Unfinished Business: Only the Beginning

DISCLAIMER: Look at first chapter.
WARNING: Look at first chapter.


To Overcome All Odds

As Draco rested on his bed at Hogwarts, he sighed for what seemed like the millionth time since he got back. It had been months since he had seen Harry.

When the holiday had been over, Draco had quickly cornered the bushy-haired girl. She easily gave up the information he needed the most. Weasley was okay with them being together, meaning that Harry would be more willing as well. However, the blonde wouldn't be able to talk to Harry personally since he had been drafted into finding some of the Death Eaters that were still on the run.

Draco had been worried after hearing this. But Hermione had assured him that her friend could handle himself. It helped that he would also have Ron, Neville and an experienced Auror going along with him.

But that had been months ago. Draco had already taken his NEWTs and everyone was ready to take the train home. Yet Harry was still on assignment. How long did it take to catch a few wizards anyway?

As Draco sulked in his bed, he heard a knock on his door, followed by the tell-tale sign of an irritated Head Girl.

"You can stop sulking now," Hermione said exasperatingly from the other side of the door. "I just got a letter from Ron. He said they caught the Death Eaters and will be coming back home soon."

At the news, Draco jumped out of his bed and rushed to the door. When he yanked it opened, he found a very bemused Gryffindor standing on the other side.

"So he lives," she said with a slight smirk. "I was beginning to wonder if you had fallen off the face of the Earth."

Draco merely rolled his eyes at the girl before him. If the Gryffindor had said that to him a year ago, the blonde would have taken offence. But Hermione and he had gotten closer over the last few months. She had been his reassuring rock whenever he fell into one of his moods. She was the only reason he kept up with his Head Boy duties, and without her, he knew would have failed his NEWTs. He hated to admit it, though only out of habit, but Hermione had been a good friend to him.

"I got the letter at breakfast," Hermione continued as she lifted up the letter. "I would have told you then, but you didn't show. You also didn't show up to lunch and we're both missing the End-of-Term Feast."

"Did he say when they were coming back?" Draco said, wanting to get to the important stuff.

"I could just let you read it for yourself, but I don't think you should read anything on an empty stomach," she said as she put the letter inside her robes. "I'll see you in the Great Hall," she said before turning to leave.

Cursing under his breath, Draco closed the door before getting dressed. He had been in his nightclothes all day, since his duties as Head Boy was officially over, and he was only now leaving his room.

It had taken him a few minutes to reach the Great Hall, since he had gone through the Heads' quarters. Though it wasn't until he sat at the Slytherin table that the smell of the food before him finally had his stomach growling. He wasn't surprised since this would be his first meal of the day.

By the time the End-of-Term Feast had ended, Draco no longer felt like his insides were eating him alive. Afterwards, he followed Hermione back to the Heads' quarters when she let him read the letter for himself. According to the letter, they had caught three Death Eaters and were taking them to the Ministry. Afterwards, they were to be debriefed. They might not make it in time to see Hermione arriving at Kings Cross, but would meet up with her at Grimmauld Place when they were done.

"What's Grimmauld Place?" Draco asked when he finished the letter.

"It's the Black family home. When Sirius died, he left it to Harry. He and Ron have been living there this past year. I'll be moving in with them as well. He'll probably bring you there after your talk."

"Yeah, probably," Draco said nervously.

"Don't worry," Hermione smiled as she grasped his shoulder reassuringly. "Harry wants to be with you. He told me himself."

"I know. I guess I just want to hear it from him myself."

"Patience Draco. You've waited this long. You just have to wait a little bit longer."


"I've never felt so sore," Ron said, dropping the sack he'd been hanging over his shoulder as he stepped out onto level three of the Ministry of Magic.

"I told you not to stand underneath that bridge," Harry said, dropping his sack next to Ron's.

"Who knew it was going to collapse?" Ron asked in defence.

"I did, which is why I told you not to stand there," Harry pointed out with a smirk as Neville came up behind them, his own sack dropping next to the others.

"Look on the bright side," Neville said as Robards walked up to the three of them. "At least we got what we came for and are finally home."

It had been months since the three of them had set foot on English soil. After spending the better part of a year in France, they were glad to be home. But there was still the matter of transporting the three Death Eaters they had managed to catch to Azkaban. The teens knew they would need to testify against their captives as well. They just hoped processing and sentencing them was a quick matter.

"Good work fellas," Robards said, grasping Ron and Neville's shoulders in pride, though missing the look of pain that the redhead gave at the gesture. "Those Death Eaters were very slippery, but you managed to outsmart them before they did any real damage," he said as he flicked his wand towards the sack so that they hovered above the ground. "I dare say you boys deserve a little break. Williamson will let you in my office. Take the rest of the weekend to go home and rest up. You deserve it," he said before levitating the sacks away from them."

"Finally," Neville said as the Head Auror walked away. "I'm kissing my wand after I pick it up. I don't think I've missed anything as much as home."

Harry and Ron quickly agreed with the notion. As part of their training, the three boys had been trained to cast various spells windlessly. Robards believed that wands were an unnecessary handicap for a wizard and discouraged any use of it while on the job. When they had met up with their superior at the Ministry, Robards had gone as far as to confiscate their wands and lock them away in his office.

"Here you go boys," Williamson said as he let the boys into Robards' office. "What are your plans now that you're finally home?" he asked as the trio quickly grabbed their wands.

"There are only three things I want to do when I get home. Eat, sleep and repeat until Monday," Ron said, causing his companions to laugh.

"A noble goal. You three deserve it," Williamson laughed.


"Father, I'm surprised to see you here," Draco said as he stepped foot off of the Hogwarts Express for the last time.

It was already night out and Draco was dying to meet up with Harry. But when he saw his father standing on the platform, he had a sinking feeling in the bit of his stomach.

"Your mother requested that I come and bring you to Malfoy Manor," Lucius said, eyeing Hermione as she walked past his son.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Draco asked, wanting to see Harry as soon as possible. "I made plans with Pansy and Blaise," he lied, something he rarely did to his father. But after the confrontation with his mother months ago, he wasn't about to bring up Harry to his father.

"You can see them another time," Lucius said. "Your mother was quite insistent."

Groaning inwardly, Draco nodded his head. He might as well get this over with. Draco already had a feeling that he knew what his mother wanted to talk to him about, and he knew he wasn't going to like it. He was sure it had something to do with the exchange of letters that was going on between her and Astoria Greengrass, the girl his mother wanted him to marry.

After Apparating with his father to Malfoy Manor and a house-elf took his luggage, Lucius guided his son towards the sitting room.

"Wait inside and I'll go get your mother," the stoic man said before leaving his son by the double doors.

Sighing inwardly, Draco pulled open the doors to the sitting room. Then he took two steps before nearly having a heart attack.

"Hi," Harry waved with a small smile as he got up from the couch.

"Hi," Draco said, shocked as he rushed up to the other teen.

Draco's mind was abuzz with questions. After all, Harry was the last person the blonde expected to find getting comfortable in his home, especially after what happened the last time he was there.

"I love you," Draco said before he could help himself.

Harry stood in shock, his mouth agape, at the confession. The next thing Harry knew, Draco was kissing him. They immediately surrendered to the kiss as their arms wrapped around each other. They explored each other through the kiss, savouring each other before they were separated again.

"Sorry," Draco panted as they broke apart for much needed air. "I just wanted to get that off my chest before you disappeared again for another six months."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Harry smiled sheepishly. "I shouldn't have taken off like that. I got scared and…"

"You're here now. That's all that matters," Draco reassured with a smiled. "However… Not that I'm not happy to see you, but… What are you doing here?"

"I've been asking myself that very question ever since your mother brought me here."

"My mother?"

"Yeah. I'd just come back from my assignment and was just getting ready to leave when one of the Aurors told me that your mother was waiting for me."

"Did she say what it was about?" Draco asked, dreading the answer as Harry shook his head.

"It's about the two of you," a voice sounded behind them. When Draco and Harry turned to the door, it was to find Narcissa walking into the sitting room. "Please, have a seat," she said politely, gesturing to the couch.

"What are you up to, Mother?" Draco asked as he and Harry reluctantly sat down on one of the sofas.

"I've brought Potter here to offer him a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Draco asked with a warning tone.

"Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen to your precious Potter. In fact, this deal will benefit all of us in the end," she said, a slight smile on her face. "I want you to date my son."

"You do?" Harry and Draco both asked, surprised.

"Make no mistake. The thought of my family's blood being tainted by a half-blood is enough to make my skin crawl," she said, causing Harry to roll his eyes. "But my son has been miserable ever since I found out about the two of you and told him that he couldn't be with you."

"You did?" Harry asked worriedly, knowing that he contributed to some of that miserableness.

"He was like a petulant child. Very unbecoming of a Malfoy," Narcissa said with disappointment. "But I refuse to be the reason for my son's misery. I will leave that in your capable hands, Mr. Potter."

"Mother," Draco said warningly.

"So… you're giving us your blessing?"

"I am," Narcissa admitted, causing the two boys to share a blissful kiss. "On one condition."

"Of course," Draco said, knowing that the other shoe was bound to drop at any moment.

"You must take your relationship public."

"What?" Harry asked, shocked. He thought that Narcissa would be the last person to want anyone knowing about him and her son dating.

"Is that a problem for you, Mr. Potter?" Narcissa asked with a calculating gaze.

"Of course not," Harry scoffed unconvincingly.

"Excellent."

"But I thought you didn't want anyone knowing that I was dating Harry," Draco pointed out suspiciously. "You said that the world would say that a Death Eater was trying to corrupt their saviour."

"I admit. I wasn't completely honest with you when I said that," Narcissa admitted. "In fact, I believe this could be the key to elevating our family back to the top. After finding out that you and Pansy had dissolved your engagement, I tried to find you a suitable replacement. That proved to be far more difficult after our disgrace, until I got that letter about the two of you. Imagine my surprise when Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass came to your father and me at the New Year's Eve party, expressing their delight about you becoming a part of their family."

"And you think those two things are related?"

"Of course. It can't be a coincidence that a few days after finding out about your affair that the family we sought after is now seeking us. The Carrows have also expressed their interest in marrying off one of their daughters to you."

"For the last time, Mother… I'm gay."

"That's not the point," Narcissa said dismissively. "Don't you see? If whispers of your relationship gets us this much attention, just imagine what the world knowing about it could do for us."

"Mother, I will not use my relationship with Harry to further your ambitions."

"You will if you two want to continue seeing each other."

"We'll do it," Harry said suddenly, shocking the two Malfoys.

"You don't have to. I know how much you like your privacy, believe me."

"I know. But I can't keep hiding myself away just because of what people will say. So if we're going to have a relationship, I don't want to have to sneak around with you anymore," Harry said, causing the young blonde to smile.

"Excellent," Narcissa said as she clapped her hands. "Though I'm going to need a little more reassurance than that."


"YOU DID WHAT!" Ron bellowed to his deranged friend.

It was the next day, after everyone sat down to lunch at the Burrow. Harry would have told his friends what had happened at Malfoy Manor the night before. But after his confrontation with her, Harry and Draco just wanted to be alone together and went to the blonde's flat for the night. He didn't even get to see his friends until now, when they all had their weekly lunch at his friend's family home.

"Harry. This is serious," Arthur said, a slight frown on his face. "Are you sure you know what you've gotten yourself into?"

"I'm sure," Harry said with a slight smile directed at the blonde sitting next to him.

"But participating in an Unbreakable Vow is a little extreme, don't you think?" Ginny asked with a nervous laugh.

"Only if we break up before my family has their status back," Draco said nonchalantly.

"How convenient for you?"

"Don't blame Draco. I'm the one who agreed to do it," Harry defended. "Besides, the wizarding world would have found out about us eventually."

"So what vows are you bound to exactly?"

"There were only two," Harry said. "The first one is going public with our relationship. And we know exactly how we're going to do that," he said with a sly smile.

"The next is that Harry and I can't break up until my family has the same respect we once had."

"So the only way out of this is if Draco breaks up with you?" Ginny asked, thinking hard.

"Not exactly…," Harry admitted. "The Vow was done on both of us, so breaking up will kill us both. The only way it can be fulfilled is if Draco's family gets their reputation back."

"And I don't see that happening anytime soon," the blonde scoffed doubtfully.

"So how exactly are you two going to come out to the wizarding world?" Hermione asked, not as concerned as the rest of those gathered.

"I'm glad you asked that, Hermione, because we need you to do something for us."


"Okay. I've done what you've asked," Narcissa said as she and her husband sat in their living room, glaring at their guest. "Allowing my son to frolic with that half-breed was excruciatingly painful."

"But going to Azkaban for life would have been a lot worse," Lucius pointed out. "Though you didn't have to force my wife into insisting on that vow. Now my son will be stuck with that boy until our reputation is repaired, and that could take years."

Narcissa stared at her guest with a loathing that she had not felt for anyone before now. All of her plans for her son had been ruined. After getting the good news that Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass approved of Draco marrying their daughter, Narcissa had quickly accepted. Papers had even been in the process of being written up when all of her planning fell apart because of the person before her.

It had been a blow to Narcissa, but going to prison was out of the question if she ever wanted her family to get back up on its feet again. So she had done what she was told. She declined the Greengrass' offer and told her son that he was allowed to date that boy, even going as far as casting an Unbreakable Vow on the two so that she couldn't interfere, unless she didn't mind her son dying.

But Narcissa saw the loophole. The terms of the Vow only covered her son dating Harry Potter. It said nothing about them getting married. So all Narcissa had to do was let this thing play out, let her son and these interlopers have their fun. But the moment the Vow was fulfilled, she would put an end to this game and continue her dream of seeing her son end up with a proper pure-blood.

"Our dealings with you are now concluded," Narcissa said as she suddenly stood up from the couch. "Vacate my home at once."

"Not yet, Mrs. Malfoy," their guest said wistfully, sipping at the tea that had been placed on the tray. "There is still one last thing that I require from you."


End of Chapter: To Overcome All Odds