Harry jumped up from his chair as the clock finally struck 5, gathering his pile of completed paperwork off the desk and dashing out of his office. He hurried down the corridor, bursting into the filing room - scaring several years off the poor witch sat behind the desk - and set them down in front of her.
"Paperwork for the Nicklson potions case." He said, waving to her as he exited the room as fast as he had entered. He paused briefly, patting his pocket to make sure the little square box was still there, before continuing on his slightly mad dash to the floo and cursing when he saw the long lines.
He smiled apologetically at the affronted old wizard walking next to him and waited rather impatiently in line.
Work had been dreadfully boring in the last few weeks, with Ron on paternity leave. There was no one else available to be partnered with him, so Harry had been stuck on desk duty and had been steadily working through the mountain of paperwork when he wasn't going stair crazy being stuck indoors all day. He couldn't wait for his Auror partner to be back - there were only so many documents he could sign before his arm fell off.
The line moved up a fraction and Harry felt like tearing his hair out in frustration. He wanted to go home dammit.
He'd been itching to get home the minute he arrived at work, barely able to contain his excitement because he knew Teddy would be waiting with Draco when he finally got home. He was staying over for a sleepover for the first time in what felt like forever and it was Pancake Tuesday, Teddy and Draco's favourite muggle 'holiday'.
The line moved up several feet in a matter of seconds, but Harry's hopes were swiftly crushed as an argument broke out at the front of the queue.
It had become something of a tradition for Teddy to come over and make pancakes with them every year and Harry looked forward to it just as much as he did Christmas and birthdays - with Teddy at school and him and Draco working, it was rare they got to spend so much time together anymore.
The arguing pair at the front of the line were removed from the queue by a member of his department as they came dangerously close to pulling their wands out on each other and the line began moving forward quickly.
Harry finally reached the floo, nearly crying out in relief and threw the powder into the flames.
"Grimmauld Place!"
He stepped out of the floo, just managing to right himself before he went sprawling onto the carpet in the living room, and spelled his soot-coated glasses clean before heading to the kitchen.
"But we're not supposed to eat pancakes before tea! Auntie 'Mione says so!"
"What Auntie 'Mione doesn't know won't hurt her, munchkin."
Harry smiled to himself as he watched the pair from the doorway, both too focused on the pancake batter Draco was whisking. He knew Hermione would have it in for him when Teddy inevitability snitched on them - the boy was such a stickler for the rules the son of a Marauder - but he was confident in Draco's ability to keep Teddy quiet for a little while.
There was a quiet sizzling sound as Draco ladled pancake batter onto the frying pan and tilted the pan to make sure it covered the whole thing, Teddy watching on from over Draco's arm.
"Up on the step, munchkin, you'll be able to flip it in a minute."
Teddy - who at 8 wasn't quite tall enough to hold the pan over the stove - scrambled up onto the transfigured step eagerly, waiting for Draco to hand the pan over.
Harry's heart swelled at the sight of the pair of them - one blond head, one blue - hunched over the stove together as Teddy flipped the pancake over with Draco's help, unable to explain and overwhelming wave of love at the picture they made. His hand drifted towards the ring box hidden in his pocket, an action that had become almost instinct since he bought it two months ago.
Harry had thought through and discarded a million and one ideas about ways to propose to Draco since then - none of them had seemed right - but now a slightly crazy idea popped into his head. He ran the risk of being hit over the head with a frying pan, but Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.
Draco transferred the cooked pancake onto Teddy's plate and immediately poured more batter into the pan without turning around. Teddy hopped off the step with the plate in his hands and spotted Harry, immediately turning to let Draco know he was home. Harry shook his head violently and beckoned Teddy over.
Confused, he obeyed and walked over, carrying the plate like a precious metal. Harry put his hand out for it and made a silent pleading motion with his hands when Teddy pouted. Harry would have found the whole thing rather comical if he didn't feel so terrified.
Teddy relented, still frowning, and Harry mouthed a thank you to him before summoning the chocolate spread. He pointed his wand at the jar and Teddy watched, transfixed, as Harry wrote on the pancake with it.
He handed it back over and pointed to Draco, who was flipping his own pancake with adorably childish glee. Teddy read the pancake and beamed, rushing back across the kitchen to tug on Draco's jumper.
Harry quickly fished the box out of his pocket, the velvety case nearly slipping from his clammy fingers as he got down on one knee.
"What's up, munchkin?" Draco asked, turning to Teddy, eyes widening in shock as he read the chocolatey message on the pancake.
He spun around, staring open mouthed at Harry. He was silent for several moments and Harry felt his heart stop.
"So?" He croaked our eventually, heart hammering against his chest.
"Yes!" Draco burst out, Harry's words seeming to snap him out of his daze. "Yes, I'll marry you!" He pulled Harry up from the floor, laughing, and kissed him, ignoring Teddy's rather loud "Eww!"
Harry sighed in relief and clung to his fiancé - his fiancé - somehow managing to slide the ring onto Draco's finger as they pressed against each other.
They pulled apart, foreheads touching.
"You proposed to me with a pancake." Draco murmured against his lips, but Harry could feel the smile that was almost splitting his face in two, mirroring his own. Draco leaned in again, cupping Harry's face with his left hand, the cool metal of the ring pressing against his cheek and making Harry smile even wider. "Merlin, I love you."
Harry opened his mouth to return the sentiment, only to be interrupted by a hungry child.
"Can we eat the pancake now?"