After a few hours of a late-night working through details and minor evidence, Harry felt more than tired. Not only was it exhausting to try and get information from a castle of children, but it really put him to the test on things he was supposed to know.

McGonagall was handier than ever in filling in more gaps, but as the night went on, it felt like no matter how hard Harry tried, he'd be filling them in forever.

Remus helped with all the children, names, unruliness, and all while giving him the side-eye, probably attempting to see if at the end of their arduous night he could glean some information from him about Hermione and Severus. He was lucky to have known Remus in his past life to be able to see it now. Though he was certainly changed, looking healthy, fit, and proud: a man deserving of happiness, it didn't change the fact he was marauder through and through.

Unable to get caught up in the throws of seeing him again, Harry focused on his notes for the disappearance of Caelum. The twins hadn't proved useful, they'd gone off with third-years Jacob Thomas and Phillip Harggle, leaving Mr. Black to a girl in Slytherin who said that she had left Caelum near the entrance of the school.

The entrance hall had no paintings in it, so they were of little help, and the ghosts were more geared towards watching over the newer students heading towards the dorms. Plaza had only arrived a few minutes prior, but seemed to have lost the boy's trace only a few feet out of the door.

Diagnostic spells were next, lurking around the main entrance to see if any charms or hexes had been casted strong enough to leave any magical residue.

What they ran into was unexpected to say the least.

An imperius curse, or the traces of it. They were able to identify the core of the wand that had done it, but only that and not the exact specifications of the wand itself nor its user. It was a start. Harry wrote down the unicorn hair note, glad enough that he had something at all to work with. Now, it was up to the other, less senior aurors, to see if anyone had reported unforgivable usage.

Frankly, he wasn't hopeful.

The night ended with him handing the case to other capable hands for the evening as he needed to sleep before he started once again on the investigation in the morning. Lest he be of no help, he left without saying goodbye to many of the people there.

The school was under protection of a rotation of two Aurors until Caelum was found, in constant contact with Minerva should they ever need it.

He wasn't thrilled to find Hermione stoic on the couch with Draco, looking no worse for wear than earlier, but at least far less depressed. They'd had a long weekend with her being so down and out, especially considering they were on edge about how being separated from Snape would affect her.

Even a glamor charm couldn't rid anyone of those deep-set bags under her eyes.

"How'd it go?" Draco asked, tired eyes on him.

"We haven't got much. An unforgivable, a theory it might be related to Mrs. Black, and then a wand core. Considering you're part of the Black family, and you two share the same god-father, I trust you to keep all this a secret?"

Draco nodded, and Hermione closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Severus stopped by earlier."

"I'd wondered where he'd gone off to," Harry commented, moving Hermione's legs out from beneath her and putting an arm around her.

"We didn't resolve anything, he still seems rather upset," she whispered, conscious of the amount of children and yelling he'd just dealth with. That and it was rather late into the night.

"Did he upset you further?"

"No."

Harry looked over to Draco to confirm, and he did, placing his head on top of hers and mouthed that he would tell him later.

"Bed, for all of us. We've had a ruddy end of last week and beginning of this one, we can't compromise on sleep."

"Yes, dad," Hermione chastised him for his tone, but he managed a smile and helped her up anyways.

It had been a week like one akin to the war, though with just a little less life and death.

They trudged upstairs, giving Hermione a final hug before ascending to the fourth floor where every evening task Harry usually did by hand, he completed with a wave of his wand, falling into bed without a care. He let Draco move the covers and pull in close to him, unable to do much else besides put out an arm and wrap it around him.

It felt wonderful.

If he hadn't have worked the whole day and then picked up this case for the people he cared about, Harry would still be out attempting to look for Caelum. It was hard to be on the lookout for someone you knew and have to hand over the case, but really, all the field work was done until they could get a lead to bring them closer to finding out what happened to the poor boy.

They were searching for unforgivable reports, any wizard who might want to get to Caelum's mother, and traces of the boy himself on the far ends of the forest and grounds just in case. Harry was to be alerted if anything came in that was urgent, but for now, he was released to sleep.

How he was supposed to sleep beyond collapsing of pure exhaustion escaped him.

Although he was close to such a thing, the guilt was not helping. Here he was safe and at home while the black family worried for their boy's life... it just didn't seem fair.

He'd never been put on a case for a missing wizarding child in their old world as it simply hadn't happened. Sure, some students got stuck on the third floor in Hogwarts occasionally, but it was nothing the professors couldn't handle on their own.

A few adult witches and wizards went missing, only once or twice was it nefarious, but this? It was an unprecedented case he was prepared for nonetheless. If he treated it like a case of murder, attempting to find the killer, it was close to the same thing.

They also waited for a ransom demand.

If the perpetrator had magical gains to be made, it would stay only in their ministry. If they had muggle motivations, then they'd discussed bringing in the muggle police, but that was highly improbably considering muggles couldn't access Hogwarts.

Harry rubbed his hands over his face, attempting not to jostle Draco in the process.

"You have to sleep, you said so yourself," he muttered anyway, a lot more awake than Harry anticipated him being.

The ease with which they'd taken over the weekend, even with Hermione's exile, was a happy and welcome change in Harry's life. With the disappearance of Caelum joining their friend's disappearing husband, his own husband being a stronghold was something he never thought he'd need.

It was nice to have a partner, to hold and to tell everything to. His brain really had gone to mush after that night.

"I know... I thought you were sleeping."

"So, technically you have only been sleeping with me for a few nights and you wouldn't know this, but in this life sleep flies on a pixie wing for me. It doesn't take much to break."

"I'm sorry, Draco, just with the bloody war, I thought crises like this were done. Of course, having been no war here, I reckon I should prepare for a whole new herd of challenges, huh?"

What felt like a nod, then he curled even closer to Harry's side if possible.

"I hope not. Normal Auror stuff for you, you must know by now at least how much I hate you doing this job. It's dangerous."

"Lots of jobs are dangerous. Luna lost her mother to experimental spells."

"Mhm."

Probably one of the first few things they'd agreed happened the same, especially considering it happened outside of the war. No matter what, it was still tragic.

"I wonder if I can still see thestrals."

"You can either way. You were with a victim of the cruciatus curse on scene when they died," Draco said lowly into his shoulder. "I can't remember the victim's name, but it was right after we got married."

"Thank you," Harry muttered.

He kissed the blonde head on his chest, feeling more comfortable day in and day out with this arrangement. He liked holding Draco and wouldn't feel guilty for it. Harry had put in almost double what was expected of his time today, and left the case in capable hands. Everything was under control.

"You ought to loosen up, I feel like your muscles are going to pop through your skin if you're not careful, Hare."

"You need sleep too."

A huff of air that made Harry's spine turn to jelly then solidify again, sent his mind right to the rubbish bin.

"Draco?"

From what little he could see, it wasn't hard to miss something so light as Draco's hair come up off his shoulder and turn in his general direction.

Harry moved his head forward and guided him to his lips in a kiss that was far more intimate than any of their previous ones.

This released the tension in his body, and while he'd never been bonded before, the warmth that spread over him just then could be nothing else besides the happy thrum of their entwined magic. He sat them both up and put one hand in Draco's hair, the other firmly on his waist.

Kissing a man was better than Harry thought it would ever be, and while he'd admired from a distance before, this was certainly different. As it was one thing to hold someone through the night and get along with them affectionately through the day, but it was another to move past that step into actual attraction.

The hard chest and tingle from his husband convinced Harry that maybe past him had gotten this part right after all. For it certainly felt better than any of his past dalliances, as much as he'd respected and loved Ginny, this was just a slight bit better.

Draco fell on top of him then, in between Harry's bent legs as they progressed with impassioned moans he truly hoped Hermione couldn't hear.

He stopped them after a few minutes of that heavenly and hardening snogging, deciding his conscience still burned a little too hot to be adding anymore wood to the fire.

"Now we sleep."

"Wanker. I would have preferred we continue on, although it does seem... inappropriate."

They settled again, and Harry started to think more on the case.

He wasn't going to solve anything that night, nor in the morning if he didn't rest his mind, it was just hard not to focus on either Caelum or his delectable -and finally sleeping- husband.

Really neither were good, but it was what the world had given him.

Harry moved onto his rage with Snape, the anger finally tipping him over the edge into exhaustion, with only a brief thought to his waning sanity.