Of Burnt Toast and Crayons

I don't own them. Sorry. I know we all wish I did. XP

To be perfectly honest, I'm not too sure where I'm going with this story, but these two girls just kept insisting that I write it. Hopefully, it will not be total suckage.

It is slight AU. I pretty much ignore Deathly Hollows. Voldemort was defeated and they all moved on with their lives.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Malfoy?"

Draco looked up from the book he had pulled off the shelf to find a man staring at him with mild surprise painted across his features. It took him a moment to realize he knew this person.

"Potter. Wow, um... Hi," he started awkwardly. "It's been a while." he said, sliding the book back into its place on the shelf before turning to face Harry.

"About seven years now. Can you believe it? How are you?"

"Fine. You?" he asked, studying the man before him. Harry was slightly taller than he remembered, a little broader in the shoulders. His glasses were gone, wether due to contacts or corrective surgery, Draco didn't know. His hair was just long enough to hide his scar, but still an untamable mess. It was nice to know that some things never change.

"Life's been pretty good. I'm surprised to see you out shopping in the muggle world," he said, gesturing vaguely to the bookstore they were standing in.

Draco glanced around at the shop, pausing a moment before answering. "Actually, I'm living just outside the city now."

Harry's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Really?"

"Mm. Business," was his only reply.

"I see. What-"

"!" Harry was cut off mid sentence as a little girl who looked about four years old came flying out from behind the shelves and attached herself to his legs. She had her father's large green eyes and wild black hair which was tied up in two short pigtails on top of her head, and her mother's petit, freckle spattered features. "I found the one I want!" she yelled, holding up her prize.

Harry picked her up, holding her with one arm, and glanced at the book she had chosen. "You already have that one at home!" he said, grabbing it with his free hand and gently bopping her on the head with it. She giggled and tried to steal her book back without success.

"See, I told you he wouldn't let you get that one," said another girl as she came into view. This one had to be at least thirteen. Her mousy brown hair was cropped short above her bright gold eyes and sharp features. She had that lanky build of most young teens, all arms and legs.

"Hey, come here," Harry said, waving her down the aisle. "There's someone I want you to meet. This is Draco Malfoy, we used to go to school together," he said, nodding towards the blonde. "And these are my girls, Molly and Haley."

Draco was shocked. "Uh," he muttered, staring at the kids. Molly was obviously Harry's biological daughter, but Harry would have had to have been eleven or twelve when Haley was born. "Nice to meet you," he said after a pause.

"Was-sup?" Haley responded with a little wave. Molly just stared at him, gripping her dad's collar.

"Aren't you going to say 'hi'?" Harry asked the little one. She just shook her head and buried her face in his neck. "Sorry, she's shy," he explained, smiling gently.

"Quite alright," Draco answered softly, still staring somewhat dumbfounded at the trio in front of him. He was dying to ask for an explanation, but considering the circumstances, didn't want to be rude.

"Hey dad, what are we doing for dinner tonight?" asked Haley.

"I was thinking of ordering pizza."

"Ugh. Again? I'm sick of pizza."

"Well, I could always cook..." Molly's head shot up and she shook it vigorously. "NOOOOOOOO!" she yelled.

Draco couldn't help but laugh at that. "What's this, Potter? You can't cook?"

Haley made a face. "You have no idea. He screws up toast."

"Hey! I'm not that bad," he argued.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "Yes. Yes you are." She looked sideways at Draco. "Do you know how to cook?" she asked, barely concealed mischief shining brightly on her features.

Harry looked at her suspiciously. Draco just raised an eyebrow and answered mildly, "I do, yes."

Haley grinned. "Want to come cook dinner for us?"

"Hey!" Harry yelled, this time bopping the teenager in the head with the book. "That's rude."

Draco smirked. "I seriously doubt Harry would trust me with making his food. We had a somewhat volatile rivalry between us back in school."

"That's alright," Haley pushed on, glaring at her father. "Even if you poisoned it, I doubt it would be as deadly as dad's stuff."

"Will you stop that?" Harry asked exasperatedly, a slight blush of embarrassment staining his high cheekbones. "What has gotten into you? Besides, I'm sure Draco has better stuff to do than come cook for you brats."

"Not really," Draco answered without thinking. He wasn't really sure what made him say it. Maybe he was just curious to see if Potter would actually invite him over. Sure, they're fights had died off towards the end of their schooldays together, but they never exactly got along either, even during their most civil interactions. Of course, back then they were all young and hot headed.

Harry stared at him in shock. "Well... if you really think you want to, I most certainly wouldn't mind having someone else cook for us."

"It's settled then!" Haley stated. Molly gave a little cheer. "We'll pick up some groceries on the way home. What are you gonna make for us?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

And that's how Draco Malfoy found himself currently standing in the kitchen of Harry Potter's apartment preparing dinner. Haley was leaning against the counter watching him work.

"So you're a wizard too, huh?" She asked.

"I am," he responded as he diced up the vegetables. He didn't have much experience dealing with kids and didn't really know what to say to her. Luckily Haley was good at keeping the silence from stretching too long.

"It's really cool that you're cooking for us. We don't get homemade meals too often. Dad would probably burn the place down if he ever tried to use the oven again."

"What about your mum?"

"You mean Ginny?" Haley asked.

It dawned on Draco that he may have asked a rather private question. He was about to try and cover but she kept talking like it was nothing important.

"Ginny's not my mom, adopted or otherwise. In fact, I've only met her a couple of times. Dad says she left right after Molly was born." Haley reached for an apple, but before she could take a bite Draco plucked it out of her hands.

"Don't ruin your appetite."

"Hey!" she pulled a sour face. After staring at him in silent contemplation for a bit, she suddenly grinned. He found it somewhat nervewracking. "Sooooo, are you gonna date my dad?"

Draco was so shocked he dropped the apple and she snatched it before it hit the ground. "What?"

Her next words were shot out rapid fire. "Well his last boyfriend left almost five months ago and he hasn't dated anyone since then and sometimes he seems kind of lonely but really I think it's just the lack of-"

"Haley!" They both turned to see Harry standing in the doorway, glaring at the teenager. "Go... entertain your sister or something," he ordered, running a hand through his hair, his face bright red as he waved in the general direction of the living room.

"Okey dokey!" she chirped and skipped out of the kitchen with her trophy apple.

Harry plopped himself down in one of the chairs at the table. "Sorry about Haley, she can be rather... straightforward."

Draco lifted an eyebrow at Harry's choice of words. "Where exactly did she come from?" he finally asked, turning back to his work.

"I found her in the streets a little over a year ago. She tried to steal my wallet."

Draco snickered. "So you decided to take her in instead of turning her in. That is so you." He placed the baking tray in the oven and set the timer, then sat down across from Harry. "I have to admit, I'm rather curious about what's happened since you married the Weasly girl."

Harry leaned back in his chair, staring absently at the table. "You know, I thought that all I wanted was a normal life. I had toyed with the idea of becoming an auror, but after the war I just couldn't stomach the idea of such a violent career. So I figured I'd settle down with Ginny, live a quiet life writing novels, start a family. Turns out that wasn't really what either of us wanted or needed. She left right after Molly was born, saying she wasn't ready for the whole family thing. I didn't do much to stop her. We had our fair share of problems. Both of us were just trying too hard to live a life that was somebody else's idea of perfect."

"So do you have joint custody of Molly?" Draco asked.

"No. She just handed full custody over to me. I think I got the better end of the deal," he said, smiling as he thought of his youngest. "Ginny sends gifts and we see her sometimes at Christmas. But that's it. I've raised her on my own right up until Haley joined us. She can be a handful, but she's great with Molly and I love her just as much as I would were she my biological daughter."

The room was silent for a moment as Draco absorbed everything Harry had told him. "Is Haley the reason you moved to the muggle world, so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable?" he asked.

Harry looked at him in confusion. "What? Oh, no. Haley's a wizard, too. I moved here because nobody knows my name."

"Wait a minute," Draco said. Now it was his turn to be confused. "If Haley's a wizard, why isn't she in school? How old is she?"

Harry laughed. "She's fourteen. When I asked her if she had received her Hogwarts letter at eleven, she shrugged her shoulders and said, 'yeh, but why would I want to spend all day waving sticks around and writing papers?'"

"So she doesn't do magic at all?"

"Oh, she does plenty," Harry answered somewhat sardonically. "Apparently her powers kicked in when she was nine and since then she's been teaching herself wandless-ly. After I adopted her, we tried giving her a wand, but it actually just got in the way."

"I didn't think that was even possible," Draco muttered, his eyebrows knitting together as he thought about how much control that would require.

"Mm. I'm pretty sure her powers surpass mine already. My theory is that it had a lot to do with how she grew up. Her life was pretty tough, and I think her wizarding side kicked in early as a survival trait. Then she had three years on her own figuring out how to make it work before I found her. Since then she pretty much just home-schools herself."

"The ministry allows that?"

"There's not much they can do. They can't track her because she doesn't use a wand. Once a month they send some clown over to test her skills in arithmancy, potions, and history. Honestly, at this point she knows more than they do. She flies through books like Hermione used to."

"Sounds like you've got quite the prodigy on your hands," Draco said, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. His mind wandered to what Haley had asked him earlier. "So... your last boyfriend left you five months ago and you've been a shut-in ever since?"

"Ah," Harry's cheeks grew pink and he glanced down at the floor in embarrassment. He should have known there was no escaping that topic. "I haven't been a shut-in. I'm just busy with my writing," he mumbled. "The deadline for my last chapter was a week ago and my editor's been going nuts because I've had writer's block."

"Uh-huh. So why'd he leave?" Draco asked, trying not to smirk.

"You're rather nosy, aren't you?" Harry sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his hair. "He left because he decided he couldn't handle dating a single dad."

"He was also a complete flake. You're better off without him," Haley said loudly, walking into the room. Harry scowled at her. "Is dinner ready?" she asked, completely ignoring him.

As if on cue, the timer on the stove went off, effectively putting their conversation on hold until further notice.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Wow," Haley said as she pushed her empty plate away. "That was really good."

"Mm-hm," Molly agreed, nodding her head decidedly.

"I told you I could cook," Draco said as he helped Harry clear the dishes. Eating with the Potter family had actually been unexpectedly fun.

"Thanks," Harry said. "That really was excellent. I'll have to treat you to dinner someday to repay you."

"It was nothing. I actually enjoyed myself." He glanced up at the kitchen clock and almost swore before remembering there was a four-year-old sitting in the middle of an ocean of crayons near his feet. At some point he had lost track of time and it was much later than he had thought.

"You got to run?" Harry asked.

"Yeh, sorry. I have an early meeting tomorrow morning and I need to prepare." He stepped into the living room and grabbed his jacket. He really did have a lot of work to do before he could climb into bed that night. "I'll see around, alright? Bye girls!" he called on his way out the door. And with that he was gone.

Harry stood there for a moment, staring at the door blankly. "Huh. I didn't even get his number," he murmured.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Haley said as she picked up a sleepy Molly and walked out of the kitchen to get ready for bed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Draco Malfoy climbed into the taxi and gave the driver his address. As he settled into his seat he heard something crinkle. Shoving his hands into his jacket pockets he found a piece of paper folded in half with something drawn in crayon on the front. For the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. He opened it up and inside in red crayon it said 'tHank yu' with more indecipherable pictures. Underneath that, in the precise handwriting of someone much older than Molly, it said 'Dad's cell' with a number below it.

Draco laughed to himself.