Muggles ✧ Drarry

᥊᥊𝓲ꪜ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 5ᴋ
ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ: sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 17ᴛʜ, 2021
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It took a day before Potter's big mouth finally fucked up the steady pace at which they had been working towards a solution.

The following morning, after Granger had removed nearly every book from the Malfoy Manor Library and placed them in Draco's sitting room, she arrived at his house with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley to help sort through the mess. Draco invited Pansy and Blaise to join, mostly for moral support, and was pleased when they both showed up.

After awkward greetings, and some taste-testing of the cookies that Granger had brought back from Australia (they were very good), everyone had taken a seat on the ground behind one of the sofas in the sitting room. Formalities began quickly, everyone asking about what the others had been up to and such. It had been very weird for Draco, seeing his friends interact so pleasantly with those that they had shunned during their days at Hogwarts.

The topic of conversation had eventually moved to the reason they were all gathered, and Granger began assigning jobs for everyone. Potter and Pansy were to read up on bloodlines, Draco and Blaise were to search for clues in potions, and Weasley and Granger were to simply look for mentions of similar events in historical volumes.

After all of the (secondary) scanning and highlighting enchantments had been set, everyone dove into reading up as much as they could on their specific topics. Draco settled for a book that he hadn't read before, one about the origin of potions that weren't taken orally. He supposed that it could be helpful, considering that the potion spilled on Potter was more than likely not meant to be taken by mouth.

His reading proved to be a dead end, as every page highlighted in the book seemed to have nothing to do with potions at all. Frowning, he wondered if the potions were a dead end after all. Perhaps his magical loss had nothing to do with Potter's situation, and, along that train of thought, perhaps it was somehow his own fault.

Draco wondered if looking into mental magical blocks was an option instead of reading up on a topic that he was already so well versed in, but didn't speak on it because he was certain that if he did Granger's head would explode. Perhaps he would do some deep-diving of his own after everyone had gone home.

Draco looked up and caught Pansy's eye from where she was sitting across from him. She nodded to the book in her hand and shuddered. Draco supposed that reading about bloodlines was probably full of uncomfortable topics, especially in mixed company. He felt bad for her. She had done so much for him, and now this discomfort was how he repaid her.

She really was a true friend.

•••

After many hours had passed and many findings—or rather a lack thereof—had been shared, light chatter was filling the room with sounds. They had taken a tea break, and were now about ready to resume their studies.

Granger clapped her hands together to silence everyone. "It's about time for us to hit the books again, I think," she told them all, much to Weasley and Potter's dismay. They both made to argue, but she shushed them.

Draco cleared his throat. "I just wanted to thank you all for your help," he said. Potter and Weasley both looked relieved to have been freed for a moment, and Blaise had a small knowing smile on his face. He knew Draco all too well.

"It's not a problem," Granger responded cheerily.

Draco shook his head. "No, really, I...I mean it. I know how difficult it must be for you to take so much time off of your careers and lives to help solve the issues Potter and I have. Granger and Weasley, you two just returned from being away for so long, and...I really appreciate you coming home and helping instead of leaving us to fend for ourselves." Granger looked like she wanted to reassure him that it was of no hinderance to her life, but he made a face that showed his intent to continue speaking and she dropped it. "And Pansy, I know that starting up a business like yours takes so much time and effort, and I can't imagine the amount of sacrifice that goes into being here so often. And Blaise, you and Neville have been of such a help even though you've been very busy with wedding planning and trying to build your lives. I can't thank you two enough for helping us figure things out."