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Things Fall Apart, But Then You Build Again	By : zeldaofarel Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 13943 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Author's Notes: Wow, another chapter. I know, I can't believe my writing speed either. The previous chapter closed off a segment of my fic, now a new one starts. A spot of Drarry in this one. Harry is getting closer to Draco, while the blond is showing his tender side.

I'm almost finished with chapter 15, will probably get it done before going to sleep tonight. Then I can sleep on it, and read it through again before letting the betas have it. Just as I was writing it, I actually stumbled upon a small plot that I can put in. Funny how sometimes characters seem to go to places where you didn't think about.

If anyone is missing Teddy, then I'll let you in on a bit of an embarrassing secret. I totally forgot about him. I was reading another Drarry fic the other day, that was when I realised I forgot Teddy Lupin. Don't worry, I thought of a way to put him in. Chapter 16 will be good for that.

My page has very few likes. :( Facebook users like Zelda of Arel. I promise I don't harass you with stupid posts, mostly just updates and sources, visual aids that I use. Like the model for Adrian, furniture I use, and soon Harry will do some traveling, so pictures of the destination. If something fun happens to me, I may write about it too.

Drarry Shippers is growing steadily, on the other hand. I'm glad. They have hot Drarry pictures. It's an adult page, so if you don't want to see erotic pictures as well, then don't like it. There have been some problems with the more erotic pictures getting reported, when everyone there should be an adult.

As always, I thank my two betas for all their work. Faye, because she bares my moaning about my insecurities and keeps telling me that my chapters are good. Icicle, because she ruthlessly edits my mistakes and lets me know when something is weird. I need someone to tell me when I could improve.

Read and review guys! Feed my muse. Like my pages too. If you don't want to like Facebook pages, then you can subscribe to my update mailing list. Link on my profile, or my homepage.

Chapter 13: Starting to Build

It had been some days since Harry had become a Dark Wizard. The Weasleys had not spoken to him since, which Harry had expected, but it still hurt. He wanted to pretend that it wasn't so, but in the evenings he would look at old photo albums and reminisce. The sweetest memories were the ones not found among the moving photographs - the first time he entered the Burrow, the first time he felt home, there were no pictures taken then. That first morning sitting down at a family table that actually welcomed him - was it even real? Could they truly discard him so easily? He just couldn't believe it. He hoped that some day they would look past his alliances and take him back. Draco had promised him that he would not be alone, but in the evening, in his sitting room with the kids upstairs in bed, he felt abandoned.

He set the Weasley album aside and his gaze fell on the white wedding scrapbook that Ginny had made. He opened it and the sights and sounds from that day rushed to him. There was a white ribbon from her hair, a napkin from their table and many pictures. He had been so happy that day. They were starting their lives together. It was the beginning of his true life, like The War had never happened. How wrong he had been. For him, the fight was just starting. Then there was Ginny. She had just packed up and left. She had hardly said two words after leaving the Ministry. Harry had to confess that he didn't miss her. What he missed was the promise of his wedding day. They were supposed to walk down the road of life together, side by side as allies. The woman who was beside him was not the one he wanted to spend his life with that day. Or perhaps she was and he had changed? He couldn't decide.

He forced himself to put away the albums and try to get some sleep. He slowly ascended the stairs up to his room and lay down in his great, lonely bed. He had been restless since the vote and hardly slept. The following day he would take the kids to Malfoy Manor for the first time. While they were supposed to play with Scorpius, the new Slythendor trio, as Draco called themselves the other day, would discuss the new family law they wanted to put through. Draco said that after they had a specific text they could bring in some influential people from among the Dark Families and present their ideas to them.

He had to catch some sleep, it was already 2am.

* * *

6am saw Harry out of his bed already. He had tossed and turned through most of the night. The changes to his life were weighing heavily on him and he suspected he couldn't go on too much longer like that. He tried to read, but his mind couldn't be occupied by the struggle of Katniss. The book was supposed to be a big hit in the Muggle world, but he just couldn't pay attention to it.

He woke the kids up at 8am and they had breakfast together. All three children were soon dressed in some of their nicest clothes as Harry didn't want them to feel frumpy next to the Malfoys. They Flooed straight to a welcoming chamber as they no longer had anything to hide. Once they emerged from the flames, they were greeted by the whole Malfoy family. Well, except for Astoria, who carefully seemed to avoid everyone else. Hermione was also waiting for them. The kids gleefully attacked their Aunt Hermione and she hugged them to herself with a huge grin on her face. Harry was a bit afraid that the Malfoys would be annoyed by the breach of protocol, but as he looked at them, they were all smiles.

"Children, let your aunt go for a bit, I want to introduce you to the Malfoys," Harry spoke up once he thought they had crowded their aunt enough.

They let go and stood next to their father, ready to be introduced.

"Kids, this is the Malfoy family." He walked to Lucius as he was the eldest. "This is Lucius Malfoy." The tall man leaned down and kissed Lily's hand, who giggled at the gesture. Then he shook hands with the boys, exchanging introductions.

After that, they moved onto the woman Harry hadn't seen much of during his visits. He supposed he should have sought her out as she had been the woman to save his life.

"This is Narcissa Malfoy. She saved my life during the war."

"Oh, Mr. Potter, I had my own reasons for doing that. Thank you all the same though," she said, and shook hands with the children.

"This is Draco Malfoy. We were in the same year at Hogwarts. For the longest time, I thought we would always be enemies, but now here we are." Harry smiled at that and the blond smiled back. He also greeted them as his father had.

"Finally, this is Scorpius Malfoy. He is looking forward to playing with you all," he said finally, as he reached the end of the line.

"Hello," Scorpius greeted with delight in his eyes. "It's too cold to be outside, but grandpa said we could be in the pool room."

"Pool room?" Albus perked up at the news. He didn't like most sports, but the few times they had vacationed at a beach, he had enjoyed spending time in the water.

"But we didn't bring any swimming trunks!" James moaned.

"That's okay, we have swimming costumes in all sizes for guests. For girls too," Scorpius revealed, much to the delight of the threesome standing before him.

"Still, playing in the pool is not without dangers," Harry warned. He was quite stunned by the proposal as he had not known there was a pool. He supposed in such a big home it would be matter-of-fact.

"We'll be keeping a close eye on them, Harry, rest assured," Narcissa informed him.

"Yes, I'm sure nothing bad will happen," Lucius joined his wife. "We'll all have a great time."

Harry was amazed that the two older Malfoys would be looking after the children. They were not the typical grandparents. However, he knew that he could trust them, so he just nodded and off they all went, presumably towards the pool room.

"So then, shall we go to my office to discuss plans?" Draco asked.

"Yes, let's go," the two Gryffindors agreed.

* * *

The discussion took up the whole morning and afterwards they all had lunch together in a great dining room. The atmosphere was relaxed and the children talked excitedly about all the fun they had. The plan for the afternoon was a small nap for the children in Scorpius' room, while the adults would also retire for a bit. Harry was glad to see that Albus and Scorpius were becoming great friends. James was sometimes a bit miffed as the two other boys would rather talk potions and their favourite author, Nocer Picard. Lucius noticed this and started a conversation about the history of Quidditch with the older boy. Harry was also fascinated by some of the stories about the world of Quidditch in the past 50 years that the eldest Malfoy could tell.

The food was wonderful as well. A light winter salad from greenhouse vegetables for starters. Draco revealed that they actually had several greenhouses further out on their land for producing food all around the year. The Manor was almost completely self-sustaining with gardens and livestock. The wine they were drinking was from the Malfoy wineries, but those were in Bordeaux, France. They were even sold under the label ‘Malfoy Apothecaries' as red wine had very good healing properties.

Their entrée was roast beef with equally roasted vegetables in a red wine reduction. Harry assumed the sauce was made from Malfoy wine as well. Finally, for afters, they had poached fruits with vanilla cream. Everyone was completely full and ready to find a nice bed for a few hours after eating the hearty meal.

Harry headed to the flower greenhouse after turning down the suggestion that he lie down in one of the guest bedrooms. He loved the smell of flowers there and hoped that they would help him in resting his eyes on a bench. They looked hard, but all had cushioning charms on them to make them more comfortable. Harry lay down on a long one where he could stretch his legs out and there was some more room left over his head even. However, he could still not rest. His mind was as on edge as it had been all night.

He heard footsteps and turned to see Draco walking towards him. He sat down next to his head and put a hand on his shoulder as Harry made to get up.

"Rest, Harry. You have dark circles under your eyes. Not sleeping well?" he inquired.

"More like none at all."

"Too much on your mind?" His tone was soft and open, prompting Harry to be frank with his friend.

"Yes."

"Harry," Draco began and ran a hand through Harry's thick hair. "I know that the loss of the Weasleys is hard on you. However, now you have me and you will always have me. I suspect we'll have our differences, but I will never abandon you. Remember, on the train, when I asked you to be my friend?"

Harry nodded. He allowed his eyes to close since Draco playing with his hair felt really good.

"I wanted that so much. I always did. Now that I have you where I want you, I'm going to make sure that you never think about me as your enemy again."

"Why? Why did you want to be my friend so badly? Because I was famous?" He opened his eyes to stare straight into the blond's grey orbs.

"Oh, so that's what you thought? No. I was famous myself. After all, I'm a Malfoy. I was fascinated by you, Harry. You destroyed the Dark Lord as a baby. Father said you had to be a wizard with great potential. I wanted to be near that. However, I had some other reasons as well, but those are a bit too personal," he revealed.

Harry decided not to push for more details and just accepted what he was told. He closed his eyes once more.

"Talk to me. It can't be just the Weasleys that's keeping you up at night."

"Ginny left."

"You miss her?"

"No," Harry admitted.

"Oh, I see. That is a problem I suppose. What do you want to do?"

"I just don't know."

"You married her because you loved her." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Harry still answered.

"Now?"

"I don't know."

"You have to figure it out."

"You don't love your wife," Harry pointed out.

"I didn't expect to. Harry, you know I'm gay. I never expected to love her and it's fine."

"Would you divorce her and marry a man if you fell in love with him?" he was curious.

"Maybe. It would mean paying Astoria off. I would have to love the man a lot," Draco said and his voice was more emotional than before. Harry supposed the blond never expected such a thing to happen, he was probably enjoying sleeping around too much.

"So what should I do about Ginny?"

"I can't decide that for you. You have two options. Either try to make it work, or let her go."

"You're right."

"I know."

"Can't face it now though."

"You don't have to, Harry. Take your time. Whatever you decide, you can rely on me to support you."

"Thank you, Draco."

"You're welcome, Harry," he said, still patting the thick unruly mane Harry called hair.

When Harry woke up, night had already fallen. Draco was sitting beside him, reading a book, his right hand still on the dark head of his friend. Harry hadn't slept so deeply in many days. He still got up and went in search of his children, with Draco silently directing him, as it was obviously time for his guests to depart.

The children were located in Scorpius' rooms, as he had a whole suite for himself. Harry had never been inside and when he entered the playroom, he thought that it was exactly the kind of room he had dreamt about in his cupboard under the stairs. All sorts of toys were located on shelves around the room from toy brooms to building blocks. Among them were also so many books; it was a miniature library. The room had a swing in the middle, on which Lily was swaying back and forth, carefully pushed by Narcissa. The woman had a smile of delight on her face. James was on a trampoline. He was trying to jump as high as he could go, but safety charms prevented him from reaching great heights and also from falling off of it. Scorpius and Albus were thick as thieves on a rug, Nocer Picard books around them, clearly in an argument over something in one of them. Hermione was also with them, and she was pointing out a passage, trying to explain to the others something. Lucius sat in a rocking chair at the back, his full attention on James.

Harry hated to break up their fun, but it was almost tea time and they really needed to get back home. James spotted him first and got off the trampoline. Narcissa also stopped the swing and Lucius rose from his seat. Harry stepped to the threesome in heavy discussion and told the boys to say their goodbyes. The Potter family was sad to leave Malfoy Manor, but they all Floed home eventually.

* * *

Some weeks later, the Wizengamot was in session. Harry was a bit nervous again, sitting in his place, Draco beside him. It was the day that all their planning, all their hard labour would finally come into fruition. He had put on the plum robes in the first place for this very purpose.

They had worked hard for a month. They wrote a bill that would change the family law in their world. Of course, first they had to map out just what was missing in their legislation. Harry was quite shocked to discover that women had no right to individual property in a marriage. They could make contracts before a marriage as to what they should be getting once it ended, but it could never be more than 10% of the husband's overall wealth. In the absence of a contract, they would be getting nothing. Once they entered a marriage, everything they owned became the property of their husband. Except for one thing, in case they had children from another man. Of course, Harry knew from the start what laws there were regarding the children who were fathered by the husband.

There were many more points. Wives had very little rights to start with. There were no laws against physical or psychological abuse. It was all very archaic. Draco explained that there used to be much more legislation for women, but since the Light Families had taken over, they were deemed unnecessary and against the integrity of the family, so they were erased. With Hermione's help, they took a look at how Muggles had formulated their protection laws and took those as an example. Harry noticed that child protection laws were also lacking and they made it the subject of their next project.

Throughout the initial planning phase Harry had arrived to the realisation that this wasn't just about Hermione. In fact, it wasn't just about her divorce for Hermione either. It was about every woman. As much as he didn't like to think about it, some day it was going to be about his daughter, Lily as well. She may end up in a marriage one day that she would not like to stay in and have to make the kind of decision Hermione was faced with. It was like what happened in the Muggle world and what was still needed to happen in some countries. They were doing something really important. They were giving women what they were entitled to, and that was equal rights under the eyes of the law.

Once they were done with the first stage, Draco and Harry gathered support for their bill. Harry groaned at the thought of courting wizards again for votes, but thanks to Draco he mostly just had to stand by and nod a lot. He also found that most of the Dark Families actually welcomed their idea and took little convincing. That was why in the month of February, they were already sitting in the Wizengamot, ready to vote on their joint proposal.

"Agenda number thirteen," the scribe read out. "Mr Malfoy's and Mr Potter's proposal for reforming Family law in the Wizarding world. This mainly includes rights of the wife in a marriage and the allocation of children upon the occasion of a divorce."

"I hope you have all read through the extensive documentation that you got yesterday in preparation for the vote." The Chief Warlock glared at the members from above his spectacles. "Now, please raise your wands if you are for the new legislation and keep them in your pockets if you are against."

Every wand on the side of the Dark went up. Harry was grinning as he saw that. He knew that it would go through. He hoped that perhaps some wands on the Light side would also make an appearance, but all he got was glares from the other side. The scribe counted the wands, taking Harry's into account twice. Then the man handed the paper over to the Chief Warlock.

"With a majority of one, the law passes. Congratulations to Mr Potter on putting his first proposal through," said the Chief and the Dark side clapped.

Harry felt very proud that day and looking up to the audience, he could see Hermione's smiling face. They could finally go on with the divorce. However, this had not only been about her. This was for all the women in the Wizarding world. There must have been more who felt trapped in marriages they couldn't leave, because they had children and could not leave them behind. Arranged marriages like Draco's with far less generous contracts and far more loving mothers could be broken with the new laws. He felt that they had achieved something that would impact so many lives. They had done it together.

It felt better than ending the war. That victory was dampened by the many people lost not only in the final battle but in the whole war. This time only he had lost. He had lost a family he thought he would always have. However, it had been worth it. The lives he just saved or made better were worth the sacrifice he had made. The benefits far outweighed the cost. And he wasn't done yet. He still had some child protection laws to write. He felt that he had found his real calling in bettering the lives of people through laws. He felt that he had arrived to the place where he was meant to be.
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Things Fall Apart, But Then You Build Again