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eve175 · 1 month

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A Court of Sins and Nightmares

Chapter one

Eris Vanserra x OC! Alessia Mors

A/N: Hii omg. I was so excited to make this happen outside of my brain. I've literally been dreaming of this series for a while. And I feel quite good about how this first chapter turned out. A huge thanks to @sarawritestories and @milswrites for the feedback and support !💕 😊

Summary: Alessia Mors is expected to marry Eris Vanserra to concretize his alliance with the Night Court.

Word count: 1,205k

Warnings: Some harsh language, I think. Nothing more for now...

“Either you accept this engagement, or I’ll send you to the Bog of Oorid to meet your sweet mother!” Thanatos roars in anger from the other side of the door. “I’ll gratefully accept, then! That already sounds like a much sweeter proposition than marrying the devil!” I was certainly not going to let my grip off that door. Nor would the mass of fog. Or so you thought. As soon as Keir’s voice boomed, the murk quickly hid under my bed, and I fell to my ass as father yanked the door open. “Can’t even handle your own daughter now, Thanatos?”

I wiggle and squirm under my father’s grip as he restrains my hands and knees with heavy golden chains. Keir was staring at the scene happening right before him, lazily leaning against my door frame. I was most certainly looking like some hissing cat right now, all claws and teeth out. “Let’s just hope Eris can discipline her, Keir. Unlike his failed attempt with your daughter.” Gross. Utterly and completely gross. I may not hold snobby Morrigan in my heart, but nailing a woman's womb was wrong. I couldn’t figure out which of the four males I hated more at the moment… Keir for his mistake and mistreatment of Morrigan? Thanatos repeating the same mistakes with me? Beron for raising shitty and cruel sons? Or Eris for his lack of balls to confront his father?

Before I can even mentally elaborate on this theory, Keir lifts my chin and forces my mouth open to pour from a tiny vial a silver liquid down my throat, pinching my nose roughly to make sure I have no way but to swallow the substance to keep breathing. “There, this should at least sweeten her up for the duration of that quick business talk with Eris.” Keir taunted, a shit-eating grin rising on one side of his lips.

I instantly recognize the content of the vial now swallowed down my throat. It was a potion brewed with lavender essence, peppermint, and a tiny drop of faebane extract, purposed to help people suffering from severe anxiety disorders. Such as soldiers suffering from PTSD or panic disorder, for example… but… wait. “Did you just use my own potions against me?!” I wanted to scream, to spit on his perfectly polished shoes, to bite his toes off… But the faebane contained in this concoction fastened the desired effects of the potion, calming down drastically its consumer. As much as faebane was harmful to Faes if used topically, but it was completely harmless if ingested in small quantities.

“Make sure she’s ready in not more than ten minutes, and take the restraints off her wrists. Wouldn’t want Eris to notice them until he agrees to take her to concretize this alliance. Keep the ones on her ankles though, make sure they’re unnoticeable under her dress. Wouldn’t want your nasty gremlin to run away, not that she would be able to… with this ingenious concoction…” Keir smiles devilishly, crushing the vial under his feet before walking away from his spot. Shit, those are expensive. I would’ve reused that…

Thanatos unties my wrists and sits me down on the chair in front of my vanity as servants rush inside the room on cue to get me ready. Before leaving my room too, Father turns to me and sighs. “Just… behave. For once.” I bite the inside of my cheek, not wanting any sweet words to reach his ears. Nothing I wanted to say was sweet, kind, or gentle. But under the effect of the potion, I knew that my mouth would betray my brain. He exits the room quickly, probably off to prepare everything for the Devil's arrival.

The servants start to brush my long hair, one of them working on each side of my head. It doesn't take long until I’m all freshened up, dressed, and ready to go. I discreetly fixed my favorite dagger in its sheath at my thigh when the two of them were rummaging through my jewelry box to pick the best set to match my attire for the evening. As one of them locks the silver necklace around my neck, I can’t help a snicker erupt from my mouth. She raises a brow and politely asks. “Is something wrong, miss?” “No… No. It’s nothing, I’m just a bit tired.” I quickly answer back.

It was in fact not ‘nothing’ at all. On the contrary… things were about to get quite… interesting. I had brewed this potion to help a little girl who was sadly already suffering from selective mutism since witnessing her parents' horrible death at such a young age. A little girl weighing not more than forty-four pounds… Which was almost four times less than my weight… And I was certainly going to keep this information to myself… For later.

I’m quickly escorted to the giant dining room, the three males not taking any inch of their attention off their political discussion, or the price of my hand, who knows. The sound of the chains wrapped around my ankles on the ground was muffled by the carpet flooring. I sit across from the red-headed Devil, his hands are crossed over his head, his shirt lifted up slightly, exposing his hip bone. I can’t help but stare for a while longer, and grin. The sound of my chair moving as I sit down finally makes my presence noticed and the three pairs of eyes flipped in my direction.

“Ah, there she is. Eris, this is my niece. The one we were currently… discussing about. Isn’t she quite lovely…” Pig, brute, creep… All kinds of insults rush to my mind, but all of them are kept in my mind only. “Ah, sorry for my delay. The servants made sure I looked flawless for our… guest. It’s an honor to meet you, Vanserra.” I force a smile, playing my part expertly. My father doesn’t bother to open his mouth, as always. He knows his place, and Keir does too. Keir also takes a vile pleasure to remind Thanatos of his title inside this court. Thanatos may be a Lord too, and his brother, but he had always been under Keir’s orders, since Keir was the most powerful brother, even though the youngest of them both.

Eris simply snickers, lowering his arms crossed behind his hands to rest his elbows on the table. I must admit, I thought a High Lord’s son would’ve had more… manners. His amber eyes are piercing through mine, looking deep into my soul… Well, two could play this game, but I knew that I didn’t need to. That man had probably no idea, or barely, of who I was. The last memories he might still have of me are when I was still an innocent teenager. I, on the other hand, know absolutely everything about him, his allies, strengths, flaws…

The only thing that wasn't mentioned in the books I gathered pieces of information from was that the Devil, as cruel as he is, seemed truly… edible. I could easily take a bite off this man. For fun. “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Alessia Mors.” He says with a feline grin. Yeah, cruelly handsome man that he is…

A/N (again 🤭): I really really hope you liked it! And what's going to come next... Woooo! They're not going to have it easy!! 😉💕

Taglist: @milswrites @sarawritestories

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profoundbondfanfic · 7 months

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Märchen

Märchen by tiamatv Rating: Mature Word Count: 93.5k

Once upon a time, there was a green-eyed prince, locked away in a tower of monsters for the sin of refusing his angelic betrothed. Once upon a time, there was a blue-eyed wizard who had erred, and in doing so had lost, and lost, and lost, until he had little left to lose. Once upon a time, there was a Princess of Mondoor, cursed to live as a red dragon. Or perhaps she was a red dragon who had been born in the shape of a Princess of Mondoor. Hard to say. These were all separate stories. Until they weren’t.

Since we're headed into autumn, it's time to find cozy blankets, warm drinks, and a fic that you can spend the whole afternoon curled up with. Luckily, this is exactly the fic you've been looking for to while away the hours.

This is a quintessential fairytale, only with a few twists added in. For example, the only princess in this story is more than capable of defending herself, and will do so, courtesy of her sharp teeth, claws, and ability to breathe fire. Dean is the prince locked in the tower, but he's certainly no damsel waiting for rescue--in fact, he's going to battle his own way out, through dozens of monsters. Cas is the powerful wizard who has a soft spot for dragons, vegetable gardens, and lichen. And the carnivorous hedge has a sense of humor and does its best to help Dean out.

It does feel exactly like you're reading a fairytale as you go through this fic, and it's absolutely delightful. It's almost as good as watching the slow burn of Dean and Cas' relationship develop--first from Cas being begrudgingly allowed into Dean's space, to begrudging allies, to friends, and finally... maybe something more.

Cas is so endearingly oblivious throughout this fic (for instance, he spends a good bit of time wondering what Dean is doing at the tower to begin with, since he's sure that it was a princess who was cursed to be in the tower), but he's also the same powerful and badass guy that we've come to love. Dean is wonderfully irreverent but still with his vulnerabilities lurking underneath his bravado. And Charlie is the best friend (dragon!) that we've all wanted in our lives.

So find your favorite autumn beverage and comfy socks and settle in for a wonderful read! 💖

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lunarharp · 11 months

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lil thing i made for “sun & moon”, a ferdibert zine :-)

#fe3h tag #ferdibert #yup....ferdibert....i wrote this ages ago. & idk how to draw them or more like i never did BUT i do still love them.#i want more ppl to read my 16k fake marriage fic so bad it got so little readership but also like whatever at this point. ah fire emblem men #im used to writing long slow burn so i was worried about what on earth i could do in 2.8k!?!?!? but jumping straight into courtship #that was fun. maybe they havent even kissed yet in this story. i didnt even think of writing one cause it's like..Woah..#we've only been unofficially courting for a year and officially courting for 6 months let's slow down 😳#i love writing pathetically gay 30 year old men oh i really do....#it's so weird not drawing ppl who wear hats their heads look so bare. i look at hubert and im like umm... wheres your witch hat ?_?#WAIT THIS IS LIKE MY 7TH FERDIBERT FIC???? wha....

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maelstrom007 · 8 months

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New Face, Who This?

Don't mind me, just playing in the sandbox that is @ghouldjams cod fae au. Mal switches things up, as they are wont to do, and trips up a certain fae in the process. Featuring ghouls oc Witch who I adore.

Mal looked at themselves in the mirror. They turned this way and that, but something just felt. . . off. Pursing their lips they sighed, changing into the fifth outfit that morning. Ugh, still not right.

“Maybe it’s time for a change,” they murmured. When was the last time they did this? Twenty years ago? Maybe more? Yeah, it was time to switch things up.

Stripping bare, they stared at the mirror once more. It was always easiest if they could see what they were doing. To start Mal focused on their face, studying the wide jaw and square face they had become accustomed to for the last however many years it’s been. Reaching forward toward their reflection, fingers splayed, they twisted their wrist. Mal’s reflection fractured, tesselating out in patterns and colors like a kaleidoscope, before suddenly snapping back into place.

The face staring back at them was much softer, rounder around the cheeks with a charming mouth. Some things remained unchanged, like their fiery red hair and their bold eyebrows. For whatever reason they always stuck around.

Moving on to the rest of their body, they wanted to move on from the sleek and slim rectangular build. In the end, they went for something a little more filled out, hints of muscle and practical strength within a sturdy frame. They’d have to workout to maintain it, they were using magic afterall, not working miracles.

With the excitement of a new canvas, finding an outfit was easy, opting for a long sundress. The lack of sleeves accentuated the new muscles in their arms nicely, while also complementing their new more feminine face. A last little splurge of magic allowed their hair to grow just long enough to place in a messy bun.

As usual, the day was rather slow, mainly spent at their combination check out and consultation table project planning for recent clients. Creating patterns, planning dye lots, etc. etc. Their project ledger wasn’t completely full yet, so their curtains were pulled wide open, and a sign that said ‘Welcome, during business hours’ hung from the door.

This meant that a certain handsome fae could slip in with no resistance, immediately waltzing up to the counter with a confidence that should have been annoying, if they weren’t in such a good mood.

“Well hello, I - oh.” He started his greeting, but stumbled mid way through as Mal looked up from their ledger.

They raised an eyebrow, “Hello to you too.”

Confusion was visible on his face, “Sorry, I was just expecting someone else.”

“And who would that be?”

“The last time I came in, maybe a little over a week ago, there was someone else here. Kind of small, very cute, with shaggy red hair almost the same color as yours.”

“Hunting for information, are we?”

A boyish glint sparkled in the others eyes as he leaned over the counter, “Now that I think of it you two look quite a bit alike. You two wouldn’t happen to be. . .siblings, would you?”

Before Mal could even begin to think of a way to respond to that Witch glided in through the door, the wards tingling in delight and recognition of their clever creator. “Oh my gosh you will not believe the tea I have for you today, I heard that -”

It only took Witch a second to notice the changes, and only a few more to piece together what Mal had done, “Wow!!!! You look great! I love what you’ve done with your hair, and that dress looks gorgeous on you, did you make it yourself?”

Gossip forgotten, Witch ran up to dote on Mal, feeling the material and gushing over their new look. After a few minutes of this, the fae man coughed gently.

“Shit! Sorry, I’ll let you finish up with your customer,” Witch said.

“Oh, I’m not a customer,” he said.

“Then what are you?”

“A nuisance,” Mal said, “a nosy one at that.”

Witch snorted, but said nothing.

If he took offense to Mal’s comment, he didn’t show it, “All I want to know is who that fae is that I talked to a few weeks ago. About yea tall, pretty hands and shaggy red hair kind of like yours? Tell me, is red hair and attractiveness a job requirement? Or am I just incredibly lucky?” His lopsided grin would have been annoying if it didn’t look so good on his face.

Witch opened her mouth, “M-”

At the sound of their name starting in Witch’s mouth, Mal gave her a desperate look in warning. Even though ‘Mal’ wasn’t really their true name, it’s not something that they gave out left and right, let alone to loitering mystery fae.

With barely a stumble in her speech, she corrected herself, “My friend here runs this shop by themselves. And damn well at that.”

He chuckled, “Well then, aren’t you full of surprises.” This time, Mal didn’t miss the once over he gave them. When their eyes met, his golden eyes looked molten hot.

A blush rose to their cheeks unbidden, and Mal brought their hands together in a decisive clap, “Well! If you’re not a customer I must ask you to leave immediately as is shop policy,” a delicate line of fine print illuminated itself in recognition on the welcome sign, “Good day to you sir.”

The typically controlled and smooth wards were swift and erratic as they buffeted the mystery fae towards the door, however he resisted them as much as he could, “Tell me your name! What may I call you?” He called out frantically, attempting to brace himself against the wards unseen force.

Mal raised their hand to aid in one final push to send him out the door, but paused as their eyes met once again. There was a desperation and sincerity in his features. Before Mal knew what they were doing they opened their mouth.

“You may call me a fox, sir hunter, for that is all I am to you.”

“And a lovely Fox you shall be,” he said, before he was sucked out of the door and summarily deposited on the street, curtains closing with a solid thwunk.

The silence was thick in the shop before Witch broke it, voice strained with barely contained laughter “~You may call me a fox for that is all I am to you~”

“Shut upppp”

“Well, he’s a handsome hunter, I'll give him that.”

Mal put their head in their hands, “He’s a nuisance and nothing more.”

“Suuuure.”

They giggled desperately, “He is!! He comes waltzing in saying that he doesn’t want anything and then I kick him out cause he’s loitering!”

“God Mal you’re insufferable, he’s flirting with you you idiot.”

“He is not.”

“If you say so. But you best believe that I am going to bring this up over dinner because never in the time that I’ve known you have I seen your wards react like that.”

Mal raised their head, eyebrows furrowed, “Dinner?”

Witch gave them a confused look, before letting out an exasperated sigh, “I forgot to say it out loud huh.”

“Yup.”

“Well, your ass, my house, I’m making dinner cause I haven’t had you over in ages. Be there or be square.”

“I wonder if I could actually turn myself into a square.”

“Dammit Mal.”

#1fae1 #maelstrom fic #maelstrom writes #oc: mal #oc: witch #I need a name for this fae #theres only so many epitaphs I can give him #Lowkey want to name him Handsome #Cause 99% of his descriptors have started with handsome #ghoul you keep giving me so many great ideas for Mal #did anyone catch the movie reference?#wonder if Mal will see a certain someone wearing a certain beanie at dinner 👀👀👀👀👀👀#im so bad at slow burn i just want these two to fuck #but i also want them to have a reason to fuck yknow #feels weird just throwing them together without any sort of relationship growth #augh

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ossa-malum · 27 days

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Ascensionism, Ch 2:

Honor Thy Mother

“I’m not interested in being made the fool again.”

“And I’m not interested in doing nothing while you dupe women into becoming mindless servants.” Eve said hotly. “You really are a fool if you think I’ll stand by and watch, Azazel.”

His eyes flashed and seemed to almost burn when Eve spoke his name, and she felt the power of it roll off her tongue with a seductive thrum of magic.

Demons and their names, so touchy.

{star-crossed lovers} {demon x witch romance}

{slow burn} {eventual smut}

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moonlight-prose · 1 month

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new theme = new era of yearning.

#i've been working on a fic that's gonna be long and slow burn and pining beyond belief #so i had to do a new theme to correspond with the vibes #witch aunt talks✨

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drarrily-we-row-along · 1 year

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Making It Work (Chapter Nine)

If Harry tried to say that their training was a walk in the park that afternoon, he’d be lying but it was strangely far more tolerable than it had been the past several days. Malfoy still got irritated with Harry for his impulsiveness and Harry still felt like he was chomping at the bit trying to drag Malfoy along with him but they at least communicated more.

They were both lying on the floor trying to catch their breath from the last simulation when Higgins came in.

“I see the Nexus orb is doing its job,” she said.

“We passed?” Herry asked hopefully.

“No,” she and Malfoy said simultaneously.

She smiled at Malfoy, even as Harry rolled his eyes at him and stuck out his tongue.

“What, are you 5, Potter?”

Higgins spoke up before Harry could say anything, “So, your physical response and emergency response indicators were both up by 3%, which was a great improvement. But the indicators that really showed that your orb was working was your personality response. That was up 11%, good work you two. Obviously, it’s helped the two of you to talk with one another more.”

Harry nodded and glanced at Malfoy, “Yeah, I think it is helping.”

“That’s only because it hasn’t started asking the hard questions that you’ll resent it for later,” Malfoy said, and Harry couldn’t help but wonder if he was teasing or serious.

“Well, I think the progress you’ve made is brilliant.”

“Thanks,” Harry said with a grin.

As they walked out of the room Malfoy stretched his arm across his chest, his breath hitching slightly.

“Alright?” Harry asked.

“Fine,” he said briskly as he exhaled. “Old shoulder injury that’s never managed to heal up properly. My body takes a beating as your partner, even when we’re not in the field apparently.”

“Wanker,” Harry replied, knocking his shoulder into Malfoy’s good one.

As they stumbled into their office laughing and shoving at one another, they were met by the sight of Ron and Hermione staring dumbstruck at the two of them. “Ron! Hermione! Hey,” Harry said, pleased to see them.

“Hi Harry,” Hermione replied, an odd expression on her face before she turned to Malfoy and nodded in greeting, “Draco.”

“Hello,” he replied carefully.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment as Ron gawked at the two of them and Hermione looked between the two of them calculatingly with a look Harry was not entirely fond of.

“Well,” Hermione said after the strain apparently became too much for her to bear. “We just thought we’d stop by and see if you’d like to grab lunch with us.”

“Yeah,” Harry replied immediately, like he always did when they invited him to a meal. “Oh, err,” he turned to Malfoy, “Did you want to come too or...”

“No,” Malfoy said quickly, then he cleared his throat, “No, thank you. I have some leftovers from last night and loads of paperwork to do. I will be fine here.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked uncertainly, suddenly feeling like he was somehow bailing on the other man.

“Quite sure,” Malfoy replied as he moved toward his desk and busied himself with some files.

“Do you want me to stay-”

“For Circe’s sake, Potter. Get out of here. Go to lunch,” Malfoy snapped.

“Yeah, alright.” He glanced over at Ron and Hermione; Ron was standing there looking at him like he’d grown an extra head but Hermione just looked curiously at him. The curiosity seemed much worse.

They made their way to the cafeteria and thankfully Hermione started talking about one of the projects they were working on developing for St. Mungos. Unfortunately, this only lasted until they’d gone through the line to get their meals and sat down; then Hermione cast a muffliato and Ron immediately opened his mouth.

“What just happened?”

“Sorry?” Harry asked, feigning innocence and stabbing into his food.

“I think what Ron is trying to ask is if you and Malfoy have decided to be friends?” Hermione clarified.

“No, I mean what the bloody hell is going on,” Ron said. “Are you under an imperius curse?”

“Ron, I can throw off an imperius curse, remember?” he replied, rolling his eyes like Ron was being dramatic even though he would have said the exact same thing a week ago.

“Calm down, Ronald,” Hermione said briskly as she took a sip of her tea. “Let him speak.” Then she looked at him expectantly and waited.

“Well,” Harry said, “We’re not friends, exactly, but we don’t exactly hate each other anymore either.”

“How?” Ron asked, his brow furrowed. “This is Malfoy we are talking about.”

“Well he’s not the same as he was at school,” Harry said with a shrug as he stuffed his sandwich in his mouth hoping to avoid having to say any more about it.

“Really?” Ron asked skeptically.

“Yeah,” Harry said through a mouthful of food. “Spending over a week in someone’s presence really forces you to get to know them a bit.”

“Huh,” Ron said, staring off into space for a long moment.

“We’re just surprised,” Hermione said quickly. “We thought it would be unbearable for you.”

“It was in the beginning,” Harry replied. “But eventually I realized I was still imagining him as the stupid prat we knew at school but he’s not that person any more than I am who I was at school.”

“But the pureblood, elitism shite he was always spouting?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, haven’t heard a single word out of his mouth about any of that," he replied honestly.

“Huh,” Ron said again before shrugging and shoving a crisp in his mouth. “Who would’ve thought it?”

“Right?” Harry replied, glad that Ron and Hermione seemed to be settling into the idea that Malfoy wasn’t awful more quickly than he had.

“Well, it’s not really surprising when you think about it,” Hermione said.

“How so?” Harry asked as Ron said, “What do you mean, not surprising?”

“Well, he sort of rebelled against Pureblood culture, didn’t he?”

“Hermione,” Harry said, “You're using the 'we all know what's going on here voice' when in fact you are the only one who knows what's going on here. Tell us what you know that we obviously don’t.”

Ron nodded in agreement.

“Well, it was all over the papers and Millie Bulstrode couldn’t stop gossiping about it at work. It was quite the scandal.”

“What was?” he asked, barely tamping down on the desire to snap in an effort to get her to talk faster. He never read the Prophet and he didn’t have any coworkers or friends who were in the same social circle, she knew all of this.

“He was supposed to marry Astoria Greengrass, you remember?” Harry didn’t but he didn’t say so. “His parents had set it up, it was supposed to help the Malfoy name, he was supposed to go into politics or something. But after a few weeks, he called the whole thing off, said it was a sham and neither he nor Astoria deserved to live a lie.”

“Wow,” Harry said.

“His parents didn’t take it well, from what I understand. His father demanded he marry some pureblood girl and start a family but he refused and his father disowned him. It was quite a public spectacle, I’m told. Draco apparently opted to shout abuses at his father on the sidewalk in Diagon alley outside of a restaurant. The direct quote, if I’m remembering correctly,” and Harry had no doubt she was, “was that ‘all of their antiquated pureblood traditions could go straight back to hell from whence they’d come.’”

“Blimey,” Ron said with a low whistle.

Harry didn’t quite know what to say. After a moment he decided on, “You couldn’t have told me this before I made a complete arse of myself and basically called him a bigoted prick who was exactly the same as he was in school?”

Hermione shrugged, “I’m sorry. I’d just assumed you’d heard. He works in the same department that you do and it truly was in all of the papers. They hounded him for weeks to get quotes from him and he always said things about how terrible the whole system was and that it was a load of codswallop. Some people thought it was just a publicity stunt to get him into good graces in the ministry, I just assumed that’s what you thought too.”

“Yeah, but his parents disowned him,” Harry said. “Even if it was a publicity stunt, that sort of consequence doesn’t seem worth it.”

Hermione nodded, “I agree, but how was I to know that you didn’t know?”

Harry shrugged, suddenly feeling like even more of a heel. “I feel like a jerk.”

“But you couldn’t have known, mate,” Ron said conciliatorily. “And it seemed like the two of you are getting along fine now so he must not be too mad at you.”

“No,” Harry agreed. “He’s been pretty kind, actually.” He snorted, “He thinks I have a deathwish and hate my job-”

Hermione and Ron gave each other one of those pointed shared looks that Harry hated.

“Which I don’t,” he said, glaring at them. “But honestly, it’s been nice having a partner who calls me out and doesn’t treat me like I’m made of glass and always right.”

Hermione nodded but Ron said, “I mean, I hear you, mate but Malfoy? Really?”

“I know,” he said with a helpless little shrug. “He drives me a little batty but I think this might actually work.”

They moved on to a different topic of conversation, Hermione telling them more about her work. Before long, Harry found himself saying goodbye and heading back to his office and feeling just the tiniest bit nervous.

Malfoy was sitting at his desk, filling in paperwork, when Harry came back in and he looked calm enough but Harry couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about. “Hey,” he said.

The other man glanced up at him, “Hi,” he said before going back to work. No other words were forthcoming but Harry couldn’t help standing there and waiting for him to say something else.

“Did you need something?” Malfoy asked.

“Are you mad?”

“Mad?” Malfoy asked. “No, why would I be mad?”

“I don’t know.”

Malfoy went back to writing again but when Harry didn’t move he dropped his quill and rubbed his hands over his face, “What, Potter?”

“What are you thinking?”

“That you’re an irritating prat.”

Huffing Harry asked, “What were you thinking before I came back in?”

“That I could barely remember the details of the case I’m writing up and I really ought to have gotten to it before now,” he said blandly.

“Malfoy,” Harry growled warningly.

“Just leave it.”

“No,” he said, stubbornly crossing his arms across his chest.

“Fine,” Malfoy exploded and now he did sound angry. “I was wondering if Granger and Weasley were going to bring you back to your senses and make you hate me again. I was wondering how much ground we were going to have to recover. I was wondering if there is any way this bloody partnership will ever work. Happy?” he spat.

“Oh,” Harry replied.

“Oh? That’s all you’ve got to say?” He threw down the paper he’d been holding and stood up. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Malfoy,” Harry said, holding out his hands trying to placate him.

“Don’t,” Malfoy replied and Harry didn’t think that was quite fair because how could Malfoy know what he was going to say when Harry didn’t know himself? “This is not easy for me, Potter, whatever you may think. It is bloody hard living with someone who has every reason in the world to hate you, to never forgive you, and to be right for both of those things.”

“Malfoy,” Harry started again.

“I said dont.”

“Draco,” Harry said, not entirely sure why he was using Malfoy’s given name, but Malfoy froze so it was probably the right call. “Listen to me. I do not hate you. Ron and Hermione didn’t want to tell me that I was being an idiot, they just wondered how everything was going. I told them things are going well.”

“You did?” he asked disbelievingly.

“Well, yeah,” Harry replied. “Things are going well, aren’t they?”

“Well, I thought so.”

“Right, then why are you worried?”

“I’m not worried,” Malfoy sneered.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Because you’re unpredictable!” he burst out. “Because it is exhausting living with someone and waiting for them to remember that they have good reasons to dislike you.”

“You have good reasons to dislike me, too,” Harry replied softly.

“No, I don’t. You literally saved the world. You are so noble and good that you came to my hearing and testified on my behalf even though I did all of those horrible things.”

“I literally cast a spell at you that could have killed you.”

“Because I was trying to crucio you,” he said. Then he added, ”I am the representation of everything you fought against.”

“You’re not,” he said firmly. “Malfoy, you were just a kid. You were right when you said you had no choice and you were right when you said it was easy for me to make the right choices. It was hard sometimes, I guess, but for every person you had pushing you to do horrible things I had someone pushing me to do good things.” Harry swallowed and took a step toward him, “I do not regret testifying at your trial, or at Narcissa’s. The war never would have been won if it weren’t for the two of you.”

“But there never would have been a war to begin with if it weren’t for people like me.”

“Do you believe those things? Do you believe in any of the things that Voldemort stood for?”

“When I was younger-”

“Right now,” Harry interrupted. “Do you believe any of those things? At this moment, do you believe even a word that that madman said?”

“Of course not.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“What is?”

Harry held out his hand, “Let’s start this all again, yeah?”

“What?”

“Hi,” he said after a deep breath. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Harry just stood there, hand outstretched, waiting. He got the terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that Malfoy wasn’t going to take his hand.

But after a moment he took Harry’s hand and shook it, “Draco,” he said. “Draco Malfoy.”

Harry kept his hand gripped tightly in his own, “We were both just kids, Draco. Stupid kids. Let’s move on.”

Malfoy nodded once.

Harry beamed at him, “Great. I look forward to working with you.”

-----------------

Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten

#making it work fic #getting along #making progress #having conversations #slow burn #Hermione sees where this is going #they don't call her the brightest witch of her age for nothing #drarry #love eventuall

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