Chapter Text
After the war, Harry James Potter got married.
However, the young hero of the wizarding world’s wedding wasn’t a huge party with countless guests, with the media interviewing the lovebirds and taking photos, much less with a certain redhead whom everyone swore up and down they were madly in love with. No. The young hero’s wedding was discreet, extremely discreet — so discreet that no one even knew who he had married.
No one.
Not even his loyal friends knew who.
And that was a tremendous shock — after all, how could Hermione and Ron, his best friends, not know who he had married? How did they only find out about their best friend’s wedding from the newspapers, and only because the young hero had arrived at the Auror Department with a wedding ring on his finger? How could that have happened?!
Well, it was a secret.
And it was a secret that everyone, absolutely everyone, wanted to uncover.
After all, Harry James Potter looked radiant! Considering the expression etched on his face at the end of the war — one of desolation and sadness — he didn’t even seem like the same person. Harry smiled easily, laughed at silly jokes, and was friendly with everyone in the department, even though he held a position in the hierarchy where many would expect arrogance and extreme power.
Of course, there were days when he was in a bad mood, but when asked why, he always said it was: “My wife is upset with me… My wife is stressed out with me… My wife—” He’d always be in a bad mood if it involved his wife and something he’d done in front of her; possibly the only time he was in a bad mood and it didn’t involve his wife was because it involved his father-in-law: “I hate that grumpy old man,” and those were perfect days for him to go on a mission and solve the problem in two seconds.
With that in mind, they tried discreetly to find out more about the mysterious wife of the savior of the wizarding world, any little thing, but they couldn’t get much out of him; the information about her suggested she could be anyone — I mean, not just anyone, but it wasn’t specific in the way they wanted: my wife is letting his hair grow out, it’s looking really pretty… (he would ramble at some point during the day) Today my wife made my lunch; it’s such a lovely gesture… (it wasn’t very presentable, but the man ate it while moaning.) No, no, there’s nothing I love more than my wife… (he would say when asked if he still loved playing Quidditch).
A faithful man who seemed unwilling to reveal even a single hint of who his wife might be.
He was possessive.
This was the explanation they came up with for the man’s behavior.
A few months passed, and Harry James Potter announced that he would need to take paternity leave, since his firstborn was due in a few days. This shocked everyone at the Ministry — perhaps the entire wizarding world — and they searched for women who had recently shown signs of pregnancy, but they found no one who appeared to be pregnant and whose husband was unknown.
They were frustrated.
And while everyone was frustrated, Harry Potter was crying more than his firstborn as he held him with tremendous tenderness and love — and pain in his hands and hair due to the force of his wife, who had cursed at him throughout the entire birthing process.
He was a fulfilled man, tenderly kissing his wife for his wonderful feat of giving birth to that chubby, big baby and, of course, smiling foolishly at the adorable baby in his arms who would open his sleepy little eyes and reveal the same eye color as his.
“Nine months in my belly just to be born looking like his idiot father.” His wife would complain, but he’d be smiling affectionately and caressing the chubby little cheek of that baby, who would break into a joyful smile at being so close to his mama.
Harry’s days with his firstborn were lovely, filled with affection and so much love for him and his wife, he couldn’t imagine a world where they weren’t living happily ever after. He loved waking up every morning and greeting those who brightened his days. He would work double, triple shifts for those two human beings — and he was a devoted husband; he wouldn’t let his wife wake up in the middle of the night to care for the baby; he would do all of this for the sheer joy of family life — except when the baby needs to be breastfed, since that’s something he can’t do, so he would stay by his wife’s side, almost asleep, while the baby had his five-star meal — when it was over, he would take care of the rest.
When he returned to work, the Auror came back refreshed, happy, smiling, and in an excellent mood — he was now a father and spoke with even more affection about his family and his lovely wife. Oh, he’s learning to crawl now; it’s so cute, but now we’ll have to be extra careful with him… I think he’s picked up a bit of my wife’s mischievous streak… (The baby was still learning to lift his head off the floor as he said this, and perhaps the baby had taken after his temperament more than his mother’s.) He’s learning to call me Daddy; I’m sure it’ll be any day now… (The baby could only say “mama”) He’s the cutest baby in the world, I love him… (The baby was absolutely adorable, and he loved his daddy too, but he loved his mommy more.)
One morning, the department fell silent upon receiving the heir to the noble Malfoy house. The young man, a casualty of the war, had won his freedom thanks to Auror Potter, but had completely vanished from the news, appearing only briefly at a few charity events accompanied by his father — according to the secretary, he was there to settle some pending matters regarding his father’s parole with the Auror.
Well, everyone was surprised by this and wasn’t surprised when the young Malfoy emerged flushed, his cheeks extremely pink, from the Auror’s office — evidently out of anger, as was clear from the way he was huffing and stomping to get out of that place as quickly as possible.
“He has a difficult temper…” Harry would hear from a fellow Auror while eating the lunch his beautiful, mysterious wife had prepared — everyone noticed how much better the food looked — Potter’s confused face would continue, “Malfoy, he has a difficult temper, doesn’t he? We saw how he stormed out of your office…”
“Huh, yeah,” Harry would reply with his mouth full. “But I’m used to his difficult temper, I know how to handle that little blonde thing very well.” He would say, smiling openly, even amused.
And everyone nodded. Living with Malfoy during his school days had certainly given him the strength to endure the well-known temperament of the pure-blood family.
Malfoy’s visits weren’t that frequent, but it became common to see him once every two months to talk with Auror Potter — according to the Auror, it was just matters concerning his family, since Lucius Abraxas Malfoy had served his sentence but needed some legal documents that only he had.
And everyone just agreed, feeling sorry for the poor Auror for having to put up with the Malfoy heir.
Time passed, and one afternoon, while getting ready to go home, Harry let slip that he would bring his son the next day, since his wife was having a spa day with his friends and he thought it was time for his firstborn to see his father’s workplace. This left everyone wide-eyed, as that was the perfect opportunity to find out who the man’s wife was by looking at his son — after all, children tend to take after their mothers, don’t they?
A mistake, and everyone sighed in frustration.
The little boy who arrived, two years old, was a carbon copy of Harry James Potter.
He had a chubby face, brown skin, green eyes, and jet-black hair as dark as his father’s and even more unruly. The little boy, affectionately called Jamie, was incredibly polite! He said “please” and “thank you” for every little thing he received, slightly shy at first, but then he couldn’t stop talking, swinging his little legs and smiling — the smile was just like the Auror’s.
They tried to coax something out of the little boy, something like: What’s your mom like?
But the little boy was, genuinely, a carbon copy of Harry.
Mom is pretty! (He couldn’t describe just how pretty his mom was, but he mentioned that he really liked his long hair! He was learning how to style his mom’s hair along with his dad!) Mom gives me lots of kisses! (Harry James Potter was green with envy of his own son because of this.) Mom likes blackberries! (They had a garden at home with lots of blackberries.) I’m going to be a big brother! (And that took everyone by surprise, including Harry Potter himself, who needed help amid his emotion and crying fit.)
Honestly, considering how James spoke and acted — a little lord after all — it made everyone think: Potter’s wife must be an angel on earth, the most angelic being humanity has ever seen. And no one could find a person, a single person who matched those characteristics they’d observed over the years; there wasn’t a single person like that in all of humanity.
And so more time passed without them knowing who the damned man’s wife was.
And Harry James Potter took another paternity leave.
His second child — or rather, his second children — were twins, and his wife’s labor was more complicated than the first; they arrived a little earlier than expected — Harry feared he’d go bald, and he dislocated two of his fingers, but it was all worth it in the end. The first to be born was a little boy with hair as white as snow and eyes as green as his own; the second to be born had jet-black hair and eyes as silver as the moon.
They were the most beautiful things he had ever seen since his wife and his firstborn.
They were smaller than his firstborn at birth; their alabaster skin was clearly their mother’s, yet their features were much closer to Harry’s than to his beloved wife’s.
“Months in my belly and they’re two more copies of you…” his wife said as she watched the two babies lying in the crib next to their bed, their little hands clasped together and sleeping peacefully. “Daddy, you said our family genes were stronger!”
“Daddy makes mistakes sometimes...”
“Sometimes...” Harry would laugh sarcastically and stop the next second. “Look on the bright side, honey, this time they came with your hair and your eyes…”
His wife pouted, “Great, I have kids who look just like you, but with my features — that makes me so happy, darling!” He was being sarcastic.
“The next one should look just like you, my love.” He tried, as he stroked his beloved wife’s hair; he just rolled his eyes and burrowed deeper into the bed.
“I hope you’re not the one picking the name for the next one, Potter.” His father-in-law would say, holding the eldest in his arms as he looked at his little brothers.
“The youngest’s name really was a questionable choice…” his mother-in-law would say.
“Hey!” Harry tried to defend himself and looked at his wife, seeking some support, but Harry sensed that his wife regretted letting him choose the name of their second child more than either of his in-laws did.
And so, the house was fuller, now with three children.
Harry took the opportunity to extend his paternity leave with his vacation, ensuring more time with his children and playing with them, teaching James to take care of his little brothers and that, as the older brother, he would have to protect them — of course, Daddy would always be there to protect them, but it was a way to teach him about the importance of family and how we must protect those we love!
James agreed and enjoyed watching the two babies who would laugh at him when he made a funny face; he was becoming a good older brother, taking great care of those two tiny little beings.
Besides that, he managed to make the most of his time with his wife, running his fingers through his long hair, kissing her soft skin, gently caressing her arm while their eldest son played in the living room and his little babies slept peacefully nearby, watching movies like a teenage couple and having sex like young people full of hormones, of course.
Their life as a couple was intense, there was no other way to describe it. Perhaps that was why they already had three children — and counting, since their plans were to have a house full of children and lots of love!
Time passed once again, and Harry continued working, but now as head of the Auror Department — a position he accepted very willingly. He was a bit reluctant when the idea of throwing a celebration party came up, but he eventually agreed to the party in honor of his new position.
Everyone celebrated, absolutely everyone; a party meant company, and company meant: Harry James Potter’s wife, and they would finally find out who the saint was who had won over that strong man.
Except that the man arrived alone.
“Isn’t your wife coming?” One brave soul — namely, the Minister himself — dared to ask.
“My wife was looking forward to coming, but our youngest got sick, and that made his twin brother stressed out… I wouldn’t even want to be here…” Harry gave an awkward laugh, scratching his head. “Actually, Minister, I think I should let you know that I won’t be staying long. I appreciate the party, but I really only came so as not to be rude… My wife would kill me if I did something like that too…”
A man deeply in love.
That was everyone’s conclusion.
And the mystery continued.
Once again, the department found the young Malfoy heir walking through the Auror department; this time, he was dressed so elegantly that everyone suspected he was practically an heir to the English throne — everyone had already braced themselves to see the young Malfoy storming out of the Head Auror’s office, red with rage.
Except, this time, he came out extremely calm.
The Head Auror accompanied him to the office door; they were talking like two civilized people! And that left the department speechless in shock; no one imagined they’d witness a scene like that, especially those who had studied at the same time as them — Malfoy let out a sigh at one point, glancing to the side and then looking at Potter.
“It’s all right, I think. Daddy must understand the situation… However, I’d like you to try talking to the Minister again. Daddy is willing to go back and do the right thing in his previous position as advisor…” He spoke delicately, “Ah! He’d like you to accompany him to the Quidditch tournament, if it’s not a problem for you… Something friendly like that will be good for his image and help him get back into that position…”
“Your father is still a huge opportunist.” And when they heard that, everyone expected an angry reaction from Malfoy, but he just rolled his eyes.
“Don’t you think that’s fair, considering what you did to me?” One eyebrow raised.
“Tell him I’ll go…” The head of the department’s expression looked somewhat defeated.
And Malfoy gave a soft smile, glanced to the side seeing that everyone had looked away, and sighed lightly.
“See you later, Potter.” They hugged each other casually, like friends, and he walked out calmly; everyone glanced sideways and looked at Potter, standing in the doorway watching the blond man leave the department.
Not just him, but many in the department were looking at Malfoy; after all, no one could say the man wasn’t handsome.
“Get back to work!” They heard the department head shout in a harsh voice, and everyone returned to their work.
And time passed.
Once again, months later, Malfoy appeared, but everyone was quite shocked when he arrived with a child of about a year old in his arms, blond hair, sleeping peacefully in his arms. He seemed somewhat rushed, carrying a bag over his shoulder.
He spoke to the secretary and entered the department head’s office.
Everyone was curious, because now they were all wondering who could be brave enough to marry Draco Lucius Malfoy! A Malfoy! Who would be crazy enough to agree to marry him?!
And then, he left, without the child and without the bag on his shoulder, in such a hurry that he rushed down the hallway like a blur.
One of the Aurors entered the head’s office moments later, finding the Head Auror sitting in his leather armchair with the little boy in his arms sleeping peacefully. As he handed over the paperwork, he dared to say, “I didn’t think Malfoy would leave him with you, Auror Potter…”
Harry looked at him and chuckled, “It’s not really his style, but this little one’s brother is sick. He gets really upset when his brother is sick and needs to stay away…” He remarked, running his hand over the baby’s head. “Speaking of which, do you happen to have Healer Hyacinth’s contact information? She’s Auror Jenkins’ wife, isn’t she? I know she stepped down from her position to take care of her family… But…” He looked at the Auror. “I’d like to speak with her; I think she could help with the case.”
A saint.
He was a saint.
A saint for helping a sworn enemy, taking care of his son, and seeking care for the other.
“Yes, I’ll speak with him…” The Auror was overwhelmed by such kindness. “Would you like us to check on anyone else?” A hint, perhaps, if he wanted to call his wife to take care of that baby… After all, if he was that close to Malfoy, he must know his wife, who would know Malfoy’s children, so…
“No. You can go.”
And he left.
Telling him about the dazzling kindness of Auror Potter.
The following month, Malfoy showed up again; he was carrying a bag and waited in the office for the head of the department to arrive — it didn’t take long, and they talked right there in the hallway.
“I’d like to invite Auror Jenkins and his wife to dinner, as a thank-you for what they did for Al…” They listened. “Do you think you could do that for me?”
“Of course…” Harry looked at him. “Too shy to extend that invitation yourself?”
“Do I look like the type who would do that when I can ask you, Potter?”
“No need to stress…” He laughed. “Too many hormones?” He looked down.
“I’d like to kill you, idiot.” And he kicked Auror Potter’s leg, who stifled a groan, and everyone gasped at the sight. “Don’t show your face to me if you don’t want that kick to land right between your legs and leave you infertile, Potter.” And he turned and walked away.
Apparently, only one person in this society had the courage to threaten Auror Potter, and, of course, that person would be Malfoy.
“Doesn’t your wife get jealous of your closeness with Malfoy?” A brave Auror asked in the middle of a meeting, making Auror Potter frown. “Oh, it’s nothing, but my wife would be up in arms if she knew I get to see someone as handsome as him every month…”
“Uh, I agree, Malfoy may be a bad guy, but he’s incredibly pretty…” another Auror said.
“Get back to work.” The head of the department said with some irritation and stood up quickly.
Ending the meeting.
One particular afternoon, the department’s gaze turned once again to the young Malfoy heir, with his long hair tied back in a ponytail with a discreet bow at the top, bright silver eyes and thick lashes, pink lips, and cheeks slightly flushed from the summer heat, dressed magnificently in tight pants, high boots, and a white fleece sweater that revealed his delicate swan-like neck, as pure as the clouds.
And their eyes fell on the bulge in his belly; it wasn’t huge, but it was enough to leave the entire department speechless.
“Didn’t you make an appointment today, Malfoy?” the secretary asked.
“I don’t think I need an appointment to come see him, do I?” He seemed somewhat amused as he said this.
“Mr. Potter is accompanied by his son today…” The secretary was looking away.
“I know.” Malfoy snorted, “I’m here to pick him up.”
And everyone nearby wondered if they’d heard correctly.
The secretary batted her eyelashes, and before she could open her mouth, they heard a voice from the other side.
“Mommy!!” James shouted happily. The four-year-old boy ran over and hugged Malfoy’s legs, and everyone’s jaws, which were already dropped, dropped even further. “Where are Scorp and Al?!” He looked to the side, as if his little brothers were about to appear out of nowhere.
“They’re with Grandma today. Remember, you’re staying with Grandma today too?” Draco smiled, placing his hand on his son’s head. James blinked his little eyes and nodded — he’d only come to his dad’s work because he really wanted to! After all, he was going to be an Auror when he grew up; that’s what he always said. “Your grandpa was supposed to come pick you up, but the old man was too busy setting up the field for you to play Quidditch… uh, I think that’s supposed to be a secret…” James' eyes sparkled; that weekend with his grandparents because of his parents’ wedding anniversary trip was definitely going to be the best in the world!
“Let’s go to Grandpa’s house now!” He shouted, grabbing his mom’s hand.
Draco laughed and looked at the head of the department, who was smiling as he approached.
“Did he give you a hard time?” Draco asked, knowing what a handful his son was.
“He’s your son, what do you think?” He joked playfully and stroked his wife’s cheek. “He was tearing my office apart, for your information…”
“He really is my baby…” Draco smiled and looked at James, who was pouting and babbling for them to hurry up. “Can I use your Floo? You know I can’t Apparate right now…”
“Of course, my love, is Lily giving you a hard time?” Draco shook his head, running his hand over his belly.
“She’s more than healthy; that’s what the Healer told me today.” He glanced down absently and turned his attention back to his husband. “Well, I’ve been told she’s going to be a big one, too… I think she’ll be born about the same size as James...” He looked at Harry. “And that’s something you should be worried about, Auror Potter.”
“I can recover from dislocated fingers, and it’ll be worth it to go bald before my time!” He laughed heartily. “But do you know what's most important? We’ll be able to have some fun today then…” And he stepped aside for his beloved and his son, pretending not to have loved the sight of his wife’s red face as he pressed his lips together. “James, calm down a bit. The Quidditch pitch isn’t going anywhere, you brat…” Harry said, responding to the insistence that they leave right away.
And that made James kick his father’s leg, pulling a sour face and crossing his arms right after.
A distinctly Malfoy-like expression and attitude.
Draco laughed out loud, Harry took a deep breath, and the entire department fell into a deathly silence.
It was right in front of them the whole time.
Harry James Potter’s wife was Draco Lucius Malfoy.