him of his father. The shelves were stocked with poisonous plants of all different colors, and every type of venom or poison imaginable. "Need help?" A raspy voice asked, and Draco turned to see the clerk behind the counter.

For a moment, he felt like that young boy who was dragged into Borgin and Burk's and wasn't allowed to touch anything. He hesitated before he spoke. "I need Doxy venom and a venomous tentacula leaf." He said, and saying it aloud only reminded him of how absurd this was.

"You've got yourself a real enemy, I see." The man smirked.

"Not exactly," Draco replied as the man found exactly what Draco asked for in a matter of seconds. Draco followed him to the counter and fished out some galleons from his pocket while the man wrapped his potion ingredients. The horn he had at home, plenty of them, but he hadn't cooked up a sinister potion since his days at Hogwarts, therefore these ingredients had become foreign to him. He left as quickly as he could, without looking suspicious, and let out a sigh of relief when he finally turned out of Knockturn Alley.

Before he could leave, he had one more stop to make. He made his way through the busy streets and approached the building he'd been looking for. It was large and strikingly orange and purple. He opened the door, and the difference from Knocturn Alley was apparent. Kids were searching for their next prank, girls buying love potions to use on their crush, and people who just enjoyed mischief. When he walked up to the cashier, he spotted another pop of orange. George's hair never seemed to dull from that Weasley red. George must've heard his footsteps because he turned around, and gave a look of surprise at his guest. "Malfoy?" George asked, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

"I've come to pick your mind. I've got a bit of an issue." Draco said, and even admitting he had an issue to a Weasley felt foreign.

George motioned for Draco to follow him and led him into what appeared to be a break room. "Tea?" George asked as he approached a kettle, and Draco shook his head.

They both sat at a table, and Draco places his newly bought items on top. George looked at the items and gave a confused look. Suddenly, Draco's hands felt clammy when he saw George and realized that this was definitely not the person to go to. "Who are you trying to kill?" George joked.

"Harry," Draco answered without thinking, which made George furiously jump out of his seat. Draco waved his hands in the air, and said, "No, I'm not trying to kill Harry! It's for Harry. That's why I'm here." Draco defended, which made George sit back down and prepare to listen. "I found a potion recipe in an old book, like an extremely old book, and there were only three ingredients. Doxy venom, venomous tentacula leaf, and a unicorn horn." Draco explained.

"...And you don't know if it'll work?" George cut in.

Draco sighed. "Exactly. The two ingredients together could poison someone, and I know unicorn horn has healing properties but wouldn't that just counteract the other ingredients? Wouldn't the potion either be useless or slightly poisonous?" Draco asked, trying to explain his thought process. He rubbed at his eyes, which hurt like when he was a teenager and pulled all-nighters with his dorm mates.

George opened his mouth, then stopped. He seemed to be contemplating it more than Draco expected and bit at his nail as he did so. "Fred would have been able to help with this. We experimented with Doxy venom for our Skiving Snackboxes, and it's not deadly. It'll make someone sick, but I mean he won't die. The tree thing I've got no idea about."

"It's a leaf." Draco corrected.

"But, I remember Snape talking about unicorns horns vaguely. Hey, wait, isn't that supposed to curse the drinker?" George spoke, disregarding Draco's correction.

"That's unicorn blood. How did you graduate?"

"I didn't," George said, point blankly, and without any embarrassment. "Don't you remember my big exit?" George asked, a knowing smirk on his face. "I remember your face when it happened. You were such a little—"

"Yes, I do remember now! No need to go on. It's not exactly like you were doing much more in Hogwarts. You were making kids puke, and bothering Peeves."

"I was building a business with my brother." George defended, and Draco gave a questioning look. "You were just stomping around the school talking about your rich dad. I had to get out of that school because if I heard you say 'my father' one more time I'd blow a bloody gasket." George joked, and Draco tried to keep a serious look on his face, but he had to admit that their years at Hogwarts was filled with antics. He remembered talking about his father like he was a God, and partially missed being able to think about his father like that. "Neville!" George yelled, suddenly and Draco naturally reacted with a look of disgust. Even just the name made Draco feel uncomfortable because all of his years being enemies with Neville couldn't be easily erased. "Don't make that face." George scolded, "Neville, he likes herbology."

"Of course he does." Draco scoffed.

"He became a herbology professor," George said, and Draco couldn't help but crack up at that.

He put his hand over his mouth, and let out laughs that resembled the wheezing of an old man. George wasn't too pleased, but Draco continued and slapped a hand on the table. His airways felt like they were constricting and he felt like his laughter was choking himself. "He-he killed Voldemort. And then," Draco couldn't get the full sentence out because the idea was so absurd. This supposed Golden Boy had gone on to teach children about plants. Plants! "Oh, that's rich!" Draco shouted he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard.

"Well, I was gonna say he could help."

"Sure, let's go ask the Hogwarts pro-pro—" He started laughing too hard to be able to continue, again. "Let's go see my old friend, Neville the bloody botanist." Draco screeched and doubled over in laughter. "Do you know who-who likes plants? Old women! D-Does he look like Sprout now? Does he wear the outfits?" Draco asked, his voice loud enough that whoever was in the shop could certainly hear.

"Yes, he wears a long skirt, and kisses mandrakes for fun," George said dryly, but even he couldn't help but smirk. Draco's throat still hurt and felt dry from all of the laughing.

***

Draco burst through the door with as much grace as his father and saw an unbelievable sight. He started clapping, and his laughing fit seemed to return. Neville was in one of the greenhouses, teaching some little Hogwarts students about an irrelevant plant. George came in behind him and said. "This guy, am I right?" Pointing at Draco, who felt lightheaded.

Draco was so amused that he hadn't even noticed all of Hogwarts students were pointing at him and stepping away. He looked down, seeing his partially visible Dark Mark, and pulled down his sleeve. Not even the sick reminder of his past could ruin this beautiful, momentous occasion. He was elated. No, in ecstasy. It was a good thing George was holding his ingredients because he surely would've dropped them onto the floor. He grabbed onto a plant holder to steady himself and tried to make his breathing return to its usual pattern. "Malfoy, what're you doing here?" Neville asked, his look was priceless. It was liked he'd seen a ghost, even though he apparently had on a daily basis considering he was still in Hogwarts.

"I'm here on very s-serious business." Draco started, trying to keep himself composed. He wiped at his watery eyes, and a former Death Eater smiling and laughing seemed scarier to the kids than a menacing one. "We need to talk. Harry—I love what you've done with the place very...earthy." Draco said, trying to hold in his laughter as he played with one of Neville's prized plants. It's tendrils wrapped around Draco's finger, and Draco was extremely tempted to pull on it.

"T-This class is almost over. Just wait." Neville said, clearly still surprised with his two guests.

Neville went on about some plant that Draco didn't care about. George and Draco busied themself by bothering any plants that would move. One snapped at George, while Draco teased one that's leaves reminded him of an octopus. After about fifteen minutes, the class was dismissed, and when they walked out they all had their eyes on Draco. They look like bunnies cowering away from a wolf, so Draco took the opportunity to make a face at one of them and the child yelped. Once they were all gone, Neville came over to the two. "You've got a bit of dirt on you," Draco said, making Neville look down at his robes. "Everywhere. Dirty job, I guess."

"Why're you here?" Neville asked, and he was always polite enough to make Draco feel ill. "Is there anything new with Harry?"

"Yeah, he plays quidditch," Draco said, making Neville's face drop. "Also, I was going through some old books, as you do, and just happened to stumble upon a cure for Harry."

"That's amazing!" Neville said, giving that goofy smile he'd always possessed.

"But, it can also, possibly, poison him. And, the potion recipe is vague. It just gives ingredients." Draco said, making Neville's face fall, once again. "We came to ask about a plant. And you seem to be—" Draco paused and started to laugh a bit, then tried to get himself together again, "You seem to be a pro."

"Venomous tentacula?" Neville asked, peering at the leaves that George was holding. Draco nodded and watched Neville's calculated expression. "We learned a bit about them in the sixth year."

"You know, I just happened to be a bit busy that year." Draco reminded.

"I have one. Come over here." Neville leads them away from the entrance, and down a couple of aisles where he had planters filled with the vicious plants. They were disturbing, with mouths, spikes, and moving vines. "Venomous Tentacula expels venom from its shoots, and its spikes are deadly. Its bite is highly venomous and can easily stun or kill. Its juice is also a less than lethal poison." Neville said, throwing a chizpurfle in its mouth. Draco almost felt bad for the little thing when its carapace was the only thing that was left. George smiles and Draco heard something along the lines of "nasty" come from his mouth. "We used them as weapons during the Battle of Hogwarts," Neville added, feeling proud of his little plants.

"Thanks for the history lesson, but I just need to know about the leaves." Draco reminded, throwing in his bit of sarcasm.

"I'm getting there." Neville scolded, "The plant and leaves are used in poisons and some dark brewery in which the potion kills the drinker, slowly. It must be torture. My guess is that, if the recipe is right, then you should only use the smallest bit of the leaf." Neville finished his encyclopedic speech, and the whole conversation reminded him of Hermione. "It's expensive."

"10 galleons per leaf, about," Draco answered.

Neville looked like he was thinking, and Draco assumes he was judging. "That much money on a potion you weren't sure would even work. All for Harry." Neville said, and Draco felt the need to defend himself.

"Well, it was also for me. It's bothering me that I've failed at something." The blond argued, hoping that this moron couldn't see through his lie.

"What do you think of Oliver?"

"Don't know the guy, and don't particularly care about Harry's escapades." But, Draco's voice wasn't very convincing and his voice seemed too hostile.

"I like him," George added, even though the question clearly wasn't for him. "He's good for Harry."

"What do you know?" Draco went back at him, immediately regretting this decision.

"I know you're still into him," George said, making Draco's eyes widen. "I remember when you tried to kiss him in that cell."

"That was a long time ago!" Draco defended and felt too exposed for his liking. Neville seemed to think this was amusing, and Draco couldn't tell if he was about to get scolded or not. "What are you gonna do, Scarhead? Report me to the Ministry?" Draco joked, hoping that it would be enough to offend Neville and get him out of this awkward conversation. Honestly, the conversation made his stomach churn and knot, like his body was disgusted by it.