A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I won't post that until I start posting the last story of the Unfinished Business Trilogy - Shattered Pieces. Thank you for reading and stay tuned 3

Unfinished Business: Only the Beginning

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

Three Little Words

As Harry sat in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, now run by Fortescue's eldest, he licked at the ice cream trailing down his fingers while Ron and Hermione sat beside him, sharing a sundae.

"Are you sure you want to do it this way, Harry?" Ron asked as he placed a spoonful of double chocolate ice cream in his mouth. "The press will have a field day."

"Absolutely," Harry insisted, a smile tugging at his lips. "Besides, Skeeter promised not to embellish the story if we give her the exclusive."

"And you believed her," the red-head scoffed.

"No, which is why I also got into contact with Luna's dad and already did an interview with him. He promised not to publish it until after Skeeter's article comes out though," Harry explained, causing Hermione to nod in approval.

"That's not what I mean though," Ron said, turning to his friend. "Once you do this, there's no turning back. You'll no longer have the luxury of keeping yourself out of the public eye and I know how much you like your privacy."

"There's no way to avoid it though," Harry said around a mouthful of ice cream. "One of the terms of the vow was that the world know about us. The wizarding world will find out who I'm dating eventually, so we're going to let the secret out on our own terms."

"Are you nervous?" Hermione asked.

"More anxious than anything," Harry chuckled. "I just can't wait to get it over with," he said as his eyes trailed along the road towards Gringotts bank.

As if in perfect unison, the one person Harry was most eager to see stepped out of the bank at the same moment Harry's eyes fell on the ancient building.

"Are you coming?" Harry said as he finished off his cone, licking his lips.

"I think we'll catch up with you later at Grimmauld Place," Hermione smirked knowingly. "Neither of us feel like being trampled the moment everyone realizes what's going on."

"Suit yourself," Harry shrugged good-naturally before hugging them in turn.

"Where are you two heading off to now?" Draco asked as Blaise and Pansy stepped out of the bank after him.

"We're supposed to meet up with my parents at Zabini Manor," Pansy said as she held onto Blaise's hand.

"Our parents want us to come over and help them settle things with the marriage contract," Blaise explained.

"You mean they each want you to take their side," Draco guessed.

"Exactly," Pansy sighed. "It almost makes me wish Blaise and I had eloped."

Draco scoffed at the comment. There was no chance that Pansy would elope, even if hers and Blaise's parents were driving them crazy, Draco knew that his friend loved every second of it. If there was one thing Draco knew about her, it was that Pansy loved getting attention just as much as he did.

"Enjoying yourself, I see," a familiar voice said from behind him as someone tapped on his shoulder.

Smiling at the mere sound of that voice, Draco turned around to come face to face with Harry. He had to resist the urge to embrace his boyfriend. They had planned out this meeting days ago and it wouldn't do to ruin things because he was eager.

"I bet you'll be enjoying yourself even more in a few seconds," Harry continued with a coy smile.

"Oh really? And what's going to happen in a few seconds?" Draco asked, feigning ignorance as he stepped closer.

"Oh, I couldn't say," Harry shook his head, playing along. "I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Pansy and Blaise rolled their eyes at the scene. Ever since Draco and Harry had come out as a couple to them, the two wizards had been insufferably cute. They had been invited to the Burrow for one of the Weasley family get-togethers a few days ago, and while Draco and Harry had spent most of the time in each other's embrace, Pansy and Blaise had to protect themselves from the rapidly growing herd of Weasleys.

The only saving grace of the whole evening, for Pansy at least, was that she could watch as her best friend made out with his new boyfriend. Though she loved Draco like a brother, now that she realized her feelings for Blaise, the sight of two guys making out was still a turn on.

As Pansy watched the two men before her, Blaise noticed that their small group had begun to attract a little bit of attention. No one tried to hide their stares as the Great Saviour of the Wizarding World stood willingly in the company of the heir to the Malfoy family, a family now shunned by the wizarding world because of their involvement with the Dark Lord.

"I think we're beginning to attract some attention," Blaise said as he tilted his head to the side.

"I'm not surprised," the blonde smiled coyly without breaking eye contact with Harry, "no one can help but turn their heads towards the great saviour. The gossip mil will be turning at full swing before the day is out."

"I've gotten used to it by now," Harry said with a cheeky smile of his own. "How about we give them something a little juicier to gossip about?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Draco said just as Harry closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around the blonde's neck before connecting their lips in a deep kiss.

Draco's arms quickly wrapped around Harry's waist, pulling the shorter wizard closer to him. When their lips parted, they sighed as their kiss deepened.

"I think this is our cue to leave," Blaise said to Pansy when he noticed people openly staring at the embracing couple.

"But this is the best part," Pansy whined, causing her boyfriend to roll his eyes before taking her by the shoulder and Apparating away.

Those that were lucky enough to see the wizarding world's saviour locking lips with a known Death Eater – or ex-Death Eater as some would stress – would be the envy of the rest of the wizarding world that had missed such a momentous event. Understandably, there was going to be those that did not approve of the union.

Fortunately, most would be too few and far in between for there to be a cause for concern. Unfortunately, one young witch concluded that there were two in particular that could potentially cause the most bit of trouble for the young couple.

"How could you let this happen?" The eavesdropper heard a witch hiss from the depth of a darkened alleyway, away from prying eyes. "I thought you said you had everything sorted."

"I did!" The eavesdropper heard a second witch exclaim. "If you had done your part when you were supposed to, things wouldn't have gotten this bad!"

"So now this is my fault?" The first witch fumed. "Who was the one who said that Potter would come running back to her once he realized what he was giving up?"

"And who was the one who was supposed to get her parents to fast track that marriage contract?" The second countered. "If you had done your part, Harry would be forced to stay away from Malfoy! Now he's stuck in that stupid vow for who knows how long and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Not unless the Malfoy's get their reputation back, you said."

"Yes, but fat chance that's going to happen. The wizarding world's eyes have finally opened as to who the Malfoy's really are. They're never going to come back from this, even with Harry's help."

"The Malfoy's are a great family," the first insisted. "They will come out of this on top, just you wait."

"Well apparently, we can't do anything but wait, or they'll both die."

"Then we'll just have to help out and make sure that the Malfoy's get back their status as soon as possible. There's only so long I can keep my parents from finding a new husband for me. I'll be in touch," the first witch said before stepping out of the alleyway.

Approaching footsteps could be heard heading towards the light of Diagon Alley. Unsurprising to the eavesdropper, Astoria Greengrass emerged from the darkened alleyway second later, striding as fast as she could away from the display of the embracing couple as possible. It also wasn't a surprise when Ginny Weasley emerged from within the alleyway a second later, a sigh on her lips as she saw the object of her affection Disapparate with the blonde next to him, before Disapparating as well.

Neither witch saw the blonde witch standing two feet away, though Luna Lovegood was very good at staying unnoticed. It was that skill that had helped her find out about the two witch's plan to separate the two wizards. But after seeing the way Draco had been without Harry for those last few months of school, Luna had resolved to make sure that nobody got in the way of their budding relationship.

That was why she had come up with the plan to use her reparation against Mrs. Malfoy to help them. Forcing Mrs. Malfoy to perform the vow had been particularly cleaver of the Ravenclaw. It was only there to ward interlopers from interfering with Harry and Draco's relationship, no matter who they were eyeing.

Of course, Luna had shared that part of her plan with Draco while they were still at school. She only wanted to protect their relationship. She had no desire to force them into something they weren't ready for. Draco had been more than willing to go through with the plan. Though, unsurprisingly, he was more concerned with Harry's reaction to it. The Slytherin didn't want Harry to be forced into anything he didn't want.

But, unfortunately for Ginny and Astoria, Harry chose to go through with the vow with Draco. Now the two of them had time to explore their relationship without interference.

An insistent knock on the door, followed by several curses, had the blonde groaning awake before a satisfied smirk donned his lips. After Harry's visit the other day, Draco had been inspired to make a few changes to his abode. It wasn't anything major of course. There was really only one thing he wanted to change.

After the catastrophe that was the initial reveal of Harry and Draco's relationship to their friends, Draco had cursed the fact that he hadn't put wards around his flat so no one could Apparate directly inside. Not even his parents, or his friends, could be able to penetrate the wards.

Harry would be the only exception, of course.

When the blonde opened the door to let his friends in, he was immediately accosted by an infuriated witch. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to get tossed away from a warded place?" Pansy asked as she pushed past him. "You could have warned us, you know!"

"And miss this delightful greeting?" Draco smirked sarcastically. "I wouldn't dream of depriving myself of such a pleasure," he said and was rewarded with a sneer from the brunette.

Draco had, in fact, almost told his friends about the wards, since he had already told his parents. But the memory of Blaise ruining his time with Harry all those months ago still irked him and he decided to keep it a surprise.

"I think he might still be miffed that his relationship with Potter was discovered," Blaise guessed, taking a seat in the chair while his fiancée and the blonde took the couch.

"It wasn't just the fact that you found out about us. It was the utter lack of respect for my privacy," the blonde explained.

"Oh boo hoo," Pansy scoffed unapologetically. "You got what you wanted in the end. You two no longer have to hide your relationship, and you're so insipidly adorable. I bet you two even spend hours upon hours cuddling and declaring your undying love for one another," she said with a slight sneer, only to have the blonde turn his head uncomfortably at the comment. "You do love him, don't you? I don't know why you would go through with that vow if you didn't."

"Of course I love him," Draco said without pause before running his fingers frustratingly through his hair.

"And you've told him this, right?" Pansy asked slowly, trying to pinpoint why her friend seemed so defensive.

"The moment I saw him again," the blonde said, a glazed look in his eyes.

"And he said it back … right?" Pansy asked, before catching Blaise shake his head.

A frown marred Draco's face as he said nothing.

"But he's said it since then, right?"

Again, Draco said nothing.

"Well who would have thought that the Slytherin would have more courage than the Gryffindor," she smirked as she leaned back.

"It's not funny," Draco sneered before getting up from the couch in frustration.

"Oh don't be so sensitive," Pansy said indifferently. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation as to why he hasn't said it yet."

"Yeah, and Draco's afraid of one reason in particular," Blaise said as he leaned back in the chair.

"Oh please," Pansy scoffed at the insinuation. "Do you actually think Potter would have taken that vow with you if he didn't love you?"

"Maybe. Potter is a Gryffindor," Blaise said thoughtfully. "He might only be doing this to help Draco's family get back on its feet again and doesn't want to confuse the situation with three little words."

"And getting into bed with him was just a bonus?" Pansy asked with a scoff.

"It was for us," Blaise countered with a shrug.

"He's right," Draco said with a dazed expression, missing the death glare Pansy shot at Blaise. "We were sleeping with each other for months. But just because I developed feelings for him, doesn't mean he developed them for me."

Draco's heart ached at the thought that the only reason Harry was doing this was to help Draco's family out of their disgrace. Thinking back on it, Harry had viewed the vow as a way to pay the blonde's family back for saving his life twice during the war. He had seemed excited about the thought that no one could break them apart lest they both die. But that could've been because he really enjoyed their affair and didn't want it to end.

Draco hoped that wasn't the case.

"Would you like to see what the wizarding world thinks of your relationship?" Ron asked with a slight smirk as Harry walked into the kitchen that morning.

"Not really," he said, eyeing the paper with uncertainty.

"Don't worry, it's not too dreadful," the other wizard said as he tossed the paper to his friend. "I think Skeeter went rather easy on you this time," he said before focusing on the food placed before him.

Tentatively, Harry took the offered paper. When he opened it to the front page, he wasn't the least bit surprised at what he saw.

It looked like it had been taken just as Harry and Draco kissed in the middle of Diagon Alley. Harry had never seen himself kissing someone else before. But the sight of himself and Draco wrapped around each other in an intimate embrace, with their bodies pressed up against each other and their lips locked…

It stirred something within Harry that he didn't quite recognise. What he did know, however, was that he liked this picture, their first picture…

…as a couple.

"Have you seen the paper today?" Harry asked the blonde, who had been lounging on the couch in his flat when the Auror-in-training had arrived via house elf. "Skeeter wrote an article about us, comparing us to Beauty and the Beast," he continued, straddling the blonde's legs as he presented said paper.

"Did she now?" Draco said, idly taking the paper in one hand and wrapping his arms around Harry with the other. "Let me guess. I'm the Beast."

"How did you know?" Harry asked, as he made himself comfortable in the blonde's lap.

"In her mind, she probably sees me as the prince. A cold hearted man, falling from grace. The only thing with the power to melt my frozen heart before my ultimate demise is the love of a courageous beauty."

"The Beast's heart wasn't frozen," Harry pointed out with an arched brow.

"It's metaphorical," the blonde said.

"And if anyone's Bell it'd be Hermione. She's the very personification of the heroin, don't you think?"

"I'm not into females," the blonde said flatly.

"Isn't Beauty and the Beast a muggle story though? Why's Skeeter comparing us to them?"

"Beauty and the Beast is a wizard story as well, but we lean more towards the Brothers Grim version rather than Disney's. I bet my mother paid Skeeter to write this," the blonde said with disdain before tossing the paper onto the table by the couch. "It's one of the few stories wizards and muggles can relate to. But my mother likes it because it warns us about what happens when muggles discover us or anything they perceive as abnormal."

"So let me get this straight," Harry said as he looked down at the blonde with piercing green eyes. "You know about Walt Disney?

Scoffing at his boyfriend's choice of focus, Draco merely pointed to the wall opposite them. When Harry turned his head, Draco could only imagine the widened gaze and slacked jaw as Harry's eyes fell upon a shelf that held a massive collection of videos the blonde had amassed over the years.

True enough, as Harry turned back to him, the very look Draco had imagined was currently still of his boyfriend's face. The next thing he knew, Harry had jumped from the blonde's lap and rushed over to the shelf, looking through all of the DVDs there.

"How have I never noticed this before?" Harry asked in awe as he trailed his fingers along the spin of one of the movies.

"Well we were otherwise occupied," Draco drawled. "If you had noticed them earlier, I would have doubted my abilities to keep your attention solely on myself," he said with a smirk as Harry turned to him.

Rolling his eyes at the blonde, Harry turned back to the DVDs before chuckling. "You have the Star Wars trilogy," he pointed out, as if the blonde wasn't aware of what he owned in his own collection, "and Blade," he continued, turning to the blonde with a questioning arch of his brow. But all he got in return was a shrug from the blonde's shoulder. "You have a lot of Disney movies here," Harry suddenly noted.

"I prefer fantasy to anything else. I like to see how Muggles perceive us. But, they lack the skill to pull off a proper fantasy film unless it's cartoon, so I tend to gravitate more towards those."

"I guess…," Harry began to chuckle, "that explains why you have … Kiki's Delivery Service."

"Hey, don't disregard Miyazaki," Draco said as he finally got up from the couch. "He's very imaginative for a Muggle and his work is continuously intriguing," he said as he picked up the movie. "He's kind of like Japan's version of Disney."

"Of course he is," Harry smiled, unable to hide his mirth at the blonde's enthusiasm.

"They even partnered together," the blonde continued, trying to get his point across.

"I see," Harry nodded before biting his lip.

A frown marred the blonde's face as he regarded the wizard before him. "Have you even seen one of his movies?"

"Watching the tele wasn't exactly a thing I did leisurely growing up," the Auror shrugged. "The Dursley's didn't like me in the living room unless I was cleaning it and the Weasley's don't own one."

"Then let me be your guide to the world of fantasy films," Draco said, opening up the case before extracting the disc inside.

After turning on the tele that sat a few feet from them, Draco placed the DVD inside the rectangular box below before grabbing both the controller and Harry's hand and heading back over to the couch.

After getting comfortable, with their arms wrapped around each other, Draco pressed play. As he skipped through the movie previews, straight towards the first scene of the movie, Harry looked up at him with a small smile on his lips. There were still so many things he didn't know about the wizard next to him, but he was certain that he would enjoy discovering each one of them.

Harry leaned into the blonde, pecking him on the cheek, and before he realized what he was saying, three little words tumbled from his lips.

End of Chapter: Three Little Words