Severus threw his arms around Harry.

"Really?" He exclaimed "I am extremely shocked, but incredibly grateful, thank you Harry" Harry hugged him back, feeling good about himself. He knew it was the right thing to do, though already he was dreading it.

"There have to be rules though." He cautioned.

"Of course." Severus said, drawing back and listening attentively.

"I mean...what can he do?" Harry asked seriously. " can he work?"

"Well...he can work, as long as it's within the boundaries of the house.

"Ah. So...no, basically. Okay. Can he do magic?"

"He's not allowed…" Severus admitted.

"Okay...can he do anything useful, like cook?"

"Well, he can learn." Severus said diplomatically. Harry rolled his eyes. For someone that had been expected to cook, clean, garden, and basically manage an entire household for most of his life, Draco struck him as particularly pathetic.

"Remember that he's never lived without magic before." Severus reminded him softly.

"Yeah i know."

"So...what rules?"

"He has to contribute something. I'm not running a charity, he can earn his keep or he can get out. I understand if thats cleaning and cooking and stuff, but he has to do something." Already Harry was getting angry, remembering the spoilt brat he used to know. Why was he doing this again?Letting that asshole weasel out of punishment again, it was almost too much. Ug. He sighed, looking at the expression on Severus's face. That was the reason why, he remembered with a small smile.

"Secondly," Harry continued. "He's not allowed in our bedroom. For any reason."

"Okay"

"And he's not allowed to talk to me. If he has anything to say to me, he can say it through you. Although if he knows what's good for him, he won't. And actually" Harry said, finally crawling into bed. "I don't want to see him either. He can stay in his room when I'm in the house. He can come out when I'm at work or whatever. But otherwise…"

He snuck a look at Severus's face. Was that too harsh?

"I understand. He will too. You'll never have to see him." Severus promised. "Is that it?" He asked, after a pause.

"For now." Harry said, curling around Severus.

"I really appreciate this you know." Severus said as he turned off the light.

"Good. You better." Harry said, mostly joking.

But as the days went on, Harry couldn't help adding more and more rules. Some were fair, like

"Oh, he absolutely isn't allowed to touch my magical items, like my invisibility cloak. And if he goes near my firebolt, i'll kill him."

Some were a bit harder for Severus to swallow, like "I don't want him writing letters to anyone. Like you said, he doesn't have any non death eater friends anyway."

By the time Harry was done, it was a rather long list.

But Severus wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, he ascertained Draco's price and paid it as quickly as possible, although it still took several days.

Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as they did have some preparation to do before he could arrive. They selected a bedroom for him, Harry wanted to give him the smallest, but Severus pointed out that if he couldn't leave for days at a time, he should at least get an ensuite. Harry nodded and said nothing.

Severus also had to get supplies for him, mainly clothes, but also things like cookbooks, and the increasingly popular "How to live as a muggle, for frustrated ex death eaters" series of books. Lots of people had had their magic taken away, it actually created quite a large market of things to help bridge that muggle/wizard gap.

Feeling that he should at least get Harry's opinion he asked

"Would you prefer him to wear muggle clothes or wizard's robe?"

"I don't care, i'll never see him." Harry said, flicking through a quidditch magazine. "But actually, muggle."

Severus nodded.

"You'll need to pick a collar for him as well." Severus said, silently hoping that Harry wouldn't object to this. He had promised Harry he wouldn't have anything to do with Draco, and actually, he already done quite a lot, what with picking the room and everything. But, since Harry was paying the bill, he was required to pick the collar and sign some paperwork. Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing, Severus handed over the catalog and watched. This was actually going to be a rather interesting test. Which would Harry pick? If he truly didn't care, hed pick at random and move on quickly. If he wanted revenge, he'd pick one with a built in 'training' (punishment) charm. Severus crossed his fingers, anything would be better than that.

Harry took his time. He smirked as he came to one page in particular and studded it for a long time. "That one." He said, handing the catalog back.

Severus looked down. It was a page of gryffindor themed ones, and Harry had picked the most gryffindor like one, with an Argyle pattern of gold, red and black, and cursive "G,s" laced through out. So he was going for humiliation then. He sighed again. He just hoped that Harry wasn't going to intentionally antagonize Draco… and of course, that Draco would do the same. He had confidence in neither.

But finally, one warm thursday in spring, he set out, ready to take possession of Draco.

No one had bothered to express this to Draco, as his "employers" considered him to be rather less than human. And so it was an utter shock, when, one day they threw some old and smelly muggle clothes at him and told him to get dressed.

He did, though his heart sank. What was this? Was it some exceptionally weird role play? That was his best guess, he could think of no other reason.

They lead him up stairs and into the lobby, now largely deserted. It was 1pm on a thursday, after all.

And then he saw Severus, waiting for him.

He screamed and ran towards him. He threw his arms around his neck and positively glowed with joy.

"I cant believe youre here!" He exclaimed, pulling back to look at the man properly. He looked good. His wounds from the war had finally healed, and for the first time in his life, he seemed happy.

Draco, on the other hand, looked terrible. He was far too thin, his eyes slightly wild, he was covered in bruises and a cut still bled under his ear. Severus frowned.

"Why are you here?" Draco asked, he still held him by the shoulders, unwilling to let go of the man.

"I've bought you. You can come home-"

At this Draco screamed again, throwing himself in the man's arms. When he calmed down again (it took a moment) He finally said

"I thought you were living with Potter these days, at least that's what i heard? Ha! I guess i should never trust the daily prophet, i knew that couldn't be true-"

"I am."

"Wow." Draco said, taking a moment to let that sink in. "So...he's okay with this?" He asked incredulously.

"Not exactly." Severus admitted. " But basically, as long as you stay out of his way, he'll do his best to pretend that your not there."

"Okay, i can do that." Draco said immediately. He wasn't about to argue, anything would be better than this place. A bouncer glared at them, clearly annoyed to see Draco so happy.

"Let's go then." He said, in a hurry to get out of that place.

The only thing to do was to exchange Draco's old collar for the new. This was done quickly, without ceremony, both men doing their best to ignore it. Draco smiled sadly when he saw his new one. There was something deeply perverse about making Draco wear the gryffindor house colors, but he didn't blame Harry, he'd do the same if the situations were reversed. Although, Draco reminded himself, if the situation was reversed, pretty much everyone on the planet would be dead, there would be a new world order of evil, and tyranny would reign supreme. So. Maybe it was a good thing that their situation was not reversed. Besides, he was too tired to complain, too desperate to leave here to jeopardize his future.

Of this, Severus was incredibly glad. Maybe things would be okay after all.

He probably found it the most uncomfortable of anyone. Draco genuinely didn't care what the collar looked like, and Harry took active pleasure in it. For Severus, it was just sad. But he didn't say anything either. Instead, he took Draco to his new home.

As they walked through the little garden and up to the large front door, even Draco was impressed. As they walked in side, he was...less impressed. Harry seemed to have much more money than taste, Draco found the inside to be gaudy and tacky. Wisely, he said nothing. It was, at least, extremely comfortable, and he knew he was lucky.

Severus took him upstairs, to his room. It was sparsely furnished, which was actually a nice change from the overwhelming decorations of downstairs. It had light blue walls, with certain sections darker than others. It seemed Harry had taken down multiple paintings before his arrival. On the far wall, there was a large lead glass window, obviously old, as it was criss crossed with dimons of iron. This was framed with blue and white curtains. There was a bed, and for this alone Draco was grateful. The last few months had taught him to value the little things, to presume nothing. And a door lead to a small, but pretty bathroom. Draco loved it.

"Thank you so much for doing this." He gushed. "I know it's not easy…"

"Its not, Harry is most opposed to you being here. Give him any excuse, and he won't hesitate to get rid of you." Severus informed him bluntly.

"I know." Draco said sadly. "What does he...expect of me?"

Severus sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing his temple. "You have a lot of rules."

When Severus was done explaining them, Draco nodded. It was… a lot. He wondered if some of them were traps, meant more to trip him up than to please Harry. Draco clenched his jaw. He wouldn't let that happen.

"But over all." Severus said, coming to the end of a long monologue detailing all Harry's rules. "Your expected to clean, cook and take care of the garden."

"Oh god, i was always terrible at herbology…"

"Well most of these plants are muggle, so they shouldn't be too bad. I'm more worried about you cooking."

This was very true. Draco had never seen seen a muggle oven before. It was with some trepidation that he went down stairs to look at it. It seemed...kind of scary. This big box of lifeless metal, that would explode if he used it wrong. And it wasn't going to talk to him, give him any warning at all, it would just burst into flames. To Draco, who was used to even mirrors talking, this was extremely off putting.

"He expects you to make dinner for us tonight."

"Wow." Draco said, tentatively taking a step closer to the thing. He still hadn't got within ten feet of it, he was gazing at it nervously from across the room. Severus tutted. He wasn't used to muggle appliances either, but his safety did not rely on him being so. Dracos' did, and so Severus hassled him over to it with no sympathy.

He gave a lecture (It took him right back to his teaching days at hogwarts. God he hated teaching) about how to use the oven, and not just the oven but all of the appliances. The dishwasher, the fridge (Yes, you have to close it yourself), the toaster, the microwave...by the time he was done, Draco's head was reeling. They hadn't even got to the vacuum cleaner yet. For the first time, he seriously doubted if he could do this.

"Its 4 o clock. Harry's usually back by 5:30. I suggest you start."

"WHAT?" Draco asked, suddenly panic stricken. "What do i do?"

"Were you not listening?"

"I was, but-"

Severus sighed. "I suggest you make some pizza. Its relatively easy. There's a cookbook on the side and pre made dough in the fudge." And he left. Draco stood, thinking hard.

Fridge...fridge...which one was that again? Ah. Right. The cold one. Fridge, like frigid. Draco found the dough, poking it nervously. He read the instructions all the way through, multiple times. It should only take about twenty minutes, but he thought it was best to start early.

Which was good, because the first attempt was terrible. Burnt and strangely sweet. What was up with that? And so he tried again. And again. And on the 3rd try, he actually thought it was okay. But before he had a chance to try it, he heard the front door open, and he froze. It must be Harry. His blood ran cold, hie eyes went wide. Would he be able to get upstairs without being seen? Should he hide in here, wait for Harry to pass, or should he run?

Thankfully, Severus came to save him. Wordlessly he marched in, Grabbed Draco and marched him out, up a back staircase and into his room.

"I don't think i have to tell you," Severus whispered. "That you are on extremely thin ice. One wrong step…"

"I know." Draco said sadly.

"This had better be good." Severus added, shut the door behind him, and went down to Harry.

"Hey!" Harry said, upon seeing him descend the stairs. "Something smells good" He added cheerfully. And then he wished he hadn't. He had, just for a moment, forgotten that it was probably the work of Malfoy. He hated complementing that little twerp.

"Good" Severus said, leading him into kitchen and taking the pizza out with a flourish.

"Oh its pizza." Harry said, a note of triumph in his voice "That is the easiest thing to make."

Severus rolled his eyes. This childish instance on hating Draco, was, well...childish. It made him uncomfortably aware of their age difference. To his credit, Harry was a particularly mature person, the war had aged him in many ways. But this was a bit ridiculous.

Severus told him so, practically throwing the pizza down.

It was so ridiculous, Harry almost laughed. Almost. But he got pissed off instead.

"Oh like your so much better. You've never got over the past, you still haven't." Harry objected.

"I don't have him living in my house, it doesn't affect me-"

"Oh now your throwing in my face?" Harry said, his voice raising. This was so unfair! After everything he'd done-

"No, that's not-" Severus said, his voice rising too.

Draco listened guilty, only one floor above them. God he felt bad. He knew Severus had only just settled down and got his life together, and he didn't want to ruin that. But what could he do? He couldn't apologize, Harry had made it very clear he never wanted to speak to Draco again. There was nothing he could do, expect listen in and hope things got better.

"I honestly can't believe you." Harry railed. "He's been in my house for like, an hour" Harry exaggerated. "And your already demanding more from me?!"

"Its not that." Severus spat back.

"Then what?!" There was a long pause.

"We've never talked about your father…" Severus said, but softly this time.

Harry sighed. "No... We still have a lot to talk about, actually."

Harry didn't like this feeling, this feeling like their relationship was based on sand and one wrong conversation and everything would come falling down. It was true, they'd been avaioing anything too heavy for a long time now. They were so focused on just getting their lives together that they barely had the time. So relieved to have survived that they were happy to sweep everything else under the rug. But it couldn't stay that way forever.

"I know he did bad things...but he was still my dad…"

Severus winced. This was too much for him. "Let's not talk about it now. Lets just...enjoy the pizza."

God, he really hoped Draco had got it right.

He had, mostly. It was an odd shape, and the dough was pretty lumpy, but it was okay. It tasted good even if it looked a bit odd.

Harry was deep in thought, just starting the washing up when-

"You don't have to do that, you know." Severus reminded him. "Leave it, Draco will do it in the morning."

Oh yeah! Harry realized for the first time. Now that was a nice perk, he could get used to that. Severus came close, hugging him from behind.

"See? Its not so bad." He said gently.

"I know…" Harry admitted reluctantly.

That night in bed, they curled around each other in their typical pose, Harry on his back, Severus's head on his chest. Severus took a deep breath and looked up at him, snuggled tightly under his arm.

"Im sorry...about the fight tonight. I hope you know i do appreciate what your doing."

Harry smiled into the dark. Yeah, he knew. He kissed severus softly. It turned passionate quickly, Harry never needed much encouragement when it came to Severus.

They fucked, it was wild, raw and passionate. And extremely loud. Harry got far louder than he ever had before, screaming Severus's name and moaning with each thrust.

"God I love being inside of you."" Harry screamed.

It was for show, of course. He knew Draco could hear, It was some dark and primal need to mark his territory. Draco received the message loud and clear; Harry was in charge.