HARRY

A long time went by with Harry simply gazing at Draco happily. At long last, Draco turned away from him, his ears bright red from embarrassment. "Stop looking at me like that, Potter. You're like a proud mother."

Harry kept looking at him. Draco punched his shoulder. "Potter, there's a battle going on."

Except there wasn't. One by one, the Death Eaters had fallen, until there were only two left standing, then one. Gedeon Albrecktsson had been one of the first to be taken out.

Harry cast a long glance at his friends. They seemed wholly unharmed. In fact, Hermione was the only one who appeared to have been cursed in any way; she was clutching Ron's shirt as if her very life depended on it, still being affected by whatever nasty spell she'd been hit with. Ron had an arm wrapped around her protectively.

As the last Death Eater fell, Harry crossed the room to her. Behind him, Draco raced to his mother.

"You alright, Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly.

She simply stared at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"She won't let go," Ron explained, tightening his grip around her. "I dunno what spell it was, but it was strong."

Hermione pressed closer to him as if to emphasize his point.

There was a sound of commotion behind them. Harry turned to see the Ministry officials confronting a pair of proud figures: Narcissa and Draco. He hurried over.

"—ought to lock you up, Death Eater scum— "

"We're not with them!" Draco cried, pleading.

"Oh, I'm sure," snarled a tall, formidable-looking woman, raising her wand. "Incarce— "

"No! Stop!" Harry ran forward and forced her wand-arm down before she could finish casting the spell. "They're with me."

She gaped at him. "What? But these are Death Eaters— "

Harry shook his head. "No. Not anymore."

The woman's beetle-black eyes flashed.

"You're delusional, Potter!" a wizard shouted, a brown-haired, rather mousy-looking man. "These two have been caught at the scene of the crime, stand aside!"

But Harry stood firm. "No. She" —He pointed at Narcissa— "was held captive by the Death Eaters. And he" —He moved his finger slightly to the left— "came with us to save her."

"I didn't see any binds," the Wizard sneered. "How was she held captive, then?"

Narcissa snarled at him. "It's called 'threats' you dim-witted buffoon!"

"Threats!" The wizard laughed. "Likely story!"

"It's quite alright, Mr. Kleinship, I can vouch for them," came a curt voice.

Harry turned; his jaw dropped. Striding towards them was Professor Minerva McGonagall, looking ready to kill. Harry struggled to find his voice.

"P-Professor! Er—what on earth—?"

"I got Miss Granger's call," she answered smartly. "I decided to come with backup."

"Hermione's call—?" Then it came to him. "The patronus she sent—that was for you?"

McGonagall gave him a small smile. "Indeed, Potter."

His mouth was hanging open stupidly. Noticing this, he quickly closed it and nodded.

"I'll handle this Potter, Mrs. Malfoy," she continued. "Why don't you join your friends?"

They nodded and hurried from the scene, careful to avoid the angry eyes that followed them. Soon, they'd joined Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, who were all huddled together. The Patils had gathered around the unconscious form of Lavender Brown.

Ginny approached them as they neared, holding out a wand: Harry's. He took it with a quick, "Thanks."

She smiled at him, but then frowned. "Harry—can we talk? When we get back to Hogwarts?"

He nodded. Between Draco and Luna, they definitely had much to talk about. "Of course."

She smiled again, wide and grateful. Draco tugged on his sleeve.

"We need to talk to the Patils," he murmured in Harry's ear, an urgency in his tone. Harry raised his brows, but nodded.

"Be right back, Ginny... "

He followed Draco, who approached the Patils cautiously. When he was behind them, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

Four heads turned to him, and eight eyes snapped to his, watching him expectantly. He gulped.

"Er—are you alright?" Draco began tentatively, brows creasing.

Parvati raised her brows. "Yes. Why?"

"Well, I just— " He gulped. "This is going to sound horrible, but—can you lie to the Ministry?"

Suddenly, Harry understood why Draco wanted him there.

Parvati's brows, if possible, crept even higher. "Lie about what?" she said, a warning in her tone.

Harry quickly stepped in. "Look, Draco didn't know you were locked here. And his mother was being threatened with his life. So— "

"So you want us to protect them," Mr. Patil finished for him.

Harry bit his lip. "Yeah."

It sounded horrible, he knew, and so did Draco, but amazingly Padma seemed to be considering it. Mrs. Patil, however, bared her teeth at them.

"There's no way in hell," she snarled. "You can go fu— "

"Enough, Riya!" Mr. Patil interrupted, and she fell silent, glaring murderously. Draco took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry. Really, I am," he told them. "But I couldn't let you out when I first found you. My mother would've been locked in Azkaban."

"And good riddance!" snapped Parvati.

"But didn't you hear? She was being threatened!" Draco cried, pleading with his eyes.

"I could hardly care less," she shot back viscously.

Draco broke off, his mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. Harry's mind was racing. How could he convince them?

"D'you know why Lavender was working for the Death Eaters?" he asked slowly.

Mrs. Patil nodded. "Of course. She was being threatened."

"Exactly! She was being threatened with your life, your husband's life, and your daughters' lives. She cared about you so much, she did everything that was asked of her to protect you all from harm."

Mr. Patil frowned. "But that's not the same— "

"How?" Harry asked him. "How is it not the same? Lavender did horrible things under the Death Eaters' orders. She lied and hurt and stole and Merlin knows what else. She even got the Death Eaters into Hogwarts itself! And you know how she did it? She summoned them through a mirror that shows you your greatest desire. Her desire to keep you safe was so strong it summoned Death Eaters into Hogwarts!"

He paused there, taking a deep breath, before barreling on.

"My point is that Lavender did everything she could to protect you. Narcissa and Draco did the same. They both did bad things, terrible things, to keep the other safe. But Draco got you out, didn't he? He didn't abandon you. You're free now!"

Draco nodded in agreement. "When I said that you wouldn't stay there, I meant it. I was never going to leave you."

The Patils were silent. Draco sighed.

"Look, I'm not asking you to forgive me. You can leave this place hating me and my mum and you'll never have to see either of us again. But I'm begging you, please, just don't tell the Ministry." He looked at them, making eye contact with puppy-dog eyes. "Please."

Mrs. Patil regarded him with a flat look. Harry held his breath as silence fell.

At last, she said, "If we agree to this, if we agree—what would we tell them?"

Draco shrugged. "I dunno... You were kept in an abandoned warehouse and escaped? But then—the Death Eaters caught up with you, and you Apparated to the first safe place you could think of: Hogwarts. We—as in Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and I—snuck out late. We found you, and we went with you to the Manor."

Mrs. Patil nodded. Mr. Patil looked at her with horror.

"Riya," he said urgently, "you're not seriously considering— "

"Ranjit, love, I am."

He gaped. "But— "

"No." It was Padma. She was examining Draco with interest, searching his expression so thoroughly it was as if she were counting freckles (not that he had any). "I think Mum's right. We should at least try."

Parvati was shaking her head disbelievingly. "No. Absolutely not. Mum, really— "

Mrs. Patil cut her off with a wave of her hand and stared Draco down. "You understand that if we ever get a reason to turn you in, we will."

He nodded vigorously. "Of course."

"And you will not bother us ever again. With anything."

"Yes. I mean—I won't."

Mrs. Patil pursed her lips. "Then we have a deal."

"Mum!"

"Thank you. That's—thank you."

"You can leave now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Draco ducked his head and then hurried from the scene, Harry following suit. Mrs. Patil watched them as they went, ignoring the horrorstruck looks from her husband and daughter, and only broke her gaze when Lavender Brown stirred.

Light shone off the lake at Hogwarts Castle as exams came ever nearer, and Hermione, stuck in the Hospital Wing, was panicking. After the events of Malfoy Manor, she was gradually regaining her sense of self due Madam Pomfrey's excellent care. When Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, and Luna stumbled through her doors, it only took her a moment to decipher that Hermione had been hit with a nasty Omnetimens Curse, otherwise known as the Spell of Fear.

"It causes its victim to fear everything," she'd explained as she pried Hermione's fingers off the folds of Ron's coat. Harry suddenly understood why her eyes were darting to every corner and shadow. "But sometimes," Madam Pomfrey continued, "if they trust someone enough, they'll attach themselves to them." She looked pointedly at Ron.

Ron swelled with pride at this, causing Draco to snicker.

"She loves you, Weasley," he said, smirking. "Congratulations! In other news, the sky is blue! Can you believe it?"

Ron shot him a withering look.

Madam Pomfrey healed Luna's head and all their various other nicks and scratches in an instant. She then proceeded to shoo them to their dormitories.

"How long will it take to heal Hermione?" Ron asked anxiously and she ushered them out.

"Several weeks, Weasley," Madam Pomfrey responded curtly. "This is a complicated curse. Now out!"

Harry knew better than to protest.

The days after that passed as if nothing had happened. Lavender Brown returned to Hogwarts a week later with a full pardon, although she was to be under house arrest for a few months as soon as she returned home from school. She kept her head down and did her work in silence, her eyes red-rimmed and haunted. Harry felt bad for her. He was beginning to realize just how similar her and Narcissa's cases were, and he felt as if she'd gotten the rotten end of the deal.

Amazingly enough, Mrs. Patil had kept her word and lied to the Ministry through her teeth about where her family had been held. Harry knew how lucky Draco was. Having heard his bleak tone when he'd told him about what the Ministry would likely do to him and his mother if they ever found out the truth, he privately felt that they'd narrowly dodged a Curse that would come to take its revenge later. But for now he pushed those thoughts away, acutely aware that Draco was doing the same. Neither of them wanted to imagine what would follow if the Ministry ever knew the truth.

Classes went on as usual, and Ron had made it his job to collect homework for Hermione to complete when she was well enough. With exams fast approaching, they all knew that she would panic, despite their assurances that she could do the bare minimum of work and still get an 'Outstanding' in every class.

Which is exactly what she was doing now.

Her breaths came out in short, sharp gasps as she gaped at Ron in horror. "Exams are in three weeks?"

Ron bit his lip. "Yeah."

"Oh, Melin help me!"

She dragged a stack of papers towards her and was quickly engrossed.

"Er—Hermione?" Ron probed tentatively.

She ignored him, instead reaching for a quill, almost spilling her ink bottle in her haste.

"We'll—we'll just go."

She hummed in agreement, not taking her eyes off her paper.

They backed out awkwardly, closing the doors to the Hospital Wing with a soft thud. Despite having just been kicked out of the room by his girlfriend, Ron grinned sheepishly.

"Hermione's back."

Harry laughed.

"We've a lot to talk about."

Harry snorted. "That's an understatement."

Ginny grinned widely, but it soon wavered. "Are you mad at me?"

"I'd be a hypocrite to be, since I'm currently snogging Draco."

Ginny dropped the stack of books she was carrying in shock. "What?!"

At her shout, Madam Pince swooped in like a vulture. "Shhh!"

"Sorry!" Ginny lowered her voice dramatically, hurriedly picking up her books as she spoke. "You're not serious?"

Harry smirked. "Ask him."

"Oh, Merlin!" She gaped at him. "I suppose I'm allowed to snog Luna, then?"

"Have at it."

They dumped their books on a deserted table near a window. Ginny slumped in her seat as she took in the mountain of work they had to do.

"I don't think I'm going to survive these exams," she moaned fitfully.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You survived Voldemort. You can do anything."

She rubbed her temples. "Yeah. Anything but exams."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but found that he didn't have the energy to. He sighed. "Yeah, I think you might be right."

"I'm always right."

In unison, they bent over to complete the torture that was their homework.

Amazingly quickly, Hermione's own pile of assignments had disappeared, and she'd calmed down significantly. Harry stared at her in astonishment when he next walked into the Hospital Wing to visit her with Ron and Draco.

"How on earth— "

"Hi!" she greeted them brightly, a wide smile on her face. Slowly, they approached her as if in a trance.

"You—you're talking," said Ron. "And not about exams."

She nodded. "I finished all my essays. Do you think you could turn them in for me, Ron? I'd do it myself, but— " She gestured at her bedridden self to emphasize her point. "Tell the Professors that I'm sorry I didn't finish them earlier."

They gaped at her. "You were unconscious, Granger!" Draco exclaimed.

She waved him off. "So, how are things?"

There was a beat of silence before Ron spoke, clearing his throat.

"Well, erm, everything's normal. Attacks on Muggles have stopped, all the Death Eaters have been imprisoned, and the Patils are safe. And, er—I can't remember much more." He looked to Harry and Draco for help.

"Blaise has vanished," Draco said. "I told the Ministry that he helped us, and they're leaving him alone for now. He might be questioned, but he'll avoid Azkaban. Pansy, meanwhile— " Draco sneered. "She's been sentenced to five years."

Hermione nodded. "And your mother?"

Draco gulped. "She's fine. Drinking again, but fine."

Harry looked at him apologetically. "You know, you don't have to go back there. I have a house—er, my Godfather's house. It's a bit creepy, but— "

Draco shook his head. "I'll be fine. But—I'll keep that in mind."

Hermione turned to Harry. "McGonagall moved the Mirror of Erised," she said meaningfully. "She came to visit me yesterday. I thought you should know."

Harry nodded, relief spreading throughout his entire body. "Good. Er—what about your father?" he asked Draco.

He sneered. "Locked up with the others. He's been given a life sentence now. Good riddance." He glared at the lamp on Hermione's nightstand as if it had insulted him.

"C'mon, you can't really mean that," said Ron.

Draco snapped his gaze to him, narrowing his eyes. "Why not?"

"He's your father! Sure, he's a bastard, but he's still your old man! You used to idol the guy, for Merlin's sake."

"Well, Weasley, things change. Is that too hard for your tiny brain to understand?"

"That's enough," Harry interrupted, stepping between them.

Reluctantly, they stopped bickering, but that didn't keep them from giving each other sideways glares. Harry sighed.

"What about the Elder Wand?" he asked, more as a distraction than anything.

"McGonagall returned it to Dumbledore's grave," Hermione replied. "It's safe. As long as no one finds it, its power will die as planned."

"And Albrecktsson?" Harry asked. "How long is he getting in Azkaban?"

"A life sentence," said Draco.

"Good," Ron growled.

A relieved silence fell amongst the four friends just as Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office and shooed them away.

"I promise to bring you more homework, 'Mione," Ron assured her just before he left.

Hermione gave him a grateful smile.

Hermione was out of the Hospital Wing the next day. The last week before exams was gone in a flash, and exams themselves went by in a flurry of stress and worry. When they were finally finished, Harry left the potions test feeling that he at least scraped by with an 'Acceptable'. At this point, that was all he could ask for and more.

He and Draco found themselves relaxing by the edge of the lake under the shade of his, Ron's, and Hermione's favorite beach tree. Harry sat with his back against its trunk, looking out at the lake and watching some other students celebrating the end of exams by petting the Giant Squid. Draco was laying next to him, limbs splayed and his head resting on his arms, face pointed up at the sky and his eyes shut. He was the picture of serenity, and Harry smiled softly as he looked at him, watching as a few loose stands of his now white-blond hair fluttered in the breeze.

"Your blue's completely gone," he said, slightly disappointed.

"It's been gone for a while." Draco opened one eye and smirked at him. "Bloody hell, you're oblivious."

He narrowed his eyes at him, but Draco's were already closed again. Harry sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar face; Erin, who smiled cheekily and gave him a thumbs up. Harry rolled his eyes, but grinned.

"I'm sorry."

Harry looked away from Erin, frowning at Draco's words. "What?"

Draco opened his eyes, turning his head towards him. "I said I'm sorry for suggesting to poison Weas—Ron with Veritaserum. I—I was being a fool."

Harry's expression softened and he smiled, a pressure in his chest lifting. "And I'm sorry for what I said. You're family's not all Death Eaters."

Draco shook his head. "No. They are. But thank you."

Draco relaxed once more, closing his eyes. Silence fell between them, but it wasn't awkward, and they both had the slightest trace of a smile gracing their features. Harry looked out over the lake, admiring the way the sun caught in its waters. The world truly was a beautiful place with Draco Malfoy beside him, not as an enemy, not a friend, but something more. A—Dare he think it?—boyfriend. The word seemed strange, but also felt very right.

"You know," said Draco, causing Harry to look back at him, "I still wonder how you knew where the Slytherin Common Room was."

He stared at him blankly for a moment, struggling to remember what he was talking about. At last, he realized what it was, and he was overcome with a fit of laughter.

"Oh, you mean when we got the locket? Well, in second year we, er—we thought you were the Heir of Slytherin. So we disguised ourselves as Crabbe and Goyle using the Polyjuice Potion and questioned you."

Draco sat up and gaped at him. "I'm sorry, I must've misheard you. You did this in what year, again?"

Harry gave him a sheepish grin. "Second."

"You bastard," Draco murmured. Then, louder this time, he said, "You bastard!"

Harry laughed and gray eyes met green, staying that way for a long while. Finally, Harry murmured, "Kiss me."

Draco tensed and raised his brows. "In front of all these people?"

Harry gulped uncertainly, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. "It's going to get out somehow anyway."

Draco gulped, casting a nervous glance around. Harry, losing his nerve and sensing Draco's reluctance, shook his head and leaned back against the tree trunk.

"Never mind. It's fine, you don't have to— "

He was interrupted by Draco leaning close. They kissed. Every thought was wiped from Harry's mind as their lips brushed together, feather-light yet somehow intense at the same time. Harry hummed in satisfaction, closing his eyes and treading his fingers through Draco's soft hair. He hardly noticed the shocked gasps of the students surrounding them as he sank into complete bliss. In the end, it was just him and Draco against the world.

When they finally separated, they exchanged small smiles. Ignoring the many gobsmacked expressions around them, Draco shifted and lay his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry wrapped an arm around his waist, and together they gazed out at the lake and the glittering sunlight that bounced off it.

The scene truly captured nature's beauty, Harry thought, and he smiled and closed his eyes, giving Draco a little squeeze. This, right here, was all he ever needed.

The war was over, and Harry Potter had never felt safer.

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end!

I started this story years ago (I think, I'm not sure about the exact timeline), but I was not satisfied with what I had planned then. My original idea was a slow, really boring work, with nothing exciting—no action, no suspense, and no plot. And as someone who can't stand books like that, I had to fix it.

So, I revised my previous work and came up with this. I've always had the idea that after the war there would still be Death Eaters of a kind—people who believed in Voldemort's ideas and wanted them to become a reality, but never actively joined Voldemort's ranks. Like the Black family, they weren't Death Eaters, but they appreciated Voldemort's work and thought he had the right mindset.

While parseltonquinq's Tumblr prompt did inspire my story, I wouldn't say this was entirely based off their idea; it just sparked enough creativity in my mind to begin the story. But a big thanks to them for that, because otherwise I would never have made this story at all!

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who read this, and a big thank you to all my returning readers! You guys have no idea how excited I am when I see all the new readers that I keep getting. I am happy to share my ideas with any number of people, whether that be one or six million!

Yours truly,
GodIsGayQueenB

P.s. Check out my profile to see the new stories I will be writing, including a Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossover centered entirely on Alex Fierro, as well as a fanfiction for the popular Netflix show The Politician about how Payton Hobart is the mastermind behind making same-sex marriage legal in the United States of America!