Get Up, Stand Up

It would seem that a lot of people had moved their lives around in order to come to Harry’s birthday dinner. Sirius and Remus had cut their honeymoon short and shown up three hours early with armloads of gifts. Tonks and Bill had gotten out of work for the night while Fred and George said they closed early in lieu of the festivities. Hagrid, Charlie, Mr and Mrs Tonks, and Mr and Mrs Delacour were the last to round out their number for dinner.

Draco had made sure to try and leave all of his anxiety over Harry’s departure at his bedroom door this morning. He’d spent the day close to Harry, wandering into his room as he celebrated the removal of the Trace and sitting on the end of his camp bed with Ella watching objects fly around the room.

He sat next to Harry at breakfast as he opened his birthday gifts and was really glad he hadn’t gotten him a watch as Mrs Weasley’s was far more personal than anything he could have done. And then as everyone had broken up to get dressed or finish jobs he had pulled Harry back into his room to snog him senseless for 15 minutes. It was all they got before Mrs Weasley was knocking on the door and asking Draco to help her translate for Mrs Delacour.

As it was the day before the wedding, most of the jobs had been handled and they were all blessed with a day off. Someone suggested quidditch and they managed a four-on-four match with Hermione watching below with Ella. Harry and Draco played seeker on each team but neither of them were concentrating very hard on the snitch. They spent most of the day chasing each other around their make-do pitch as the others yelled at them to pay attention. Ginny resorted to throwing a Quaffle straight at Harry’s head as he paused in mid-air to flirt. Harry, though, had the reflexes of a hardened Seeker and caught it, turned and threw it back in less time than it took Ginny to blink and then proceeded to lean dangerously far off his broom to kiss his boyfriend. This cause another Quaffle to come flying at the both of them amid teasing shouts to get a room.

They gathered a crowd as the afternoon wore on and their guests for dinner arrived. The game only stopping when Sirius and Remus appeared and Harry dove from forty feet in the air to skid to a perfect stop at their feet so he could jump off to hug them.

Dinner was outside as that was the only place they would all fit. Fred and George had bewitched a number of purple lanterns, all emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in midair over the guests. Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes. But it was Mrs Weasley and her giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her that really stood out. There was applause and cheers as she made it land in the middle of the table and Draco watched as Harry’s mouth fell open in surprise before grinning and turning to thank Mrs Weasley.

By 7:00 everyone had arrived and was seated at the table, everyone except Mr Weasley. Mrs Weasley was staring at the gate while Hagrid tried to alleviate the awkward silence by telling everyone about the new unicorn foals at Hogwarts.

They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that came fłying across the yard and on to the table, where it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr Weasley’s voice.

‘Minister for Magic coming with me.’

The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur’s family peering in astonishment at the place where it had vanished.

‘The Minister – but why –? I don’t understand –’ Mrs Weasley said.

But there was no time to discuss the matter; a second later, Mr Weasley had appeared out of thin air at the gate, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly recognisable by his mane of grizzled hair.

The two newcomers marched across the yard towards the garden and the lantern-lit table, where everybody sat in silence, watching them draw closer

‘Sorry to intrude,’ said Scrimgeour, as he limped to a halt before the table. ‘Especially as I can see that I am gatecrashing a party.’

His eyes lingered for a moment on the giant Snitch cake and then turned to where Harry sat next to Draco. If he was surprised by Draco’s presence at the table he didn’t show it.

‘Many happy returns.’

‘Thanks,’ said Harry.

‘I require a private word with you,’ Scrimgeour went on, speaking to Harry. ‘Also with Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger.’

‘Us?’ said Ron, sounding surprised. ‘Why us?’

‘I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more private,’ said Scrimgeour. ‘Is there such a place?’ he demanded of Mr Weasley.

‘Yes, of course,’ said Mr Weasley, who looked nervous. ‘The, er, sitting room, why don’t you use that?’ ‘

“You can lead the way,’ Scrimgeour said to Ron. ‘There will be no need for you to accompany us, Arthur.”

Nervous and confused glances were shared around the table but Harry, Ron and Hermione all stood and followed Scrimgeour. Draco stared after them only looking away when the raised whispers of Sirius and Remus got his attention. He turned back and realised that Remus was doing all he could to keep Sirius in his seat including actually holding him down with his hand on the man’s leg.

Draco knew what Sirius’ temper was like and if he got up now and followed the Minister it was going to cause a lot of trouble for all of them. Especially his new werewolf husband and his cousins with the Death Eater parents.

“I thought you would have learned how to sit by now,” Draco teased, trying desperately to get Sirius’ attention away from the house. Harry’s birthday and what was probably one of their last nights together for a very long time was not going to be ruined by poor decision-making.

Sirius turned blazing eyes on Draco, saw his smirk and then actively tried to relax back into his seat. Draco watched as he took Remus’s hand in his own, calming down every second he stayed put. His eyes were continuously moving back toward the living room.

“Sitting is easy,” Remus said dryly, “it’s stay that he has an issue with”.

“Oi,” Sirius said, but it was enough to break the tension and lift the mood. Draco watched as Remus turned fond eyes on his husband, his hand squeezing his shoulder and running down his arm.

Remus sighed and said softly, “uh, we do have an announcement to make”.

Sirius’ eyes went wide, “we do?”

“Yeah,” Remus said, “and as Harry, Ron and Hermione already know now is as good a time as any”.

“Really?” Sirius asked, Draco didn’t think he’d ever seen the man so thrilled.

“Go for it,” Remus said, he sat back in his seat but kept his hand on Sirius, moving it so their fingers were laced together. Everyone who hadn’t been at the wedding was looking around confused, sharing looks and shrugs. Draco just sat smugly, watching it all play out.

Sirius beamed and pulled Remus’ left hand up into the air, “we got married!”

A cacophony of noise broke out at the news, shouts of congratulations and calls for a toast rising above the general excitement. After a glass of champagne was poured out for everyone, even Ginny who was underage, they raised their glasses in a toast.

“When did this happen?” Fred called out.

“Two days ago,” Sirius said with a grin.

“And you didn’t invite us?” George said, “bad form, gentleman”.

“We could have gifted you a really nice toilet seat or something,” Fred added.

Remus flushed but shook his head, “we wanted to keep it small, didn’t want to take anything away from Bill and Fleur”.

Fleur smiled sweetly and raised her glass, “you did not ‘ave to worry about zat, my wedding will be beautiful no matter what”.

Sirius laughed but Remus said, “ah, thank you, but we really did want to keep it small and low-key”.

Sirius coughed, “Moony wanted to keep it small- although we did agree that the only people who had to be there was us and well, Harry, of course”.

“Oh, well, I feel really special now,” Tonks teased.

“Like an afterthought,” Draco added with an impressive eye roll.

“And what were we?” Andromeda chimed in, “just a location?”

Sirius barked out a laugh as Remus sighed and hung his head in defeat.

“Fine,” he said finally, “you can all come to our vow renewal in 10 years”.

“I get a vow renewal?” Sirius asked excitedly.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake,” Remus grumbled but nothing could be done for him after that.

The dinner table exploded with conversation and teasing, asking both them and their guests to recount the whole event. Sirius came alive in the retelling, making Remus blush and hide his face in his hands.

They were only stopped when they heard loud voices echoing out of the house. Mr and Mrs Weasley took off, followed by Sirius and Remus, their chairs knocked over in their rush to get to Harry. Draco had tried to stand but Ella was on his lap and by the time he sorted her out enough to stand, Scrimgeour was storming out the front gate in a foul mood. Everyone else returned soon after, Harry dropping back into his seat looking exhausted while Ron told all of them about Dumbledore’s will and the items they had been bequeathed. The items were passed around as Mrs Weasley began serving dinner but Harry didn’t join in, he just sat in his seat with his thoughts clearly far away from his birthday dinner.

Draco turned to his other side and passed Ella to Tonks, “hold her for a minute?”

Tonks grinned and immediately changed her nose into a pig snout much to Ella’s delight. Draco leaned into Harry and dropped his chin on Harry’s shoulder.

“You alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry said.

Draco snorted, “I know that but are you alright?”

Harry turned to him and he could see the burning anger that was still in his eyes, the determined set of his chin, but there was so much tiredness there too. On a whim, Draco ducked in and hugged him properly. It took Harry a moment to respond but when he did his fingers gripped tightly at his shirt and he obviously didn’t want to let go.

“Come to my room tonight?” Draco whispered in his ear, “I’ve got your birthday gift”.

Harry nodded against his shoulder and pulled back. They were getting more than a few sideways looks, some of surprise but mostly concern. Harry flushed and used his fork to move his food around his plate some more while Draco turned to make sure Ella was OK.

Remus coughed, “cake, anyone?”

***

Harry managed to apparate right into Draco’s bedroom, it was after one in the morning so he wasn’t worried about waking anyone. Draco had said he’ stay awake and he had but the loud crack was enough to startle Ella awake and earn a glare from his boyfriend.

“Seriously, Potter? Take the stairs,” Draco grumbled, moving to calm Ella down and back to sleep before she woke up properly.

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled.

It took him ten minutes to get Ella back to sleep before he came and joined Harry on his bed. Harry was sat cross-legged with his back leaning against the headboard, he had thin cotton pajama bottoms on and a shirt so large it couldn’t have been his originally.

Draco pulled the little wrapped parcel from where he had hidden it in the bedside table and presented it to Harry, kissing him softly and whispering another Happy Birthday.

“It’s not technically my birthday anymore,” Harry teased gently but he started unwrapping the gift with nimble fingers. A large, gold corn dropped from the paper into his hand and he picked it up confused. He turned it over a few times and squinted at the writing before Draco took pity on him.

“It’s a galleon, Harry,” he said.

“I, uh, I figured that much,” Harry said, still confused. “I gotta admit I was hoping for more than a galleon”.

Draco rolled his eyes and pulled a matching galleon out of his own pocket.

“I was inspired by Granger and those coins she made for your defense group,” he said. “I thought maybe it could be a way for us to stay connected”.

“Draco…” Harry said and it was mostly fond but Draco could hear the edge in his tone and knew Harry was thinking about all the ways in which this could go wrong.

“Don’t go there yet,” Draco said, “it’s charmed by a lot of spells. I’ve got every possible untraceable and untrackable charm on there plus they’re designated to our wands so only we can write on them. It’s not possible to write a location or a time or any identifiable fact, it’s really so basic that practically nothing works on it”.

“Oh,” Harry said, his brow furrowed. “What about calls for help though…”

“I know,” Draco said, grabbing his hand and thinking of how Harry had run headlong after Sirius and right into Voldemort’s hands. “It won’t let us, I made sure of it. It’s keyed for very simple words and letters- things like ‘safe’ and ‘I miss you’ and-“

“I love you?” Harry finished, meeting his eyes.

“Yeah, exactly,” Draco promised. “Granger can look it over to make sure and you never have to use it if you’re worried but I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you and I already miss you like you wouldn’t believe”.

Harry leaned in and kissed him, gently at first and then deeper until they were on the verge of tipping back onto Draco’s bed and forgetting the coin entirely. Draco pulled back and breathed in deeply.

“Just- wait a moment-“ he said, “I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again so we need to talk about practicalities”.

Harry flinched, “what? Draco, what are you talking about?”

He looked so lost and confused in that moment that Draco wanted to pinch himself for his words.

“Merlin, Harry, I’m talking about your pets,” Draco said, “and your belongings and what you want me to tell people when you inevitably disappear and I’m left to face the inquisition”.

“Oh,” Harry said.

“I can take Hedwig and Allegra if you want,” Draco offered, “but I just wanted to make sure you didn’t already have a plan”.

“Shit, Draco, I thought you were going to break up with me,” Harry said with a relieved laugh.

Draco rolled his eyes, “of course, I’ll give you a sappy coin and then break it off, what kind of wanker do you think I am?”

“Right, right, sorry,” Harry said, “and yeah, actually I hadn’t thought about it but I guess they can’t go with me, can they?”

“They’re not really made for a life of crime”.

Harry laughed softly and sighed, “Hedwig’s been with me for so long… I don’t know what I’ll do without her”.

“I’ll look after her, I promise, and you’ll see her when it’s over”.

Harry nodded, “what about you, have you told Sirius you’re going with him?”

“Not yet,” Draco said, “I’ll talk to him at the wedding, I suppose, but we have time”.

Harry nodded again and took his hand.

“It’s the safest thing for us to do,” Draco said, trying to convince himself more than Harry. All he wanted was to drop everything and go with Harry, help him to finish this quickly. And then he would think of Ella, alone with strangers, and he could never do it. Not when his mother entrusted her with him.

“You’ll like their house,” Harry said, “they’ve got a garden and a backyard. Ella can play outside… and none of you will be alone”.

“You won’t either,” Draco promised, “you’ll have Ron and Hermione with you”.

Harry nodded and looked over at Ella, “she’ll be so much older next time I see her… I don’t even know how long this will take…”

Draco grabbed Harry’s face between his hands, “don’t go there, Harry. You’ve got Granger with you for all the intelligent stuff and you’re not that bad when it comes to figuring shit out.”

“And Ron?” Harry asked with a small smile.

“Comedic relief?” Draco said, making Harry laugh. “Now, we don’t have much time left. Are we going to waste it with talk or are you going to kiss me?”

Harry didn’t bother answering with words, he just leaned forward and kissed Draco until all of their worries disappeared into the darkness.

***

Draco decided very early on in the day that this wedding would not be worth the hassle. All of the residents of the Burrow were up at the crack of dawn even though the ceremony wasn’t until that afternoon. Draco had wanted to sleep in after being up half the night with Harry but the footsteps thundering up and down the stairs had other ideas.

The worst part was that both Harry and Draco would have to take polyjuice potion to even attend. There were too many guests coming and that meant a lot of loose lips and potential leaks of information. The first idea was to blend Harry in with all the Weasleys, get him to take on the image of a redhead and let the massive amount of family hide him but the reality fell apart when they realised Draco was attending.

Harry had said point blank that he was going to dance with Draco which meant they needed to revise the plan. It was actually Fleur who came up with the alternative. Draco’s french was perfect which meant he could blend in easily with the Delacours and with Ella around it was easy to decide that he’d be family on Fleur’s side with a daughter.

Meanwhile, Fleur suggested that Harry could take on any old façade and be Draco’s date. Harry loved the idea of not looking like an acne-covered preteen while Draco got to be some dashing Delacour cousin so he agreed. Plus it gave him an excuse to dance with Draco a lot. Tonks managed to recover the hairs from muggles while out in London and an hour before the ceremony they were in the kitchen and downing their potions.

And for the second time that week Draco felt the effects of the polyjuice potion. His skin tightened and his blood boiled, he felt his spine stretching and pulling as he shot up a few inches. His hair fell out longer until it was brushing his shoulders and he could see the colour changing, going from pale white blonde into golden. Unfortunately, his eyes started to blur and he grimaced as he looked up to see Tonks holding out a pair of glasses.

“Snagged them off the table when he took them off,” she said with a grin, “poor guy, I hope he had spares”.

Draco sighed and put them on and immediately his vision cleared, he turned around to check on Harry but the man standing there was definitely not his boyfriend.

“Uh,” Draco said stupidly, looking him up and down.

“What?” Harry asked, his voice coming out deeper than usual but when he spotted Draco his mouth fell open.

The silence was broken by Tonks laughing, her hands slapping against her thighs as she tried to remain upright. Draco turned to glare at her but she wasn’t paying attention, her laughs had turned to snorts. Drawn in by the noise Ron and Hermione, who had been helping outside, ducked back into the kitchen. They saw Harry and Draco and their eyes widened with amusement.

“Oh, uh, Harry,” Hermione said, “you- you look nice”.

And nice wasn't exactly the word Draco would have used. He was rugged but could be called somewhat handsome despite the fact that he would look like he should be in a dirty biker jacket and that he hadn't bathed in a week. His hair was longer but the same shade of black and his nose was slightly crooked, he was a few inches taller than Harry and broader in the shoulder but he had that same look of hunger that Harry had after returning to school. Merlin, Draco thought, they'd need to do a bit of work so he looked presentable.

"He looks like Sirius had a baby with a feral cat," Ron laughed.

"Like someone tried to transfigure a motorbike into a human," Tonks giggled.

And Draco couldn't help smirking because they were right and Harry looked so annoyed that his new face seemed to settle properly into place.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you," Harry warned, eyeing Draco up and down.

Draco felt his face drain all its colour and shit, if this is what Harry looked like then what had Tonks done to him? He ran to the nearest mirror and got his first look at his new appearance. And, actually, it wasn't half-bad. He had spectacles on his nose and his hair was down to his shoulders, he was fuller than Draco had ever been with more weight in his shoulders and chest and legs. But he had sharp eyes and a pointed chin and no, Draco thought, nothing would save him from looking like a ponce pulled from the most boring office job in existence. 

"Where did you find these muggles?” Harry asked, annoyed, his eyes locked on Draco.

“London,” Tonks said between giggles, “I think I was close to a bar or a hotel so I figured we should have some fun with it”.

“You sure did,” Harry muttered. "But people are going to stare at us".

"We just need to clean you up a bit," Tonks promised still grinning, "cut the hair and put on some dress robes and no one will think you're anything but a respectable wizard... and his boyfriend the accountant".

Hermione and Ron laughed at the looks on their faces but Hermione said, "well, I don't think anyone will question you’re from Fleur’s side of the family".

"No, they'll just wonder why I brought a hoodlum to a nice event," Draco muttered, crunching his nose up in distaste.

“No shit,” Harry agreed, trying to look himself over.

“OK boys, go get changed and Mum said she can help with any alterations to your dress robes,” Tonks said, "or your faces".

It took Andromeda a few goes to get all of the alterations right, having to extend the length on both plus the sleeves and the shoulders. By the time she was done Draco actually felt a little more comfortable in this new body, it had more weight to it but it was fit and healthy although the glasses were itching at his nose and kept falling forward. Harry's hair had been cut and washed and after he was dressed in deep emerald green he looked a lot more presentable than Draco had hoped for. 

***

Three hours later they were seated at a table with Fleur’s side of the family watching Bill and Fleur dancing for the first time. They had been drawing a lot of weird glances and questioning looks from both sides of the family since they'd appeared at the ceremony but Draco simply glared at anyone who stared too long. Ella hadn't been able to sit with them as she was completely freaked out by his appearance and refused to go near them at all so he just kept glancing over at his Aunt to check on them. 

She was sitting at a table with her husband and daughter as well as Sirius and Remus and they all looked like they were having a fantastic time. Sirius and Remus had both been told who they were and on first seeing them Sirius had laughed so hard he'd almost busted a rib and Remus had just looked between him and Sirius with this unfathomable look on his face. Constant laughter kept echoing over to them and making both of them wish they were there and not sat with two Veela cousins and one of Fleur's elderly uncles, all of whom were to happy to add to the empty champagne glass collection on the table. 

And watching them Harry saw that Sirius was completely besotted by Ella, he kept trying to lure her over to him from where she sat on Andromeda's lap by any means necessary. That meant food, magic or simply trying to pick her up but Ella was more interested in getting to Remus.

"Sirius looks pretty comfortable with a kid," Draco commented quietly. Harry nodded but he was watching Lupin watch Sirius while also trying not to pick Ella up and couldn't figure out whether the man looked terrified out of his mind or so in love he was nauseous. Harry's heart twinged. That could have been them... he could have had that.

"Think him and Lupin will have one?" Draco continued unaware.

Harry had never really thought about it. And all of a sudden he wanted to snap at Draco, to tell him that they already have a kid, but it wasn't really true. Harry wasn't theirs, they definitely loved him but he's not theirs,  he would always be Lily and James' kid and he couldn't hate them for that. He loved them for that. It was just that sometimes he wished that Sirius had never gone after Pettigrew... that he'd broken out of Azkaban earlier... that Lupin had taken him instead of the Dursleys.

"I suppose so," Harry said instead, "they'd be good parents".

"Don't know how that'd work if we have to go into hiding," he said, "but I suppose they might still try and do missions for the order so who knows what'll happen. I can't image Sirius being able to stay locked up for long".

"No, he doesn't do well with that".

"And they'd best get along with Ella because Merlin knows how long we'll all be stuck together," he continued, his hand moving slowly up and down Harry's thigh. "And if she spends all her time with just me... oh merlin, she'll grow up strange..."

"Maybe," he said, only half listening. Ella was laughing while Sirius spelled a stream of bubbles from his wand and she tried to use his hair to fling herself over to Remus.

"-but Lupin would be a good influence, right? I mean, Dumbledore trusted him with teaching kids but well, he also trusted Mad-Eye who was actually a murdering death eater and Snape who is a murdering death eater and-"

Sirius gave up and picked Ella up to pass her straight to Lupin with a grin, Lupin definitely looked nauseous now and he held her like she would break at any moment. Sirius leaned in and whispered something to Lupin that made him kick Sirius' ankle.

"-and what if I'm not cut out for this. I'll go stir crazy locked inside all the time... maybe Andromeda and Ted would be better but I can't exactly ask them to go into hiding... and I can't just leave her, I promised our mother- but then again she left us or well, she sent us away, so what does she know?"

Ella settled herself on Remus' lap looking delighted and Harry sighed at the three of them, jealousy rising up his throat.

"-and what am I supposed to do? Learn how to knit? Bake? I don't know how to bake-"

"Wait, what?" Harry said, turning back to Draco. Draco was completely locked in his own thoughts, staring unseeing at his sister.

"-and what if she never learns how to socialise properly or talk or merlin, what if she doesn't learn how to walk and she just has to crawl everywhere she goes? They'll all laugh at her at Hogwarts and-"

"Draco," Harry interrupted loudly, "Ella already knows how to walk. Are you alright?"

"Oh completely fine," Draco said, "and not at all stressed about my future living arrangements or my sister or being stuck inside forever or not seeing you again for-"

Harry interrupted this time with a solid but quick kiss, effectively stopping Draco's meltdown. Harry was facing months of potential danger and an unknown future but at least he would be out there doing something, he would be putting all of his energy into finding Horcruxes so he could finally defeat Voldemort but Draco? He was facing months of sitting on his ass and waiting, hearing endless bad news and never being able to do anything, not knowing where or how the people he loved were and all because he was caring for a child. One that he didn't ask for while his parents were out of the picture.

And Harry wasn't sure if that was something he could do. It hadn't been something Sirius could do at their age or Remus. They both decided he was better off with the Dursleys and moved into action. But Draco was out here putting everything he wanted on hold so that his sister, his family, was safe. 

"You're pretty amazing, do you know that?" Harry said, ignoring the chitters of giggles behind them.

"Panic is not amazing," Draco muttered.

"I don't know if I could do what you're going to do," he continued, "it'd drive me crazy".

"That option is not off the table yet".

"Come dance with me?"

Draco rolled his eyes but stood up and held out his hand for Harry to take, leading him out to the dance floor where other couples had joined. Luna was twirling about by herself in a bright yellow dress and large sunflower in her hair while Fleur was now dancing with Mr Weasley and Bill with Mrs Delacour. Over Draco's shoulder he could see Ron trying very admirably not to step on Hermione's toes and Sirius sweeping Lupin around with a flourish that made the man's ear go red.

"When are you going to leave?" Draco whispered, leaning his head in close to Harry's.

"Tonight, maybe," Harry murmured, "or early tomorrow morning... when everyone is asleep".

"Will you come and say goodbye to me?"

Harry nodded, not saying all the things he wished he could. How much he wanted Draco to come with him, how much he wanted to stay, how much he wanted to go with Draco and pretend the world wasn't falling apart. But life had made the decision for them and they could do nothing but follow through as best they could. So, Harry hung on and let Draco guide him slowly around the dancefloor.

***

It lasted three songs before Ginny tapped Draco on the shoulder and asked Harry for a dance. He had taken two steps backward when one of the Veela cousins grabbed him and proceeded to make him dance with her. She was a good dancer just not exactly the partner he had wanted. And then Mrs Delacour had wanted a dance and he managed to snag half a dance with Fleur before Bill stole her back and the other half with her sister Gabrielle. It was after Gabrielle had shyly let him go that he'd seen the dark, burly form of Viktor Krum dancing with Hermione and swooped in to get a dance with Krum once Ron had interrupted.

Krum seemed surprised by the invitation but not unwilling, just shrugging and looking back unhappily at Hermione and Ron. Draco was thrilled that he was actually getting a dance with Viktor Krum who he had definitely not had posters of in his dorm at Hogwarts. But he was not as graceful on his feet as he was on a broom and between the foot stomping and the endless questions about Hermione and Ginny he was happy the dance ended and passed him off to one of Bill's cousins.

And then it was like he was being passed around the whole Delacour family and held for interrogation on the dance floor. They wanted to know his name and his parents and which side of the family he was on, they wanted to know how he knew Fleur and who the man was he brought. He kept an eye on Ella as often as she could but she seemed safe and happy either with his Aunt and Uncle or Sirius and Lupin or Mrs Weasley. He had lost track of Harry a while ago to his annoyance but a familiar Weasley popped up in his periphery every now and then.

As evening drew in, and moths began to swoop under the canopy, now lit with floating golden lanterns, the revelry became more and more uncontained. Fred and George had long since disappeared into the darkness with a pair of Fleur’s cousins; Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing “Odo the Hero” in a corner and Draco was exhausted and needed to find Harry.

But the dancing and the Delacours were so endless that by the time he tried to track Harry down he found him sitting on the edge of party with Ron's Aunt Muriel and an old man with a cloud of white hair and a moth-eaten fez. Harry looked like he was staring off into the distance, his expression pained and confused. Draco moved his way through the crowd, avoiding drunken aunts and uncles and the loud laughter of the guests.

"Excuse me, may I interrupt?" he said, finally reaching the table.

Muriel was speaking but he didn't listen, her voice easy to ignore as he focused on Harry.

"Alright?" he asked, crouching down to get at Harry's eye level. Harry met his eyes and nodded and then shook his head. 

"I keep thinking there can't be any more secrets and then another one hits me over the head," Harry muttered. He leans forward and rests his head against Draco's. They get a moment of silence before another voice joins them.

"I simply can't dance anymore," Hermione says, sitting down next to them and making them startle. Draco looked up into Hermione's flushed but smiling face as she slipped her heels off. "Ron's gone to get some butterbeers for us. Oh, did I interrupt something? Are you two alright?"

Draco was about to say no, everything was not alright and we need a minute alone, thank you very much but at that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus’s mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Time froze as the words sunk in and the Patronus disappeared from sight, dissolving into the air still echoing Kingsley's words. Draco felt his body and his mind splitting in half as he tried to both run for Ella and stay with Harry. Harry was not as frozen, Harry was never frozen in a crisis.

"Draco, you have to go!" He was yelling, his wand already out and his hand in Draco's as he pulled them into a run, Hermione right beside them calling for Ron.

Somebody screamed and the crowd, which had just been dancing and laughing, turned to chaos. Guests were sprinting in all directions; many were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken. 

"Ron!” Hermione cried. “Ron, where are you?”

"Ella!" Draco yelled, eyes searching for a sign of her.

As they pushed their way across the dance floor they saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in the crowd; then he saw Lupin and Sirius, their wands raised, and heard both of them shout, “Protego!”, a cry that was echoed on all sides —

“Ron! Ron!” Hermione called, half sobbing as they were buffeted by terrified guests. Draco finally had his wand in his hand and he was still screaming Ella's name, he didn't know who had had her last. How did he not know where she was? He couldn't find her and they were being attacked. Merlin, she could be hurt- a streak of light whizzed over their heads, whether a protective charm or something more sinister he did not know —

And then Ron was there, reaching out for them and Hermione was trying to grab at Harry to go but he wouldn't let go of Draco- because Draco had not found Ella- death eaters were on their way and Ella was nowhere to be found-

"DRACO!" 

Draco whipped around and there was his Aunt running for him with Ella tight in her arms, she was screaming and crying, trying to pull away from Andromeda but it didn't matter because she was safe. Draco grabbed her and pulled her in tight, his heart about to explode with the panic. Harry was still there- Hermione was yelling at him, telling him they had to go- someone yelled Protego once more and a shield went up around them-

Sirius and Remus appeared, looking mad with worry- Harry threw himself forward and kissed Draco- before he let go of his hand and Hermione had turned on the spot. Where Harry had been mere seconds ago there was nothing- no Harry-

Ella was still screaming and Andromeda's voice was telling them to run but Draco couldn't move- there was too much noise- too much panic. There were spells going everywhere and he could see dark hooded cloaks coming for them- Sirius was shouting more spells, fighting as hard as he could- Remus had his wand out and was coming for Draco-

With one hand he grabbed Sirius' arm and the other snatched Draco's wrist from the air, Remus Lupin turned on the spot and got all of them out of there.

Sight and sound were extinguished as darkness pressed in upon him; all he could feel was Remus' hand as he was squeezed through space and time, away from Harry, away from the descending Death Eaters, away, perhaps, from Voldemort himself. . . .

He opened his eyes as the world stopped spinning and found himself on a doorstep, he was pushed inside and the door slammed behind them. Sirius and Remus disappeared from view with their wands held out and every known protection spell falling from their lips.

Draco held Ella tight as she screamed but he didn't move. He stood alone in an empty living room. No Harry anywhere to be seen.

The Ministry has Fallen

He lowered himself to the floor-

Scrimgeour is dead

He let out a gasp of breath-

They are coming

They came. The Death Eaters and Voldemort and maybe his father- they came and Harry had run- Draco had run-

The war had finally come for them. 

And Draco didn't know what to do.