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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
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80 Returning From Honeymoon
Saturday 3 October 1998
The four honeymooners finished up their stays in their respective hotels at three o'clock English time on Saturday afternoon. By prior arrangement, they flooed to the Burrow, to find that Molly and Narcissa had not been idle while their sons and children-in-law were on their honeymoon. As the reception had been at the Manor, Molly had practically insisted on hosting a 'Welcome Home' party at the Burrow, and Narcissa had been delighted to help.
Accordingly, as Ron and Hermione came out of the Floo, they were mobbed by what seemed like a cast of thousands, though the room was too small for there to have been more than twenty or thirty people. It seemed that practically all of their friends had come to welcome them home and wish them well. The din was deafening; and Ron wondered how anyone could stand it.
Then the volume went up from stupidly loud to impossibly loud as Draco and Harry came through the Floo. Harry stumbled as he came through, and Hermione stifled a grin; he was the most graceful man ever to ride a broomstick, but the Floo network defeated him every time. She was pleased, though, to see that Draco took it in his stride and effortlessly caught his husband before he could hit the ground. She grinned at him, and was surprised to see that his eyes were sparkling with delight.
"Had a good time, then?" she asked cheekily.
Draco just smiled, but his eyes were most eloquent. Harry was less reticent.
"Loved it!" he said. "Hermione, you have to visit Italy, it was amazing!"
Hermione smiled back in return as he gushed on about the little towns they had visited, and their time at Lake Garda. She forbore to tell him that she had visited Italy three times already; he was too full of joy for her to want to squash it so, and it made her heart ache as she remembered that this was her friend's first real holiday abroad; she couldn't count the week he'd had before school started, that was a rest cure, not a holiday.
Harry moved on to talk to other friends, and Hermione grasped Draco lightly by the arm.
"Thank you for helping him have a good time," she said.
Draco's eyebrows went up in surprise.
"He's my husband," he replied, his face becoming serious as he tensed up a little under the unexpected interrogation. "Of course I want him to have a good time."
"You're going to take him there again, right?" she asked, and all at once Draco grasped what this was really all about. He relaxed and allowed a little smile onto his lips.
"Oh yes," he replied. "In fact, don't tell him, but I've already booked us a week at Lake Garda for his birthday next year. The pensione we lunched at had a cancellation so I snapped it up."
Hermione grinned widely. "Good," she said. "Thanks," she continued awkwardly. "Um, better go and meet people," she finished lamely, and went off into the throng.
Draco smiled as he watched her go. He didn't tell her that the booking had been for three suites; he suspected that Harry would want the Weasleys nearby, and he quite fancied spending a week in Italy with Blaise Zabini to call on. Now he just had to work out how to word it so that they wouldn't refuse. Blaise was easy, Draco would just tell him that he was being selfish and wanted a fellow Slytherin around; it would appeal to him, and it was the truth, more or less. Ron and Hermione would need a little more thought; he'd have to present it as a present to Harry somehow. Something horribly corny about 'time together with his friends was the best thing he could give his husband' might just work, he thought.

Harry was pleased to find that Mrs Weasley had managed things so that while their really close friends were there the whole evening, other people came and went as they needed to.
Pansy and Theo turned up a little after five. Harry and Draco invited them to sit and chat; but Pansy would have none of it.
"Come on, Draco," she said to the blond, dragging him away to a far corner. "I want to hear all the gossip on Potter, you won't tell me if he's listening."
Harry smirked. "She's quite a handful," he said to Theo, who grinned in reply. "How's the week been?" Harry continued by way of making conversation. "Is Grimmauld Place comfy?"
Theo snorted. "Not the word I'd choose," he confessed. "But actually, it's been quite a fun week. Your house-elf is as mad as a manticore, but Pansy seems to have got him in line."
"Really?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Theo replied. "She's been banging on about being a proper pure-blood, and he's been lapping it up."
Harry chuckled at this. "That figures," he said. "Kreacher and I get on alright, especially as I'm the Lord Black, but I'm still a half-blood."
Theo's eyes went wide. "Hang on," he said, "I didn't think you could claim a lordship till you were twenty-five?"
Harry looked at Theo critically; he had expected that the Prophet would have trumpeted his Lordship all week, but Theo genuinely seemed to know nothing about it.
"Er, yeah," he replied. "Normally that's right. But the Ministry made an exception 'in celebration of the happy occasion of your wedding' as Viridis Banks put it."
"Did I hear my father's name?" a familiar voice said, and Robin Banks sat beside him. "What's he been up to?"
Harry greeted Robin warmly, and proceeded to tell him and Theo the story of how he came to have afternoon tea with the Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation.
"Crafty bugger!" Robin said as Harry finished. "He told us he was having a set of boring meetings with his European counterparts."
"Well," Harry replied, "I'm sorry to hear he thinks Draco and I are boring, but we were on our honeymoon, so a bit pre-occupied. Anyway, are you two really telling me that this hasn't been in the Prophet? It's been fact for nearly a week! Normally I can't keep anything secret for two days."
"That would be my fault," another familiar and friendly voice said as Lucius Malfoy hove into view. "How are you Harry? You look splendidly well."
"Thank you," Harry said, while his friends shuffled chairs to allow his father-in-law to sit next to him. "I feel wonderful. Draco and I had a marvelous time."
"So I hear," he replied. "I've been chatting to Mrs Weasley, who had heard all about it."
Harry looked a little surprised, as he wondered just how Molly had heard all about it; but Lucius spotted his confusion and easily worked out the reason for it.
"Mrs Hermione Weasley," he explained, and Harry grinned in understanding. "Now, as for the Prophet, that's easily explained. Barnabus Cuffe is walking a very narrow path after the stunts he pulled just before the wedding; so Kingsley and I sat down with him on Sunday and made it very clear that if he published anything at all about you without your explicit, written consent, he was going to become intimately acquainted with the furnishings of Azkaban."
"So that's it!" Theo said. "I wondered why their coverage of the wedding petered out after Sunday's edition."
"Good," Harry said firmly. "And thinking of weddings, are we going to have another one announced soon?"
Theo blushed bright red.
"Well, er, as it happens …"
"Hush!" Lucius admonished him. "The ladies always prefer to make the announcement."
"So true," Robin said, thinking back to Ginny's birthday party, where she had announced their engagement; not that they had a date yet as Molly had insisted they wait until Ginny was out of school, something Robin agreed with; he didn't want to have to share Ginny's time, especially not with the students he taught. "And, life lesson, Theo, we prefer to defer."
Lucius smirked. The lad was gold.

Teddy and Andromeda came at six o'clock, and only stayed for an hour; which meant that Harry felt he needed to make the most of it, and probably said more to Andromeda during that hour than he ever had before in total, while Teddy was ensconced firmly on his lap, though that might have been because Lucius, having greeted his sister-in-law, had wandered off to find Narcissa to let her know her sister had arrived, and Hermione, wandering around with Miriam in her arms, had availed herself of the seat he vacated, sitting down with Miriam on her lap. The two babies had gurgled and giggled at each other, and made an adorable sight.
"Hello," the voice Harry was most wanting to hear said behind him as Draco reached over him and cuddled both him and Teddy at the same time. "Aunt 'Dromeda," he continued, acknowledging his aunt.
"Hello, Draco. I'm disappointed in you – come over here and show Harry what a proper pure-blood greeting is like."
Draco chuckled, having now at last got the measure of his aunt and knowing that she was chiding him because she loved him, not because she meant him any harm. In a single fluid motion, he moved around Harry's chair; scooped up Teddy in his arms, rubbing noses with his cousin; leant over his aunt and kissed her firmly on both cheeks; deposited Teddy in her lap; and finally sat down on Harry's now vacant lap, leaning back and nuzzling his husband's cheek.
Andromeda threw back her head and laughed at the sheer exuberance of the display.
"Magnificent!" she cried.
"Thank you," Draco replied, looking like the kneazle who got the kippers as Harry wrapped his arms around him and kissed him gently on his neck.
It was around seven o'clock when Arthur Weasley rose to his feet.
"Well everybody, this isn't going to be a speech; I just hope you've all got a glass of something so we can toast the happy couples on their return," he said; and, true to his word, he offered the toast and sat down, ignoring the general hoorahs and other catcalls, especially those from the twins demanding a real speech.
"Well," Blaise said, standing to his feet, "I haven't got a speech; but I do have an announcement: Angelique has graciously consented to be my bride, and we will be getting married in six weeks' time, on the fourteenth of November."
This announcement brought out a round of congratulations; Harry was touched to see that everyone, even the Gryffindors present, seemed genuinely delighted at the news. Everyone that is, except Pansy Parkinson, who stood up, glowered at Blaise, and called for quiet.
"Well," she said, "in that case Theo and I will have to cut short our honeymoon; I wanted to go away for a month but it seems it will only be a fortnight."
"You have set the date?" Blaise asked, a note of surprise in his voice.
"The thirty-first of October," Pansy answered. "After all, what better night for a witch to get married than Halloween?"

Both couples stayed the night at the Burrow; Molly had insisted they stay over, and Harry was quite glad not to have to travel any further than to their room in the annex.
"And don't you worry about the morning," she had told them, "you sleep as long as you want."
Ron had taken no notice of this; there was no way he was going to pass up one of his mother's breakfasts. But Harry and Draco took her at her word, and did not emerge from their room until eleven o'clock. It was just as well that they did not leave it any later; Lucius and Narcissa emerged from the Floo not ten minutes after Harry and Draco had finished a very late breakfast, if not early lunch.
"Good morning, Lucius, Narcissa," Molly said in greeting as she bustled around. "Tea?"
"Thank you, that would be lovely," Narcissa said as they all made their way to the front room and took seats while Molly busied herself in the kitchen. Draco was once again amazed at the easy friendship that had grown up between the two women. His father still looked just a little uncomfortable; but that was really not surprising, he had after all lived all his life in a carefully controlled environment where everything was in its place and everyone behaved with decorum; the chaos that the Weasleys seemed happy to live in was quite alien to him.
"You all right there, Dragon?" Harry, sitting beside him, asked, stirring him from the reverie he had fallen into. Draco came to himself, and looked around.
"Not really," he said with an evil grin, and moved to settle himself on Harry's lap.
"That's better," he said, as his Raven reached around automatically to cuddle him close. And it was. He wasn't sure what it mean; but he still felt the need to have Harry close to him at all times. Fortunately, before anyone could comment, Molly reappeared and mugs of tea were passed around. Draco found it hilarious to watch his pure-blood father drinking tea from an enormous mug instead of the bone china that his parents usually preferred. Though, to give him his due, he did it with aplomb.
Lucius did not fail to noticed his son's amused face, and had no trouble working out the reason for it.
"There are different kinds of tea, my son," he told the blond. "There is no shame in drinking different blends in different places. This is the strong sweet tea, as one gets on building sites, which belongs in sturdy mugs, not fine bone china. And an excellent example of the genre," he said in compliment to Molly, while surreptitiously lifting his mug slightly in Draco's direction.
"Building sites?" Draco mouthed. Since when had his father ever descended to such things?
"Yes, my work with the Ministry includes visiting the housing that is being built for the Muggle-borns that the Dark Lord left dispossessed of their houses."
"Oh! Thinking of people working," Ron said quickly, "you'll never guess who we saw at our hotel."
Everyone turned to look at him, and Draco gave him an encouraging wink. He could see at once that Lucius's words could have turned things ugly, and Ron had rescued them from a discussion that could have got all too serious and heated.
"Go on then," Molly asked breathlessly, "who was it then?"
"Harry's aunt," Ron said, suddenly wondering if this was a smart conversation change after all as his mother, who had heard quite a bit about Harry's treatment at the Dursleys' both from Harry and from Narcissa, set her face in a stern expression.
"She seemed to be very contrite," Hermione said quickly, noticing Molly's disapproval. "So much so that we asked Mr Malfoy if perhaps she could talk to Harry."
"'Lucius', dear, please," the Malfoy patriarch said. "We're all friends here. Petunia has been working for me since the very unfortunate interview the Dursleys had with Harry just before school started. And yes, I agreed that Harry might wish to speak to her, so moved her to the Hotel Malfoy di Siena, where they were staying."
He turned to Harry. "Did she get in touch?" he asked.
"Yes," Harry said. "And I'd like to get together with you and discuss the future for her, if we could."
"Harry," Molly said sternly, "you're too kind, young man. Don't you let that woman off lightly. She treated you abominably for sixteen years, she can't undo that overnight."
"Oh, I'm sure Harry will do the right thing," Lucius said smoothly. "Perhaps we could have lunch at the Manor and discuss things after that?"
"Thank you, that sounds nice," Harry said. "And er – could Dudley come too? He is involved, after all."
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Narcissa said. "We could have lunch in your garden, if you wish, and you could see it in Autumn. It's changed colour quite a lot over the last week."
"That would be lovely," Draco said.

The Malfoys stayed for perhaps half an hour, chatting happily with everyone, before leaving for the Manor to fetch Dudley and prepare for lunch. Harry and Draco followed about twenty minutes later, to find that Narcissa had called Kreacher to get Dudley, and the elf and his unlikely companion had just arrived.
"Ah! Kreacher!" Harry said. "I have something to discuss with you."
"Yes, Master Harry?" Kreacher said, sounding a touch fearful on hearing Harry's firm tone. "Has Kreacher upset Master Harry?"
Harry smiled at the old elf. Kindness and compassion, he reminded himself.
"Quite the contrary," he replied. "I hear that you have done an excellent job showing the hospitality of the House of Black to Miss Parkinson and Mr Nott."
Kreacher grinned; it was a frightening sight. "Thank you, Master Harry!" he said, puffing out his chest in pride.
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry replied. "And thank you for bringing Master – I mean, Dudley here."
"Of course Master Harry! Kreacher will be taking him back home when Master Harry calls!"
Harry chuckled. "That's fine," he said, and the house-elf bowed so low to him that his forehead might almost have hit the ground, before disapparating away.
Draco chuckled. Harry never did anything the way you were supposed to, he ruminated; but the way he treated Kreacher seemed to work, so there was no point in saying anything about it. And Kreacher was Harry's elf after all; one didn't comment in public on how other people treated their elves, even if said other people were married to you.
"How are you, Dudley?" he asked, by way of greeting the other lad and bringing him into the conversation, and the three of them progressed out to the cottage garden, finding that it was every bit as delightful as Narcissa had suggested, the leaves on the tree starting to turn orange. They found their hosts already in the garden, waiting for them, and a table set beautifully with crisp linen tablecloths and napkins.
"Dudley!" Narcissa exclaimed as she saw him, striding over and giving him a kiss on both cheeks.
"What, don't we get a greeting?" Draco asked, pouting.
"Of course, dear!" Narcissa said, coming over to her sons and kissing each in turn. "But I saw you this morning, I haven't seen Dudley since the wedding."
"And how have you been, Dudley?" Lucius enquired, shaking the rather nervous young man's hand while these greetings were going on. "Still enjoying lectures?"
"Oh, very much so," Dudley said, as the five of them took their seats at the luncheon table. "Though living in hall is a bit wild – people seem to have nothing to do but party. I thought it would settle down – but two weeks in, it's still just as bad."
Harry was very amused by this statement – the Dudley he remembered from living at the Dursleys' would have been right in the thick of the partying, that was for sure. But clearly Dudley Potter had other ideas, and wanted to knuckle down and get serious about life.
"It's interesting you should say that, Dudley," Lucius began, but didn't get any further for the moment. Narcissa frowned at him; he was clearly about to discuss the matter of Dudley's mother, which of course needed to come out, but not right off the bat. Surely her husband could see that the lad was still rather nervous and uncomfortable around them and needed to be eased into serious matters?
"Soup?" she enquired of the party at large, neatly cutting off the discussion. When they had all been served and were enjoying the first course, Narcissa asked Harry how he had enjoyed Italy, and Lucius, taking the hint from his wife, allowed the discussion to wander along in general. The soup was delicious, as was the roast beef that followed it, and it did not take long for the subject of Petunia Evans to come up.
"Oh, Dudley," Harry said, once they had discussed their visit to Lake Garda, "one thing that happened before our trip that would interest you: I met your mum at the hotel."
"My mum?" Dudley replied. "How is she? I mean," he said, blushing rather red, "if you don't mind talking about her."
"Of course not," Harry said. "She is still your mum, after all. And she seemed to be very sorry for what she'd done."
"Of course she did," Draco said quietly but with some venom. "Wants to get into your good books again."
Harry looked at his husband in mild surprise.
"I'm sure she does," he replied. "But we discussed this. In the Wizarding world, she'd get a second chance because of the Potter Code; I can hardly not give her one just because she's related to me."
Dudley looked shocked; an expression, Harry noticed with some amusement, that Narcissa, the normally inscrutable pure-blood, seemed to share. "Really?" he asked. "You'd let her go scot-free?"
"No, not quite," Harry replied. "I told her that I don't know if I forgive her yet, not entirely; but that I'd ask Lucius for a second chance for her. And that was really for your sake."
"My sake?" Dudley asked. "How do you mean?"
"I know I would have loved nothing better than to have my mum around," Harry replied, "so I really want to give you that chance. If you want it, of course."
Dudley gulped.
"Yeah, I do, I guess. I mean, like you said, she was horrid to you, but she is still my mum. But I'd only want her if she's prepared to accept that I'm a Potter now."
"And quite right, too," Lucius interjected smoothly. "Harry and I discussed this when he floo-called during the week, and I thought what we might do is to purchase a flat or small house or other suitable accommodation somewhere in Swansea for you, and install her as the landlady, so to speak. She would then be able to look after you, I was thinking, given what you said earlier, that this might solve the issues with your – how did you put it? 'wild'? - classmates."
Dudley's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, that would be brilliant," he said. And then a second thought struck him. "Um, there is one other student at the hall who feels the same as I do; is there any chance that maybe…"
Here Dudley petered out in evident discomfort. Lucius, understanding that the lad must feel he was asking too much, smiled at him, and replied, "I'm sure we could find a place that would be large enough to accommodate them as well."
"Thanks," Dudley said, now simultaneously blushing just a little in embarrassment at having dared to ask for something more when he was already being given so much and beaming in appreciation at his wishes being taken into consideration. "I mean, um, I'm sure they'd pay rent and everything …"
Lucius waved a hand. "Not important," he said. "You can keep it and add it to your spending money."
Harry smiled. This, he felt, this was how families should work. And this was his family. The feeling of belonging was almost overwhelming, and he grasped his husband's hand under the table in an attempt to stop himself getting emotional about it.
"Now," Narcissa said, seemingly oblivious to Harry's emotional moment, all brisk and business-like as a cloche appeared on the table in front of them. "For pudding, I understand that Kreacher has made something rather special for us."
She lifted the large cover, to reveal a Spotted Dick steaming underneath, to loud 'oohs' and 'aahs' from all four of the males at the table. She snickered. The boys making such a noise was amusing in itself; but it was a long time since Lucius Malfoy had allowed his secret love of all sweet treats to be expressed so openly.

It was half-past two when they had finished lunch and Dudley was ready to return to Swansea.
"Kreacher!" Harry called, and the house-elf appeared.
"Is Master Harry Potter wishing Kreacher to be returning the Muggle boy Dudley Potter to his veeheecul?" Kreacher asked.
Harry held back a laugh at the pronunciation of "vehicle"; it was quite impressive that the house-elf had tried at all, he told himself.
"Yes, but first I'm sure that we would all like to thank you for the magnificent pudding you made for us."
Kreacher went bright pink.
"Kreacher lives to serve Master Lord Harry Potter Goblin-friend and Master Lord Consort Draco Malfoy-Potter Goblin-friend," he said adamantly. "No thanks are required."
'Goblin-friend?' Dudley mouthed.
"Yeah," Harry confirmed, "it's a title they gave me, and Draco got it when we go married."
With no further ceremony, Kreacher grasped Dudley by the arm as soon as Harry had finished speaking, though Harry noticed he did so quite gently, and Dudley didn't seem to mind, and apparated away.
"Hang on," Harry said, trying to remember what had happened at the wedding ceremony. "That's hardly fair, you taking my name. That wasn't part of the ritual, was it?"
"Well, I am your consort, Harry," Draco said. "We did discuss this. McGonagall just announced us as 'Harry and Draco', so it got glossed over, But the Debt does put me in an inferior position."
"And I told you that was poppycock," Harry replied. "If you're Malfoy-Potter, so should I be."
The three Malfoys drew in a sharp intake of breath.
"Harry," Lucius, the first to regain composure, said. "Are you sure about that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked.
Lucius took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He had, for a moment, forgotten that of course Harry, having been brought up without any input from the Magical world, had no idea about how important names were.
"It would be a great honour to the Malfoy family," he said, forcing himself to speak calmly. "At the moment, because of the Debt, Draco is seen as your Consort. That puts the Malfoy family beneath the Potter family in the social ranking. A galling fact, I must admit; we have always been proud to bow to no-one. Though I admit my father rather ruined that by kowtowing rather shamelessly to the Dark Lord. Regardless, for you to take our surname as well as your own would be seen by the pure-bloods as a political statement. It would make Draco your equal."
"That's exactly what I want," Harry replied, looking like he found it hard to believe that Lucius didn't understand that. "All this superior and inferior sh—stuff needs to go away. Draco is not my inferior, he's my husband."
"Thank you, Harry," Narcissa said. "That means a lot to us. And in return, there is another matter we need to discuss – your wedding present."
"Oh," said Harry, wondering what sort of a present they were going to give that needed to be discussed; surely one simply gave presents? Not that they were particularly important to him: he had Draco; any other gift the Malfoys might give him would be a bonus.
"Yes," Narcissa declared firmly. "Draco, we were thinking of The Lodge."
As Harry looked, the most unaccountable thing happened: Draco's jaw literally dropped open.
"Dragon," he gently chided, "better hope there are no flies around…"
Draco took the hint, and closed his mouth.
"Yes, mmm, well, ah - that is quite a wedding present," he said, and Harry was even further astonished to hear how tongue-tied his normally unflappable husband was.
"You are our sons," Lucius pointed out.
"Er, excuse me, but what are we talking about?" Harry asked, feeling that the conversation was rather getting away from him.
"There is a charming cottage in Surrey that we own, known as The Lodge," Narcissa replied. "It has not been occupied for nearly a century; we thought that you might prefer to live a little more in the countryside and keep Grimmauld Place as a townhouse."
"A cottage?" Harry asked, stunned at so lavish a gift. "You want to give us a cottage?"
"It's not really a cottage," Draco chipped in, missing Harry's point entirely. "It's a two storey detached house, and plenty large enough for us even if we do adopt."
"Wow," Harry continued, exactly as if Draco had not spoken. "I was thinking maybe, I don't know, some nice furniture or something, but you want to give us a whole cottage?"
"Yes," Narcissa said firmly. "We thought you could go and view it tomorrow and see if you like it."
"Er, perhaps we should go and look today?" Harry asked, a little timidly, as he was still getting his head around the idea of such generosity. "I mean," he added hastily, not wanting to appear grasping or ungrateful, "we should be getting back to school tomorrow. We have to finish our Muggle Studies project, and Draco has to start his apprenticeship, and I have to find out about the Auror training programme…"
Harry was getting more worked up as he thought about all the things he had to do, and Draco started out by stroking him, trying to get him to relax; but as it wasn't working, when Harry finished he sat on his lap and held him close.
Narcissa smiled. It was good to see that her Dragon, or their Raven's Dragon now, really, was able to be so openly demonstrative. She had worried during the war that that lovely sweetness was being crushed out of Draco, and it was nice to see that that was not so. Even Lucius was giving the pair an approving smile, and it made her heart sing. But there were also practical matters to attend to, so she took a moment to compose herself.
"We are aware of these things, Harry," she said calmly. "That is why we have invited Potion Master Borage and Minister Shacklebolt for afternoon tea. And that is why I think you will be better off looking at The Lodge tomorrow."
"Oh," Harry said again. There really wasn't a lot else to say. Except one other thing. "Thanks."

The two guests arrived punctually at half-past three, and, as it was getting rather cool and breezy outside, afternoon tea was served in the drawing room.
"Well," Kingsley said once everyone was seated with a cup of tea, "I hope you boys had an pleasant honeymoon? Viridis Banks tells me you looked to be enjoying yourselves very much."
"Er – yeah, we had a wonderful time," Harry said, managing not to blush for once, Draco noticed. "And thanks for all that stuff about the Lordship – I'm guessing you had a bit to do with it?"
Kingsley chuckled. "Well, I had to agree," he replied, "but most of the work was done by the Chief Warlock. He was actually scandalised when a mutual Auror friend of ours pointed out that you had a Goblin title but not a Wizarding one. Apart from 'the Destroyer of Voldemort', of course."
Harry winced. "Yeah, right, thanks for that," he replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Kingsley chuckled again. "Oh," Harry continued, "thanks for keeping it out of the Prophet, too."
Lucius and Kingsley both looked quite stern at this remark.
"We did have a discussion with Mr Cuffe, yes," Lucius said.
"He did ask if you might be interested in giving the Prophet an interview," Kingsley added. "Not that he knows about the Lordship, of course;" he added hastily, "but just in general."
"It might perhaps be an opportune time to give an interview somewhere else," Draco suggested. "The Quibbler was on your side, wasn't it?"
"Now, this is all very pleasant," Borage interrupted, "and it's a lovely place you have here, Mrs Malfoy," he continued, with a polite nod to Narcissa, who smiled and nodded in return, "but I do think we have some matters to discuss with regard to your future careers."
Lucius smirked. This was the no-nonsense Libatius Borage he had sparred against in the past. It was good to learn that the man was still as direct and forthright as ever; it was just the sort of teacher Draco needed.
Draco was rather conflicted. Of course, he knew that they had to get back to normal life: Harry was going to go off into Auror training, and he was going to be an apprentice to Borage. That was all sorted out, and exactly what he expected, and rationally he was looking forward to it. But emotionally? That was a different thing altogether. It was ridiculous; but he still felt that he needed Harry to be around him all the time. Unconsciously, he shifted in his chair, moving closer to his husband and twining their hands together.
"Yes," Draco said, a note of reluctance in his voice, "will you be wanting me to start tomorrow, sir?"
"Good heavens lad!" Borage said, his tone amused, "firstly, save the 'sir' for the potions lab; as a Lord Consort yourself you have no business calling me it. 'Libatius' will do nicely, in present company at least. And secondly, no, it will take me a little while to prepare for your apprenticeship. As you have just got married, I think it would be wise for you to have some time to settle down together; you will find the apprenticeship will cut into your time a good deal."
"Thank you," Draco said, visibly relieved. "How long do you think it will take?"
"Let's say four weeks. We can start formal lessons on Monday the second of November."
"And the same goes for you, Harry," Kingsley added smoothly. "We won't be starting the next round of Auror training until the twenty-sixth of October and the first week is always a quick revision and assessment week, which is rendered moot given your NEWT results. For which, both of you, hearty congratulations."
"Thank you, sir," they both said together.
Kingsley glowered at them.
"Thank you, Kingsley," Harry said, catching on.
"That's better," the Minister said, his face returning to its former good-humoured expression.
"Will the four weeks apply to Ron as well?" Harry asked.
"I don't see why not," Kingsley replied. "Now, there will be residential components in both of your courses; Harry, Auror training requires Monday to Friday of what will be your second week to be spent in a field exercise. No doubt Libatius will also have requirements."
"Hmm," the Professor replied. "Well, I'm afraid we won't quite be synchronized; I will need Mr Malfoy's time during his first week. But perhaps I can take him the second week as well, to keep him busy. But we can deal with these things when we get there."
"Where will this be, Libatius?" Harry asked, as it suddenly hit him that he had grown very much accustomed to having his husband around all the time over the last few months, and that he was not looking forward to having to spend time apart. Not that he would stop it, of course; Draco deserved the chance to become a Potions Master. "Will Draco be staying at your home?"
"Well," the man replied a little slowly, "I had thought that, as I am currently employed at Hogwarts, I might have a chat with the Headmistress and see if I could use Hogwarts' facilities, at least for the start of the apprenticeship. I think that would be a lot more pleasant for Draco to live in the castle with some people his own age rather than being stuck in a house with only an old fussy man and house-elves for company. Not that he will have a lot of time to socialise, mind! And that way I can also get him to do some fill-in teaching in Potions as well; we tend to insist on apprentices doing some form of knowledge sharing from the second year on."
"But this will be Draco's first year?" Narcissa asked, a little confused.
"Draco has been excused the first year due to his Mastery grade in Potions," Kingsley reminded her. "What exactly we'll do with Harry hasn't been decided yet."
Draco and Harry shared a rather pointed and long-suffering look.
"We are still in the room, you know," he said.
"Well!" Narcissa replied, smirking inwardly at the small discomfort Draco's remark had caused. Not that she approved of causing her guests any discomfort, but given that they had been discussing Draco and Harry's careers while they were present, she thought they rather deserved it and let it slide.
"I think that that's quite enough serious career talk for the moment. Tell me, Kingsley, when are you thinking of getting married and settling down?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt was a dark-skinned man, and as such one might not expect to see much change when he blushed. But it was abundantly clear to all in the room that he was doing so now …

Notes:
Once again I’m sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but it just kept on growing; so much so that I revised my original plan and have separated it into installments.
Grateful thanks as always to the wonderful Bicky Monster for helpful suggestions.
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