Happy introductions! We are just getting started.

This work is only for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters nor do I make money from this work. Harry Potter and Co. belong to JK Rowling and WB.

Chapter 1

Harry Potter was arguing with Draco Malfoy across the table but he was also acutely aware of Hermione Granger taking a deep breath and rubbed a palm on her large belly. She was seven and a half months pregnant with her second child, hormonal as hell and as ruthless as ever.

'Harry, Draco,' she called. They both turned their heads in her direction, temporarily pausing their argument. With their irritating squabble out of the way, Hermione looked at each member assembled in turn.

'This meeting was called for because one,' she began pacing, ticking off on her fingers, 'to analyse our quarterly report, two, to inform you of the changes requested by our Board of Directors, and three, to show you all your shockingly abysmal performances in the last two quarters.' She locked eyes once with everyone in the room before continuing. 'Our Board of Directors are being pressured by the investors and I'm being hounded by the general public regarding the nature of articles being printed in our weekly magazine. I've already met with the authorities and even I agree that the quality has been poor at best and stupid at worst. The Prophet's faring better with all the shit it spews. I was warned at the meeting that we all stand the risk of losing our jobs if we don't show improvement by the end of the month. They asked for a change in all sections of the magazine, including mine. I hope you realise what a precarious position we are in. I don't fancy scouring the newspapers and attending job interviews or applying to a position in the Ministry and I'm sure neither do any of you sitting here.' She stopped, looked Harry dead in the eye and said, 'So get your arses moving and start collecting the information!'

And that was Harry's cue. Angry Hermione was dangerous. Cursing Hermione was ten times more so. He immediately stood up and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

''Mione, you need to relax. I can literally feel you stressing out over this from where I'm standing. You know as well as I do that the Prophet has always been a close competitor this time of the year with news of Quidditch and the graduates of Hogwarts. I'm sure we can sort it out. We are a capable bunch,' he said looking around.

'Capable or not, I want it sorted and I want results by tomorrow morning,' Hermione glared. 'We have only four chances to show that we can take on others in our field. I don't want any delays.'

'But tomorrow's Saturday!' Pansy Parkinson protested, stretching her legs out in front of her. 'I have a hot date tonight and I'm going to be busy for the next two days if things go well,' she sighed dreamily.

Harry facepalmed. Wrong move. Hermione was boiling now. 'You've already slept with more than half of London, Pansy. I want an update regarding how you plan to improve your column by tomorrow morning,' she stressed. 'I'm sure your date would understand if you couldn't turn up because of an emergency. Now, start moving!'

'But-' Pansy said again.

'Pansy Parkinson, I want a new idea within two hours,' Hermione continued glaring at her.

Pansy stood up irritatedly and started walking out. 'Geez, you aren't my boss, Granger! You wouldn't even have got the position without me. Calm your tits!' She left the room before Hermione had a chance to decrease the time further.

'I'll get going too,' Neville said, 'I already have a new concept. I've been developing it for a while now. I'll get back to you when I'm done with it.' He nodded his goodbyes and left for his desk.

Harry glanced around and saw that Hermione's assistant Caleb Holder was fiercely scribbling on his notepad. Poor guy had a hard time keeping up with the strict and competent Hermione in the beginning. But now after three years of working with her, he pretty much became Hermione. That left him, Rolf Scamander and Draco Malfoy in the room. They awkwardly shuffled out of their seats and exited before Hermione could unleash her fury. Fifteen minutes later, a memo zoomed into the open workspace cubicles. Draco grabbed it out of air and started reading it aloud.

'This is to inform that week offs have been reduced to Sundays only until further notice.'

The other staff groaned. One of them banged their head on the table.

'Is she always so insufferable?' someone asked.

'The next time you call her that, love,' Pansy said calmly, as if talking to a child, 'you are going to be short of one main organ of your body.'

That seemed to have single handedly driven sense and wisdom into everyone and they hurriedly went back to their work.

'I don't think I can ever get used to Pansy defending 'Mione even if I'm 80,' Harry whispered.

'Yeah? I was worried we'd have to prevent them from hexing each other when I first made introductions. I totally overlooked what a formidable team they could make,' Draco replied from the chair next to Harry's.

Harry chuckled and went back to his essay. Draco turned to edit his story. The Golden Trio, Draco and Pansy had become friends in their eighth year after Hermione protected Pansy from a hex fired by a younger year girl. Pansy had been facing a lot of antagonism and hostility for wanting to give up Harry to Voldemort and although Harry openly acknowledged that he was going to keep the past where it belonged, the bitter truth remained that Pansy's words had already been imprinted in the other's brains to such an extent that Harry doubted even a strong memory charm could remove them. He, Ron and Hermione also saw their fury and disgust for what they were- mad adoration and hero worship that more often than not bordered hazardously on unhealthy obsession. It was only after Draco was assaulted by a group of ten sixth years, though, that Harry decided to take them fully under his wing. Draco and Pansy strongly rejected it in the beginning out of fear, suspicion and pride but then quickly embraced it after the three saved them both from yet another attack. Partnering for Slughorn's assignment only strengthened their bond. Ever since, their friendship bloomed to astonishing proportions. All five had been neighbours in the same apartment complex for ten years now, moving out as soon as they completed their schooling, with Draco and Harry sharing a flat for the sake of saving money. Pansy had been with them in the beginning but later on purchased the empty one on the sixth floor when the boys complained about her nightly rituals.

By 6 o'clock, Harry succeeded in making absolutely zero progress on what Hermione wanted. Pansy wrote about fashion and food and Draco took up the business column- Dealing Winners. Neville was the Consultant Horticulturist and Rolf ran Pet Care. Harry was concerned with Beat the King- a hilarious and informative magical crossword, advising people on their problems being and reviewing the daily work as the Assistant Editor. The problem now was that he had always been impulsive. He didn't know how to improve his crossword in a few hours. Careful planning and methodical implementation were Draco's and Hermione's forte. It should be understandable if Harry couldn't come up with a decent enough idea. Right?

'Wrong,' Draco said when Harry asked him. 'We are the media, yes, and we must think on our feet, but crisis never calls for haste as much as it calls for efficiency.'

Harry pondered over it for a moment and then conceded Draco's point.

'I suppose having our jobs on the line does qualify for a critical situation,' Craig said from the desk behind them, obviously having overheard their conversation.

Harry sighed. It looked as though every time they forgot Craig was there, he opened his mouth to remind them. His shameless eavesdropping and ceaseless gossip was, after all, what earned him his nickname. Craig had learnt the hard way never to gossip about Pansy and when they relayed the story of Craig having to manage a week with pink pigtails for hair, Ginny had given him the title of loudspeaker. Ever since, he became Craig the Loudspeaker in Harry's head.

Sadly though, that didn't stop Craig from being nosy. Harry was under his scrutiny so much that he started being on his guard even as he worked. Over the years it became a part of his posture. Constant vigilance! He never imagined he'd be putting Moody's words to good use with Craig of all people.

'What an astute observation, McNeil!' Draco said, irritated. 'The Aurors missed out on a real deal in my opinion. Why don't you go ask them if they'd take you. I'm sure if Potter could be persuaded to write down a letter of reference, you would breeze right in. After all, allowances can be made for saviours.'

Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco's surprisingly steely sass and looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Draco rolled his eyes and turned his chair to face Harry and Craig.

'There's no need for your sarcasm here, Malfoy. I was just making a statement,' Craig defended.

'I told you not to think out loud,' Harry said and Craig immediately looked at him, eyes going dreamy and dopey. Harry felt the hairs standing up at the back of his neck. He was instantly alert. In the ten years that they've worked together, there was not a single day when Craig didn't try to seduce him. Draco and Hermione often had to rescue Harry from his clutches. Harry had once told him straight to his face that he wasn't interested and made the unfortunate discovery that relentless was Craig's middle name. The worst part was that Craig was a notorious playboy in spite of being married. He was a male version of Pansy, only far less elegant than her. It was probably why Draco felt disgusted towards him. But Harry knew that Craig was one of the few who didn't care about Draco's past. Always being judged by others probably turned him open and accepting of life in general. It was the only reason Harry still talked with him.

Harry cleared his throat and Draco, catching on, glared at Craig who innocently smiled back at him.

'It's more than just our job that's at risk here. This entire thing,' he said, motioning around him, 'is what we helped Hermione build, McNeil. She wanted to provide educational entertainment to people after the war and created this magazine out of her sheer will. Do you not remember how difficult it was for us in the early days to stay afloat and how we barely got returns? We had to combat the Prophet's bullshit about how we've all gone rogue too. And Quibbler was a competitor of sorts. We couldn't publish anything creature related until Rolf came along. Magical Reality is not just Hermione's pet project, it is her pet.'

Craig looked thoughtfully between Draco and Harry and leaned back in his chair. 'So, what have you come up with?'

'I take it Neville briefed everyone?' Harry said, instead of answering his question.

Craig nodded and continued looking at them expectantly.

Draco sighed and stood up, stretching his back. 'You look like you are good to go,' he said, feigning nonchalance. Craig excelled at Divination in Hogwarts and was responsible for the daily horoscope.

Harry didn't hear Craig's answer as he was momentarily distracted by the sliver of pale skin that appeared as Draco's shirt rode up with his stretch. His mouth became dry and watery at the same time. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his feelings for Draco pure and platonic. That he had a crush on him the size of a football field was often ignored, consciously. He also conveniently ignored that was also why he never dated in these ten years. He had unwittingly gone on many dates though; his friends, being married themselves, couldn't help setting him up with someone or the other. Every single one had failed to reach his expectations. With Teddy growing up however, he decided to give his well intentioned comrades a piece of his mind and that had put an end to all their attempts. That had been eight years ago. But why Draco hadn't dated either was a million dollar question for him. Draco flirted enough to make others think he was a total ladies' man but Harry knew he always slept in his bed at the end of the day.

By the time Harry regained his senses, he found that Draco had moved to stand in front of him with his hands on his hips, blocking his view of Craig. He peeked through the gaps in Draco's hands to see a broad smirk on Craig's face. He could only assume Draco was scowling down at the brown haired boy, basing on his stance.

'Let's go,' Harry said, getting up and packing his things.

Five minutes later the three of them were travelling down the elevator. Harry, ever attentive, noticed how Draco was standing in between him and Craig and a little too close to him for comfort. He couldn't wait to get out of the tense atmosphere.

'Hermione seems to be completely worked up. How about we surprise her with dinner?' Draco asked.

'I think both she and Ron would appreciate it. Ron had been craving that lasagna you made last time. But we don't have time now for that do we?'

'No,' Draco grinned, 'maybe some other day though. I was thinking we'll have a pizza delivered. How about we invite them over on Sunday? Ron can have his lasagna then.'

'We are having lunch with Andromeda on Sunday followed by dinner at The Burrow,' Harry reminded his friend.

'How about you invite us all after this crisis is over for that lasagna?' Craig broke in.

When Draco turned a scathing glare on him, he raised his eyebrows and said, 'You cannot talk domestic in front of me and expect me to not hear it.'

Draco was speechless and Harry looked on, astonished. Craig the Loudspeaker was generally defensive. But somehow he sounded affirmative in his defence this time around. It was almost as if he figured out Draco deliberately raised the topic. Because he most certainly did. When it came to Craig, Draco was always trying to shun him down some way or the other. Harry didn't understand why and after a point, had stopped trying to. Draco's mind was a mysterious place.

What Craig said next though, was even more so. 'You've been opposing my efforts for ten years, Draco. And you are still where you were back then. Don't you think you should change tactics? You know chess, don't you? Can you at any point stagnate your position?'

Before Draco could reply, the cabin pinged and the doors opened. Craig walked out, swinging his briefcase and whistling.

'What was that about?' Harry asked, looking quizzically at Craig's back.

'Your guess is as good as mine,' Draco said, staring at Craig with a small frown between his brows. He sounded as if he didn't know, but looked as if he did. Which reinforced his belief- Draco's mind was a strange place.