Chapter 17

Harry wasn't kidding so they had the smallest possible ceremony. Draco didn't expect to get married before the school year would end, but for the famous Harry Potter, they didn't even have to go to the Ministry - the Ministry sent an employee to them instead.

Draco didn't want to take Harry's name (how could she comically call Harry 'Potter' if she was one?), so she wanted to officially take a name before they'd sign the documents, but when she said as much, seemingly lost about the possibilities of what to choose, Andromeda offered her Tonks, and Draco felt honored to take it.

The ceremony itself was mostly just making sure that neither Draco nor Harry was magically compelled to wed, to which Harry cheerfully noted "Not anymore!" making the Ministry employee stare but Draco only burst out laughing.

And when Harry's lion courage seemed to fail during an especially long explanation of how their marriage spell was going to work, Draco put a hand on his discreetly, and only then did she realize that Harry's were shaking, so maybe the "I'll marry in a day because I'm such a courageous person" bravado from Harry's side wasn't always what it seemed, either.

They spent their "honeymoon" in the castle, still attending classes, which could have been possibly the worst place for it, but Harry and the way he manifested his favorite word - "fun", of course - made Draco forget how they couldn't even get away for a couple of days somewhere else.

And when Draco expected some things to change after it was no longer a novelty that they jumped head-first to such a commitment, it seemed she was wrong.

"Why don't we ever argue?" Draco asked one day when she used a brushing spell on her hair and Harry was brushing his teeth at Grimmauld's Place. "Even my parents had some issues where they didn't see eye to eye, never mind the fact that they'd been married for most of their adult lives, and will be for much longer, probably."

"Should we? Argue?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Draco said.

"Are you saying our marriage is too perfect?" Harry teasingly rephrased. "Am I?"

But, in fact, in his way, Harry was, so Draco told him.

"Yes."

"Hm, maybe you could insult my lion courage or intelligence ever so often, like the good old times," Harry suggested, still not being completely serious. "Or! Make up some unflattering nickname, possibly with my scar…"

Draco kissed Harry's scar instead, making him furiously blush. Had she known that Harry would be this shocked over such a simple thing, she would have done it a hundred times by then.

"I'm just concerned. Perfect relationships don't exist, unless there are some smokescreens in place," Draco admitted. "Like, you humoring me with this whole marriage thing, while I don't even know you're fed up with my snores during the night or something…"

"You snore funny, don't worry," Harry said, with a daring grin.

"I don't even snore!" Draco said. "I just wanted to give an example."

"Yeah, but if you did, I'd be too busy laughing at you for it, than to let it annoy me," Harry declared.

"My husband, being ever so supportive," Draco could only huff hearing that.

"That's me, isn't it?" Harry's smile only grew, before he stopped himself. "Jokes aside though… I think we manage so well not because I'm humoring you about your troll-like snoring…"

Draco laughed.

"...but because we both know loneliness. What it's like when nobody paid attention to our worse or best. And we would sacrifice a lot to never have to be invisible again."

It was strange how emotional Draco got hearing that, but Harry was there to reassure her, not even with a kiss (in the middle of brushing his teeth), but with a hug. A hug that was quickly growing on Draco (just as so many things Harry did), now that she would let herself hope that she'd be getting such hugs for some time still.

"I think, as long as I can turn towards you, and you don't shut me down or out without a reason, we'll have the greatest marriage in history," Harry said.

"Are you talking about the physical side or the--"

"Both," Harry said.

"And what's a good enough reason?" Draco asked, and when Harry only smiled, she added. "I'm not joking. I seriously need to know."

"I guess any reason," Harry said. "As long as I know we'll be okay, because you still talk to me, even if it's just to say that you don't want to talk, I think we'll be just fine."

"Just fine?" Draco asked, thinking that didn't cover the time when Harry might have some problems.

But they were still going strong when the NEWTs came, and when Draco was working full time in Mungo, Harry got his wish and stayed at home with Teddy, Harry seemed happier than ever, while probably trying to earn some kind of "best dad" trophy.

Coincidentally, every single time Draco got home, she got a lengthy explanation of what happened while she was gone, at times admittedly falling asleep while Harry was talking, but always enjoying the parts she wasn't too tired to hear.

She even liked to spend time with Teddy. After a long day of research, or a bad case of a curse or illness, holding a happy infant close was therapeutic. Teddy and Harry became a signal that Draco crossed the threshold of home, so she could relax and be herself - unlike at Mungo's where she had to act professional, and very focused, with no room for mistakes.

It helped them that Teddy was admired by almost all of Harry's friends, and Andromeda was living just a floor down, because that way they never had to look long for a babysitter when it was time for date night that they scheduled every week (even if Draco's chaotic schedule didn't let it be a specific day).

Harry liked to take Draco to London, while Draco liked to just set up a tent in nature, and not even do much until they ran out of food, so they did both. Sometimes when it was bad weather, they just watched a movie; and Draco was very proud that now she could use the controller for the TV Harry installed in one of the empty rooms.

That "perfect" balance only shifted when Teddy got older, and they discussed with Andromeda that he should attend a (Muggle) daycare to socialize, and Harry wasn't needed at home the entire day.

He started a job at the Ministry, but after less than two months, he looked dead-tired and miserable instead of the always smiling Harry he usually was, so Draco asked.

"Look. You don't have to work," Draco tried to reassure him. "If we need money, I can always pick up a few extra shifts instead."

"It's not about the money," Harry stated, but what was strange was how he could talk forever about Teddy's day before, but whenever Draco asked about his day at work, he barely said anything.

"Then what is it?" Draco tried to understand.

"No, it's… I can't just sit at home and do nothing the whole day," Harry said.

"I mean, you could," Draco told him. "You're great with Teddy—"

"But it's for his sake that we sent him to the daycare."

"And, if we wanted any more kids, it should rather be now, so they would be closer to Teddy's age," Draco added.

"I do like certain activities that plan would entail," Harry smiled, but even that came out a bit weary. "But we're too young…"

"There's no such thing," Draco said.

"And I didn't think that was what you wanted, so now I'm starting to think you'd only do it so I'd stayed at home with them."

"If there was a question somewhere, it's not. I was an only child and would have loved to have siblings, and if we have a kid now, they could be closer in age to Teddy," Draco started to list. "And there are many more reasons, but also that not counting a fairly famous wizard or something, Teddy's the best thing that has happened to me."

"Who is this fairly famous person, do I know them?" Harry wondered.

"I don't know," Draco wasn't going to say. "Should I describe them?"

She was going to say something about how the said famous person would ask her if they were famous enough, but when Harry looked at her nodding, Draco softened.

"They're great. So much so that I would do anything to have a family with them," she said. "And to keep them all happy."

"You do," Harry lied to her, when it wasn't always true, but Draco would try, even if they weren't always on top.

"So let's not do anything different, just forget the contraceptive charms," Draco suggested. "Knowing me, one pregnancy will be enough to discourage me from the rest."

But that wasn't true, because by the time she got pregnant, she had been working at Mungo's for a while now, and it had changed her. Not that being pregnant while working was easy, but she would have done it in her sleep again if it meant they'd have a second child.

The only trouble Harry couldn't help her with (he was outdoing even himself in trying to support Draco the best he could) was when Lucius Malfoy heard the news and tried to offer them a deal.

"Make the kid the Malfoy heir, and I'll give you a whole lot of money."

"We don't need your money or influence," Draco said because it was true. She was good enough at her job that they wouldn't have to worry about a steady income, even if Harry was going to become a stay-at-home dad. "And even if we did, we already have a child. I'm not going to give an inheritance to their younger sibling when you didn't offer the same deal for Teddy."

"That's because he isn't your child," Lucius said.

"But he is," Draco said. "And that you would suggest that he's anything less than the one I'm carrying now is the reason why I'd never asked for the Malfoy name back, even if I don't believe cutting off relatives from your life."

"You'll change your mind once you'll become like the Weasleys," her father said. "Only, by then I will also request custody of the kid, perhaps, so the time to change your mind is now."

"Half of my friends are Weasleys," Draco shrugged. "So I guess I'm looking forward to that future, and you can show yourself out."

To Lucius' credit, he also tried to make a deal with Harry, after that disastrous conversation, and when that failed, he offered a deal to include Teddy in his will too, but Draco and Harry were on one page about it.

"I feel like I'm acting stupid," Harry told her with a sigh. "Because I don't want to accept it, even though he included Teddy for an almost similar amount, and if we don't accept it, we're taking money away from the kids."

"They'll always have what they'll need. I'd change jobs if I had to just to make sure that's true," Draco told him. "And I'd even tolerate Lucius Malfoy's face at some family gatherings so the kids would know their grandparents, even if I'd be watching Lucius like a hawk. But his money is more trouble than worth, I know that better than anybody else."

"Yes."

"Maybe we could let the kids decide for themselves once they're adults, but for now? I say we forget it," Draco suggested.

"I love you," was all that Harry said in response, making her proudly smile.

"I know."

"Draco…"

"I love you too," she told him after just a bit of teasing. "Otherwise would I look this big, even if I wanted a second child? It would be always easier to adopt, but you enchanted me so I'd do this."

"Did I?" Harry smiled at her.

"Most definitely," Draco said knowing full well he didn't. "But if you did, that's fine, just don't cancel the illusion of the spells on me right now. I prefer my life as it is now."

"I won't," Harry promised, kissing her.

In the end, they only had one kid, but with Teddy channeling his inner Weasley twin ever so often as he got older, maybe taking care of two children was plenty, even for Harry.

"I have been thinking," Harry said when even their second kid was old enough that they didn't need constant supervision. "About what you said of the Malfoy money."

"You think we're making a mistake not taking it?" Draco asked.

"No, I think I made a mistake with my fame. You were never going to be happy as long as your parents control you with their gold, but I let the fame and the expectations of being Harry Potter control me."

"Were those expectations maybe that you were raising our kids in the last couple of years? And doing a phenomenal job at it, as well?" Draco asked. She could concentrate on her job because Harry always had taken care of their family, even when she wasn't home.

"No. I'm talking about taking that job at the Ministry."

"Well, if you were thinking about going back there, don't," Draco said.

"And I won't," Harry nodded. "Even if I wanted to which I don't, it's not good for us. But only lately have I started to realize that maybe there's something I wouldn't mind doing, even if it's less what people would expect me to do.

"What is it?" Draco was dying to know.

"I wouldn't mind caring for creatures," Harry said. "I like physical work, and they fascinate me… Even if it's ever so often just cleaning up after the animals and getting them food, so it's not a job for a famous person."

Old Draco would have thought too. But this Draco had to learn that looks could be deceiving, and she had spent a school year helping Hagrid every weekend, and knew how relaxing and important that work could be.

"I think it's a great idea," she said, and she wasn't even lying for Harry's sake.

"I'm glad you think so," Harry seemed unsure.

"You could even take the kids, and give them small tasks, sometimes," Draco suggested. "They could learn a lot, and they wouldn't be cooped up in the house all day."

"I haven't even thought about that," Harry beamed. "I'd love that."

"I guess it's a good thing you have me as your wife, then," Draco teased.

"I could show you how much that's true," Harry was grinning at her no doubt, and after some years together, Draco no longer blushed hearing that sentence - instead, she just smiled back.

"Oh. Don't let me stop you then."