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1995, 5th year

A sucker. A bleeding heart. An idiot. Gullible.

Harry was all of those and more for ever letting Fred and George guilt trip him into helping them.

‘Please, Harry, you’re the only one that would understand.’

‘You mean so much to us, and we’d love it if you could be there through all parts of this process.’

A damn fool is what he was. But when he walked into the abandoned classroom he was told to go to, he paused at the only other occupant in the room.

Malfoy.

An exceedingly angry Malfoy who huffed at seeing him, arms folded as he glared at him, as if it was his fault they were both there.

“Did they blackmail you too?” Malfoy asked, nose lifting in the air. “No good bloody Gryffindors that should’ve been in Slytherin. When I get my hands on the Weasley twins I’ll—”

“Blackmail?” Harry’s brows rose. “I’m here because they suckered me into it.”

A pause before a harsh snort. “I’ve always known you were daft, but damn.”

Harry was going murder Fred and George and blame it on Ron.

“Oh, good, you’re both here.”

Fred waltzed in, hands full of all kinds of things, some of them teetering but never falling over. None of them looked familiar at all, and he was hesitant to ask. Regret filled him the more items Fred took out, and he wished he had said no like Ron did.

“Why does it sound like that was your goal, Weasley?” Malfoy said, teeth clenched as his narrowed eyes were on Fred who was pulling out a strange triangular container that rattled and hissed at him.

“Wouldn’t know what you mean, Malfoy,” Fred said, blinking innocently at him. Harry doubted the twins had ever been innocent in their entire lives.

“What are we doing?” Harry asked, wanting to get to the point. The sooner he helped out, the sooner he could leave and plot Fred and George’s murder.

“You, my dear Harry, are here to be our testers,” a voice announced from the doorway as George sauntered in, holding a box of more stuff.

“Your other testers got paid,” Harry pointed out, knowing that Hermione hadn’t been able to take down all of their posters.

“Unfortunately for you two, that’s not an option.”

Harry crossed his arms. “Keep in mind that I’m also a silent backer for your joke shop.”

“What?” Malfoy hissed, hitting Harry in the arm. “Why would you put money into this?”

Fred and George stood up straighter, narrowed eyes on Malfoy.

“They’re going to outsell Zonko’s in a month,” Harry promised, knowing that Fred and George could do it. The things their minds came up with were genius and not something that could be replicated anywhere else.

Malfoy’s head twisted minutely before he looked between the three of them.

“How long has the business been operating?”

“Technically, it hasn’t but—”

“—we have a location in mind but have yet to settle an agreement with Gringotts.”

“What are your financial projections and what kind of revenue have you plotted?”

Harry’s head swiveled back and forth between Malfoy, Fred and George.

Fred and George shared a look. “We haven’t.”

Malfoy’s face grew pinched. “Considering the type of business it is, have you looked into legal protections?”

“Legal?” Fred and George said in unison.

“There will be those disgruntled at being on the receiving end of your products and will be looking for compensation. Don’t tell me you haven’t considered it.”

“Not to that extent,” Fred hedged, shifting a bit. “We figured we could hire someone who would know about that.”

“Like a business manager,” George added.

“Do you have the contracts and paperwork set up for something like that?”

The two traded a look and it was entirely obvious what the answer would be.

“We will.”

“Mm,” Malfoy nodded, looking to Harry as he said, “I think you got screwed.”

“Hey!” Fred and George yelled.

Harry didn’t want any part of the conversation at all. “It’s just starting out; I think they’ll get the hang of it soon.”

He hoped.

“You said partner,” Malfoy began, moving until he could peer into the boxes, but didn’t touch anything—which was smart. “Are we talking equity or debt?”

Harry looked to the twins who both shrugged. Maybe there was some truth to what Malfoy was saying. All of them were still in school after all.

“Was it a loan that is to be paid back?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” Harry said again, head shaking as he frowned at them. “I don’t want to be paid back.”

“Then equity,” Malfoy said with a hum. “That would make sense if you truly believe in the business.”

Fred cleared his throat before he said, “What does that mean?”

“It would mean that a portion of all sales would go to Potter. That portion is dependent on the money that was used and what you three negotiated.”

When all three of them looked at each other with wide eyes, Malfoy sighed, head falling back as he stared at the ceiling.

“Get a business manager, go over every aspect of your goals and plans for the future of your business and write up contracts. Especially for Potter.”

“I don’t need—”

“Don’t be daft,” Malfoy sneered. “Unless the money was a gift, then by all means ignore what I’m saying. But if it’s not, then you’ll want the protection of a contract in case there’s ever any legal issues.”

“It was a gift.”

“No, it wasn’t,” George said, tone harsh in a way that had Harry’s head jerking back a bit.

“George is right, Harry. We didn’t want your charity. That wasn’t what that was. If you don’t want us to pay you back, then Malfoy is right. We’ll look into contracts.”

“But I don’t need a portion of your sales.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gone in business with us, Harry,” George said, a small smile of his face. “Too late now.”

Huffing, Harry gave in. It was too late, and it wasn’t like he wanted the money back. He did believe in their business and wanted to see it flourish.

“I have a feeling it’s less of a silent partner and more of a legit partner.”

“Exactly,” Fred cooed, pinching his cheek. Harry had to fight him off because once Fred got his hands on him, he didn’t want to let go.

“How do you know all this business stuff anyway,” Harry asked Malfoy when Fred and George began digging through their boxes as they whispered too low to be heard.

Malfoy’s face became pinched again. “My father has had me in business lessons since I was a child. He invests in businesses all the time and has drilled the pros and cons of investing into me. It’s rather boring.”

Harry was reluctantly impressed, but he didn’t want to show it. Malfoy was strange this year. They still bickered whenever possible, but it was tame and more out of habit than anything. With Harry once again being the social pariah as everyone believed him to be a lying liar that made up seeing Voldemort, he had expected Malfoy to thrive in Harry’s lack of a social standing. Except that never happened.

Malfoy knew he was telling the truth because of his father, but it would serve their cause to downplay Harry. Only, Malfoy never did. Just ignored him, sort of.

“Business lessons, you say?” Fred asked, head peering over his shoulder.

“Yeah, but—” Malfoy paused to narrow his eyes. “Oh no, you aren’t roping me into this disaster.”

“What about blackmail?” George smirked, brows waggling.

“Absolutely not. Don’t think for one second that I won’t get revenge on you two.”

“We’ll see,” they said together, sharing a look that said more than most sentences could. Harry just wished he understood the language.

“Why do you even need us?” Harry asked, hating that he was referring to Malfoy in such a close proximity to himself. “Can’t your paid testers do whatever it is you need?”

“No, they can’t.”

Harry looked to Fred, waiting for him to explain further, but nothing more was said. Which had him just as suspicious as Malfoy.

“What are we testing?” Malfoy asked, eying the door and Harry could get behind that line of thought.

“You two—” Fred pointed between them. “Will be testing several of our products that without intensive research we wouldn’t be able to accurately get data out of. Which is where you come in. The both of you are exactly what we are looking for.”

“You both have a roundabout way of saying a whole lot of words that amount to nothing,” Malfoy drawled, one brow arched. “Spit it out.”

“We need passion. We need an intensity that we can’t find anywhere else.”

A horrible feeling took root as Harry hesitantly asked, “What does that mean?”

George opened the hissing triangular box and out came five vials containing a pink liquid. The container hadn’t been the cause of the hissing, it was the vials. All of them flew at Fred and George and began hitting them repeatedly.

“Now this is a show,” Malfoy said, hands behind his head as he stared at the two of them with a wide smirk.

“I agree,” Harry said, grinning when Fred gasped and clutched his chest as he mumbled about traitors being the closest ones to you and how could he betray them like that.

When George batted one of the vials, it nearly hit Harry, who reached out to catch it.

“I don’t know what they did to you, but you didn’t deserve it,” Harry cooed, just to watch the twins glare at him. What he didn’t expect was the vial to go still before it inched closer to him and began lightly touch his cheek as the hissing disappeared and out came a strange sound.

“I think it’s purring,” Malfoy said, voice filled with a glee that never boded well for Harry. “This is definitely a show.”

The vial turned at Malfoy’s voice as it flew to him, and Harry laughed as silver eyes grew wide as he tried to dodge the bottle but couldn’t. It was the same thing all over again. The vial inched closer until it touched Malfoy and began to purr.

“I knew it!” Fred yelled, partially in glee as he raised one fist to the air, but also because the pointy lid of the vial poked him in the eye. “I told you, George.”

George began to rub his hands together.

Feeling uneasy, Harry said, “And what exactly is this?”

“That is our prized product, or well, it will be once you help us perfect it.”

“Still saying a whole lot of words that amount to nothing,” Malfoy drawled, a foot tapping impatiently.

“We call it Patented Daydream,” George said, swiping one of the vials that were hitting him in the head. “Once perfected it will guarantee up to a half hour of a daydream based on the user’s desires. It’ll be undetectable outside of drooling and a vacant expression, but long enough that those in classes like History of Magic would benefit greatly.”

Whoa. Harry looked at the vial that was purring nearing Malfoy and wondered how they had come up with that.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes, which seemed to be the status quo for him. “And how exactly did you formulate that? Based off of the sparkling inside the liquid, I would surmise it’s a watered down and bastardized version of Amortentia.”

Malfoy was smart, very smart. Harry had known that already, but he hadn’t quite realized how smart he was.

“It’s a hybrid,” Fred said, drawing himself up to his full height. “We may have taken bits of Amortentia but only a small dose.”

“What else did you add?”

“We might have added enhancers.”

Another narrowing of eyes as Malfoy crossed his arms. “What else?”

“We’re not giving away our secrets.”

“You’re going to have to if you sell that to the public. You open yourself up to lawsuits when you don’t publish your ingredients. Not to mention allergic reactions, you don’t want to be responsible for the death of someone because you were too secretive over your ingredients.”

A horrifying thought occurred to Harry, and that was that it the twins had made a good decision in blackmailing Malfoy to help. As much as he believed in Fred and George and the idea of their shop, he wondered how deep they went when discussing owning a shop at all. It was more than making money and opening up the doors to customers. There were the boring parts as Malfoy said, the legalities and the actual business side of it. Had Fred and George even considered that?

“There’s thirty different potions inside it,” Fred said, shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Thirty?” Malfoy whispered, mouth parted and eyes wide. “Merlin, like what?”

“Well we had to make sure all of our bases were covered. We can’t guarantee a daydream if we don’t have anything to push it along.”

Fred nodded before he said, “Exactly. There’s a bit of Exstimulo Potion—”

At Harry’s confused expression Malfoy said, “Increases the spell power of the drinker.”

“There’s a smidgen of Beautification Potion—”

“Increased the beauty of the drinker,” Malfoy mumbled, standing closer to Harry so that he could whisper the explanations instead of interrupting Fred and George.

“Bit of Baruffio’s Brain Elixir.”

“Increases the brain power of the drinker,” Malfoy whispered, a strange look on his face as he looked at the twins.

“Some Girding Potion.”

“Gives the drinker more endurance.”

“A dash of a Calming Draught followed by a bit of a Pepper-up Potion, and then there’s a healthy dose of a Fire Breathing Potion–”

“Why?” Malfoy asked, throwing his hands in the air. “Merlin, are you two mad?”

Fred placed his hands on his hips as George frowned. “You never know what someone’s daydream will entail. It’s unique to the individual. We put in so many potions to ensure that there’s at least something that will entice the drinker.”

As Malfoy and George began debating on whether a Fire Breathing Potion was needed in a daydream, Harry’s mind was stuck on—

“How is it unique to the individual?”

Malfoy paused, shooting Harry a surprised look. “That’s a good question, Potter.”

Harry refused to admit that it made him shiver, but by the way Fred and George shared a look it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You see, now that you mention legalities, I’m not sure we should answer that,” Fred said, eyes on the door as he slid a few inches to the right.

“Merlin,” Malfoy shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What did you two do?”

“We don’t have to tell you shit,” George scowled, nose lifting in the air.

Perhaps they were right, but—

“Seeing as my money is funding some of this, I think I at least have the right to know.”

George deflated before he petulantly sat on the dusty floor.

“Veritaserum,” Fred answered when Harry gestured for one of them to speak up. “That way the user can’t lie to themself on what they are looking for in a daydream.”

Harry blinked a few times before he looked to Malfoy who looked torn between being impressed and gobsmacked.

“Is that legal? Can they do that?”

“Depends how potent it is, and that would require a label on the packaging warning of the use of Veritaserum.”

“It’s not potent,” they said together.

“With the enhancers we added, there’s only a drop per vial.”

“If the potion is made well enough, a drop is all you need, and is still potent.”

“Ah,” George said sagely with a little nod. “You’re under the impression that we are competent brewers.”

“The rest of the Gryffindors might be foolish enough to think you two are stupid, but I’m not. Potions is clearly your best subject and I’d wager a tenth of the Malfoy fortune that you both got outstanding on your O.W.L exams for it.”

The two of them traded a look before Fred shrugged sheepishly. “Potions are in at least eighty percent of our products.”

Harry was a little annoyed that he hadn’t ever realized how good the two of them were at potions. Then again, they didn’t talk that much outside of the Burrow or Quidditch practices.

“Exactly,” Malfoy said, expression smug. “Which leads back to what I said. One drop is still potent.”

“We watered it down.”

Malfoy’s head twisted to the side a bit. “And when it came in contact with the enhancers it would’ve boosted the potency right back up.”

“It would if we didn’t counterbalance the enhancer with Agrippa.”

A slow gasp as Malfoy ran a finger through his hair, messing up the slicked back look he always had. The messy hair was distracting, and he wished Malfoy would fix it so that he could look away.

“Agrippa,” George began in a tone that Harry had never heard him use before—the tone was serious and slightly nerdy. “When in contact with cockroach skin which is only used in Veritaserum dulls the effect and is primarily used—”

 “—in the Antidote to Veritaserum.”

Malfoy ran his fingers through his hair again. “I need to sit down.” He transfigured one of the chairs into a fancier looking one and Harry had to wonder why? A chair was a chair.

“I feel like I’m missing something,” Harry said, sitting on the edge of Malfoy’s chair, ignoring the elbow that tried to shove him off.

“I’ll tell you what you’re missing,” Malfoy huffed, pointing an accusatory finger at Fred and George. “These two could very well get a Mastery in potions if they wanted to.”

Fred and George puffed out their chests at the praise.

“Because they used Agrippa?” Harry asked, not really following.

“Not just that. The fact that they managed to combine thirty potions independently without them combining into an unknown mess that could poison someone.”

Okay, he could understand that. “If that’s true, then why does it need perfecting? What went wrong?”

Malfoy’s brows rose before he looked at the twins who winced. “Another good question.”

Harry refused to puff out his chest like they had, but the urge was there, and he hated it.

“We can’t bottle passion yet,” Fred admitted with a frown. “We’ve tried.”

Passion. They had said that earlier. “And that has something to do with us?”

“Yes,” they said in unison, heads also nodding together.

“You two are chalk full of it.”

A slow blink from Malfoy before a menacing, “Pardon?”

“What George means is that we have desire locked down, but we haven’t been able to capture passion. That’s where you two come in. You both have a lot of passion for each other.”

Harry choked, face heating up as he stared at them incredulously. “Are you barking? What are you on about?”

Fred huffed, eyes rolling. “Where do you think hatred comes from if not stemmed from some form of passion? The two of you are a volatile mess and we want to bottle that mess of passion.”

“Two people who dislike each other,” Malfoy mumbled, hands clenching. “We’re in a school of about three hundred. I’m sure you could find hundreds that don’t like someone.”

“Ah,” George said, nodding once. “But name me a duo that dislikes each other more than you two.”

Harry licked his lips as he reluctantly admitted, “I don’t hate Malfoy.”

Another little gasp as Malfoy blinked at him a few times. “What?”

Harry turned back to Fred and George, not wanting to see Malfoy’s face as he said, “I’m not sure I ever did.”

Dislike? Absolutely. Hate? That was pretty powerful, and he wasn’t sure he hated Malfoy. That was reserved for someone like Voldemort. Malfoy was no Voldemort.

Fred shrugged. “Doesn’t change anything. There is still passion there, we’ve seen it. That’s what we need from you two.”

Passion.

But like, what did that even entail?

“What are we supposed to do?”

George pulled out a familiar looking object that Harry never wanted to see again. A pensive. Snape’s anger was still prominent in his mind from their last Occlumency lesson.

“We want you to think of your fights, but not necessarily the memories. We want the emotions. We’re going to extract them from you, and we’ll dissect it until we get the right formula so that we can recreate it ourselves.”

“And if you can’t recreate it?” Malfoy asked, elbows on his knees as he leaned forward and placed his chin on his hands. “Then what?”

The two traded a long look before Fred said, “Then it looks like we’ll have to find a solicitor and enter a contract with you two to continuously produce it for us.”

Harry let out a whoosh of air. All of this was a lot more than just testing out a product. “I didn’t agree to any of this when I said I’d help you.”

George grinned; eyes mischievous. “Don’t think we can’t blackmail you too.”

Groaning, Harry slumped his shoulders in defeat. He didn’t even want to know what the two of them had on him. Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

“Fine,” Harry gave in, ignoring the incredulous look from Malfoy. It didn’t matter if he was being stupid by giving in, he didn’t want the fight or the hassle. Plus, they were his friends and in the end, he’d do anything for them. “But I reserve the right to use this against you in the future as a return favor is owed to me.”

Fred pursed his lips before he held a hand up to cover his face as he and George began a whispered conversation as they considered it.

George nodded at whatever Fred said before he cleared his throat. “We are in agreement as long as the future is defined as no more than five years from now.”

Harry blinked once as he squinted. They were negotiating with him?

“Ten,” Malfoy argued, and Harry was the only one bewildered as the twins looked to Malfoy seriously.

“Seven.”

Malfoy hummed. “Nine and Potter throws in one free endorsement for one of your products.”

Harry spluttered. What was happening and why were Fred and George taking Malfoy seriously?

“Deal,” they said together, two shit eating grins on their faces.

“What just happened?”

“I secured you nine years to get whatever favor you want out of them; you can thank me now.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I’ll thank you when they actually follow through with it.”

“Figures you’d be petty.”

“It’s not petty,” Harry argued. “It’s me waiting until I see proof of them following through with it.”

“You are so—” Malfoy cut off when they both noticed that Fred and George were staring at them while taking notes.

“What?” Fred asked defensively.

Harry shook his head. “Can we get this over with already? What do I have to do?”

George stood up, pulling the pensive with him as he set it between Harry and Draco.

“I want you to think of your first meeting and how much you disliked each other.”

Malfoy shook his head. “I didn’t know who he was when we first met and had no issue with him then.”

“Then think of the next time you met.”

Harry closed his eyes, thinking of their first interaction and how Draco had reminded him of Dudley. At the time he had felt unease and disgust, but he wasn’t too sure that was what they were looking for.

“Stay still, we’re going to extract it.”

Harry held his breath, almost jumping when he felt one of their wands pressed to his temple. It felt weird, like an itch in his brain as it was extracted from him.

When he opened his eyes, it was to see two swirling cloudy substances in the pensive. Only it was clear that there was a difference between them. One was larger than the other and it was also more defined and less wispy.

“Harry what is this?” Fred frowned, poking at the emotion that was taken from him. “This is not passion.”

“I can try again.”

He closed his eyes, thinking of the next time they met on the train when Malfoy had insulted Ron and the way his snobbish attitude had been off putting.

“Better but not nearly enough,” George chided. “Try again.”

Feeling annoyed, Harry grit his teeth and tried again. He thought of Malfoy running to McGonagall during their first year to tattle about Hagrid’s dragon. He thought of their duel in their second year. He thought of the Buckbeak incident in their third year. He thought of the stupid Potter stinks badges from last year. He thought of every insult that had been sent his way.

“Whoa,” Fred gasped. “Merlin it’s beautiful.”

Harry’s eyes snapped open to see that his small wispy mess had transformed into something that had more than tripled in size and became solid compared to the transparent consistency of Malfoy’s.

George turned to Malfoy. “You’re going to have to match that. Keep thinking.”

Malfoy grumbled under his breath, something about Harry being an overachiever. When Malfoy’s emotion was extracted it looked a lot like Harry’s and he had to wonder at how much passion was in there.

It was a strange thought that to realize that they were passionate about each other. It also made his cheeks a bit pink, but it made sense. To dislike someone so much allows them inside and allows that to fester. Harry had let Malfoy in a long time ago and it had festered into a jumble of emotions, including passion.

“There, you have what you wanted,” Malfoy gritted, not meeting Harry’s eyes as he stood up. “Can I go now?”

“Yes, but we’ll need you back once we are at the testing stage just in case we need more passion.”

Malfoy’s eyes closed. “Fine.”

He stormed out of the room but not before letting the Transfiguration on the chair go and Harry yelped as it transformed back into a chair that had no arm to it and he fell right to the ground.

“Fucking prick,” Harry grumbled to the sound of Malfoy’s delighted laugh that echoed in the hall as he left.

Harry might not hate him, but he could lie and pretend that at least his laugh wasn’t pretty.

Over the next three months Harry tried to ignore the strange smirks and glances Fred and George sent him. It was disconcerting and he was a little nervous as to the cause.

“Thank you for your help, Harry.”

“Oh yes,” Fred winked. “Your emotions are enlightening.”

“Erm, you’re welcome?” Harry said, wishing that the two of them hadn’t said anything while he was with Ron and Hermione.

“No thank you.”

Okay, he was officially creeped out and rushed down the hall to the sound of Fred and George’s laughter. Merlin, he regretted ever having a softness for his friends. Maybe Malfoy was right, and he really was daft.

“What was that about?” Hermione asked when her and Ron caught up to him.

“Nothing. I’m just stupid.”

“No, you aren’t,” Ron frowned, glaring at his brothers who were in the middle of the hall still laughing.

“Fred and George suckered me into helping them with one of their products.”

“Oh,” Ron said slowly, sharing a look with Hermione before, “You are stupid.”

Snorting, Harry elbowed Ron in the side as he continued turned down a new corridor.

“What did they have you do?” Hermione asked, biting her lip. “It wasn’t another one of those puking pastilles was it?”

“No, I kind of wish it had been,” Harry grumbled, ignoring their alarmed expressions. “They needed mine and Malfoy’s passion.”

Ron tripped over his feet and Hermione walked right into the wall.

Maybe helping out Fred and George wasn’t so bad after all.

When Harry walked into the classroom he had hoped to never have to see again, it was to see Malfoy sitting in another Transfigured chair, arms folded as he looked at Fred and George who were impatiently vibrating as they waited for him to fully enter.

“I take it that it’s a success?” Harry asked, standing next to Malfoy’s chair but not sitting on it like last time, he didn’t trust Malfoy at all.

“In more ways than one,” George grinned, and it was definitely threatening, and it made him super uneasy.

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“I’m not,” Malfoy drawled. “Spit it out.”

Harry wanted to point out that that wasn’t a question at all but didn’t feel like getting in a row over something silly.

“You two have some pretty powerful emotions that are very similar.”

“Okay…” Harry trailed off expectantly, waiting for them to continue. When they didn’t, he looked to Malfoy who shrugged at him.

George summoned the same triangular container as last time only there was a noticeable difference. There was no hissing or violent rattling. 

“We asked you here to be our testers.”

They did it then. Harry was impressed.

“Is it safe?” Malfoy drawled. “I’m not taking it until you two do it as well.”

“We already did,” Fred winked. “And it was enlightening.”

Harry didn’t want to know. He really didn’t.

“Is it still a half hour daydream?” Harry asked, checking the time. “I have Quidditch practice soon, and so do the both of you.”

“Half a dose then,” Fred said as George nodded. “You can split one vial.”

“Oh joy,” Malfoy drawled, taking the vial and chugging half of it in one go. For someone who had been hesitant to take it, his actions went against that.

Harry took a deep breath before he took the rest of the vial and prayed that nothing went wrong.

There was an immediate haziness that overtook him, and he had to sit on the edge of Malfoy’s chair out of fear he’d fall otherwise. He felt calm in a way that he hadn’t before, and it was kind of nice. A floating feeling as there was a whisper in his mind.

“Don’t worry, the potion is trying to find the perfect daydream.”

Harry wasn’t worried at all. His emotions were calm, peaceful and—

He let out a gasp when his mind was filled with images like a movie. Whoa. He could almost smell the flower field he was in, could nearly taste the spring in the air as he rolled over in the grass, content and warm. There were hands on him, and he had to turn his head to see who it was.

Another gasp as his mind was filled with images of Malfoy.

‘Draco,’ his daydream self-whispered, smiling widely as Malfoy rolled them over before he was kissed over and over as his hands tangled in the loose un-slicked blonde hair that he couldn’t help but focus on.

‘Harry.’

It was whispered reverently as hands cupped his cheeks and their noses brushed together.

Harry felt like his heart was in his throat as he watched the two of them make out amongst the flowers as the sun began to set and beautiful hues washed over everything.

It was lovely. It was beautiful.

But it wasn’t true.

Harry shook his head repeatedly as the last of the daydream faded from his mind and he stood up, hands clenched.

“What was that?” Harry demanded. “I thought it was supposed to be a daydream we wanted.”

“It was,” George smirked, brows waggling. “Veritaserum, remember? We didn’t mess with it at all.”

Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he looked to Malfoy who had a read face and a hand pressed to one of his cheeks.

“What did you mean by enlightening?” Malfoy asked, a flash of white as he bit his lip. “What else did you extract?”

“You already know the answer to that,” George said kindly, eyes a bit soft as he looked at them. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

Harry frowned, head shaking. He didn’t want to know what Malfoy’s daydream was about, didn’t want to think of his own.

“If that’s all,” Malfoy drawled, standing up and dusting off his robes before making it to the door.

Part of Harry wanted to tell him to stay, but for what? What was the point?

Harry didn’t spare the twins a glance as he left too.

It was nearing the end of the year when a letter arrived from a law firm. He panicked, trying to think of what he could have done to be approached by a law firm. He knew he wasn’t a criminal, but in that moment his mind whispered, ‘But what if you are?’

He sighed, shoulders losing all tension when he realized that it was a set of contracts. Fred and George had clearly taken Malfoy’s advice and contacted a solicitor. There was a contract for becoming their business partner, a contract for his involvement in the Patented Daydream, and one for his future endorsement of their product whenever he collects on the favor.

For no other reason than it was a horrible idea, Harry used the map to track Malfoy down, who was sitting in a small clearing right inside the Forbidden Forest.

“Did you get one too?” Harry asked, narrowly avoiding a fall as he tripped over a large tree root.

Malfoy stared at him for a long time before nodding. “Several of them.”

“Really? Me too.”

He was curious but wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. Willingly seeking Malfoy out was a horrible idea and he wished he hadn’t bothered.

“They sent me one to be an investor, like you.”

Harry blinked a few times. He knew that Fred and George didn’t need Malfoy, so why bother? Maybe they were running out of funds? If so, they could ask him for more help.

“I signed the damn thing,” Malfoy frowned, looking down at his hands that were clenched around a book on Advanced Potions. “Merlin knows why. Maybe I’m just as daft as you.”

“I’m not daft,” Harry said, more of a reflex as he walked closer before sitting in front of Malfoy. “So we’re business partners?”

A scoff. “No, I’m business partners with them, not you.”

“Yeah, but since I’m also partners with them, wouldn’t that include you too?”

“No.”

Malfoy was stubborn, and he found it amusing—which was a gateway thought. Harry knew that if he let Malfoy become amusing that it would lead to other thoughts that were unwanted and would filter through and then before he knew it, the daydream would come back and this time there would be nothing to blame it on but himself.

“Whatever you say, business partner.”

“I will murder you,” Malfoy hissed, eyes narrowed. “There are enough things in this forest that can take the blame. No one will find your body.”

“Been thinking of me, have you?”

Malfoy looked away, head shaking, but there was a small twitch of his lips and—oh no—that was the true gateway thought. It was a mistake to come out here.

“About the daydream,” Malfoy said, fingers clenching again. “If yours was anything like mine, then maybe we should talk about it.”

Harry’s mind blanked. “You want to talk about it?”

That was the last thing he had expected. He assumed that Malfoy wouldn’t want to talk about it, that it would get buried under the rug and shoved so far to the side that they never spoke of it again or even looked at each other.

Except, here they were. Harry had sought him out. Maybe… maybe he wanted to talk about it.

“Not really,” Malfoy said, still not looking at him. “However, I think with the state of everything, that we should. Get it over with.”

Get it over with? Harry frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. He didn’t want to get it over with. He wanted—

Harry froze, mind coming to a standstill as he realized what it was that he wanted.

“You,” Harry whispered. “My daydream was about you.”

There was a pink hue to Malfoy’s cheeks as he whispered just as softly, “Mine was about you.”

“What do we do about it?”

“Is there anything we can do about it?” Malfoy countered. “My father is a Death Eater, the Dark Lord frequents my home and I know they are going to expect me to join them.”

Harry hissed out a breath. Part of him wanted to say that there was no way Voldemort would recruit a teenager, but he repeatedly targeted every year, so Malfoy was probably right. Since when did Voldemort care about age or morals?

“What if we don’t care?” Harry asked, heart thumping rapidly.

Another scoff. “How? Are we supposed to overlook everything? Potter, it’s not realistic.”

“Realistic or not, why does it matter? It’s going to get ugly; it’s going to get rough. My life is already filled with so many unwanted aspects to it. Why can’t I have a ray of light? Why can’t I have something just for me?”

Malfoy’s face crumpled and it had his heart squeezing. “Potter…”

“Harry. If you’re going to reject me then at least use my name.”

Eyes closed, one of Malfoy’s hands slid from the book and reached blindly for him. Harry hesitantly entwined their fingers, heart beating so fast he worried something was wrong with him.

“Harry.”

It was whispered with so much emotion that his hand clenched on reflex as his mind replayed the daydream where Malfoy had whispered his name then too.

“Draco.”

Draco shuddered, hand squeezing Harry’s, but there was no response.

“What was your daydream about?” Harry asked, smiling when Draco glared at him.

A deep exhale before, “We were in love.’

Harry sucked in a sharp breath. “Mine too.”

“But—”

“But nothing,” Harry stubbornly said. “If we can have a tiny sliver of light in the shitty lot life gave us, why not fight for it? Why should we suffer more if we don’t have to?”

“You’re such a Gryffindor.” It was said in a derogatory manner, but it felt more fond than anything. “Anyone else would’ve left by now.”

“I’m not anyone else. I want this.”

“Even if it’s a bad idea?”

“Even then.”

“Even if I’m no good?”

“Even then. People change. You can too if you want to.”

A shaky breath as Draco nodded.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Harry asked, perking up as silver eyes met him and for once there was no hostility to them. There was no suspicion, anger, derision or hatred.

Vulnerability and a hesitance that had Harry wanting to hold onto Draco’s heart and protect it, even from himself.

“Yeah,” Draco said, face pink and a shy quirk of his lips. “Let’s make bad decisions together.”

Harry launched himself forward, knocking Draco’s book out of his hands as he was met with a surprised grunt as his weight fully hit Draco.

“I make the worst decisions,” Harry boasted. “We’ve got this.”

This time Draco did smile, and it was breathtaking in its beauty and he knew that no matter how it ended, it would be worth it.

Everything would be worth it.

“Wait, Harry, wait.”

Harry continued to kiss Draco’s neck from the inside of the supply closet they managed to find in the dungeons.

“I don’t want to,” Harry mumbled against Draco’s neck.

A light laugh, and it was still the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

“This is important.”

Reluctantly, Harry stepped back the best he could with a broom poking his arse, and he was pretty sure his elbow had knocked over some kind of cleaning solution. There was a strange bleach smell wafting around them.

“What? What’s more important than making out with my boyfriend?”

They both smiled shyly at that. They had only just recently defined what they were.

“Your godfather.”

Harry’s head jerked back hitting the shelf and knocking over another cleaning solution as the smell grew stronger.

“Pardon?”

Draco shook his head. “I mean his House Elf. Kreacher has been frequenting the Manor. I saw him myself over Easter. He’s been telling my mother and father information on Sirius and you.”

Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he sat down on a mop bucket, cursing when he realized it was full of water. He ignored Draco’s snickering as he applied several drying charms to his arse.

“You could always let me do it.”

Harry snorted. “I’m not letting you near my arse until we have a proper bed. The last time you tried I fell over and hit my head on the wall. I still have a bump.”

“My poor baby.”

Harry flushed. Draco had never called him that before. He kind of liked it, even if it was said sarcastically. Once he was fully dry, he moved to a stool that was far too small for him, but it would do.

“I’ll let Sirius know,” Harry said, looking at his boyfriend. “I’m surprised he’s able to leave the house at all.”

Draco shrugged. “They usually can’t without punishment, but if the rules are too lax then they can come and go as they please.”

Like Dobby.

Harry wasn’t sure what kind of information Kreacher was giving to the Malfoys, but he was going to let Sirius know, and he was also going to be hesitant to listen to anything Kreacher had to say. He hoped that Sirius wouldn’t punish him, but that wasn’t up to him.

He doubted that anything would come of it, but better safe than sorry.

1996, 6th year

“Harry, we’re worried about you.”

Harry groaned as he pulled out his cloak and map. It was getting harder and harder to come up with excuses as to why he was disappearing all the time. There were only so many times he could use Dumbledore as an excuse, when he really only had seen the man a few times.

“Don’t be, I’m okay.”

“You’re obsessed with Malfoy.”

Harry dropped his trunk on his foot, swearing up a storm as he blinked wide eyed at his friends.

“What?”

Hermione huffed, arms folding as she gingerly sat on Dean’s bed, the best bet as he didn’t trust the rest of the beds to not stink. There was only so much the house elves could do to get out the smell of teenage boys.

“Did you expect us to not notice? You follow him around, look for him in class rooms and you even watch him eat for crying out loud.”

Harry flushed, turning away as he hastily shoved his trunk under his bed. How embarrassing. Draco was never going to let it go.

“I understand that he’s a prick, and he probably is up to something, but you should let it go.”

“Up to something?”

“Well, yeah,” Ron said, voice bemused as Harry still had his back to them. “That’s why you’re following him, but maybe you should stop. If you haven’t found out what he’s doing yet, then I don’t think you’re going to.”

He bit his lip, trying not to grin. Draco was up to something, but it was usually making out with Harry whenever they could find time. They couldn’t really go on dates, but they did the best that they could. His favorite date had been when Draco had decorated the secret passage to Honeydukes with floating fairy lights. There had been a radio playing from its position on a rock in the passageway and there was a tray of sandwiches from the kitchens.

Harry was pretty sure he was in love.

“Just a little more time and I think I’ll have it,” Harry lied, turning around and schooling his face. “I’ll be back later.”

“Harry,” Hermione sighed. “Wouldn’t it be better if you spent your time studying? Our N.E.W.T exams aren’t too far off.”

The last thing he wanted to do was study for an exam that was over a year away. Too far off his arse.

“I’m not going after Malfoy,” Harry lied again, trying not to grin when Ron squinted at him, and Hermione arched a brow. “I’m not. I have Occlumency lessons with Snape.”

“Oh,” Hermione’s mouth parted. “How is that going?”

“Fine.” Wow, Harry was full of lies today. He tried not to feel guilty about it, but he was doing it because he wasn’t sure how they would take it. Draco left his friends alone, and honestly left everyone alone—kept his head down and tried to not gather any attention at all. It had been a close call over the summer where Draco had told him that he had almost been forced to choose to become a Death Eater or not, but his father’s position was in good standing, and it was decided that Draco would be less suspicious in his final year or after they graduated.

Harry had told Sirius though, had to when over the summer he caught them doing some very questionable things over a Floo call. That was still the single most embarrassing moment of his life. Sirius still snickered at him when he looked at the fireplace.

“I better not be late; I’ll see you later.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before booking it out of the room. He did manage to hear Ron say,

“Hopefully he listens to us. Malfoy might have a legitimate case on his hands if Harry isn’t careful. Can you imagine what the papers would say if Harry’s brought in front of the Wizengamot because he keeps stalking Malfoy?”

Yeah, Draco was going to get a kick out of that one.

Harry was going over a letter when Draco walked into their usual supply closet. They had used an Expansion Spell to make it roomier, and he was lounging on a couch that he had Transfigured out of the damn mop bucket that he hated with a passion.

“You got one too?”

He looked up to see Draco walk toward him with a rather large box in his hands. “They sent me this as well.”

Harry pulled Draco onto his lap as he peered into the box. “How come they sent you goodies? I didn’t get anything but a letter stating that my portion of the sales for the month would be transferred to my vault in a week.”

“They didn’t trust that Weasley and Granger wouldn’t be nosy,” Draco said, pulling out several things. They were unreleased Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes products. Fred and George liked to get their opinion on most of the products and as business partners it was kind of fun. The twins handled the bulk of the operations at the moment, but Harry wanted to put more effort into it one day, as long as the future allowed it.

“They were right.” If Harry had received a large package in the mail, his friends would have expected him to open it in front of them.

“I’ve been looking over them and the majority are alright, but I think some of them need to go back to the drawing board,” Draco said, pointing at one of them in particular. “The self-inking quill that is supposed to spell check doesn’t work right. It insults my grammar.”

Lips twitching, Harry said, “Maybe your grammar is bad.”

An offended gasp. “You take that back right now. My grammar is flawless just like me.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but he was fond, so fond. “You are pretty flawless.”

That earned him a kiss, so it was worth it.

“I wish I could be there when they come up with ideas,” Draco mumbled as he rifled through the box. “They are bloody genius.”

Yeah, they really were.

“Should we tell them that we’re together?”

“Absolutely not. We aren’t telling them unless we have to. Can you imagine how smug they would be? No. I’ll never be able to live it down.”

Harry laughed, pressing a kiss to Draco’s neck. Fred and George would be smug, and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

“They are the biggest reason we are together.”

“They don’t have to know that. They never have to know that.”

There was a threat in there, one that had Harry readily agreeing to whatever Draco said. A pissed off Slytherin was one thing, but a pissed of Slytherin boyfriend? That was another headache entirely.

Harry would give Draco the entire world if he could. Even if that meant agreeing to a revenge plot as his boyfriend plotted the downfall of Fred and George.

They kind of deserved it.

“What are you going to do?” Draco whispered, arms around Harry as he placed a chin to his shoulder. “Everything is changing.”

Harry wiped his eyes as he tossed a white rose over the top of the Astronomy tower where Dumbledore had been killed. It was his final goodbye.

“I’m not coming back next year.”

Hands rubbed at his stomach soothingly and Harry knew that he’d always love Draco. He didn’t give a damn what happened in the future.

“I figured as much.”

“I’m going to find his Horcruxes.” He had to. He was going to make sure that Voldemort died, and he couldn’t do that with the Horcruxes still out there.

“I want to help you.”

“I know you do,” Harry said, turning around in Draco’s grasp to kiss him softly. “And you can when you’re out of school. I’m not having you ruin your future to help me.”

Anger that he hadn’t seen in over a year, before they got together.

“So you can drop out, but I can’t?”

“It’s more than that,” Harry said, flicking him in the nose. “You also have to consider your family. What happens if you leave?”

Draco closed his eyes. “They’ll look for me.”

That and maybe even more than that. Harry didn’t know Lucius Malfoy personally, and the little that was shared with him wasn’t good. He wouldn’t put it past Lucius to actively hunt down Draco.

“I won’t join them.”

“I know,” Harry kissed the tip of his nose. “The moment they ask you to, flee. Sirius has already keyed you into the wards. You go there at any point, and you’ll be safe, okay?”

Draco trembled a bit, but he couldn’t blame him. It was all getting real. Before, they could pretend that it was something far off to worry about, something that wasn’t in the near future.

They couldn’t deny it any longer.

A war was brewing, and they had to prepare for it.

“Okay. I’ll call for Kreacher should I need him.”

Relief filled Harry at that. He hadn’t considered Kreacher. Sirius was still holding a grudge about the House Elf, but Harry couldn’t. Not when he realized that Kreacher went to Malfoy Manor because they were nice to him.

“He likes you the best anyway.”

“It’s because he has good taste,” Draco sniffed.

“I like you the best too.”

Draco smiled softly, cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink like they did every time Harry said something sappy. It was a lovely color, one he saw in his dreams sometime.  

“I love you, Harry.”

Harry’s eyes closed as he smiled. “I love you too.”

So much. Harry loved Draco so much.

No daydream could ever compare.

1997

It was his birthday, but he didn’t feel like celebrating. He had ignored Dumbledore’s wishes and never went back to Privet Drive. Snape had said that Voldemort believed that he’d be there, and they could all waste their time waiting for him to leave while he was actually safe at Grimmauld Place.

Things were moving at a hectic pace. Sirius and Remus were helping him find the Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione helped when they could, but he had them recruiting others and helping Snape with combatting raids with the Order.

Mrs Weasley was adamant that they celebrate his birthday, and he didn’t have the heart to argue with her. Which was why he was at the kitchen table surrounded by friends and family, but his heart still ached for Draco.

Draco who would be doing the best he could from Hogwarts when school started again. He spied whenever possible and let him know what was going on. It was invaluable information and he refused to tell anyone but Sirius who his source was. Remus probably already suspected, but that was more because Sirius had a big mouth and didn’t like keeping things from his boyfriend.

“Cheer up, Harry,” Remus said, patting him on the arm as he passed the gravy. It was hard to hear him over the chatter, but Harry appreciated him nonetheless.

“Harry! You got a package!”

Harry frowned when Sirius rushed in and handed it to him at the table, knocking over Ron’s Butterbeer. The box was decorated in elegant wrapping paper and a pretty bow that sparkled and giggled at him.

There was a tag on it that read, ‘To my love.’ He tried to hide that, but Fred and George snatched the tag so quick that he groaned.

“To my love,” Fred cooed as a few people gasped and Harry flushed, ignoring the narrowing of Hermione’s eyes.

George was giving him a knowing look, and he knew he’d have to tell Draco that the twins were onto them.

“Open it,” Ron said, eyes eager. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

Harry ignored that as he opened the box, only to start laughing uncontrollably as he pulled out a mop bucket. The same damn one that he always despised.

“I don’t get it,” someone whispered. “Who wants an old mop bucket?”

Harry clutched it to his chest, hating that a stupid thing like a mop bucket was making him teary eyed.

“I love it,” he whispered to himself. Leave it to Draco to always know how to make him feel better.

Still.

“I got him a fucking designer robe.” Harry shook his head. For Christmas Draco was getting socks just like Dobby.

The rest of his birthday was spent with everyone bugging him to spill the beans on who he was dating. Ron had set up a betting pool and surprisingly, Draco wasn’t one of the people listed.

Snape, however, was listed, and if Harry wasn’t so upset over it he’d be offended at how disgusted Snape looked when it was announced.

Harry was a damn catch.

They had been running from a group of Snatchers after Ron accidentally used Voldemort’s name, but they weren’t quick enough. In their panic at being surrounded, Hermione shot a spell at him, and he groaned in pain.

“What the fuck was that for?” Harry hissed, unable to see as his face ballooned up. She grabbed his glasses off his face, snapping them in two before burying them in the grass right as the snatchers caught up to them.

They were quickly bound and questioned by the Snatchers until one of them said,

“Ain’t that Potter?”

A hush settled as they all turned to him as he shook his head. “The name is Vernon.”

“Vernon, huh?” the man licked his lips. “I reckon we caught Potter.”

The other Snatchers began to cheer, and Harry debated about calling Dobby or Kreacher for help, but he didn’t want to unless it was absolutely necessary.

“And if it isn’t?” A different Snatcher argued. “If you’re wrong it’s all of our arses on the line.”

“It has to be. Look at who’s with him. That’s a Weasley if I ever saw one.”

Harry bit back a groan, wishing they had been under charms or Polyjuice Potion. They normally were, but it was a simple recon mission. They had secured three Horcruxes and were scoping out where a possible fourth one was when they were caught.

“Let’s take them to Malfoy Manor.”

Harry froze, heart thumping wildly as they were carted away. Part of him wanted to see Draco, even if for just a moment. It had been close to year since they had last seen each other. They sent frequent letters, which was enough, but he couldn’t deny how much he ached to see his boyfriend. But he also wished that Draco was at Hogwarts. Considering it was nearing Christmas, he doubted it.

When they were Apparated out front of Malfoy Manor, Harry let out a slow whistle at the sight. Calling it a manor was partially correct, but he rather thought it resembled a small castle. It was massive.

They were shoved through the door with little care and then pushed to the ground the moment Lucius showed up.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“We think we caught Potter.”

A low gasp had him squinting the best he could to see Bellatrix and Narcissa near the entrance.

“If we’re the ones to bring him in…” Bellatrix trailed off, greedy eyes on them.

“Um, no,” the main Snatcher that caught them said, finger lifted in the air. “Best not be forgetting who actually caught them.”

Harry could tell what was about to happen before it did, and he flinched when the man’s screams reached his ears as her Cruciatus Curse hit its target.

“Out!” She screeched. “Get out! Out!”

The Snatchers bowled over each other in an attempt to flee the manor, and if it were any other circumstance, he would’ve laughed.

“Why’s his face look like that?” Bellatrix asked, coming closer to Harry as her breath hit his face and he forced himself not to gag. “That could be a scar if his face wasn’t so swollen.”

“You kicked out the only people who might know,” Lucius drawled, sitting down on a chair in the center of the room as he looked at Harry through narrowed eyes.

“That’s clearly a Weasley.”

Ron made a sound. “There are other gingers in the world. I’m not a Weasley, I’m an Inkwell.”

Inkwell? Who the fuck was that?

“Inkwell,” Lucius hummed, brows rising. “Haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

“Didn’t they die out?” Narcissa said as she moved to sit on the edge of Lucius’ chair.

“Clearly not,” Ron said, earning him a hex from Bellatrix that had him doubling over.

“And this one? If it is Potter then that would be the Mudblood.”

Hermione stood up straighter. “Clearwater, Penelope Clearwater.”

Narcissa placed a finger to her chin. “Could be. It’s been years since I’ve seen the Clearwater child.”

“Get Draco,” Bellatrix demanded, voice a breathy whisper that was still too close to Harry’s face.

Harry’s heart skipped several beats as Narcissa moved to do as Bellatrix asked, and he had to wonder at that. It was Lucius’ home, was it not? Why were they following her orders? Did she have a higher standing with Voldemort?

When Draco stepped into the room, eyes wide as he locked onto Harry, he felt his heart break. Draco looked awful. His skin was pale, there were noticeable bags under his eyes, and he looked defeated.

“What’s this?” Draco asked, hands hidden in his sleeves in a way that Harry knew meant they were trembling. He used to hold them at night when they should’ve been in bed, and they’d talk of the future.

“Snatchers might’ve caught galleons if this is Potter and the other two.”

He could feel Ron bristle at that, but there was nothing to be done about it. Most people would only ever see Harry, and as much as he hated that, he couldn’t stop it.

“Is it?”

Bellatrix frowned. “That’s what you are here to decide.”

“What’s with his face?”

“We don’t know,” Lucius said, tone dry as he gestured for Draco to move further into the room.

When Draco stepped in front of him, pushing Bellatrix to the side, Harry had to stop himself from reacting. He wanted a lot of things. He wanted to reach out and kiss him, wanted to run a finger along his face, wanted to hold him and never let go.

“Is it him?” Bellatrix asked, glee and impatience coming out in a rush as she clapped her hands once.

“I’m still looking,” Draco said, making a show of it by bending and twisting his neck before he whispered so quietly that Harry almost didn’t catch,

“You have seconds to grab those two on my mark.”

“Well?” Lucius asked impatiently, rustling as Harry assumed he stood up. “Is it Potter?”

Draco licked his lips, not turning around as he said, “No. It’s not.”

Several swears, but what drew his attention was the way Ron shifted, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“What of those two? Surely that’s Weasley and the Mudblood.”

Draco spared the two of them a glance before he turned around, one hand held behind his back, palm up. When he wiggled his hands, Harry lunged for Ron and Hermione, grabbing hold of them right as Draco said,

“No.”

Bellatrix moved but it was too late as Draco backed up and grabbed hold of Harry and with a crack they were gone.

The wards allowed him entry, and despite Sirius’ insistence that Draco had been allowed into the wards, Harry had been worried. Someone let out a little yell, and several people began to talk at once, but he didn’t care, he only had eyes for Draco.

“Draco.”

That was the only warning he gave before he jumped at his boyfriend, who barely caught him in time. The talking in the background grew louder but he tuned it out in favor of running his hands all over Draco’s face, thumbs rubbing under his eyes.

“I missed you,” Harry mumbled, cupping Draco’s cheeks as he brought their foreheads together. “I love you.”

“Harry,” Draco croaked, eyes a bit wet. “I’ve been so worried about you. I love you too. So much.”

Harry lowered his head and captured Draco’s lips in a searing kiss. Someone gasped while there were dual cheers and he realized that maybe there were more people than he thought there were.

“Your family, I’m sorry.”

Draco’s eyes closed. “It’s okay. I was considering leaving while on the train back to Hogwarts. I can’t take it anymore.”

Heart clenching, he asked, “What happened?”

“The manor is his headquarters. The things I’ve seen,” Draco croaked, eyes closing as he shook his head rapidly. “I don’t understand how anyone can follow him.”

“Babe, I don’t know how to say this, but you look awful.”

Draco pinched his arse, causing him to yelp before he laughed, flicking Draco on his nose.

“One, never call me that again. Two, you’re supposed to tell me how handsome I look at all times.”

“Yes, dear.”

Draco shook his head. “Not that either.”

“Darling?”

A wince. “Reminds me of my mother.”

“Love?”

A flush. Harry missed the way Draco’s pale skin would grow warm, missed the way a pink cheek felt against his fingers. He trailed his thumb along the edges of that blush and wished he could bottle it. Bottled blush. He wondered if that was something the Fred and George could create.

“That one is acceptable,” Draco whispered shyly, eyes not meeting his and Harry swore he fell in love all over again. He kissed him again and again, mouths moving as he was gently placed back on the floor.

“As nauseating as this is, can we get back to our meeting?”

They both froze at the sound of Snape’s voice and that was what drove them apart. When Harry looked around the room he winced when he realized it was the library, where they held all of the Order meetings. Like the one that was currently going on with a full group. Sirius was cheering and Remus gave a polite clap, but his eyes were smiling. The majority of the Order were bemused and flabbergasted, but that was okay. It didn’t matter what they thought in the end.

The only ones he cared about were his friends.

Ron’s mouth was parted, but not for long as Fred reached over to close it with a shit eating grin on his face. Hermione’s eyes were wide, and she looked so shocked that he knew neither one of them had seen it coming. George did a strange dance that he would like to never see again.

“Surprise,” Harry said, throwing his hands out as he wiggled his fingers.

“Well,” Ron said, shaking his head as he slung an arm around Hermione’s shoulders. “At least it’s not Snape.”

That brought a round of laughter from several people as Sirius yelled, “Hear hear!”

He knew the night would be a long one. They’d have to explain things that he didn’t really want to get into, and there would be a long discussion on what it meant to have Draco there, and what they would do in the future.

But for now, he was content with entwining his fingers with Draco’s and leaning into the warmth of his boyfriend. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the war, but he knew that he would tackle it like he always did.

But this time it would be with Draco by his side.

“Fuck,” Harry groaned, head thrown back as he rode Draco. Hands were on his arse, pulling apart his cheeks and he moaned low and deep.

“Perfect,” Draco mumbled, eyes riveted to Harry’s face. “So perfect.”

Harry hated that even in sex he blushed. He tried to ignore Draco’s praises but each one had his cock twitching, and Draco knew it.

“’M good?” Harry asked as he rode Draco faster, a hand reaching up to pinch one of his nipples.

“The best,” Draco promised as he squeezed Harry’s arse before he groaned as a finger circled where they were joined.

Harry closed his eyes as Draco began to thrust up inside of him. He couldn’t stop the moans that spilled from his lips any more than he could stop precome from pearling at the tip of his cock.

“Yes,” Harry hissed when Draco roughly thrusted. He needed that. “More.”

He yelped in surprise when Draco flipped them over, one of his legs over Draco’s shoulder as he began to pound inside of him. Harry’s head tilted, neck elongated as he groaned each time Draco entered him. Every drag of Draco’s cock was pure bliss and he never wanted it to end.

“You feel so good,” Draco groaned when Harry clenched around him. “Always so good for me.”

Harry shuddered, hand reaching down to pull at his cock. His cock was leaking so much precome that he would’ve been embarrassed if he didn’t know that Draco loved it.

“’M close,” Harry warned, moving his hand faster and faster as Draco’s pace increased. “I’m going to—Draco—harder.”

Draco’s eyes were closed as he continued to fuck Harry as he asked—harder, deeper. When Draco’s cock brushed past his prostate, he cried out, coming across his chest.

“Draco!”

Draco groaned, low and deep as he thrusted a few more times before stilling, cock twitching inside of Harry as his orgasm washed through him.

“Fuck,” Harry panted, hand slowly touching his cock as he waited for the over stimulation to kick in. He always liked to push it to the limit, something he wanted to explore further in the future. 

“Mm, fuck indeed,” Draco murmured, pulling out of Harry before collapsing on top of him. He wrapped his arms around Draco, welcoming the extra weight and comfort of holding his boyfriend.

“You’re going to cuddle me,” Draco told him, voice firm and not allowing him to argue.

Harry grinned, pressing a kiss to Draco’s head. “I suppose you’ll want me to be the big spoon?”

“Always.”

Their lives were chaos and there weren’t many moments where they got to be together so they both treasured every single moment they could. Despite the horrors of the world and the devastation Voldemort brought, they always had a bubble of love in each other.

A love that overshadowed everything else.

1998

When it was all over and done with, and Harry was standing in the rubble of Hogwarts, he collapsed to the ground on his knees. Heart heavy with all those that were lost, some he knew, some he didn’t, he grieved. He grieved for the lives that were stolen, he grieved for the life that they wouldn’t get to see out.

Harry grieved.

“Harry!”

Hands were on him, but it was hard to focus as his eyes became too wet and blurry to see through. It was only by the smell that he was able to tell who was next to him.

“Draco.”

“I’m here, love. I’m here.”

“We did it.”

“Yeah, we did.”

Fingers wiped his tears as he looked up into concerned eyes. There was a cut across Draco’s forehead, one that he was pretty sure would scar, but he appeared to be okay.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so,” Harry admitted, eyes filling again. “But I think I will be.”

That was what mattered in the end, didn’t it? That even though he felt shocked, traumatized and numb, he knew that it would pass. That he would heal, and he hoped that others would as well.

Because that’s all they could do.

Harry was barely paying attention to the conversations happening around him as he played with Draco’s fingers that were wrapped around his stomach as he sat on his lap. Space was always limited in Grimmauld Place, the Noble House of Black always had visitors. He thought that Sirius would hate it, but his godfather thrived in taking care of others—Harry was just glad that Remus was there to take care of Sirius too.

“—hat do you think?”

The warmth from Draco was comforting and he debated about taking a quick nap. It wouldn’t be that deep as there was too much noise happening, but it would tide him over until after dinner.

“—arry?”

He wondered what Mrs Weasley was making for dinner. She often spent time at Grimmauld as they expanded the house and added more rooms. Sirius was turning the place into a safe house for those that were in need of recouping and recovery, but that the Ministry refused to help. Most of them Magical Creatures.

“Love?”

“Hm?” Harry turned his head to peer at Draco who was looking at him softly. Harry pressed a chaste but sweet kiss to his lips before he burrowed further into the embrace.

“Oh, that you hear, but not me?”

Harry looked at Hermione curiously. “You were talking to me?”

She threw her hands in the air as those in the library who were listening in laughed.

“Yes, I was talking to you,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “I was asking if you were going to return to Hogwarts.”

Harry furrowed his brows. “A bit too late for that, isn’t it? We’re too old.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “If you had been listening to me you’d know that McGonagall is allowing seventh years a chance to do the year over since exams were interrupted.”

He wondered if that extended to fifth years as well. O.W.L exams would have been interrupted too.

When Harry used to think of Hogwarts it was always with a sense of home and belonging. It was the first place he had felt safe, and despite the fact that he wasn’t ever safe there, he had realized it radiated comfort because of the Dursleys. Home wasn’t a place, it really wasn’t. Now when he thought of Hogwarts, he felt ill. It was where Dumbledore died, it was where the war ended and where the castle crumbled in parts and devastation tore through the grounds.

But it was also where he fell in love. Where he had his first kiss and many more. Just about every supply closet had his imprint in it and it was where his first ever souvenir came from—his very own mop bucket. 

Harry would always love Hogwarts, the good and the bad, but it was no longer for him.

“No, I don’t think I will.”

Hermione gasped and so did a few others.

“Are you sure, Harry?” Remus asked, setting two cups of tea in front of him. Why he bothered, Harry didn’t know since Draco and he shared a cup every time. “You’ll need N.E.W.T scores to get a decent job.”

Draco snickered behind him as Harry grinned.

“We already have jobs.”

As several people began asking questions at a rapid rate, Harry settled further into Draco and sighed happily when there was a kiss to his neck.

The sound of a book falling to the ground drew their attention to Fred who was staring at them with hope.

“Wait, does that mean—”

“Yes,” Harry grinned, feeling Draco nod as well. They had discussed it in depth, but that had been before the knowledge that Hogwarts would allow them back for a final year. It didn’t change anything for him, and he doubted it changed anything for Draco either.

“GEORGE!”

Harry winced as a few people covered their ears. He wondered if it was a byproduct of having Mrs Weasley as a mum to have a set of lungs on them.

“Keep your knickers on, I was raiding the pantry for food. Sirius has horrible taste—oh, sorry Sirius, didn’t see you there.”

Harry bit his lip when Sirius glared at George, who was biting into a biscuit.

“Georgie, they aren’t going back.”

George looked around the room, bemusement on his face. “What?”

“Harry and Draco. They aren’t going back to Hogwarts.”

“Didn’t expect them to.”

Fred scoffed, smacking George so hard the remaining bit of biscuit fell to the floor, and he watched as George frowned at the ground. He just hoped he didn’t pick it up and eat it. Harry didn’t trust Kreacher’s cleaning abilities for shit.

“You don’t get it. They said they already have jobs.”

George squinted at his brother. “Okay, but what does that—” A dramatic gasp as he turned to them, clutching his chest.

“You mean it?”

“Yes,” Draco answered for him. “Clearly, you are in desperate need of us after your failed launch of Edible Dark Marks.”

Fred winced. “I had hoped that you hadn’t heard about that one. It was pulled off the shelves after the first hospitalization.”

“I told you it was a bad idea.” George stuck his tongue out at Fred. “They’re right, we do need them.”

Harry felt a bit warm at the praise. “We want to take a more involved role, and maybe we can buy more of the business.”

Being an investor was nice, being a business partner was nice, but he wanted to be a partial owner too.

Fred’s brows rose. “That’s going to cost you.”

“A lot,” George added. “Business is booming.”

“We know,” Harry said, patting Draco’s hands that were still wrapped around him. “It’s worth it.”

There was no time to react before both Fred and George rushed forward and pulled them into one of the strangest four-way hugs he’d ever been involved in.

“You’ll have to put in a lot of work,” Fred said, face smashed up against Harry’s cheek. “We’re talking straight down to the drawing board as we plan out new products, the sleepless nights perfecting it and the inevitable first stage of testing.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’ll have to learn potions,” George said, stepping back. “No way you make it a week with those skills.”

Harry grimaced, biting his lip.

“Don’t worry, love, I’ll teach you.”

Harry flushed, hating that someone cooed in the background.

“Okay,” Harry said, nodding to Fred and George. “We’re ready to do whatever it takes.”

Two wicked smirks and mischievous eyes let him know that they were probably in for hell.

“You’ll regret that,” George said, rubbing his hands together. “Because we’re about—”

“—to teach you two how to become a Weasley twin.”

Oh Merlin.

Harry leaned is head back on Draco’s shoulder. “Is it too late to change our minds?”

“I already had a contract drawn up.”

“So, is that like a no?”

Draco snorted. “Yes, it’s a no. We’re unfortunately stuck with them.”

Two dual, “Hey!”

Before they could respond, a very loud, “Excuse me,” drew their attention to Mrs Weasley who had just arrived. “What’s happening?”

“Harry and Draco are going into business with us.” George puffed out his chest.

Mrs Weasley blinked a few times before she smiled warmly at them both. “That’s lovely, dear. Maybe they can temper you two down a bit.”

Harry laughed at the outrage on their faces.

“I’m thinking about not returning to Hogwarts,” Ron said, unwisely thinking it was a good time to announce his own plans for the future.

“Absolutely not.” Mrs Weasley rounded on him, hands on her hips. “Ronald Weasley you will get an education!”

“But Harry—”

“Harry nothing,” Mrs Weasley said, jabbing a finger into Ron’s chest. “How do you expect to became an Auror without taking your exams?”

Ron winced, whether at the jab or her words, he wasn’t sure. “I could study independently.”

When Mrs Weasley arched a brow, he added, “Or maybe Hermione could help me.”

“Not a chance,” Hermione said, standing up and kissing Ron on the cheek. “You’re on your own.”

“Hermione!”

Several people laughed as she sauntered out of the room.

“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you? Hermione!”

When there was no response, Harry joined in on the laughter.

Fred and George tried to sit on the same one seat as them and Harry was resigned enough to let them, even if it did block his line of sight.

“How did this come about?” Remus asked, tone curious, and Harry wished he could see if the wrinkle above his right eye was more pronounced, that meant Remus was upset.

“Harry gave us a thousand galleons to open up the shop because he believed in us.”

There were several loud exclamations and he really wished he could see who they were. He debated about poking Fred who was on his lap. He hoped Draco’s poor legs were okay enough to handle all three of their combined body weight.

“And then Draco gave us another thousand galleons because he believed in us.”

Harry knew their choice of wording was calculated. As nice as Fred and George were, they liked to hold grudges. They would always remember how their parents actively discouraged their dreams.

“Blimey.” That came from Sirius and there weren’t really any tells to see if his godfather was upset, because Sirius rarely ever got mad, he rolled with the punches and found a solution.

“This is what you want?” Mr Weasley asked. “You want to go into business with my sons?”

“Absolutely,” Harry and Draco said together.

“They are why we are together in the first place,” Harry said, ignoring the pinch from Draco. They both knew it, no point in trying to hide it.

That brought out a whole new set of questions, but that was alright. Surrounded by friends, family and the best boyfriend he could possibly have, there wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather be.

Nosy questions and all.

“Is this necessary?” Harry grumbled as he fixed the blindfold so that it wasn’t digging into his nose.

“Yes,” George said, tone annoyed since it was the third time Harry asked. “You have to properly identify potions with limited senses.”

“But why? Aren’t they labeled?”

An exaggerated sigh as Fred said, “Yes, but sometimes mistakes are made. Sometimes we might use an apothecary and if the business expands we’re going to have to hire our own potion brewers to brew what we need. We’re going to have to set up warehouses and have a slew of employees to make our products. There will always be mistakes, things that get processed that shouldn’t. You have to be able to properly identify potions. I want you to be able to sleep, eat and dream of potions until you know them like the back of your hand.”

That was the worst part about going into business with them. Potions. The bane of his existence. Draco helped a lot, tutoring him when they had time, but it was hard. Part of him blames Snape for tainting potions for him, but he also knew that if he had applied himself better in school that he would’ve been decent at it.

“Alright, what’s first?”

The sound of a ladle preceded a waft of fumes directly under his nose and he assumed the ladle was hovering there. The smell was God awful, and nearly all potions had a distinct potion smell that was hard for him to break down into individual ingredients. It was like a cake. Most cakes smelled the same and only particularly strong ingredients like cinnamon, nutmeg and even chocolate stood out. It was the same with potions, it was hard for him to tell without looking at the colors. There was something about line of sight that helped his mind realize what he was seeing.

“Can you identify it?”

“Yes,” Harry said seriously. “It’s a potion.”

Someone dropped something and a muffled scream had him snickering. If he wasn’t careful George would murder him and use his body as ingredients for future products.

“Alright, alright.” Harry forced himself to keep inhaling as he attempted to decipher at least one ingredient. The smell was familiar which meant it was one he helped brew recently. That narrowed down the list significantly.

There was a glue smell to it, and it had him blurting, “It’s a Sticking Solution.”

“Good job, love.”

Harry preened at Draco’s praise.

“And what product of ours is it primarily used in?”

“Everlasting Eyelashes, guaranteed eyelashes to last a full month.”

“Mhm, and what line is it from?”

“Our WonderWitch line.”

Harry was rather proud of himself. He wasn’t as quick of a learner as Draco, but that was because he wasn’t a nerd like his boyfriend. He sometimes struggled when it came to memorizing new material.

“What else is in the WonderWitch line?”

A harsh breath as he thought it over. “Lingering Lipwear, Everchanging Eyeshadow and Fantasy Foundation.”

Harry felt like something was missing when it came to the WonderWitch line. They needed a fourth product to complete the group.

“Men wear makeup too,” Draco said, a clear pout in his voice. “I think we should have a duplicate line filled with the same products called, WonderWizard.”

“I’m not opposed to that,” Fred said, the sound a quill scratching against a clipboard. “We would have to increase the supply and find a good model for our campaigns.”

Models were expensive. Harry had never realized how much there was to running a business until he stepped through the doors. He was just glad that Fred and George had hired a proper business manager and were undoing business classes themselves.

“Okay, Harry, one more potion and we can move on to testing out the new batch of Shock Shakers.”

Harry inched away, debating about how far he could make it blindfolded. “I don’t want to test the Shock Shakers.”

“Too fucking bad,” Fred said cheerfully. “I had to test the Fungus Fingernails, so you can handle a little bit of electricity.”

A little bit. The last time he tried it, his hair frizzed up and didn’t return to normal for weeks.

“What’s Draco testing?”

“Since I’m the best looking one, I got to choose for myself. I picked—”

“Best looking,” George scoffed. “You only got to pick first because you arrived first.”

“Either way, I chose Happy Hairless Haunting cream. It’s supposed to remove all hair in the targeted area with one application.”

“What are you testing it out on?” Fred asked curiously as the sound of a potion nearby bubbled gently.

“That’s between Harry and I.”

Harry sat up straighter, keenly interested. “Let’s get a move on. The quicker we finish, the quicker I get to have sex with my boyfriend.”

A disgusted noise as another ladle was placed under his nose. There was a strong whiff of lavender, and it was so overpowering that it had his head spinning.

“I think that’s a Dreamless Sleep potion,” Harry said, yawning widely.

“And what product does it go in?”

“Sleepy Snoozing Sachets,” Harry managed to say through three different yawns. “A book designed to put the reader to sleep instantly.”

“And what’s our guarantee for it?”

“You’ll never make it past the first page,” Harry said, eyes closing as he slumped in the chair.

“Perfect, it’s—” a light snore jerked Harry upward as he realized it had been him.

“I think it’s too potent, Fred.”

“But I lowered the amount of—”

“I know but look at him, he’s drooling.”

Harry blinked slowly, words in his head but he couldn’t focus on them at all. He was really tired.

“I think it’s nap time.”

“Nap time? No, Harry stay awake—”

No. Harry didn’t think he would. Eyes closed and head tilted backward, he fell asleep. The last thing he recalled was strong arms pulling him into a warm embrace and a kiss was pressed to his forehead.

Maybe testing out products wasn’t so bad.

1999

The nerves that had filled his stomach the night prior and the morning of, was all for nothing as Harry looked around Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and smiled at the line of customers waiting for them to open. Fred and George were in Egypt scoping out the potential for an international store. They wanted to expand in the future and knew that it could potentially take years to do that. The clearance alone between the two countries’ Ministry’s was a headache just to think about.

With the two of them overseas, it left Harry and Draco alone to run the store. It was something they had done before, but that was with the knowledge that Fred and George were upstairs in their flat if they needed help. Now there was no one.

They were on their own.

“We’ve got this,” Draco said, pressing a kiss to his cheek and a slap to his arse. “We’re going to do good, okay?”

Harry believed him.

They so did not have it.

By lunch time Harry was ready to pull out his hair. They had sold out on their entire WonderWitch and WonderWizard line and had even used their back stock that was supposed to have lasted the rest of the month.

“What the fuck is going on?” Harry hissed as three men and two women began fighting over the last box of Lingering Lipwear. “We don’t have a sale going on, so what gives?”

“You haven’t heard?”

Harry looked over to see a Witch with a giant beehive hairstyle wig that giggled at Draco whenever he walked by.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Everett Lacewing was on the cover of Witch Weekly and he swears by your entire WonderWizard line.”

Who the fuck was Everett Lacewing and why did people care what kind of makeup he wore?

“Celebrity endorsements truly do wonders,” she said, wig giggling as Draco moved to help a customer reach something that on the top shelf.

Celebrity endorsements.

Harry bit his lip as he looked out the shop window. There were a lot of people who were leaving in droves when they realized that they were completely sold out of the Wonder Lines.

“Draco, love, can you watch the counter for ten minutes?”

“Are you fucking joking?” Draco whirled around, hands on his hips. “There’s a fight in aisle three, a spill in aisle five and I think a toddler threw up by the door.”

“So, then like, you’ve got it?”

Harry didn’t wait for a response, he rushed to the back to Floo Luna. Draco would forgive him tomorrow when the papers ran his idea.

Draco was still icy with him come the following day, but he thawed a bit when by noon the doors opened with a rush of customers, some of them carrying the ad that had been posted in the Daily Prophet as an exclusive. He was going to have Luna run it in every single newspaper and magazine they could think of.

“What’s this?” Draco frowned, picking up a discarded flyer as a rush of twenty people clamored near the shelves carrying their Patented Daydream.

“That is what I was doing yesterday when I left you alone for ten minutes.”

“It was forty, I counted.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well you try getting Luna off a Floo call. She can talk an ear off alright, worse than Percy when he starts talking about foreign policies pertaining to the thickness of cauldrons.”

Draco’s face twisted a bit. “What could Lovegood possibly have to talk about for so long?”

“The current whereabouts of the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack for one.”

A pause as Draco’s brows furrowed and nose wrinkled. “You know, I have enough friends as it is. You can keep Lovegood.”

There was no ‘keeping’ Luna. When she decided to like someone, they were stuck with her forever. And he was pretty sure she had a soft spot for Draco, so his boyfriend was screwed.

After the rush of customers, Draco was cleaning up the knocked over products and dusting off the shelves while Harry stared at the advertisement.

“I imagine I could put out several of these and we’d sell out whatever we wanted.”

Maybe it wasn’t ethical to use his image for his own monetary gain, but didn’t that come with celebrity culture? It wasn’t as if he asked or told anyone to buy the Patented Daydream, they did that on their own.

It wasn’t as if the Wizarding world had ever done a damn thing for him, why not get their galleons out of it? It was about time he got repayment from someone.

The broom fell out of Draco’s hands and his eyes went wide. “That’s brilliant, love. I think it’s my turn to speak with Lovegood. You can watch the store.”

It was supposed to be revenge, but Harry was happy to do it. Draco truly didn’t understand how long Luna could talk. The Gryffindor in him wanted to tell Draco just what he was getting himself into but the Slytherin in him was larger and petty.

Draco was in for a rude awakening.

“What the bloody hell happened here?” Fred demanded, suitcases falling to the floor as George gaped at the sight of their closed and empty store.

Harry was behind the counter, cleaning up the best he could. They had to close the shop by nine in the morning as they were wiped clean of everything.

“We sold out.”

“I can see that,” Fred said, voice filled with awe.

“Besides cleaning, what’s left to do? Bring out the back stock?”

Harry and Draco shared a smirk before Draco said, “We sold out of that too.”

“I need a minute,” Fred squeaked as he sat on his suit cases.

“Merlin,” George whispered. “How? We were fully stocked last month when we left!”

“Celebrity endorsements sure work wonders,” Harry said, laughing when Draco snorted. “It started when Everett Lacewing said in an interview that he loved our WonderWizard line.”

“Who the fuck Everett Lacewing?” Both Fred and George said together, sharing a grin.

“I don’t know, still haven’t figured that out,” Harry shrugged. “But it got me thinking. What if I endorsed a product?”

George narrowed his eyes. “Is that you fulfilling the contract?”

Harry blinked a few times. He had completely forgotten about that. “No, I’m saving that for something else.”

Not that he knew what he wanted in return from them, but he’d figure it out eventually. 

“Then what did you mean?”

Harry shared another look with Draco. “I ran an ad in every magazine possible for the Patented Daydream and it was a hit. We sold out same day and then I moved on to a new product every other day until the store was so busy that we didn’t need to advertise anymore.”

“Blimey…” George whispered, eyes on the empty shelves and discarded empty packages.

“We’ll have to start brewing immediately.”

“About that,” Draco hedged, scooting closer to Harry when Fred narrowed his eyes. “We sort of bought out two apothecaries with the money we earned over the last month, and we hired a team of potion brewers.”

A slightly hysterical laugh from George. “Anything else we need to know about?”

Harry pointedly looked away from Draco as he said, “We started a mail order system for those that can’t make it the shop. We bought an owlery too.”

A silence settled and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

“That’s it, I’m calling in sick for the next week.”

“I’m not,” Fred scoffed. “We left for a month and look what happened. We can’t leave them alone a single day more or else they might buy out half of Diagon Alley next.”

Harry didn’t have to look at Draco to know exactly what he was thinking.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea…”

2001

Harry arrived into Fred and George’s new flat by Floo as their old flat over the shop had been transformed into storage as the shop need more room. They had expanded to Hogsmeade and were looking into France and the states as they waited for the Egyptian Ministry to finalize the required documents to open a store there.

His nerves had him jittery as he clutched a vial in his hands. He hoped they approved of it. It had been a secret for the past couple years as he tried to perfect it himself.

“—on’t need to worry, Harry loves you.”

Harry froze as he neared the kitchen where he could smell dinner cooking. He had known that Draco was there because they spent every Friday evening together since they were all so busy with the different shops. Their employees grew into the thousands as they had to open up ten different warehouses and buy out several more apothecaries and hire more potion brewers.

“I know he does, but he’s been so weird lately.”

Harry frowned as George asked, “Weird how?”

Yeah, he wanted to know that too. He hadn’t been any weirder than he had always been.

“He spends a lot of time in our potion room and won’t let me in until whatever he’s working on is gone. When I ask him about it he clams up and changes the subject.”

Oh. Harry flushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he had been behaving weirdly. It was just… well… he wanted it to be a surprise.

“I think you should ask him more directly.”

A defeated sight tore at his heartstrings.

“Makes me wonder if it’s not a good time to pro—”

Harry couldn’t wait any longer. Not when the love of his life was so despondent. He cleared his throat and fully entered the kitchen, a little amused when all three of them jumped and Fred managed to get sauce on the ceiling as he clutched a messy spoon to his chest.

“I’m sorry I worried you,” Harry said, eyes on Draco who went a bit pink, his favorite sight to see, and had been for over six years. “I was making something.”

“Oh?” Draco asked, eyes narrowed. “You could have come to me, I’d have helped.”

“I know.” And he did. Draco would help him with anything he needed. “But I wanted this to be a surprise for you. I thought we could add it to the Wonder Line.”

“For me?” Draco’s eyes sparkled as he opened his arms for Harry to fall into, but he didn’t do it, not yet.

Instead, Harry placed the vial on the table in front of the three of them.

“Bottled Blush?” Fred read the label; lips pursed.

“Six years ago when we got together in the Forbidden Forest, you blushed as we kissed, and it was so beautiful, and so warm that I wanted to bottle it. It’s taken me this long to figure out how, but I did it. I’ve bottled your blush.”

Draco sucked in a sharp breath, eyes a bit wet as a shaky hand picked up the vial and uncorked it. A soft shimmery pink stained the tips of Draco’s fingers, and it was an exact match to the blush he loved so much that was staining Draco’s cheeks.

“It’s identical!” Fred whisper yelled, hitting George in the arm, splattering more sauce in the process.

The bottle tipped over as Draco launched himself forward, arms wrapping around Harry as he kissed him. Their lips moved to the sound of Fred and George cheering. Pink fingers touched his cheeks as Draco whispered against his lips,

“My blush looks better on you.”

Harry was so in love. So so so in love.

And he knew he would always love Draco.

Always.

2002

Harry rushed to the Burrow where he knew Fred and George were gathered for the monthly Weasley dinner. Harry and Draco had been invited but they had been preoccupied and didn’t make it.

He pounded on the door several times until a bewildered Mr Weasley opened the door.

“Harry, I thought you couldn’t make it.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, brushing past him. “George! Fred!”

Everyone was seated at the table—including Hermione and Ron with his few month old niece—startled a bit as he came running in, panting wildly.

“Harry!” Fred jolted upward, George not too far behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“I know what I want for our contract. I know what my favor will be.”

George rolled his eyes. “You interrupted dinner for that? You’ve already endorsed Bottled Blush, so all that’s left is whatever you want from us.”

“What’s your favor, Harry?” Fred whispered softly.

There was a sparkle to Fred’s eyes, and it had him a little suspicious, but it didn’t stop him from thrusting his left hand underneath their noses as Hermione, Ginny and Mr Weasley gasped.

The ring on his third finger glittered in the low light.

“I want you two to walk me down the aisle.”

Fred covered his mouth as George let out a strangled sob before Harry was pulled into a fierce hug and all three of them cried a bit.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married!” Fred cried, wiping his eyes. “Draco’s had that ring for years.”

“I know,” Harry croaked. Draco had told him that when he proposed. It didn’t matter when it happened, Harry’s answer would’ve always been yes.

“Our baby is getting married!” George blubbered, collapsing in Fred’s arms.

“I’m not your baby.”

“It seems like just last week we were blackmailing them into helping us.”

“You were doing what?” Mrs Weasley said in a tone that had both Fred and George standing up straighter. It would seem that her mum voice would work on them no matter how old they got.

“I can’t wait to walk you down the aisle,” George promised, pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead. “We both are so honored.”

There hadn’t been anyone else he’d want. Fred and George were the reason they were together. They had seen the passion between them before they had ever figured it out themselves.

“I love you two.”

They were more than his best friends. They were his family. They meant the world to him, and he thanked every single day he was a bleeding heart and a damn fool to get suckered into helping out with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.

Tiny bonus scene

2018, Age 38

They created an empire. There wasn’t a single country that didn’t have a Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in it. They hadn’t just taken over the Joke Industry, they revolutionized it. They had over a million employees. They were a massive cooperation that put the love of jokes above all else and continued to have fun through every new launch.

They no longer worked in the stores themselves, it had been over a decade since they last stood at a counter. Instead the four of them were the head of the Ideas and Imagination department. They spent the majority of their time thinking of new ideas, new pranks and new products.

It was hard to wrap their minds around it sometimes. Their success came quickly and at a pace that was hard to track. It had been a dream born from a long shot and a gut belief that they would make it. That they would accomplish what they had set out to do. They had spent many sleepless nights calculating new formulas and new spells. They had spent far too much time together that sometimes led to fights, but they always made up. The four of them were family in ways that they had never imagined.

“I have a thought, and it might be a bad idea.”

Harry looked to his husband curiously. The four of them had been twirling in their fancy chairs for the past hour as they tried to come up with a new product line.

“The last time you said that it was a bad idea,” Fred said, nose wrinkled.

“I take offense to that,” Draco said, flicking a Stinging Hex at Fred with his fingers. “I still think that I was—”

“Wrong,” George said, head shaking. “Your Geriatric line not only cost us three hundred thousand galleons, but you alienated a huge demographic.”

“They are old,” Draco argued, hands thrown in the air. “How was I supposed to know they wouldn’t appreciate being called that?”

Harry snorted into his clipboard, waving away Draco’s glare. It didn’t matter that five years had passed since the Geriatric Disaster of ‘13, he still laughed himself silly every time he thought of it.

“Not a single knut gets approved until we hear this horrible idea of yours.”

“I resent that.”

“Get on with it, love.”

Draco still flushed after all these years, and it never failed to make Harry’s heart skip a beat.

“I had an idea, a brilliant one. What if we tackled the Muggle world next?”

Harry sat back, brows arched as Fred and George let out identical exhales.

“I’m just saying,” Draco continued, hand held up. “We’ve already taken over the Wizarding World. Why not take over the entire world?”

It was wild, dangerous, and maybe not the best idea, but it was right up their alley. They could take over the world.

One product at a time.