* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 4: The Grand Homecoming

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Hermione Granger asked her fiancé with a very typical, very sceptical look.

Draco looked at her incredulously from his spot behind a large wooden coat stand, "What could be bad about it?"

"Well," Daphne whispered from halfway up the stairs, "Theo and Sadie are newlyweds, and they are coming home to their new house for the very first time. Do you really think they want all of us here?"

"Who else would give them the grand tour?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure they would find everything themselves," Lilly pointed out.

"The girls have a point, Harry," Neville admitted, "What if they don't want a surprise party?"

"Shh!" Harry cut in as they heard noises outside. Everyone shrunk back into their hiding places, and the lights went out in the corridor, which left them all in darkness.

The door opened slowly, and two people stepped into the hallway. They were giggling and whispering when the lights went on, and their friends all jumped out with shouts of, "WELCOME HOME!"

Sadie and Theo jumped apart from what had clearly been a compromising position and looked like deers caught in the headlights as a massive 'WELCOME HOME' banner fell from up high, and confetti rained down on them from above.

Daphne, Hermione and Lilly shared knowing looks while Neville shook his head in exasperation.

"Uh…" Sadie floundered as her cheeks transitioned from pink to scarlet.

"Seriously?" Theo asked his friends in disbelief.

"What?" Draco asked cluelessly, "We've missed you guys, so we threw you a surprise welcome home party! You didn't have other plans, did you?"

"Uh yeah!" Theo said irritably, "I had plans to christen my new house by ravaging my new wife in every-"

"Theo!" Sadie shrieked before he could go any further.

Daphne sniggered and said under her breath in a sing-song voice, "Told you this was a bad idea."

Draco looked mildly offended, but Harry at least had the gall to look sheepish and guilty, "Right…we just thought you might have wanted to you know…catch up…with you being gone for two weeks and all."

"Oh, of course, we do, Harry," Sadie said gently as she realised Theo had kind of hurt Harry's feelings, "And it was really sweet of you to do this. We just weren't expecting it."

"Yeah, we were expecting to find the biggest bedroom in this place and-"

"-Sleep!" Sadie cut in before Theo could finish, "Because we're really tired, you know, with the apparition sickness."

"Right," Harry said with a nod, "Yeah, of course. We'll just head off and let you guys get some sleep then."

"We can catch up tomorrow," Sadie suggested, "You could all come around for lunch and tell us all about the renovation of the house. I'm sure we won't be able to find all of its secrets before noon."

"That's a wonderful idea, Sadie," Hermione said with a smile, "Let's all go home and get a good nights sleep, then catch up over lunch tomorrow."

"Funny, it's almost like you suggested we do lunch tomorrow instead of throwing a surprise party tonight," Lilly said sarcastically.

Daphne piped up, "I'd just like to say that I concurred with the lunch plan."

Sadie smiled slightly and looked at Neville, "What about you, Neville? You've been fairly quiet."

"I went along with the surprise party plan," Neville admitted sheepishly, "But I realised before those two idiots did that it was a bad idea."

"Hey!"

"Oi!"

Sadie smiled in amusement, "We appreciate the thought if that helps."

Neville gave her a sheepish nod and said, "Come on, guys, let's head home."

Harry nodded as he dragged himself towards the door, "Yeah, sorry for barging in on your night."

Draco scoffed as he brushed past Theo, "It's not like they've had two weeks to shag on beaches or anything. You would have thought he missed us at least a little bit but clearly not."

Sadie held her hand up against her face and shook her head in amusement at Hermione, Daphne and Lilly, "Is he really jealous right now?"

"Yeah," Hermione said with a half-smile, "I think I'm going to have to deal with that tonight…."

Theo glanced guiltily over his shoulder, but Harry, Draco and Neville had already left through the front door, "Do you think I need to apologise to him tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'm sure Hermione will have cooled him off by then," Lilly smirked, "Sorry for cock-blocking you, Theo."

Theo snorted in amusement, "For that comment, I forgive you."

"I'm a terrible best friend," Daphne admitted as she hugged Sadie, "I should have stopped them."

Sadie shook her head, "Don't worry; I know what those two are like when they get an idea in their heads."

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it. Have a good night, you two," she added with a wink as she, Hermione and Lilly vacated the Nott's new house.

Sadie sighed as she glanced at Theo, "That's totally killed the mood, hasn't it?"

"I bet I can bring it back," Theo said with a mischievous glint in his eye as he picked his new wife up and carried her up the narrow staircase towards the master bedroom.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Do you think we should get up and explore our new house?" Sadie asked Theo as she propped herself up on her elbow in their new bedroom.

"I've already established that I like the bedroom," Theo said as he shot her a grin.

"And that luxurious ensuite bathroom with the jacuzzi is pretty nice," Sadie admitted with a smile, "But there's a whole house to explore, Theo! I don't want to spend the whole morning lying in bed when we could be investigating it!"

Theo smiled fondly at her, "Alright then, but I refuse to put on any clothes apart from a dressing gown before 11 am. Deal?"

"Deal!" Sadie grinned as she jumped out of bed and raked in their suitcases. She threw her own dressing gown on and held his out for him, "Come on! Let's explore!"

Theo found her child-like excitement quite endearing, so he got out of bed, threw on his dressing gown and slipped on his slippers. Sadie had already dashed out into the hallway, so he followed her out and noticed for the first time how clean looking it was. The carpets were beige, and the walls were white. It was kitted out with electricity rather than with gas lights like most old wizarding houses. All of the light fittings and accessories were silver, "Thank Salazar they didn't make everything gold like they did in Potter Manor."

Sadie laughed, "Draco was one of the main people involved in redecorating. Do you really think he would have let Harry and Neville Gryffindor-ise our house?"

"No," Theo admitted with a guilty look, "I need to apologise to him later, don't I?"

Sadie just laughed again, "I don't think you did anything wrong, but you two do kind of act like an old married couple."

"I know we're overly dramatic a lot of the time," Theo admitted as they headed upstairs, "But I do think I offended him for real this time."

"He probably just missed you while we were gone," Sadie reasoned, "And he will be coming to terms with the fact you're married now too. He probably feels like he's losing you or something. You know how touchy Draco is."

Theo nodded his agreement as they emerged onto the top floor of their new home. It was spread across four levels, five if you included the basement as a floor. The master bedroom was on the second floor; it was huge and had the most luxurious bathroom attached. Also on the second floor were two small double bedrooms and a small bathroom to serve them both. All three bedrooms were decked out with white and silver trappings; it was very neutral, which meant that Sadie and Theo could change the theme of any room if they so wished.

"Ooh, there are more bedrooms up here," Sadie said as she peeked her head into several doors, "There are four actually, and one of them has an ensuite."

"Is it as nice as ours?" Theo joked.

Sadie chuckled, "Of course not. It doesn't have a jacuzzi with mood lighting, or his and hers sinks."

"I thought the rose petals in the jacuzzi were a nice touch," Theo admitted, "Do you reckon that was Hermione's idea?"

"Well, I doubt it was Draco's," Sadie said with a slight frown, "Theo?"

"Yeah?" Theo said as he stepped out of the bathroom that he had been inspecting.

"There are stairs here," Sadie said. She looked up at a set of wooden stairs leading to a hatch, "But this should be the top floor."

"It's probably just the attic," Theo shrugged.

"Do you want to check?" Sadie asked a little cautiously.

Theo smiled at her, "Is that because you're too scared to go up?"

"Pretty much," Sadie admitted with a cute but sheepish smile.

"Alright," Theo said as he began to climb the stairs, "But as this was a muggle house, I'm sure there's nothing scary in the attic."

Sadie nodded but watched anxiously all the same. Theo reached the top of the stairs and unlocked the bolt on the hatch. He pushed it open and got a surprise when natural sunlight flooded the corridor. Theo took another couple of steps and looked out, "Woah, Sadie, you have got to come up here!" he said as he climbed the last few steps and disappeared from view.

Sadie followed him up and gasped in surprise when she saw where the hatch led. The third floor was the top floor, but their friends had managed to squeeze a little terraced roof garden into their high-rise London home.

"Oh, Merlin…" Sadie said. The roof terrace was small. You could fit a bench in or a small outdoor table and not much else. It had been cut into the attic space because on one side; they could see the roof of the house where the rest of the attic existed. The terrace itself wasn't particularly spectacular, but the views were what made it so special. A whitewashed wall surrounded the terrace on the three sides, where it was open to the air. It was high enough to make it safe but not so high that it obstructed the view of London that it gave them. The roof terrace in Potter Manor showed all of the highest landmarks in London from a distance, but Sadie and Theo were so much closer in their new home that they could see Big Ben, the Tower of London and St. Pauls Cathedral very clearly.

"This has got to be the best part of the house," Theo said as he leant on the wall and looked out as London awakened.

"It must have been magically modified," Sadie said as she looked around, "This is a terraced house. We shouldn't be able to see anything in either of those directions."

"Who knows what kind of clever spell they used," Theo said, "Does it really matter? The view is real. Look at the people walking on the street below. No spell can fake that."

Sadie nodded; she leant against the wall and looked out at London too, "I wonder if Draco and Hermione will put the same thing into their house when they move in."

Theo glanced to the right where Number 12 Grimmauld Place was situated. They could see that the house was attached to theirs, but it seemed to end where the third floor was. There were no higher floors or a roof.

"Maybe when they take all of the protective charms off it, we'll be able to see the rest of the house," Theo mused.

Sadie nodded thoughtfully and tore her gaze away from London, "Come on, we haven't even looked at the lower floors yet."

Theo smiled at his wife, "Alright, lead the way," he said as he followed her back into the house. He made sure to shut the hatch and re-bolt it before he jogged to catch up with Sadie. When he eventually caught up with her, she was on the first floor.

"Theo! You have got to see this room!"

Theo chuckled and followed her into a large reception room. He understood why she had wanted him to see it from the moment he walked in. The room was narrow and long, like many rooms in the old Georgian terraced house. A large archway in the centre split it somewhat, but it was essentially a drawing-room in two halves. At either end of the room, there were floor to ceiling windows that opened like doors. Upon closer inspection, Theo realised that both led to small balcony areas, which were just wide enough to fit a couple of chairs on.

"Isn't this just beautiful?" Sadie gushed.

The room was very elegant and grand. It had solid oak floorboards, and the walls had been painted in a pastel green colour that Theo was sure Sadie loved. He expected that had been Daphne's handiwork; the green worked well with the two large silver chandeliers that hung in the room. It was large, but it seemed cosy with two fireplaces to keep it warm. It had been kitted out with beige sofas and armchairs that had silver studs on their sides. There were lots of little touches that were really nice, like a beautiful fully stocked drinks cabinet.

"I take back what I said about the roof terrace being my favourite part of the house," Theo admitted sheepishly, "This is amazing."

"All it's missing is a family tree," Sadie said thoughtfully as she stepped through the archway into the smaller part of the room, "But I suppose we could do that ourselves-"

Theo followed her into the room to see why she had suddenly stopped speaking, "Oh," was all he could say as he took in the room. There were floor to ceiling windows leading to the second balconied area, and on the wall to their right was another fireplace. However, the wall to their left was what had caught both of their attentions. The pastel green wall contained a beautiful depiction of a silver tree at the heart of which were the names "Theodore and Sadie Nott". Sadie reached out and touched her name, and the tree came to life, branches stretched out and extended to reveal her entire family tree.

"Oh my…"

"It's just like the one in Nott Manor," Theo said as he touched his name. Sadie's branches of the tree drew themselves back in, and his family tree stretched out in front of them, "Draco designed it to be just like it…."

"With a nice little addition," Sadie said with a soft smile, "Look."

Theo followed her finger and smiled when he saw the name "Hermione Granger" on his family tree, "Yeah…this was all Draco."

"You probably do owe him an apology," Sadie admitted as she smiled sheepishly at her husband, "He was just excited to show you all of his hard work."

"I know," Theo said as he put his arm around Sadie, "And I was a horny, selfish bastard."

"He should be used to that by now," Sadie teased as she let Theo lead her out of the room.

Theo laughed at that and asked, "Is there anything else interesting up here?"

Sadie shook her head, "Not really, there are two bedrooms on the other side of the corridor and a small bathroom connecting them. I think you could probably fit double beds in them at a push, but they have singles in them at the moment."

Theo glanced inside one of the rooms, "Good size for a nursery, though or a kid's room."

Sadie looked up at him in surprise.

"What?" Theo asked when he saw the look on her face.

"You're thinking about that?" Sadie asked. The surprise on her face was clear.

Theo smirked, "You don't have to sound so surprised. I want everything that you want, Sadie; I can't wait for us to be surrounded by lots of hyperactive brats."

Sadie laughed, "I'm thrilled that you're thinking ahead, Theo, but you have three years of Auror training to get through first, and I have my Alchemy course to finish."

Theo smiled at her, "I know. I wasn't saying that we should do it right now, I promise. Do you want to check out what's downstairs?"

Sadie nodded, and the two of them made their way down onto the ground floor. The banner from the night before had been removed, and the confetti that had rained down on them was also gone.

Theo frowned, "They left before we went upstairs, didn't they?"

Sadie nodded slowly, "So who cleaned up?"

Theo got a knowing look in his eyes, "I have an idea…if I'm right, we'll find out soon enough."

Sadie's frown deepened as she followed him into one of the three doors leading off of the corridor. They had stepped into a large, grand dining room. The cornicing and fireplace seemed to be the original Georgian ones like they were in the drawing-room upstairs. There was a deep green rug laid out on the floor, and atop it was a lovely solid oak dining room table with matching chairs that seated ten people.

"There's another door there," Sadie noticed as she pointed towards the far end of the room. Behind them, a large window looked out onto the street and let in lots of light. However, at the other end of the long, thin room, there were two large glass double doors, and they were letting in a lot of light too.

The couple walked the length of the room and pushed the doors open. They immediately saw why so much light was streaming in. This was a sort of 'morning room'. The wall in front of them was made entirely of glass and looked out onto their small garden. This was a relatively small room; it had a little four-seater wicker table with matching, comfortable chairs. It was more of a place to dine casually rather than to entertain lots of guests like the formal dining room they had just walked through.

"There's access to the garden from here," Theo said. Sadie hadn't even noticed it, but one of the glass panels in front of them was actually a door. Theo placed his hand on the handle; it automatically recognised him and swung open. The two of them stepped out into the tiny garden onto a small patio-ed area. It fitted a table for four on it but no more. There were a few steps down into a grassy area of the garden where they would be able to fit a swing set or a wendy house if they so wished when they did decide to have children. It seemed reasonably private because it was surrounded by a high fence on all three sides.

"It's small but do we really need anything bigger?" Theo reasoned.

"And we could magically expand it if we wanted to," Sadie said as she stepped back into the house.

"That's true," Theo said as he accompanied her back through the dining room into the entrance hallway. They opened the door adjacent to that of the dining room and saw that it led to a cosy little downstairs sitting area. Three out of four walls were adorned with floor to ceiling bookcases, and the fourth wall featured another Georgian fireplace. There was also a door in that wall that led to a small but functional study. They discovered that the final room on the ground floor was a bathroom.

"I wonder if there are stairs to the basement like there are next door," Theo said as he walked the length of the corridor. Surely enough, there was a door at the end, and when opened, it revealed a staircase. The lights came on automatically as Theo led the way down the stairs into the house's basement floor. Like in Number 12, when you reached the bottom of the stairs, you found yourself in the kitchen. However, this kitchen was much nicer than the one next door.

It had the same oak floorboards as the rest of the house, but it was styled like a country kitchen. The cupboard doors were pastel green, and the worktops were made from solid wood. The kitchen also featured a beautiful range cooker, a porcelain sink and another fireplace. At the centre of the kitchen was a large oak table with two matching benches. Three doors were leading off the kitchen, Theo assumed that one of them had to lead to the pantry, but that begged the question; where did the other two go?

His question was answered before he even had to vocalise it because one of the doors, which was about a third smaller than the other two, opened.

"Oh!" Sadie gasped in surprise when she saw the door opening. She had assumed, after all, that they were home alone.

"Oh!" The startled house-elf squeaked as the poor thing jumped into the air, "Oh! Deely is sorry, Master and Mistress Nott! Deeley was not knowing that you was awake!"

"That's okay," Theo assured the house-elf, "My wife just got a surprise because she didn't know that we had a house-elf."

Deeley nodded. Her eyes were still very wide, "Mr Draco said it was a surprise, Master Nott."

"Draco hired you?" Theo asked as he felt guilty for the umpteenth time that morning.

Deeley nodded again, "Deeley knew Dobby, Master Nott."

"Oh," Theo realised, "Well, welcome to the Nott family then Deeley."

Deeley beamed broadly, "Master Nott must not worry about Deeley's work ethic. Deeley does not want clothes or holidays like Dobby."

Sadie smiled, "It would be okay if you did, Deeley."

"No, no," Deeley said with a shake of her head, "Deeley is a good house-elf Mistress Nott."

"Well, Deeley," Theo said, "I understand if it's too short notice but would you maybe be able to throw together some lunch for eight people? Nothing fancy, maybe just some soup and bread?"

Deeley nodded vigorously, "Of course, Master Nott. Deeley will get to work right away."

Theo smiled, "Thanks, Deeley. Oh, there's another thing. Can you tell me where that door leads?"

He pointed to the door on the other side of the kitchen. He assumed that the door next to Deeley's room led to the pantry.

Deeley nodded, "Oh yes, Master Nott! It's a special room. Mr Harry says you think about what you want it to become, and then it becomes it!"

Theo grinned and looked over at Sadie, "We have our own room of requirement!"

Sadie laughed at his enthusiasm, "What do you want it to be?"

"What do you want it to be?" He countered.

"I have a luxury bathroom upstairs, a garden and a roof terrace," Sadie said with a smile, "Not to mention a stunning drawing-room. This house already has everything that I could want or need; you pick what you want it to be."

Theo shot her a sheepish look, "I know it's copying Harry, but I would kind of like a man cave with a bar and a duelling platform. I'm not sure I want the swimming pool, though; I think that's a bit excessive."

Sadie laughed, "Well, make it into a man cave then," she said as she smiled fondly at her husband.

Theo put his hand on the door, shut his eyes tightly and envisioned the room in his head. After a few seconds, there was a click, and the door swung open of its own accord. He practically bounded into the room, and Sadie had to try very hard not to laugh as she followed him inside.

"This is amazing!"

The room had certainly become what Theo had wanted. It had a very cosy feeling despite the walls all being bare red stone. There were fireplaces at either end of the room, though, and it was lit by gaslighting, unlike the rest of the house.

Sadie supposed that the magic in the room would have interfered with the electricity. The room was huge because it took up half of the basement floor (and it had probably been expanded with magic as well). It had everything Theo had dreamed of; on one side, a small bar was surrounded by comfortable sofas and armchairs in the same emerald green as those in the Slytherin common room. In fact, the whole place had an air of the Slytherin common room; the duelling platform on the other side of the room was green and silver and looked far grander than the basic wooden one in Potter Manor.

"I need to think up a good apology before the others arrive," Theo admitted as he looked around his dream room, "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Sadie said. As she looked around the room for a clock, there was a pop, and a grand roman faced clock appeared on the wall in front of her.

Theo grinned, "That's neat."

"Yes," Sadie agreed, "But the fact it's half 11 isn't."

"Yeah," Theo agreed as he reluctantly walked towards the door, "We better get ready before the others arrive."

"Yes, we better," Sadie said with a knowing smile as she took his hand and dragged him out of his mini room of requirement.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA .

"Happy Homecoming!" Hermione said with a smile as she stepped into the hallway of 11 Grimmauld Place with a large box in her hands.

Sadie smiled at her, "Thanks. What's in the box?"

"Dessert," Hermione chirped, "I would say it's from Draco and I, but I made it this morning while Draco huffed, so…."

Sadie rolled her eyes, "Theo has spent the last half hour going over different apology strategies with me. Where is Draco?"

"Still huffing," Hermione said matter of factly, "He was having a duel with Harry, so I left them to it and said I would explain their lateness."

Sadie laughed, "Theo's still upstairs. Here, let me take that and pop it in the kitchen."

Hermione handed Sadie the cake, and the two women walked towards the basement stairs, "So, how was the honeymoon?"

"Amazing," Sadie admitted with a big smile, "Paris was romantic, and it was so hot as well."

"Yeah, I did notice that tan," Hermione said, "It's only going to get better, though. With you working in Egypt soon."

"Not all of the time," Sadie reminded her, "I'll only be in Egypt sometimes. I'm going to do as much of my studying as possible from the London Headquarters."

"I know, but still," Hermione said with a wave of her hands, "You're going to see much more sun than I will while I'm stuck in an office in the Ministry."

Sadie smiled sheepishly at her, "I suppose when you put it that way…" she said as she deposited the cake in the pantry, "Thank you so much for everything you guys did with the house, by the way, it's amazing."

Hermione smiled proudly, "Oh, don't thank me too much. Draco and Harry were the ones behind everything. They just roped me in to help with a couple of tricky spells."

"Let me guess, the roof terrace and the family tree?"

Hermione chuckled, "The roof terrace and the enchantments on the house that keep it hidden from muggles. The family tree was all Draco, and you have Daphne to thank for the interior design. The green with the silver touches was all her idea."

"I thought it might have been," Sadie admitted, "Where is she anyway? You and Draco are still living with her and Harry at the moment, aren't you?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, not much has changed since your wedding, to be honest. Susan did move out, though."

Sadie grinned, "Why do I get the feeling she moved into a certain Weasley's London bachelor pad?"

Hermione returned her friends grin, "Spot on. She was staying there all of the time, and after about the fifth walk of shame at 8 am, Harry told her just to move in with Percy already."

Sadie laughed, "And she did?"

"Yep, that very same day," Hermione said with an amused smile, "Draco and I want to move out but restoring Grimmauld Place isn't as easy as we thought it would be. Before we're allowed to move in officially, we need to get the place signed off by the Pest-Sub Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and by the Investigation Division of the DMLE. Nobody was allowed to go anywhere near it last week because it had to be fumigated after we had the Ministry guys come in to inspect it."

Sadie made a face, "What kind of stuff was living in there?"

"Doxys," Hermione said, and she began to tick things off with her fingers, "Rats, termites, oh, and there were some bundimun in the basement."

"Ah," Sadie grimaced, "So they got rid of everything?"

Hermione nodded, "They got rid of everything, but we still aren't allowed in. The Investigation Division is sending out a couple of guys tomorrow, and until they have made sure every nook and cranny of that house is free of dark magic, we don't get in."

Sadie bit her lip, "I'm sorry, that sucks."

Hermione shrugged, "It's a pain, but it means that the house will be safe by the time we get in. Merlin knows how long it will take to redecorate once they've turned the place upside down, though…they are getting rid of the house-elves heads on the wall and the portrait of Sirius's mother that screams profanities at everyone who enters, though, so we owe them a thank you for that."

Before Sadie could comment on that, the floo in the kitchen whirred to life. A disembodied voice said, "Floo Signature of…Daphne Greengrass."

"Allow access," Sadie replied.

Hermione looked impressed, "You installed a signature floo system overnight?"

"It took me fifteen minutes this morning," Sadie admitted, "Is it supposed to be hard?"

Hermione laughed out loud, "Well, considering that most people get the Department of Magical Transportation out to do it for them, I would be inclined to say yes."

Sadie looked vaguely impressed with herself as Daphne stepped out of the flames. She flicked her hair back out of the way then dusted herself down before beaming at Sadie, "Hey, Mrs Nott!"

Sadie chuckled and hugged her best friend, "Hey, look, I am so sorry about last night."

"Oh, don't be sorry," Daphne said with a snort, "You had every right to be angry at us. It was a terrible idea. Hermione, Lil and I tried to convince them of that beforehand, but you know how stubborn they are."

"Yeah," Sadie said sheepishly, "Theo feels guilty."

"Where is Theo?" Hermione asked.

"Upstairs, preparing his apology for Draco," Sadie said with a roll of her eyes.

"You're not serious?"

"I wish I wasn't serious," Sadie said as she shook her head.

Daphne sniggered, "Well, we should have plenty of time to discuss the saucy details about the honeymoon before the gruesome twosome arrive. When I left, they were trying to cut each other's heads off and disembowel each other, so I think the duel will go on for a bit."

"What did they fight about?" Sadie asked. She surveyed her friend in amusement as Daphne made herself at home and set the kettle onto the stove, and started to boil it.

"Oh, nothing," Daphne replied.

Hermione shook her head, "Draco just had lots of pent-up frustration because he felt spurned by Theo and Harry always likes the adrenaline rush of a good duel."

"There are other ways to give Harry an adrenaline rush, mind you," Daphne smirked.

"Which I don't need to hear about," Sadie said quickly, "As the one person in this room who hasn't slept with Harry Potter."

"I haven't slept with Harry Potter."

"Neither have I!"

Sadie spun around and saw the owners of the two voices. Neville and Lilly had arrived, clearly through the front door, and they had made their way downstairs without the others noticing.

"I definitely haven't slept with Harry Potter," Theo added as he stepped in behind the couple, "I have standards."

Daphne rolled her eyes, "I see two weeks of post-marriage bliss on the beaches of France hasn't changed you one bit, Theo."

"Oh, you wouldn't like me anymore if it had, Daph," Theo said as he nudged her in the ribs.

Daphne elbowed him out of the way, hard, and Sadie chuckled to herself, "No wonder you two never hooked up. You act like brother and sister most of the time."

"He's annoying enough to be my brother!"

"She's bratty enough to be my sister!"

"See?" Sadie said with an amused grin as her husband and her best friend continued to bicker.

Lilly shook her head in amusement and held out a bag, "We brought wine and firewhiskey. I picked the wine, and the firewhiskey is from Neville's secret stash that everyone knows about."

Sadie laughed, "Thanks very much. Hermione brought dessert, and our new house-elf is making soup for lunch. She's lovely; I really need to thank Draco for that one."

Hermione's nose went up in the air very slightly, "I was against that part of the present."

Neville cut in before a debate about the welfare of house-elves could begin, "We know you don't like house-elves, Hermione, but we can get into that another day, can't we? Everyone just wants to know what Theo and Sadie got up to on their honeymoon."

"We squeezed a lot in," Sadie said.

"Yes, we did," Theo said with a look on his face which was far too suggestive, "I definitely squeezed a lot-"

"Theo!"

Daphne punched Theo for good measure, but before a fight could break out, the floo whirred to life for the second time.

"Floo Signatures…Harry Potter and Draco Black," The disembodied voice announced.

"Allow access," Theo said.

"I guess the duel is over then," Hermione remarked as Harry stepped out of the fireplace, followed by Draco. Both of them looked to be in good health, so the duel clearly hadn't gotten too out of control.

"Did you win, baby?" Daphne asked absentmindedly as she took two more mugs out of the cupboard.

"You don't actually live here, you know," Theo muttered under his breath.

Daphne just smiled sweetly over at Theo in response to this comment.

"Of course I won. I'm Harry Potter," Harry said as he shot a smug grin in Draco's direction.

Draco rolled his eyes, "He only won because he used dirty tactics."

"That doesn't sound like you, mate," Neville said.

"Yeah, don't you finish like every duel with Expelliarmus just to prove a point?" Theo added.

"I don't want to get typecast," Harry joked as he leant against the kitchen worktop, "What do you guys think of the house, by the way?"

"We love it," Theo said honestly, "We had a brief explore this morning, and it's amazing. It's so much more than we expected."

"Well, that's what best friends do, isn't it?" Draco said, "They do nice things for their friends because they love them and appreciate them."

The dig was really obvious, and most of the occupants of the room rolled their eyes or shared amused looks with their other halves.

Theo, on the other hand, bit his lip, "I know, I'm really sorry for being a dick last night, alright? You just wanted to show off the house, and I was more interested in shagging my wife. I'm a horny shallow bastard, okay?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"And I missed you," Theo added, "France wasn't the same without you."

Harry shook his head in amusement as Draco and Theo hugged.

"I missed you too," Draco murmured, "And I'm glad you like the house."

Theo drew back from the hug and smiled, "I love the family tree. Adding Hermione onto it was a great touch."

Draco smiled, "Apology accepted, Theo."

Theo chuckled, "We liked the rose petals in the jacuzzi, by the way, that was a nice touch."

"I'm guessing that was your idea, Daph," Sadie piped up, "Or yours, Hermione."

Draco scoffed, "As if. It was my idea."

Theo looked at his friend in disbelief, "Seriously?"

"Obviously, I'm more romantic than those two combined," Draco remarked.

"Charming," Daphne said as she shot Hermione an amused look.

Theo looked a little emotional as he said, "Thanks, mate. We're gonna hug again, right? We need to hug it out."

Draco laughed, "Yeah, let's hug it out."

Theo tackled Draco to the floor with the strength of his make-up hug.

"Has all that's wrong with the world been put to rest now?" Daphne asked in amusement as she clicked her fingers and sent mugs of tea in every direction. They hovered in front of the drinker until that person plucked them from the air.

"You might want to re-think this whole career thing and just be a housewife," Theo teased, "Your domestic charms are better than Sadie's."

Sadie glared at her husband, and Daphne smacked him around the head, hard.

"My domestic charms are great because I've got a house full of people and a house-elf who has rules," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, "Kreacher seems to have developed a sense of independence since he met Winky at Hogwarts. He only cooks the main meals now, and he needs plenty of notice if visitors are coming over, so guess who makes breakfast and lunch every day?"

"I bake," Hermione said sheepishly, "I just can't cook very well…."

"That's an understatement," Draco snorted, "The last time you tried to cook, you nearly burnt down Potter Manor."

"I did not!" Hermione exclaimed, "The chicken was a bit chargrilled, but it was edible!"

"Edible?" Harry cut in, "It was burnt to a crisp!"

"You're going to have to learn to cook before you guys move in next door," Theo said in amusement, "Because I'm fairly sure you're not going to have a house-elf…."

"We certainly will not!" Hermione agreed.

"So who will have Draco's meals on the table for him when he gets home every night?" Theo joked.

"He can cook his own bloody meals, thank you very much!" Hermione said, and it was clear that she was starting to get riled up.

"I think we should head upstairs," Harry said quickly, "I'm feeling pretty hungry. Is anyone else feeling peckish?"

There was a general murmur of agreement, so the argument between Theo and Hermione was narrowly avoided. Theo led the way up the stairs onto the ground floor, and Draco fell into line with him, "I'm either going to have to cook my own meals or starve. I figured that out a while ago," he muttered under his breath.

"You should send her on that training course," Theo said with a wicked smirk, "The one for new wives that teaches them domestic spells."

"Do you honestly think I would survive doing that?" Draco retorted with a raised eyebrow, "She keeps talking about this muggle thing called a freezer and something called microwave meals. Apparently, she can cook them, so I guess that means we'll have to install electricity in Grimmauld Place."

Theo snorted, "You'll be living with Harry and Daph forever then."

"Tell me about it," Draco mumbled as they reached the dining room. The group of eight filed in and took their places around the table.

"So," Neville said conversationally, "What did you guys do in Paris?"

Sadie smiled broadly, "Well, we went to the Louvre, which was lovely until Theo got thrown out for trying to steal the Mona Lisa."

"I wasn't trying to steal it!" Theo cut in, "I saw this thing in a muggle movie where there was a secret message written on the back of the American Declaration of Independence, so I wanted to check if there was anything on the back of the Mona Lisa. I just lifted it off the wall, and all these alarms started going off."

"Yeah, probably because they thought you were trying to steal one of the most valuable paintings in the world," Neville said through his laughter.

"Muggles are so touchy," Theo said with a roll of his eyes.

Sadie shook her head in exasperation, "So that was on our first day. The next night we went to the Moulin Rouge, and Theo got thrown out of there too because he couldn't help himself when the music started playing, so he got up on stage and started doing the can-can with the female dancers."

Harry roared with laughter at that, "Really? They threw you out for that."

"The French are very touchy," Theo said with a wave of his hand, "It probably didn't help that I called them froggy bastards when they told me to get off of the stage."

Sadie looked at her husband with fond exasperation in her eyes, "So on the third day we went up the Eiffel Tower, and Theo snuck his broom up with him by shrinking it and putting it into his pocket. So there we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower having this lovely romantic moment when Theo climbs up on the railings because he wants to try flying off of the tower, in broad daylight with Muggles all around us!"

Draco shook his head, "Seriously, Theo?"

Theo did look a little sheepish about that one, at least. Sadie continued, "So the muggle police dragged him off and tried to arrest him, but when he started talking about how he had a magical broomstick and therefore could fly off of the Eiffel Tower, they released him to me and apologised profusely for the fact that I had just married someone who was clinically insane."

Lilly snickered at that, "Well, that part is right."

"Oi, I resent that Moon!"

"She's right, though!" Draco said. The others echoed their agreement, and the ground floor of Sadie and Theo's house was filled with the wonderful sound of laughter.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After lunch, the ladies disappeared into the drawing-room to discuss saucy honeymoon details and the like. The men, on the other hand, withdrew to Theo's man-cave. While their other halves drank wine and talked about their sex lives, the men drank firewhiskey and made small talk.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, mate," Neville said as he slapped Theo on the back, "We all got tattoos when you were on your honeymoon."

"Wizarding ones?" Theo asked in disbelief, "You got tattoos without me? All of you?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Draco said a little guiltily, "We had a couple of drinks, and we decided it would be a good idea to get matching tattoos."

Theo narrowed his eyes at him, "Matching? The three of you got matching tattoos without me? You fucking bastards!"

"We had a feeling you would react like this," Harry admitted, "So we have good news too."

"Forget the good news. I want to see your bloody tattoos!" Theo said irritably.

The three men lifted their sleeves up so that their tattoos could be seen. They were magical tattoos, but to muggles, they appeared to be stationary. That was a good thing, considering how angry Hermione's mother had been when she found out that they had tattoos. Had she known they were magical ones, she probably would have fainted.

"I got a Phoenix for my animagus form," Harry said as the mighty bird flapped its wings, "And because of the whole thing about a Phoenix rising from its ashes, it reminded me of the war, so I thought it was kind of symbolic."

"And I got a lion," Neville said, "As a symbol of Gryffindor. I mean, I know you all slag me off for it, but I reckon beheading that snake with the sword of Gryffindor was my proudest moment."

Theo nodded thoughtfully, "What did you get then, Draco? Please tell me it isn't a snake."

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you really think I'm keen to have another snake tattoed on my body? After everything I tried to get rid of the last one?"

Theo grimaced and grabbed his hand, "Yeah, that was stupid of me, sorry."

Draco nodded, "It was, but that hardly surprises me. Anyway, I got a dragon, partly because my name means dragon and because I'm fairly sure that my animagus will be some form of dragon. I read up on it, and your animagus form is a mixture of your own character and personality traits, so a dragon would make sense."

"Right," Theo said with narrowed eyes, "So what am I going to get?"

"Well, I suggest you wait about a month," Harry said as he handed Theo a small wooden box.

"Why a month?" Theo asked as he looked at the box tentatively, "And is this going to hurt me?"

"Not if you let me teach you properly," Harry said with an amused smile, "Go on, open it."

Theo opened the box and frowned, "A leaf? Oh! A mandrake leaf! Are you serious? Is the potion ready?"

"It will be in a month," Harry said matter of factly, "I gave Draco and Neville their leaves this morning, so now all you need to do is pop that in your mouth and keep it in there for the rest of the month, and you will be good to go."

"Awesome," Theo grinned as he popped the leaf into his mouth, "Sadie's gonna hate me for the next month, mind you."

"Well, you should have plenty to keep you occupied," Draco said, "Or have you not had time to read your post yet?"

Theo shook his head, "It's all lying on the kitchen table, but with you guys coming around and the new house, I haven't had time to open it. Why? Have the full N.E.W.T results come in yet?"

"Nah, they are due in next week sometime," Neville replied.

"We did all get our information packs for the Auror Training Selection Process, though," Harry said with a grin.

Theo sat up in his seat at that, "Did we? What did they say?" he asked eagerly.

"It's this weekend," Draco said, "And it's a weekend-long thing. We need to be there for 9 am on Saturday, and we'll be let out when we're finished on Sunday, whatever time that is."

"It's at the Auror Training Facility on the outskirts of London. You know the one we visited when we did our work placement?" Neville added.

Theo nodded, "Did they give us any more details about what we'll need to do?"

"Not much," Harry admitted, "They just told us when to be there, that we aren't allowed any contact with the outside world for the time that we're there, and then they gave us a summary of what we will be assessed on, but it just said something along the lines of, you will be tested to and beyond your physical and mental limits to ensure that only the best of the best succeed in getting through to the next stage."

"He's paraphrasing, but they really didn't tell us anything more than that," Draco added.

"And when we get our N.E.W.T's through next week, if we haven't gotten the right grade in any of the required subjects, we might as well just not show up," Neville said, "They said it in a politer way than that, but that was the impression I got."

Harry and Draco nodded their agreement. Theo blew out a breath of air and nearly spat out his mandrake leaf, which made the others snigger in amusement, "I was going to be profound there, but I can't really do that with a mandrake leaf hanging out my mouth," Theo joked as he shoved the leaf back in.

"How's this for profound? Anyone fancy opening another bottle of Ogden's?" Harry asked cheerfully.

Draco narrowed his eyes as he remembered his discussion with Daphne last week, but he kept quiet while Theo and Neville agreed readily.

* ~ TBC ~ *