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multiplicity-positivity · 9 months

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I only have 2 headmates and idk how to get along with them :(

For context they're both OCS (one old, I made her in 3rd grade and one is new- made very recently) and they unfortunately know that. The issue is that all of my ocs have bad things happen often and I imagine they hate me for that

They also hate each other's guts for other reasons but it just sucks not having any peace

Hmm… we know it can be really really hard to get along with other headmates sometimes! And your headmates being OCs probably really complicates the situation, huh?

We have a little note that we keep with us when we’re feeling overwhelmed and stuck in memory time:

(ID in alt text!)

This really helps us when we’re starting to feel guilty for not handling our childhood trauma better, or feeling like we’re never going to be good enough because of what happened to us, or trying to bear the weight of our history on our shoulders all the time! Our therapist told us the mantra and we wrote it down to keep handy :3

This helps us deal with painful childhood memories… But! we really feel like this sort of message may help people with exotrauma or painful exomemories too! >w<

As writers and creators, it’s okay to put your characters in difficult or traumatizing situations!! It comes with the territory of being an artist!! And you shouldn’t have to put a stop to that or feel guilty about it just because your OCs developed into headmates!!

But for your headmates…. It makes sense that this stuff will bother them! It makes sense that they might have to process exotrauma because of some decisions made by their creator (you!). It’s possible to allow them space, to support them on this process, and to recognize that you may have made choices regarding their histories… but that doesn’t make you at fault even one bit!!

Exotrauma can be really tricky and also icky to navigate! We have alters with exotrauma in our system and it’s been a wild ride helping them process it while other members process real-life trauma! But being willing to help and listen, not judging your headmates for feeling certain ways about their circumstances, and understanding where their apprehension comes from could all really help you be there for them when they need it!!! Does that make sense to you? Idk if I’m using “apprehension” right lol but I mean like their wariness or cautiousness or unwillingness to put the past behind them and get to know you!

Speaking of getting to know you… maybe y’all should try conducting interviews to get to know each other!!

I made this headmate interview form a while back! it’s a fun, laidback way for headmates and alters to start learning about each other as they are now, not as they once were!!

Could y’all perhaps spend some time conducting lighthearted, low-stakes interviews to figure out what each other likes and what they are like? And once you have a good idea, you can start going out of your way to do nice things for each other!!!

If we’ve learned anything in therapy, it’s that kindness, apologies, forgiveness, and compassion can be amazing tools for coming together as a team!! Our frequent fronter group is able to work together the way we do because of this!! Like this time last year, I never would’ve dreamed I’d ever cofront with Kandi to work together on art or posts and stuff… but here we are!! And it’s all thanks to learning more about each other and daring to show each other compassion even when we didn’t want to!! :333

So in the end, we don’t know for sure what will help y’all reach a mutual understanding and stop hating each other…. But we can give you advice for what’s helped us in the past! We still have alters who hate each other (ahhhhh) but at least we’re making progress!!! And that’s what counts!! We Can Move Forward!! And we believe y’all can too!! >w<

💚 Ralsei and 🦇 Alucard (or Kandi - bats got two names and likes them used interchangeably!)

#trauma #exotrauma #exomemories #octive #getting along #cooperation #hope we tagged this right!

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drarrily-we-row-along · 1 year

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Making It Work (Chapter Nine)

If Harry tried to say that their training was a walk in the park that afternoon, he’d be lying but it was strangely far more tolerable than it had been the past several days. Malfoy still got irritated with Harry for his impulsiveness and Harry still felt like he was chomping at the bit trying to drag Malfoy along with him but they at least communicated more.

They were both lying on the floor trying to catch their breath from the last simulation when Higgins came in.

“I see the Nexus orb is doing its job,” she said.

“We passed?” Herry asked hopefully.

“No,” she and Malfoy said simultaneously.

She smiled at Malfoy, even as Harry rolled his eyes at him and stuck out his tongue.

“What, are you 5, Potter?”

Higgins spoke up before Harry could say anything, “So, your physical response and emergency response indicators were both up by 3%, which was a great improvement. But the indicators that really showed that your orb was working was your personality response. That was up 11%, good work you two. Obviously, it’s helped the two of you to talk with one another more.”

Harry nodded and glanced at Malfoy, “Yeah, I think it is helping.”

“That’s only because it hasn’t started asking the hard questions that you’ll resent it for later,” Malfoy said, and Harry couldn’t help but wonder if he was teasing or serious.

“Well, I think the progress you’ve made is brilliant.”

“Thanks,” Harry said with a grin.

As they walked out of the room Malfoy stretched his arm across his chest, his breath hitching slightly.

“Alright?” Harry asked.

“Fine,” he said briskly as he exhaled. “Old shoulder injury that’s never managed to heal up properly. My body takes a beating as your partner, even when we’re not in the field apparently.”

“Wanker,” Harry replied, knocking his shoulder into Malfoy’s good one.

As they stumbled into their office laughing and shoving at one another, they were met by the sight of Ron and Hermione staring dumbstruck at the two of them. “Ron! Hermione! Hey,” Harry said, pleased to see them.

“Hi Harry,” Hermione replied, an odd expression on her face before she turned to Malfoy and nodded in greeting, “Draco.”

“Hello,” he replied carefully.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment as Ron gawked at the two of them and Hermione looked between the two of them calculatingly with a look Harry was not entirely fond of.

“Well,” Hermione said after the strain apparently became too much for her to bear. “We just thought we’d stop by and see if you’d like to grab lunch with us.”

“Yeah,” Harry replied immediately, like he always did when they invited him to a meal. “Oh, err,” he turned to Malfoy, “Did you want to come too or...”

“No,” Malfoy said quickly, then he cleared his throat, “No, thank you. I have some leftovers from last night and loads of paperwork to do. I will be fine here.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked uncertainly, suddenly feeling like he was somehow bailing on the other man.

“Quite sure,” Malfoy replied as he moved toward his desk and busied himself with some files.

“Do you want me to stay-”

“For Circe’s sake, Potter. Get out of here. Go to lunch,” Malfoy snapped.

“Yeah, alright.” He glanced over at Ron and Hermione; Ron was standing there looking at him like he’d grown an extra head but Hermione just looked curiously at him. The curiosity seemed much worse.

They made their way to the cafeteria and thankfully Hermione started talking about one of the projects they were working on developing for St. Mungos. Unfortunately, this only lasted until they’d gone through the line to get their meals and sat down; then Hermione cast a muffliato and Ron immediately opened his mouth.

“What just happened?”

“Sorry?” Harry asked, feigning innocence and stabbing into his food.

“I think what Ron is trying to ask is if you and Malfoy have decided to be friends?” Hermione clarified.

“No, I mean what the bloody hell is going on,” Ron said. “Are you under an imperius curse?”

“Ron, I can throw off an imperius curse, remember?” he replied, rolling his eyes like Ron was being dramatic even though he would have said the exact same thing a week ago.

“Calm down, Ronald,” Hermione said briskly as she took a sip of her tea. “Let him speak.” Then she looked at him expectantly and waited.

“Well,” Harry said, “We’re not friends, exactly, but we don’t exactly hate each other anymore either.”

“How?” Ron asked, his brow furrowed. “This is Malfoy we are talking about.”

“Well he’s not the same as he was at school,” Harry said with a shrug as he stuffed his sandwich in his mouth hoping to avoid having to say any more about it.

“Really?” Ron asked skeptically.

“Yeah,” Harry said through a mouthful of food. “Spending over a week in someone’s presence really forces you to get to know them a bit.”

“Huh,” Ron said, staring off into space for a long moment.

“We’re just surprised,” Hermione said quickly. “We thought it would be unbearable for you.”

“It was in the beginning,” Harry replied. “But eventually I realized I was still imagining him as the stupid prat we knew at school but he’s not that person any more than I am who I was at school.”

“But the pureblood, elitism shite he was always spouting?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, haven’t heard a single word out of his mouth about any of that," he replied honestly.

“Huh,” Ron said again before shrugging and shoving a crisp in his mouth. “Who would’ve thought it?”

“Right?” Harry replied, glad that Ron and Hermione seemed to be settling into the idea that Malfoy wasn’t awful more quickly than he had.

“Well, it’s not really surprising when you think about it,” Hermione said.

“How so?” Harry asked as Ron said, “What do you mean, not surprising?”

“Well, he sort of rebelled against Pureblood culture, didn’t he?”

“Hermione,” Harry said, “You're using the 'we all know what's going on here voice' when in fact you are the only one who knows what's going on here. Tell us what you know that we obviously don’t.”

Ron nodded in agreement.

“Well, it was all over the papers and Millie Bulstrode couldn’t stop gossiping about it at work. It was quite the scandal.”

“What was?” he asked, barely tamping down on the desire to snap in an effort to get her to talk faster. He never read the Prophet and he didn’t have any coworkers or friends who were in the same social circle, she knew all of this.

“He was supposed to marry Astoria Greengrass, you remember?” Harry didn’t but he didn’t say so. “His parents had set it up, it was supposed to help the Malfoy name, he was supposed to go into politics or something. But after a few weeks, he called the whole thing off, said it was a sham and neither he nor Astoria deserved to live a lie.”

“Wow,” Harry said.

“His parents didn’t take it well, from what I understand. His father demanded he marry some pureblood girl and start a family but he refused and his father disowned him. It was quite a public spectacle, I’m told. Draco apparently opted to shout abuses at his father on the sidewalk in Diagon alley outside of a restaurant. The direct quote, if I’m remembering correctly,” and Harry had no doubt she was, “was that ‘all of their antiquated pureblood traditions could go straight back to hell from whence they’d come.’”

“Blimey,” Ron said with a low whistle.

Harry didn’t quite know what to say. After a moment he decided on, “You couldn’t have told me this before I made a complete arse of myself and basically called him a bigoted prick who was exactly the same as he was in school?”

Hermione shrugged, “I’m sorry. I’d just assumed you’d heard. He works in the same department that you do and it truly was in all of the papers. They hounded him for weeks to get quotes from him and he always said things about how terrible the whole system was and that it was a load of codswallop. Some people thought it was just a publicity stunt to get him into good graces in the ministry, I just assumed that’s what you thought too.”

“Yeah, but his parents disowned him,” Harry said. “Even if it was a publicity stunt, that sort of consequence doesn’t seem worth it.”

Hermione nodded, “I agree, but how was I to know that you didn’t know?”

Harry shrugged, suddenly feeling like even more of a heel. “I feel like a jerk.”

“But you couldn’t have known, mate,” Ron said conciliatorily. “And it seemed like the two of you are getting along fine now so he must not be too mad at you.”

“No,” Harry agreed. “He’s been pretty kind, actually.” He snorted, “He thinks I have a deathwish and hate my job-”

Hermione and Ron gave each other one of those pointed shared looks that Harry hated.

“Which I don’t,” he said, glaring at them. “But honestly, it’s been nice having a partner who calls me out and doesn’t treat me like I’m made of glass and always right.”

Hermione nodded but Ron said, “I mean, I hear you, mate but Malfoy? Really?”

“I know,” he said with a helpless little shrug. “He drives me a little batty but I think this might actually work.”

They moved on to a different topic of conversation, Hermione telling them more about her work. Before long, Harry found himself saying goodbye and heading back to his office and feeling just the tiniest bit nervous.

Malfoy was sitting at his desk, filling in paperwork, when Harry came back in and he looked calm enough but Harry couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about. “Hey,” he said.

The other man glanced up at him, “Hi,” he said before going back to work. No other words were forthcoming but Harry couldn’t help standing there and waiting for him to say something else.

“Did you need something?” Malfoy asked.

“Are you mad?”

“Mad?” Malfoy asked. “No, why would I be mad?”

“I don’t know.”

Malfoy went back to writing again but when Harry didn’t move he dropped his quill and rubbed his hands over his face, “What, Potter?”

“What are you thinking?”

“That you’re an irritating prat.”

Huffing Harry asked, “What were you thinking before I came back in?”

“That I could barely remember the details of the case I’m writing up and I really ought to have gotten to it before now,” he said blandly.

“Malfoy,” Harry growled warningly.

“Just leave it.”

“No,” he said, stubbornly crossing his arms across his chest.

“Fine,” Malfoy exploded and now he did sound angry. “I was wondering if Granger and Weasley were going to bring you back to your senses and make you hate me again. I was wondering how much ground we were going to have to recover. I was wondering if there is any way this bloody partnership will ever work. Happy?” he spat.

“Oh,” Harry replied.

“Oh? That’s all you’ve got to say?” He threw down the paper he’d been holding and stood up. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Malfoy,” Harry said, holding out his hands trying to placate him.

“Don’t,” Malfoy replied and Harry didn’t think that was quite fair because how could Malfoy know what he was going to say when Harry didn’t know himself? “This is not easy for me, Potter, whatever you may think. It is bloody hard living with someone who has every reason in the world to hate you, to never forgive you, and to be right for both of those things.”

“Malfoy,” Harry started again.

“I said dont.”

“Draco,” Harry said, not entirely sure why he was using Malfoy’s given name, but Malfoy froze so it was probably the right call. “Listen to me. I do not hate you. Ron and Hermione didn’t want to tell me that I was being an idiot, they just wondered how everything was going. I told them things are going well.”

“You did?” he asked disbelievingly.

“Well, yeah,” Harry replied. “Things are going well, aren’t they?”

“Well, I thought so.”

“Right, then why are you worried?”

“I’m not worried,” Malfoy sneered.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Because you’re unpredictable!” he burst out. “Because it is exhausting living with someone and waiting for them to remember that they have good reasons to dislike you.”

“You have good reasons to dislike me, too,” Harry replied softly.

“No, I don’t. You literally saved the world. You are so noble and good that you came to my hearing and testified on my behalf even though I did all of those horrible things.”

“I literally cast a spell at you that could have killed you.”

“Because I was trying to crucio you,” he said. Then he added, ”I am the representation of everything you fought against.”

“You’re not,” he said firmly. “Malfoy, you were just a kid. You were right when you said you had no choice and you were right when you said it was easy for me to make the right choices. It was hard sometimes, I guess, but for every person you had pushing you to do horrible things I had someone pushing me to do good things.” Harry swallowed and took a step toward him, “I do not regret testifying at your trial, or at Narcissa’s. The war never would have been won if it weren’t for the two of you.”

“But there never would have been a war to begin with if it weren’t for people like me.”

“Do you believe those things? Do you believe in any of the things that Voldemort stood for?”

“When I was younger-”

“Right now,” Harry interrupted. “Do you believe any of those things? At this moment, do you believe even a word that that madman said?”

“Of course not.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“What is?”

Harry held out his hand, “Let’s start this all again, yeah?”

“What?”

“Hi,” he said after a deep breath. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Harry just stood there, hand outstretched, waiting. He got the terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that Malfoy wasn’t going to take his hand.

But after a moment he took Harry’s hand and shook it, “Draco,” he said. “Draco Malfoy.”

Harry kept his hand gripped tightly in his own, “We were both just kids, Draco. Stupid kids. Let’s move on.”

Malfoy nodded once.

Harry beamed at him, “Great. I look forward to working with you.”

-----------------

Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten

#making it work fic #getting along #making progress #having conversations #slow burn #Hermione sees where this is going #they don't call her the brightest witch of her age for nothing #drarry #love eventuall

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euphorictruths · 2 years

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someawesomeamvs · 2 months

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youtube

Warning: Comedic violence, sexual imagery

Title: Getting Along

Editor: Lê Đăng

Song: Getting Along

Artist: Royal Republic

Anime: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Category: For fun

#anime #amv #miss kobayashi's dragon maid #kobayashi san chi no maid dragon #royal republic #video #music #song #youtube #editing #Lê Đăng #[AMV] Royal Republic - Getting Along ( Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon )#getting along #for fun #Youtube

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jokingluna · 2 years

Photo

#Princess Luna #Princess Celestia #dolphins #getting along #joke

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howifeltabouthim · 1 year

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And you can't plan whether someone will . . . get along with you all right.

Catherine Lacey, from Biography of X

#can't plan for it #chemistry #getting along #compatibility #relationships #personal #can't force it #quotes #lit #words #excerpts #quote #literature #catherine lacey #biography of x

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sanderstan · 8 months

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Made the Fam photo. c!Thomas took this photo without them knowing, seeing how they were all getting along a bit after the “Moving On” episodes. Rare occasion to see Logan with his glasses off.

#family #patton sanders #thomas sanders #sander sides #artwork #roman sanders #ts logan #ts virgil #getting along #compromise #logic #creativity #morality #anxiety #so many tags for this one

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moonlilystarkina · 11 months

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Puttering along

Kind of hit a wall in the story gpose thing, but slowly getting back into it as best I can! Been practicing facial expressions since my WoL will eventually take off her mask, and been making doubly sure my hubby is okay with being tossed into it all as well as making sure I am getting things right with how he reacts to things and such.

Also attempting to not get discouraged in both posing, the attempt at good story, and her appearance since I want to give her glowing moons on her body and suck with doing that sorta thing. Don’t have the most steady of hands.I also still feel awkward as hell when half the gpose stuff I go do ends up in areas with people running everywhere.

#Getting along #feelings and thoughts #FFXIV #awkward and shy #unsteady hands

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littlewalken · 1 year

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A lot of y’all need to chill out, get off your high horse, and watch the South Park episode ‘Death Camp of Tolerance’ before we go any further.

Just because you have to tolerate something doesn't mean you have to approve of it!

#tolerance #getting along

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heyitslizohwhat · 2 years

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We're getting along swell..

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk2077 #cp2077 #cp77 #cyberpunk screenshots #screenshot #johnny silverhand #male v #smoking #getting along #cyberpunk photomode #cp2077 photomode #photomode

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drarrily-we-row-along · 1 year

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Making It Work (Chapter Eight)

The next morning when Harry woke up, he couldn’t remember ever feeling quite as disgusting as he did in this moment. He stumbled to the bathroom and relieved himself before making his way out to the kitchen and pouring a large glass of water.

The door onto the porch opened and Harry glanced over at Malfoy who was wearing his tight teal yoga pants and a loose fitting tank top, his hair in a top knot again. “Potter, you smell like a distillery. Have you never heard of a hangover potion? Or a shower?”

Harry groaned irritably. “Get off my back, Malfoy.”

“Here,” he said, handing him a vial with a potion in it.

And it probably spoke to how awful Harry was feeling that he simply took the potion and drank it down. He shuddered as the sledge drained down his throat and for a horrifying moment, he was quite sure he was going to be sick all over the kitchen counter. After a moment it passed and he suddenly felt much better. “Thanks,” he said, not feeling outstanding, but not feeling like he’d been hit by the night bus, either.

“Go have a shower, you’ll feel better,” Malfoy said. “And I’ll feel better because I won’t be able to smell you.”

“You’re such a wanker.”

“Yes, well, honesty does seem to be the best policy with Auror partners,” he said with a shrug. “Now, off you pop; to the shower with you. I’ll make breakfast.”

Harry was loathe to admit it, but a shower went a long way to making him feel a little more human. The house smelled divine as he came out into the living room and made his way to the kitchen.

“Ah, just in time,” Malfoy said and a cup of coffee floated over to him followed by a waffle and a plate of bacon.

“You made waffles?” Harry asked, oddly touched.

Malfoy shrugged, not looking at Harry, “They’re good for absorbing alcohol in your stomach. You’ll function better.”

“You’re-” Harry started before cutting himself off.

“What?” Malfoy asked, glaring suspiciously at him.

“You’ll murder me, but I was going to say sweet.”

Malfoy blinked, mouth opening indignantly for a moment then snapping shut before he groused, “I am not sweet, Potter! I am a Malfoy.”

Harry laughed at that, he couldn’t help himself, “I know, you’ve kept it under wraps very well. I never would have suspected it.”

“Potter, I will curse you into next week.”

“Will you make me waffles when I arrive in next week, too?” Harry asked with a huge grin as he stuffed a bite of waffle into his mouth. He groaned at the fluffy, sweet confection in his mouth, “They’re very good.”

Malfoy rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath.

“This is the nicest start to a Thursday I’ve ever had.”

“Thursdays are particularly heinous, aren’t they?” Malfoy agreed trying, Harry suspected, to steer them away from the topic of his kindness.

“They’re the worst. Second only to Tuesday,” Harry replied easily.

“You’re right about that, Potter.”

He hummed and took a sip of the coffee that Malfoy had managed to make perfectly for him. “I always spend Thursday mornings daydreaming about flooing in sick to work,” Harry said before taking another large bite of waffle.

“What would you do with a sick day when you’re not sick?” Malfoy asked before taking cutting a small piece of waffle with his knife and delivering it to his mouth. How was he so bloody graceful in everything he did?

“Well, I’d go back to bed for starters,” Harry told him. “Then I’d get up again around 10:00 and I’d make myself a big breakfast, maybe waffles or something,” he said with a grin that Malfoy rolled his eyes at. “I’d pull out one of the two dozen books I have on my to-read book pile and I’d curl up in my favorite armchair and read for a few hours and drink tea. Then in the afternoon, I’d put on a glamour to disguise who I am so I don’t get caught out and I’d go find a farmers market. I’d find the local honey booth and I’d probably fall in love with the bloke who ran it,” he paused then added, “or the girl who ran it. That part changes depending on my mood. I’d stay the rest of the afternoon at his stall just talking and laughing, we’d go to dinner together, and that would be it. The beginning of the perfect life.”

“That’s a very detailed daydream, Potter.”

Harry shrugged, “It changes a bit depending on the season, too. Can’t be daydreaming about farmers markets in the winter.”

“Indeed.”

“Alright, what do you daydream about when you want to play hooky?”

Humming thoughtfully, Malfoy said, “I don’t generally. I like going to work most days, I liked working with my partner. He was kind and he taught me a lot, we worked hard and I always felt good about what we were doing. I didn’t really feel that way about my life until I became an Auror.”

Harry listened attentively, there was something about the little glimpses Malfoy gave him of his interior life that always left him wanting to hear more, his waffle and coffee forgotten for the moment.

Draco cleared his throat, “I’m more likely to daydream about what my evenings after work could be like someday. I imagine having breakfast with my husband or boyfriend or whatever, then going off to work and tracking down criminals. Then I imagine coming home to a warm house with all of the lights on and a fire already lit in the hearth. I imagine making dinner together or curling up on the sofa to read or just talk.” He shrugged, his cheeks faintly flushed. “It’s stupid really.”

“It’s not,” Harry said softly, and he wanted to reach out and cover Malfoy’s hand with his own, but he didn’t. “It’s not,” he said again, more softly.

He wasn’t quite sure what it was that was happening, what had shifted over the past 12 hours between them. He opened his mouth to say something when Malfoy’s tempus charm went off, startling them both.

“Circe,” Malfoy cursed, waving a hand to stop the alarm. “I have to get ready, enough daydreaming for me.”

And if Harry fancied he heard a bit of wistfulness in Malfoy’s voice, well, he kept his thoughts to himself.

———

Harry was no stranger to the desire to watch Malfoy. He’d spent a fairly large amount of time watching the other man when they were just boys and he could admit, if only to himself, that whenever the two of them had ended up at the same events his eyes stayed glued to the other man, watching him suspiciously.

What was more unfamiliar were the feelings behind his desire to watch him now. Throughout the course of the morning, Harry couldn’t fight the impulse to look up at the other man while they filled in paperwork.

And he’d stare at him, trying to reconcile the pretentious, rude, bigoted boy he’d known in school with this graceful, elegant, hard-working man who daydreamed about coming home to someone at night and who wanted a tiny cozy house. He was nothing like what Harry had imagined.

“What, Potter?” Malfoy finally asked, after looking up for the sixteenth time to find Harry watching him. Harry always tried to avert his eyes, but didn’t manage it well.

“Nothing,” Harry said.

“You have your sixth-year-stalker face on,” Malfoy said with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

He rolled his eyes, “Every time I look up I see you staring at me and even when I’m not looking at you, I can feel your eyes boring a hole into my skull. It’s like 6th year all over again.”

“This is nothing like that,” Harry replied, his neck growing warm.

Malfoy merely raised one infuriatingly elegant eyebrow at him.

“It’s not!” Harry protested. “Then I was just trying to figure out what you were up to and now,” Harry trailed off, not really sure what to say.

“And now…” Malfoy prompted.

“Now I’m just trying to figure you out,” Harry finished lamely with a shrug.

His brow furrowed, “What about me are you trying to figure out? I’ve been very upfront with you, Potter.”

“I know,” Harry said, “I just sort of like getting to know this you.”

Malfoy stared at him for a moment, then narrowed his eyes, “Are you still drunk, Potter?”

“You’re a prat,” Harry said with a laugh.

“I might have always been amazing to know at Hogwarts,” Malfoy said haughtily. “You don’t know.”

“I don’t,” Harry agreed. “You always seemed to have plenty of friends.”

Malfoy shrugged, “Yes and no.” There was a sadness around Malfoy’s eyes and in the twist of his mouth that made something twist uncomfortably in Harry’s stomach. "I certainly had my faults."

“I was a delight to be around as a teenager, let me tell you,” Harry replied, trying to steer toward something that would make his melancholy disappear.

That startled a laugh out of Malfoy, “Oh, I’ve no doubt. Only you were weirdly moody from like 5th year on.”

“I was not!” Harry said, trying to feel offended but not quite managing it.

“You were,” Malfoy said. “Always glaring into you porridge in the morning and skulking about as though the world was out to get you.”

“It was!” Harry exclaimed. “In fifth year, Voldemorte’s thoughts started leaking into my head and if you think teenage hormones are bad, you’ve got no idea what it’s like to also be sharing thoughts with a mad man when he’s most upset.”

“Sorry,” Malfoy said incredulously, “Did you really just tell me that you were sharing thoughts with Voldemort?”

Harry suddenly wished he hadn’t brought this up. He gave a small nod.

“And no one helped you stop them? No one wanted to, like, protect you?”

“People wanted to protect me,” he said a touch defensively. “Dumbledore made Snape start teaching me occulmency and-”

“Snape?” Malfoy asked incredulously. “He wanted Snape to teach you occulmency.”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “He was really good at it.”

“But he was a bloody awful legilimency teacher,” Malfoy replied. “My parents wanted him to teach me, too, but one lesson and they swiftly changed their minds about that. And he liked me.”

“Yeah, it was pretty awful. That was a bad year. After Cedric died, everything sort of went downhill, you know? It was like the war became something real, something that could actually hurt people I loved.” He swallowed, “I was just a kid, you know? And it felt like I had all of this pressure on me that no one understood. And I just felt really alone and isolated from everyone else, like sometimes it was like I was watching everything through a window. People would laugh and talk and I just felt angry. All the time. For no reason at all. And some people wanted to treat me like a child, because I was one, but I didn’t feel like I should be treated like one. He was in my head, and I was the one who saw him when he came back, I was the one he was after, and people were dying. For me. And I just hated that. I hated all of it.”

The room was quiet and Harry glanced over at Malfoy, who was staring at him calculatingly. “That was sixth year for me,” he said, surprising Harry with his honesty. “Not the bit about Voldemort, although he was living in my house and I, too, had to learn occlumency. But realizing the actuality of the war that was brewing, seeing the effects first hand. My friends didn’t really get it, not even the ones whose parents were supporters of Voldemort, he didn’t live with them, he didn’t torture people in their homes. Their parents were similar to mine, I think, but no one like my Aunt Bellatrix, no one in appearance like Severus, who was my godfather. School seemed so pointless. Everything seemed pointless. I was going to fail and then I’d be killed along with my mother,” he shrugged helplessly. “I was angry and trapped and I felt like there was no way out.”

Harry was quiet for a moment then he asked, “Do you ever think about how crazy our school was?”

Malfoy let out an undignified snort at the question.

“Seriously!” Harry said. “If I were a parent, I’d never send my child to the Hogwarts I went to. I mean, maybe now with Minerva in charge and with people in the Ministry who actually understand the way children learn pushing for solid education reform. But the Hogwarts we went to? No bloody chance. They had us wandering around looking for some dark being who was killing unicorns when we were eleven, Malfoy. Eleven. That was fucking Voldemort that we stumbled across that night, by the way. Two children, wandering around in what is literally called the forbidden forest at night with no adult.”

Malfoy's open laughter made the corners of Harry’s lips tilt up at the sound, so he continued.

“Not to mention our teacher had, you know, Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. Then second year, children are getting petrified left and right, they hired a complete sham of a teacher who set pixies on students and who was completely incapable of teaching anything. I mean, shouldn’t there have been some practical aspect of his interview where he had to demonstrate some skill?”

Malfoy was chortling, his cheeks pink, “You’re right, that is awful.”

“Like they were debating closing Hogwarts, but I would have marched my child straight home the moment someone ended up petrified and not returned them to the school until the damn basilisk was killed. Then third year, parading in a bunch of bloody dementors-” Harry started.

“Well, you were more strangely affected by them than most.”

“I had two souls living inside of me,” Harry replied and Malfoy let out a surprise bark of laughter. “I'm sure they thought I was a complete freak. Regardless, they’re dementors around children and teenagers who are already hormonal,” Malfoy started laughing again at this, “It can’t have made hormones any better.”

“And fourth year with the triwizard tournament,” Harry said. “Are you kidding me? I would never let my child participate in something like that. Who makes children try to steal eggs from a dragon? Or throws them into a lake with mermaids and a giant squid? Who sends children into a maze packed with all sorts of terrifying things all alone?” Malfoy just shook his head at him. “I mean, a child died.” Harry said and at that, Malfoy frowned. “Literally died. And granted they couldn’t have known that the cup could have been switched for a portkey but surely someone should have seen the signs that that man was not Alastor Moody.

“I would have thrown a hissy fit about Umbridge being placed in the school,” Harry continued. “She blatantly abused her power and abused children. Everything was in chaos by the end of the year.” He rubbed his forehead, “I mean, I wasn’t raised in a magical household so maybe wizarding families just always expect this crazy stuff?”

Malfoy shook his head, “No. There were plenty of times in the early years when my parents talked about sending me to a different school. We have family who go to Beauxbaton, so they often talked about sending me there instead.”

“So I’m not crazy.”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far,” Malfoy replied with a smirk. Then he added, “And you got into more trouble than everyone else.”

“But I only mentioned things that affected all of the students! I did plenty of stupid things on my own, admittedly, but there were a vast array of things beyond my control that were not well thought through by adults in power.”

“What can I say, Potter, when you’re right, you’re-”

He was cut off by a knock on the door and Helena coming in.

“You have the worst timing,” Harry teased her with a smile, “He was just about to tell me that I was right.”

“Oh, shut up, Potter,” Malfoy replied without any bite in his tone.

“Well, you two seem to be in fine spirits today,” she commented as she leaned against the doorframe.

“Malfoy made waffles for breakfast.”

“I will hex you, Potter.”

“Oooh!” Helena crowed, crowding into the office and sitting on the corner of Harry’s desk, as though readying herself for prime gossip. “Spill! Did you sleep together? Why was he making breakfast?”

Malfoy groaned, “Do you see what you’ve started?” he asked Harry. “No,” he said firmly in response to Helena’s question. “We live together because we are mandated to until we pass our compatibility tests and Potter got stupidly drunk last night and forgot that we are wizards who can take potions to get rid of hangovers before they even happen. Waffles are the best thing to absorb alcohol out of a stomach.”

“You’re sweet, Auror Malfoy,” she said, obviously quite smitten.

“Draco,” Malfoy corrected as Harry said, “That’s what I said.”

Malfoy sent a mild stinging hex at him and Harry laughed.

“He’s a keeper, Harry,” Helena said with a wink at Malfoy. “Don’t mess this one up.”

“Why is it everyone always assumes I’m the screw up?” Harry whinged and Malfoy smirked at him.

“Because, Potter, I am easy to work with.”

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Chapter Seven | Chapter Nine

#drarry #slow burn #getting along #getting to know each other #auror partners #auror harry #auror draco #teasing #bickering #making it work fic

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