A/N: Well, did you cry? I cried. A lot. Apologies to those who haven't seen the film yet, but I just have to say:
"Yes, Mr Finnigan. BOOM."
I've got a new person on the (admittedly small) EDF team, Ines, who's blog alightatthetopofthestairs[dot]tumblr[dot]com is undoubtedly one of the greatest sources of Drarry related entertainment out there. She's been fantastic at lifting my spirits all the way through writing this story and it's lovely to get to do this with her. Oh - apologies to those who reviewed in the past few days and I haven't replied to. I've been in mourning.
Chapter 25- I'm Sane But I'm Overwhelmed
When a flurry of owls and Patronuses started to descend on the house, combined with a flutter of intuition in Harry's chest, he decided something might finally be happening. Still, he didn't tell Draco who was more than slightly irritable with the prospect of his final NEWT exams on the horizon.
While Jamieson had made extraordinary strides in finding out more about Lady Yaxley's movements, any sign of concluding the missing children case was still far off. And in the meantime the Prophet had been having a veritable field day in writing all manner of bizarre, defamatory and quite simply untrue articles regarding the nature of Harry's relationship.
He decided not to disrupt Draco's revision and settled back in the living room with a book, keeping a sharp eye on Bear who was chasing a fleet of toy cars through a building block metropolis. The notes, when they came, were mostly to 'stay put' or 'check the wards'; nothing unusual, but still. Harry had developed a rather good gut instinct over the years. And his gut, now, was telling him to stay vigilant.
So when Draco Apparated in the doorway he just about jumped out of his skin.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered. Bear applauded.
"I want one of those disgusting orange things out of the silver boxes," Draco announced.
"An Indian takeaway?" Harry supplied.
"Yeah. That's the one."
"We can't," Harry said, and intercepted Draco's protest quickly. "I've had a message from Ron not to go out."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. He won't tell me."
"Then Weasley can sod off," Draco muttered. "I want my disgusting orange thing. With rice. And bread."
"It's called a chicken tikka masala."
Draco crossed to Bear and slumped on the floor, carefully rebuilding a tower of blocks that had been knocked over in the course of some overenthusiastic playing. The problem with blocks was that there was no easy spell to just reassemble them. Each one had to be levitated back in place, which was annoying. Still.
"Can't you contact him and ask him what's going on?" Draco said.
Harry allowed himself a moment to collect his frustration before responding. "No. If they're undercover it could give away their position."
"Well, then, someone else on the squad."
"I don't know who's doing what or where. It's too risky."
"But I want to go out."
"Then go out!" Harry exploded. "But don't blame me if something goes wrong."
"What's going to go wrong?" Draco demanded.
"I don't know! Just stop being such a bloody prick about it all."
"What crawled up your ass?"
"Forget it," Harry said and stormed from the room.
He didn't want to go to their room, or to the kitchen, or anywhere else that he associated with his boyfriend. The problem was, after spending nearly a year living together, nearly the entire house reminded him of Draco. The kitchen was the hub of most of their daytime activities. The basement was solely Draco's domain. He wouldn't even know about the garden if it weren't for Draco. Draco, Draco, Draco.
In the end he let himself into the never- used ground floor dining room, Scourgified the surface of the dark wood table and set several vacuuming charms to bump around collecting dust. Then he climbed up onto the table and laid on his back, looking up at friezes of cherubs and a crystal chandelier.
Which was where Draco found him not half an hour later.
"What are you doing in here?"
"Hiding from you. Where's Bear?"
"In his playpen. I brought the conspectus charm with me."
He had. It bobbed into the room and hovered perfectly still in stark contrast to the orange vacuuming charms, which still whizzed around enthusiastically. Draco hesitated for a moment, then climbed up onto the table and laid down next to Harry.
"Why are you hiding from me?" Draco whispered.
"Because you were being whiny child." With his arms folded across his chest, Harry flicked his wand, opening the window to expel his dust- laden charms. The sound of them exploding in the sunlight carried back through the window, sounding like burst balloons.
"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."
Harry tilted his head to the side, frowning, and examined the left side of Draco's head. He was sure it was Draco. Wasn't he?
It was a terrifying thought, but one that hit him hard, sending bile to his throat. Before he could give them chance to react he was on his knees, his wand pressed to the other's throat.
"Where were we when Hermione slapped you in the face in third year?" he demanded.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, attempting to scramble back from the furious expression.
"Where were we?" Harry repeated.
"In the entrance hall, weren't we? Just by the steps to the dungeons."
Harry sat back on his heels and lowered his wand. He was still frowning.
"Did you think I was an imposter?" Draco asked, humour lacing the incredulity in his voice.
"Constant vigilance," Harry muttered.
Sitting up, Draco leaned forward too and pressed a quick kiss to Harry's mouth. "Expecto patronum," he murmured, his elegant silver magpie soaring up and through the ceiling. "Is that proof enough for you?"
"It's a start," Harry said, smiling against his will.
"Am I really acting that strange?" Draco asked, still teasing.
"You apologised."
Draco snorted with laughter, tried to hide it, then collapsed in giggles. "It has been known to happen," he said. "Will you tell me what's going on now?"
"I don't know," Harry said again. "But I think they've made a breakthrough on the case."
"How do you know that?"
"I don't. I just have a feeling." He laced his fingers with Draco's and swung his legs off the edge of the table, then leaned in to rest his head on Draco's shoulder. "I'll buy you a takeaway tomorrow night? If everything is okay?"
"Okay," Draco agreed. "How tight is the security right now?"
"Very."
"Good."
The swarm of Patronuses with increasingly brief, demanding messages continued late into the night. Long after Bear had been put to bed with the music box, Tonks singing to her son about one hand in her pocket, and the other giving a peace sign. Harry took this as a sign the mothers on the other side were keeping a close watch tonight.
Finally, at one o' clock in the morning, the wards pulsed, requesting the approval of Neville Longbottom's magical signature. Harry let it pass. Soon after Neville Apparated into the living room.
He looked simultaneously exhausted and buzzing with adrenaline.
"We've got her," he said.
"Yeah?" Draco asked. "Are you sure?"
"Caught her in the act," Neville confirmed. "She was trying to buy a baby on the black market. We also got an underground child smuggling ring in the process."
"Oh my god," Harry murmured. "Are they safe? Where are the children?"
"All alive," Neville confirmed. "Every last one of them. They've been taken to the Phoenix overnight."
"How many did she have?" Draco asked.
Sinking into one of the armchairs, Neville rubbed at tired eyes with his fists. "Eight. Tonight was to be her ninth. We're not out of the woods yet, guys, we need to make sure she didn't have accomplices, or anyone else looking at Bear. We took her down about three hours ago and they're still looking through the rooms she lived in at her parent's place. But from what we have so far, we look clear."
"You should get some rest," Harry said gently.
Neville looked up, his face painted with disdain. "No way. This is the biggest case to come out of the post- war Auror department, and we're on the front line. It'll probably still be going on in the morning, then we have to do the press conference."
"But the children are safe?" Draco reiterated.
Neville nodded. "Yeah. She was doing… shit, I don't even know if I'm supposed to tell you this. Fuck it. She was trying to find the source of power in certain magical children. Muggle borns as well as very powerful magical children… comparing the source of their magic."
"Did she hurt them?" Draco asked.
"Not intentionally," Neville said gently. "But she probably did. They just need some love and care, now."
"I'll go down to the orphanage in the morning," Draco said, stretching. "They'll need as many extra pairs of hands as they can get."
"Sounds good," Neville agreed. "I need to go. They're going to need all hands on deck."
"Thanks for coming over," Draco said as he stood.
"Any time."
The sense of fear, combined with an acute sense of relief carried Harry up to bed and kept him lying there, waiting for something to happen. It was like this for him the first night after they'd left Hogwarts; bone achingly tired, he'd slept on the floor of the Weasley's living room with the rest of the family. He was back to back with George that night, not that either of them had ever mentioned it. Neither could sleep, but the arch of someone else's spine fitted against his own was comforting.
Ginny had slept on the other side of the room.
"You're not sleeping," Draco murmured from behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist and tangling his fingers in the light dusting of hairs on his stomach.
"No. I can't switch off."
Draco hummed lightly, his lips pressed to Harry's shoulder. "Would it help if I brought Bear in?"
"No," Harry said. He rolled over to face Draco. "But thank you for offering."
He was quiet for long moments, absorbing the sounds of the city outside and the gentle, rhythmical breathing of the man next to him.
"You should sleep, though," Harry said softly.
"I never used to sleep properly anyway. I don't mind."
"Hold me tonight?" Harry whispered, showing the rare, raw, incredibly vulnerable side he usually kept so well hidden.
"Not ever letting go," Draco promised.
xXx
Daily Prophet Edition from 25th April 1998
Speaking from a news conference this morning, Minister Shacklebolt addressed the dramatic arrests made by the Auror department last night.
"It is with great pleasure I am able to announce this morning the arrest of Lady Odile Yaxley," Minister Shakelbolt said. "The Auror department has been working for several months on a complex and layered case involving the disappearances of, and threats to magical children. At this time we are confident that we have caught the perpetrator of these crimes and at the same time brought down an underground, illegal child smuggling ring."
The arrest of Odile Yaxley has caused waves through pureblood high society, not least due to the fact that many of her peers believed her to be dead.
The young Honourable Odile McQuillen was born and raised just outside Belfast and was betrothed to George Yaxley, twelve years her senior, at the age of five. They married two weeks after her sixteenth birthday and their union produced no children. Lord Yaxley was killed by falling debris at the Battle of Hogwarts after being stunned and disarmed by George Weasley, whose twin brother was later killed by Death Eaters. During the confusion of the final battle and the following weeks, Lady Yaxley disappeared and was presumed dead. It has now emerged that she escaped to her parents estate with at least four children that she had already snatched.
Over the past year she has collected a further four children, two of whom are at St Mungo's hospital, the other six are at the Phoenix Orphanage. All are alive and seemingly healthy, although they are all under close observation.
As the investigation into the missing children developed, Auror Stonestreet's team discovered links from Lady Yaxley to the unusual curses cast upon Andromeda Tonks and Draco Malfoy, both of whom required emergency treatment at the hands of Healers in order to survive the attacks. Mrs Tonks spent over eight months in a coma while her body recovered. The Prophet has learned that neither Mrs Tonks, nor Malfoy were the intended targets; Lady Yaxley was intent on kidnapping another infant, Teddy Lupin. Teddy, whose parents were also killed at the final Battle at Hogwarts, has been living with Malfoy and Harry Potter since the attack on Tonks, his maternal grandmother. Teddy's mother, Nymphadora, was a powerful and talented Metamorphmagus whose talents were passed on to her son. As a second generation Metamorphmagus, Healers expect the child to be even more skilled than his mother. After Mrs Tonks was moved to St Mungo's the attacks continued on Potter's London residence and it was from these that the Auror team were able to trace a magical signature back to Lady Yaxley.
Today signals a new era for the parental double team of Potter and Malfoy, who have been raising their surrogate son in secret for fear that the then-unknown assailant would discover their location. Further details are expected to emerge over the coming days and weeks as to the extent of the child smuggling ring, the details of which Minister Shacklebolt has been reluctant to discuss at this time.
It is also a chance for us to remind Prophet readers again of the invaluable, essential work of the Phoenix Orphanage who have overnight taken on six new children. In addition to sponsoring one of the teams in the Hogwarts Alumni Quidditch Tournament (for full details of team listings, see page 27), donations can be made directly to the orphanage itself. First rounds of the Tournament will take place at the end of the regular Quidditch season; watch this space for match timetables.
xXx
While the team suffered through a mountainous pile of paperwork and ongoing interviews and arrests, Draco lead the charge in rounding up volunteers to take down to the orphanage. Molly had agreed to take Bear for the day and was furiously baking cakes and treats to distribute between the children and the team (who had now relocated back to the Ministry).
George and Angelina had answered the call for help, as had Niko and several of the Blackhawks team, including Jenny and Lee Jordan. The orphanage was, understandably, in a state of pandemonium.
Newspaper sources were clamouring for interviews and information on the children who had been rescued, Healers were attempting to assess any physical, mental or magical damage to each of the eight children and normal life was supposed to run for the children who already lived there. On top of that, Neville and Jamieson were trying to coax testimonies out of the children who were old enough to talk… although only two of them seemed capable of doing so.
Communication between the orphanage, the Order, the Auror team and Harry and Draco was facilitated by the fact that there was at least one Weasley at each point. The relationship between Percy and the rest of his family was still slightly strained but there was no denying that his work at the orphanage was invaluable.
Harry, in a fit of exasperation rounded up several of the older children and took them out to the playground and started up a game of completely non- magical dodgeball. Draco joined the screaming rabble after a little while with one of the toddlers in his arms.
"How's it going in there?" Harry asked.
"Mental," Draco said, quirking a smile. "I don't think it's going to calm down any time soon, either."
"Who's this?"
"This," Draco said, bouncing the little boy, "is Titan Noble."
Titan regarded Harry with big, chocolate brown eyes and his thumb firmly lodged in his mouth, blinking slowly in the sunlight.
"What will happen to him?" Harry asked quietly.
"Who knows," Draco shrugged. "Hopefully it'll be easier to have the younger ones adopted, especially with all the press."
"There are already so many of them waiting for families," Harry sighed.
"We're not taking any more in, before you even think of it," Draco said. Harry got the impression he was only half joking. "This one is just very skittish. He doesn't like being put down."
"What about last night?"
"Someone didn't get much sleep at all," Draco said wryly.
"At least we weren't the only ones." Harry turned away to referee the exchange of players on the dodgeball team, then turned back to Draco. "Was he..."
"Yeah. One of hers."
"And his mother?"
"Was Gaia Noble. A childhood friend of my mother's."
"I recognise the name, but I don't know where from."
"He must have been the first one she took," Draco said. "From what I can figure out, anyway. It would have made sense for Lady Yaxley to have taken him, she was close friends with Mrs Noble. She was possibly even his godmother. I can't remember now."
The little boy sniffled and turned away from Harry, burying his face in Draco's neck. Draco rocked him with a purely instinctive rhythm, one that Harry had watched night after night when he'd comforted Bear. He wanted to reach out and take Draco's hand, to squeeze it in reassurance, but both his arms were full of child.
Jenny stuck her head out of the back door and winked at Harry before she screamed.
"Kids! Food!"
Harry laughed as the game was promptly abandoned and the children swarmed towards the house.
"I'll take that to mean that Molly has sent the treats over with Percy."
"You go on in," Draco said. "I'm going to stay out here with Titan for a bit."
"Okay." Harry kissed Draco quickly on the cheek then followed the children, not looking back to see the reaction to his rather public display of affection.
Back inside, the orphanage was still in a state of mad disorganisation. Harry had spent a few free weekends with Draco there so he knew most of the staff and regular volunteers. He was also, fortunately, good friends with quite a few members of the Auror department.
The huge kitchen was the hub of most activity that happened at the house. The wide window looked out over the back garden and playground and the terracotta tiled windowsill was jammed full of pots of herbs, creating a leafy framework. The cupboard doors were painted a vibrant red and the cooking area was separated from little fingers by a wooden gate, painted the same colour as the rest of the kitchen. It was behind this that Jenny stood, serving up chocolate rice crispy cakes and fairy cakes, and thick slices of millionaire's shortbread. Harry hopped over the gate, planted a wet kiss on Jenny's cheek and stole a slice of shortbread.
"Hey!" she scolded him.
"Thanks, Jenny," he sang and, to the amusement of the assembled children, jumped back over the gate and ran off through the house.
It was as opposite to the dark oppressiveness of Grimmauld Place as it could possibly be, the Phoenix Orphanage. It, too, was Victorian and therefore dominated by high ceilings and a grand, sweeping staircase. But this was a house for children, designed around children, and had children constantly swarming through it. The walls were light and bright, the windows large and every surface designed for safety or comfort. Attached to the kitchen was a dining room, one once used to entertain the cream of high society and therefore large enough to feed fourteen hungry mouths. Next to the dining room was a library, or a 'reading and homework room', and next to that was the Quiet Room.
On the opposite side of the hall, next to the front door was Percy's office, and it was to here that Harry was headed. He knocked – Percy's door was shut – and waited to be allowed in.
"There's cake in the kitchen," Harry said. "If you didn't know."
"I did," Percy said without looking up. He gestured to the chair opposite his desk as he finished scrawling on a piece of parchment, then tossed down his quill with a sigh. "Sorry, Harry. Busy times."
"More exciting than cauldron bottoms?" Harry teased, then took a bite of his shortbread, the caramel briefly gluing his teeth together.
"Much more," Percy agreed. "Don't get crumbs on my carpet. How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to see what was going on, really," Harry said, aware of how sad he sounded even as the words left his mouth. "Where will the children go?"
"We'll make room for them," Percy sighed. "Although it'll be a challenge. We're packed to capacity now."
"What do you need?" Harry pressed. "Money? A bigger house?"
"More people wanting to adopt magical children," Percy said wryly. "I've got meetings booked with Minister Shacklebolt to discuss the possibility of them being adopted by Muggles."
"Oh," Harry said, sitting back, surprised. "Wow. I didn't realise it was that bad."
"Some of these children have been here for over a year," Percy said. "And we look after them well, I know that. But they deserve families, proper, permanent families with mums and dads…"
"Or two mums. Or two dads," Harry said, bristling for an argument.
"Unfortunately two mums or two dads aren't allowed to adopt," Percy said evenly.
"And if they were?" Harry said. "You'd be able to place a lot more children that way."
"This isn't a political platform for change, or gay rights," Percy said. "I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just saying it's not my fight."
Harry shook his head. "It's not right."
"I know, Harry. Do you and Draco want to adopt one of them?"
"No," he reluctantly admitted.
"Well then."
"We can't even adopt Bear."
Percy smiled. "You will. One day. Now get out of my office. I have work to do."
He was indignant as he left Percy's office, enough that he hovered in the hallway for a few moments while his rational and impulsive urges battled each other.
Harry had always been an impulsive person. He had been told for years that it was going to get him in trouble one day.
"Alright, Harry?" George asked as he passed in the hall.
"Yeah. George… would you tell Draco I'll meet him at home?"
"Of course."
"Come for dinner," Harry called as he headed for the Quiet Room and it's dangerous connecting Floo.
The office was busy, but Harry soon found his way to the right department and the receptionist that guarded the inner sanctum like a dragon. A pretty, curly haired dragon with a slight lisp and a run in her tights.
"She'll see me," Harry insisted.
"But Mr Potter," the young girl stuttered. "You don't have an appointment. Ms Skeeter has said no interruptions, not for the Minister or God himself."
"I'm more important than both," Harry said, smirking slightly. "Come on…"
"Polly," she supplied.
"Come on, Polly. At least let her know that I'm here?" He shot her what he hoped was a winning smile.
Polly withered. "She's going to shout at me," she whispered.
Harry suppressed a smile. "If you do it," he whispered back. "I'll go and buy you a cake."
At that, Polly laughed; a breathless, hopeless release. "Okay," she agreed. "But I want a red velvet cupcake from Walthamstow's."
"I can do that."
Standing, Polly brushed off her skirt.
"Wish me luck, Mr Potter," she said briskly and strode through to the back office.
Rita Skeeter did, in fact, shout at her young receptionist. Harry silently promised himself that he'd buy the misfortunate Polly an entire box of cupcakes from Walthamstow's. Just as soon as he figured out where Walthamstow's was.
"Harry, what a pleasant surprise," Rita said sweetly as she appeared in the doorway to her office. "Please, come on through."
The walls of Rita's office were sweetly, luridly pink, reminding Harry with a swooping feeling in his stomach of being transported back in time to Umbridge's office. The chairs were upholstered in fluffy zebra print fabric and the desk, oh lord, the desk, was made of what looked like green wood. How she ever got any work done was completely beyond Harry.
"I have a proposition for you," Harry said as he sat.
"Really," Rita said, smirking to herself.
"I'm looking for… a platform, shall we say," Harry said. "To voice certain possibly unpopular political opinions."
Rita rolled her eyes. "I'm not a fan of politics," she said. "I much prefer a scandal."
"This is probably both," Harry admitted.
"Excellent. Do go on."
"You're aware of my relationship with Draco. You've written several scathing articles on the matter, I've heard."
"So sad you haven't read them."
"Couldn't even force me to," Harry said pleasantly. "You also know that we're raising a child together. He's my godson and Draco's cousin."
"Yes," Rita said, tapping her vivid green nails together.
"We want to adopt him," Harry said. "But we can't. Because there is a low stating that we can't, because we're gay. Right now the Phoenix Orphanage is overrun with magical children without parents, who are desperately in need of homes. I want you to champion the cause for gay couples to be allowed to adopt magical children."
Rita's mouth dropped open slightly.
"You have to be kidding me."
"Not even a little bit."
"The Wizengamot will never let it pass," she said, gathering her wits. "Never. I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't help you."
"It's going to happen sooner or later," Harry argued. "The times are changing, Rita. Draco and I are going to raise Bear, no matter what, but it's not fair that children are being denied the right to a loving, caring home just because some old geezers at the Ministry are too scared to change things."
"You're certainly passionate, I'll give you that," Rita said. "Now, that would sell copies. The impassioned, capricious relationship between former rivals…"
"Our relationship isn't capricious." Harry cut her off before she could build a full head of steam. "We're very much in love. If you won't help me then I'll just go to another publication."
Rita sighed heavily and shook her head. "I don't know how to spin it."
"Then don't spin it at all," Harry argued. "Just write the story."
"I'll think about it." Harry opened his mouth again, but it was Rita's turn to cut him off. "I can't offer you any better than that, Harry. Journalism is all about the angle, the spin, the tone of the article. I know you think of me as vacuous and gossipy, but there's skill involved in this profession. The editor wants to sell papers, and what you're proposing is going to upset a lot of people.
"Polly will contact you," she finished, a clear dismissal.
Harry stood. "Thank you for your time," he said, and left.
xXx
He was surprised, when he returned home, to find Draco, Angelina, George and Neville, and Bear and Titan Noble all assembled in the living room.
"I need a drink," he announced.
"Baby," Angelina said, bouncing Titan in her arms.
"Baby," echoed Draco; Bear was nearly asleep in his.
"Fine, I'll get it," George mumbled. "Butterbeer okay?"
"Perfect," Harry said and slumped down into the chair next to Draco.
"Where have you been?"
"Tell you later," Harry murmured, kissing him on the cheek. "What's the reason for the party?"
"No party," Draco said, turning into another, slower kiss.
"More like a mother's meeting," Neville added.
George passed Harry a Butterbeer.
"You're going to have to explain. Small words, please."
Angelina turned in her gentle pacing and rocking and smiled at Harry. "They're overrun at the Phoenix and they just don't have the staff numbers to give the ones that need individual attention the care they need. It's not that the team don't want to, they've just got too many kids."
"So we're fostering Titan," George added. "For now."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "How the hell did you manage that?"
"Friends in high places," George said with a smirk. "We cut to the chase and let them interview us under Veritaserum. My brother now knows too much about my sex life, but they're happy for us to have him."
"Does Molly know?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"Not yet?" Angelina answered in an equally small voice.
"Ohh. She's going to kill you."
Draco snorted with laughter, then turned his head into Harry's shoulder to hide his giggles. Bear yawned sleepily, rubbing his eyes (which were stormy grey) with his chubby fists, and scowled at Draco.
"Bed," he said emphatically.
Draco beamed. "That's a new one," he said. "Okay, trouble. I'll take you to bed."
In Angelina's arms, Titan, too, looked on the verge of sleep.
"Do you have anything for a baby?" Harry asked. George looked appropriately guilty.
"It was sort of one of those act before you think moments," he explained.
Harry laughed to himself. "It's alright. I know the feeling. Give me a minute. Bear's got loads of clothes, I'll get you some."
It was easier in the end for Angelina and George to stay for the night, rather for them to have to make their way across London with a clearly exhausted baby. Harry set them up in his old bedroom and left them to it. After all, he and Draco hadn't exactly had an instruction manual when they'd taken Bear.
"I can't believe they did that," Draco said as they changed for bed.
"Me either."
"I suppose they did talk about adopting Bear though."
"That's true."
Harry curled around Draco in bed, seeking out the position that had them pressed tightly together in every curve and bend. They laced their fingers together and held on tight.
"It's not fair," Draco mumbled.
"What's not?"
"That they can probably adopt Titan straight away if they want to. We've had Bear for a year and who knows when we'll be able to be his parents."
Something swooped in Harry's belly.
"Yeah. I need to talk to you about that."
"Should I roll over?"
"That's probably a good idea."
The bed creaked as he shifted.
"Oh no," Draco said, surveying his face. "What did you do?"
"Do you know where Walthamstow's is?"
"Yes, it's a very expensive bakery. Stop trying to distract me."
"I owe a receptionist called Polly a large box of Walthamstow's red velvet cupcakes."
"I can arrange that. Whose receptionist is Polly?"
Harry squirmed. "Rita Skeeter's."
"Oh you didn't."
"I did."
"Harry!"
"I'm sorry!" he wailed. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Okay," Draco said, taking a deep breath and pointedly not moving the arm that was casually slumped over Harry's waist. "What exactly did you say to her."
"I asked if she would be willing to front a campaign on behalf of you and I to allow gay couples to adopt orphaned children," Harry said in a rush.
Draco was silent for almost a minute. Finally he said "You're fucking insane."
"That's what she said. Almost."
"You'll never get it past the Wizengamot."
"She said that, too."
With a furrowed brow, Draco thought about it some more. "I don't know if I have anything else to say."
"She's going to call me if she can figure out a good way to spin it."
"You," Draco said, leaning in, "Owe me kisses in the shower in the morning."
"What for?"
"Being an impetuous idiot who makes decisions without consulting his partner first."
Harry smiled, lifting his hand to gently rake his fingers through Draco's hair.
"I've always been an impetuous idiot."
Draco kissed Harry's wrist.
"And I've always loved you for it."
AN: Tonks was singing Hand in My Pocket by Alanis Morissette. And I've checked; Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995, so three years before this chapter is set. Feel old yet?