Believe in Love

Blue masquerade, strangers look on
When will they learn this loneliness?
Temptation heat beats like a drum
Deep in your veins, I will not lie
-- Gerard McMann - Cry Little Sister
-o0o-

-One Year Later-

"You're going to be late! Get out of bed!"

"Five more minutes, Harry, you were the one who kept me up last night." Draco rolled over and tugged the comforter over his head. Harry groaned, and yanked the blanket straight off the bed.

"I did not! This is your Potions Mastership test! Get up, get dressed, take the damn test and get that damn Mastership!"

Draco glared balefully at him. Harry stared back unflinchingly. Grumpily, Draco climbed out of the bed, and flung open his wardrobe. "You owe me for this," he muttered. Harry kissed him quickly.

"Whatever you say, Draco."

Draco laughed from the bathroom. "That's exactly right, Harry! Whatever I say! Whatever I say! After the test."

Harry rolled his eyes, and pulled on his jeans, preparing to go to the office for a day of paperwork while Draco was away taking his test. It was strange living in the same house his grandparents had lived in. Their touches remained throughout the massive house, in delicate curtains and a room that smelled of pipe smoke no matter how many cleaning spells they cast on it.

Draco waved jauntily as he stepped into the floo. As the green fire flared up, Harry watched him vanish.

"Good luck," he whispered.

-o0o-

By the end of the day, Harry's nerves were so shot that he spent the last hour at the office in the break room, drinking coffee. Draco still wasn't home when he arrived back at the house, and he immediately launched back into a coffee binge, trying to steady his nerves in case Draco came back in failure a second time.

An owl tapped on the glass. Harry retrieved the letter, and fed the owl a few treats before sending it on it's way with a gentle pat on the head. The letter roared when he opened it, and he chuckled after his initial jump as it startled him. Luna hasn't changed at all, he told himself, and then picked the paper back up.

Harry, you and Draco are invited to the Ministry gala tomorrow night. There's no excuse for you two not to be there; I know his Potions test is tonight. Tell him good luck from me! LL

The front door opened, and Harry dropped the note to the table, hurrying to greet his boyfriend. Draco's eyes were downcast, and his face was pale. Harry's heart sank.

"Draco..."

"I got it!" Draco leapt into the air, whooping. Harry hugged him tightly, grinning widely.

"You utter prat, you scared the hell out of me! I thought you'd failed again."

"Such faith," Draco tutted. "I've been telling you for months that I had it in the bag."

Harry sighed anyway. "Anything in particular you want for dinner?"


Draco's smile was pure devilment. "Strawberries," he said. "Lots of strawberries. And chocolate sauce."

Harry blinked at him, and then a slow smile spread across his face. "I think I can manage that."

-o0o-

Draco woke late, and stretched luxuriously. He felt sticky still from the night before, and considered waking Harry up to shower with him. He decided against it, however - eight years of being utterly alone hand't worn off in the few short months they'dbeen together, and Harry still shied away from some of the more adventurous things Draco was interested in attempting, and showering together somehow made that list.

He padded into the living room, intending to get some water, and put the coffee pot on - Harry refused to have house-elves, and Kreacher - the only elf Harry would tolerate, for reasons unknown to Draco - refused to leave the Black house.

A letter on the floor brought back uncomfortable memories, and Draco reminded himself that he'd just left Harry sleeping in their bedroom as he bent to retrieve it. A Ministry gala? He counted up the months, and a slow smile spread across his face. Yes, Luna, we'll be there. We rather have to.

-

"I'd really rather be somewhere else," Harry was saying. "I've never gone to one of these things in the entire eight years I've been an Auror."

Draco shot him a cool look, and adjusted his robes. "Things change," he said, and Harry flushed attractively. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"I hope you're right."

"I always am." Draco reached out and straightened the fall of Harry's robes, then stepped back and looked him over. "I'm half tempted to keep you here just to see you getting back out of those," he commented.

"Sounds like a better plan to me," Harry agreed, and reached up to unbutton the robes.

"Ah ah ahh," Draco admonished. "We're going, and that's final." He took Harry's arm and they Apparated into the Ministry. The room was crowded, and several Aurors greeted them. Harry retreated into silence and let Draco do the mingling thing without him.

"You owe me for this," Harry muttered.

"I'll make it up to you."

Shacklebolt took the stage at the front of the room just as Luna found her way over to the pair. "Congratulations," she said mistily. Draco awarded her a startled look, but she was already moving past them.

"This time last year," Shacklebolt was saying. "We had a seemingly unsolvable case, piled up on top of our usual workload." Instantly, every eye in the room was on Harry and Draco. "When everything seemed lost, Draco Malfoy entered into the Auror Corps, and - well - basically turned the entire department upside down, starting with Harry's cubicle." This statement was met with laughter, especially from the Aurors who'd warned Draco against redecorating the cubicle.

"What? It was morbid," Draco defended himself. "It looks much nicer now."

Shacklebolt held up his hand for them to be quiet, and attention returned to him. "With Draco Malfoy's help, we solved the case of the Pureblood murders, and Harry and Draco went on to become the single greatest pair the Ministry has ever seen. Harry already had the unenviable position of best single Auror, and with the introduction of Malfoy to his partnership, they've become invaluable to the Ministry and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It is with great pride, and great pleasure, that I hereby announce Aurors Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter the award of Aurors of the Year!"

The applause was deafening.

Draco tugged Harry up on the stage, and made a small, meaningless speech about how grateful he was for the chance to join the Aurors, and how much it meant to him to receieve such a prestigious award. Harry ducked out of saying anything by flashing a shy smile at the crowd, and stepping back to let Draco take the limelight.

-o0o-

"Aurors of the Year," Narcissa said, practically beaming. "And a Potions Master. The two of you are magnificent."

"Look on the bright side," Harry said, hunching his shoulders. "Now Kingsley has a reason to make my pay increase permanent."

Draco thumped him on the chest. "You prat. Just think, Mother, Harry had to be bribed to take me on in the first place."

Narcissa smiled. "I'd want extra money to deal with you, too, Draco, you can hardly blame him."

Draco gasped, scandalised. "Mother!"

Harry just laughed.

-o0o-

This is dedicated to SecondStoreyStairwell, for an absolutely... brilliant review on the end of Do You Still Believe. Special mention to everyone who's ever reviewed DYSB - you guys kept me going when I would have abandoned it to eternal incompletion. While my other two WIPs stew in the back of my head (Displaced and For Life, Forever) I'll take two or three suggestions for fics you guys want to see from me. I don't want to stop writing, but my brain's blanking out.

Also: I want to complete this list. Suggestions are more than welcome.
SS Guns and Handcuffs:
Dark!Harry
Leather-Trousered Draco
Auror Fic
Veela Fic
Bond Fic
Creature Fic

One last thing:

Argo_801, you're russian? That's awesome! Also, if you let me know specifically which ones you were reading, I'll do my best to update/finish/write it off entirely.