Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

"I swear, something is wrong with my house. Either the pipes, or the static, the electricity—maybe all of it. It feels like Peeves himself moved in with me but the requested help from the Observation and Registration of Annoying Liaisons said there is nothing. Not even a tiny spirit to be found. So why can't I take a single shower without freezing to death one second and burning myself the next? Or sleep? Do you know the last time I slept for more than a few hours without being woken up by creaking stairs?" Harry was slightly out of breath by the time he ended his rant and looked across the table where Ron looked compassionately at him.

"You can always sleep here until this is sorted," Hermione said over a spoonful of stew.

"But I want to sleep in my house, Mione. I built it, I love it, so why is it terrorising me?"

"Mate, you know there are only two options. Either you move back in with us, or you ask him for help."

"My house isn't cursed, Ron. I don't need a curse breaker, especially not Malfoy. I’ve only lived there for half a year and it was perfectly fine in the beginning. Besides, he would never help me. Every time we have to work together it ends in a small catastrophe."

"Oh come on, you saved his life at Hogwarts. Now he can help you save Niffler's Den before it kills you," Ron huffed.

"It's been eight years since Hogwarts, and my house won't kill me."

"Probably not your house," Hermione said, looking worried. "But you are always tired and on edge and that's lethal in your position. You have to be well rested if they send you on a mission, and you're everything but."

He knew Hermione was right, but that didn't make it any better. Just the thought of asking Malfoy for help annoyed him beyond all means.

After a moment of silence, however, Harry had to give in with a loud sigh. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll ask Malfoy for help next time I see him at the Ministry. The sooner, the better."

"Good," Hermione said, visibly relieved. "Will you come to the Leaky tomorrow? Parkinson and Theo will be there too. It'll be nice. And maybe Malfoy will come with them."

"I'm not asking Malfoy to take care of my house while he's out with his friends!"

"Our friends, Harry. We're even invited to their wedding. It's about time you get over your childish rivalry and stop behaving like we're still in Hogwarts. Like you said, it's been eight years."

Harry looked at Ron, hoping for some kind of help from his side but he only shrugged before helping himself to a second bowl of stew.

"It's not like back at Hogwarts," Harry grumbled. "We both know that. It's just that he's an annoying git who still thinks everyone should worship the ground he walks on just because it's him. And he's not happy that I'm not falling for his tricks like everyone else who wets their pants whenever he's around because he's so charming and funny my arse. Kreacher has a better sense of humour."

"Oh, how is Kreacher?"

"Old. And bitter. He's not enjoying his retirement. His last card was a picture of a dying rosebush and the message that even though he was nearly blind he was still a better cook than whichever fool did the cooking at the retirement home you founded, and yet another wish to finally behead him. Preferably before his next dinner."

While Ron burst out laughing, Hermione only rolled her eyes, pushing her empty plate away. "I visited the home last month and found him organising a betting pool of some kind. He's more than happy there, no idea why he's pretending to hate that place."

"Because it's Kreacher. You know that saying 'being nice won't kill you'? I bet for him being nice for more than a few minutes would be lethal."

"Just like you with asking Malfoy for help. One could think it's lethal the way you always behave even though everyone knows that you're only annoying each other that much because of the unresolved sexual tension."

"What?" Harry spluttered, staring at Hermione with wide eyes while Ron hollered loud enough that it became too hard to hear his own thoughts. "There is no such thing as that, Hermione!"

"Sure. So will you stay here for tonight or try with Niffler's Den?" Hermione asked, amusement written on her face.

"I'll go home and sleep in my own bed, ta!" Harry grumbled. There was no unresolved sexual tension between him and Malfoy. There was nothing between the two of them. And Harry would be doomed if that changed anytime soon.

After Harry had helped clean the kitchen he said his goodbyes and left his friends’ cosy house to Apparate home.

As always, when he landed at the small gate in front of his garden a smile crept over his face. He still couldn't believe that this piece of land was his own. Everything from the trees he had planted to the chimney on top of the small cottage was his, and every time he thought about how he put this together, seed by seed, rock by rock, his heart swelled in his chest.

Looking at the cottage in front of him, Harry couldn't help but hesitate a second before stepping through the gate. Sending a fertilising spell over his garden, he walked up to the front door and opened it, peering into the darkness inside as if something would jump him any second. But nothing happened.

Sighing, he walked in and toed his shoes from his feet before making his way into the living room. Switching on the lights, he threw himself onto his sofa, enjoying a few minutes of silence before he had to start his nightly routine and get ready for bed. He just had to take care to not fall asleep before he got to bed, otherwise he'd miss his alarm and be late for work tomorrow.

If he was late on a Friday, Auror Robards would make him work the following two weekends and he wasn't too keen to do that. It wasn't that he didn't like his job, he just appreciated having two days off without a mission or a stakeout.

It wasn't even two hours after he finally had dragged his tired body to bed that his house decided to end the night early. Loud noises from the staircase made Harry jump up with a start, absolutely sure he'd have to face a burglar any second. Grabbing his wand from his bedside table, Harry got up and pointed it at the door, ready to hex whatever was coming his way out of his house.

Listening to the heavy steps, Harry tried to guess how big the thing coming his way was. The creaking and groaning coming from his stairs made Harry shiver, knowing that whatever it was had to be a lot bigger and heavier than him, even if it didn't make any sense. How did this thing get into Harry's house in the first place? It sounded big enough that it must have had trouble fitting through the door.

The noises suddenly stopped with a loud thud, and Harry let out a shaky breath, waiting for the thing to come crashing through his door.

But nothing happened.

Hesitating for a moment, Harry slowly crept to the door and opened it carefully to glance out into the small hallway, expecting to find a troll or something similarly horrible waiting for him.

But the hallway was empty. Everything looked like it always did. A sad houseplant in the corner and the other doors, hiding his guestroom and the bathroom, were closed as was the case most of the time. He couldn't find or hear anything off. Nothing out of the ordinary. Closing his door, Harry tried to shake the tension off. This was just another of those strange happenings that occured in his house.

He didn't mind the first few times that stuff like that had happened. Whatever this was, it had started out small, noises he couldn't explain, small inconveniences here and there, water changing temperature so it was slightly annoying. But whatever this was, it got worse with every day passing.

A bang coming from his kitchen made Harry jump into next week. Letting out an exasperated scream, he grabbed his uniform and something casual to wear before Apparating straight into Hermione and Ron's guest room. They were right. He needed help before things got worse, there was nothing left he could do against this on his own, and there was only one thing left that he hadn't tried yet. He had to ask Malfoy for help.

Chapter 1

"You look like shit, mate."

Dropping his head with an audible thud onto the table, Harry groaned and held his hand up to take the coffee Ron offered him. Even though he left Niffler's Den in a hurry to get at least some rest, he still wasn't able to get to sleep for hours. Adrenaline from the scare kept rushing through his body, keeping him away from any rest he could get. He didn't need to hear it from Ron to know how tired he must look.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Harry said, letting out a huge yawn. "I'm the image of blossoming life today."

"Was it that bad?" Hermione asked, trying to tame her hair by tying it into a massive bun.

"Worse than ever before. I thought a troll had broken into my house and was out to kill me."

"So you're going to—" Hermione started but Harry didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence to respond.

"Yes, I'll ask him today. I can't wait for that conversation to happen." Emptying his mug, Harry got up and looked at his friends. "I'd better be going. The sooner I can ask him, the better."

"Good luck, mate! I bet it won't be that bad!"

"No, it'll be worse. See you guys later."

Stumbling out of the Floo at the Ministry, Harry turned left and instead of going to his office, he went straight to the Office for the Removal of Curses, Jinxes, and Hexes to find Malfoy. He was probably charming Mrs Deeds, just to be the first one to get one of her 'finally Friday brownies'. And sure enough, when Harry rounded the corner Malfoy was emerging from Mrs Deeds' office, munching happily on a brownie.

A smug grin crept over his face as he spotted Harry walking towards him, "Too late, Potter. I won again. First brownie is mine, as always."

"I'm not here for a brownie, Malfoy. At least it's not my priority at the moment. I was looking for you."

"What do the Aurors need this time?" Malfoy asked, rolling his eyes. "And why always on a Friday?"

"Actually it's not the Aurors. Look, can we go to your office for this? I don't want anyone listening in."

"Oh Merlin, what did you do this time, Potter?"

When Harry didn't answer, Malfoy sighed, exasperated, and led the way to his office, waiting for Harry to come in behind him before pointing his wand at the door to spell it closed.

"Spill it, Potter, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! I'm here for help. And yes, before you ask, I’ve tried everything else. That's why I'm coming to you now."

"Why so defensive, Potter? All of this sounds very much like you did something stupid, once again. And now you need someone more competent to help sort out your mess."

"It's not—!" Harry was about to lose his nerve. He’d known beforehand that this wouldn't be easy; nevertheless, he wished he could punch the smug look from Malfoy's face. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but my house hates me. I got the Ministry in to check if it's haunted, tried everything I could think of to see if there is an active curse on it, even asked Hermione to come over and poke around. But nothing has helped. All attempts to find out what's wrong with my house have turned up negative. And I really need your help, because—"

"Because?" Malfoy asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, clearly amused at where this was going.

"—because you're the most competent person I know in this department," Harry said through gritted teeth. "And because I really love my house, and I don't know what's wrong with it."

"Now now, Potter! Wasn't so hard was it? I'll think on it. You may go back to your department now."

"You'll—think on it?" Harry asked, not trusting his own ears.

"Yes, Potter, I'll think on it. I'm a busy man you see. I'll let you know if I can find the time to put your house somewhere in my schedule."

"Great! I'll just stay at Ron's forever then because my house is definitely trying to kill me!"

"Good that you have a place to stay then. Goodbye, Potter."

Harry felt himself being pushed out of the office, and he'd have been impressed by this obviously self-made, not-so-subtle piece of magic, if he wasn't so angry about Malfoy's answer. How could the git say he'd think about it when it was clear as day that Harry had to be in deep trouble before coming to him?

Stomping to his office, Harry threw the door behind him shut before dropping into his chair. Unbelievable. That was what this was, absolutely unbelievable.

Looking at the neatly stacked pile of files on his desk, he groaned loudly, not sure if breaking into tears at work would be enough of a reason for someone to send him home.

Opening the first of his cases, Harry skimmed the file quickly before getting up to investigate a burglary at Hogsmeade. At least he could get himself some treats at Honeydukes while he was there.

By the end of the day, Harry found himself in the examination room for Minor Injuries at the Ministry, under the watchful eye of none other than Pansy Parkinson.

"So just for the record, Auror Potter, how did this happen again?"

Harry saw that she could barely restrain her laughter, but he couldn't really be mad at her for it. If it was Ron sitting here, Harry would make sure he'd never forget it.

"I was called to investigate a case, file number Z96R12, attempted robbery." Watching the feather next to Pansy dance over the parchment to record his words, Harry braced himself for the rest of the story. "When I turned up at the scene I recognised it as a residential building, nothing out of the ordinary. An old man answered the door, Mr Mercure, he was the one who called for aid. Turns out the teenagers next door were stealing vegetables from his garden, and when he caught them in the act they laughed at him and told him he should be happy they weren't taking more than a few snacks."

"What happened after you checked the testimony with Mr Mercure?"

"We went into his garden to check if the suspects took anything else but vegetables. Finding nothing amiss, we went into the house to discuss if Mr Mercure wanted to press charges against the thieves. That is where I accidentally dropped my pen while taking notes and this happened." Looking at his hand, Harry frowned at the unnecessary bandage around his knuckles. He'd have put a plaster on it and forgot it ever happened, but no, protocol said he had to go and visit Pansy.

"What exactly happened then, Auror Potter?"

"You're enjoying this way too much. When I bent down to pick up my pen, a dog I hadn't noticed ‘til then bit me on the hand."

"What kind of dog was it?" At this, a snort escaped Pansy.

Furrowing his brows, Harry glanced at the feather again. "It was a Teacup Chihuahua. It had hidden under the sofa I sat on and I scared it."

By the end of his sentence, Pansy's face had turned red from the effort of not laughing.

"Patient Harry Potter, Auror, bite mark on his right hand, caused by a Teacup Chihuahua. No traces of magic in the wound, chance of infection minimal. Healer Parkinson cleaned the wound, and put a bandage on. The wound had already stopped bleeding by the time the patient arrived at 7.30pm, time of accident about 7pm. Patient is advised to come back for a follow up examination if he feels increasing pain or heat in his hand. End of examination."

The second the quill dropped, unmoving, onto the parchment, Pansy burst out laughing and didn't stop for a couple of minutes. By the time she regained some of her control, tears were streaming down her face and she was clutching her stomach.

"Only you, Harry. Only you manage to get wounded in the field by a Teacup Chihuahua. If this gets out to the department, people will have a field day."

"You're always so reassuring. I don't know why I'm even friends with you."

"You can't see someone on a near-daily basis, trusting them with your deepest secrets and most embarrassing wounds, without becoming friends. Besides, you get to attend my wedding, where you'll get tons of free food and booze. So it's a small price to pay."

"A small price for you, or a small price for me?" Harry huffed.

"I think we both know the answer to that one," Pansy laughed. "Now, get out of here. We're nearly late for the Leaky. You'll come, won't you? You have to show everyone that you survived that gruesome beast’s attack."

"I'm also surprised that I survived my visit here."

At that Pansy slapped him over the head with her small notebook, and Harry couldn't help but laugh while leaving her examination room.

Flooing to Ron and Hermione's house, Harry called for Hermione to waterproof his bandage with an Impervius so he could take a quick shower before they had to leave to meet the others at the pub. It was only due to him being late already that Hermione didn't make a fuss about it, but judging by the look on her face, Harry knew he'd get to hear his share about yet another injury later that night.

After a quick shower, Harry got dressed and hurried downstairs where Hermione and Ron were already waiting for him.

When they walked out of the Floo at the Leaky, they weren't surprised to see the others already there, nursing their first pints.

"You're late!" Pansy called over to them.

Walking to their table, Harry flipped her off with his non-injured hand. "If my Healer in charge would have hurried up a bit, we wouldn't be late. How come you're already here?" Pulling out a chair he sat down.

"A lady needs her secrets, Harry."

"She got home and screamed at me to look for her clothes while she jumped in the shower," Nott huffed. "And she didn't wash her hair."

"So you're carrying all those germs flying around your observation room here, just to call me out for being late?" Harry said with a reproachful look, reaching for the beer Ron had organised them.

"My observation room is very clean, ta. The only germs flying around here are dog germs, and it wasn't me who dragged them in."

"So is that the reason you're wearing a bandage?" Hermione asked. "A dog bit you? This could have ended so much worse!"

"Hermione, calm down. There is no chance this could have ended worse. I don't even know why I have to wear a bandage in the first place. It's nothing, really."

"It could have jumped to bite your face. That's bad, Harry. You have to finally sort out your house."

"Granger, there is literally no way that this dog could jump in Harry's face. But you're right with the house."

"Dogs can jump higher than you'd think! Our neighbour’s Husky jumped over their fence without batting an eye."

"It was a Chihuahua, Hermione. It was tiny, and hid under the sofa when I scared it. Nothing happened."

Just as he had suspected, Ron burst out laughing the second Harry had finished the sentence. But before Harry could find a way to stop him, a snarled voice behind him made his brain freeze.

"You got bitten by a Chihuahua, Potter? On an official investigation? Sounds like you didn't exaggerate this morning."

Turning around, he found Malfoy standing behind him, a smug grin on his face.

"Why would I come to you of all people if I didn't really need help? I told you it's bad but you have to think about it!"

Sighing, Malfoy sat down next to Pansy, who gave him a reproachful look, but he only shrugged as if he had no idea how anyone could resent him for not saying yes straight away. "I'll help you, Potter. Pansy has somehow grown fond of you, it seems, and I don't want her to be mad at me. Not tonight, obviously. But I'll come by tomorrow if you go to the bar and bring me a beer now."

"You're a pain in the arse, Malfoy." Harry couldn't believe the nerve this guy had. But nevertheless he got up to get a beer for the git. He had to if he ever wanted to go back to his house again.

When he returned from the bar, Harry shoved the pint over to Malfoy with a frown, proud of himself that he didn't spit in it on his way back.

Deciding to ignore the git for the rest of the night, at least as much as possible, which wasn't an easy task when Malfoy seemingly wasn't able to do anything with some human decency, he leaned back and listened to Hermione and Nott, who were discussing the upcoming wedding.

A few hours later, and after Pansy had bribed him to buy new robes for her wedding, Harry dragged himself to the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, tired from this day's events. Calling out the address to Ron and Hermione's home, he barely managed to get out of his clothes and brush his teeth before falling into their guest bed and into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Harry woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs filling the air and pondered for a second over why he ever wanted to move out of Ron and Hermione's house. He was still trying to remember why when Ron started to sing, loud and wrong, while clattering pans around the stove before falling into an off-key whistle and Harry instantly remembered.

It wasn’t like he didn't love his friends, but he appreciated a bit of silence from time to time, and there wasn't anything like that around here.

Joining Ron in the kitchen, he filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove before gathering some plates to set the table.

When breakfast was ready, Ron called for Hermione before loading their plates with food and sitting down opposite of Harry.

"Did Malfoy say anything about when he'd be at Niffler's Den?" Ron asked.

"Nope. I'll leave after breakfast and wait for him there, hoping my house won't kill me in the meantime. Knowing the git, he'll leave if I'm not there and I don't want to give him the opportunity to back out."

"Draco isn't that bad, Harry. He's just—"

Looking at Hermione, who’d just entered the room, Harry waited for her to finish the sentence. It quickly became obvious that she didn't know how to finish it and Harry snorted into his tea. "He's Malfoy, Mione. No need to find excuses."

"It's not that," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I work with him nearly as often as you do. He has changed. It's not always easy, I won't lie. But I’ve come to appreciate him. He's very clever, and funny if you get his humour."

"I don't want to be friends with him, I just want to be in my house without worrying that its cursed, that's all. And he happens to be the only one who can possibly help me."

"Don't worry, he'll figure it out."

Staring down at his breakfast, Harry hoped Hermione was right.

When he finished his meal, Harry carried his plate to the sink before he hugged Ron and Hermione goodbye, already expecting to find his house in shards when he got home.

To his surprise, the house looked normal when he opened the door. Stepping in, he found everything neat and tidy. Letting out a relieved breath, Harry threw himself onto the sofa and turned on the telly while he waited for Malfoy to turn up.

A surprising bang from his kitchen made Harry jump up before he realised what it was. Sinking back into his cushions, he pulled a pillow over his head knowing this would go on for some time. Once his kitchen drawers took on a life of their own, there was nothing he could do to make them stop.

By the time his doorbell rang, Harry had a massive headache that promised to get even worse with the guest waiting outside.

"It's open, come in," Harry called out while massaging his temples.

"What the fuck is going on in your kitchen, Potter?"

"I told you, my house hates me!"

"Excuse me for not taking you at your word, Potter," Malfoy snarled. "You tend to overreact most of the time. It shouldn't surprise you that I don't take you seriously."

"I overreact? You're the most dramatic person I know and I am the one overreacting?"

"Do you want my help or not, Potter?"

Swallowing down his reply, Harry stared at Malfoy for a moment before he pressed out a "Yes."

"Good. You stay here and out of my way while I check the kitchen. Seeing that there's a lot of noise coming from there it's best to start with that room first to maybe stop the riot temporarily. And then you’ll have to show me around and tell me what’s happened so far so I can get a better picture of what's going on."

Nodding, Harry watched as Malfoy pulled out his wand before he made his way towards the kitchen.

Harry didn't even try to listen to the mixed noises of the banging kitchen drawers and Malfoy's mumbled spells; as long as it got better he didn't need to know how. A short break was everything he wanted after waiting three hours for Malfoy to arrive.

It felt like an eternity but suddenly everything around him went quiet. Relieved, Harry looked towards the door where Malfoy appeared shortly after.

"I don't know what this is, Potter. But I can already tell you that this will be a pain in the arse to get rid of. Would you mind showing me around now? The sooner we start the sooner I can finish this and leave."

"That's exactly what I want as well. You saw the kitchen and my living room already, so let's start with the dining room."

Showing Malfoy around, Harry tried to think of everything that had happened to give the git an overview of what he’d had to deal with over the last couple of months.

After Harry had showed him the last room they went back to the living room where Malfoy sat down with a serious look on his face.

"So?" Harry asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I don't know what's going on here. Could be a curse, could be something else entirely. Tell me something about the house. How old is it? How long have you lived here? When did these things start?"

Sighing, Harry sat in his armchair and massaged his temples. "I set the first brick for this house about one and a half years ago and made the finishing touches one year later, before moving in. After about three months, I noticed the first oddities here and there. Water turning hot or cold, stairs creaking, drawers which I knew were closed stood suddenly open. Stuff like that. I didn't think much of it at first, but it has gotten worse over time."

"I'll cast some general detection spells to check if there's anything I can do without a lot of work. I need you to stay away from me and be quiet while I'm doing my thing, but until we know what’s causing this, you're not allowed to leave the house while I'm still here. So, best you go upstairs and pick some clothes for tomorrow because I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can do today."

Furrowing his brows, Harry looked at Malfoy, who already pulled some vials and little trinkets out of his pockets. "What do you mean with 'you're pretty sure there's nothing you can do today'?"

"I mean, Potter, that this is a job that I can't finish within an hour or two. It might take me days to get this place under control. And I'm not doing that unpaid. No matter how much money you have, you'd be even dumber than I already think you are if you think I’d take your money for this. The Ministry has a nice little statute that says they'll pay for things like this if the health of one of their employees is at risk. So if my first instinct is correct, and believe me it always is, we'll meet in my office Monday morning, fill out a form and take care of this afterwards."

"Fine! I'll go upstairs. Just call me when you're done."

Harry bit his tongue at Malfoy's dismissive hand gesture and went to his bedroom, suddenly feeling like he was back in Little Whinging again and Uncle Vernon had sent him to his room for breathing too loud.

Throwing himself onto his bed, Harry pulled his pillow over his head to muffle his exasperated scream. He had hoped for an easy solution, hoped that if he got Malfoy inat least he could do something to fix his house. But what Malfoy said didn't sound like fixing his problems, it sounded like making them worse by involving the Ministry.

After bathing in self-pity for a while, Harry got up and started to gather some clothes and a new set of robes to take with him. He was just considering sending a Patronus to Ron to update him about the situation when Malfoy called for him.

"Good news first," Malfoy said after Harry entered the room. "I don't think your house, or whatever it is that's going on here, is out to kill you. Bad news is that I still don't know what's going on. Even worse news is that I really will have to come back here."

"So the only thing you know is that whatever this is, it's not going to kill me on purpose?"

"I don't know it, I only think it. As long as we don't know what this is, I can't promise anything," Malfoy sighed annoyed. "Did you pack everything you'll need ‘til Monday? You know what, I don't care. You’ve had enough time. Let's go, and don't forget to come by my office Monday morning so I don't waste more unpaid time on this."

With that, Malfoy strutted out of the room and Harry had no choice but to follow him if he didn't want to stay back alone.

Deciding not to go to Ron and Hermione’s straight away, Harry closed the gate behind him and went for a walk instead.

He knew that this wasn't the end of the world, but it felt like it to him. He had to tell himself that just because Malfoy couldn't find a solution straight away didn't mean that they'd never find a solution to get his house back in order. He wasn't like his father. Malfoy knew what he could do and didn't need to bribe his way up anymore to make a name for himself. It was the only positive thing Harry could say about the git. He wasn't entirely useless.

After walking for about thirty minutes, Harry decided he’d had enough. Looking around to check if he was alone, he Apparated back to the Rabbit Hole where Ron and Hermione were already waiting for him with a plate of spaghetti and a bottle of beer.

"So how did it go?" Hermione asked carefully as Harry walked in and flopped down on the chair.

"Well, he thinks my house isn't trying to kill me. That's the good news. Bad news is that he has no idea what's going on and that he wants to take this as an official Ministry job because he's not going to waste his time for free."

"It's his right to decide that, Harry. Even though I'm sorry to hear that you have to wait another few days before making some progress on it…"

"Of course I know that it's his right! But it's still frustrating. I just want to have a quiet life for once but whenever I try, fate decides that I can't have that for whatever reason. And that's exhausting. I'm exhausted, Hermione."

At that Ron snorted. "Only a few hours with Malfoy and you already sound like a melodramatic git. He's rubbing off on you, mate."

"He's most definitely not rubbing anywhere, thanks a lot. You're such a great friend, Ron. Honestly." Rolling his eyes at Ron, who was currently choking on a spoonful of spaghetti, Harry took a sip of his beer and waited for him to finish dying before looking back at Hermione. "He wants me to come to his office first thing Monday morning so we can hand in the forms and start working on Niffler's Den."

"Yes, that's the standard procedure. You better owl Robards after you eat. He has to know that you won't be available for a few days. Oh, and while you were gone, Pansy was here. I promised her I’d let you know that you can take your bandage off, but you have to keep your hand clean and check for infection."

"That dog didn't do any damage, it merely grazed my skin! What is this fuss about? I’ve had worse while chopping onions!" Harry felt the headache return and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again he saw that both Ron and Hermione had red faces from their attempt not to laugh at his outburst.

"Could be worse mate," Ron coughed to stifle a very obvious laugh. "At least you didn't get rabies from that brutal beast."

At that Hermione couldn't hold back any longer. Breaking down laughing, Hermione didn't even try to stop herself. Harry knew that it really had to be one of his most pathetic accidents if even Hermione couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"You're the worst." Digging into his spaghetti, Harry tried to finish his plate as fast as possible so he could get up and send a note to Robards. Maybe if he was lucky for once, he could spend the rest of the day finding a small group to play a friendly game of Quidditch at the Burrow tomorrow. That way he didn't have to sit in his small guest room and wait for the day to be over.

Chapter Text

Monday morning arrived and Harry would be lying if he said that he'd had a restful night. He spent his time tossing and turning while feeling the minutes ticking by. His head couldn't find rest while his thoughts travelled to Malfoy, his house, and back to Malfoy again. Nothing he could tell himself eased his mind enough to make him believe that everything would be alright. They had only just started to work on the house. At least he trusted Malfoy enough to believe he wouldn't make it worse on purpose.

When Harry reached Malfoy's office, ten minutes late and barely able to keep his eyes open, he already knew what waited for him on the other side of the door before even opening it.

"Ah, Potter, nice of you to grace me with your presence. One could think it's me wanting your help, not the other way around. Five minutes later and I'd have thought you changed your mind," Malfoy snarled as Harry walked in.

"Not up for your moods today, Malfoy. Just tell me what I need to do so we can get to work. I'm tired and had no breakfast because my night went rather suboptimally."

"Lovely. I already filled in the form with everything you told me and left a comment on why we think it necessary to proceed. The only thing left to do is for you to sign it before we take it to the heads of our departments."

Harry didn't even look through the form before signing what Malfoy had handed him. Right now he couldn't even care if he had just sold his soul to Malfoy.

"Well done Potter, you can hold a pen without dropping it. Let's start this madness, shall we?"

"Fuck off, Malfoy."

"Language, Potter. First my department, then yours. Let's go."

Trotting after Malfoy, Harry wondered if this really was a good idea. He already couldn't stand the git on good days, and it had been quite a while since he'd had one of those.

It was easy to get both Robards and Malfoy's head of department to sign the form they handed them. Especially since Harry obviously looked more dead than alive today, and both of them blamed it on his house and not on the fact that he lost a night of sleep while brooding over Malfoy. When they finally handed them their duplicates, Malfoy dragged Harry to the Apparition room next to the lobby before taking him aside.

"Draco to Potter's brain, I don't know if there is any left, but if there is I want it to listen closely. As long as we're working on your house the Floo needs to be blocked at all times. There's no way in or out except the front door. Do you understand me?"

"Is it really necessary to be an arse all the time?" Harry asked, annoyed. "And yes, fine. I'll block my Floo as soon as we arrive. Would you care to enlighten me on why that is necessary?"

"Because if someone tries to come through the wards of your house while I'm taking it's core apart bit by bit, things won't end nicely. Neither for me nor the unfortunate soul trying to visit you. Mostly for them, but the report for that kind of accident spans about fourteen pages and involves talking with six different people before I can get back to work, so I'd be happy if I don't have to waste my time by filling that one out. Now take my arm, I need to get something before we go to your place."

Swallowing his retort, Harry only glowered at Malfoy before taking his arm, allowing him to Apparate them away.

When the ground underneath his feet returned, Harry opened his eyes only to find himself in a posh-looking Muggle neighbourhood.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Harry asked while following Malfoy, who had already walked on.

"We're getting you some breakfast and three coffees. I can't stand to be around you while you're hungry. You're even more annoying than usual. And you also tend to make rash decisions, which can be lethal in our field."

Gawking at him, Harry followed Malfoy into a cosy little bakery. His confusion only grew as the little old lady behind the counter greeted Malfoy.

"Oh I didn't expect to see you here today! The usual, Draco?"

Sitting down at one of the small tables, Harry watched the scene in front of him unfold, not trusting his own eyes.

"Not today, thanks, Sue. I'll just get a coffee and two rounds of marmalade on toast for my colleague over there. He’s had no breakfast and it's unbearable to work with him while he's hungry." Malfoy laughed.

At that, Harry's head started to swim. Malfoy actually laughed, with an old lady in a Muggle bakery.

"Well, tell the young man how irresponsible he is for leaving his house hungry while I prepare him a nice breakfast then. I'll bring it over. And you'll get a cup of tea, my dear, you look like you need one."

"I think a cup of tea would be nice, thank you, Sue."

Joining Harry at the small table, Malfoy looked at him questioningly. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Then stop staring at me like I’ve grown a second head."

Harry tried to busy himself with anything else, but his eyes kept travelling back to Malfoy, who of course was totally aware of Harry still staring at him. He didn't even try to hide his growing annoyance.

By the time Sue arrived with their order, Malfoy looked like he was at the end of his nerves.

"Here you are, dearie... If you need anything else, just let me know." Sue placed the tray in front of Harry and returned to her counter where she opened a magazine and started to fill in a crossword puzzle.

"Potter, eat. I won't spend my day here with you staring at me for no reason at all."

"You being nice is something I can't cope with. I'd like to pinch you just to see if you're real."

"I'm always nice, Potter. It's not my problem if you’re only just realising that. Now eat, we have a house waiting for us."

Huffing, Harry bit into toast that was thickly covered in strawberry marmalade, instantly realising why Malfoy obviously came here regularly. It tasted heavenly.

By the time Harry had emptied his plate, most of his bad mood was gone, and he actually felt quite excited to finally go back to his house.

But the excitement didn't hold for long.

As soon as they reached his front door, Harry could hear loud noises coming from inside. A deep growl from right behind the door made him hesitate to even open it.

"Shield up, Potter. I told you that it won't kill you, but I never said it wouldn't hurt you. We need to be prepared for whatever waits for us behind that door."

Nodding, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a strong Protego around him and Malfoy before opening the door.

A strong force crashed against his shield and Harry was grateful that Malfoy told him to put one up. This wouldn't have injured him, but most likely would have hurt like hell if it hit him.

"Straight to your fireplace, we need to shut your connection. Keep your shield up."

Walking towards his living room, Harry nearly stumbled over the carpet that had buckled up as soon as he stepped on it. But Malfoy caught him before he fell and held onto his arm until they reached the Floo.

After that was done, the house suddenly went suspiciously quiet and Harry wasn't sure what to think of it.

"What—"

"Quiet, Potter," Malfoy said, holding one hand up. "Do you feel that?"

Looking around, Harry couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. It looked and felt like his home. "No."

"Put your shield down, but be prepared to pull it up whenever I say so. I need a wall, preferable the one closest to the centre of your house. And a pillow."

"Is your plan to suffocate my house, or—?"

"I'll be sitting on the floor for the next couple of hours, you moron. I need a pillow so I can be more comfortable while doing my work. How would I even attempt to suffocate an entire house? That's the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard."

Malfoy looked so shocked at Harry's comment that Harry couldn't hold back a laugh while grabbing two pillows from his sofa before leading him into his hallway. "That should be the right place."

Throwing the pillows on the ground, Harry waited for Malfoy to sit down before he did the same. "What's the plan now?"

"I'll check what it is that we're dealing with here. Could be all kinds of things: a creature, a ghost, your house itself. We'll see what it is and act accordingly once we know. It's very important that you shut up while I'm working, and that you take care to keep your wand close so you can pull up a shield in case anything tries to stop me."

"I can do that. Anything else I should know?" Harry asked, just to make sure he wouldn't get a nasty surprise.

"I'll examine your house by looking at the magical traces that you'll find in every house a witch or wizard ever lived in. It shows me what kind of magic takes effect in a place, and in the case of a curse, how bad it is. If it's not a curse, things will get complicated, but it's your luck that I'm a superior Curse Breaker who can deal with a lot more than just curses. Oh, and depending on how many layers of protection spells you put in place there’s a possibility that I'll take a wrong turn and end up in your head instead of the core of your house, but that's very unlikely."

"Oh, very reassuring, thanks Malfoy. I'll let you know if you take a wrong turn, then." Rolling his eyes, Harry leaned against the wall behind him and waited for Malfoy to start his work.

"I'll know I took one if the space around me is empty."

Resisting the urge to slap him, Harry watched as Malfoy pulled out his own wand and started to draw luminous blue runes and circles onto the wall. Putting his wand down, Malfoy closed his eyes and placed his hand in the centre of it.

Waiting tensely for something to happen, Harry didn't dare to look anywhere else but at Malfoy. It was fascinating to see different emotions rush over his face, from annoyance, to anger, to surprise, back to annoyance. He was totally unguarded for once.

This made Harry's brain catch up with their surroundings. He was supposed to keep watch for anything out of the ordinary, and instead he was staring at Malfoy, leaving both of them unguarded against whatever was in Niffler's Den.

After about an hour with nothing happening except Malfoy going through all the emotions Harry could name, and a few more, Harry couldn't hide his boredom anymore. He had already cleaned his nails and plucked the lint off of his clothes; now he had nothing else to do but watch Malfoy some more.

A sudden crack from the stairs made Harry's head snap up. Casting a Protego, he scooted closer to Malfoy so he wouldn't be touching the wall behind him in case anything happened.

The noise grew louder and Harry looked over at Malfoy to see if he showed any sign of acknowledging what was happening. His brows were furrowed in concentration, and from the way his back straightened under Harry's gaze, he obviously knew that something was going on.

Another loud crack from the stairs made Harry's concentration snap back on his surroundings. It definitely sounded like someone, or something, was coming their way.

Harry's hand started to shake when the thing reached the last step. It was so close that Harry could hear its breath. Something about it sounded familiar, but Harry couldn't pinpoint where he knew it from. His whole house felt like it expanded and shrunk with every breath that thing took.

But as suddenly as it started, the noise was gone. Nothing rounded the corner, and his house felt normal again.

Waiting a few minutes before leaning back against the wall, Harry tried to relax his tense muscles. Deciding to keep the shield up, Harry looked back at Malfoy who had already visibly relaxed.

In the end he didn't know how much time had passed since Malfoy had started his work. Harry's stomach had begun to grumble somewhat twenty minutes ago, but he didn't dare to interrupt Malfoy, fearing he'd make things worse.

When Malfoy finally opened his eyes again, he let out a sigh and removed his hand from the wall before stretching his back and arms.

"That was quite interesting."

"So you know what's going on now?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Not really. Let's get something to eat. I can't tell you anything new, yet."

"There's a takeaway place not far from here," Harry said while trying to ignore the defeated feelings Malfoy's answer had caused.

"We'll eat at my place, I need to pick something up from there anyway before I can return to this. I didn't expect it to be so complicated."

At Malfoy's place? Malfoy was taking him to his place for lunch? Harry wasn't exactly sure if he liked that idea, especially since he didn't know what to expect from Malfoy's home.

He knew he had moved out of the Manor and into somewhere more modest. But that could mean anything. From a five-bedroom house with a hot tub and off-road parking to a small, one-bedroom apartment.

"Before we go, I need to ask you something."

Sighing, Malfoy rolled his eyes before looking at him. "What, Potter?"

"Will there be peacocks? I heard from my colleagues that the ones at the Manor were quite fierce." Harry was proud that he got this question out without cracking up, even more so when he saw Malfoy's dumbfounded expression, which made it pretty clear that he had expected anything but that.

"No? I don't own peacocks?"

Stifling his laugh, Harry stood and picked up his pillow before dropping the shield around them and looking back at Malfoy. "Good. Let's go then. I'm hungry."

Malfoy was still staring open-mouthed at him when Harry turned around to take his pillow back to his living room.

"Oh, and I want to get out of my robes and into something more comfortable before we leave," Harry called over his shoulder. "So keep your wand out, just in case this thing comes back!"

When Harry returned from his bedroom, dressed in simple jeans and a knitted jumper, he found Malfoy waiting for him at his door. According to his expression he still wasn't sure if Harry was joking earlier or if he had really meant his peacock question, which made Harry finally burst out laughing.

"You wouldn't spot a joke even if it slapped you in the face, would you Malfoy?"

"Just so you know, I usually do. But with you I'm never sure how far your dullness goes. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a jellyfish."

"A jellyfish? Why is that?" Harry asked, still laughing.

"They have no brain."

Opening the door, Malfoy strutted out while Harry took in that information before laughing even louder.

Catching up to him, Harry took Malfoy's outstretched arm so Malfoy could Apparate them to his place.

Once there, it was Harry's turn to gawk. It was nothing like he had expected. Instead of a huge house, Harry stood in front of a modest apartment complex. Looking around, he realised it stood in a better part of London which was, on top of it all, mostly Muggle.

"Surprised, Potter?" Malfoy huffed. "Not a single peacock here. The only dangerous thing is the lady living on the first floor. If you make too much noise while coming home late she'll run after you and try to slap you with a broom."

Following Malfoy into the building and up to the fourth floor, he hesitated for a second as they reached what obviously was Malfoy's apartment.

"Come in and close the door, Potter. Do I really have to guide you through this step by step?"

"Excuse me for showing a healthy amount of distrust towards you and your apartment, Malfoy. Today wasn't exactly what I expected it to be," Harry said, annoyed, before stepping in and closing the door.

Malfoy's apartment looked very sterile. White furniture, blank walls, close to no decor, Harry took all of it in while following the noise of plates and silverware being set on a surface. It was the polar opposite of his house, where the furniture was wildly mixed together and all kinds of little trinkets and picture frames were scattered wherever he could fit them.

"Not your style I see," Malfoy huffed. "And how did you expect this day to go if I didn't meet your expectations?"

"You were nice, and I had some good laughs." Leaning against the wall, Harry watched Malfoy as he waved his wand through the air and ingredients started to fly his way before they landed in a casserole.

"I already told you that I'm a nice person, Potter. Now shut up and go wash your hands if you want something to eat."

Rolling his eyes, Harry went to find the bathroom. It wasn't hard because Malfoy seemed to ignore the function of doors completely, giving Harry a great view of all of his rooms. He spotted a slightly chaotic study and a bedroom that looked similarly sterile to the living room before he found the bathroom.

The only thing giving away that Malfoy actually lived there were his towels, carrying the Malfoy insignia artfully embroidered into them. At least that was like he had expected it to be.

After he used the bathroom, Harry went back into the kitchen where he was greeted by the smell of a freshly baked lasagna and Malfoy loading small bowls with a salad. It was probably one of the most surreal things Harry had ever seen.

When he sat down, Malfoy waved his wand and the salad bowls flew onto the table. Joining Harry, Malfoy helped himself to a big scoop of casserole before digging into it straight away. And as soon as Harry took the first careful bite, he knew why.

It was obvious to him that the git had good taste. First the breakfast, now this. "Are you trying to fatten me up?"

"What?" Malfoy asked, taken by surprise.

"This tastes amazing, and so did the breakfast. I could eat a ton of both. So my question is valid."

"Not my fault if you eat literally everything without caring for the quality of the ingredients, Potter." Even though Malfoy's voice sounded bored, Harry spotted a hint of pride rushing over his face before he could hide it.

Grinning, Harry returned to his plate and emptied it without saying another word. This day was surprising so far, to say the least. He was almost excited to go back to his house and see how they would continue.

After Harry had emptied three plates under the judgmental, but satisfied, glare of Malfoy, he cleaned the plates with a flick of his wand while Malfoy vanished into his study to get whatever it was that he needed to pick up.

Twenty minutes later, they both were back in Harry's house, sitting on their pillows in the middle of Harry's hallway.

This time around, Harry was better prepared. He didn't wait until something strange happened; instead, he pulled up a shield straight away before opening the book he had brought. Like that, he could stop staring at Malfoy and he wouldn't die of boredom.

Hours later, it was clear that they hadn't needed a shield. There was only one small scare when a few of Harry's framed pictures, which were scattered all over the house, crashed onto the floor all at once.

When Malfoy stopped his work in the late afternoon he looked triumphant, but also very tired. His eyes were glassy and he couldn't stop a yawn escaping him while he stretched his back and arms. Getting up, he waited for Harry to lift the Protego surrounding them before going straight to Harry's living room where he fell onto the sofa with a loud groan.

"Potter? Bring me a beer. My work for today is done."

Sitting down on the armchair, Harry pointed his wand towards his kitchen and summoned two beers from his fridge.

Opening his, he sighed as he took the first sip.

"So," he started carefully, "discover anything new?"

"Yes and no." Yawning again, Malfoy sat up and opened his own beer before taking a sip as well. "There is no curse on your house. Neither did you build it on cursed ground, which would have been a huge problem so I'm pretty happy that's not the case. I’ve also ruled out poltergeists and other unfriendly spirits, just like the Department for Observation and Registration of Annoying Liaisons did before me. But I don't trust them so I double checked their work. There is definitely something strange about the magical core of your house and I can't quite tell what it is. Tomorrow I'll check for creature traces, and I have to talk to Hermione about the finer details of implementing all these power supply lines, which usually aren't in magical buildings for reasons I never really cared about before checking if my own home was safe."

"So, you ruled out the most dangerous things first, found nothing, and will check for the rest tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"That's the short version, yes. You have to go back to the Rabbit Hole for tonight, but first I have to write a report for the Ministry that you have to sign as well."

"Wait. You know the name of Ron and Hermione's house?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes, Potter. I’ve even been there already. As a Curse Breaker, I often have to work with Unspeakables. And if one has the luck to work with Granger on something, one gets invited for dinner which means more work disguised as a bonding experience with someone you used to bully as a kid."

"Sounds like fun," Harry snorted before taking another sip of his beer.

"Absolutely," Malfoy drawled. "It was an interesting week to say the least. If you ask me, the worst part about being there wasn't that I had to work unpaid, but Weasley's singing while he cooked. That was unnerving."

"Ron enjoys it, and it's not that bad." Harry knew he was lying, knew that Ron was a horrible singer probably without knowing it himself. But he really enjoyed it and Harry would never stop his friend from doing something he enjoyed that much. And neither would Hermione.

Malfoy looked at him as if he questioned his sanity, but thankfully he dropped the topic by pulling a form out of the bag he had brought from his apartment before writing his report of today's events.

Just as Harry was considering getting himself another bottle of beer, Malfoy suddenly shoved the paper towards him.

"You need to sign it," Malfoy said, already gathering his stuff.

Doing as he was told, Harry handed the form back to Malfoy who sealed it with a spell and put it back into his bag before getting up.

"Thanks for the beer. Tell Hermione that I'll come by for breakfast because I need to speak to her about your house."

"You know that I can also tell you about that stuff, right?"

"Yeah? What's the base of the spell you used, and how did you make sure it won't expand on anything other than the wires? Also how many shield charms, and which ones, did you combine to shield those wires from the magic that runs all the way through your house? Because I'm nearly sure you did most of this on your own, which is quite impressive, but also very stupid. Which sums you up pretty well, mostly the part about being stupid."

"I am going to ignore those insults and take it as a compliment. As for the rest of your questions, I'll tell Hermione that you'll come for breakfast."

"Thought so. Let's go, Pansy wants to see me in two hours for her flower bouquets and I need a nap and a shower before I find the nerve to go through that for the thousandth time."

When Harry arrived at the Rabbit Hole, he realised that it was too early for Ron or Hermione to be home already. There were still about two hours to pass before they arrived and Harry wasn't sure what he could do to pass the time.

It wasn't like he wasn't allowed to be in the house while nobody else was there—after all he had lived there not too long ago—but it still felt strange to him.

He decided to visit Ron at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and wait there till he was able to go home.

While strolling around the crowded Alley, Harry studied the shop windows and people surrounding him. He was more than happy about the years that had passed since the end of the war. Back then, it was impossible for him to go out without some kind of disguise and a strong Notice-Me-Not if he didn't want to get overrun by people. But things had thankfully settled down far more than he ever had dared to hope for. Most people ignored him now, while others only smiled and nodded. Every few weeks, sometimes months, a kid who’d heard that he was a hero but didn't quite grasp the extent of what that meant, would recognise him and run over to have a chat. Which was quite adorable most of the times, especially if the parents looked like they'd love for the ground to swallow them whole while their kid just chatted on.

Ever since the hype had died down, Harry had found a nice routine for whenever he was at Diagon Alley. He’d visit the Quidditch shop, marvel at the strange books in the shop windows of Flourish and Blotts, snoop through Eeylops to secretly pet the owls there, before visiting Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where he'd stay for a chat with Mr Fortescue while he prepared three ice cream cones for him to take to George and Ron.

When Harry walked through the door a scream vibrated through his brain, but he shrugged it off before walking towards the counter. The first time this had happened, he had dropped the ice creams he had brought along and had to go and get new ones while Ron and George laughed loudly. The next time he visited he saw that he had made it onto the sign advertising the Silent Screaming Doorbell (shock guaranteed 100% of the time, Harry Potter himself nearly shat his pants!) and George had told him that this became a top seller after they put up that sign. Harry could only roll his eyes.

Spotting George in the defence section, Harry sent his ice cream flying towards him before walking on to the counter where Ron was trying to count the bouncing quills scattered all over the place with little to no success.

"Looks fun," Harry said, knowing Ron hadn't seen him yet.

When Ron jumped, Harry laughed and pressed the cone into his hand before licking on his own. "Busy day at the shop?"

"I've been trying to count these quills for the last twenty minutes or so, and every time I think I found a system that keeps those I've counted separated from those I haven't, they get mixed up again." Groaning, Ron bit into his ice cream before shoving the quills into a box and closing it thoroughly.

"Tried an Immobulus already?"

"No of course not, oh hero of the wizarding world, I needed you to come along and tell me."

"You made them resist spells keeping them still, did you?" Harry huffed.

"Of course we did. They wouldn't be fun if you could keep them still that easily. How was your day? Survived Malfoy? Or did you kill him? Is this a goodbye ice cream before you go on the run?"

"It actually wasn't that bad," Harry said before his thoughts drifted back to Malfoy and how the day actually went.

"Not that bad?" Ron asked carefully. "You didn't kill each other 'not bad' or you're best friends now 'not bad'?"

"He was nice to an old lady, cooked a fantastic lunch, and wasn't too much of an arse 'not bad'. I even had some fun today."

"Oh Merlin, it's happening. Hermione was right."

"What? What are you talking about?" Harry asked, shocked over Ron's suddenly pale face.

"Nothing. Not my business. So did you make any progress on Niffler's Den or—?“

"Well, Malfoy is sure that it isn't a curse. I And i isn't a ghost or anything like that. We'll check for the rest tomorrow. Oh and he wants to come to yours in the morning. He has to talk to Hermione about the spell we used for the wires."

"Oh not that again," Ron groaned. "Whenever he's around, Hermione gets so over-excited about having someone to talk about work with that she totally forgets to do other things she had planned for that day."

"I can imagine." Harry really could. Hermione's job was top secret most of the time, and even when it wasn't, she usually worked on stuff neither Ron nor Harry could grasp.

"Well, you'll be there as well, so maybe it won't be that boring. And I get to leave by nine, unlike you. Not that you'd mind it that much, sounds like you're having a good time with Malfoy."

"I'm not having a good time with Malfoy!" Harry grumbled. "It's just not as bad as I thought it'd be.

"Sure. Now help me count those quills so I can go home."

Chapter Text

The next afternoon, Harry found himself back in his spot in the hallway of Niffler's Den, book in hand, and unable to keep his focus on the blurry pages.

Since they had returned from the Rabbit Hole some five hours ago, Malfoy had been sat in front of the wall, unmoving, while Harry read his book. But there were only so many hours he could read the stories of what Zeus had fucked up according to myths and legends without going insane over the amount of shady things he had done. Neither was it particularly exciting to watch Malfoy, who had three moles spotting his neck, drawing a line towards the collar of his robes, and whose hair had the slightest hint of curls where it got longer.

This was new for him, but not enough to keep his attention for more than a few minutes without feeling like he should stop staring, fearing Malfoy would somehow realise it.

Ending the Protego he had held for all that time, Harry got up to stretch his back. He was getting hungry and Malfoy showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Asking himself if it was possible that Malfoy had gotten so absorbed in his task that he had forgotten time and space around him, Harry wondered if it'd be a good idea to nudge him to see if he even reacted.

Just as he decided to give it a shot, Malfoy opened his eyes and turned to face him.

"I could sense you were about to do something really stupid. What was it?" he asked, unimpressed.

"I thought I'd nudge you to see if you were still alive. You haven't moved for hours."

"To—nudge—me?" Malfoy asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"Yes?" Harry felt the heat crawling up his face and quickly hid it behind a cough before going to his kitchen to rummage through his fridge. Anything to keep his face hidden from Malfoy.

Finding two chocolate mousse which weren't expired yet, Harry went to get two spoons before returning to the hallway. But it was empty.

Panicking slightly, his brain ran through everythinghis house could have done to Malfoy in the two minutes that he had been gone, and how he would explain to the Ministry that their top Curse Breaker had died because Harry got them a mousse.

"What are you doing there, Potter? Don't you dare fuck around in that hallway!"

Harry let out a relieved breath as Malfoy's angry voice came from the living room. Hurrying to join him there, Harry nearly fell over his carpet which decided just then to roll itself up because one scare seemingly wasn't enough.

Stumbling into the room, Harry handed Malfoy his mousse before sitting down as well, ignoring the questioning look on the other's face.

"That's all you have?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes. I'm not at home that often. Lately, even less than usual. It's supposed to be a snack, not your entire dinner."

Huffing, Malfoy leaned back and started to eat his mousse while looking darkly at him.

"What?" Harry asked, feeling uneasy under his glare.

"No questions today? Now would be the right time for them, while I'm enjoying the lovely dinner you’ve prepared for me."

"It's a snack, and as far as I know we're working together, not dating each other. So I don't need to make you dinner, especially not since you don't like takeaway. And I thought you'd tell me what you found out today on your own. I didn't want to stress you now that you have some time to rest." To Harry's surprise Malfoy's face turned a light shade of pink at that.

"Whatever Potter," Malfoy drawled, looking down at his mousse. "I indeed made some progress today. I know what's wrong with your house."

"Really? So you can fix it?" Harry felt as if he'd burst from happiness any second now. He hadn't thought Malfoy would find the problem so soon, and the prospect of coming back to his home without fearing it'd attack him was enough to make his face split into a huge grin.

"I said I know what's wrong, not that I know how I can fix it."

At that, Harry's heart dropped into his stomach. "So you can't fix it?"

"Merlin, Potter! Stop looking like a kicked puppy and listen! I know what's wrong, I don't know how to fix it. But I'll know soon. Your house itself is the problem. There's no curse, and nothing here could be placed in any category that's known for causing that much trouble. Except you, because you always cause trouble no matter where you are."

"What does that mean?" Harry felt slightly depressed even though Malfoy said he could fix this soon. But soon could mean anything in this situation.

"That means, Potter, that you somehow managed to build a house that didn't need centuries to become sentient, only weeks. The Manor was a sentient house, as was Hogwarts. Old buildings, filled to the brim with magic deep down into their cores, become sentient over time. That's a normal process, and sometimes not a nice one, depending on the magic the place is used to." Malfoy's voice drifted off towards the end and he stared into the distance.

Harry had the feeling he knew what had distracted him. If the magic used in a house affected it that badly, he really didn't want to know how it was to live in the Manor after the war.

"Anyway." Shaking his head, Malfoy focused back on him. "You, Potter, fucked up a perfectly good, and very young, house. And I don't know how that happened. So I need to get a few books and check the archives at the Ministry for any reports about cases similar to yours, if there even are any. So I'll be back tomorrow morning to see if I can find a hint about what we're dealing with here, and then we have to wait until I complete my research."

"But you can fix it?"

"Probably."

"I'm good with probably; it's better than no."

Watching Malfoy fill in the form for the Ministry, Harry leaned back and thought about his house and what exactly sentient meant for him. He could live with a sentient house, but not with one that haunted him for no reason at all.

When Malfoy finished, he pushed the form towards Harry so he could sign it before they left Niffler's Den.

"Malfoy?" Harry stopped and looked at him as they reached his fence. A brilliant idea had shot through his mind. "I think I owe you a breakfast. Want to get some at the small bakery tomorrow morning?"

"We're not dating, Potter," Malfoy spat out. "You owe me nothing."

With that, Malfoy turned and disappeared into thin air, leaving Harry to gawk at the empty spot in front of him. Blinking, Harry wondered where that came from, before he prepared to Apparate to the Rabbit Hole. Just as he closed his eyes, a loud crash sounded behind him.

Groaning, he turned back to his house to see what had happened this time. Discovering that five of his windows had cracked for no reason at all, he pulled out his wand and cast a few angry Reparos on them before finally leaving.

When he returned the next morning, Malfoy was already waiting for him, his mood obviously nearly as bad as the weather.

Just the few minutes outside were enough for Harry to get drenched in icy rain. He was lucky that he had fixed his cracked windows the day before, or else the storm raging outside would have shattered them into a million pieces.

Casting a drying charm over him and Malfoy, who had entered the house after him, Harry lead them into his kitchen, deciding to see if a cup of tea would help brighten Malfoy's sour mood. If it didn't, he would at least have something to busy himself with while Malfoy sat unmoving in front of his wall.

"Do you still take your tea like you did at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, while fishing two cups out of his cupboard.

"No. Do you?" Malfoy huffed.

"No. And I think my milk expired, so I hope you don't need any."

"I'll survive without, if necessary."

Throwing the teabags into their cups, Harry filled them with hot water before searching for the whereabouts of his sugar. Locating it in an otherwise empty cupboard, he shovelled some into his cup before handing the sugar to Malfoy, who looked at the bag with suspicion before doing the same.

When they finally sat down in his hallway, Malfoy didn't even wait for Harry to cast his Protego before pressing his hand against the wall. Stirring his second cup of tea, Harry leaned back and listened to the sound of the rain pressing against his windows.

"This doesn't make any sense!"

Malfoy's angry outcry made Harry jump. He hadn't expected for him to say anything within the next few hours. But only thirty minutes had passed since they sat down.

"What?"

"That your house behaves the way it does! It makes no sense!"

"I don't know what exactly you're looking at there, but maybe it's, like, hidden? Or something?"

"Hidden?" Malfoy asks, obviously questioning Harry's sanity. "Give me your hand Potter."

"What?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Your hand. Now. I'll show you and then you can tell me if there's something hidden."

Hesitating for a second, Harry put down his nearly empty cup before scooting closer to Malfoy and holding up his hand.

Not waiting for Harry to say or do anything else, Malfoy took it and pressed Harry's palm against the wall, his on top, fingers sliding between Harry's so he could touch the wall as well.

The world started to spin around him, and Harry tried to fight against the feeling of losing hold when something lightly smacked against the back of his head and he heard Malfoy's voice close to his ear.

"Stop panicking, you fool. It's supposed to feel like that. Now concentrate, or you won't see what I'm trying to show you."

Taking a deep breath, Harry suppressed the rising panic and concentrated on the wall beneath his fingers and the heat of Malfoy's hand on top of his.

And suddenly there was light.

Gleaming blue strings of magic painted a shimmering picture of moving webs over his walls and floors, spiked with golden strings and a very few purple ones. The view was so breathtaking that Harry forgot to breathe for a few seconds until he felt Malfoy press down on his hand a bit harder, bringing his focus back.

Harry had no idea how, but somehow Malfoy slowly moved them through the house so Harry could see that the webs of light changed in density and mass, but were found everywhere, no matter where Malfoy let him look.

When they returned to Harry's hallway, Malfoy turned them around and Harry was blinded by blazing lights of blue and gold for a second, before the connection broke and everything was back to normal.

"That was—" Harry tried to find a word for it but it seemed like his brain needed a bit to catch up with him.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Malfoy asked quietly. Harry could only nod. "That's the soul of your house, the magical core. It looks different in every building. And usually, if there's something wrong, if the wrong kind of magic made its way into the core of a house, you see it. It makes the webs break, leaving wounds where magic leaks out and makes all kinds of horrible trouble. But your house is fine, it shouldn't behave the way it does. I looked thoroughly for small anomalies, cracks, anything that could release magic into the open. There's nothing to be found."

"So we know it's probably my house, but don't know why it does what it does. And that's what you have to research before we can do anything, because that's unusual?" Harry recounted.

"Yes."

Malfoy looked down and Harry followed his eyes. Realising that their hands were only inches apart, Harry hurried to move his hand somewhere else.

Touching the wall outside of Malfoy's drawn patterns, Harry imagined the web of magic underneath his fingers.

"What did the colours mean?" he asked.

"That's the magic which was used here. Usually a house collects it through generations, replacing weaker strands with the magic of another source, spinning its webs until they get strong enough for the house to get sentient. It's like it's growing, with every new person staying long enough to have some kind of influence on it and the people living inside. Your house is young, but old houses have a real explosion of colours. Sometimes it's hard to keep track. And even harder to figure out what it is that makes houses collect the magic inside."

"Can you tell which colour belongs to whom?" Harry asked, still in awe of what he saw.

At that Malfoy snorted. "Well, it's not very complicated to figure this one out, is it?"

Harry looked at him questioningly and Malfoy sighed.

"The blue one is yours. You built it, your magic runs all the way through Niffler's Den. The purple bits and pieces I believe belong to Granger who helped to fix what you fucked up. And the golden one is mine. And before you ask, Potter, no we can't influence the appearance of it. I don't know why there was already so much of my magic to be found here. Must be the age of this building. It seems very responsive to collecting everything it can get. So you better watch out who you invite here in the near future."

"What did the Manor look like? After the war?" Before the question was even out, Harry knew that it was exactly the wrong thing to say.

Malfoy's face, which was open and soft only seconds before, now resembled a wall of concrete more than anything else.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Dark. A living nightmare. It didn't shine like yours. The core was dull, poisoned by generations of dark magic, and the Dark Lord living within. I fixed what I could, got all the way back to ancestors from forgotten times to remind the house what it used to be. I had to try it, for my mother. And after I did what I could, I left. Took the first apartment I could find and never lived there again, only visiting my mother when necessary."

"That's—I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault my family ruined the Manor, Potter." Standing up in one swift motion, Malfoy turned his back towards Harry and walked to the living room.

Surprised by the sudden action, Harry needed a few moments to catch up. When he finally joined Malfoy, he was already finished with the usual procedure of filling out the form.

"There's nothing I can do here until my books arrive and I check the archives. Your house has been very quiet, so, if you want to, you can stay a bit longer and see how it goes. I'll owl you when I know more."

Shoving the report towards Harry, Malfoy waited for him to sign it before getting up and leaving without waiting for Harry to say another word.

Deciding to give what Malfoy said a try, Harry sat down on the now vacant sofa and turned on his TV while ordering some food from his favourite takeaway place.

He had missed doing this, having some time on his own, watching TV and eating on his sofa. And he was even happier that his house seemed to be behaving itself for once.

When, after a few hours of enjoying peaceful solitude, nothing had happened except a dropped slice of pizza, he sent his Patronus to Hermione to let her know he'd stay at his place for the night, but that he'd come back if anything happened.

The silence lasted till the next morning, around the time they usually met at Niffler's Den to sit in the hallway. In one moment, Harry was sat in his kitchen drinking a cup of tea, and in the next, he was running out of his house, spoons flying after him.

Knowing Hermione and Ron would be at work, Harry Apparated to the Burrow to spend his morning there. At least he didn't have to worry about what to eat. Molly was always happy to have him, and it was her greatest pleasure to stuff him with so much food he felt like he'd explode.

When Malfoy's owl arrived, Harry was just about to pack dinner for Ron, Hermione, and himself. Surprised, he stopped and handed the scoop to Mrs Weasley, who shovelled even more food into the box, before taking the letter from the owl which flew off without waiting for an answer.

Opening the small roll, Harry saw that Malfoy had scribbled only one sentence onto it:

Meet me Saturday after lunch, wear your robes for the wedding.

Gulping, Harry looked at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. There was still an hour left. With all the things going on, he had forgotten to get himself a new set of robes. Knowing Pansy, he shouldn't even dare to try and wear his usual ones.

Telling Mrs Weasley he had to leave, and asking her to send the food to the Rabbit Hole, Harry jumped into the Floo and went straight to Madam Malkin's.

Once there, it wasn't easy to convince her to make him a new set of robes by Saturday morning. But after a lot of begging, and the promise he'd pay her twice as much, Madam Malkin sent her measuring tape to work while mumbling things Harry was happy he couldn't make out.

When they settled on what the new dress robes would look like, Harry found himself kicked out of her shop with the order to return Saturday at eleven on the dot, and not a single second later.

Letting out a relieved breath, Harry looked around to find Diagon Alley nearly empty. Promising himself to try and get better with his horrible time management, Harry Apparated to the Rabbit Hole where he joined Ron and Hermione for dinner and gave them an update about his house before asking if they had anything for him to do while they were at work the next day.

By the time Harry returned to Niffler's Den on Saturday, he was already stressed out. He made it to Madam Malkin, who took his word and billed him twice the price, and he immediately put on the robes for the wedding before visiting Ron and George at the joke shop to get their feedback on his new outfit, which was surprisingly positive. On his way out, he got himself something to eat at the Leaky, feeling slightly overdressed for Saturday at noon. And then he was nearly late to meet Malfoy, who, of course, was already waiting for him in front of his house.

"Fascinating," Malfoy said as soon as Harry was close enough to hear him. "You nearly look presentable. You should think about wearing nice clothes more often. If you let me fix your hair, you'd be fit to be seen in public."

"Nobody can fix my hair." Looking at Malfoy, Harry started to grin. "You look good as well, that blue tone is nice enough to mask that you're a git, and makes you look nearly approachable. I could get used to that."

"Good that you know your eyes are playing a trick on you then. Let's go inside, I want to test a few things I read, and if we still have time afterwards, I need to show you something."

Still grinning, Harry led the way into the house, which promptly made him stumble as soon as he set foot inside, but Malfoy caught him and pulled him straight towards their usual spot, where he sat down.

Watching Malfoy press his hand against the wall, Harry took the chance to take a better look at his appearance. The light blue really did suit him, and Harry already missed the hint of curls in Malfoy's hair now that he had taken the time to style it so it fell straight onto his neck.

Sighing, he sat down as well and, just to be safe, cast a Protego because he could still hear the spoons following him through the house.

He only started to worry when Malfoy still hadn't made a move to stop his work thirty minutes before they should be at the wedding.

Tapping his fingers against his leg, Harry watched the minutes on the clock tick by. Fifteen minutes, and Malfoy still made no move to stop. Deciding he had to do something, Harry scooted forward and tapped Malfoy's shoulder, instantly regretting this decision.

He got pulled into an in-between place. He still saw his house as it was, but everything seemed a bit foggy before the webs started to appear in front of his eyes, making everything look unreal.

A strong wave of magic hit him and pushed him against the wall.

"Potter, you moron! What were you thinking?"

Groaning, Harry touched his head where it had smacked against the wall. "We're late, I didn't know how to tell you."

"Maybe by doing just that, telling me? I'm not deaf, Potter!"

“How should I know? Usually you don't react to anything happening around here while you're in there, so I assumed you wouldn't hear it!"

"I do, but I'm trained to ignore distracting things around me while doing my work!" Malfoy's gaze wandered to the clock now too, and with a loud curse he jumped up. "You should have told me sooner, we're late. Get up Potter, we need to go, otherwise Pansy will have our arses."

Getting up himself, Harry tried to smooth out his dress robes, but to no avail.

"Hands up," Malfoy said, pointing his wand at Harry.

Harry didn't even think twice before doing as he had been told, and Malfoy sent a spell his way that instantly got rid of the wrinkles before doing the same on himself.

They both sprinted towards his door, hoping to still arrive in time for the wedding. But when they tried to open it—the door was locked.

"This is the most inappropriate time for your house to turn against you, Potter!"

"I don't decide when stuff like this happens! Try Alohomora!"

"I'll try Bombarda if this door won't open soon! I need you to concentrate, Potter, and tell me what could have upset your house."

"How should I know? Aren't you the one who is supposed to find that out?"

Harry looked at the clock and his heart skipped a beat as he saw that they were already fifteen minutes late. Panic spread through his entire body as he started to think about the reason why his house would lock them in.

"Anything, Potter! Please! Pansy will kill me!" Harry saw real fear in Malfoy's eyes and was almost happy he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"I don't know! Maybe—maybe you pushing me against the wall? That hurt quite a bit."

"It was necessary!"

"For Merlin's sake, Malfoy, just say you're sorry so we can see if it works!"

"Fine! I'm sorry, Potter, that I pushed you against a wall. I could have done it a bit more softly and I didn't mean to hurt you."

"And I'm sorry that I touched you even though you told me that it'd be a bad idea earlier this week. Are we good?"

"Thank you. We're good."

At that, the door clicked open and they both ran out of the house to Apparate to the wedding.

Arriving at the wedding out of breath and thirty minutes delayed, they snuck in through the side door of the building, hoping nobody would spot them coming in so late.

"I will tell Pansy that it's your fault we're late!" Malfoy whispered furiously.

"Absolutely not! I will tell her the truth!"

A glowing white light suddenly surrounded them and Harry felt light as a feather while all the eyes in the room suddenly wandered towards them, staring as if they were rainbow coloured unicorns.

"Oh fuck." Malfoy's voice next to him shook slightly. Harry looked at him and, with a start, realised how soft his skin looked in the gentle light. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Please tell me this didn't just happen?"

"What happened?" Harry asked, not able to look anywhere else but at Malfoy. "What's this light?"

Now Malfoy looked at him and his eyes went huge as he saw his face. "So green. Oh, Salazar, no. It really happened."

A few seconds later, Harry heard someone stomp towards them and he already knew who it was, even before forcing his eyes away from Malfoy's face. But seeing Pansy running towards them, wedding gown flying behind her, and a deadly look on her face, Harry knew they had fucked up big this time.

"WHAT HAVE YOU TWO DONE?" Pansy all but screamed at them as soon as she spotted the people causing the trouble.

"I don't know," Harry said, making himself as small as possible under her furious glare. "We came in and suddenly we started to glow."

"Is that so?" Pansy asked, positively fuming. "And did you two, by any chance, decide to come in here, bickering as you always do, and use the words 'I will' in your sentences?"

"Pansy—"

"Shut up Draco, I'm talking to Potter because he's the one who has no idea what just happened! So Potter, did you?"

"I don't know," Harry said quietly, a bad feeling spreading through his body, replacing the fear bit by bit. "It's possible we did. I didn't really pay attention."

"You did, Potter. Hence the white light surrounding the two of you. Congratulations, you're officially married now or, since that sounds probably too Muggle to you and you can't grasp the entire meaning, you're bonded. And stole my wedding. So if you two could please remove yourselves before I kill you, that'd be nice. I'll find you later, either to kill you, or laugh at you. I'll decide that on my way."

"But—" Harry started, but Malfoy stopped him by pulling him away by his sleeve.

Once outside again, Harry still didn't know what exactly that was all about. "What did she mean about being married?" He still felt lighter than usual; if not for the massive weight sitting in his stomach, Harry was sure he'd hover a few inches over the ground.

"It means exactly what she said." Yanking his hand from Harry's sleeve, Malfoy looked at him for a second before turning around and sprinting off, leaving him behind.

Harry could only stare as Malfoy vanished as soon as he reached the border of the estate.

It only dawned on him what had happened when Ron and Hermione ran out of the side door some time later and found him still standing in the same spot where Malfoy had left him.

"Harry! Are you okay? Where's Draco?" Hermione's voice was shaking as she stepped in front of him.

Noticing her grey face, Harry turned to look at Ron, who looked even more freckled than usual.

"He left."

"What?" Hermione asked, her voice growing hysterical. "He can't leave you! We don't know what bond this was! It could be dangerous—"

"Hermione, love, calm down. Let's take Harry home and see what happens. Things are already bad enough the way they are, there's no need to panic right now, let's save that for later, if it becomes necessary."

Ron's calm voice contracted with Hermione's panic made Harry's pulse speed up. A bond. He knew what that meant, how it could turn out. He had seen it a few times while on duty, knew that there were so many different ones that nobody even tried to understand them all, except maybe the Unspeakables. Which wasn't good, because his one Unspeakable friend was about to freak out.

"That can't be true, we were just talking. I can't be bonded to Malfoy."

"Let's get you to the Rabbit Hole and figure things out later, we have to wait till Pansy has time to tell us which bond they chose for their wedding, and it's best to keep an eye on you until then."

Harry hadn't noticed through the fog surrounding his brain that both of them had navigated him towards the street where they could Apparate home. Only after Ron took his arm to Side-Along him did he realise that they were somewhere entirely different than they had been a few seconds ago. Maybe it wasn’t a second, it could have been minutes, even hours, he didn't know, and neither did he care. Feeling like he was about to go mad, Harry closed his eyes and let Ron take him away.

Once at their house, Hermione sat him on their sofa while Ron bustled away to make tea.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked quietly.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry lay down on the sofa. Everything around him felt duller somehow.

"Any effects on your physical health? Are you in pain?"

"No. I feel itchy, but no pain."

"Itchy?" Hermione asked, obviously relieved that he wasn't in pain or great distress.

But he was distressed. The itch was in his head only; there was something missing, a part, that should be there even if he didn't want it to be there. It was like missing a limb, but not really. Phantom pain was the first thing that shot through his mind.

It wasn't a nice feeling.

Deciding it'd be best if he just slept until this was over, Harry ignored Hermione's questions and turned his back to her.

Chapter Text

When Harry woke up again, he needed nearly five minutes before he remembered where he was and what had happened earlier that day. It was already getting dark outside so he had obviously been out for quite some time.

A massive shiver ran through his body as he sat up to go and look for his friends. Groaning, he slumped back down into the pillows. This was wrong, everything felt wrong, he needed to get up and—Draco. What had happened to him? Was he in his apartment? Was it possible he felt like Harry?

He knew Draco could look out for himself, knew that he probably was alright. If not, he'd already be here and looking for a solution. Maybe it wasn't that bad and he was just about to come down with a flu on top of everything.

"Harry! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

Turning his head, he found Hermione standing in the door, looking worriedly at him.

"I don't know. I feel strange, tired, off. It's like—I don't even know how to explain it. Have you heard anything from Pansy?"

"Theo sent a message earlier, he's quite amused. They'll come by after they have their dance. Should be any moment now."

"Oh god, Pansy will kill me." Groaning again, Harry closed his eyes and tried to not think about what she'd do to him once she was here.

"No she won't. I think now that everything is settled, she'll be just as amused as Theo is."

As if Pansy had heard her name being said, suddenly green flames flared up in the Floo and she stepped out. She had changed from her white dress into a dark green one, which looked positively stunning on her. But that wasn't the thing that stood out the most.

Her face was split into a shit-eating grin as she approached them, and Harry wanted to vanish right then and there. This was worse than getting screamed at.

"Have a nice wedding day, Potter?" she snarled.

"No. What about you?"

"It turned out to be quite nice, thanks for asking. Theo is looking after your husband, so let's make this quick, I have guests waiting for me."

Sitting down on the other sofa, she waved for Hermione to sit down next to her. Thankfully she didn't expect Harry to get up, so he stayed where he was. If he was lucky this entire thing would be over soon.

"So. First thing, good news. You won't die. And Granger is here, so at least one person will understand what I'm telling you. The bond we decided to use for our wedding was a traditional bond, used in Pureblood families for centuries."

At that Hermione rolled her eyes and Pansy huffed. "We don't need to give up our traditions, Granger. Anyway, arranged marriages were pretty common, and bonds like these were placed so the newlywed couple couldn't separate so easily. This one here is a light form; there are others that would have killed you by now. If you ask me, Draco was crazy for leaving you, knowing exactly what could happen."

"What are the effects of this bond, and how can we break it?" Hermione asked matter of factly.

"The effects aren't that bad. The bond will remind our happy couple what they have, it'll point out the positive traits of their partner, but only those they already know about or discover while the bond is active. It'll push buried feelings to the surface, no matter how long they were hidden, which could get interesting in this case." A small huff from Hermione made Pansy stop and grin at her before she continued.

"It won't force them to do anything they don't want to do, except not being too far from the other. The same house should suffice. After about two to four weeks that won't be necessary anymore. As you can see, they can spend time apart, but it's—uncomfortable to say the least. And it'll get worse."

"Okay so: it won't kill him, the bond won't force him to do anything, but it won't be nice." Hermione repeated. "Check. How can we break it?"

Pansy's grin faltered a bit. "You can't. It'll be active for six months from today."

At that Harry shot up from his sofa. "What do you mean by 'it can't'? You have to be kidding me!"

"It's a traditional bond, Potter! It's meant to be used for arranged marriages! You can't just break a bond like that, that's the entire idea of it. You have to wait it out until it wears off."

"I'm an Auror, Parkinson! I can't wait till it wears off, I have work to do!"

"It's Nott-Parkinson now," Pansy said with a snort. "And the Aurors will cut their expenses for healing fees in half if you have to stay at home or the desk for a while, they'll be grateful for it."

"Really? Nott-Parkinson? You realise how that sounds, right?" Harry asked, distracted for a second.

"That's the entire joke behind it. Glad you're still capable of noticing it."

"Is there really no way out of this?" Harry asked, slumping back down onto the sofa.

"No. You have to stick this one out. Maybe you'll learn something from it. Being on time, and keeping that huge mouth of yours shut are only two, of many, possibilities."

"It was Draco's fault! He was so absorbed in his work once again—"

"I don't care. You have to find a way to make this work, preferably before one of you gets sick. How you do it, and who's fault it is, is none of my business. You can be happy I didn't kill you on the spot. The bond we chose was meant as a surprise for my parents, because they had the same one, and you two ruined it. If you'll now excuse me, I have guests waiting for me."

When Harry didn't say anything, Hermione jumped in for him. "Thanks for coming over, Pansy. At least it's not as bad as I thought it'd be."

"Aren't they lucky? Have fun with this one. Sooner or later one of them will give in, tell me when it happens. Nobody ever tested how far you can go with this one. What I'm trying to say is, nobody was stupid enough to part ways straight after getting bonded before, and I don't want to miss out on the fun parts."

"I'll send you updates, have fun at your reception."

Harry watched Pansy leave before he threw his arm over his face and let out an exhausted scream. "This can't be true, Hermione. Please tell me that my house dropped me into a nightmare and that I never went to the wedding."

When Hermione stayed silent, Harry groaned and started to massage his temples. There was a headache coming on and he still felt that itch. The entire situation was driving him crazy.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Yeah, kill me," Harry said dryly. "If that's not an available option, then look for Ron and a bottle of whisky. Seems like I'm married, that's something we should celebrate isn't it?"

After looking worriedly at him, Hermione got up and left the room. He wasn't sure if she would do as told but he didn't care. This was a nightmare.

A picture of Draco sitting in his sterile apartment, all alone and feeling just as bad as him, came crashing into his mind and Harry shook his head to get rid of it. That wasn't a thing he wanted to think about now. But no matter how hard he tried, the picture always came back.

Footsteps coming closer made Harry snap out of his trance like state, and when he looked up, Ron stood in the door, a bottle of whisky in hand.

Ron flicked his wand towards the wireless so music started to drone through the room, then he sat down on the other sofa before waving his wand again. Two glasses came flying towards him and he filled them up before shoving one into Harry's hand. "To the happy couple!"

A laugh escaped Harry's mouth and he sat up before downing the drink. Grimacing at the burning feeling, he held the glass out for a refill. "I always imagined my wedding to be different, to be honest. A bit more happy, and less lonely afterwards."

"You can still have that, you know? It's not like this is a forever thing."

"Where's Hermione?"

"Went to the Ministry to check if there's anything she can do. But I heard what Pansy said, Hermione won't find anything that could change this."

"Hmm, I think you're right. I wonder what Draco's doing. His apartment is horrible for being alone."

"Mate, first of all, you saying his name sounds strange. And secondly, drink. You already sound like a lovesick teenager."

Staring at Ron, Harry realised that this was true. Downing his newly filled glass again, he thought of anything else he could say. But his mind was filled with nothing else but—

"I bet you'll be in the papers tomorrow."

Harry groaned, he hadn't thought of that. "Oh god." This entire thing was like a goldmine for the Prophet. "I hope nobody took pictures. It's too much to hope for it not being sold to the Prophet, so I don't even have hope for that."

"Mum will be furious if she reads it before you tell her," Ron snorted. And Harry realised with a start that this was true.

Jumping up, he didn't listen to Ron's scream of protest and hurried to the Floo. It wasn't that late, Mrs Weasley was probably still awake. He only needed to—

Just as he grabbed some Floo Powder, the flames grew green and something big and hard crashed against him, knocking him onto the floor.

"What in Merlin's—"

Harry instantly recognised the voice and his heart missed a beat as Draco rolled down off him.

"Where were you going?" he hissed.

"To Mrs Weasley. I have to tell her what happened before it's in the Prophet. I don't want her to get mad."

"Oh the love in this room is overwhelming," Ron said, barely hiding his amusement. "I'll leave you two to this. Harry, I can go and tell mum while you two figure out what to do next."

"Yes, Weasley. Do that, we'll be gone when you come back."

Harry stared at Malfoy, who still lay next to him on the ground, while Ron stepped over them and left through the Floo.

"I'm sor—" Harry started, but Draco stopped him.

"Don't. I don't want to hear anything about this!"

"Fine. How about a drink then?"

"Yes, please."

Getting up from the floor, Harry got a clean glass for Draco and filled it up. He already felt better now that the git was here.

"Here," handing the drink over, Harry watched as Draco downed it before putting the glass on the floor next to him.

"We need to stay together, this whole thing is—" Draco threw his hands in the air, obviously lacking the words to describe what exactly it was.

"Yeah, I know. Where will we stay? Not here obviously. You told Ron we'd be gone."

"Niffler's Den, you have a guest room. And I'm sure it won't harm us, and how much more nerve-wracking can this entire thing become? If I'm wrong, we can still think of something else later. But for now this should be enough, at least for tonight. I'm so tired I don't really care what will happen tomorrow, I just want to sleep."

"Let's go home then," Harry said, already halfway out of the room before he realised how that sounded. "I mean my home, not our home. Obviously."

"Shut up. Let's go."

Waiting for Malfoy to get up, Harry led the way out of the house before they Apparated to Niffler's Den.

Once there, Draco went straight into his guest room and banged the door shut behind him.

Sighing, Harry went to his sofa. He had slept the entire afternoon and wasn't really tired yet. But what he was, was hungry. Casting a lazy Accio over his shoulder, Harry waited for the phone to land in his hand so he could order a pizza.

It didn't take long until he found something to watch while waiting for his pizza to arrive.

The next morning, Harry woke up in his living room to the telltale sounds of his house freaking out at him.

His kitchen drawers were opening and slamming shut at random, cupboards opened and closed, rustling, clanking, the tub went on and off again before there was even more rustling and slamming.

Groaning, Harry pulled the pillow over his head. He couldn't believe that he had had hope that his house had settled down a bit over the last few days. Why would it? Draco hadn't really done anything to fix it.

"Potter!"

Harry jumped from his sofa and ran towards the kitchen where the scream had come from. They shouldn't have come here, bond or not; his kitchen obviously had attacked Draco because he didn't want them to stay at his place.

Once there, Harry gawked at what he saw. He had obviously miscalculated the situation entirely. It wasn't his house that had made all that noise.

Draco stood next to an open drawer, positively fuming, before he threw it shut. His hair was a mess of knots, sticking from his head in strange angles, and he obviously still wore his pyjamas. That, together with his angry look, was too much for Harry to take in. But Draco didn't give his brain the time it needed to catch up.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" Draco fumed. "There is nothing to eat here except cold pizza! How can you live like this?"

"I told you I'm not at home that often! And I usually don't eat breakfast, I just get something while I'm working on my cases."

"Are you still wearing your dress robes?!?"

Draco looked as if he'd faint any second now, but Harry only shrugged, "I fell asleep on the sofa. I'm not planning to walk around like this for the rest of the day."

"No. Just—no. Go and change into something else while I get dressed, we need to get groceries. And a brain for you. Unbelievable. How did you survive this long?"

"I had Ron and Hermione."

"You should thank them for keeping you around this long! That's ridiculous, you are ridiculous!"

At that the drawer behind Draco crashed open on its own and hit him with a loud smack. It took everything from Harry to not burst out laughing. At least his house was on his side, for once.

Fleeing the kitchen, Harry went upstairs and locked the bathroom door behind him. Draco's indignant face when the drawer had slapped him was the highlight of his week.

Shrugging out of his dress robes, Harry turned on the water and stepped into the shower. Deciding to take his time, and let the hot water wash away the stress he'd had that week, Harry closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat covering his body like a tight hug.

His peace didn't last long. Only five minutes after he started his shower, Draco banged on the door followed by a stream of curses and orders to leave the bathroom this instant because he was not the only one who needed a shower.

"Fuck off, it's my house! I can shower as long as I want!" Harry called back.

"It was your house until I had to move in! Learn how to share!"

"Just leave and let me shower in peace! It's not like we have to go somewhere today!"

"We have to go and buy something to eat before the supermarket closes!"

"It's not closing soon! We have a few hours!"

"But I am hungry! And I want to get some organisation into your life because this is not a way to live!" Another barrage of bangs hit against the door.

"Says the one with a sterile apartment! That is not a way to live!"

"It was like that when I moved in! I told you I took the first place I got! And sorry that I don't have a house full of trinkets and pictures since I left everything at the Manor and couldn't care less to make my place nicer if I don't even intend to stay there!"

"I hope you also don't intend on staying here if this is what life with you is like!"

Harry noticed his mistake as soon as the words were out. The water turned from hot to freezing cold within seconds. Screaming, he jumped away from the cold stream and grabbed a bottle of shampoo. He should have done that the second he stepped in, he should know his house better. And it was obviously not happy with how he and Draco were acting towards each other. That much was clear to him.

Washing the shampoo out as quickly as possible, Harry jumped out of the shower and wrapped himself into a towel. Shivering, he looked through the pockets of his robes on the floor to find his wand but he had obviously left it in the living room.

Opening the door, he looked into Draco's grumpy face. "Do you have y-your wand with y-you?"

"Your lips are blue, Potter. Why are your lips blue?"

"Shower turned c-cold. Can you pl-please warm me up with a sp-spell?"

"Serves you right," Draco huffed, but pointed his wand at Harry nevertheless.

Moments later Harry stopped shivering and he could relax his strained muscles again. This actually felt pretty nice. To his surprise, Harry noticed that Draco used some kind of combined warming and drying charm, which left him feeling all warm and cosy. Going back to bed felt very tempting right then, but he knew Draco would kill him for that.

Yawning, Harry gave Draco a quick smile as he lowered his wand. "Thank you. Let me pick up my robes, then you can take a shower."

He could have left it at that and been happy about Draco's surprised expression. But Harry couldn't resist calling "But hurry up, we need to go shopping!" after Draco as he closed the door behind him.

An hour later they were back from their shopping trip. Draco had already started preparing breakfast while Harry was still trying to find enough room to store away the tons of food Draco had forced him to buy.

You pay, I cook. That's the deal, Potter. And he had paid. Harry wasn't sure if he'd ever spent so much money at a supermarket before. But as long as he didn't need to cook he was fine with the deal. After cooking for the Dursleys all those years, Harry had somewhat lost his interest in preparing meals himself.

The smell of fried bacon filled his kitchen and Harry's mouth started to water. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until then.

"Do you want to eat here, or in the living room in front of the TV?" Harry asked.

"What even is a TV?" At that Harry gawked at him, but Draco snorted. "I saw it, Potter. And I saw the one at Granger's place. I just don't get why everyone is so obsessed with them. It's moving pictures behind glass. So what?"

"Yeah but have you ever watched TV?"

"Of course not."

"That's it. We're eating in the living room. There's no room for discussion."

"Barbaric."

"It's not, you'll like it!"

"I don't want to risk another smack from your kitchen, so I won't discuss it with you. So whatever you say. Now get some plates."

Grinning, Harry did as he was told and shortly thereafter they both sat on the sofa together while Harry zapped through the channels to find something interesting.

"Wait! What was that?" Draco asked, eyes glued to the TV.

"The cartoon here? It's called The Loon—"

"No, not that! The fish! What was the one with the fish?"

"Fish?" Harry asked, confused, zapping back a few channels until he found it again. "This one?"

"Yes! What's that?"

Harry looked over and noticed, surprised, that Draco looked all excited. "It's a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef. So you like fish?"

"They remind me of the Slytherin common room. I sat at our windows for hours on end watching the fish swim by. But they weren't as colourful as these here. It was underwater, you know?"

"Yes I do," Harry said but Draco didn't even listen to him. His eyes were glued on the screen in front of them.

Taking a bite of his bacon, Harry tried to concentrate on the documentary playing in front of him but there was no chance it could keep his attention, not when Draco kept letting out quiet, excited noises with every new fish that crossed the screen. It was somehow endearing and it didn't take long until he gave up watching TV entirely and started watching Draco instead.

After they had finished breakfast, Harry cleaned their plates while Draco kept on watching the documentary. His obvious excitement hadn't really calmed down so Harry decided it wouldn't hurt them to watch the rest of it. And the next one, and the one after.

"I never knew there were so many fish," Draco said after about three hours, still in awe.

"And I never knew you were so interested in them."

"Not surprising to me since you don't really know me."

"I did know you," Harry said quietly, feeling a pain in his head. A lot of memories started to come to his mind and he tried to shake them off.

"Yes, but that's not me anymore. And you already knew that before this happened," Draco said, gesturing vaguely between the two of them. "Just like you aren't the same anymore. Except the chaos that is your life. That didn't change, I'm honestly really surprised that you're still alive."

Looking down at his nails, Harry furrowed his brows. "Sometimes it's easier to pretend nothing has changed than to accept it and move on."

"Yeah, I think you're right."

After that a long silence stretched between the two of them, only interrupted by the start of yet another documentary.

His head was still flooded with memories and Harry blamed this entirely on that stupid bond. There were things he didn't even remember until now: way back at Hogwarts, the hearings, working together at the ministry. And above everything, the picture of Draco munching on his brownie, happy as could be.

One look at him told Harry that Draco was in a similar position. His gaze looked like he was far away, the excitement about the fish blown away and replaced by a small frown.

When Pansy told them that this bond was supposed to point out the other’s good side, Harry didn't expect to get flashbacks of their years at Hogwarts. They were real shits to each other, and often still were. Maybe there weren't a lot of good things the bond could find.

But Harry knew good things about Draco, knew that he could be charming. That he was funny and usually by his friends' sides whenever they needed help. He was clever, and a fantastic cook. And he obviously loved fish.

So why did he only see his own memories of how bad it had been in the past?

"This is the worst. And I can't even work on your house as long as I'm not able to concentrate without getting distracted by your stupid face in my head."

"When do you think we can get back to work?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I don't know what exactly this bond wants and how we can please it effectively. The sooner I figure that out, the sooner I can get back to work. But it's quite interesting that your house obviously dislikes it when we fight, that's news."

"Well, we obviously don't fight as long as you can watch documentaries." Harry couldn't help but smile a bit as Draco's face lit up again.

"If you're bored you can read your book again. It's nearly too late for lunch, do you think we should visit the Rabbit Hole so they can see we're still alive? Maybe Granger has some input for us."

"Oh." Visiting Ron and Hermione was probably a good idea and Harry didn't know why he hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, maybe?"

"Well, let's go then. If we don't get lunch there, we'll have a reason to leave soon and come back to watch even more of those fish."

Laughing, Harry got up. "Good that we found something that keeps you busy while you're trapped here."

"I'm not trapped, my stay here just got extended against my will." Draco got up and tried to flatten his hair with his hands.

"Your hair is fine, let's go."

"I'm not trusting your word when it comes to hair. Your nest is proof that you have no idea how hair is supposed to look."

"That's just because it has a mind of its own! If there's someone who has no idea about hair, then that's you, else you wouldn't try to make it look all flat and boring instead of leaving it with the light curls it has," Harry snorted.

Looking at him with a sour expression, Draco dropped his hands and led the way out of Niffler's Den.

Once at the Rabbit Hole, they could already hear a lot of noises coming from inside before they even reached the door.

"What in Salazar's—"

Draco's words were interrupted by the door flying open to reveal a red-faced Mrs Weasley staring up at them.

"You!" Mrs Weasley cried out as soon as she spotted them. "What did you two think? Walking into a wedding late and babbling like brainless gnomes! You could have died! Especially you should have known better, Draco!"

"We're sorry Mrs Weasley," Harry said, looking down at his feet. "We didn't think—"

"That is very obvious!"

Harry didn't know what else to say, and it didn't look like Draco would be a big help since he was half hiding behind him.

"Mum! They didn't do it on purpose! Now let them in, Ron says lunch is ready in a few."

Ginny's grinning face suddenly appeared behind Mrs Weasley and Harry had never been so happy to see her.

"Of course, darling. You're right." Turning her attention back to Draco and Harry, a soft expression took over her face. "I'm sorry. When Ron came over last night I was very worried about your wellbeing. But I can see that you two are fine and that I might have overreacted a bit. Come in, and wash your hands before you come to the table!" Mrs Weasley turned and scurried back to the kitchen where Harry could hear her chiding Ron for being too unsteady with his spells.

"Thanks Gin," Harry said, relieved. "I didn't know you lot would be here, else we'd have waited till later to come by."

"Yeah I figured you might have forgotten. It's Bill's birthday party. I honestly have no idea why Ron offered to do the cooking, mum is all up in his face about it. I think he lost a bet."

"I know he lost a bet," Harry snickered, suddenly remembering what had happened. "Hermione was super mad at him since the Rabbit Hole is too small to host the entire family."

"Good way to welcome you into the family, Malfoy. You'll meet the entire gang again!" Ginny laughed before she turned around and left them to come in on their own.

"I'll kill you for this!" Draco hissed from behind him.

Turning to look at him Harry noticed that his face looked unusually pale. "I'm sorry. I really forgot that this was today! I didn't even get him a present!"

"Wait here, I'll be right back."

Before Harry could say anything, Draco ran to the gate and Disapparated. The second he left, a sharp pain shot through Harry's head, making him groan loudly.

This was a really bad move, Harry thought, and the bond obviously wasn't too happy about Draco vanishing once again. They needed to have a word about this at some point.

By the time Draco returned, the itch Harry had felt yesterday was back, but a thousand times worse. He was barely able to concentrate on anything but Draco. At first about when he'd come back, and then on his face when he finally approached him again.

"You can't do that!" Harry cried out when Draco stood right next to him again. "This was even worse than yesterday and you were only gone for a few minutes!"

"I know. Noticed my mistake as soon as I left." Draco's face was slightly sweaty as he looked at Harry with a pained expression. "I won't do that again, that much is clear. I'm back and it still hasn't stopped yet."

"You're a moron! Why did you leave anyways?"

"Got a present for Bill. We can't turn up empty handed." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small bag. "Still need to fix the size, it's a book about some rare curses and how to break them. I don't need it anymore, and it was expensive. I think he'll like it. It's pretty rare, and not easy to get."

Blinking in surprise, Harry took the tiny bag while Draco cast the Engorgio on it. When it was back to its usual size, Harry was finally able to drag Draco into the Rabbit Hole. The few minutes outside had been enough to get cold. He should really try and remember to get his coat before leaving the house.

When Harry finally located Bill in the crowded house, they had barely managed to congratulate him and give him the book before Ron called them all to the table.

The small dining room was so cramped that Harry found himself pressed up against Draco to his left and George to his right, leaving nearly no space to cut his food.

But the worst thing was that, surprisingly, he felt calmer and more satisfied the longer he was pressed up against Draco, and that he really enjoyed the feeling of being entirely relaxed for once.

And by the way Draco had relaxed into him throughout lunch, he felt exactly the same. Which was somehow even more frightening.

By the time everyone had finished their late lunch and started to get up from the table, Harry felt tired and stuffed. He could have fallen asleep then and there if it weren't for Draco nudging him.

"Let's go home before you fall asleep."

"Hmm," Harry mumbled. "Home. Yes. Good plan. You watch your fish and I nap."

"Right, that's it. Let's go."

Draco dragged him through the house so they could say their goodbyes before he guided him out of the door, and Side-Alonged them back to Niffler's Den.

"You're like a toddler. As soon as you eat and are warm and cosy, you fall asleep," Draco said with a laugh as he pushed Harry onto the sofa. "Tea?"

"No thanks, only a nap. And I'm not like a toddler, just easy to handle."

"Nothing about you was ever easy, Harry."

"Hmmm," was all Harry said before he closed his eyes.

He barely noticed Draco coming back and sitting down on the other end of the sofa before he fell asleep. His last thoughts were that he felt like there was a lot of sleep he had to catch up with, and that the bond was somehow involved in making him do that.

A few hours later Harry woke up with a start because something shook his entire body. It took him way too long to realise that it was Draco, who had winced over something that had happened on TV, and that it only affected him that much because he had somehow ended up with his head in the other one's lap.

"What are you watching there?" Harry mumbled sleepily, not sure if he should, or wanted to, leave this position.

"Something called Fellowship of the Ring. The documentaries ended and I needed to find something new. At first I thought this might be a history movie, but some of the stuff doesn't add up. Now I have to finish watching it."

At this point Harry's brain caught up with his surroundings and he jumped up, forcing his head off of Draco's lap. He didn't know why he hadn't done that straight away, but now that he did he felt somehow stupid.

"Sorry! Why didn't you wake me up when I decided you would make a good pillow?" he asked, startled.

"Because you need sleep after not sleeping well for weeks and I didn't mind it. I would have kicked you off of the sofa if you had started drooling on my lap, though. That's where I draw the line."

Straightening his glasses, Harry looked at Draco, who glanced at him before gluing his eyes back onto the TV.

Sighing exaggeratedly, Harry dragged his hands through his hair. "This bond will be the end of me. You would have killed me for this before that happened, and now you're just fine with it."

"No I wouldn't have." At that Draco's eyes snapped towards him and an expression of horror rushed over his face. He clearly hadn't intended to say that.

A sudden feeling of hope shot through Harry, but he managed to wrestle it down by telling himself that all of this only happened because they weren't themselves at the moment. None of what they did, said, or felt could be taken as real, because it obviously was anything but that.

He had to speak to Pansy about this, because her description didn't add up with what was happening.

"I think I'll just go to bed," Harry sighed. "Maybe things will be better tomorrow."

When Draco agreed with a nod, Harry got up to leave. But before he could reach the door, the stupid thing slammed shut. Already fearing the worst, Harry reached out to pull it open again, but the door refused to cooperate.

"Really?" Harry screamed at his house. "This is what you want? Locking us into one room? We didn't even fight!"

"You know that screaming at your house makes no sense, right?" came Draco's voice from behind him. "Let me try it."

Stepping aside, Harry made some space for him to try and open the door. But just as before, it didn't move.

"Your house is definitely one of a kind."

"Fantastic," Harry said as he stomped back to the sofa. "Absolutely fantastic. Who doesn't want a house that is one of a kind?

"Last time this happened we had a fight and the house opened after we made up. We didn't fight this time, so what do you think it could want?" Draco asked, still standing at the door.

"I don't know! I don't know what is wrong with my house, that's why I asked you for help in the first place!"

"I think it wants us to get along. Don't ask me why, but it's obviously not happy with the way we're treating each other. So maybe we should try that?"

"Try what?" Harry asked, exasperated.

"Making up, starting over. It won't hurt us, the house will leave us alone, and maybe the bond will be happy as well. Now would be the perfect opportunity to do that."

"Yeah, but do you really want that? Or are you saying this because it's the easiest way out? Because if we do this we should do it right and not only because of our situation, and I don't know if I have the energy for that now."

"I do want that," Draco said quietly. "Not because of the bond or anything, but because I’ve wanted it for ages. You just were too stubborn to see my attempts to fix things and to see me as I am."

"Because there's so much we have to fix, so much that has happened between us! It's like a shadow following us wherever we are! I saw it, I know you changed. I'd know even if I was blind, but we can't erase our past, and I don't know how we could pretend nothing ever happened." Burrowing his face in his hands, Harry waited for Draco to answer, to find a simple way to fix things once and for all.

But Draco didn't answer instantly. Instead, he sat down next to Harry and waited for him to look up again before he let out a breath.

"We can't. You're right. But that doesn't mean we can't try and make it better this time. Our past will always be there. But it's exactly that—our past. What happens now is what’s important, from this day until the day we die. We can't proceed to live in times that are long gone, because we're living now. Against all odds, we're still alive, and we'll be damned if we don't make the most of it. So no, we can't forget what happened, but we can fix how things are now and create our own future."

"You say that as if it is the easiest thing to do," Harry laughed, exhausted.

"Because it can be easy. Easier than quality bonding time with Granger and Weasley, that's for sure." At that, a small grin appeared on Draco's lips.

That was all it needed to make Harry burst out laughing. "You really have to tell me one day what Hermione did to you." Taking a deep breath, Harry leaned back into the cushions. "You really think it's easy, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. And I think you'll think the same as soon as you get over your 'what ifs' and just try it."

"Okay," Harry said quietly. "Okay, let's try it then."

As soon as the words were out, Harry instantly felt as if a massive weight was lifted from his shoulders as he realised that this was the right decision, and he felt like a fool for holding on to the past for so long.

He didn't know how they'd do it, but somehow they could find a way to make this work. Harry was sure about that.

Chapter Text

Monday morning, Harry got up and quickly dressed into his Auror robes before he went to the kitchen, where he could already hear Draco putting plates on the table.

"I told you I usually don't eat breakfast."

"And I told you that that's barbaric and will change. We'll have breakfast, together, every morning as long as I am here. Sit."

Too stunned to do or say anything else, Harry sat down and watched Draco levitate some toast and scrambled eggs onto their plates before he sat down as well.

"Eat."

"Be careful or I'll get used to you cooking for me," Harry joked before eating a fork full of eggs. "I don't know how you make simple scrambled eggs taste so fantastic."

"Thanks," Draco said with a pleased smile. "So who will we talk to first?"

"I sent my Patronus to Robards right after waking up, asking for a follow-up meeting with him and your boss. We can talk to them both at the same time and have it done in one go."

"That's good thinking on your part, I'm almost impressed. The sooner we get out of there, the better. I might be good at my job, but being a Malfoy is enough to keep that from counting if I have to leave the job for Merlin knows how long because I accidentally got bonded to someone. They won't be too happy about it."

"You should take my name then," Harry joked. "Nobody except you gives me shit for anything."

"Don't tempt me. That sounds like a dream come true. You have no idea how many people don't trust my work solely because of my name. At least twice a week, Mr Bates sends another Curse Breaker to my old jobs just because they want someone else to check if I did my work correctly."

Looking up, Harry watched Draco poke at his food with a grave expression. It wasn't fair. "I didn't know it was still that bad. I'm sorry."

Laughing dryly, Draco looked at him. "That's nothing compared to other things that happen from time to time. We all have to pay a price for who we are, don't we?"

Suddenly not very hungry anymore, Harry pushed his half-eaten plate away and waited for Draco to finish his so they could leave. They shouldn't have to pay a price for what they had done. People mostly ignored him, but it was bad right after the war. If Draco still had trouble, he didn't even want to think about how bad things had been for him in the past.

"Shall we go?" Draco asked, forcing Harry out of his pondering.

"Yes. Let's get it over with."

Leaving the house, they Apparated to the Ministry and went to the conference room close to Harry's office where they were to meet with their department leaders.

Stepping in, they weren't surprised to see them already waiting for them.

"Gentlemen, you wanted to meet us for an update?" Robards asked as soon as they closed the door behind them.

"Good morning to you too, Sir." Sitting down, Harry waited for Draco to do so as well before he looked at the two men sitting in front of them. "We're here to give you an update, yes. But probably not that kind of update you were hoping for."

"Mr Potter, time is a precious commodity in our position as you know. Please tell us what this is about so we can go back to work," Mr Bates said, sounding an awful lot like Vernon Dursley while doing so.

"What Mr Potter wanted to say, Sir, is that our usual work schedule has to wait a bit longer until we can pick it up again. We were involved in an accident this weekend, which resulted in us getting bonded to each other. The bond isn't lethal, but at the moment neither me nor Mr Potter, can leave the other's side until everything settles down. It was a wedding bond, meant for the marriage ceremony of Healer Pansy Parkinson and Unspeakable Theodore Nott, so we have to treat it like an official wedding if we don't want to risk Mr Potter's health."

Harry's blood began to boil as Draco only spoke about his health, instead of taking his own into consideration as well. As if he was of less worth. Draco's words from earlier shot through his head and Harry balled his hands into fists in a desperate attempt to keep quiet.

Looking at Robards, he found him watching them with a thoughtful expression, whereas Mr Bates looked like his head was going to explode any second now.

"How could you be so incompetent?" Mr Bates hissed towards Draco. "I accepted Mr Potter's request for your help, simply for the reason that he personally asked for your expertise in this field. I should have known that I couldn't trust you to do your work without pulling him into some kind of shenanigans as soon as you got the chance to do so! This will be discussed further as soon as you're back at your desk!"

"I don't think your reaction is reas—" Mr Robards started.

But Harry couldn't keep his mouth shut even one second longer. Draco had shrunk into his seat while Bates was on his rant, and it didn't look like he'd stand up for himself, which pissed Harry off beyond words.

"I forbid you to speak to him like that! Draco did his work on my house and accomplished more in a week than me and Miss Granger could in months. As far as this situation goes, it's just as much my own fault as it is his, so what you said was directed towards me as well. It wasn't a plot or scheme of any kind, and I'm sorry that you see it this way because I see myself as obligated to report your outburst towards my husband to Minister Shacklebolt. I bet he’ll be very interested to hear how you treat your employees. We'll see each other in a few weeks if you get to keep your job." Standing, Harry nudged Draco to get up as well. "See you in a few weeks Mr Robards. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this bond brings to our department."

"Very well, Mr Potter. My compliments on your surprising wedding," Mr Robards said, barely hiding his amusement.

"Thank you, Sir."

Dragging Draco out of the room and towards the lift, Harry angrily hammered on the button while waiting for it to arrive.

"Har—" Draco started but Harry stopped him instantly by holding up his hand.

"I don't want to hear anything until we're back at home. But first we're going to Kingsley. Unbelievable."

"Wha—? We can't go to the Minister just because my boss is a dick! You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

The lift arrived and Harry stepped in. His sour mood was obviously painted all over his face because the people who were already in the nearly empty lift backed up towards the wall behind them, making more room than necessary for the two of them.

Level 1 - Minister for Magic and Support Staff

Storming out of the lift, Harry didn't even wait to see if Draco followed him and went straight to Kingsley's office.

Harry knocked hard at the door but didn't wait for Kingsley to answer before he pushed open the door with a loud bang, which earned him an outraged look from the secretary. He knew he was probably running right into an outstretched wand, but he was still so enraged that he couldn't have cared less.

"Harry, what happened?" Kingsley asked, lowering his wand, as soon as he saw him.

"I'm here to make an official complaint against the Head of the Office for the Removal of Curses, Jinxes, and Hexes, because someone else didn't deem it necessary to do so over the last few years."

"Have a seat. You too Mr Malfoy, come in. I want to hear what happened."

Turning around, Harry found Draco lingering at the door where he watched them with big eyes. He obviously hadn't dared to enter, but when Kingsley spoke directly to him, he took some careful steps forwards.

As soon as the door was closed and they both sat opposite Kingsley, Harry told Kingsley what happened that weekend, followed by the conversation they had with Robards and Bates.

About an hour later they were finally back at Niffler's Den, where Harry pushed Draco onto the sofa before he went to the kitchen and made tea for both of them.

He was still furious that Draco was being treated that way, and mad at him for letting it happen for so long, even if he knew that it wasn't fair. There was no chance Draco could have stormed into Kingsley's office like Harry had.

But now that Kingsley had promised to take care of it, he felt the anger slowly fade away. Things would change for the better for Draco, he wouldn't keep letting that happen. He didn't care if it was the bond that made him do it, or if he'd have done this even without. He was just happy that he was in a position to actually do something about it.

When the tea was ready, Harry took the cups and carried them to the living room. As soon as he entered, Draco's head shot around to look at him.

"I made us some tea. I hope I got yours right."

Draco said nothing as he took the offered mug. Turning his head away, he looked at the black screen of the TV, a thoughtful look on his face.

Knowing better than to ask him what was going through his mind, Harry sat down and took a sip of his tea.

"Why did you do that?" Draco asked quietly after some time.

"Because that arsehole can't treat you like that. You don't deserve it."

"That's the bond speaking. You wouldn't have done that without it."

"I would have. Listen, Draco." Crossing his legs, Harry turned on the sofa to face him. "I don't know if the bond had anything to do with this or not. I just know that you are brilliant at what you do, and that nobody should treat you the way Bates did today. It shouldn't matter who you are, not anymore, not after all this time."

"That's not how my life works. It'll always matter. You can't stop all of them."

"But I can sure as hell try," Harry grumbled.

"Good luck with that," Draco huffed. "I gave it up. It's way easier to just ignore most of those people than to fight against them over and over again. I'm tired of fighting." Finally looking at Harry, he quirked a brow. "And you should try ignoring them too. You called me your husband in front of our bosses already. Can you imagine what would happen if you did that in front of a random stranger on the streets?"

"Oh god, I really did, didn't I?" Harry could feel heat crawling up his skin. He knew he really should try to tame his temper. But on the other hand... “You know what? I don't care. I would say the same to a random stranger if that meant they'd leave you alone. And it's not even a lie. Technically you are my husband now, even if our happily ever after has an expiration date. Why not use it to your benefit?"

"This is the worst idea you’ve ever had," Draco said, staring at him in shock. "There'll be a lot of negative reactions towards you."

"So what?" Harry laughed. "I'll get a few letters less a week, or more if they feel the urge to tell me how disappointed they are. I don't even receive those letters, the Ministry arranged a central collection point for letters addressed to me. I only see the reports about cursed or hexed letters; the ones including gifts or valuable objects go back to the sender, and I get another one on the statistics of how much danger there is that I'll get poisoned with a love potion so I can keep my eyes open. I don't exactly care what people think of me, never have, and I sure as hell won't start caring now. Believe me! This can work! And maybe things will change for the better!"

"People will think I set this up, just like Bates did. And it'll get even worse after those six months. I don't think this is such a good idea."

"Fine. So I won't take you out on fancy date nights in public then. Your loss, I can be quite charming if I have to."

At that Draco laughed and Harry felt the last bits of anger leave his body. If he couldn't do more, at least that was something he would do.

"You can always take me on a fancy date night somewhere Muggle. I really want to see that charming Harry Potter in action. Because the only thing I’ve seen so far is the chaotic, barely-able-to-survive-on-his-own version. And he’s not really husband material if you ask me."

"You're always so negative," Harry sighed theatrically. "I haven't cursed you so far, or kicked you out. You got to see a lot of new fish and I paid more money for food in one shopping trip than I usually do in a whole month."

"Whatever. We need to go to my place later, I need to get more clothes and a few of my things. Can't watch TV the entire day."

"Sure. Wanna go now? We could get changed into something less 'uniformy' and go get your stuff straight away. I'll even help you carry it because I'm a nice person, you know?"

"Sounds like a plan. And since you're offering, you'll carry my books."

Draco got up with a shit eating grin on his face. Placing the half-empty mug of tea on the small table, he left the room. Staring after him, Harry only shook his head. How bad could carrying a few books be?

An hour later Harry was able to answer his own question. Bad. Really bad. Draco was somehow in possession of at least thirty books that weren't allowed to be spelled lighter or shrunken. And they were huge.

"Are you sure you'll need all of them?" Harry asked in a desperate attempt to save some of his dignity. He was already gasping for air only carrying them from Draco's study to his front door; he couldn't imagine how bad it'd be as soon as he tried to walk all those stairs.

"Well, yes? Who knows how long I have to stay at your house? Could be for a few weeks or the entire six months. I’d better take everything I could need with me now,and spare us the stress of coming here later just because I need something I forgot."

"So do you have everything now or is there something else you might need?"

"Only have to get something from my bathroom, then we're good to go. Could you please check if I got everything from the fridge? I don't want to come back to the smell of rotten food."

"Sure."

When they returned to Niffler's Den, Harry carried the box of books to his own study and dropped it on the desk. Only a few seconds longer and he was sure his arms would have fallen off. If it wasn't for being friends with Hermione, Harry would have declared Draco totally bonkers for needing so many books in such a short time. But he knew better than to start this discussion.

Dragging himself to the sofa, he watched as Draco went upstairs with the bag that held the rest of his stuff.

Deciding that it'd probably take a while for Draco to unpack everything, Harry threw himself across the sofa and turned on the TV. He knew he should probably do something around the house, like cleaning the floor, or even getting rid of the leaves that his tiny trees had shed, but he just couldn't get himself to do anything after carrying those books around.

Zapping through the channels, he settled for a rainforest documentary because the narrator had a nice, soothing voice, which was exactly what he needed. And they hadn't even had lunch yet.

Some time later, Harry heard Draco puttering about the kitchen. The smell of fish and chips filled the air and Harry knew it was about time he got up to at least help get the plates. But before he could find it in himself to even lift his head, Draco entered the room, lunch in hands.

"Get up, lazy."

"I was about to come over and help you," Harry mumbled into the cushions of his sofa.

"Sure you were," Draco huffed, amused. "Now get up or I'll use you as my seat."

"I'm not a comfortable seat."

"That's not for you to decide. Chop chop! Or we'll find out."

Stretching himself, Harry yawned before he left his comfortable position to sit and make some space for Draco.

"Isn't fish and chips a bit basic for your liking?" Harry asked, while taking the offered plate.

"How can food be too basic? As long as it tastes good I'm happy with everything."

"Says the one who thinks takeaway is barbaric."

"It is, now shut up and eat."

"Yes my dear, of course, my dear."

"Shut up."

Popping a chip into his mouth, Harry grinned at Draco, who only rolled his eyes before doing the same.

"I think I'll try to get back to work on the house after I put away the books. I mean, it has been suspiciously quiet since we made the deal to get along. But I wouldn't trust it to stay that way. And now that my stuff is here I'd rather not have this place burn down."

"Are you sure you feel good enough to try it?" Harry asked carefully.

"We'll see when I try."

"Okay. But you have to stop if you feel like it won't work. I don't know what will happen if one of us gets hurt, and I don't want to find out either."

"I won't die," Draco rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen."

Huffing, Harry ignored it and looked back at the TV where the narrator talked about a huge colourful flower that bloomed only once a year.

After they finished their lunch, Harry took their plates to the kitchen and cleaned up while Draco went to the study to take care of the books.

After everything was done, Harry took a random book from the shelf in his living room before grabbing two pillows and sitting down in his hallway, waiting for Draco.

It wasn't too long until Draco joined him and, with a careful look towards Harry, pressed his hand against the wall.

Watching him for a while, Harry saw Draco relax under his gaze. Reassured, Harry opened the book and suppressed a snort. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, how ironic to pick this exact book from the shelf.

Opening it, he started reading.

When he reached the second story, his eyes started getting glassy and he had trouble making out the letters in front of him. Knowing instantly that something was wrong, Harry fumbled for his wand.

But it was too late.

The world around him turned dark. He could still feel and hear his surroundings, but there was no light reaching his eyes. He tried to speak, call for Draco to help him, but it seemed impossible for Harry to open his mouth. He felt his panic rise, uncertain about what would happen next. The feeling of being alone in the darkness, again.

A calming presence filled his mind, lured him out of his panic and steered his thoughts towards happier things. He was safe, nothing had happened, everything would be alright. If only he trusted the presence. He wasn't alone.

Not alone.

Recognising what it was, Harry wanted to scream yes, wanted him to know how relieved he was. That he trusted him, no matter what happened. But the words never left his mouth.

But Draco understood, nevertheless. A wave of gratitude washed over Harry, emotions that weren't his own.

As suddenly as it came, everything was over again.

Gasping for air, Harry opened his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Draco's panicked, pale face appeared in front of him. "I'm sorry!"

Instead of answering, Harry leapt forwards and tackled Draco to the floor, before burying his face in Draco's shoulder.

Feeling his whole body shake, Harry tried to calm down to no avail. When arms closed around him, Harry closed his eyes, welcoming the warm embrace.

He had no idea how long they stayed in that position. When he finally calmed down enough to speak, his voice sounded hoarse.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Remember the first day, and me telling you that it was possible that I'd take a wrong turn?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I've never met someone who reacted that badly to someone entering their mind. I shouldn't have tried to work with a bond this fresh, I put you in danger."

"You couldn't know. I'm fine, just a bit dizzy. That's all."

"But I should have known. Should have considered the risk that this bond would pull me towards you no matter what." Draco's voice was barely a whisper.

Once Harry had calmed down a bit, he noticed that Draco's arms were shaking just as much as Harry's had been only a few moments before. Rolling off of him, Harry rested his head on Draco's arm before laying his own arm over Draco's chest and closing his eyes with a sigh.

"Stop always blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault. I'm fine. I only react badly to people entering my mind because my body goes on full defence mode since—" since I got rid of the part of Voldemort's soul living inside me and entering my mind for years. Harry didn't dare to say the rest out loud. But he didn't need to.

"I heard them talk about it. At the Manor. I know what he did to you, what happened when your godfather died. That's another reason why I should have been more careful."

Harry stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He couldn't believe Draco knew about his link to Voldemort for all those years and still treated him like he always had. Normal, at least what they'd call normal. Not even Dumbledore treated him the same way after he'd found out about it.

"We should get up," Harry said after a while. "I need to take a shower. I want to impress my date tonight, and I can't do that if I stay here on the floor."

"Oh," Draco said. "Tell me about your date. Someone I know? Someone interesting?"

"Hmm. Pretty annoying guy if you ask me. Posh and snarky, sometimes a real dick. Just the way I like them."

"You are the annoying one here, Potter." Draco laughed, slapping Harry with his free hand. "But fine. I don't want you to be late for your date. When will you pick him up?"

"I'd say I'll surprise him with a knock on his door at six and hope he's ready to go. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I think that could work for him."

Grinning, Harry jumped up and helped Draco from the floor before running towards the bathroom, suddenly feeling giddy.

The giddy feeling still hadn't left when he knocked at Draco's bedroom door at six o'clock sharp, dressed in his nicest clothes. And it only got only worse when Draco opened it.

"Good evening Draco, I was wondering if you'd grant me the pleasure of taking you out for dinner tonight?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Draco said, smirking. "You're lucky. I'm a very busy man, you see. But as luck would have it, I'm free tonight."

"Brilliant! Shall we go then? I placed a reservation at a nice restaurant earlier today, I think you'll like it there."

"We'll see."

Holding his arm out, Harry waited for Draco to take it before he led their way out and Side-Alonged them to London where he led them to a small Italian restaurant hidden on a side street. He had discovered it after the war while cleaning out Grimmauld Place and still occasionally returned to eat their pasta and bruschetta.

"Welcome to The King's Bite, the best Italian restaurant I know," Harry said, as he held the door open for Draco. "It's Muggle too; another reason to love it."

"It looks nice, I'm impressed. A restaurant with real linen on the tables. I never thought you'd be a man to fancy this kind of important detail."

"I'm full of surprises."

Closing the door behind them, Harry waited for the server to seat them in the small secluded booth Harry usually sat in.

After their drinks arrived, Harry grinned at Draco.

"So, you like fish? Anything else I'm supposed to know about you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Draco grinned back. "How about you? I didn't see any pets, or an obsession with a certain kind of documentaries. What are your secrets?"

"All my secrets can be found in the Daily Prophet, some more detailed, some less. I'm an open book. But since we were at animals, I like owls. I visit Eeylops everytime I'm in Diagon Alley, just to pet them."

"How come you haven't got one yet?"

"I wasn't able to settle on a new one after Hedwig—I use the Ministry's owls or my Patronus if I have to. Why don't you have one?"

"I'm living in a Muggle neighbourhood, in a Muggle house. I'm not stupid. There's always the danger of people seeing an owl come and go. I just want to keep that danger minimal by not having one myself."

"That's fair."

"So, Harry, what are your plans for the future? As your current husband I should know what I didn't sign up for."

At that Harry had to laugh, "Neither did I. Plans for the future? I think maybe having a real wedding one day would be nice. Also a few kids, and a dog. Something that fills my house with life, you know?"

"Our marriage is already doomed to fail," Draco sighed theatrically. "A dog? Really?"

"We can compromise. How about three kids, a dog, and a fish tank?"

"Two kids, a fish tank, and a cat. And you are allowed to watch the dog of one of your friends once a year while they are on holiday."

"If that's your last offer we'll make it a deal," Harry laughed.

By the time dinner arrived, they were both back to discussing the pros and cons of different owl breeds and their usual character traits. Harry told Draco that he obviously had no idea what he was talking about, because he was of the firm conviction that barn owls were lazy, and on top of that, the most boring ones anyone could buy.

"Do you like your pasta?" Harry asked after Draco was halfway through his plate.

"It's fantastic. They obviously make it fresh instead of buying it, and the sauce is exactly on point. Do you like yours?"

"I always do," Harry smiled.

He didn't know why, but the fact that Draco was happy with the place he chose got Harry very excited.

"So, since we're now living together, re there any hobbies I should know of?" Harry asked after taking a sip of his water.

"I play the bagpipes every Saturday morning, and I read a lot. Also, I'm a passable knitter."

"You do what?" Harry asked, shocked, not knowing if he had heard correctly.

The second the question left his mouth, Draco had already burst out laughing. "You should have seen your face! Of course I don’t play the bagpipes. But that was brilliant."

"But you knit?"

"I do. Want a scarf for Christmas? I can make you one. Or a hat? A new jumper? Socks? I needed something to do after the war; mother used to knit when I was small. So I decided to try it out, and realised that I enjoy it as well. It's easy enough without a wand."

"We could gift one to Mrs Weasley. It wouldn't surprise me if you get one as well this year."

"You know what, I find this idea quite funny. And I think she'd love to get one."

"So you'll really knit a jumper for her?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Sure, why not? It's not like I have a lot to do anyways."

Smiling at him, Harry took another sip of his water before returning to what was left of his pasta.

After finishing dessert, Harry asked for the bill before looking at Draco, who looked positively pleased with how their night was going so far.

"Want to go for a walk before we go home? There is a lovely park right around the corner. It's probably closed now, but that shouldn't stop us."

"Don't you know that it's against the law to enter a park after it has closed?" Draco asked mockingly. "So you never got out of the habit of sneaking around after curfew, it seems."

"Not really, no. How boring would it be if I did?"

"Very."

Paying their bill, Harry led their way out of the door and Apparated them straight into the center of the park.

Small lights on each side of the path illuminated their way as they followed it, Draco still holding onto Harry's arm, the only sound reaching their ears coming from the rustling of the leaves underneath their feet.

He had always enjoyed this place: the silence at night, and the chatter and playing kids on days where the world threatened to crush him under its weight. Just like the restaurant, he had found it on one of his endless strolls around London after the war.

"I think it'll snow soon," Draco said, looking up into the cloudless sky.

"Probably. It's cold enough if you ask me. I always loved the first snow at Hogwarts. It still reminds me of the huge Christmas trees in the Great Hall, and the singing suits of armor in the halls."

"We always had a big Christmas tree at the Manor when I was a kid. I often snuck out to shake my presents to find out what was in them while my parents were asleep. They knew I did it, but didn't intend to ever stop me from having my little secret mission."

Looking over at him, Harry found Draco smiling at that memory.

"We should get one as well. We could put it up in the living room. It'll be my first Christmas in my own home."

"That's worth a celebration. And I'm sure I’ll have fixed your house by then. We could invite Pansy and the rest for dinner at some point. I don't know how the Weasleys celebrate Christmas so we should probably schedule it around their plans."

"Do you usually visit your mother for Christmas?" Harry asked carefully.

"I do. But she'll understand that I can't come over this year."

"We—we can go there. It's okay. She's your mother, and she saved my life. The least I can do is to go there with you on Christmas so she's not alone."

Draco stopped and turned to look at Harry. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You'd go to the Manor for my mother?"

"And for you, yes," Harry said. There was no doubt left in his mind. He'd do it without thinking twice about it.

Suddenly he found himself with Draco in his arms, hugging him so tight it nearly hurt while he repeated "thank you" over and over again.

Not knowing what to say, Harry just hugged him back.

When Draco let go of him, the air around them felt a lot colder than it had before. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the loss of Draco's warm embrace, or just the usual thing that happened at night in November. But he suddenly couldn't wait to get back home to his warm house. And he obviously wasn't alone in that.

"Let's go home and warm up," Draco said, smiling before taking Harry's hand and Apparating them to Niffler's Den.

Once at the door, Draco stopped and turned to face Harry, looking somewhat nervous.

"This was quite a charming date, thank you for asking me out, Harry."

"Thank you for coming with me," Harry said, smiling at him. "I'd like to do it again sometime."

"Yeah, me too…"

Harry looked at Draco, who was chewing on his lip, not knowing what else he was supposed to say. There was something, a tension between the two of them that had been there the entire evening, which reached its peak at this exact moment, and Harry didn't know what to do with it except stare at Draco in awe.

He had thought that this night could be fun when he had decided to ask him out, but it had been way more than that.

"I'll get into something more comfortable," Draco said, suddenly opening the door behind him. "Meet you in the living room?"

"Yeah. I'll do the same."

When Harry followed Draco inside the house, something suddenly whacked the back of his head. Turning around, he found an innocent looking stick on the ground but couldn't find anything else.

Grumbling, he rubbed the spot the stick had hit him and closed the door to follow Draco upstairs to get a pair of joggers from his room.

He was in nothing but his pants when realisation hit him.

A date. They were on a date. Draco stopped them in front of the door for a reason.

Cursing himself loudly, Harry ran to his closet and grabbed the first pair of joggers he found and pulled them on before running out of his room and knocking furiously on Draco's door, hoping it wasn't too late.

"What?" Draco asked from the inside, where Harry could hear him sprinting to his door before prying it open. "Did something hap—?"

Not waiting for him to finish his sentence, Harry pulled him close and pressed his lips against Draco's.

At first he wasn't sure if this had been a good idea, but when Draco slowly started to relax in his arms he knew he had made the right decision.

When they parted again, Harry's head was spinning and his hands, resting on Draco's sides, were shaking hard enough to send ripples over Draco’s loose shirt.

A laugh carried his attention back to Draco's face.

"You, Harry, are the most annoyingly clueless guy that ever stumbled around on this entire planet. This really took you ages to realise, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Harry grinned sheepishly. "Not one of my prouder moments to be honest. But at least I thought about jumping into my joggers before knocking your door down, that must be worth something."

"Pretty sure I'd have closed the door if you turned up in nothing but your pants. That's a bit too daring for a first date if you ask me."

Laughing, Harry gave Draco another peck on the lips. "I'll look for a shirt now and wait for you on the sofa."

"Do that. I'll be there soon. Jerk."

"Git."

Still smiling, Harry turned to finish getting dressed before going downstairs. Throwing himself across the sofa, he turned on the TV and zapped through the channels until he found something about whales, which technically weren't fish, but still close enough.

When Draco joined him some ten minutes later, he didn't even bother to tell Harry to sit up and make some room for him. Instead he draped himself half behind, half over him and nestled his face into Harry's neck.

The whales were quickly forgotten when Harry turned his head and captured Draco's lips in a slow kiss.

With the amount of awkward bumping against each other, and the giggles that followed before they started over again, Harry felt like a teenager all over again. But if he had to be honest, it had been ages since Harry fell asleep next to someone, and even longer since he had snogged someone until they could no longer keep their eyes open. So it didn't bother him too much that this wasn't working out perfectly, it only made it feel more real to him.

They didn't even make it to bed that night. Instead they fell asleep on the sofa, cuddling and stroking each others backs.

Harry woke up mere hours later to Draco jumping up next to him. He was already looking for his wand when Draco let out a scream.

"Harry!"

"What? What happened?"

"I know it! I finally figured it out!"

"What?" giving up the search for his wand, Harry sat up and blinked at Draco, who looked extremely excited.

"I know what is wrong with your house!"

At that Harry's tired brain snapped awake. "You do?"

"Yes! It's nothing we can fix, but yes!"

"What do you mean nothing we can fix?"

"I mean that we can't fix it, but we don't have to! Remember when I accidentally entered your mind?"

Harry nodded.

"Your biggest fear was being alone again! And on our date you told me you want a family, to marry someone and settle down!"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with my house?"

"Can't you see?" Draco asked excitedly. "It's you! You built this house, the magic running through its core is yours! Together with your dreams and hopes! It settled down after more and more of my magic was added to the core, when you weren't alone anymore. It stopped us from fighting, locked us in to solve our problems. Your house was unhappy because you were alone."

"That sounds—"

"Like a crazy theory? I know. But trust me, after everything I read, after seeing what happened to the Manor, after studying your house and talking with you, it is exactly that."

"So we can't fix it?" Harry asked, not sure if he should be happy that Draco finally found what was wrong, or devastated that there was nothing he could do.

"No. Seems like you just have to keep me happy solely to keep your house happy," Draco said, grinning cheekily.

At that Harry had to laugh. Pulling Draco into his lap, he gave him a small kiss. "Shouldn't be too hard to keep you happy. What do you think?"

Epilogue

Harry stepped out of his Floo with a loud sigh. He couldn't believe that this year was about to end, and neither could he believe that Draco had managed to convince him that it'd be a good idea to invite all of their friends over for a New Year's Eve party.

They were just coming back from Pansy’s, after she had called them over to help her get the appetisers to Niffler's Den without risking the possibility that she'd drop everything while handling all those plates alone.

In truth, this was only a scheme to get them out of their house and into hers to finally show them the newly renovated rooms.

"Did you notice the empty room painted in light yellow?" Draco asked as soon as they brought the plates to the kitchen.

"Yes?"

"That's a nursery. I'm sure about that."

"So yellow rooms are nurseries?" Harry huffed, amused.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you ask her?"

"Because that's none of my business. Honestly, one doesn't go around and ask people if their empty rooms are supposed to be nurseries. That's insensitive."

"I never knew you were such a gossip."

"As my husband it's your job to suffer through my gossiping so I don't have to ask insensitive questions to my dearest friends."

Laughing, Harry wrapped his arms around Draco and gave him a kiss.

"That's a small price to pay. We owe Pansy a lot more than that."

"We do, right?" leaning into Harry, Draco let out a long sigh. "I think we should get ready. Our guests will arrive soon."

"You're probably right. Or we could go take a nap and let them celebrate on their own."

"Nope. Get your lazy bum in the shower and don't you dare to stay in there for ages again, or I'll start a fight and the house will take over for me."

"Hmm. That's not fair."

"I don't play fair," Draco grinned.

"Hey, before we get flooded by guests and all the chaos that comes with them. I was thinking—"

"Oh Merlin. You thinking can't be a good idea."

"Shut up you nag. Like I said, I was thinking. Don you want to move in, like, officially? Get the rest of your stuff from the apartment and stay here?"

"Yes! I'd actually love that," Draco said happily.

"Really?" Harry had been thinking about when and how to ask that question since Christmas. He had even tried to ask a few times before, but chickened out, fearing that Draco didn't want to.

Hearing his yes was like dropping a heavy weight.

"When do you want to get the rest? Tomorrow?"

"We don't have to get anything. I took everything with me when we went to my place to get my necessary stuff," Draco grinned before pressing a kiss on Harry's temple.

"Wait," Harry gawked at him. "Are you telling me that you moved in more or less when we got bonded—and didn't find it necessary to tell me?"

"Well, not officially. But yes, that's more or less what I did."

"Unbelievable. You're the worst. And I'm here worrying that you might not want to and would say no when I asked you!"

"Surprise?"

"Surprise indeed," Harry laughed. "Welcome home, Draco."

"Welcome home, Harry."

Smiling, Draco leaned in and captured Harry in a deep kiss. Their relationship might not be the easiest one, nor was it perfect, but it was exactly what Harry ever wanted: to be with someone special who made his house an actual home. And Draco was the most special person he could ever dream of.