Light Fluff - Tumblr Posts

Fictober day 2

Prompt #16; "no, I'm not okay" as well as added parts of the whumptober #8 sleep deprivation and flufftober #23 stormy night

Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, mentions of the other straw hat pirates

The dark light of the night sky shone on the decks on the sunny. Waves collided against the sides of the ship with fierce strokes as the ship tilted in their favor. Boards squeaking with a muffled sound from the other sounds. Nothing could be heard well over the harsh sounds of nature.

Nothing but deep blue sea water surrounded the thousand sunny for miles upon miles, covering all of the horizon. No signs of any islands. No random threat encounters, nothing at all. [Hell, the next island wouldn't be closing near until more than a week or two later.] Nothing but the occasional shift in tides throughout the days. It was becoming quite boring very quick for all of the straw hats.

Nothing had gone wrong for some time now, yet something still felt off. Luffy had roamed around the ship, trying to find something, anything, that was different. Nothing- not that he could spot at least. The ship was steered in the correct place, all the food was in the exact same place as usual.. But upon inspection, he felt like he suddenly hasn't eaten for days. It just sat there, uneaten and fresh.. it wasn't *his* fault that it all looked so tasty! The new reddish bump on his head said otherwise that yes, it was in fact his fault. A bit of scolding from Sanji before being shoved out of the kicthen for.the time being. He might have been fussed at by Nami for accidentally changing the course of the ship too, earlier.. But it really wasn't his fault, he just fell asleep..!

The rest of the crew generally weren't doing anything too interesting or new.. Some of them even offered to keep him company, but he had refused with a pout and sad tone to his voice, but he needed something more! He just couldn't tell what. Something he rarely did, to keep his mind busy..

After a long trail of thoughts, he had came up with a few new ideas- raid the food stash, bother Nami or Zoro, play with Usopp and Chopper, watch Franky repair something, get story time from Robin, talk with Jinbei, listen to Brook playing his violin.. Wait a minute. None of those seemed remotely new, not at all.. Huh. That's a bit weird.. Oh well.

As he kept thinking to the best of his ability, he got up and began to roam around the ship once again. He had a bit of a destination in mind for now. His legs moved with a steady pace, one step after another. As he walked, he looked around the area silently. His sandals clapped against the hard wooden boards, providing him with something to focus his attention and thoughts on. He eventually reached his destination, the front of the ship. If he couldn't find something new to do, he'd just take a second or two to himself on his special seat..

As he approached the front, he states down into the oceam briefly. When he diverted his attention from that, he looked up to the figure head and stretched his arm to reach one of the spike shapes that made up the mane-sun of the figure. He let his arm propel him forward and landed safely upon the slope.

He sat down on the same place as he had so many times before, taking in a deep breath.

The gentle breeze was more noticeable now, lifting his hair slightly swaying it around. His clothes wrinkled and flowed under the small pressure too, causing him to feel a cold rush. He shivered. Grabbing his vest, he adjusted it to cover him up more with a few of the buttons now together in a strong and firm hold.

He glanced up at the sky, still desperate to find anything that could distract him from the array of thoughts that he knew would invade ever corner of his mind if he didn't push them away. It was almost as black as the essence of a black hole, but instead holding a dark hint of blue. The color was illuminated by the array of stars that were in the sky. They shine with ferocity, not a single one unpresent from the bunch at this late hour of the night.

How could they just stay there, so free without any interruption?

He wondered. He might not have ever been the smartest, but he at least knew many things. He was wittnessed many things in the short time of his life so far, both good and bad. Even the in between.

He kept staring into the vast space, glancing from one bright star to the next. His eyes held a glum look, one with barely any passion in them. His face looked blank. If you were to observe his face from afar, you couldn't even tell that he wasn't the slightest bit at peace/happy. He simply didn't know what he was feeling. There was nothing more to it.

.. Not that he had yet to realize. Emotions were filling up in his head, but he suppressed them and shoved them into the deepest corners of his mind.

He didn't deal with his feelings good at all. He was never taught how to keep them regulated. He was tossed around and allowed to sob as a child, he hadn't known any better. As the years went by, he had barely changed in that matter. He still got heavily upset, still had terrible mood swings that went just as fast as they came. What else was he supposed to do when he felt something?

But after that event, he slowly realized that maybe it would be better to just push them away when they got too bad. Let himself forget about them for as long as he was able to, not worry about how it all made him feel.

He started to feel like he was out of place. His mind continued to wander as he sat there, drifting to all of the worst things that he had shoved away from his normal train of thoughts about ace, sabaody, and things like that. They were unwelcome to Luffy, but that didn't stop them.

Shades of blue surrounded him everywhere he looked. The sea, the night and morning sky, eyes, food, clothes- it had no limits. It followed him everywhere. He wasn't free from it's nulling and sad-enduxing effects.

But at least the stars were comforting. Every time they appeared, they were always together. Even if they should fade, they would always show back up, United together in the night sky. Luffy envied them in a way- no need to worry about protecting others, No fighting recklessly.

Of course, Luffy enjoyed a good fight, but it was almost pointless when something bad came out of it. His fighting was supposed to better his skills, make him more reliable for all of his friends and nakama.. Not the exact opposite. When someone got hurt, he felt like he was entirely at fault.

It made him feel like he had lost his purpose sometimes.

Dont get him wrong, he loved living- but sometimes he felt like he only lived for the others. The people in his life motivated him like nobody else, even though he could usually do that good enough on his own. Life could be hard as little as he liked to admit. He usually didn't let him steer his actions and demeanor like this, but he couldn't help it. Once too many things piled up, he tended to overflow like a cup that's too full of water. He hated it. He didn't like feeling this way, and certainly didn't want anybody else to see this sight. He sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

To think that this had all happened just because Luffy couldn't sleep. The thoughts had started maybe a day or so ago, growing more loud and obnoxious until now where he couldn't even try to ignore them. Try as he might, he was not able to avoid them. Temporary solutions, maybe, but they of course never lasted long.

He desperately wanted some company, but most of everyone should be asleep in their respective cabins by now- asides from night watch. Maybe he should go up to the observation deck and see who was there? He could surely talk to them for a bit!.. Or just sit near them, he really just needed someone else's presence around him.

He decided to go there in a while, instead choosing to sit on the figurehead in the cold winds for a bit longer. As he stayed staring at all of the different stars, he layed on his back upon the spot where he sat.

'This isn't too bad,' he thought.

Perhaps all that he needed to help was a good moment or two of silence to himself?

Maybe part of it, but he knew that having one of his friends near would restore his ecstatic attitude back quickly. They always managed to bring his spirits up, no matter when, where, or from what. He treasured each of them dearly, and as held onto his closest treasures just as the typical pirate did. Each crew member had their own special connections to one another, and none was the exact same. Thats one of theany things that made this crew of his so strong. Everyone trusted each other, even if they didnt show it the same for each person.

As his crew had grown, he could tell that they were all getting closer. The firndships that had already begun and progressed were enhanced with each new friend they had gained to join them on their journey through uncharted waters of the vast sea. Despite all of their different goals in life, every body never stayed far from one another. It essentially brung them closer than if they were to have the same goal.. It gave a variety of different personalities and people.

As he focuses on all the attributes of all of his friends, Luffy could feel himself smile once again. The normal grin that plastered his face over and over throughout each day had finally returned. A fit of giggles and laughs erupted from his throat, pleased that he could feel like his usual self once again. He lays there, tapping his fingers, shifting around with energy waiting to be released. As tired as he was, he knew he still had a while to go before he could tire himself out this time around.

Oh well. He would still have plenty of time to nap after this, right? Of course he did!

He mutter an arrangement of words into the crisp night air, letting out a quiet and small yawn.

'Thank you, everyone.. Ace, Sabo, My Crew.. I love you all!"

AN- so basically I just merged some of the favorite prompts from each of the three and combined parts of them in my own way.. Finally day 2 is complete! Just 29 more to go :,)

hi! i just wanted to say I love your writing! I noticed your requests were open and I was wondering if you could please write something with Sylus x reader where Sylus gets jealous of MC’s coworker or anything like that. Thank you!! 🩷

Possession and Jealousy

sʏʟᴜs x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᯓ❅ ┆ 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 ┆ : 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

ᯓ❅ ┆ 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘴 ┆ : 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵, 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧 & 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘖𝘖𝘊

─────────────── ˗ˏˋ ❅｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽ ˎˊ˗ ────────────────

Calling Sylus the most jealous man you knew was an understatement; he should be the ONLY man you know. That’s his point. He’s possessive of his possessions, whether material or not, and that included you. If only you would stay in the N109 zone, then he could keep an eye on you at all times.

But knowing you had to return to Linkon City sooner or later, he didn’t stop you. After all, he gave you a brooch so you could return to him anytime.

What he didn’t expect was you taking your time to return. You had no other business there for now, and you had a job as a hunter to keep. Of course, you had responsibilities in Linkon City.

During his free time, he would impatiently rest his chin on his palm, elbows on the table, frowning at nothing. The mere fact of your absence irritated him, though he wouldn’t openly admit it to anyone. Even while fulfilling his errands and business meetings as usual, his mind occasionally drifted towards thoughts of you.

Where were you? What were you up to? And whatnot.

Luckily enough, he had Mephisto monitoring you at all times. The mechanical crow would always stand on the power wires, acting almost innocently, but you knew it was basically stalking you. Not that you minded; it was both amusing and endearing to have Sylus monitor you every day using Mephisto.

The mechanical crow would usually return to Sylus at night before going back out in the morning to observe more. From the moment you woke up until the end of the day when you retreated to the comfort of your blankets, Mephisto was there.

Everything was as usual that night. Sylus sat by his bed in his sleeping robe, glasses on, a book in his lap. Just in time, the mechanical flap of Mephisto’s wings echoed until it reached his bedside.

His crimson eyes skimmed through the pages of the book, occasionally glancing at the screen playing your entire day as observed by Mephisto.

Nothing was out of the ordinary until he saw the same guy, who seemed to be a newly hired hunter, coming up to your desk repeatedly. You, being the kind and helpful hunter you were, always assisted him.

That’s when Sylus’s attention to the book gradually disappeared. He stared intensely at the hologram of the new hunter beside you. If looks could kill—there’s no need, because he’d personally deliver that.

The next morning, as you prepared as usual, you noticed Mephisto was nowhere on the power cords. You made sure to glance around, but there was no trace of the mechanical crow. You dismissed it, thinking Sylus had used Mephisto for something more important.

But imagine your surprise when you heard a knock at your apartment door. You instantly recognized the messy silver hair and crimson eyes staring down at you.

You stood there, blinking up at him. He frowned a bit, looking annoyed. “So?” he asked, probably waiting for you to welcome him in. His face spelled out three words: ‘Let me in.’ You eventually did.

“Where’s Mephisto?”

“You’re looking for him when I’m right here?”

You almost looked at him in disbelief. Is he being petty about his own mechanical crow? You almost cracked a chuckle but held it in. “Never mind.”

“I’m surprised you’re here; don’t you have something important to do?” you asked.

“I do. I just came by since I’ll be leaving shortly,” he replied, walking towards you. He leaned in, giving a quick poke on your forehead. His small signature smirk was plastered on his lips. “Stop entertaining other people. People might think you’re still single.”

“Are you jealous?” You smiled, laughing a bit.

“I am,” he bluntly said, crossing his arms and tilting his head slightly to the side, giving you that dominant look. “And I don’t like it when someone gets close to what’s mine.”

You immediately connected the dots, figuring it was probably the intern that had been asking for your assistance who triggered his possessiveness. Even then, you couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as you placed your hand on his cheek, gently caressing it, reassuring him.

He released a soft sigh, annoyed by your antics but also endeared by them.

It even surprised you that Sylus didn’t do anything to that individual. He was acting very tame; he just seemed to have approached you, which was a bit unusual. Maybe it was your gentleness rubbing off on him.

Thank goodness. It would be pretty bad if something were to happen.

You thought that was the end of it until you returned to the association and heard from Tara that the newbie insisted on being placed in a different faction from yours.

“He really didn’t want to stay; I wonder if we did something wrong,” she wondered thoughtfully.

You hesitated in your mind, immediately thinking of Sylus. Just then, you saw Mephisto land on a nearby power cord, tilting its head innocently at you.

“Captain Jenna wants to talk to us about it.”

“That bastard,” you muttered under your breath.

·❆　　　❆　❅　　　　•　　　　.　　　　　❆❆• 　·　.　　　❅

𝐴𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟'𝑠 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝐴𝑙𝑠𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝐴𝑛𝑜𝑛~♥ 𝐼 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑆𝑦𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 <3

𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑋𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑦𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐻𝐴𝐻𝐴𝐻𝐴𝐻𝐴𝐴𝐻𝐴. 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑆 𝑀𝐴𝑁 𝐷𝑂𝐸𝑆 𝑊𝑂𝑁𝐷𝐸𝑅𝑆 𝑇𝑂 𝑀𝑌 𝐵𝑅𝐴𝐼𝑁.

Bonded

Harry/Draco, Pansy/Hermione

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35392933/chapters/88219483

Summary:  Harry gets assigned the most boring Auror case in the world with the most horrible partner. Featuring a certain blonde nemesis, ancient magic bonds, a dragon, and a little too much Pansy/Hermione love (in Harry’s opinion).

Chapter 1 

“Kingsley Shacklebolt hates me” Harry announces dramatically stepping out of the flames into his sitting room. He tosses his cloak on an armchair and sits down glaring woefully at the floor and attempting his best tragic hero face. He waits several seconds for someone to respond before looking up and realizing the sitting room is empty. Just his luck that no one would be home in his time of need.

Signing, he picks up his case files and reads them keeping his face carefully arranged in a look of sadness so that when someone does show up they’ll immediately see how devastated he is and try to cheer him up.

About 10 minutes later Harry hears Hermione’s feet pad across the floor towards him. He focuses on the dejected feeling rising in the bottom of his stomach and continues to stare deeply at his case notes even though he hasn’t read a word since he sat down. He can’t help it if he’s distracted. He's just had the worst day of his life.

“What’s wrong Harry? Are you okay?”

“No” Harry splays his arms out across his armchair dropping his papers in a scatter across the floor. “I’m not okay. Kingsly Shakleboldt hates me and I’ve just had the worst day of my life”

“I would think the great battle when all of our friends died would be the worst day of your life” Hermione says calmly as she reorganizes the books on the coffee table.

Harry considers this “You’re right” He sighs “But this is definitely a close second.”

“What happened this time? Did he tell you you have to start coming in on time again?” Hermione reaches for her tea and settles into the chair next to him.

“Of course not,” Harry sniffs. “He trusts my judgement about when I’m needed at work.”

“Hmm” Hermione opens a book and appears to be very focused on it’s contents.

“God, everything has been horrible since Ron left,” Harry says pointedly glaring across at her.

“Well you have been in a bit of a tailspin Harry but if we’re honest that would have happened at some point even if Ron had stayed” Hermione states very matter of factly as she turns the page of her book.

“How can you not even be upset about it?” Harry questions, flicking a pen across at her.

Hermione twitches her wand and activates a protective shield. Harry watches dejected as his pen drops onto the rug.

“You're right.” Hermione sighs. “I didn’t care he left and that's the main reason he did. Just take some deep breaths Harry, Ron didn’t leave because of you and in a year he’ll be back from his work abroad and you can be partners again.”

“Well due to Kingsley there’s no way I’ll even still be an Auror by next year” Harry uses his wand to levitate his pen back to him and starts dramatically marking up one of the cases that he scattered fairly close to him. He hopes Hermione thinks he looks very professional and committed to his job and can’t see that he’s drawing aggressive butterflies on the margins of a murder case.

“Alright Harry.” Hermione puts her book down looking defeated. “What happened at work today that was so bad?”

“Kingsley assigned me the most boring case in the world and the worst partner ever” Harry jabs his pen through the paper in front of him several times to illustrate his anger before catching himself and realizing he probably shouldn’t deface official case notes that he’ll have to turn in to the ministry quite soon

“Oh, is that all?” Hermione says mildly and Harry notices she’s started to reach for her book again.

“No Hermione! The new partner? It’s Malfoy.”

“Oh is that so.” Hermione says conversationally. “I worked with him recently on one of his cases. He's really grown up, Harry. It shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Not too bad?!” Harry is practically yelling now “Hermione he’s my literal nemesis”

“I thought Voldemort was your nemesis”

“Not anymore Hermione! Voldemort can’t be my nemesis, he's dead! Draco Malfoy has officially been promoted to nemesis status. I can't believe you’re not aware ” Harry crosses his arms and turns away from Heroine in illustration of his angst.

“And! Kingsley put us together because he said Malfoy works on his cases during all hours of the night and puts himself in dangerous situations and he doesn’t trust him to refrain from putting his life in danger!” Harry throws his pen at the mantel and it makes a satisfying smack against the wood.

“Kingsley said almost the exact same thing about you in our last weekly meeting” Hermione tells him serenely reaching for one of the case’s he's scattered about the living room.

“Well it’s different when I do it.” Harry explains, “I’m noble and committed to the citizens I serve. It’s not like I go on suicide missions.”

“Hmm” Hermione starts to scribble notes at the bottom of the case she’s holding. Knowing Hermione she’s already solved it.

“Anyways, since when do you talk about me in your weekly meetings?” He turns back towards her so he can glare at her more effectively.

“Well mostly since you started this tailspin of yours”

“Kingsley knows about my tailspin?!”

“Well it’s been pretty obvious you’ve been going on more of your suicide missions”

“They are NOT suicide missions” Harry crosses he arms across his chest defiantly.

“Oh whatever” Hermione sighs. “I'm the investigative director for the Auror team. I talk to Kingsley about all of you.”

This periodically distracts Harry from his argument. “So you talk about Malfoy? Do you know any of his secrets?”

“It’s confidential,” Hermione says smoothly.

“It’s essential that I know the secrets of my nemesis.”

“Not when it breaks the code of confidentiality I signed upon accepting the job,” Hermione tells him, turning back to her papers.

“If it was Voldemort you’d tell me his secrets” Harry states continuing to level her with what he hopes is an intimidating glare.

“Surprisingly Malfoy isn’t an evil genius with plans to kill off all my friends and family.”

Darn, apparently Harry needs to put in some hours practicing his intimidating glare.

“Look Harry I know you’re upset about this thing with Malfoy and I’m so sorry things have played out like this but there's nothing I can do. Do you want to come and have some of my tea?” Hermione asks in a much kinder voice. Maybe Harry’s glare is a little bit intimidating after all.

“Thanks Hermione” Harry walks across the room and sits on the floor by Hermione's chair leaning back against her legs. He sips the tea and is delighted to find it’s chai flavored. His favorite.

She passes him the case file she’s been writing on and Harry sees paragraphs of notes followed by a name circled in ink.

“That’s the perpetrator” Hermione says gesturing to the name before picking up her book again.

He’s just settled back against her legs and started to read the notes when the door bangs open and the sound of lively chatter fills the room.

There’s a clatter on the stairs and then Ginny, Theo and Neville burst red faced into the sitting room. Neville is covered from head to toe in mud stains and has questionable twigs stuck in his hair. Ginny and Theo are both still in quidditch leathers and covered in a sheen of sweat, their hair clearly windblown.

Grimmauld Place had really become sort of an orphanage Harry muses watching as leaves fall from Neville’s hair onto the decorative carpet.

It started with Hermione and Ron. Then Ginny had needed a place to stay and though it might’ve been weird living with his ex girlfriend they’d ended on good terms and Ron had explained that Ginny was about to lose her mind living with Molly so she’d moved in. Then Neville told Hermione he needed a place closer to London to study for his Herbology mastery and Hermione had said he could move in without even asking Harry. Not that it mattered to Harry; they had so many extra bedrooms and more people made the house feel less depressing.

A couple months after Neville moved in Ginny brought Theo home after quidditch practice and explained that he’d been disowned and needed to move in that very night. Harry wasn’t so sure about living with a Slytherin who had probably been a Death Eater and maybe plotted his death but Theo looked extremely bedraggled, and Ginny looked extremely sad, and Harry would have been extremely heartless to say no.

“Showers at the stadium were broken so we ended up leaving early” Ginny explains breathlessly breaking through his thoughts as she starts to pull off her leathers in the middle of the room.

“It’s horrible traveling home covered in sweat” Theo chimes in. “Hope they fix them by tomorrow”

“Oh you want to talk about horrible? You know nothing about horrible” Harry mutters under his breath.

“What happened to Harry?” Ginny chirps “He looks horrible.”

“Oh you know the usual” Hermione says demurely “He got partnered with Malfoy on the most boring Auror case ever.”

Harry perks up, scrutinizing his friends' faces as the horror washes over them. He knows he can count on Ginny and Neville to take his side and he feels delighted as he watches their faces drop into looks of pity.

Theo’s still friends with Malfoy so Theo plays a stupid game pretending to be neutral and not pick sides between them. Harry knows better than that though, he’s the one that saved Theo when he got disowned. Clearly he’s the favorite. Sure enough, Theo’s face twists a bit in horror before his expression clears into a blank neutral sort of stare. Ha! Harry knew it. He’s always right. Especially when it comes to matters of his nemesis.

~~~~~~~

The next morning Harry arrives at the office exactly an hour after opening time. He never arrives on time. He works late hours catching criminals and Kingsley’s only mentioned his tardiness about three times. He guesses this was only to uphold ministry policy because there is no way Kingsley actually cares about him being late to work in the mornings.

He assumes Malfoy will be impatiently waiting for him but when he swings the door to his office open it is silent and empty. He spends the next ten minutes looking for Malfoy before giving up. He has half a mind to report him to Kingsley for his tardiness but he realizes this might alert Kingsley to his own lateness and as much as he assumes they have a deal about the whole thing he doesn’t necessarily want to bring attention to the whole thing.

When he arrives back in his office he resigns himself to flipping though their new case file until Malfoy arrives but he quickly becomes so bored he wants to pound his head into a wall. He compromises on reading the casefile and decides he can draw pictures in the margins as he works on it.

20 minutes later when Malfoy’s blonde head pokes in through the door Harry still hasn’t read a single word. God this is going to be the worst assignment ever.

“This is going to be the best assignment ever!” Draco pushes the door open and greets Harry with a very uncharacteristic grin before plopping a white box full of donuts down onto Harry's desk.

Harry blinks up at him completely blindsided.

“The Department of Magical Engineering gets donuts freshly delivered every morning. Did you know that?” Draco continues cheerfully.

“Er no? Why would I know that?” a dazed feeling washes over Harry. How can Draco be so cheerful this early in the morning?

“I figured you were down there this morning when I wouldn’t find you” Draco answers him looking confused.

“Why would I have been down there?” Harry feels increasingly like he is missing a crucial detail.

“Um, because our case is about a Ministry wide pickpocket, who is simultaneously targeting every department at once? And the Engineering department is where the floor plans are kept?” Now it’s Draco’s time to look confused.

“Oh. huh. Honestly I haven’t read the case yet.” Harry says his face blushing red as he awkwardly scratches at the back of his neck.

“Come on then, I’ll explain the case as we walk over to unearth the floor plans.” Draco responds jovially. Harry wonders if Draco really is this changed since their time in school or if he’s still an evil bloodthirsty traitor just one who is completely enraptured with the idea of donuts.

Harry decides on the latter when they reach the Department of Magical Engineering and he catches Draco sneaking two more boxes of donuts into the pocket of his coat using a shrinking charm that looks suspiciously similar to the one Hermione created in seventh year.

“Who taught you that charm?” Harry says in his best interrogation voice.

Draco jumps and looks around suspiciously before looking back at him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know Potter” He says haughtily, sticking his nose in the air and smirking at him.

“It was Theodore wasn’t it?” Harry says accusingly falling into step with Draco as they make their way towards the blueprint archives.

“You’ll never find out, my informants are very discreet,” Draco retorts in a prissy tone before winking at Harry and turning forward to push open a heavy wooden door.

“Coming Potter? We haven't got all day.” He taunts before dropping the door in Harry's face as he struggles to keep up with his fast paced stride into the room in front of them.

~~~~~~

When they finally reach the records section Draco instructs that they must pull the blueprints for every room in the ministry. Harry, still unaware of the details of the case, withholds his complaints and starts to hunt.

The process is very tedious and involves balancing on precarious ledges many feet from the ground. Two hours into the process Harry can feel sweat start to bead at the back of his neck and his eyes grow blurry with exhaustion. He takes his glasses off to wipe them on his shirt and places one of his feet directly on a loose paper which slips. He tries unsuccessfully to grip the side of the bookcase but loses traction.

Then Harry is falling, wind whistling in his ears all he can see beneath him is the dark marble floor. He steals himself for impact and squeezes his eyes closed hoping if he can’t see the floor coming it won’t hurt as bad.

When he lands almost softly in a pair of waiting arms his eyes shoot open in shock.There curled over him with his blonde hair dangling into Harry’s eyes is Draco. His body is warm and comforting against Harry’s side and a flush of relief rushes through his body as he realizes he hasn’t been crushed to death. Draco’s chest feels strong against him and he relaxes his muscles curling closer to Draco before remembering that Draco is his nemesis and hurriedly pushes him away stumbling onto the floor.

“Don’t see why you got in the way like that Malfoy” his voice is gruff as he straightens his Auror robes and runs a hand through his windblown hair.

“Don’t you want to thank me? I just saved your life. In fact I might even deserve a metal. You are the Savior of the Wizarding World after all.” Draco says cheerfully, looking rather unruffled about the whole thing.

“I didn’t need you to save me, I had a plan.” Harry insists very stubbornly knowing that in fact he did not have a plan.

“Oh, a plan like falling 40 feet to the ground and getting crushed to death?” Draco retorts “Very cunning. I can see why Kingsley’s worried about your suicide missions”

“Oh knock it off Malfoy, it was your missions Kingsley was worried about. I’m the Savior of the Wizarding World I’m very dependable and professional.”

“He clearly said he was worried both of our proclivities for danger” Draco sniffs putting on a distinguished air.

“I don’t remember him saying that”

“That’s because you never listen to anything he says,” Draco scoffs. “Very dependable and professional of you”

“Sorry if I have more important things to be doing”

“Things like slipping off of shelves and falling 40 feet into the arms of your nemesis?”

“Wait, you think you're my nemesis too?” Harry exclaims.

“Well of course. Voldemort is dead. Naturally he can’t be your nemesis anymore and that makes it my position to fill” Draco proclaims looking rather proud of himself.

“That’s exactly what I told Hermione and she didn’t get it at all” Harry rushes happily glancing across at Draco.

They lean back against their retrospective bookshelves and suddenly the two men are grinning at each other. Surrounding them scattered across the dark marble lay the blueprints for the Ministry itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Harry arrives on time to his office for the first time since Ron left. He tells himself this is because he’s looking forward to the free donuts.

He sits down at his desk and spends exactly 4 disastrous minutes attempting once again to read the case before throwing it down recklessly and pulling out his sketchpad from one of his desk drawers. He finds himself twitchily looking through his doorway every couple of minutes for a flash of blonde hair or tailored robe. Eventually he becomes so annoyed with himself that he pushes himself up off the floor and goes looking for Malfoy’s office. He’s sure he has one somewhere. Doesn’t everyone?

It takes him 20 minutes of looking to find the small door at the end of the back hallway marked D. Malfoy: Auror. He could have found it much quicker if he had just asked for help but something about actively seeking Malfoy out makes him feel skittish and embarrassed and he finds it easier to avoid admitting to the whole thing altogether.

He’s a bit breathless as he shoves through the dark wood door of the office and it takes him a second to realize that Malfoy is not at his desk. As he glances wildly around the room he locates Malfoy perched on the rug directly in front of him hidden by what looks like a cardboard replica of the entirety of the Ministry building.

“Oh hello Potter,” Draco drawls in a bored tone. “I see you’ve found me. Do take a seat.”

Harry looks for a chair before realizing that there are none to be found and plopping down criss-cross in front of a pile of cardboard scraps.

“Er, What is this?” He questions feeling strangely uncomfortable in Draco’s space.

“A replica of the entirety of the Ministry building” Draco chirps, sounding proud and also a bit unhinged. When he pokes his head out from behind his cardboard monstrosity Harry notices that his skin looks a little sallow and he has dark bruises under his eyes. Draco grins manically, giving him a thumbs up between disappearing again.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Harry wonders out loud feeling more concerned about Malfoy than he should, given that he was his nemesis.

“Oh I haven’t slept” Draco winks at him through one of the larger ministry windows. “Sleep makes the mind weak and all, surely you’ve heard.”

Harry dismisses this as the ravings of a lunatic.

~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the morning goes quite well. Draco remains in strangely high spirits and insists on narrating the entire case file to Harry in case he hasn’t had a chance to read it. Harry is quite grateful since he can’t seem to get through the first paragraph of the case and though he zones out a few times he manages to piece together most of it. Draco tells him that important magical relics have been disappearing from the ministry for the last 2 months. The articles are all small. Things like rings and necklaces and watches. Kingsley suspects someone is stealing the relics to use or resell. He wants the thievery to be stopped and the perpetrator captured. He wants them on the case because he trusts them but Harry suspects it’s because working within the Ministry is the safest case they could have gotten and realistically Kingsly doesn’t trust them one bit.

“Wait, why would a thief focus on small articles when they could be stealing artifacts from the department of mysteries or something?” Harry asks as Draco winds down his speech. Trying to get a better grasp on the situation.

“Because pure metals and gemstones are the most magically conductive materials” Draco scoffs “I forgot you wouldn’t know about this stuff growing up poor and with muggles” he says leaving Harry reeling as he shifts from manically happy to callus and cruel.

“Well I’d rather grow up poor than with Death Eaters” Harry shoots back on instinct.

“At least I was loved as a child” Draco responds childishly, extracting himself from the cardboard. “You wouldn’t know about that would you, Potter?” He stalks towards Harry pinning him in place with his icy grey eyes.

“Were you really Draco?” Harry's voice is taunting and amused. “I would think someone who loved you wouldn’t want you living with Voldemort.”

Draco’s face goes stark white and he moves closer to Harry towering over him “Not another word Potter” He spits. “I won’t have you disrespecting me in my office.”

Hot rage pumps through Harry’s veins “Oh so the truth is disrespectful now?” He clenches his left fist glancing down at the scar tissue across it. I must not tell ties. Suddenly all he can think about is Umbridge and the inquisitorial squad and Draco is looming over him and Harry can’t get a deep breath so he pulls his arm back and punches Draco directly in his stupid smug face.

Draco grasps him by the front of his robes and their bodies push flush against each other as they grapple swinging at each other wildly. The fight reminds Harry of fourth year before things got so complicated. He feels furious and desperate and when he catches a glimpse of his face in the mirror on the back of Draco’s door he finds he is grinning maniacally. His face is quickly whisked out of frame as they trip across the forgotten cardboard ministry and tumble to the floor. Suddenly everything goes black.

Bonded

Harry/Draco, Pansy/Hermione

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35392933/chapters/88219483

Summary: Harry gets assigned the most boring Auror case in the world with the most horrible partner. Featuring a certain blonde nemesis, ancient magic bonds, a dragon, and a little too much Pansy/Hermione love (in Harry’s opinion).

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 

He wakes up to Draco standing over him wide eyed in terror.

“You have to be okay Potter, I can't lose my job over you,” Draco rushes.

Harry blinks blurry-eyed and realizes that his head is pounding with a sharp piercing pain. When he puts a hand to his forehead it comes away sticky with blood.

“Uh what happened?” He manages dazedly staring at Draco’s blonde hair. When he wears it down like this it looks like a halo. In fact as the sun falls through the window and onto Draco’s face he looks like an angel.

“Has anyone ever told you your hair looks like a halo in the sunlight?” He asks blearily, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

“Um no.” Draco looks distracted, touching his hair briefly before the panic returns to his eyes. “We fell onto my desk, your head hit the corner of the desk, it split your scar open, and then you blacked out. I’m sorry.” He rushes like he’s forcing it out “I get carried away when I haven’t slept enough.”

“Lack of sleep isn’t an excuse to shove people into desks.” Harry responds grouchily, secretly pleased at the apology.

“Well I didn’t start it, you punched me first.” Draco’s voice is haughty and Harry is certain if it didn’t hurt to keep his eyes open he would see Draco sticking his nose into the air and making a very aristocratic face.

“I only punched you because you were being an asshole.” Harry growls the pain in his head making it hard to think.

“I was simply stating the truth.” Draco says diplomatically, offering a hand to help Harry up. “But we can agree to disagree”

“Ugh you are insufferable.”

“Well you’re stuck with me so you’ll just have to suffer” Draco’s voice is markedly more cheerful. “Now how should we fix up your head?”

“You’re not doing anything to my head. I’m going home and having Hermione fix it because I trust her.” Harry says pointedly, glaring at Draco.

He steps out of the office and walks swiftly down the hall focusing firmly on the exit to the floos ignoring the entirety of the Auror Department as they stare quizzically at the blood dripping across his tanned skin.

~~~~~~~~~

Harry arrives home to find Hermione sitting at the dining table surrounded by notes and chatting animatedly to Pansy Parkinson.

“I’m sorry. I seem to have walked into some sort of horrific nightmare.” He says making a horrible face at Pansy mind reeling. “What are you doing in my house?”

“Oh dear,” Hermione says flatly without looking at him. “I must have forgot to tell you we’re working on a project together for work.”

“Yep we’re busy Potter, run along.” Pansy remarks coldly as she turns in her chair to look at him.

“Oh my god, what’s happened to your face!” At Pansy’s exclamation Hermione finally looks up and her gaze slides from calm and collected to frantic in a single instant.

“I thought Kingsley had given you a safe assignment for once!” She rushes towards him with her wand out. Repairing his injury with no warning she blindsides him with the stinging pain of his skin stitching together.

“Merlin's beard, Hermione. Give me a warning next time” He exclaims, clutching at his forehead.

“I would have thought Potter could handle a little bit of pain.” Pansy says smirking at him with cold eyes before suddenly freezing “Where’d you get that cut anyways, weren’t you with Draco? Is he okay?” Harry thinks he can see a bit of panic in her expression before she arranges it blank again. Interesting, maybe the Slytherins care a little more than they let off.

“He’s fine, don't worry. I just tripped”

“So you’re just as clumsy as you were in school then? Not surprised you didn’t grow up” Pansy remarks looking considerably more upbeat. She shoots Hermione a small smile and Harry is perplexed to see her smile back. He can’t believe this.

“Looks like a pretty bad fall.” Hermione says looking concerned again and Harry can see a telltale glimmer of suspicion behind her eyes.

“No really I slipped on a piece of paper and went down hard onto the marble floors” He winces to fully sell his story refusing to let slip that he’s fought with Malfoy. He doesn’t want to let Pansy gloat.

“I’ve been saying they should replace those floors for years.” Pansy whines. “They’d be disastrous in a high speed chase.”

“Oh? And how many high speed chases are taking place within the Ministry?” Harry scoffs, unable to restrain himself.

“You never know it could happen.” Hermione muses and Harry looks at her aghast. “I think it’s a good idea.” Harry can’t believe she’s siding with Pansy against him. Doesn’t she know they’re on opposite sides?

“Hermione, I think this could be helpful?” Pansy interjects as she offers Hermione a heavy leather tome pointing at the text inside.

Both of them turn back to their books and Harry stomps loudly out of the room to sulk until the room is free of Slytherins.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Three hours later Harry’s stomach is rumbling and he feels weak with hunger. He figures Pansy’s left by now but when he walks down the stairs he finds her curled up on the couch next to Hermione laughing as Theo describes a quidditch malfunction in colorful detail. The room goes silent when he sees Harry.

“Why are you still here?” Harry says glaringly at Pansy.

“Because I, unlike you, seem to have grown up and realized that some of the people I used to hate are actually really cool and smart and surprisingly witty.” Pansy says looking across at Hermione as Hermione's cheeks pinken into a light blush. “Now I’m sorry I tried to give you over to the Dark Lord one time 6 years ago but I was scared and ignorant and I really think you should have gotten over it by now.”

“Well I can’t get over it!” Harry erupts, stalking towards the kitchen.

“Fine! Have a miserable night while we hang out and enjoy ourselves if that's really what you want.” Pansy calls after him prissily.

Harry sulks in the kitchen for a while making a cold and disappointing sandwich. He sits stewing for a bit on the kitchen floor before stealing himself to walk back into the sitting room. When he arrives Neville and Ginny are perched on the other sofa so he settles himself on the ground leaning back against Ginny’s legs.

“I see you’ve returned Potter.” Says Pansy, reminding him of Draco as she sticks her nose up in the air. “That sandwich really does look horrible”

“I know” Defeated Harry picks at his sandwich hoping it’ll magically become delicious. “We don’t really have groceries this week I think someone” he looks pointedly at Theo “Forgot to put in the order.”

Theo holds his hands up “I said I was sorry, I have a horrible memory and no one reminded me.”

“Maybe write yourself a note or something. Theodore it’s not that hard.” Ginny smirks, hitting him lightly over the head with one of the auror case’s Harry’s left sitting around. He really shouldn’t do that, confidential information and all.

“Ugh I am starving” Theo speaks looking wistful.

“Bet you wish you'd remembered the groceries now.” Hermione responds demurely.

“What if we get takeout?” Pansy offers and its the most helpful thing Harry’s ever witnessed come out of her mouth. The room slowly becomes a circle of grins.

“Fantastic idea! What are we getting?” Theo’s face is awash with relief.

“Indian!” Harry and Pansy say at the exact same time before glaring at each other.

“My aunt owns a restaurant pretty close to here” Pansy offers. “I promise it’s very good.”

They end up ordering a vast amount of food from the restaurant. As they eat, Harry warms up to Pansy a bit. Sure, she has a cold cruel exterior much like Draco but once he realizes that most of the time her cutting remarks are meant to be funny he starts to enjoy chatting with her. They compare favorite dishes and Pansy tells him about visiting family in India during the summers of her youth. Harry knows little about India except that his dad’s family is from there and he starts to enjoy Pansy’s stories full of colorful characters and interesting experiences. It makes him want to travel more.

The meal wraps up quicker than he expected. The room becomes quiet as people get up and place their dishes in the kitchen wandering off to their respective activities. Pansy returns both her and Hermione’s plates to the kitchen before graciously thanking Hermione for having her and vanishing into the fireplace. Harry finds himself wondering when he’ll see her again.

“So what kind of project are you two working on?” Harry asks turns towards Hermione.

“It’s confidential obviously” Hermione responds, twirling her hair around a finger and staring off into the distance. “Pansy’s really changed hasn’t she?”

“I guess.” Harry says grudgingly watching as Hermione starts to smile.

“You’ll warm up to her in time. You already seemed to enjoy talking with her.”

“Ugh does that mean I’ll be seeing more of her?”

“You might be, '' Hermione smirks mysteriously, still watching the fireplace that Pansy had disappeared into.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Harry arrives at Draco’s office to see him frantically tearing the roof off of his cardboard model. He looks like he’s slept but his hair is disheveled like he’s been tearing at it.

“Um, are you alright?” Harry says cautiously, stepping into the room.

“Not in the slightest,” Draco says, looking harried and carrying on with his demolition.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Harry, do you know what it feels like to have to start from ground zero?” Draco asks conversationally, eyes darting back and forth across the room.

“I would think so, we did both go through a war and start over.” Harry says gently crouching at Draco’s side and looking worried.

“Well that’s nothing compared to this” Draco scoffs. “You want to know why Harry?The blueprints were wrong.” Draco is making an extremely devastated face.

Harry attempts to make his face calm and soothing “Um why is this such a big deal?” His voice comes out a bit high pitched as Draco fixes him with an icy glare.

“You don’t understand anything Potter.” Draco says dramatically, throwing ripped cardboard at the wall behind Harry's head. Harry flinches and moves himself out of danger.

“I must restart my masterpiece.” He gestures at the demolished building before him. “The Ministry has tunnels. Tunnels Potter.” He sounds a bit hysterical. Harry wonders how much caffeine he’s had this morning.

“Um alright, should we maybe check the tunnels for the pickpocket today?” Harry speaks in an attempt to cheer Draco up.

“Great idea.” Draco says, looking surprisingly cheerful. “Observing the tunnels will give me a better opportunity to recreate them properly in my model.” He sounds quite a bit more interested in finishing his model than catching the criminal and Harry can’t blame him. After all this is the most boring case ever.

“So where do the tunnels start?”

“Behind the statue in the lobby obviously.” Draco scoffs, picking a book and waving it in Harry’s direction. “It’s all laid out very clearly.”

Draco proceeds to show Harry the book which is not in fact laid out very clearly at all. There is a half page dedicated to a very small map of the tunnel system which has faded away in some places since the book is very old.

“This is not laid out very clearly,” Harry says glaring across at Draco. Draco’s eyes seem way more grey than they used to be in school he muses before realizing he’s been glaring a bit too long and looks quickly away.

“I was trying to make you more comfortable.” There is a toothy grin stretching across Draco’s face.

“Why would I need to be comfortable? And why are you smiling at me like that?” Harry says suddenly suspicious.

The grin drops off of Draco’s face and he looks sullenly down at the book. “I thought you might have reservations about exploring with a Death Eater.” He mumbles.

“Come off it Malfoy, you’ve had two entire days to kill me I would have thought you’d gotten it over with already”

“You’re right” Draco looks cheerfully into his eyes. “I’m really very impatient aren’t I? Let's get going then! As much as you’d like to, we can't sit around all day Potter '' He calls over his shoulder striding quickly out of the room.

Harry notices that his normally taunting tone has softened a bit to sound almost teasing. He grabs his cloak off the desks and runs out of the office to catch up with Draco in the hall.

When they reach the lobby it becomes increasingly clear that it will be difficult to slip behind the statute unnoticed. They stand around for a while looking for a break in the hustle and bustle around them. People start to look at them suspiciously and walk around them with a wide berth.

“Unfortunately it looks like we might have to stage an emergency to get everyone out of here.” Draco says grinning at Harry evilly.

“Shouldn’t there be a bunch of other entrances to the tunnels?”

“Well yes but the map wasn’t very clear about where they were” Draco looks shifty eyed.

“Hmm alright. I have an idea” Harry strides off back in the direction they came from and Draco scrambles to follow.

~~~~~~~~

They arrive back in the lobby wearing the invisibility cloak draped over them. Draco still hasn’t gotten over the unfairness of Harry having the cloak in the first place and is tiring himself out with a long rant about privileged people and power trips and how Dumbledore really wasn’t fit to run a school if he was going to favor students with dangerous artifacts.

Harry isn’t really listening. He’s distracted, pressed up so close to Draco’s body heat that he can feel it through his jumper. Draco smells fresh like lemongrass and fresh rain. Harry takes a deep breath and feels strangely comforted by the scent. He moves closer to Draco without realizing it until his hand brushes against Draco’s thigh and he stops mid sentence jerking his head up and staring into Harry’s eyes.

“Were you not listening to a single thing I said to Harry?” Draco asks but he stumbles over his words not quite managing the cold tone he usually aims for.

“Sorry not really, I was lost in thought.” Harry forces himself to move back a couple inches.

“Well you should really be paying attention on a mission. Really Potter this behavior is quite inappropriate.” This time Draco’s voice comes out normally, cold and cutting. Harry knows he should feel relieved but he feels his heart drop a bit in his chest.

“Here we are,” Draco gestures to a small button on the back of the marble statue. “After you Potter.”

Harry pushes the button and a panel slides back allowing them to squeeze through a narrow door shaped opening. Inside the tunnels are dark and cold. Harry can hear water dripping somewhere. He casts a luminos and waits for Draco to step through the opening behind him.

Draco joins him in the tunnel folding the cloak into a small square and crowding into Harry’s bodyspace to tuck it into the pocket of his auror robes. The warmth of his hand once again shocks Harry and he goes rigid for a second until Draco backs away.

“Well I’m not carrying your fancy magical object for you” Draco mumbles, refusing to meet Harry's eyes.

Harry stares at him baffled for a second and then starts walking down the hall.

They haven’t walked more than 20 feet from the entrance when a metal wall comes clanging out of the ceiling on either side of them, sealing them into the tunnel. Then their wands flicker, tips going dim.

“This is so bad.” Harry growls pushing at the walls trying to find a weak spot.

“So bad.” Draco echos looking guiltily at metal in front of them.

They try a couple of spells but they come out weaker than normal and the walls refuse to budge.

“The book did say there were some places where the tunnels were resistant to magic.” Draco admits avoiding eye contact.

“And you didn’t think to mention that BEFORE we entered the tunnels?” Harry asks, glaring directly into his eyes. Draco looks away.

“It didn’t seem like something that would interest you”

“WHY WOULD IT NOT INTEREST ME?” Harry explodes stepping up into Draco’s space.

“I mean you didn’t ask about it?” Draco says meekly, stepping back. Harry steps forward pining him between his body and the wall.

“HOW COULD I ASK ABOUT IT IF I DIDN’T KNOW IT EXISTED?” His rage gets the better of him and he reaches out twisting Draco’s cloak in his hand and pulling him in. “GODDAMMIT LOOK AT ME DRACO.”

When Draco finally meets his eyes Harry is unprepared. His gray eyes are dark and stormy and sear into Harry’s green gaze like burning embers. Harry breathes in Draco’s comforting scent and he can't stop his gaze from flicking across his lips. Suddenly he can’t decide if he wants to punch or kiss him. He freezes and steps back letting go of Draco’s robes.

“Sorry” He breathes shakily. “I might have overreacted a bit.”

“It’s alright” Draco steps forwards towards him and meets his eyes. Harry can’t stop his body from reacting with a flush of warmth. “I should have told you all the details. I was worried if it sounded dangerous you wouldn’t come.” he adds sheepishly dropping his gaze to the floor again.

“Malfoy, do you even know who you’re talking to?” Harry shoves at his shoulder lightly ignoring the rush of warmth that jolts up his arm.

“You’re right. Should have known a little danger wouldn’t scare you off.” Draco’s smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Now what’s your plan for getting us out of here?”

Harry pokes around at the doors a bit before slumping defeated against a wall. “I can’t find a weak spot. Someone’s going to have to come get us.”

“Ugh.” Draco groans. “So humiliating. The most capable student of our class defeated by a stupid tunnel.”

“Oh I’ve gotten stuck in lots of different places before.” Harry says cheerfully sitting down and leaning back against the wall.

“I meant myself.” Draco says haughtily, folding himself against the wall next to him.

“Oh”

“Can you cast a patronus and get us out of here?”

“I can try.”

Harry tries. A silvery cloud appears at the end of his wand before dispersing into the darkness. He tries again. This time the cloud is smaller.

He slumps back defeated and his shoulder falls against Draco’s. He can’t help himself, he leans in a little. Draco lets him.

“I can’t do it.” he says dejected.

“Okay let me think.”

They sit there for a long time staring into the dark in front of them. Harry, comforted by the warmth of Draco against him, starts to doze off.

He wakes about an hour later to Draco shaking his shoulder enthusiastically.

“Harry. Harry!” Harry realizes he’s slumped against Draco’s shoulder, his body curved around the blonde boy. He pulls himself back into a sitting position abruptly wiping his eyes and looking over at Draco’s face.

“Sorry I fell asleep.” He rushes, voice husky.

“Doesn’t matter,” Draco says distractedly. “I think I have a solution.”

“What is it?” Harry perks up, straightening his spine against the wall.

“You aren’t going to like it.”

“Why not?”

Draco signs. “I think if we combine our magic it’ll be enough to get through to someone in the ministry.”

“You can combine magic?”

“Yes I’ve read about it. I think we can do it. You’ll channel my magic and it’ll be enough for you to cast a patronus.”

“I’m in” Harry says without hesitation.

“Okay.” Draco sounds hesitant. He reaches for his boot, pulls out one of the carefully concealed blades and makes a long slice along his palm.

“Merlin's beard!” Harry exclaims eyes wide as he watches Draco’s blood drip onto the bricks below them. “What are you doing, are you crazy!?”

Draco looks at him with a serious gaze “Harry this is how we combine magic. When our blood mingles we can draw on each other's magic. I have to slice your palm too.”

Harry shakes his head, his eyes wide but when Draco reaches out he lifts his hand and places it in Dracos. “Go for it.” He steals himself for pain.

Draco narrows his eyes and draws the blade against Harry’s palm. The pain sears hot and radiates down his arm. Harry watches his blood drip through his fingers dazed before glancing up into the comfort of Draco’s eyes. Draco grabs his bleeding hand and presses it against his own. Their finders link together and the pain stops. Harry watches Draco’s eyes widen. Their hands start to heat and suddenly raw energy rams itself through Harry’s bloodstream and up his arm. Without even thinking Harry attempts a patronus and watches as a small silver dragon blooms from the tip of his wand.

“Do you usually cast a dragon?” Draco is looking at him, eyes wide and bewildered.

“No,”Harry responds, looking just as confused. “It must have something to do with our shared magic.”

“I guess,” Draco furrows his brow thinking about it for a while. “Well I guess all we do now is wait and hope he’s able to find Granger.” He gestures at the small dragon as it disappears through the metal wall.

Harry nods. Drained from his use of magic, he glances at Draco’s shoulder again wondering if he can get away with another nap.

“Oh go ahead Potter. Just like you get burnt out after only a bit of magic” Draco scoffs gesturing at his shoulder with his free hand, before rubbing his eyes and attempting to look highly alert.

His body sways in exhaustion slightly giving him away but Harry is too tired to taunt him and relaxes his head gratefully onto the warm shoulder next to him. As everything fades to dark. Harry feels Draco's head drop onto his. He hums slightly and curls into him.

The two men succumb to sleep. Bloody hands clasped between them they breathe in unison as the darkness of the tunnel closes in around them.

Dad will always be here | B.Chan

pairing: chan x fem!reader (in which chan is your dad) summary: "I'll always be there for you, sweetheart. No matter how hard it gets, I'm by your side. We'll go through it together" He keeps reminding you of it but will it stay forever? word counts: 1.8k words genre: angst, small fluff, zombie apocalypse au warning: mention of death(nothing to detail), reader often get called by sweetheart lil note: okay, not the perfect timing, I know so enjoy :) Listen to daylight and Atlantis while reading this, I highly recommend it.

Your breath caught in your throat, making you choke as you tried in vain to calm yourself. Your legs trembled beneath you as your hands clasped over your mouth to stifle the scream of horror that escaped you. He stood in front of you, his back to you, and you could see fresh blood dripping from his quivering hand and the bat he had used to kill your mom a moment earlier… he had killed his wife. Her body lay lifeless, and a scarlet liquid spread from her head to the floor, forming a pool of blood where he stood, still in denial of what he had done. His feet seemed to be chained to the ground.

“Dad..." You called after him, your voice sounding fearful. Chan turned round, his cheeks splattered with blood, and he hastily wiped it away with his sleeve before walking towards you and gently grabbing your hand.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that.” The light you had seen in his eyes had disappeared. All you saw now were tears at the edge of his eyes, as if he were reflecting your expression, but he was still trying to gather his remaining strength to move on from the guilt. He squeezed your hand to reassure you that everything would be alright and flashed a smile you knew all too well was forced.

“We need to go now before they find us, sweetheart. I’ll take care of you just like your mother would want me to.” He unfolded your sleeves and buttoned them up, then moved to your shirt collar and did the same. A brief kiss on your forehead was the cherry on top, even though the world had gone cold, his love remained warm.

He pulled you by the hand and you followed him as he took one last look at his late wife and kissed her forehead one last time. You watched as he mouthed something into her ear before leaving the place you once called your safe place. It was hard to leave your memories and… your mom.

How long has it been since you exited the house? It was nothing the same as you last saw them – cars were abandoned on the street, cracked cars’ and houses’ windows and bodies–  It was everywhere, scattered like trash. The weight of reality was burdening you, it felt…unreal. You clenched Chan’s hand when your mind momentarily turned hazy and he instantaneously halted on his steps, his face painted with worry as he held your shoulder.

“Are you okay?” 

You nodded meekly “It’s funny how I see this every time I watch a movie and never I thought I’ll live in one”

“I hope this is a nightmare, sweetheart. Come on” He took a step further and accidentally stepped onto something. Retreating his leg, he bent to grab it, his other hand still attached to yours as if you would run away when his fingers were lifted. His eyes lit up in an unreadable expression after he realised it was a loaded gun.

Maybe he was glad he found something to protect him and you.

Both of you continued making your way out of the neighbourhood. His grip tightened at every sound he heard and pulled you closer to him. His gestures spoke a high volume of unspoken fear. The sun was beginning to hide behind the horizon when you arrived at the quiet main town.

Quiet? Usually, the town was chaotic at this hour – With people shouting to promote their things before closing the shop for the day and Minho was the one who brought all of them, insisting he would pay more than the given prices. Later, he would ask you to accompany him to a nearby foster house with a grin, arms filled with paper bags.

A sharp gasp bubbled out from your mouth after seeing Minho’s body leaning against the wall with his neck crooked to the side, a trail of deep shade of red was behind him. His neck was harshly bitten by the dead, his bone was in sight. Your cheeks felt damp and you let out a few suffocating sobs.  Your feet were chained to the ground as reality had finally sunk in – who was next? Whose death would you witness next?

The sounds of branches creaking behind caused Chan to snap his head toward the direction and in a swift motion, you were hauled from the back and landed on the rough path while hearing a familiar groaning above you. Slowly glancing up, you noticed the flesh eater biting into his bat as it struggled to get hold of the man. His knuckles turned white while he attempted to push it away.

“Y/N, go now! Find a safe place, I’ll meet you there”

“But Dad!”

“Sweetheart, it’s not the time to argue” His voice was calm but laced with desperation, almost sounded like he was begging toward you. How dare he? He still has the guts to say that after your mom died? Clenching your fist, you stood up and snatched the gun from his pocket, aiming straight at the creature’s head before releasing the trigger. Its loud bang echoed in the otherwise eerie town, making the animals’ heads resting nearby perk their head and run away at the sound.

Your hand shook violently when you looked over the body that had dropped. You stepped on its arm and twisted your leg, a low sound of bone breaking entered your ear as you registered the hole on its forehead oozing an eerie-looking green liquid. This was insufficient to pay for what they had done to Mom. To Minho. To everyone.

You want them to feel your suffering. Chan’s suffering.

Your lips started drawing blood due to how long you bit your lips, a scream pleading to be let out from your chest from the moment you witnessed Chan had to kill your mother. Nails dug into the palm of your skin, exasperation was raging in your mind, encouraging you to continue shooting the body to release your hatred for the zombies.

“Why…?” You whispered under your breath. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around your waist and hoisted you up to his shoulder before rushing out of the town, thousands of footsteps tailing him from behind as it was after him — true, the creatures were running toward you, their green eyes bulging out from their socket as they saw their next victim.

Fuck…the gun

You shut your eyes, and a chain of muttering ‘I’m sorry Dad’ left your mouth.

“It’s fine, sweetheart” 

Soon, he stopped on his track and gently placed you back on the ground, his popping veins from his neck didn't go unnoticed by you. He must be exhausted carrying you all the way here. He should be, you’re not a little girl anymore.

He slumped down to nearby racks, and a sense of relief washed over him as he looked over to you who was locking the supermarket’s door. He chuckled, removing his bag and the necklace he received for his birthday from his late wife, and placing it close on his side. When you turned around, he saw his wife figment in you — no doubt, your mother's eyes had been passed down on you. The shelves around him began to melt down and swam toward him, the substance felt hot under his delicate fingertips and he hissed in pain as he retreated his finger from the floor.

Even your figure was distorted in his vision, your lips twitched into a huge terrifying smile that itched from cheek to cheek. A series of incoherent voices bounced in the room, whispering to him to give up. He quickly covered his ears and closed his eyes, praying it wasn’t what he thought it was. He cautiously peeled his eyes open and everything had returned to normal. 

You observe his behaviour from afar, your stomach twisted in discomfort as you realise something. 

“Dad, are you okay?”

He nodded meekly and patted the dirty floor, gesturing you to rest beside him.

“Dad, I’m sorry for acting so recklessly…” your voice filled with utter shame but he simply dismissed the topic with a head shake as you settled down. You scooted closer, hugging his arm and placing your head on his shoulder.

“Don't be, you saved me” he beamed a smile. A warm smile. A smile that was different from the previous one. He caressed your head, leaving a chaster kiss on it.

A comfortable silence hung in the air as both of you engulfed yourself in the safety of each other comfort. You tried to ignore the growing green dots on his arm as you hugged his body tighter.

No, it was probably an allergic reaction.

“Y/N, I need you to do something for me. Think of it as my last wish” You glanced at him, attempting to appear nonchalant but the thought of it happening lingered in the back of your head was something you couldn't deny.

“What are you talking about? We’ll survive Dad!” 

“I’m sorry…” he folded his sleeve and you quickly grasped his hand from doing it although you already saw the flowing liquid from a fresh wound. 

Did he get bit at home?

“No…no, you’re not! You are going to be fine, trust me” You clenched his sleeve, watching his smile drop while tears poured down. It had been a long time since you saw him so fragile, so hopeless.

“Please Dad…” 

“I’m really sorry, I try, sweetheart but I fail. I couldn't promise what your mother wanted” Intertwining your hand together, he loosened your grip and put it down, drawing a circular motion on the back of your hand.

“You’ll be fine as long as you get out of here. Leave” 

“Leave you? I wouldn't!”

“It's my last wish, Bang Y/N” He reached for the gun in your hand and pressed a kiss on your forehead – it was a goodbye kiss. It was a kiss he always gave you before leaving the house, it made you feel safe and loved all day long.

But now, it left you with a hollow chest and devastation. 

“Take care of yourself for me and your mother” 

“Dad, please…” you pleaded…and pleaded. 

“Go now, I don't want you to see me turn into them”

At the time, the green dots had arrived on his cheeks, and the brown colour of his orbs slowly disappeared. With a heavy heart, you grabbed the bag and headed for the door.

You should have ignored the early symptoms of the infection.

You should have ignored how his veins were visible on his neck

You should have stayed dumb

If that was the cost for him to stay by your side

“I love you, sweetheart”

Your shoulder jolted at the sound of the gun behind you. Gripping into the bag’s strip, the tears finally poured endlessly under you. You exited the place without looking back. You were forced to face your mother’s death and you couldn’t have the bravery to see his death. The echo from the gun reminded you of his smile and last word before your field of view turned blurry due to the tears.

“Dad will always be here”