"Hey, Malfoy!" Harry called down the hall.
Malfoy popped his head into the living room. "What is it now, Potter?"
"I'm finally finished with Hogwarts!" Harry shouted triumphantly, throwing his books onto the couch.
"Nice," Draco said, "But why'd you want to call me?"
"Well, McGonagall said that the Ministry is looking for new Aurors, so-"
"Wait." Draco held up his hand. Harry looked at him expectantly. "You mean like, Aurors Aurors? If this is another one of your pranks, Potter, I'll-"
"No, don't worry," Harry laughed. "Not joking."
Draco looked up hopefully. "What'd she say?"
"She says she's going to help us get the job!"
Draco grinned. "I'd say thank you, but I won't."
"I'll take it," Harry grinned. "But here's the thing: in order to do that, we need to take a special test, and McGonagall wants us to keep taking Defense Against the Dark Arts for an extra year before we can get in."
"What, go back to Hogwarts?" Draco asked incredulously.
"No, not like that," Harry quickly explained. "There's another place near here we can just Apparate to every morning."
"Oh, okay," Draco said. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?! Potter, you little-"
Harry smiled. "What?"
Draco shook his head. "Nothing. I should go to bed early, then."
...............
Draco and Harry were up early every day for the next two weeks. And it was hard. Not only were they taking this (extremely) advanced Defense class, they also went to Hogwarts every Wednesday to take extra potions. When Hermione saw how busy they were, she told Harry she would come to help set up their apartment some weekend when they were free, as long as he let her know in advance.
Harry wearily walked down the stairs and knocked on Ron and Hermione's door. Hermione opened it and beamed. "How are you, Harry?"
"Exhausted," Harry said tiredly. "It's like being in fifth year all over again."
She sighed, but he could see a smile playing around her eyes. "Well, at least you're getting something done," she said. "I'd be surprised if you didn't get in."
"I guess so," Harry said, stretching. "But there's so much homework and studying, it's just...." he shook his head.
"I can come by and help you, if you want," she offered.
"That'd be great, but that's not actually why I'm here," Harry said, smiling. "I was gonna say, if you want to come tomorrow to help with the apartment, we'll be there."
"Oh, great!" She said happily. "I have a few ideas, they're in a binder in the-"
"A binder?" Harry asked, staring. "How many ideas, exactly?"
"Oh, a few hundred," she said casually, "But don't worry, they're little things. Nothing too drastic," she added.
Harry smiled. "See you tomorrow, then."
...............
"She's coming tomorrow?" Draco asked, frowning. He'd looked up from his books with a smile when Harry'd walked in, but now he looked displeased.
"Yeah, but she won't be here too early," Harry said, thinking that's what it was about. "You can still sleep in."
"I don't- uh, yeah," Draco said quietly. Was jealousy an emotion? If so, he'd finally succeeded in feeling something- a lot of it, too. "Is she bringing Ron with her?" He asked.
"No, I don't think so," Harry said. "He's visiting home for a while."
"Well, that's good at least," Draco muttered. He didn't know why Harry was calm about this. Oh yeah, he thought. Because they're his friends.
Draco yawned, stretching. "Well, I guess that's okay. This place doesn't looks so great."
"No, it doesn't," Harry agreed. "I guess we'll live with it until then."
...............
Harry flung open the door at Hermione's first knock. "Hey!" He looked past her. He looked shocked for a second, but then beamed. "Hey, Ginny!"
"I thought you two should see each other again," Hermione said, smiling. She looked into the room. "So there are definitely a few changes we could make," she said, walking around in a circle. "Where's Draco?"
"Oh, Pansy phoned him," Harry said, looking down at Ginny and smiling. "Said she needed him for something."
"Well, good," Ginny said, a hint of disgust in her voice. "I didn't want to see him."
"Er.. yeah," Harry said after a pause. "Yeah, he's... uh.."
Hermione noticed Harry's awkward expression and quickly clapped her hands together. "O-kay!" She said loudly, making the other two jump. "Let's get to work!"
...............
Draco sighed as he made his way across town to see Pansy. If he was being honest with himself, he'd rather stay with Potter and Granger. He stopped himself as soon as he thought that. No, you wouldn't, he told himself firmly. They're annoying Gryffindors, why do you care.
He knocked on the door of Pansy's apartment, who was living alone. "Hey, Draco," she said sweetly as she opened the door. "Hey," he muttered, brushing past her into the room.
She cleared her throat nervously. "So, I... I was thinking," she began. He looked up at her. "I... really like you, Draco."
Draco felt a new kind of panic rise up in his chest, but he let her continue. "I want to be more than friends. I want to be more." She was slowly making her way towards him, but he still didn't move. He knew he should be elated; she was a Slytherin, a pureblood like him. This is what his father wanted, this is what his entire family had wanted. But, he thought, What's the point if I don't want that?
Before he knew what was happening, Pansy had her lips pressed against his. "Merlin!" He shouted, and pushed Pansy off of him. "What d'you think you're doing?!"
Pansy looked up at him from the floor, bewildered. "Draco... what-?"
Draco took a deep breath and regained his composure. "It's Malfoy," he said coldly. "And while I acknowledge your advances, I'm forced to deny them." He paused. "At the moment, I believe I'm... fine with being single for now."
Pansy looked up at him in horror. "But, Draco, if you're with me, you can stay here! Not with that terrible Potter boy!"
"Exactly," Draco said quietly, and slammed the door on his way out, fuming.
...............
"Wow, the place looks so much better already," Harry said in awe. "Thanks."
"That's what I'm here for. Now you two can just talk while I fix the kitchen." She winked at Harry as he and Ginny made their way into his bedroom.
"So," Ginny said, turning to him once they were inside. "Tell me everything."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "About?"
Ginny laughed. "Oh, Harry, you know!" She said, gently slapping his chest. "How's living here? With-" she gagged- "Malfoy?"
"Oh," Harry said, shifting around nervously. "You know, it's not so bad after all."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You're just saying that to be nice." She reached up and tangled her hands lovingly in his hair. "I'm glad Hermione brought me here," she said quietly.
Harry smiled down at her. "Me too."
She leaned forward on her toes and kissed him. He kissed back just as eagerly, trying to make up for lost time.
Harry heard the front door slam, but paid no attention until Hermione was calling to Malfoy to DON'T GO IN THERE, YOU'LL REGRET IT! Harry looked up as his door flew open. "I should've just stayed here," Malfoy said angrily. "Pansy tried to-" his angry expression turned shocked when he saw what was happening. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled. "Talk later." He closed the door quickly.
Ginny looked up at Harry searchingly. "I thought you said you two weren't talking?"
"Well, now that we're applying for the same job...?" Harry said.
"Wait, what?" Ginny held up her hands and took a step back, her eyebrows raised. "What job?"
"Oh, man," Harry muttered. He remembered that he hadn't told Ginny about the Ministry's offer yet. "The Ministry offered Auror jobs to me and Malfoy."
"An Auror?" Ginny asked, looking angry. "But that's all the way across the city! We'll never see each other then!"
"We'll find time," Harry said, trying to calm her down. "Besides, I've wanted this since-"
"Who CARES?" She almost shrieked, her hair bristling in rage. "Our relationship is more important!"
"Ginny!" Harry called, but she stormed out of the room, dramatically swinging the door shut behind her. Harry sank onto his bed, perplexed. What was that?
Hermione came in soon after. "What happened?" She said tiredly. She was used to fixing Ron and Harry's mistakes.
"I-I told her about the job, and she ran off," Harry said, frowning. "I didn't even have time to tell her it was in a year."
Hermione shook her head. "You can borrow Malfoy's owl to send a letter explaining," she said wisely. "That's the logical thing to do, after all."
"I guess you're right," Harry sighed. "By the way, how's it coming?"
"Pretty well," Hermione said happily. "I'm done with the office and everything, come see!"
Harry looked around the redone apartment and smiled. He had to admit, Hermione had done a great job. The walls of the living room were a pale green, Harry's small model of a Firebolt hanging right by the window. A new carpet was put down, and along with the new couch, there were three armchairs and a coffee table. The kitchen was redone as well, with a pale-blue wall by the sink and new tiles on the counters. The office was still white, but a new layer of paint had been put on and the wooden floor gleamed.
"This is great, Hermione," Harry said, giving her a hug. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Hermione said, smiling. "Anytime, really. But I have to go make dinner," she added, "Since Ron almost burned the house down last time." She winked and left.
Harry made his way down the hall and knocked on Malfoy's door. "Hey, Malfoy! The place looks great, come see!"
Draco heard Harry's voice and sighed, opening the door a crack. "What is it?"
"Come look at this," Harry said, dragging him into the living room.
Draco gave a low whistle. "Granger's got taste, that's for sure," he says.
"Yeah, totally," Harry agreed. He glanced over at the pile of books stacked on the couch and groaned. "I still have a ton of work to do." Draco grinned at him. "Let me help."
................
Harry borrowed Malfoy's owl to send a letter to Ginny, and got an answer later the next night. He slit open the envelope hurriedly and read.
Harry,
I'm sorry I misread the situation. I just haven't seen you in so long, and I don't like the thought of you getting farther away and not seeing you for another year- I barely saw you last year. Sorry if I overreacted.
<3, Ginny
Harry sighed in relief and let the letter flutter to the floor. He whistled to the owl, who flew onto Harry's arm. Harry carried him back to Malfoy's room.
"Did she get back to you?" Malfoy inquired.
"Oh, yeah," Harry said. "Everything's good now."
"I'm glad," Malfoy said, but he didn't sound so glad. "Happy I could help." And he shut the door in Harry's face. Typical Malfoy, Harry thought as we went back to his bedroom.
Yes another chapter down! I have a bit of fluff in the next one, so thanks for reading! xx