Drarry: The Boy Who Loved

Owls

"Hey, Malfoy!" Harry called down the hall.

Malfoy popped his head into the living room. "What is it now, Potter?"

"I'm finally finished with Hogwarts!" Harry shouted triumphantly, throwing his books onto the couch. 

"Nice," Draco said, "But why'd you want to call me?"

"Well, McGonagall said that the Ministry is looking for new Aurors, so-"

"Wait." Draco held up his hand. Harry looked at him expectantly. "You mean like, Aurors Aurors? If this is another one of your pranks, Potter, I'll-"

"No, don't worry," Harry laughed. "Not joking."

Draco looked up hopefully. "What'd she say?"

"She says she's going to help us get the job!"

Draco grinned. "I'd say thank you, but I won't."

"I'll take it," Harry grinned. "But here's the thing: in order to do that, we need to take a special test, and McGonagall wants us to keep taking Defense Against the Dark Arts for an extra year before we can get in."

"What, go back to Hogwarts?" Draco asked incredulously.

"No, not like that," Harry quickly explained. "There's another place near here we can just Apparate to every morning."

"Oh, okay," Draco said. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! Potter, you little-"

Harry smiled. "What?"

Draco shook his head. "Nothing. I should go to bed early, then."

...............

Draco and Harry were up early every day for the next two weeks. And it was hard. Not only were they taking this (extremely) advanced Defense class, they also went to Hogwarts every Wednesday to take extra potions. When Hermione saw how busy they were, she told Harry she would come to help set up their apartment some weekend when they were free, as long as he let her know in advance.

Harry wearily walked down the stairs and knocked on Ron and Hermione's door. Hermione opened it and beamed. "How are you, Harry?"

"Exhausted," Harry said tiredly. "It's like being in fifth year all over again."

She sighed, but he could see a smile playing around her eyes. "Well, at least you're getting something done," she said. "I'd be surprised if you didn't get in."

"I guess so," Harry said, stretching. "But there's so much homework and studying, it's just...." he shook his head.

"I can come by and help you, if you want," she offered.

"That'd be great, but that's not actually why I'm here," Harry said, smiling. "I was gonna say, if you want to come tomorrow to help with the apartment, we'll be there."

"Oh, great!" She said happily. "I have a few ideas, they're in a binder in the-"

"A binder?" Harry asked, staring. "How many ideas, exactly?"

"Oh, a few hundred," she said casually, "But don't worry, they're little things. Nothing too drastic," she added.

Harry smiled. "See you tomorrow, then."