Last Chapter!

Thank you so much for sticking around!

PS: For those of you who have tolerated my spelling mistakes, thank you! I review the chapters multiple times but more often than I'd like, some escape me. I'll blame it on the fact that English is not my maternal language. It's a continuous challenge! I'll read the chapters again to correct them once I have well rested eyes.

FruityW0LF : Thank you for your high praise, it's really amazing! And I shall check up on chapter 7 for those spelling mistakes. Many thanks :D

mel: Sorry but this is the only story line left! Hope it's enough and thanks for your review :3

geekymom : xoxoxox :D

Harry found himself in a small cozy shop filled to the brim with baby accessories and clothing. If he looked in front, there were wooden shelves cluttered by an impressive amount of miniature shoes. On his right, he faced a wall with magically suspended quidditch outfits and pointy hats for toddlers. To his left stood more shelves displaying hardcover books mixed in with odd colorful toys Harry had never seen before. Between the nearby shelves, he spotted a young looking Narcissa Malfoy with a very pregnant belly. She was holding a book and staring down at its cover in thought. Harry read its title: "Magical Skills in Early Childhood: Accidental Magic and Early Schooling". She put the book back in its respective place and looked up. Her gaze travelled lazily through the clutter of the shop and Harry followed it curiously, waiting for something to transpire. When her eyes grew slightly larger, Harry knew something was about to happen. Mrs. Malfoy quietly slid behind a shelf and peered around it to spy into the distance at what she had spotted. Harry followed her example and his eyes widened in surprise. His mother, also pregnant, was perusing the clothes near the clerk's register. He recognized her by the reddish hair and her kind features. His mom was holding a hand to her protruding belly, unconsciously caressing it as she felt the fabric of a powder blue shirt between her fingers. A warm and precious feeling wrapped around Harry's heart.

Before he could wonder if she was alone, he heard a bell ring as a customer swung the shop's door open. His father entered and walked to his mother with a wide grin stretching his lips.

"Lily, you said you wanted just a quick look" James said with humor and kissed the top of her head. "I've had time to go to the bank and you're still here" he admonished.

"Everything is so adorable! I can't resist. Look at this ensemble!" Lily defended, showing him a matching pair of pants and sweater with little wands shining on a midnight blue background. Her husband rolled his eyes while smiling at her antics.

"We already have fifteen of them at home and the baby's not even born yet" James pointed out.

"I know" she groaned in defeat. Reluctantly, she placed the garment back in its pile.

"You must be somewhat close to your due date" the clerk said to her. He'd been following their exchange with amusement.

Lily smiled brightly at him and nodded.

"Yes, it's in a little over two months, at the end of July" she said, smiling down at her belly. James followed her gaze, a sparkle of pride in his eyes.

"'You have a name yet?" the wizard asked the couple.

"Yes" Lily said, "It's Harry."

"A boy then! Congratulations" the clerk said cheerfully.

"Thank you" his mother replied kindly.

"That dark blue outfit would probably look lovely on little Harry" the clerk suggested with a wink. "How about I give you a discount?"

Lily looked to James. His father sighed heavily and took his money out. The scene made Harry's grin grow impossibly wider. He watched as his parents payed for the clothing and left the shop. Then, Mrs. Malfoy's memory ended.

Harry was thrown out of the pensieve and he stared back at the silver swirls dumbstruck.

Draco couldn't have possibly given Harry a better gift.

Many things happened in the following days.

For one, Harry learned that Samantha's involvement with Draco had nothing to do with love. Not true love, anyways. There was definitely a potion involved but contrary to Ron's musings, Draco was not feeding Amortentia to the girl. He was feeding her the antidote.

To understand the predicament Draco was in, the blond had first reminded Harry of Samantha's surname: Wrick.

It was familiar. Harry had taken a moment to make a connection to Mr. Falcon Reachtrich Wrick, the head of Post War Criminal Affairs.

In other words, Samantha's father was the man in charge of Draco's trial.

After the dance practice for the Winter Ball, she had become unnaturally clingy and lovesick. Suspecting a love potion, Draco had fed her the antidote in her tea. It had worked but not lasted. With some sharp observations, the blond had eventually deduced that someone was regularly slipping her the potion and targeting him through it.

"What purpose could they have for doing that?" Harry wondered when Draco explained this.

Draco shared his theory.

"Any association between his daughter and I could influence the outcome of the trial. It could be seen as an attempt on my part to gain favor through his daughter's support. Alternatively, it would anger the head judge to hear that his daughter seems smitten with a Death Eater; particularly one bearing the undeserved reputation of a player. Either way, the problem is I haven't managed to figure out who's behind the constant spiking of her food."

Harry solved the mystery the very next day using his invisibility cloak and Hermione's bank of tracking spells. He quickly identified Frederick Daniels, a fifth year Ravenclaw, as the culprit. Upon questioning, the boy's hatred for Death Eaters was uncovered. His muggle born parents were dead, killed by Voldemort's pawns during their service at the ministry and the boy had found a form of revenge in targeting Draco. His strategy was kind of pathetic but Harry could sympathize with the poor orphan. They decided to have mercy on the student. Nevertheless, Harry and Draco kept a record of his confession just in case. To Harry's immense satisfaction, Samantha never again wondered near his Slytherin.

A couple of days later, Draco randomly pulled Harry in for a kiss in front of the entire body of students present for breakfast. The news of their relationship spread faster than Fiendfyre.

Eventually, Headmistress McGonagall had to place a new protection charm against all incoming mail to the castle. As a consequence, the thousands of letters dedicated to Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy did not make it to the breakfast table. Instead, the house-elves delighted themselves in serving Hogwarts' peace by receiving and sorting them in the kitchens. During the day, Harry swore he could hear the faint echoes of howlers being opened.

Hermione's curious parchment, which Harry had signed with a considerable amount of apprehension, turned out to be extremely useful in ruling in Draco's favor during his hearing with Mr. Wrick. The syntactic splendour of her letter's content and the unparalleled quoting of the wizarding laws were very convincing to the judging committee when it came to Draco's pardon. That was not accounting the impressive effect of three supportive official signatures from the Golden Trio members, sealed with their newly created wax emblem, courtesy of Hermione.

Upon hearing of the accusations against Draco in the Daily Prophet, Headmistress McGonagall decided to reveal to the expert mediwizards of St-Mungo's the real creator of their now indispensable Pyncott medicinal droppings. Failing to find an alternative supplier who could replicate the powerful effect of Draco Malfoy's ingredients, the hospital kindly dropped hints to the high ruling ministry figures that bad shit (quite literally) would happen without Draco Malfoy.

Eventually, the Daily Prophet was forced to correct their assumptions that the ex-Death Eater was selling some kind of secret information through the school owls. The reporters did not grieve long. Harry Potter had given them something way juicer to write about. Thus, wizarding London came to read about how the Golden Boy's disappearing belongings were in fact not stolen, but rather being gifted to his secret lover, the Malfoy heir. Harry still couldn't say where the idea of stolen goods had come from in the first place.

One afternoon, Hagrid forcefully invited Draco into his hut. He served the blond some tea and sat next to him, dropping his body noisily into a chair. Then, he opened his mouth and promised to throw Draco into a pool of blast-ended skrewts if he ever dared hurt Harry. Draco nodded his head, knowing fully well the half giant was serious. On Draco's way out of the ground keeper's hut, Hagrid happily pointed to the slimy-looking creatures in a nearby paddock and informed the blond that he'd already started breeding an improved variety for the semesters to come. The blond knew better than to comment.

That wasn't all. For many days, Draco Malfoy received quite a few accusations of slipping love potions in Harry Potter's drinks. Others suspected the Golden boy of being under the imperious curse. In fact, the argument of illegal emotional manipulation came up during his trial. A demonstration of Harry breaking the Imperius curse combined with a bit of Veritaserum effectively proved wizarding society wrong. Harry Potter was simply truly in love with Draco Malfoy.

Near the end of the trial, a few opposing members became immensely dissatisfied with the positive direction the ruling was taking. With hidden smirks, they suggested that the teen part with a highly exaggerated sum of money as compensation for his misdeeds, in exchange for his total freedom. It was quite predictable. Harry Potter stood in the crowd, his imposing presence quietening the room. With as much respect as he could muster, the teen put on innocent doe eyes and kindly informed the tossers that the punishment would not be possible. Draco had already parted with such a sum. On the spot research was done by the committee and out came records of the anonymous donation to the Hogwarts castle. They traced the money back to the Malfoy account and the sour opposing parties were rendered quiet.

Draco Malfoy was pardoned.

A week before the end of term, Harry sat in the Eighth Year common room with his friends, enjoying the last days of his school life. Every minute or so, he would glance over to his far right and watch Draco as he played a game of chess with Conner.

Harry sighed heavily. Despite their open relationship, Draco always seemed distant in public. Furthermore, the blond was so calm and composed in his presence while Harry's heart still sped out of control and his breath hitched every time he caught his eyes. Draco seemed to have no problem spending hours away from him while Harry struggled, resisted the temptation to seek out his company. He'd failed numerous times. It was to a point that people began expecting to see a black cat lurking somewhere by Draco's feet.

"We've lost him again" Hermione huffed when it was clear Harry wasn't paying attention to their conversation anymore.

He was way too busy detailing the blond's face, remembering his hand on the angled jaw, remembering Draco's lips on his burning skin and thinking of the taunt muscles that hid underneath the dark robes. Harry didn't dare venture into his memory of their nights together. A hard-on in the common room wasn't practical.

When the dark-haired teen worried about Draco's daytime behavior, he reminded himself that part of the blond's charm was his personality and that a clingy Draco would be destabilizing, if not ridiculous. If that though wasn't helpful, Harry's mind wandered to the hungry way Draco took him at night; never mind the public tightening of his pants. The other option was to think of those rare occasions when the blond did something completely unexpected which messed with Harry's heart health.

His favorite moment had taken place in the common room a few days ago. Harry had just completed his last exam and had crashed in a seat, utterly exhausted. The room had been noisy from gathering eighth years, all discussing their mistakes and successes of the test. His head leaning back on the plush seat, Harry had closed his dry eyes for a rest. His lids had fluttered shut for about a minute before he'd felt a soft kiss to his lips. His eyes had flung open to find two deep pools of molten silver staring back at him. Harry had noticed then in the light of day that Draco's eyes actually held specks of blue in them. The blond had walked away casually afterwards, leaving Harry purring inside while the numerous witnesses nursed their shock.

"It's almost nauseating to watch them" Ron said half amused, half exasperated.

"You think they'll get married?" Hermione asked him, a smile tugging as her lips. Harry was completely oblivious to their conversation now.

Ron snorted. He watched his friend observe Draco from his seat. A brief moment passed and he turned to Hermione.

"There's not a hint of a doubt in my mind."

Five Years Later.

It was a cool crisp afternoon of autumn in Diagon Alley. Luckily, the sun was out bathing the streets in an energizing light and warming up its busy occupants.

Draco was amongst them, casually strolling along the line of shops, keeping an eye out for new interesting ingredients to fill his apothecary. He was being followed by a small black cat. It agilely avoided the feet of oncoming witches and wizards and stayed by Draco's side, determined to keep up with his stride.

Draco stopped near a plump witch selling freshly cut weeds for potions and felt the cat settle by his feet. He glanced down in time to see it sniff out a long dark bamboo-like shoot and sneeze from its potent smell. Draco hid a smirk.

"Master Malfoy" the old witch greeted him with enthusiasm.

Draco gave her a curt nod and perused her inventory of herbs as he usually did on the first Monday of each month.

"I'll take these" Draco said after gathering a few bright green stems. They would be useful for his mother's special dementia-delaying brew.

"Certainly" the witch said, conjuring a large pouch to place the precious ingredients in it.

Draco deposited the required galleons on her table and grabbed his purchase.

"I hear your husband is out of the country on Auror business" the witch said as she gathered the coins for safe keeping.

Draco nodded. "He's in Canada" he lied smoothly. The truth was Harry Potter was on a secret vacation, again.

"I imagine he'll be back in time for your award?" she asked curiously.

Draco detested chatting or boasting to strangers. He answered her out of civility.

"Yes. He'll be back in time but I'm not going to the ceremony."

The witch looked to him in surprise.

"You're not going? What about the award? Elite Potions Master is a coveted title. At such a young age, it's a privilege!" she reminded him.

Draco knew this. He simply wasn't interested. He worked for the community, no longer the recognition.

"Excuse me. I've got work to attend to" he said to her in a polite tone and turned away before she decided to question him further.

The tall blond man continued his walk, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a pouch of ingredients. As usual, he felt many eyes on him as he went about his business. Some stared at him for his incredibly handsome looks; others stared because of his fame. He was after all a renowned Potions Master now, married to the equally handsome and more famous Harry Potter. Children also stared in wonder, admiring his golden hair and pointing in amusement at the black cat following him everywhere. The wizarding community expected to see the cat now. They were often a pair, visiting the streets together a few times a month.

"Mommy, I want to see the kitty!" Draco heard a little girl cry to a tall thin witch holding too many packages. Without permission, the little girl dashed towards Draco and greeted him.

"Hello, Mister" she said with a wide toothy grin and blushed under his attentive gaze.

Her mother rushed to her side and quickly apologized.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Malfoy-Potter. It seems she's enamoured with your familiar" the witch said, sporting a blush herself. It deepened when the silver eyes shifted to her. No one seemed immune to Draco's good looks. In fact, he currently held the title of Witch Weekly's number one most handsome wizard of London society. Every second week or so, he was dethroned by his husband.

He watched the child fall to her knees next to the black cat and extent a hand to pat its small head.

"He's so soft and pretty" she said with her tiny excited voice.

Draco noticed how the cat tensed when her small hand glided down its fur and repeated the motion multiple times.

He smirked and watched the interaction with great amusement. Harry harbored mixed feelings towards children petting him. He felt happy knowing he was bringing them joy but the dark-haired man had once confessed to Draco that petting him was a privilege Harry would have liked to reserve for his husband.

The blond's mocking smile changed into a loving one. It was those kinds of admissions that made him feel impossibly happy. They reassured Draco whenever old doubts brushed his mind. Harry always seemed to find a way to convey how important Draco was to him.

The blond unconsciously traced his thumb across his wedding band as he watched the little girl pet Harry.

"Mommy I want him" she said and moved to hug the cat. Her embrace was a little too tight and the cat's fur rose in irritation.

"Can I have him?" she asked her mother before her eyes searched for Draco's in a quiet plea.

This caused a brief and highly irrational mixture of panic and jealousy in the blond man's heart. Acting impulsively, he bent down to scoop the cat up. He pressed its body against his chest in a possessive embrace.

"Most certainly not" he said a bit dryly to the girl.

He turned and marched away.

As he walked in the opposite direction from them, Draco heard the little girl wail. The sudden guilt he felt stiffened his shoulders and his smooth gait suffered.

Draco berated himself for making an innocent child cry. He didn't dare look down at the furry creature in his arms in case he would find in its features a disapproving look. For a brief moment, he feared his husband thought less of him for his immature reaction.

Draco was quickly reassured by a soft purr reaching his ears.

THE END

Author's thought: I wonder how many of you picked up on Samantha's last name in chapter 4 and linked it to Draco's head judge XD