Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, or whatever you wanted to call him had always thought about what life would be like without Voldemort in it. Without fighting for his life every year.

Would his life be normal?

Would he finally be free?

Would he finally be happy?

The answer to all of those questions was no. His fame grew after killing Voldemort and a part of him felt like a fool for thinking it would've died down but it hadn't. Not even after all these years. He couldn't even go fly his broom without someone snapping a picture of it and running to the papers about it. He hated it. He couldn't do anything without it being on the front page. He remembered when he and Ginny broke up it took the papers a week to print it. It was horrible. Everywhere he went people were asking him questions.

"Harry, is it true Ginny cheated?"

"Harry, what happened?"

"Harry, is it true that you have a mistress?"

"Harry, is this going to affect your friendship with Ron?"

"Harry tell us the story!"

Harry. Harry. Harry. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

People always demanded to know every single thing about his fucking life. He was pretty sure they'd report every single meal he ate if they could considering they made an entire article about how he liked his tea. After the war, people still told him what to do. They wanted him to be an auror because surely if he was capable of killing Voldemort as a teenager imagine what he could do if he was trained to fight and protect. People expected that of him. People expected so much from him. Which is how he was head auror before the age of 25.

Was he happy?

Absolutely not. He was miserable. Life after the war was nothing like he imagined. He thought once Voldemort was dead that there would be no more fighting but he couldn't be more wrong. He still fought. He was still fighting every single day. He was hunting down criminals instead of Voldemort now. It was as if nobody cared that Harry was still suffering the aftermath of the war, either. They didn't care when he'd come to work with bags under his eyes from no sleep and saw him downing pepper-up potions all day. They didn't care. They just wanted the comfort of having Harry bloody Potter there to protect them. Harry was so angry. He was angry at himself for still fighting. He was angry at people expecting everything from him. He was angry at his job. He was angry at the newspapers. He was just. So. Angry.

He always did have a problem with his temper, it only got worse after the war.

So, one could only imagine the anger he felt when he saw Draco for the first time since Draco's trial. It was the one thing people hadn't expected Harry to do, the one thing nobody demanded he did, either. If Harry was being honest, he didn't know why he did it. Draco had always been a horrible person to him. He bullied Harry. He even broke Harry's nose that one time back at Hogwarts! Draco didn't deserve freedom. He was a death eater for crying out loud! But… Harry just couldn't do it.

Why?

Because of his stupid hero complex, that's why.

He saw Draco in moments when most saw Malfoy. He saw Draco in the bathroom. He saw Draco in the astronomy tower. He saw Draco at the manor. He saw Draco give him his wand. He saw Draco hug his mother after the trials. He saw Draco, not Malfoy. He always did. He saw Draco do everything he could to get his father's approval because, like Harry, people expected the world from him too. He couldn't just let Draco rot away in Azkaban, it just didn't feel right so Harry did everything he could to keep Draco out. But seeing Draco was hard. Seeing Draco reminded him of a war Harry was still fighting. He saw Draco in his nightmares, too. Harry knew he should probably see a mind healer but he was too stubborn. He could heal himself. He didn't need anyone to tell him he was pathetic or pity him for his nightmares.

"You know, I think he's trying, Harry," Ron said, putting down his quill. They had been doing paperwork all evening.

Harry looked over at Ron, "Who?"

"Malfoy." This wasn't the first time Ron brought up this topic with him.

"Not you too." He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. "First George, now you?"

Ron gave Harry a grin, "He apologized to me. Imagine that, Malfoy apologizing to me? Don't get me wrong, he's still a bloody git but-"

"You were ready to fight him the other night and now you're telling me you think he's trying? To what? Be a better person? You can't expect me to believe it." His voice was raised, he was happy he and Ron shared an office. He didn't want to think about the weird looks he'd get.

Ron sighed, "No. I don't expect you to." He turned his chair to face Harry. "But, maybe we should let him try to prove it. George has always been good at reading people, you know? He would've seen through Malfoy."

Harry clenched his teeth, "You know what he's done. He took the mark." Harry's tone was stern.

"I also know what he didn't do."

Harry had to let go of his quill so he wouldn't break it, was Ron serious? "That doesn't mean anything." He was now glaring at Ron. "Why are you even sticking up for him?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was starting to get a headache.

"I talked to George. Maybe you should too."

Which is exactly why he stormed to Draco's shop. Seeing Draco just… overwhelmed him. They'd always been the type to fight and argue when around each other. Harry couldn't help it. Draco just brought out so many emotions in Harry that he didn't understand. Nobody had ever been able to make Harry feel so overwhelmed as Draco did so he channeled it into anger. It was something Harry was used to.

It had been a week since he had gone to Draco's shop, he was at home when he heard someone knock on his door. He wasn't expecting company so he was a bit confused. He was living in Grimmauld Place which was still hidden from most, so he knew it could only be one the few people who knew where he lived. When he opened the door, George was standing there.

"George," Harry said, raising an eyebrow. "What're you doing here?"

George smiled at Harry. "Mind if I come in?" He asked, not giving him an option since he walked in before he could respond. "Sit. Let's have a chat."

Harry had a strong feeling he knew what it was about. He groaned but plopped down on the couch. He debated on protesting but he knew he wouldn't be able to get out of this conversation. He knew it was coming eventually.

"Draco told me you went to his shop." George began, motioning for Harry to stay quiet. He knew Harry was about to protest. "No, Harry, you're going to listen," his voice was serious, a rare thing for George. "I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate it, but Harry, he's my friend."

"Friend?!" Harry scoffed, "George-"

George motioned for him to be quiet again, causing Harry to roll his eyes. "Don't make me use a silencing charm on you." He turned to face Harry, "I know you're not the biggest fan of him, and if I'm being honest, neither was I. You know, the first time I saw him I thought about hexing him. I was so close to drawing my wand and getting my revenge. Even after all these years seeing my mind healer and getting over my anger, I thought nothing would've been better than undoing all of my hard work and punching him right in the jaw."

"How is this supposed to help?"

"But when I finally got a good look at Draco, you know what I saw? A person traumatized from war. Seeing him was almost looking in the mirror. I felt bad for him so I started talking to him. I know what you think about him, but he's a good guy. Even Luna adores him." He smiled, "We've done a lot for each other. He's done a lot for me. He helped me through my potion addiction." Harry felt guilty that he hadn't even noticed that George was addicted to potions. "I was downing so many potions a day, I needed them. I needed them to sleep, to get through my day, to help me calm down, I just needed them. He's been making potions that aren't addictive but just as effective and he's bloody brilliant at it." George's face lit up, "I confided in him about a lot over these past few months, told him about the nightmares and panic attacks and he's been there through it, helping me without judgment."

Harry looked down, feeling even more guilty. Maybe Draco wasn't a bad person anymore, maybe he was trying.

"And Harry, you know the best part? He doesn't treat me as the guy with a dead twin. He doesn't pity me or slip up and call me Fred," George said with a sad smile. Harry felt his heart sink, Molly still slipped up sometimes. Harry did too after the war. "He treats me like George like I'm my own person and Harry, it's so refreshing." George was always good at presenting good arguments and right now, he was winning. Harry was starting to believe that maybe Malfoy wasn't so bad. "I know he's made some terrible life choices, but also, there were so many factors as to why he made those decisions. You know? He was playing hero just the same as you but for his family. He was protecting them like you were protecting yours."

"Fuck, George." Harry ran a hand through his hair, "don't do this to me."

"You needed to hear it." George smirked, knowing he won.

"Fine, you win. I'll apologize." He muttered, earning a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.

"I think that would be wise."

Which was how he ended up in front of Draco's shop, only moments after his conversation with George. Harry was going to apologize to Draco and try to believe that Draco was trying to do better. If George could see it, Harry would give him a chance to prove it. Even if Harry wasn't thrilled about the whole situation. He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. He didn't know why but he was feeling a little nervous. He could do this.

He opened the door to the shop and stepped inside, glancing around for Draco. He didn't see him but heard a, "One moment please!" From the back. While Harry waited he glanced around, Draco had an impressive stock of potions. He must spend all day brewing. He spotted some sleep drought and pepper up, and decided to grab a few viles while he was here.

"Potter." He heard Draco say, voice cold. "Here to yell at me again?"

Harry turned to Draco, this was the first time he was getting a proper look at Draco. The two other times he was here he'd been too angry to notice Draco's appearance. The years had done him well, he was looking… nice. Yeah, nice. His hair wasn't caked in product and fell naturally which Harry definitely didn't think looked good. Not at all. Not one bit. Okay, maybe he did but he wouldn't admit it. Draco's skin was still very pale which made his dark under eyes stand out. He was wearing a blue button-up but left the first two buttons unbuttoned, and his shirt was untucked and wrinkled at the bottom indicating it had been tucked in at one point. He was wearing black trousers which hugged his legs nicely from what Harry could see. Draco wasn't looking too bad.

Harry stepped closer to the counter, "No, I uh," he placed the viles down in front of Draco. "I wanted to apologize." His hand absently toyed with one of the viles, "you know, for the other day." Draco raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "So, I'm sorry."

"You're shit at apologies, Potter." He said, but his tone wasn't nearly as cold as it had been moments ago. "I suppose I'll accept it." He then grabbed the viles, inspecting them. "Overusing potions isn't good for you."

Harry shrugged. "Didn't ask for your opinion."

Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed the potions, putting them aside before turning around. Harry's eyes scanned over Draco's backside for a moment. Fuck. He definitely wasn't checking Malfoy out.

"Try these." He said, grabbing different potions and placing them on the counter.

"How do I know you're not trying to poison me?" Harry asked, he meant it to be sarcastic but it didn't come out that way.

Draco scoffed, "I've got better things to do than poison you, Potter. Don't flatter yourself."

"Still a proper git, I see."

Draco rolled his eyes, "And you're still a prat with a massive ego." He shot back.

Harry couldn't help but smirk at their banter, "I feel like I've got the right to have an ego."

"If it helps you sleep at night."

"That's what the potions are for, actually."

Draco made a face, but Harry couldn't tell what emotion it was. He'd only seen Draco with a sneer, glare, or frown. "Having to rely on potions isn't something to brag about, which brings me back to these." He held one up, "For sleep. I've altered the ingredients so you shouldn't feel groggy the day after taking it," he held up the other one, "For energy throughout the day, also non-addictive." He placed them in a bag before passing it to Harry, "On the house."

Harry was a bit taken back, but grabbed the paper bag the viles were in, "oh, erm, thanks." He said with a small smile. Draco just nodded in response. It felt a little awkward now, "I'll see you around, yeah?" He said before leaving.

Well, that could've gone worse. He hadn't expected things to go that well. There hadn't been any fighting, which was good. Weird, but good.