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“I found this today,” Potter said over dinner.
From the other end of the table he grabbed a box and shook it. The rattling noise caught Draco’s attention and he raised an eyebrow at Potter.
They ended up sitting on the floor of the living room, about a thousand jigsaw pieces scattered across the coffee table. Draco began by sorting each different piece and Potter began by building the border. There was no picture on the box, there wasn’t anything on the box. It was a regular wooden box, who knew where Potter had even found it.
Each week, every Friday after dinner, they rendezvous by the coffee table and had a go at the puzzle. Little by little, an unfamiliar picture began to form. At first there were only bursts of color on a dark background: a bit of periwinkle on the bottom right, hints of lavender sprouted near the center, and sunflower yellow peeked near the top border.
As sections came together the picture became obvious: a simple manor garden.
But there was a hollow spot near the top left.
“Of course you would find a puzzle box with a missing piece.”
“This is going to hunt me for the rest of my life,” was all he bothered to say.
Even so, Potter placed a sticking charm on the unfinished puzzle and hung it on the mantle of the fireplace.
The next day he brought a new puzzle.
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