firecracker ???

7-1

Harry had tilted his head. "So what do you suggest, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I suggest we let you go back to school."

Draco choked on his pumpkin juice.

"Back?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said serenely. "For your final year. Proper N.E.W.T.s, a return to normalcy. Or as close as Hogwarts gets."

"You're joking," Harry muttered.

"I never joke," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "Well. I rarely joke."

Lyra raised a brow. "You're giving us an entire year of peace."

"I'm giving you the year you should've had," he replied.

Sirius clapped Harry on the back. "Well. Guess you're not retiring just yet, Prongs Junior."

"Head Boy," Dumbledore added, glancing at Harry. "And Lyra, Head Girl."

Harry lit up. "YES."

Draco made a strangled noise.

"What," he sputtered, "do I get?"

Lucius answered smoothly: "Matching Firebolt with Harry. And a lesson in humility."

Draco looked like he might faint.

Harry just grinned. "You bought me a broomstick?"

"It was the only way to stop you from whining," Lucius said simply.

He smiled cheekily, Draco knew he was up to no good.

"I'm still going to whine, Dad."

His father's response horrified him more.

"Of course you will, son."

With the exchange, Draco looked positively ready to pass out now.

-

By August, Lucius had done more than just order matching Firebolts—he'd outfitted the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams with the finest Quidditch gear gold could buy under the pretense of "inter-house sportsmanship."

"What he really means," Harry muttered, tying his laces, "is that he wants Draco to beat me so badly he doesn't cry this year."

"I do not cry," Draco snapped, storming past in his pristine green-and-silver uniform.

"Aw," Harry said innocently. "Captain Malfoy. That your only badge?"

Draco glowered.

Harry tapped his chest with a dramatic flourish. "You know, it's so unusual having two badges. Head Boy and Quidditch captain? The balance. The power."

Lyra looked up from her book with a roll of her eyes.

"Did you forget I only have one badge too?"

Harry blinked. "What?"

"The captain is my brother, Potter."

"Oh—no—I just meant—"

"Because I was busy, you know, saving your life all of last year."

"Right."

"And destroying two Horcruxes."

"Mmhm."

"And keeping your idiocy somewhat tolerable in public."

"I love you?" he offered.

She raised her brow.

He folded immediately.