Written for Hogwarts:
careers advice task 1: write about doing a mundane job without magic
insane house challenge: 35. pansy parkinson
365 prompts: 5. action - listening to the rain on the window
fanfiction resolutions: write an au that you've never written before
character appreciation: plot - starting a new life
book club: edilio - (word) hero, (restriction) must feature a slash pairing, (emotion) anger
count your buttons: (dialogue) "You're doing it wrong."
restriction of the month: no characters older than 20 years old + (word) smile
Word count: 1429
AU in which Draco and Pansy (among others) are forbidden to use magic for a certain period of time, as punishment for their actions during the war.
"You're doing it wrong!" Pansy exclaimed, scowling and stalking over to correct him as he wrapped yet another fussy little knickknack in newspaper.
"I don't think it matters that much which way I wrap it, Pans," Draco muttered with a sigh, letting Pansy's hands guide his through the 'right' motions.
"It does if you want everything to stay intact, which I do. I won't have you breaking all my things when we can't even fix them on our own," she replied. Once satisfied, she pulled away to just watch Draco for a moment, idly curling and uncurling a lock of glossy black hair around her finger. "There. Much better."
Draco rolled his eyes. He was beyond sick of Pansy's near-dictatorial instructions as they packed. Once they were finally settled into their new home, it would be such a relief. It didn't help that having to do all the moving preparations by hand only served as a constant reminder of what they'd been deprived of. Pansy was lucky. She only has six months of probation left, and then she would get her wand back. Draco had two long years still stretching ahead of him.
"We could just wait until Harry gets here to do some of it, especially if you're not planning on actually helping," he said, rearranging the contents of one of their boxes. "It'd take about two minutes for him to charm everything in place." Even as he said it, though, he knew that Harry couldn't help with magic. It'd be suspicious if anyone from the Ministry noticed someone casting spells from their location. That would be different once they were at Grimmauld Place, at least. Harry was seen as trustworthy enough not to give them wands.
"I have been helping, darling," Pansy said, lounging on the sofa. "Right now, I'm taking a coffee break."
"Sure you have," Draco mumbled, rolling his eyes again and setting a ceramic unicorn down to push his sleeves up. "Wouldn't want you to really exert yourself; you might break a nail." The floorboards creaked under his feet as he walked to the kitchen, fetching himself a cup of coffee as well. The flat was far from the luxurious conditions he'd grown up in, but he'd miss it all the same. It had been home, the past year or so. A sanctuary for him and Pansy when the rest of the world wanted nothing more than to see them behind bars.
"I really did break a nail," Pansy said when Draco re-entered the room, wiggling her fingers so that he could see the jagged edge and chipped polish.
"What a shame," he replied dryly, joining her on the couch and sipping his coffee. Pansy curled up tight against his side, hair tickling his neck and fishnet-clad knee bumping up against his own. Harry had been rather jealous at first, but soon Draco had managed to get through to him that it was just how Pansy was. She wasn't the slightest bit warm to most people, but if she trusted you, it was nearly impossible to keep her from cuddling and teasing and prying.
"Hard to believe I'm actually moving in with Harry Potter," Pansy said with a breathy little sigh, but none of the venom that would have accompanied such a statement even a year before.
"You could always find a different roommate instead of just moving in with my boyfriend along with me," Draco pointed out, knowing that none of them had ever even considered that an option. Pansy was still a virtual pariah, much like himself, and more than that, she was like family.
"Please," she said with a quiet snort. "And then who would keep the two of you respectable?" With that, they fell into a comfortable silence, drinking their coffee and listening to the rain pounding against the windows. Draco turned his head to watch the water droplets race down the glass, trying to guess which would win. Pansy soon caught on to his game and joined in, and it felt like they were children again, with hardly a worry in the world.
Harry came in soaking wet, rainwater dripping from his hair and clothes. Draco made a soft tutting sound, getting up to grab him a towel.
"You're a wizard, you idiot. Why didn't you use an impervius charm?" he asked, handing the towel over and leaning in to press a kiss to Harry's chilled lips. "You're freezing, too. How do you even get through the day on your own?"
Harry just chuckled and shrugged, returning the kiss and obediently starting to dry himself off as best he could.
"I forget I can, sometimes." The easy way that he just forgot he could use magic made Draco's blood boil, though he always did his best not to show it. He never forgot how much power used to be at his fingertips. He had the opposite problem, always reaching for a wand that wasn't there.
"You're ridiculous," he muttered, ignoring the way Pansy was snickering at them.
"Our hero has arrived," she announced grandly, gesturing to all the things that still needed to be packed. Pansy dragged herself up from the couch's plushy clutches, inspecting her nails once more with a frown before starting to empty a bookcase.
"You two haven't gotten much done since I was here yesterday," Harry said mildly as he and Draco set to work as well.
"And whose fault is that?" Draco and Pansy asked simultaneously, looking to each other.
"I see," Harry replied, feigning thoughtfulness. "Either way, let's get this done already, yeah?" Then, after a moment, he added, "At least we can unpack the easy way." Draco glanced over to see Harry practically drowning under the heap of clothes in his arms, and couldn't help but laugh.
"That's one of the most reassuring things you've ever said."
They worked quietly for a while, filling box after box, and Draco wondered how all of this stuff had fit in the flat this whole time without any magical extensions. He'd never realized just how much they had between the two of them.
"The sound of the rain's making me kind of sleepy," Harry said eventually, yawning.
"Well, just think," Pansy replied. "You'll have Draco in your bed tonight." Harry grinned, looking over at him.
"Yeah. I'm incredibly lucky."
"Oh, stop," Draco mumbled, face going pink. "There's nothing that special about it. I've slept over plenty of times before."
"It's still special. From now on, I get to fall asleep next to you every night."
"You're such a sap, Potter," he said, groaning.
Harry just laughed, and so Draco did the first thing he could think of. He lobbed a throw pillow at him, watching as it bounced harmlessly off Harry's back.
Green eyes sparkling with mischief, Harry picked it up and threw it right back at Draco. It wasn't much of a proper pillow fight with only one pillow, so it died out before long, but it still relieved a bit of the stress he'd been feeling.
"You know, we really are almost done," Pansy said a few hours later. Draco looked up from labeling boxes of books, clothes, dishes, knick knacks, and what felt like fifty other categories of things he'd never even thought of before, and found that she was actually right. They'd been taking small loads of things over to Harry's now and then over the past couple of weeks, and nearly all of what was left was boxed up.
"Yeah, it only took all day," Draco grumbled, glancing out the rain-streaked window to find that it was completely dark outside. He knew that he was just fishing for things to complain about at this point, but he was still bitter about the fact that they'd had to do all of this the Muggle way.
"I've got something planned that'll cheer you up," Harry murmured with a smile, coming up behind him and hugging him close.
"Oh? What is it?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
Draco almost forgot about it until a few hours later in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, all three of them worn out from lugging box after box through the Floo.
"Hey, love, could you put the kettle on?" Harry asked. "My hands are a bit full at the moment." He nodded towards where his wand was sitting on the table, and it took a moment for Draco to realize what he was saying.
"Oh. Yeah, of course."
The thrum of magic when he picked up Harry's wand was the best reward Draco could think of.