The next morning brought with it blessed normality, or at least what passed for normal for Harry these days and he was actually feeling more relaxed. The Ministry hadn't shown their hand yet, but it seemed to be clear which way they were leaning. That meant that Harry let Draco go off to lessons with only a little reluctance and he actually managed to concentrate quite well through his subjects.
Draco returned at lunch time, along with Hermione and Neville, Ron was dealing with something to do with the Quidditch team, and Dobby brought them all a very nice selection of what the kitchen had to offer. They were eating and talking, and well just being friends when Jeremy popped into his frame.
"Sorry to disturb you, Harry," Jeremy said with a smile, "but the headmaster wonders if he might be allowed in."
"Of course," Harry said immediately.
It didn't sound urgent, but you could never tell with Dumbledore. When the headmaster walked in, he was carrying a small bundle under one arm and a rather large flat something in the other; he was, however, smiling brightly, so Harry thought this was probably a good visit.
"Good afternoon," Dumbledore greeted in his usual, slightly dotty manner, "please, do not let me interrupt your lunch. I am merely here as a delivery boy."
When Albus Dumbledore was just a delivery boy the world would end, but Harry wasn't about to challenge him on it. It did pique his interest though and he couldn't help wondering what could have dragged the headmaster all the way from his office.
"Firstly," Dumbledore said, while sporting the biggest smile, "a few students pressed upon me to deliver this."
He produced the large flat thing that appeared to be some sort of homemade envelope.
"I believe they have been working very hard on it since the news broke," Dumbledore explained and twinkled at them.
The predicted pile of cards from the Hufflepuffs had never materialised, but Harry had the sinking feeling that was because they had been working together. He stood up and carefully took what he suspected was a giant card from the headmaster.
"Um, thanks," he said, looking at it dubiously, "would you mind if we opened it after lunch?"
His reaction seemed to amuse the Headmaster somewhat.
"Of course not, My Boy," was the cheerful response and Harry found himself being patted on the shoulder.
He placed the large envelope against the edge of the sofa and sat back down.
"And now, Draco," Dumbledore said, grabbing Harry's attention, because everything concerning Draco did these days, "this is for you."
The headmaster passed the other small bundle to Draco, who took it and placed it on his knee. He didn't appear to know whether to open it right then or not, so Harry gave him a small nod; he felt safer with Dumbledore there when there were strange parcels involved. Logically he knew that the headmaster would never allow anything through that might endanger Draco, but it made him feel better that Dumbledore was there.
Opening it, Draco revealed a thick scroll, and the most obvious thing on it was the Ministry seal. Harry's heart began to beat a little faster. All the signs had been good, but Harry never underestimated the Ministry's ability to take the most obvious situation and hash it up, so he waited, all but holding his breath. Draco carefully picked up the scroll to release the seal and, as he tipped it sideways, something fell out into his lap.
Harry might had squeaked, just a little, but he was admitting to nothing. There on Draco's legs was his wand.
"I believe, My Dear Boy," Dumbledore said, twinkling beyond belief now, "that the scroll contains a full account of the Ministry's investigation and their findings, as well as their decision to drop all pending charges."
Harry beamed at his lover and then threw his arms around him. It was the best news and he felt a knot inside of him finally releasing. Draco was safe; Draco had his wand back; Draco was looking at him as if he was an overexcited Hufflepuff. However, he was unrepentant and hugged him a bit more.
"Go on then," he said, grinning like he'd lost what brain cells he had left; "you know you want to."
Draco just rolled his eyes, but reached out anyway and reverently curled his fingers around the handle of his wand. There was no other real way to describe reconnecting with a wand except to say it was a perfect moment, and for just a second Harry could see that on Draco's face. Of course Draco, being a Slytherin, wiped it away pretty quickly, but it had still been there.
"Thank you very much for delivering this personally, Professor Dumbledore," Draco said, almost formally.
"Not at all," Dumbledore replied with a smile, "it was my pleasure, and now, I will let you all finish your lunch."
"You can join us if you want, Sir," Harry said quickly as his manners caught up.
"Thank you, Harry," the headmaster replied, "but I would not dream of interrupting you young people any further. I wish you all a very pleasant afternoon."
There was a general consensus of things like 'you too' and then the headmaster was gone, leaving the rest of them with lunch. By that point Draco had slipped his wand into his sleeve and was popping the seal on the scroll. Hermione, of course, was brimming over with curiosity, so Harry let her and Draco worry about the details, while he just enjoyed the fact that Draco had finally been cleared. It was a very nice feeling and nothing marred it until after Nev and Hermione left, leaving him and Draco alone.
"We should open the card," he finally decided after all the lunch things had vanished.
"Do we have to?" Draco asked, actually sounding a little scared.
Harry didn't blame him, Hufflepuffs could be scary sometimes.
"Yeah," Harry replied, playing up to the face Draco was making, "I think we do."
There wasn't a lot that could wreck his day now anyway, but he was just a little worried. He picked up the giant envelope and placed it on the table and then very carefully opened it. Nothing happened immediately, so he gained in confidence and, with Draco's help, pulled out the card. It was sweet really, all hearts and ribbons and wishing him and Draco good luck in bright letters on the front, so he opened it. That was his mistake. There was a small explosion and it suddenly appeared to be raining glitter and hearts all over the immediate area. It wasn't a shower either; it was a deluge and it covered everything.
"I may have to kill them," Draco said simply; "this is simply undignified."
When Harry turned to look, Draco was as covered in glitter as everything else and there were little metallic hearts all through his hair. He couldn't help smiling; it was adorable.
~*~
When Jeremy announced he had a visitor, Harry just assumed it was one of his friends. He knew it wasn't Draco, because they had arranged for him to come back after dinner since Draco thought he should show his face in the Great Hall again. The news of the first sensible decision the Ministry had made was all over the school, so Harry had absolutely no fears of letting him go at all.
Harry was presentable, not wandering around half naked or anything, and he had finally managed to remove nearly all of the glitter, so he just told Jeremy to let his guest in. He really didn't expect to look over from where he was putting a book back and find Narcissa Malfoy standing in his room.
"Mrs Malfoy," he said in a rather shocked tone.
"Mr Potter," Narcissa said with a small nod of her head, "I apologise for visiting unannounced, but Headmaster Dumbledore said it would be best to come straight away."
Harry wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Um, yeah," he said, a little bit lost, "please, come in. Can I get you anything, tea, perhaps?"
Falling back on learned habits seemed like the best idea.
"Thank you," Narcissa said with a slight smile, "but no, I am fine thank you."
Narcissa was wearing a very fine dress and matching jacket and her hair was piled on her head in fine blonde tresses; Harry felt rather underdressed.
"Please, have a seat," Harry offered and walked over to the sofa and chairs, waiting for his guest to sit down before he followed suit, "what can I do for you?"
"Mr Potter," Narcissa began.
"Harry," he put in since it seemed polite.
"Harry," Narcissa corrected herself, "please call me Narcissa. I have come to see you because of my son."
It wasn't really unexpected and Harry nodded; it was difficult to isolate any of the myriad of emotions that ran through him at that moment.
"Until now I have stayed away because I believed reminding others that Draco is part of the Malfoy family would have been detrimental to his position," Narcissa explained, which was more than Harry thought he had a right to expect given the circumstances, "but since he has now been officially declared innocent I came as soon as I could."
That of course begged the question why she was there with him. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe she was taking Draco away and he had to squash some rather nasty impulses.
"I wanted to ask you a question, Harry," the woman continued politely, "if I may?"
Harry nodded; he wasn't sure what timbre his voice would come out at that moment as he did his very best to control himself, so he didn't speak.
"How much of what was written in the Prophet was true?" Narcissa asked and Harry could tell that the woman seemed all but lost.
He knew Narcissa and Draco were close and he could only imagine how Narcissa was feeling, thinking that maybe she did not really know her son at all.
"The part where we are a couple now," Harry said, using the sympathy he felt for Draco's mother to soothe anything else he was thinking. "I changed the dark mark the morning after our first night together here. Professor Snape helped us concoct the rest of the story; Draco has not been hiding anything from you."
Narcissa's face actually showed her surprise then, clearly she had not expected such a direct response.
"Please excuse me," she said, regathering her composure; "I must apologise for once again underestimating you, Harry. You are a very direct young man."
He even managed a small smile at that.
"As Draco would say," he replied with a shrug, "I am a Gryffindor."
Narcissa smiled as well at that and then she sobered, looking at him in a contemplative manner.
"I do not claim to understand what exists between you and Draco, Harry," Narcissa said eventually. "After what happened at the manor I find it hard to comprehend, but I know my son well enough to know he would not tie himself to you out of simple gratitude. You have done more for him than anyone else, but he has more of a heart than his father ever did and he would not give himself over for that."
Harry found himself reaching out and he placed a hand on Draco's mother's arm very gently as she tried to explain herself. It was in that moment that he realised one simple fact.
"I love him," he said plainly, voicing what his brain had finally admitted and he has known in his heart for ages. "All of me, every different facet, every creature inside of me; we love him."
He wasn't one of those people who was good with words and always knew what to say, but he saw Narcissa's uncertainty and he responded to it. He could not explain it any other way. Draco was as much a mystery to him as the Slytherin had ever been, he could not speak for Draco, but he could speak for himself. He was tied to Draco in ways he did not understand and he didn't know if Draco was as tied to him, but it didn't make any difference.
It dawned on him at that moment that Draco's get out of jail free card had been completely obvious all the time and he felt just a little bit of an idiot for not seeing it. The truth had been staring him in the face and, all playacting aside, he now knew what was real.
"I have lived with a man who forgot he had a heart for too long," Narcissa said, looking him in the eyes, "I find I have forgotten that sometimes the simplest explanation is the truth."
Harry wasn't quite sure what that meant.
"You might have to explain that sentence," he admitted sheepishly and Narcissa smiled at him.
"I will leave that to Draco," the woman replied and patted his hand gently.
That was the trouble with dealing with Slytherins; often they left you hanging.
"Now, I believe I was in error before," Narcissa said, sitting back in her chair; "if the offer of tea is still open I would very much enjoy a cup."
For a moment Harry was caught completely wrong footed by the change of direction, but he recovered quickly. He had mostly expected Narcissa to find out what she wanted to know and leave, but it seemed that was not the case.
"Right," he said with a smile, really not sure what was going on now at all, "of course," and he cast the spell to summon Dobby.
Harry was bad at small talk and he couldn't help wondering if someone would come and rescue him.