A/N I've come out of hiding! I know it hasn't been that long, but it has been relaxing. I've decided to just let go of the problem with my friend and family issues, and, let me tell you, it is an amazing feeling! I've done quite a bit of writing in my absence, and it was nice to not feel a deadline hanging over my head, which is why my updates will be coming with longer stretches of time then previous chapters, but not as long as this one, and why I won't be promising any date for a new chapter. This way I won't get burnt out again. I do have some already written, so there will be somewhat frequent updates until I come to where I'm at as of now. Enough babbling, now apprécier. (That's enjoy in French. Aren't you guys proud of me? I learned it in French! Oh, and even though I use French a lot, I am actually a Spanish student. Ah! More babbling! I'll stop now! Apprécier!

"It will be. Drake-"

He was cut off by an owl flying through an open window. It dropped its burden and flew off again.

I picked up the envelope and opened it.

To Harry James Potter and Draco nee Malfoy,

An official court date has been set for the trial of one Vernon Dursley, one Petunia Dursley, and one Dudley Dursley. The three mentioned above have been taken into custody. We at the Ministry of Magic apologize for the delay in this court date. The family fled after a visit from one of our agents, and it took time to track them down, though they are Muggles.

Please prepare yourselves and all of your condemning or supporting evidence by the 1st of September. We will hold our trial in court room 5.

Thank you for your time,

The Ministry of Magic, Wizarding World Child Protection Agency division

"Oh."

"What's oh?"

"The trial for your relatives."

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh."

"That's odd. They'd usually give us more time to plan for something like this."

"They did, Draco."

"A day's notice is hardly a lot of time, Harry."

"The owl had to get through the wards. It must be exhausted if it spent so much time getting through the wards."

"You don't even let unknown owls in?"

Harry shook his head. "You never know when an owl will be carrying a Portkey somewhere. Most owls would have given up long before that one even started to break through."

"You really should lighten up on security."

"And risk myself, you, or, especially, Hailey getting hurt? I don't think so."

"True."

"I'm not letting anyone hurt my little girl. She will have the childhood neither of us did. I'm not leaving her like my parents left me, even if it wasn't their decision. Hailey will grow up loved and cared for. And if I can't be there, I'll try my damn hardest to make sure you, or someone who would actually love her, is there for her. My daughter will never know abuse the way we have."

I felt weak at the emotion coming from Harry's voice. "That's a lot of promises to be making."

"I know, and nothing is going to get in my way."

"I can see it now. The first boy she brings home will have a lot to fear from you."

Harry shuddered. "I don't even want to think about our baby girl being old enough to bring someone home yet. It's too early."

I laughed. "She's always going to be our little girl, don't worry about that." I kissed him again. "Now, we have to prepare a lot of evidence for tomorrow, and we have to send out wedding invitations soon too! Let's get working!"

Harry shook his head as I pulled him through the house.

***

Three and a half hours later, an exhausted Harry and Draco had all of their invitations prepared and ready to send out at morning's first light. The two fell into bed together and both were soon asleep, only to be awakened a half an hour later by Hailey's screams.

"Harry, she wants you." Draco groaned and rolled over.

"You get her."

"I've been getting her all her life. It's your turn."

Harry sighed and stood, feeling guilty. "Fine. I'll get her."

Draco smiled with his eyes still closed. "Thank you, babe." And he went back to sleep.

Harry picked up his daughter and looked at her. "You really are much prettier when you're not screaming." He rocked her until she fell back asleep. Harry's arms were getting tired, so it was a huge relief to his aching limbs when he could set her down again.

As soon as he did, his little girl broke out in screams again. Harry sighed and picked her up. It took twice as long to calm her down this time. Harry set her down in between himself and Draco and cast a quick protection spell over her so they wouldn't crush her in the middle of the night. Surrounded by her fathers, Hailey quickly fell into a deep sleep, quickly followed by Harry.

"Harry! Wake up!"

"What, Drake?"

"Why is Hailey in our bed?"

"I put her there."

"Why?"

"She'd start crying again if I wasn't touching her."

"What if one of us had rolled over in the night? We would have destroyed her!"

"Try."

"What?"

"Try and touch her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine." Draco reached out to touch his daughter, but found that he couldn't. "What did you do?"

"It's a protection spell. Nothing physical can get through it."

"You can take it down, right?"

"Of course." Harry ran his hand over his tiny daughter, and the spell was removed. Draco picked up his daughter. Harry watched him rock her awake with a smile on his face. "Drake, why is she so quiet all the time? Aren't babies supposed to cry all the time and constantly take up our time?"

"She was loud. Really loud," Draco paused and his eyes narrowed, "she was really loud, until you came back. But when you came back, I wanted to spend some time with you, so whenever we are not with her, the House Elves play with her. They absolutely adore her, just as everyone should."

"But this isn't permanent, is it? I won't have my daughter raised by House Elves."

"Of course not, Harry. I told them it was only until we were properly reunited."

"Well, we'd best take advantage of that time, no?"

Draco smiled. "Of course. It would be a shame to let it go to waste."

"We have to go overlook everything for the wedding eventually. It would be a good idea to do it as soon as possible."

"We can't today, though. We have our court date today."

"Right."

"Do you want to come? I can testify for you if you need me to."

"No. I'm going. I want to see those people locked up for good for what they did to me."

"Me too, babe, me too."

"But can we have someone come over to look after Hailey? I'm not comfortable with leaving her alone with House Elves."

"Sure. Blaise sometimes babysits for me, and Hailey is comfortable with him. Are you okay with that?"

"Blaise is okay. As long as Hailey will be safe."

"Blaise is Hailey's godfather. I can't believe I forgot to tell you that!"

Harry kissed his forehead. "It's okay. I figured he would be."

Draco smiled in relief. "I'll go ask Blaise. You get dressed. And do try to look like you care."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright." He watched as Draco walked out and then walked to the wardrobe. He chose a pair of straight legged black slacks and a blue button-up shirt. He put on his robe over that, but left it unbuttoned. He looked in the mirror again and was satisfied. It was good as it was going to get.

He walked to their fireplace to see Draco just standing up. He had a smudge of soot under his eye. Harry laughed and wiped it off, followed by a kiss to that exact spot. "What did he say?"

"He's going to be right over. I'd better go change. I'll be right back."

Harry let him get halfway up the stairs before he yelled up at him. "Hey, what about me? How do I look?"

Draco turned around with a sly grin. "You look adorable, as always, babe."

Harry shook his head. "Thank you, but seriously, how do I look?"

"I was serious. You look good."

"Thanks. Go and see if you can compete with me."

"Oh, it's not competition, babe. I'll always be hotter than you."

"Maybe, but I'm the Golden Boy; I'll get the fan girl votes."

"Oh, you never know. There are always sympathy votes for the 'bad guy'."

"You're not the bad guy. Now go spend a half an hour in the bathroom doing your hair."

Draco stood stick straight and saluted before stiffly walking back to their room. Harry laughed until he was out of sight, but even then he would burst into an occasional laugh. There was silence until Draco came back downstairs. Blaise Flooed in at the same time. He smiled. "If I get to vote, I say Draco wins the 'who's hotter' competition."

Harry was confused. "How did you know?"

"He and I used to do that all the time. I would always lose, so it got boring after a while."

"Okay, now why do you think that Draco's hotter than I am?"

"Look at him."

Harry turned around to look at his fiancé. His eyes flew open and his jaw dropped to the floor. Draco was wearing Slytherin green silk robes, left open, with deep black pants and a lighter green shirt, also silk, underneath. His hair was carefully arranged to look perfect, as always, and his beautiful eyes were lightly outlined in black eyeliner.

Harry picked his jaw up and brought his eyes back into his head. "You win."

"Thank you."

Blaise smiled. "See why I gave up after a certain point?"

"Uh huh. Why didn't you wear eyeliner at school?"

"My father wouldn't let me have it. He said it was only for poofs."

"Well, if it is, poofs are going to become a lot more popular, because you look drop dead sexy."

Draco blushed and Harry groaned.

"Don't do that, Drake. We have to go to court, and I'm never going to make it if you look like that and blush."

Draco laughed. "Sorry babe. I've never been called sexy before, though."

"Well, people have been lying and under appreciating you then, because you are the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

Draco hugged Harry. "You're not too bad yourself. I could spend ages telling you how perfect you are, but we really have to go. Blaise, you know about everything, right?"

"Of course."

"Thank you once again for watching her. We appreciate it."

"It's no problem. You know I love her like my own daughter."

Draco smiled. "I know. We have to get going."

"Have fun!"

Harry snorted as Draco led him out the front door to the outside of the wards. Draco smiled and kissed him before apparating to the Ministry, Harry still attached to his hand.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."