Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Returning to Sanity	By : AchillesTheGeek Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 31212 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books or films, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 43
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- 45
44. ... And From Far Away
Saturday 20 June 1998
While Ron and Hermione were due to return today, Harry didn't actually know when that would be; nor did he have any idea where they would go to begin with. The Burrow was a logical place, of course; but somehow, he had a suspicion that they just might prefer to come to Grimmauld Place. Molly and Arthur were lovely; but they (by which he really meant, Molly) would fuss over them and the Grangers, which probably wasn't what they would want. So, to Draco's disgust, he made sure he and Draco rose and were ready early; as a peace offering, he had Kreacher make them pancakes for breakfast, after which they decided they needed another shower.
They had finished breakfast and were lounging in the drawing room when they heard the front door open.
"Harry! Draco! We're home!" Hermione's voice rang out.
Harry smiled; his instincts had been right.
"Blimey!" came Ron's voice. "George's email said the traps were gone, but the place looks completely different! Are you sure this is the right house? Harry?"
"We're up here!" Harry yelled back, and a minute later the peace of the morning was shattered by the arrival of four rather bleary-eyed adults and a very inquisitive three-month-old baby who had all come straight from the airport.
Ron introduced the Grangers; Harry knew them by sight, but Draco had never even seen them before. And of course neither of them had met Miriam before. She seemed to take an instant shine to Harry, reaching out to him and demanding that he hold her. He naturally sat down to do so, and everyone else joined him, Hermione sitting next to him and playing with her little sister. It felt very strange to Harry to see the always earnest and serious Hermione playing naturally with a little child, who obviously adored her; strange, perhaps, unexpected, definitely, but also surprisingly enjoyable. It certainly relieved what could have been a rather tense moment.
"Er, lovely to meet you, Harry," Mr Granger said once introductions were done and they were all seated. "And this is a lovely old house. Has it been in your family long?"
Hermione groaned, but Harry just smiled in return. "No, it belonged to my godfather, who left it to me. He wasn't actually related to me; in fact, he was Draco's cousin."
"Oh, I see," said Mr Granger, who had rather gathered that the question was something of a faux pas. "Um, I hope you don't mind us all imposing on you like this; but as you can probably understand, we didn't want to go straight back to the house we left standing empty a year ago without getting it ready first, and Ron said this house was likely to be quieter than the Burrow."
"Of course you're all welcome," Harry said. "Kreacher!"
The house-elf appeared, which made Miriam squeal and clap her hands; she was clearly delighted with the strange creature.
"Muggles and muggle-borns!" Kreacher whined. "Muggles in the Mistress's house!"
"Muggles in my house," Harry replied sternly, "and they are welcome, too. This is Mr and Mrs Granger, Hermione's parents; and her sister, Miriam. They are to be treated with the respect due to my and Draco's guests. Now, I'm sure we could all do with a cup of tea?"
Fifteen minutes later, tea finished, the Grangers were clearly flagging after the long flight; while Ron and Hermione looked only a little tired, and Miriam, with the traditional contrariness of young children with tired parents, was full of beans. Harry called Kreacher.
"Please take the Grangers upstairs so they can freshen up," he asked.
"Yes Master Harry!" Kreacher replied. He probably had disparaging thoughts about the Muggles; but Draco was watching him closely, and Kreacher could obviously tell, because he gave his best smile, and even reached out to tickle Miriam's little feet, which made her huff with laughter. Hermione winced and shielded Miriam's eyes from the smile; that smile could curdle milk, in her opinion. She was a little surprised that Kreacher had touched her sister; but Harry and Draco seemed to take it in their stride.
Harry turned to the Grangers. "Please treat our house as yours - do whatever you need to; Kreacher will give you a bedroom and show you where everything is."
Hermione's mum looked a little worried.
"Don't worry, Mum, Miriam will be fine," Hermione reassured her; and that clearly was what she needed to hear, for after that she was happy for the strange little servant to lead them upstairs.
"You said 'our house'?" Ron said once they were gone.
"Yes," Harry replied, "it's Draco's house too now. We're 'us' now, remember? And of course, it's yours while you're here."
Ron let out a breath. "OK," he sighed. "You're engaged. I get it. This is just going to take a bit of getting used to."
He stood up and walked over to Draco. "Well, mate, I guess you're really part of the family now." He stretched out his hand.
Draco stood up and looked at him, and Harry could see he was a little stunned. The blond's face betrayed no emotion, and Harry held his breath. This was a rather defining moment, one Harry had been a little afraid of, truth to be told.
And then Draco broke into a broad grin, pushed Ron's hand aside, and hugged him closely. It took Ron a couple of seconds to react; and then he did the slap-on-the-back thing and clasped Draco for a few seconds.
They broke apart, both looking a little embarrassed.
"I warned them about Kreacher," Ron said, to change the subject.
"I thought you must have," Harry replied. He passed Miriam over to Hermione, and she snuggled happily into her sister's arms. "Now, sweetie, I know someone who'd love to meet you!"
He turned to the Floo and called Andromeda. Five minutes later, she and Teddy had come to visit; Draco was shocked when the moment Teddy saw him, his hair went the same platinum blond as his. He scooped the little metamorphmagus up into his arms, and was rewarded with coos and spittle.
"Ew!" he said; to his consternation, the others just laughed; though he was visibly relieved when Harry had the presence of mind to cast a cleaning spell on him.
"No harm done, Dragon," he said, taking the little boy and placing him next to Miriam, who was now lying on a baby play mat that Hermione had produced from her bag, the one with the Undetectable Extension charm on it, and watching the new-comer intently. The mat had poles curving diagonally over it, attached to opposing corners, from which hung a variety of toys that Miriam obviously enjoyed playing with. As Harry had suspected, the two little children were very happy together, gurgling and cooing as they lay next to each other.
Harry looked around. Draco was watching both babies with a rapt expression on his face; Ron and Hermione looked dead beat; and Andromeda looked like she was anxious to be elsewhere.
"OK guys," he said softly. "Draco and I can watch these two for a while; Andy, do you want to go off for an hour or two? And Ron and Hermione, I think you could do with a lie-down too."

Margaret Granger awoke feeling more refreshed than she had since they left Australia. Singapore was lovely; but Hermione and Ron had wanted to see everything, and that didn't really make for a relaxed time when you are dealing with a small baby as well. The flight had, of course, been murder; Miriam had been very clingy and only slept fitfully. She looked at the little travel clock they had put beside the bed and was astonished to find she had been asleep for four hours.
She visited the bathroom, put some water on her face, and went in search of her younger daughter. She was very surprised that the girl hadn't woken her by now; she was due a feed, though as Margaret was too old to breast-feed (in her opinion, anyway, never mind what those bossy Australian midwives had thought), Miriam was on the bottle, and Hermione was a pretty dab hand at feeding her by now.
She heard noise from downstairs, and wandered into the kitchen, expecting to find Hermione feeding her sister; but it was a very different sight that greeted her. She stood at the doorstep, enchanted at the sight of the two young men, Harry and Draco, sitting at the table, each holding and feeding a baby. Harry was holding Miriam; the other baby must be – what was his name? She racked her brains for a few seconds before remembering about Teddy, Harry's godson and Draco's cousin. For, unlike her husband, she had taken careful notice of everything Hermione had said about Harry's family and friends when she had explained them to her. She would never have brought up the subject of Sirius Black, remembering quite well hearing about his death at some place called the Department of Mysteries, which apparently was a very secret room inside the Ministry of Magic. She well remembered at the time wondering just how it was that schoolchildren had managed to break into such a secret and guarded place, and why they had needed to – just what did this Ministry think it was doing to allow students' safety to be compromised in this way.
She returned to the present. The two young men in front of her looked relaxed; they were obviously very comfortable in each other's presence. And they seemed to be dealing with the two babies very competently. Despite her feelings about them being forced to grow up too soon, she had to admit that they had risen to the challenge magnificently. Truth to tell, she had been very impressed with how easily Harry had dealt with that little mis-step of her husband's. She loved Peter Granger to bits, but he could be an insensitive sod at times.
"Hello," she said, quietly so as not to alarm anyone. "Don't you make a lovely picture!"
"Ma?" Miriam said, in a voice that threatened to become a grizzle.
"Oh Miriam," Margaret said as she took a seat next to Harry, "don't be ridiculous. You were perfectly happy being fed by Harry. You don't have to perform just because I'm here!"
"Ma!" the little girl said again, becoming more insistent, and Margaret reached out for her as Harry handed her over. "Ma!" Miriam repeated, happy this time, and spat out the bottle, clearly wanting to play with her mother now. Margaret, with the ease of much practice, put the bottle on the table, took a posit cloth from the nappy bag that Harry had put by his feet, placed it over her shoulder, and burped her little girl. She then placed her on her lap and turned back to face her hosts. She was rather surprised to see that the empty bottle had disappeared; and even more surprised a few seconds later when it floated across the table, having been washed and now sparkling clean.
Harry chuckled. "Sorry," he said, "that's Kreacher. House-elves can't abide dirty dishes lying around."
"Oh!" said Margaret. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be any trouble!"
"Kreacher is happy to serve," the elderly elf croaked out, sounding anything but. "Master's guests are not being any trouble."
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry replied, ignoring the grumpy tone altogether. The elf nodded to him, and padded over back to his little den in the boiler room in the corner of the kitchen.
At this point, Teddy, who had also finished his bottle and been burped by Draco, looked around, and spotted that Harry's lap was now free. "Har!" he yelled, and Harry reached over and took him from Draco. Margaret just managed to stifle a shriek when his hair changed from Draco's blond to Harry's black as he was passed across.
There was a low chuckle from the kitchen door, and Hermione walked in to join them. "It's a bit of a shock, isn't it, Mum? Teddy is what is called a metamorphmagus – he can change his appearance at will. They're quite rare; although it is genetic, his mother was one too. She used to have pink hair most of the time."
"Yes, well," Margaret Granger said, as she got her breath back. His mother was Nymphadora Tonks, that part of her brain that had catalogued everything that she knew about the wizarding world helpfully supplied. She was grateful she'd made Hermione bring her up to speed with all the events while they had been away. "I suppose I have to remember that you people are different, after all; I can't expect wizards to be the same as ordinary people, I suppose. I'm sorry, young man, you just gave me a bit of a shock is all," she finished, smiling at Teddy.
Teddy put his head on one side and eyed her critically. He looked up at Harry for reassurance.
"It's all right, Teddy Bear, this is Margaret, Miriam's mum. She won't hurt you," Harry said, soothingly, knowing that Teddy would understand the tone, not the words.
"Ma-ga," Teddy said, and stretched his arms out to Mrs Granger. Margaret, shocked again that the child would accept her so quickly, reached over and gathered him into her arms. Immediately, Teddy changed his hair style and colour to the same bushy brunette that Mrs Granger shared with Hermione. This time Margaret just laughed.

Igor Karkaroff had forgotten just how much he hated Cairo. The heat, the bright light, the flies, the smell, and above all the noise drove him nearly out of his skull. Hardly surprising really; he had been hiding in the cold, wet, sparsely populated Scottish highlands for years, after all. He had loved it there; at least, he had ever since he had found that dying crofter. The man, Alex, his name was, had been a godsend. He had been eking out the Spartan, lonely life of that peculiarly Scottish form of subsistence farmer for decades; morose and taciturn, he had accepted the company and food that Karkaroff brought, shared his modest hut with the stranger, and didn't ask any awkward questions.
Karkaroff had helped him for months, and nursed him through the end stages of his cancer when he could no longer work. When Karkaroff explained that he was being hunted by killers, to his enormous surprise, the man had not hesitated: he had readily agreed to be killed in Karkaroff's place. He seemed quite happy at the thought that his death would be useful to someone, and in turn Karkaroff had readily agreed to pretend to be his cousin and take over the croft when he died.
When the man was near death, Karkaroff had sent two anonymous owls. The other Death Eaters had arrived first, to find Alex polyjuiced to look like Karkaroff. The Aurors were hot on their trail, and they knew it; so they had not tortured him, contenting themselves with a simple 'Avada Kedavra!' before they disapparated away.
And thus it was that Karkaroff had managed to hide out the entirety of the Second Wizarding War. He had heard that Potter had killed Voldemort, of course; but Voldemort had died before. He needed to be certain that he wasn't coming back again. And that was why he was making his way to a very small village south of Berenice on the coast of southern Egypt. A village that only existed because the Tropic of Cancer passed through it. A village where, quite by chance, years before, he had found a very secret and well-warded room that showed him just how much the Egyptian Wizards had known about death. A lot more than the West remembered, as it turned out …

Andy returned during the afternoon to find, to her great surprise and delight, that Teddy had taken to the Grangers very well. It usually took him a little while to get to know strangers; but he was obviously enchanted to meet a little girl. Indeed, he cried when she picked him up off the mat; clearly he did not want to be separated from Miriam. Harry prevailed on her to leave him with them until the party, which Hermione promptly invited her to when she told them she didn't know about it. She happily accepted both offers, and Flooed home to nap during the two hours or so that she had been unexpectedly given to herself.

By six o'clock, everyone at Grimmauld Place was well rested and back up and about. They all arrived at the Burrow a little after six to find that, for once, all of the Weasleys were there. Bill and Fleur had been around all day, it turned out, setting up the garden for the party. Robin Banks had organised himself the day off, and he and Ginny had been helping Fleur with the decorations. Charlie had managed to get the weekend off to welcome his brother back. The one Molly had been worried about was Percy; and Arthur had made sure that he was there. The third Weasley son had tried to cry off, saying he had to visit a young lady for a Ministry matter they were working on together; Arthur just told him to bring her along. Accordingly, he had Flooed into the kitchen at six on the dot, looking rather embarrassed, and introduced 'Audrey from the office' to his parents. Molly smiled and nodded, but he hadn't fooled her – as soon as they went outside to the marquee in the garden, she turned to Arthur with a knowing wink.
"I've not met her before," Arthur said, anticipating the inevitable questions from his wife on the matter.
"Well," she replied, "I have a suspicion we'll get to know her quite well."
Further conversation on the subject was rendered impossible for the moment by the arrival of the guests of honour, together with Harry, Draco, Teddy and Andromeda. Molly welcomed them all, reassured Andromeda (who had begun to apologise for turning up unannounced) that she was always welcome at the Burrow, and took them all out into the garden.
The marquee, Harry noticed, covered most of the space, and was beautifully decorated; he could see Ginny's touch, in ribbons of purple and green that ran along; and Neville's bell flowers were all around, letting off their soft light. Most of the space was empty; along the centre was a long table, laid for dinner, and there were a few tables scattered around.
"It's lovely," Andromeda said, echoing Harry's thoughts; "but it does seem a trifle large? Were you concerned about rain?"
George and Neville shared a secret grin while Molly looked a little abashed. "Well, actually, we set the marquee up ready for Monday's happy event."
"Monday?" Ron asked. "What's happening on Monday?"
George grabbed him by the elbow. "You get a new brother," he said.
Ron looked a little lost, and then all of a sudden understanding broke out. "You're getting married?" he asked, smiling warmly at his brother and Neville.
"That's the plan," Neville replied, looking happier than they had ever seen him. Hermione, who was holding Miriam, immediately gave her sister to her mother and grasped Neville and George in a huge hug.
"That's wonderful, guys! And thank you for waiting till we got back!"
There were general congratulations all round, though Harry did notice the Grangers looking a little wary. He took Hermione aside when things had died down a bit, and she promised him she would discuss it with them.
"How about now?" he asked.
Hermione went red. "You want me to talk about sex with my mother?" she asked him.
Harry smirked when he realised what the problem was; he hadn't often seen her embarrassed. "Yes, please," he answered.
"Would you…" she began, then thought better of asking him if he would talk to his mother about it; that would, after all, be a spectacularly insensitive question, and while Hermione was closer to her father than her mother on matters of tact, she could occasionally see the problem. "Never mind. Mum?" she called, and took her mother's elbow, steering her to a chair.
Harry took advantage of the moment to grab Neville and ask him about being best man, and whether he would have to remember anything, or be somewhere for a dry run or something.
"Oh, don't worry, Harry," Neville replied. "We're having a very simple, laid-back ceremony. Just be here at four, and we'll have a practice before the actual marriage at six. OK?"
"Sure," Harry said, pleased that he wouldn't have to do very much; he was still officially convalescent, after all.
"Great!" Neville said, beaming. "Now, what about the Chudley Cannons game?"
Ron's ears pricked up and he joined in the discussion as it happily wandered into quidditch, and passionate arguments about what was, and what was not, legal, a subject on which Neville seemed to have become very well informed …

Draco was sitting with Margaret, with Teddy on his lap gurgling to Miriam on hers, explaining from his point of view the situation with Harry and how he had come to be part of the gang – for Margaret had heard a good deal about him over Hermione's school years, not much of it complimentary – when he heard a name he really, really didn't want to hear again. He turned around to see that Angelina Johnson had arrived, and was giving Fred a big kiss – and with her were her two great friends from school. Alicia Spinnet Draco knew slightly, but it was the other girl who Molly was introducing around. The other name that sent shivers up his spine.
He watched as the group circulated. The twins and Neville greeted the three girls, Fred giving Angelina a kiss that made his intentions very clear. Katie looked over at Draco and her eyes narrowed.
"Please excuse me for a moment, Mrs Granger," he said to Hermione's mother.
"Yes, of course; and please call me Margaret. Would you like me to hold Teddy?" For, as Draco was getting up, Teddy had started grizzling, obviously not wanting to be away from Miriam.
"Thank you," he said with a smile, handing her the baby and walking over to the little group, feeling like he was a condemned man walking to his execution. As he did, Katie fastened her eyes on him, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. He swallowed hard as he reached them.
"Hey Draco, how are you doing?" Neville asked, letting go of George and extending his hand to the blond.
"Hi Nev," he said, grateful for the distraction, and the easy acceptance.
"Neville Longbottom," Katie said, looking shocked to see how Neville had greeted Draco Malfoy, "how can you, of all people, reach out a hand to a former Death Eater? After what they did to your parents?"
Neville looked at her sternly. "Now hang on, Katie. Draco didn't Crucio my parents. We've fought the war, and it's over. Draco has been tried, and sentenced to probation, and that's it, as far as I'm concerned. Draw a line, move on. I accept that it might not be so easy for you, but is it really fair to want to keep punishing Draco forever?"
"No, Neville, thank you, but this is really something I have to do," Draco said, interrupting his friend. "Katie, I'm really sorry. What I did was gutless, and horrible, and you didn't deserve it. I accept that. Please accept that I wasn't in my right mind at the time…"
"What, and you are now?" Katie yelled back at him, and everyone seemed to turn and look at them. "You weren't in your right mind when you made me carry a necklace that could kill me, but now it's all sweetness and light? Is that how you think things should go? Well, maybe other people need justice too!"
Draco wished the ground would open up and swallow him; but before anything else could happen, Harry was at his elbow, while the twins and Angelina were telling Katie to calm down and not cause a scene.
"Um, how about we sit down and discuss this a little more quietly," the raven head suggested, dragging Draco back to where Margaret was sitting with the two babies on her knee. Draco took his seat back, and brought Teddy back into his lap, while Katie sat down next to Margaret.
"What a lovely girl!" she said, cooing over Miriam, who happily gurgled back. Then she looked over at Draco, and her voice hardened. "And who is this?" she asked.
"This is my cousin, Teddy Lupin," Draco replied, the anxiety in his voice palpable.
Margaret looked from one to the other. "Is there something up between you two?" she asked.
"You could say that," Katie said, but before she could say anything else they were joined by Ron and Harry, who pulled up chairs to complete a circle, with Harry sitting on Draco's left and Ron sitting on Katie's right. Harry put his arm around Draco, and Katie looked daggers at him.
"It's all right for you," she said to him venomously, "telling people it wasn't serious…"
"Um, actually, that was me," Ron said. Katie looked at him, surprised. "Yeah," he continued, in the face of her scowl, "I meant I didn't think Draco was serious about how he went about things. I mean, I'm sure he was trying to do what he'd been ordered to; if he didn't kill Dumbledore, his family was on the line, after all. And yeah, you getting cursed and me getting poisoned, that was serious; I just don't think the execution was really serious."
"Hmm," said Katie, looking just a little bit mollified. "I guess I can see that. I mean, who in their right mind would expect Dumbledore to wear a necklace? Drinking wine maybe, but he did have two potions masters to hand to help him even if he had. But you, mister," she said, turning to Draco, "you still used Imperio and you put people's lives at risk."
"I know," Draco said, looking genuinely contrite. "And I don't excuse myself; it was war, and that mad bastard held my family to ransom, I had to do something; but I didn't have to put you in danger, and I'm sorry I did that."
"Hmm," Katie said again, still looking unhappy, but a bit less hostile. "All right, I can accept that it was war, and your family was on the line. I guess if it had been my parents, I may not have been entirely rational about it. So I accept your apology; but that's it. I don't think we can ever be friends."
And with that, she stood up and looked around to find Alicia and Angelina standing behind her. The three of them were led away by the twins, and went over to find Bill and Fleur, who were chatting with Charlie.
Draco breathed out a sigh of relief. Margaret, seeing that he was visibly distraught, took Teddy back onto her lap to play with Miriam, and Harry, smiling gratefully at her, wrapped Draco up in a hug, while Ron explained to her about the opal necklace that Katie had touched by accident, costing her a six month stay in the magical hospital, St Mungo's. By the time Ron had finished, Draco had composed himself, and he and Harry were sitting in companionable silence.
"How old were you at this point, Mr Malfoy?" she asked as, unnoticed by anyone, Hermione came to stand behind her.
"Please, call me Draco, Mr Malfoy sounds like my father," Draco said. "I was sixteen when the Dark Lord ordered me to kill the Headmaster."
Margaret pursed her lips in disapproval, and turned to Harry. "And you were seventeen when you defeated Voldemort? The Dark Lord?"
"Yes, that's right, ma'am," Harry replied, "I'm still seventeen now, until the end of July."
"So in the Wizarding world, grown men and women use sixteen and seventeen year old boys to do their dirty work? It's despicable!" she raged. "And how old were you when your godfather was killed?"
"Fifteen," Harry replied.
"Fifteen! You had to handle that horrible woman at fifteen? What was her name?"
"Professor Umbridge," Harry replied, making a grimace.
"Yes, that was her. I don't understand your world sometimes," she said, shaking her head. "Just how can the adults allow students' safety to be compromised in this way by letting such people into schools? And then how was it that you managed to break into a secure Ministry at fifteen? Really, we had imagined that our girl would have a wonderful life living with magic, but your world doesn't sound like a very nice place at all!"
"It's not nice is it, Mum?" Hermione said, reaching over and taking Teddy from her so there would be some room on her lap, then sitting down in the chair that Katie had vacated. "But it's happened. The War is over now; we just have to sort out the peace."
"I suppose you're right. But it does seem to me that you all got the rough end of the pineapple," her mother replied. "But I guess you don't want to talk about it any more. You've probably done it to death. Now," she said, turning to Harry and Draco, "tell me all. Hermione tells me that you two used to be enemies, but now you have patched everything up, is that right? And you're ... together?"
"Yes," Harry said, deciding there was no point in prevaricating. "We've become engaged. I hope Hermione got a chance to explain about that?"
"That it's quite acceptable in Wizarding society? She said so, but I found it hard to believe. However, hearing about this marriage on Monday, and you being engaged, I can see that it's evidently real. Well, I suppose if Wizards are a little bit less hung up about such things, that's all to the good. And I must say, you two do make a lovely couple."
"Ah! There you are!" a voice said behind them, and Margaret turned to see Peter Granger and Arthur Weasley coming up to them. "Arthur and I have been having a chat about aeroplanes; he seems to be mad keen on them. And dental chairs!"
"Tell me you haven't been boring our host rigid about the intricacies of practical dentistry!" Margaret exclaimed; Harry and Ron battled hard to hide their sniggers at the idea that Arthur would find discussing Muggle inventions anything but riveting.
"Oh, not at all!" Arthur burbled happily. "It's been most entertaining! But now it's time to sit down to dinner."
They all sat down at the long table and ate their fill. The food was, as always, magnificent; even Draco commented on the pavlovas that Mrs Weasley had cooked in honour of the return from Australia, and asked how to make them, and Molly promised to teach Kreacher her secrets.

"Scuse me sir, scuse me sir," the grubby fellah he had sent out interrupted him.
"Have you got it?" he asked.
"Yes, sir!" the man said, handing over an equally grubby book.
The man smiled; a thin, mirthless smile. He saw the burn marks on the fellah's arms.
"Did I not tell you not to betray me?" he asked. "Did I not tell you Allah would set fire to your flesh if you did not rush speedily to fetch my prize?"
"I am an honest man, sahib!" the poor man whined, stung by the words as much as the pain from his arms. He was, in fact, as trustworthy as most men; but this complete stranger had offered him more money than he earned in a month to go and retrieve an item for him. It had been too much for his street-wise morality; the temptation to simply run and keep the lot, even if he had been promised more when he returned, was too great to resist.
"Such honesty," came the reply, with heavy sarcasm. "Still, you did what I asked, I suppose."
The fellah sat quietly, not wanting to anger the stranger further; but he just mumbled some strange words, and, to the peasant's great surprise, the pain in his arms vanished.
"Thank you, sahib!" he said, astonished. The man was obviously one of the Great Masters; he knew better than to question such people. Why this odd man with the strange accent wanted a book was beyond him; but the price was definitely right, he thought, as the man handed over a roll of Egyptian pounds and told him to get lost and forget all about it.
Half an hour later and with a great deal of relief to be escaping this horrible city, Igor Karkaroff left Cairo as the portkey activated.
The place was exactly as he remembered it. He was, he knew, just in time; tomorrow was the solstice, and while he could probably find out what he wanted to know at any time of the year, the best time and place was definitely when the sun was directly overhead, standing on the Tropic itself. The little hidey-hole he had made for himself as a student was still there; amazingly, the stasis charms had held for all this time. He settled down to read his book. He hadn't forgotten much; but this ritual would need to be performed exactly.

Fleur had been having a lovely evening, she thought. The twins had brought those three girls over to Bill and her earlier, and they had had a pleasant conversation. Although the one in the middle – Katie something – didn't seem to be very happy. Fleur wondered about that; but quite a lot of the nuances of family gatherings went over her head, so she just ignored it and smiled.
All of a sudden, Bill, sitting on her left, sat up very straight. She could feel that all of his senses were on high alert.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing," he said, as he settled down a little, and engaged her in conversation. But all the while, as the talk continued around him, he was thinking. Something had tripped off a ward he had never expected to be breached. Someone else knew about the portkey in Cairo. He would have to investigate. He groaned inwardly; why did it have to be now, when he was having such a pleasant time with his family? And then he realised why now all of a sudden: tomorrow was the solstice. Damn. That meant he couldn't put this off; he would have to look into it first thing tomorrow. But, he decided, it could wait till then. He wasn't going to ruin Fleur's evening by rushing off, especially as the goblins would have his hide if he whispered so much as a word of where he was going.
"Darling," he said to Fleur, and she gave him a look that made it quite clear she knew what was coming next. "You know you are going to Paris tomorrow?"
"Yes," she said firmly. "And now zumthing 'as come up, as you say, and you cannot come too?"
"Um," he said, sheepishly, "yes."
"Oh well," she said. In truth, she knew her husband hated their trips to Paris and she actually preferred not having him with her. "Perhaps I shall have to find some other lovely man to take me."
Bill groaned. He knew she didn't really mean it; but being married to a quarter-Veela entailed putting up with a great deal of flirting, and he worried that one day someone she fluttered her eyes at would take her seriously and cut up rough. "I'm really sorry, Fleur," he said, "but the goblins will have my head if I don't check this out."
"It's OK," she said, with a smile. "I think I know someones who will come with me," she said, looking over at two of the company. Bill followed her gaze, and relaxed. At least they were no threat …

Ginny looked over to her brother for what must have been the hundredth time.
"Do you think they're …?" she asked Robin, who was seated on her left.
"Sorry, do I think who are what?" he answered.
"Perce and that girl. Do you think they're … you know?"
"Together?" he asked, amused at her reticence. "Oh, definitely."
"Shagging?" Fred, sitting on her right, suggested, half a second later. "Our Perce? Surely not."
Ginny blushed bright red. That was, indeed, what she had meant, but her brother didn't have to say it out loud! People might hear!
"Are you all right, Ginny?" Molly asked, concerned.
"Yes, mum," she replied sheepishly. "Something went down the wrong way, that's all."
Fred snorted.

The party did not go on very long, as the travellers were still jet-lagged. Molly invited the Grangers to stay the night; with all of the Weasley children now living away, they had plenty of room, after all, even with Charlie staying the night, and Margaret guessed, correctly, that Molly hated having an empty house. She could see that the Weasley matriarch was born to fuss over people and no doubt would love having Miriam; at the same time, it had become clear to her during the evening that, despite her former misgivings, Arthur and Peter were getting on famously. So the Grangers accepted Molly's invitation, feeling that Ron and Hermione might quite like to be free of them for a night or two.
Harry called Kreacher and told him of the plan; Hermione thought she could see a touch of disappointment in the old elf's eyes and wondered if he would miss Miriam; but she was sure he would die rather than let anyone think so, so she held her peace as he sullenly disapparated to fetch the Grangers' luggage. While he brought it over from Grimmauld Place, the four youths Flooed back there and sat together in the drawing room for a little while.
The moment they arrived, Ron challenged Draco to a game of Wizard's chess, a challenge that was happily accepted. In the meantime, Harry filled Hermione in on everything she didn't know about what had happened while they were away: Grimmauld Place being finished (she demanded, and got, a full tour); that the Eighth Year Tower was all ready for decorating; that by all accounts Hogwarts was practically ready for the new school year; the problems with Yaxley, which she knew most of already; and the healing he had been through. Only the last of these was really news to her, and she quizzed him pretty closely.
An hour later, she was starting to yawn, and Harry looked over as Draco let out an excited yelp.
"That's two-one to me, Weasley!" he said.
"Yeah, well, I'm tired. Let's see you win when I'm not jet-lagged," Ron replied, rather petulantly.
"It's a date," Draco said; then they all laughed at the inappropriateness of the word. With that, they all went to bed.

Harry lay beside his fiancé, pensive.
"A knut for your thoughts?" Draco asked.
"I was just thinking about how life does seem to be coming together," Harry replied. "Ron and Hermione are home, and the Grangers; and you seemed to get on with them well; thanks for that, by the way."
Draco sat up on his elbow and studied Harry, a bemused expression on his face. "Of course," he said, "I can do polite. And frankly, Miriam is gorgeous. And I'm so pleased to have you back; I don't mind having them as well."
Harry pouted, and Draco gave him a playful jab. "You know what I mean. All right, I like having them. They help make you happy. But you're right. Things might be coming together. There was that idiot in Diagon Alley, of course…"
"Yeah, it's not all roses. You know there's going to be more of that, right?"
Draco nodded. "We've been a bit cloistered away, haven't we? It's clear we still have work to do. People are still angry about the War. They have a right to be, I guess."
"It's good that we're going back to Hogwarts first, before being right out in public; but even that will be hard enough."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Draco replied sternly. "Right now, Mr Potter, you've been very active today, and you still need a lot of sleep. Nox!"
And with that, the lights went out, Draco cuddled Harry in his arms, as the raven-haired boy, more tired out by the day than he was prepared to admit, fell fast asleep. Draco lay there, watching his lover, a devoted smile on his face as he listened to Harry's even breathing and felt the rise and fall of his chest. Harry seemed to be at peace; it struck him that Harry hadn't been having nightmares since the healing. He hoped it would stay that way, as he nuzzled into Harry's chin and contentedly fell asleep himself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have set up a thread for replies at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/56042-review-replies-for-returning-to-sanity/ . I will generally try to reply to posts before posting a new chapter.
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Returning to Sanity