Friday that week the Aurors in charge of processing Malfoy Manor called Draco in to the Ministry to discuss exactly what they had done to his house, including which objects were removed for evidence purposes and which were confiscated for being illegal. They'd taken four months, because the Manor itself was very large and the grounds surrounding it were huge. There was more to be done, but what was left was movable and was already in Auror custody. That meant that they were ready to return the Malfoy estate to Draco.

They met in one of the interview rooms, with scrolls of parchment all over the table, detailing every aspect of the investigation. Harry was there, standing to the side in support of Draco, but he was not part of this investigation. Auror Katz was the lead and as such, he did most of the talking. Katz worked under Lieutenant Stevenson, who was also there serving in a supervisory role; for the most part, Stevenson sat back and let Katz do the talking. Katz' junior partner Cisternino was there too, along with their entry level assistant, Auror Hewitt. Together, Aurors Katz, Cisternino, and Hewitt made up the team that had been assigned to Malfoy Manor fulltime.

When Katz talked, he turned frequently to Cisternino for confirmation, which the other Auror gave with numerous nods. And as Katz referred to one item or another, Hewitt produced the correct accompanying documentation from the table. Draco took the documents as they were offered and attempted to look through the scrolls and keep track of everything that was being said. But unlike the Aurors, he hadn't spent the summer nose deep in the matter and there was a lot of material to cover. But at least Draco was getting his home back, for which he was glad.

"It's about time," Draco said when the Aurors finished their presentation, "but you did remove all of the Dark Lord's things from the underground bunker on the north side of the property, correct? You failed to mention them and just because they are on my family's property, does not mean we should be responsible for them. I don't want the task falling to my father and then you arresting him for being in possession of any of it, whatever there may be." With as thorough as the team of Aurors was being, he thought it odd that they failed to mention something so important.

The moment it was out of Draco's mouth, Hewitt was scrambling for a clean scroll of parchment and inking his quill. It was his job to record any new information revealed in this meeting. Only he wasn't prepared for such, because he thought the job was done and all of the information had already been squeezed out. Now he rushed to catch up and record every word.

"What underground bunker on the north side of the property?" Auror Katz asked in response. He was the lead Auror when it came to Malfoy Manor and if he didn't know, then the lot of them didn't.

"You don't know about the bunker? What kind of Aurors are you?" Draco's brows furrowed in ridicule and his face shifted into his trademark scowl. "Here, give me the map," he drawled irritated, as he plucked the map of the property out of Hewitt's outstretched hand.

The Manor house was in the southeast corner of the property, after the large front lawn, down the long drive. The gardens were on the west side of the house. Surrounding that was forest on every side. Further to the west, the lake and lake house were on the far western side. But there was nothing but acre upon acre of forest to the north, except for the hidden underground bunker.

Draco circled the location and added, "It's right there. The northern most end is at a higher elevation than the surrounding grounds and the bedrock is exposed in places. A giant Douglas fir tree rises a good ten feet above the surrounding forest above the secret entrance. At the base of the tree is a large boulder covered in lichen. The side of the boulder abutting the tree has a large circular entrance carved into the side. The piece of stone taken out of the center was put back in place and used to cover the hole, making it difficult to locate. When I was a child, it was sealed in place with lichen and magic so tightly that I couldn't budge it; I couldn't even see it. Since its recent use, there should be some sign of disturbance. I don't know what spells and protections are on the place, but that is your job, not mine."

As Draco spoke, Hewitt scribbled away, recording it all.

"What exactly is in there?" Lieutenant Stevenson asked.

Draco shrugged and said, "All of the Dark Lord's personal effects. His bed, his clothes, his books, his stash of his favorite wine, things like that. It's not secure enough that he would leave his valuables there, but that was where he lived when he lived with us."

"Which was?" Stevenson asked.

"He lived there before I was born and came back after he regained his body, whenever it pleased him. That was where Pettigrew left his wand for him after his defeat by the Potters and where all of his inner circle would drop things off for him. I believe there is an outer chamber the inner circle of Death Eaters had access to and an inner chamber that only the Dark Lord could penetrate," Draco explained.

Katz lifted up his left hand to signal that he needed a moment. He was deep in thought, as he turned his attention to Hewitt's notes. The pointer finger of his other hand skimmed along half an inch above the parchment, careful not to smear the wet ink. Finally, he collected his thoughts enough to ask, "And what was it you were saying about the bedrock? What does that have to do with the bunker?"

"It's easier to tunnel into. The rest of the grounds are covered with foot after foot of topsoil and leaf litter from the trees. You can't tunnel into it. But on the northern end, especially right where the tallest bloody tree in the entire county is, the soil is minimal and the bedrock is right there at the surface. How in Salazar's name do you think that tree stays up with no soil for its roots? The thing is growing in magic, anchored into the bedrock! How did your sorry arses miss it? I found the thing on a broom when I was six! You can literally feel the magic seeping out of the place and dark magic to boot, not just the magic of the tree."

"So the bunker was tunneled out of the bedrock, then?" Katz asked for clarification, ignoring the insults.

Draco nodded. "Well I have never been inside. I assume it is sort of like an underground cave, but I cannot be certain."

"Do you have any idea how far down the bunker is? It might be so far underground that it will be difficult to break into," Katz said.

"No idea. I don't care if you have to blow up the entire northern end of the forest to uncover it. Destroy the entire bunker if you have to, but I don't want any of his stuff left on my property," Draco replied.

The Aurors weren't about to leave something like that unprocessed, which meant that Katz readily agreed to take care of it. They would have started there, if they had known it existed. "Of course. Why didn't you tell us about this before?" he asked.

"I thought you knew." Draco's brows narrowed accusingly. "What kind of Aurors would miss the Dark Lord's house? Where did you think he slept? In the trees with his snake? If you couldn't find it, why didn't you ask me?"

Draco had been in contact with Katz and Cisternino through owls for months already. In the beginning the inquiries and missives were frequent and urgent, but as of late, they had pretty well exhausted Draco's knowledge of the events of the war. The letters had dropped down to an average of no more than one per week, with some weeks in between when he didn't receive anything at all.

"We thought he stayed in the main house," Cisternino said.

"Now that we know otherwise, we will get right on processing the bunker," Katz replied.

"Understandably, there will be a delay with releasing Malfoy Manor to you," Lieutenant Stevenson added.

"Why? The Manor and the bunker are on opposite sides of the property. You have cleared the house, why can I not go home?"

"Draco," Harry said, stepping into the discussion for the first time. Up until then he'd been standing against the wall listening, letting Draco handle things for himself. "It isn't safe. There could be something really dangerous in the bunker. What if it's booby trapped and the place explodes when they try to enter? If you and Leo are at the Manor and the tremor rocks the foundation? You could be hurt."

"Leo could be hurt," Draco said nodding. He was more concerned about his precious baby than his own welfare. If it was just him, he'd go home and risk it, but he wouldn't take the chance when it came to Leo.

"Exactly. You can stay with your aunt a few more days while Katz sorts this out, can't you?" Harry asked.

"I guess," Draco replied reluctantly. He wanted to go home already. Staying on the foldout bed at his aunt's wasn't comfortable, nor was it home. Yesterday he'd gone so far as to send owls to all of his friends and family, to find out who had survived the war and which of them were still willing to talk to him. He was seriously considering asking Blaise or Theo if they would let him and Leo stay for a few nights, especially now that he knew there was another delay with the Manor. However, Leo's safety was his number one concern, which meant making sure his friends weren't mad at him and didn't have a problem with the fact that he had Harry's baby. Dislike of Leo was why he was extra worried about asking his extended family to take him in, since they had all lost family in the war and were Dark Lord supporters.

"How much longer is this expected to take?" Harry asked Katz.

"There is no telling until we go out there and see what we are dealing with," Katz answered. "It would be easier if we knew what protections were on the place or had access to the outer chamber. Lucius Malfoy would have access, wouldn't he?"

Draco confirmed that his father did indeed have access. The only problem with that was that so far Lucius had not been responding to Auror inquiries. The head of the Malfoy family was a smart wizard who knew the value of his information and thus was not willing to disclose a peep of it without a plea bargain firmly in place. When Draco had been engaged to Dane, there was a plea bargain on the table that Lucius had agreed to. The deal was to be signed upon Lucius' return to the country and then the wizard would come in to speak with the Aurors. What exactly was going on with the deal now that the engagement had been canceled and the courting put on hold, was still up in the air.

Whatever the case with his father, it was not something Draco could help with and he had to get back to Leo. Thus the meeting ended, Katz, Stevenson, and Cisternino went off to speak to Minister Shacklebolt and Head Auror Robards, Harry went back to work, and Draco returned to Dromeda's. Hewitt was left there to clean up and organize the parchment scrolls.

Late Sunday night, just two days later, Harry received a message from Dromeda as he was climbing into bed.

-Harry

Draco is driving me crazy. My house is too small for the four of us. It is like when I was little and living with my parents and sisters all over again. You need to have the Manor released immediately.

-Love, Dromeda Tonks

Things were obviously strained with the given situation and that was with Draco and Leo gone half the time: they'd spent most of the previous two days with Harry at Grimmauld Place. They'd spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in France. Draco spent Friday morning at the Ministry and Harry knew that Draco and Leo had gone out to visit some of Draco's friends afterwards. Draco was clearly doing his best to be at Dromeda's as little as possible. It would only get worse the more they stayed there.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much more Harry could do with regards to speeding things along, although he agreed that Draco needed the Manor back ASAP. He missed having Draco and Leo around every night when he got home. They were no longer there brightening his mealtimes or cheering him up after a long day of work. Now he had to come home to a dreary house, change out of his Auror robes, and then go to Dromeda's to see his family. He was over at Dromeda's almost every night, excepting Wednesday night and the weekend, when Draco had been with him.

The weekend had been perfect, up until bedtime, when Draco and Leo had returned to Dromeda's. Harry knew moving them into Malfoy Manor wouldn't put things back the way they had been, but it was a start. It would mean they were close enough to floo over whenever they wanted and no longer someone else's guests. Plus, it would earn him bonus points with Draco's parents and given that Lucius wasn't at all fond of him, he needed all of the points he could get.

Thus Harry went in to work Monday determined to put pressure on his boss and the Aurors working the case. The only thing left was cracking open that bunker. Head Auror Robards had declared Friday that it needed to be handled as soon as possible, because there was no telling what sort of evidence they would find inside, but it was reasonably certain it would be a treasure trove of Voldemort paraphernalia. Thus Robards had put a task force of over a dozen Aurors on the project the moment he'd heard about the bunker. Unfortunately, a dozen Aurors over the weekend were not as effective as a modicum of inside information. Information Lucius Malfoy had.

For once Harry was without his sidekick as he headed in to Auror headquarters. Ron took that Monday off, in order to see Hermione and Ginny off on the Hogwarts Express. Harry would've liked to see Hermione off, but it was still too soon for him to be comfortable on the same train platform as Ginny. And that was not even mentioning the reporters.

Everyone seemed to want to know if Harry had been cheating on Ginny with Draco, or if Ginny had been cheating on Harry with Ellard. Skeeter wrote an article speculating that Harry and Ginny's relationship had been a ruse from the beginning, to cover up the fact that Harry was a flaming pouf. Dumbledore had allegedly encouraged Harry to hide his sexuality, just as the late headmaster himself had. Harry could have come forward and told the wizarding world the truth regarding his bisexuality, but he didn't particularly care and was much more concerned about avoiding the issue and the media altogether. The way he saw it, it was none of their business. If Draco wanted to know, then that was one thing, but everyone else could fuck off when it came to the details of his personal life.

Harry had been dodging reporters ever since he gave that last interview proclaiming his love for Draco. It wasn't enough to put it out there, because every single bloody fucking reporter thought that they had a right to an exclusive too. He'd been dodging the reporters before then too, after the breakup with Ginny. Truthfully, he'd been dodging them all summer, since he defeated Voldemort. He'd spent the better part of four months looking over his back whenever he was in public, for fear that the reporters, photographers, or the groupies were following. Given that he worked at the Ministry and Auror training took him all over the place, he was in public a lot. Irrespective of that fact, platform Nine and Three-Quarters was far too public a place to risk a scene with Ginny, for Harry's tastes, so he didn't go.

Instead Harry reported to work as usual, intent on pushing the Malfoy Manor situation. As it turned out, he needn't bother, because he received a message to report to the Minister's Office upon his arrival. He checked in with his direct supervisor, before making his way to Kingsley's office.

Kingsley's secretary told Harry to go right on in when she looked up from her pile of scrolls and saw that it was him. Harry nodded and muttered a quick, "Thank you," before letting himself into the Minister's office.

Kingsley was on his knees with his head in his fireplace, giving orders to someone regarding something or another. When he heard Harry enter, he looked over his shoulder, before wrapping up his fire-call. He was soon straightening his tall frame and dusting the soot off of his robes. "Harry! Good to see you!" he exclaimed, giving Harry a one-armed manly hug.

Sighing in relief, Harry smiled and returned the manly one-armed hug. He'd been worried that the relationship between him and Draco and the fact that he'd driven a wedge between Draco and Kingsley's nephew Dane, would make things awkward between him and the Minister. Apparently, that was not the case. "Kingsley, good to see you too," he returned.

"I suppose you know why I've called you in here. The Malfoy estate; I cannot believe my team of nitwits failed to find Voldemort's bedroom when they have been sitting on it for the past four months. I owe young Draco for pointing that out before the oversight made it into the papers. I can just imagine the headlines now: Incompetent Minister Lets He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Even-In-Death's Lair Slip Out Of His Hands Unknowingly."

Harry chuckled appreciatively. They both had front page headlines to worry about with every move they made.

"Draco Malfoy has been helping the Aurors out with leads for months now, which is something that cannot be said for Lucius Malfoy," Kingsley continued. "The youngest Malfoy seems to be a better man than I gave him credit for. Not that I'm not relieved that he and Dane are cooling things off; believe you me, I was not looking forward to being in-laws with Lucius."

"So you're okay with it then? That I'm the reason Draco called off the engagement?" Harry asked.

"Definitely." Kingsley's smile was wide, his white teeth reflecting the artificial sun coming in from the large fake window. "I wasn't about to tell Dane who he could or could not marry, but between you and me, I think the boy was thinking with his groin rather than his brain with that one. I probably oughtn't to mention that to you though, since you are like minded in that regard. I wouldn't want you changing your mind now and leaving me having Christmas dinner with the entire Malfoy family every year. Things are different for you though; you share a child and make a smashing couple. I'm sure you'll have a great time at all those family gatherings with Narcissa and Lucius…" Kingsley stopped himself there, took stock of what he'd just said, shook his head, and corrected, "I should probably stop myself there. I seem to be digging myself in deeper into this hole."

"You don't much care for Lucius, I take it," Harry observed.

"No, I don't. That is no reason to object to Draco Malfoy though; he at least, seems to have a conscience."

"Are you going to lock Lucius up when he returns? I mean, I know Draco has talked with him and that he plans on coming back just as soon as the Manor is turned over, but I don't know what's up with the plea bargain you offered him."

Here Kingsley interrupted Harry, by interjecting, "About that: we need him. That is why I sent word for you to report to me first thing this morning. All of the Auror Department's resources over the past three days have been directed towards getting into Voldemort's lair. We cannot break through; we can barely detect it, for Merlin's sake! If it weren't for Draco describing exactly where it is, we wouldn't have ever found it. He must be unusually sensitive to magical signatures, that one. At the very least, he seems to be tuned into Voldemort's signature."

Harry nodded, remembering what Hermione had said in Paris about Draco being drawn to the magic in the painting. Draco was one of the very few people who had ever looked straight into Harry with his invisibility cloak on too. The wizard had even stunned him while invisible. Sure it sucked majorly at the time, especially given the broken nose that followed, but it still said something about Draco's innate ability to sense magic. Dumbledore was the only other wizard who Harry had known to sense magic so strongly.

"I wouldn't have agreed to Dane's hair-brained idea to give Malfoy Senior a plea deal, especially not one where he gets off free and clear, if it weren't for the lack of evidence on the git. As far as we can tell, he was released from Azkaban and was punished by not being allowed to join in the mayhem with the rest of the naughty little Death-Eaters. Voldemort thought it a punishment, but in reality it was a huge favor, now that we've won the war. Plus he's lawyered up to the hilt and he protected your son during the war. The Malfoys, all three of them, claim Lucius was involved with Draco's decision to release you and your friends on Easter and give you the location of a Horcrux. I'm not entirely convinced it went down like that—personally I think Draco acted alone and once you were gone, he told his parents—but, it doesn't matter, because either way, Lucius ferried your son into a pre-planned impenetrable safe house that night. Lucius did it, not Draco or Narcissa; we know this because Lucius is the only one of the three who can drive a car. No Minister for Magic could see the Savior of the Savior's son off to Azkaban and hope to win reelection come voting day."

Putting it that way, that Draco had saved Harry and then Lucius had saved Draco and Leo that Easter night, made Harry's respect for Lucius grow. He'd been assuming Draco and maybe Narcissa were primarily responsible for the lot of them going into hiding and Leo being kept safe. But Lucius was the head of the family and ultimately made the decisions. Leading the family through a successful escape seemed to fit the wizard. If nothing else, Lucius was devoted to his family, even when that included Harrys' son.

Now that Harry knew what was involved with transporting a baby out of the country, he began to wonder just how it was done. They were operating in secret, so portkey travel was out. Leo was too little to apparate with. Floo travel was blocked at the English Channel. And Draco didn't do boats well. That left driving a car as the only option, which fit with Kingsley's statement. Draco still didn't know how to drive and he'd probably recounted the escape to Dane, who had informed Kingsley. They probably didn't drive the entire way, flooing once they were on the continent, but still, there was no way Draco could have pulled it off without his parents. Lucius was critical and that meant Harry owed the man a certain degree of respect and gratitude.

"So you are still willing to let him go then?" Harry asked hopefully. If this issue with Draco's father could just work itself out, then he would be clear to marry Draco. Lucius might still dislike him, but if he could offer the same plea deal Dane did, it would go a long way to ingratiating himself to the wizard. After all, that was part of what Lucius had tried to force him into agreeing to with the first courting contract.

"Yes, provided he helps us get into that bunker. The same arrangement with him having to testify and spill the beans on everything he witnessed still applies, but in addition to that, we need his help with this situation. If he returns immediately and breaks those enchantments for us, then I'll sign the contract and guarantee him amnesty for his past crimes. I sent off an owl yesterday with the message, but we really cannot afford to wait around on this one. Dane tells me Malfoy Senior always has a solicitor examine all communications and typically takes on the order of a full week to respond. We cannot wait a week. We need Malfoy back in the country today and that is where you come in, Harry."

"Let me guess; you want me to have Draco call his dad back," Harry guessed.

"One better, I want you to travel to Austria with this new plea bargain in hand and get him to sign it. I've already signed it, so all it needs is his signature, his lawyer's signature, and that of a Ministry witness, which is you. The three of you sign this scroll and bring him back to me by the end of the day and I will owe you big time. You want a law making it illegal for reporters to pester you, you got it. You want extra time off for your honeymoon with Draco Malfoy, I can have that arranged. You want a monetary bonus, I can do that too."

"There is one thing I would like," Harry hedged.

"And what is that?"

"Severus Snape to be posthumously awarded an Order or Merlin, First Class, for saving my life all of those times. And I want a holiday in his honor; his birthday perhaps." Snape was one of the many people Harry had never gotten a chance to repay. He hadn't even gotten a chance to properly thank the wizard. On top of that, he had spent all that time thinking the worst of the double-agent, when the one person Snape was always loyal to was his mother. Part of it was Snape's fault for treating him so poorly, but that part was overshadowed by the fact that Snape was the martyr of the final battle. When it came to the end, it was Snape's deceit that allowed Harry the victory.

Snape was still the unsung hero. Harry had done his best to make the invaluable role the wizard had played known; it was one of the few things he didn't mind talking to reporters about. But Snape was dead and there was not much that could be done to honor the dead, besides the funeral, which was maxed in attendance, primarily because everyone knew that it was the one funeral where Harry Potter himself was giving a eulogy. A funeral and a eulogy didn't seem sufficient to repay not just the ending of a life, but an entire adult life spent making reparations for a deadly mistake made in youth.

"Deal." Kingsley stretched out his hand and they shook on it.

Kingsley summoned a file folder out of one of his many filing cabinets, leafed through the papers and declared, "The ninth of January is hereby a national holiday, in honor of Severus Snape's birth. You can count on having the day off, unless you agree to participate in the parade. The Order of Merlin might take a bit of time, but I will get to work on it straight away while you take care of the Lucius Malfoy situation."

Happy with the exchange, Harry gathered the scroll and left. One way or another, he was going to get Draco's father back in the country ASAP.

Author's Note:

I didn't get to dinner with the Weasleys, so that and the rest of the Lucius drama will be next for sure. Besides that, I think they've settled most of their issues, so I'm thinking of jumping ahead in the timeline; you know, sort of go through the next couple months all in one or two chapters, until the wedding or something like that.

There is one very important thing I need to figure out before I can end the story: what should Harry and Draco's daughter be named? The first name should be some form of Harry's mother's name, Lily, Lilith, or Lilian, depending on the middle name. I'm leaning towards Malfoy Potter for the last name, but I've no idea for the middle name. I would like it to have a Malfoy or Black ring to it, so that Draco's family is also represented. I'm leaning against a star or constellation name, just because I've already done that so many times in my other stories. But I still want it to be the type of ancient or odd name the purebloods prefer. Any ideas?