Poses

Draco was beginning to wonder how long Harry and Remus could chat about nothing when his eagle owl and Hedwig flew into the room, settling in front of the boys. Each stuck out a scaly leg and glared expectantly for their rewards. Smirking that his owl managed to get his leg out first, Draco untied the scroll marked with the Hogwarts crest from his owl\'s leg and read over the list of supplies.

Hedwig chirruped as Harry stroked her while he read his letter. Then he noticed the two birds edging closer to one another. For a horrific moment, he was certain that Draco\'s owl was going to nip at Hedwig, but instead, it started to preen her. He smiled at Hedwig who was twisting her head to allow it. \"When did this start?\" Harry asked her.

\"It\'s been going on all summer. Quite the torrid affair,\" Draco answered for her. With that, he hopped up to rifle through the cupboard for owl treats. Finding a few, he set them on the table.

\"I had no idea! I missed so much by not being here,\" groused Harry as he put his arm around Draco after he\'d settled back into his chair.

Draco snorted. \"Oh yes, owl romance is quite the reason to stay in.\"

\"I feel bad. I don\'t even know your owl\'s name, Draco.\"

\"Owl. His name is Owl.\" Draco watched the two birds quickly gobble up the treats and then return to their nuzzling.

Remus and Harry exchanged glances and then they looked at Draco. \"Really?\" asked Harry. Remembering Draco\'s dove, he reckoned that the Malfoys didn\'t name their owls or consider them pets, only servants.

\"Gryffindors.\" Draco shook his head at their gullibility. \"Bran. His name is Bran.\"

\"Brawn?\" Harry was reassured that Draco was just having him on. A little chagrined as well, as that was a tad discourteous.

Draco could tell that Harry wasn\'t catching the subtle difference in enunciation, but he decided that it didn\'t much matter. \"Yes.\"

Harry smiled and slid his finger over one of the feathers that jutted out above Bran\'s eye. \"Hullo, Brawn.\" The bird appeared unimpressed and went back to attending Hedwig.

Chuckling, Remus remarked, \"That bird is definitely a Malfoy. I think these letters are a sign that we should all go to Diagon Alley. I\'m not sure what we\'d do about lunch anyhow, and you two have been cooped up here too long.\"

\"Shopping?\" Draco pricked up his ears at that idea. His only escape from Grimmauld Place had been the traumatic jaunt to Snape\'s, which didn\'t exactly count. He was anxious to get out and about.

\"Well, perhaps some lunch, too.\" Harry rubbed his rumbling tummy.

\"I want ice cream.\" Following his announcement, Draco decisively stood and started towards the door.

\"Draco, we need to get Ron and Hermione!\" Harry dashed to catch up to him.

Remus gave them an indulgent smile. \"We\'ll all meet in the drawing room and Floo from there.\"

Draco rolled his eyes. \"Do they have to go?\" He glanced at Remus and wrinkled his nose and then looked to Harry.

\"I thought you liked them.\" Shuffling Draco out of the kitchen, Harry headed them towards Hermione\'s room. \"Aren\'t they your friends now?\"

Draco gritted his teeth at the taunt and responded, \"Pfft.\"

--

\"Ah, Diagon Alley. Just as I left it.\" Draco considered the speckled mound of clove and spice ice cream on his spoon before plunging it into his mouth. The street was bustling with back-to-school shoppers. It was easy to pick out the Mudbloods from the packs of children flooding the streets. They stood dazed staring at the magical items, shocked at the new world they\'d just found out about. Draco sneered at them.

Reading the expression of disdain on Draco\'s face, Harry sighed. He supposed the bigotry ran deep, but he\'d hoped that his boyfriend would see past all of that by now. Then again, it hadn\'t even been a year. People didn\'t change overnight. Pensively, Harry sipped his Butterbeer float and reasoned that at least Draco didn\'t say anything offensive.

Now that everyone was together in one spot, Harry noticed that there was a definite hierarchy to whom Draco responded. While Draco was highly attentive to anything he said, the others were given much less consideration. He figured that was normal. A lover would warrant more attention than friends. But then Draco\'s consideration broke down over predictable bloodlines. He would converse with Ron, but only answer direct questions from Hermione. He pretty much ignored Remus. It was disappointing, but Harry hoped Draco would grow out of it.

\"Did you see the look on Madam Malkin\'s face when Malfoy walked in? I thought she was going to cry, she was so happy. You being locked away for the summer must\'ve put a quite a dent in her profits.\" Ron tucked into his peanut butter ice cream sundae with a satisfied relish.

Tearing his eyes from the spectacle of the shoppers loaded down with bags, Draco appeared smug.

Hermione toyed with the bottom of her milkshake with her straw. \"Did you see the look on her face when he bought half the store?\"

Ron thought the wanton display of money was less than amusing. However, Ron realized that pointing that out would have led to an even more libertine display of consumerism. \"Clever of her to use the reducing charm on the bags, though.\"

Remus remained quiet, observing how crowded Florian Fortescue\'s Ice Cream Parlour had grown in the short time they\'d been sitting there. It was good to keep an eye out just in case, but he didn\'t expect there to be trouble here. He cleared off his last bite of Chocolate Frog Flavoured double chocolate ice cream and set the spoon down.

\"Oh, she\'s always done that for her bigger accounts. Makes for easier shopping and travel.\" Draco took another considered spoonful of the creamy treat and glanced around. He froze when he spotted a dark-clad man with black hair out of the corner of his eye. His empty spoon dropped from his mouth and landed with a clatter onto the plate.

The noise made Harry look up from his Butterbeer. His hand moved to where he kept his wand and he wrapped his arm protectively around his cringing lover.

\"Are you using this chair?\" the dark man asked Remus, unaware of the panic his appearance had caused.

\"No, go ahead,\" Remus responded to the stranger. Giving the perturbed boys a concerned look, he spoke softly, \"It\'s all right. It wasn\'t him.\"

Draco flinched and turned to look at Harry, who reached up and cupped his face. Stroking his cheeks, Harry repeated, \"It\'s all right. It wasn\'t him.\"

Nodding, Draco closed his eyes and allowed Harry to kiss his forehead.

Flashbulbs pierced the air with bright lights and loud clicking. The photographer from The Daily Prophet had probably been waiting all day for such a display of intimacy. It further tightened Draco\'s knotted up stomach. \"I don\'t want ice cream anymore.\"

The childish words and the mawkish tone tugged at Harry\'s heart, and he looked vulnerably at his friends as he hid Draco\'s face against his neck.

Ron and Hermione nodded and Remus stood up. \"Let\'s go.\"

--

Remus had managed to procure groceries while everyone else was sorting out their school supplies and new robes. Ron and Hermione volunteered to try their hand at cooking, partially because they wanted to, but also because they were no more impressed with Remus\'s penchant for \"well-done\" food than Draco. Together they pulled off a rosemary chicken, which Draco would deem passable.

Not that they heard of his approval, as he\'d confined himself to the room again, where Harry stayed, comforting him from his scare.

\"It\'s not that bad, Harry. I just got tired of smelling Granger, that\'s all.\"

Harry sighed. \"You didn\'t mind eating the chicken she made.\"

\"It was marginally better than starving.\" Draco crossed his arms, leaving Harry to squeeze his stiff torso and kiss his temple.

\"What happened to \'passable?\'\" Sliding his hand down to the crossed arms, Harry tugged at one of them, trying to get him to go back to clinging to him.

\"I was being polite.\"

\"You\'re not polite, Draco,\" he teased, nuzzling the side of his face. \"Even if you were, what would be the point? They\'re not here to hear it.\"

Draco smirked. \"You offend my honour. I should challenge you to a duel, but those things don\'t work out for me. I\'d summon a snake and you\'d start flirting with it again, and then I\'d be jealous.\"

\"I wasn\'t flirting with that snake!\"

\"You weren\'t flirting with me, either.\" Draco pouted as he let Harry pry his arms apart and with a playful grudging gesture, finally wrapped his arms around Harry again.

\"I wasn\'t ready for you. I was still in my reptile phase.\" Harry grinned at Draco and reached up to poke at the protruding lip.

\"Aha! You admit it. Pervert.\"

\"Yes, but I\'m your pervert. From now on, reptiles and I will only be friends.\" Harry held his hand to his heart. \"I wouldn\'t mind doing a few perverted things with you... but I want to know that you\'re all right first.\"

Draco looked rather put out and huffed. \"You\'re making far too much of this, Harry. It wasn\'t him. I knew it wasn\'t him. I just had a moment.\" He didn\'t want to get into that now. He was enjoying their playful banter, so he returned to it. Batting his eyes, he responded, \"I want to do perverted things, too.\"

Harry wasn\'t having Draco\'s avoidance. \"But we\'ll be in school soon and you\'ll see him all the...\"

\"I\'ll be expecting him at school. This was just a... I just wasn\'t prepared, is all. But it wasn\'t him and I\'m fine.\"

\"Draco, I\'m just worried that...\"

This time it was Draco\'s turn to cut Harry off with a kiss. As they weren\'t in public, Draco took advantage by sliding his hands over Harry\'s chest. He teased the tip of his tongue over the soft seal of Harry\'s lips, finding his lover pliant and giving. Harry\'s mouth opened slightly and Draco teased his tongue past his teeth and mingled with the soft warmth of his mouth.

It was the first time they\'d kissed like this in what felt like forever. Maybe it had been the whole summer since they\'d really expressed such desire for one another. It brought Harry back to the first time they made love in this bed. Caressing, tender, quiet as they were trying not to rouse Ron. He longed for that closeness, that intimacy. Sliding his arms around Draco\'s waist, he pulled him atop him.

Draco broke the kiss, leaving a few sloppy pecks over his mouth. He enjoyed the feel of Harry stroking his back as they began to kiss again. Finding himself quickly breathless, he broke the kiss. This time he leaned his weight on one elbow as he pulled his hair back and looked down at Harry\'s foggy glasses. He snickered and plucked them off. \"Getting steamed up, Harry?\"

Smiling, Harry nodded. \"I am, but you know... you don\'t have to do this... I don\'t want to push...\"

\"I know you don\'t.\" Draco gazed at Harry\'s face, silently calculating the number of times when Harry did push him over the summer. He\'d heard the apologies and made his peace with that, but seeing this reversal of Harry\'s behaviour back to how it had been before this mad summer pleased him. As thrilling as some of those encounters were in their peculiar way, he missed this boy, this love, and this closeness.

\"If you\'re having any doubts at all...\" Harry offered.

At this, Draco sighed. He did have some doubts. He looked away and rested his cheek against Harry\'s chest. He traced patterns on his collarbone through his nightshirt, pondering his feelings. Draco wanted to push the burden of their awkward summer behind him. He wanted Harry to make love to him.

Harry broke the silence. \"I want you to make love to me.\"

\"I\'m sorry... what?\" Draco lifted his head from Harry\'s chest to look at him.

\"I want you to be inside of me.\" Across Harry\'s cheeks spread a faint blush, and his expression was apprehensive, but sincere.

\"You don\'t have to...\" but Draco didn\'t want to finish that sentence. He didn\'t want to protest. This was something he\'d wanted for a long time, and though he wouldn\'t have chosen this path to get it, he felt that at this point, he deserved it.

\"I do. Draco, I do have to. You want this, and I should\'ve... just done what you wanted. Or at least... talked... or something. I don\'t know. I just... didn\'t... I couldn\'t really...\"

Draco pressed his finger to Harry\'s lips. \"It\'s all right.\"

Undaunted, Harry proceeded. \"That\'s why I thought... you know... that you and Ron. I guess. I mean... I thought maybe you weren\'t... getting what you needed... and that Ron...\"

\"You thought this up all by yourself?\" Draco\'s brow perked and he shook his head. \"So, you thought that because you, The Boy Who Is Gay, wouldn\'t bend for me... that the straightest man in Straight Town would?\"

Harry rolled his eyes. \"When you put it that way, it sounds stupid.\"

\"It sounds worse when I fill in the names. But it\'s all right; you had a bad childhood and were probably dropped on your head a lot by those incompetent Muggles.\" Draco smirked at Harry\'s attempt to keep from grinning.

\"You really are an arse.\"

\"You are what you eat?\" Draco waggled his brows.

Harry blushed and cleared his throat. \"You certainly don\'t have to do that if you don\'t want to...\"

\"And if I do?\" Though it seemed unlikely that Harry could blush any brighter, he did. Draco was highly amused, and better than that, he was getting aroused. He was excited about the prospect of being inside of Harry again, and it mitigated his dread of being reminded of Snape by being touched there.

\"Maybe I should... err... do that to you.\" The blush faded as the blood drained from Harry\'s cheeks at the idea of putting his tongue on Draco\'s... well... there.

The thought of it made Draco shiver, but the expression on Harry\'s face-- he couldn\'t push him to do that. \"Maybe next time.\"

Harry was relieved. He was already feeling rather jittery about allowing this, but he wanted to share himself with Draco. His lover deserved it, and it wasn\'t as if it had been the worst experience of his life. It had just been mildly uncomfortable at first. \"Next time, then.\"

Rationalizing that Harry had certainly taken liberties with him, Draco decided to start. He pressed his lips to Harry\'s, kneading at them till he felt them give and he teased their tongues together. Straddling him, he reached for the buttons of Harry\'s nightshirt; deftly flicking them open till he reached the bottom. His hands slipped under the parted fabric and he caressed his chest.

Feeling the chill of the air over his body, Harry shivered and then gasped as the tepid hands slid over his torso. Draco\'s skin was so soft and the way he caressed him forced out another groan as he ended the kiss and turned his head to the side so Draco could nibble over his neck.

Suckling the spot just behind Harry\'s ear, Draco could taste the mellow tang of Harry\'s skin, relishing the texture of it on his tongue as he kissed his way down the side of his neck and over his collarbone. He tried not to think about his erection, fearing that too much concentration on keeping maintaining it would spoil it. Instead, he rubbed against Harry\'s thigh and contemplated what they were about to do. Draco took great pleasure in the whimper his actions elicited from Harry as his skilful fingers fondled over his sides. Hooking his fingers into the waistband of Harry\'s pyjama pants, he tugged them down.

It felt blissful, but Harry couldn\'t shake his trepidation about what was going to happen. He tensed at the mere thought of it, but was caught off guard when he felt Draco\'s length pressing against him. He was nervous, but thrilled. Slipping a hand between them, Harry tried to grab for him, but he was denied it as Draco pulled his hips back. He would have tried again, but the balmy warmth of the tongue ravishing his nipple short-circuited his intent and his hand dropped. He pushed his hips up to allow his pants to be removed. Fisting his hands in Draco\'s nightshirt, he tugged it to pull it over his head.

For a moment Draco was stuck with his shirt over his face and he had to stop to unbutton his collar so that the shirt could be pulled off. Harry snickered at the way the fine hair carried static, causing Draco to wrinkle his nose at him as he smoothed his hair back down. \"Prat.\"

\"It was sexy, you should make it...\" Harry\'s speech broke off when he felt a wet warmth on his prick. Draco could move rather quickly when he wanted to. \"Oooh.\"

Already Draco was pushing his legs open with as he sucked at the head of Harry\'s prick, sliding his tongue over the slit. Encircling his fingers around the base to steady it, Draco worked it into his mouth, covering his teeth to give Harry perfect suction. Moving down to take the entire length in, he pulled back, daintily dragging his teeth along the shaft.

It had been so long. If Draco kept up like that, Harry wasn\'t going to last. He sat up on his elbows, watching how Draco\'s lips stretched around him and how his cheeks hollowed out as he pulled away. The warm lashing of his tongue made him groan and the grazing of the teeth over him felt edgy, on the cusp of being too much feeling. Just when he didn\'t think he could stand the intense tickle of his teeth, Draco plunged his mouth back down, soothing the sensitive flesh with his tongue.

\"Oh... Draco,\" he called out as he started to feel light-headed at the sensations that were mounting and becoming too much. He could feel the slick saliva from Draco\'s mouth running down the base of his prick and warmly sliding down over his opening. Harry\'s eyelids fluttered and his breathing increased to harsh rasping. His head lolled back and his hips moved in fractional jolts and his hands clutched the sheets. \"I\'m going... to... you...\" he panted.

Forcing himself down onto Harry\'s prick, he relaxed his throat to let him sink the rest of the way in. He tried to keep his tongue moving, but there wasn\'t far for it to go, so he sucked harder until he felt the telltale throbbing and the hushed whimpers as Harry came. Draco swallowed quickly, trying not to gag as he dislodged him from the back of his throat and his mouth filled with semen. When Harry was finished, Draco fondly pulled the organ from his mouth and let it rest on his abdomen.

He was about to say something when he was cut off with a wild and enthused kiss as he felt the pressure of Draco\'s prick against his inner thigh. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, sliding his fingers up and down his spine. Though he was nervous, it was hard to be too tense in afterglow. He concentrated on relaxing even before Draco broke the kiss and whispered, \"Just relax.\"

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, enjoying the tingling peace of being spent. He felt the shifting on the mattress as Draco pulled off his pyjama pants and heard the sharp click of the lubricant bottle. The bottle made a squelching noise as it ejected the goo and Harry pictured the way that Draco pinched up his face when that happened, as if someone had done something distasteful like burp at the table. Hearing the sound of skin on skin, he knew that Draco had lubed himself up and then he felt the prodding of Draco\'s cock at his entrance.

He looked up at Draco feeling innocent and vulnerable. \"No fingers?\"

\"They don\'t help that much, do you want me to?\" asked Draco.

For a moment, Harry pondered this. He\'d been taking Draco without fingering of late, but Draco had been doing this awhile. It occurred to him that his lover might be worried about maintaining his erection. \"No... I\'m fine... just... go slowly.\"

\"I want this to last; I\'m going to go very slow.\" Draco\'s pulse was racing and he was trying not to think about it too hard, not wanting to jinx it. He reached down to his cock and nudged his hips forward until he found where there was give. \"Ready?\"

Nodding, Harry closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to remain calm as he felt himself breached by the head. He inhaled sharply and his brows furrowed as his body adjusted to the violation.

Harry\'s face had gone red and a fresh sheen of sweat brightened his brow. Draco watched carefully, sucking in his bottom lip at the heat surrounding the tip. Seeing Harry nod again to let him know it was all right, Draco inched himself in the rest of the way. He stayed there, lodged inside, loving the way the flexing muscles moved, compressing as if to expel him.

Wrapping his arms around Harry, he balanced on his elbows and kissed him. Feeling the way that Harry was trembling, he stopped to look down at him. This was the most defenceless Draco had ever seen him, and he couldn\'t help but whisper, \"I love you.\"

\"I love you, too,\" Harry whispered back, his flushed face brightened at the sentiment. With a tentative and somewhat jerky movement, Harry shifted his hips back and then forward to let Draco know he was ready for this. It hurt just a bit when Draco first had moved inside of him, but now he just felt tight. His opening felt a little strained and pinched, but it was a tolerable pain. Particularly when he could see how contented his lover was.

Draco drew back his hips and then sunk himself inside of Harry again, this time trying a new position. He could tell it felt a bit better because Harry\'s grip around him loosened. He thrust into him again, trying another way and Harry matched him again. Draco tried a few more times before he found the spot that made Harry whimper. Noting the angle, Draco aimed for it and then closed his eyes and started a steady rhythm. He tried to kiss Harry, but the sensations around his prick was too delectable and he couldn\'t concentrate on doing anything but moving his hips, feeling the friction around his cock.

His breath puffed against Harry\'s cheek and on his neck and his fingers dug into his back. Draco was moving faster now, with an abandoned passion. Harry moved his hands down to Draco\'s hips, trying to hold him in that spot where something felt rather good. It didn\'t take Draco long, however, and Harry\'s prick never made it beyond semi-hard. Still, it had felt good, and Harry was almost sad when he heard Draco let out his final gasp as he made a few last, slow strokes inside of him to finish himself off before halting. Sweaty and spent, Draco flopped boneless on Harry and tried to catch his breath.

Harry had bottomed and it wasn\'t the end of the world. His arms went limp around Draco and he breathed out a slow sigh of relief. He squeezed his inner muscles, testing out their soreness and winced. It was a bit raw, but he\'d be all right. The movement made Draco jerk and he snorted against Harry\'s chest as he pulled back his hips. The loss of the organ inside of him made Harry feel bereft and achy.

\"Thank you,\" whispered Draco. \"I\'m sorry if I hurt you.\"

\"You didn\'t. It didn\'t hurt. It was starting to feel good, actually.\" Harry flexed his passage again, as if he could stretch out the dull twinge.

Draco frowned. \"It didn\'t hurt at all?\"

\"It... no... well, just a little uncomfortable, but it wasn\'t terrible.\" Looking at Draco\'s pout, Harry raised his brows. \"Did you want to hurt me?\"

\"Well, no. But... I... is it... small?\"

Harry suppressed a giggle. \"Ooooh Draco, it was so big! It hurt so bad!\"

\"That\'s better.\" Draco smirked as Harry shook his head. \"So it started to feel good, hmm? Good enough to do again?\"

\"Maybe. If you\'re good.\"

\"I was good,\" said Draco as he waggled his brows. \"That\'s why it didn\'t hurt.\"

Harry snickered and then looked paranoid. \"Do I hurt you?\"

\"No, not usually.\"

\"But... sometimes...\"

\"Well, when you were... when all of the... sometimes... yes, it hurt.\" Draco grimaced and rolled off of Harry and lay on his side.

Harry rolled over to face Draco. \"I am sorry about that. I won\'t... I\'ll talk to you from now on if I think something\'s going on.\" He slid an arm over Draco\'s waist and slid a knee between his legs.

\"Nothing\'s going to go on, Harry. If I want to be with someone else, I would let you know. But I\'m not going to want to be with anyone else, Harry. I love you.\" Draco wiggled closer and slid his arms around Harry. He yawned, which triggered Harry to do the same.

\"But Richard-- I heard that Malfoys weren\'t... that they... you know... slept around.\"

Draco raised his brows. \"Richard? As in the undercover agent of the Dark Lord currently incarcerated in Azkaban? That\'s your trusted source? I\'ll have you know that my parents never once stepped out on one another.\"

\"How do you know?\" asked Harry. He realized too late what a rude question that was to ask when he saw Draco\'s annoyed expression.

\"Because in spite of the occasional marital spat, they obviously adored one another. They had their issues like any couple did, but I\'d be surprised if they thought anyone other than each other was worthy of them.\"

\"I think my parents would\'ve stayed together forever,\" said Harry as he yawned again.

\"They are together forever, Harry. And they\'re watching over you.\" Draco smiled at Harry\'s grin and then yawned as well.

\"And I\'m sure yours are watching you.\"

Draco wrinkled his nose. \"I hope not, that\'s kind of gross.\" His eyes fluttered closed.

\"I\'m sure they found something else to do during...\" Harry grabbed the blankets and pulled them up around them.

\"Mmm... I\'m sure... lots of dead things. That\'s what dead people do. Things that are dead,\" Draco mumbled.

Draco was rambling and no longer making sense. It was time to sleep. Harry kissed his forehead and whispered, \"Goodnight, Draco. I love you.\"

\"Love you,\" Draco slurred and then he was out.

It took Harry a few more minutes to settle into a steady pattern of breathing. Bottoming for Draco wasn\'t bad. He couldn\'t even remember now what his hang up had been. He would do it again if Draco wanted to. It certainly wasn\'t worth fighting over.

--

After pulling his robes from the wardrobe, Draco started to methodically fold them. Finding himself quickly bored with this and whipped out his wand, using magic to set the rest like the first couple.

\"Hey, what about the decree for underage sorcery?\" Harry protested, whirling around to glower at Draco\'s shortcuts as Ron looked on from his corner of the room.

\"I haven\'t been underage since June. Aside from the fact that it\'s a \'reasonable restriction of underage sorcery.\' Using magic to do menial tasks such as packing isn\'t unreasonable. It\'s not like I\'m blowing up my Aunt.\" Draco smirked.

\"How did you...\" Harry started; he\'d thought the Aunt-balloon incident had been covered up. The fact that he\'d missed Draco\'s birthday flew over his head.

Ron shook his head. \"No, it\'s not unreasonable, it\'s just lazy.\"

Undaunted, Draco continued to flick his wand, moving his clothing and other personal items into his trunk, shrinking many of his newer belongings to fit them into the trunk. \"I\'m not lazy; I just have better things to do. In any case, Harry, you\'re old enough to use magic now. Why pack like a Muggle?\"

Ron hated packing just as much as Draco did and was glad to pull his wand. \"Point.\"

Harry gave them both stern looks but then shrugged and pulled his wand. \"Well, I guess it\'s legal for me to do it now, too. May as well.\" He chuckled as he watched Draco\'s expression of disapproval at his parade of oversized clothing from the Dursleys, but squeaked in surprise when he banished a particularly ugly shirt. \"I might\'ve needed that.\"

\"No one needs chequered shirts, Harry. You\'re lucky I\'m leaving the plaid.\" Draco turned his attention back to his own trunk and sealed it shut. The wild pattern of dragons writhed around until they were secure, clenching their jaws together to lock it. He looked up at the clock and sighed. \"They\'ll be here soon, you two need to hurry.\"

\"These Auror escorts to the platform make me edgy,\" Harry admitted. \"I wish Remus was going to be there.\"

Draco sneered at the invocation of Remus\'s name, although mostly because of his niggling feelings of guilt over where he was and why he had to be there.

\"Do you really think he\'ll be able to keep Snape from... you know... going dark again?\" asked Ron.

Both boys looked at Draco as if he were the authority on Snape. He shrugged and averted his eyes, not wanting to think about the situation.

\"I\'m sure if anyone can it would be Remus. They seemed to get on all right third year.\" Turning his focus from Draco, Harry slammed his trunk shut and locked it manually.

\"Right up until Snape made us do that assignment to goad us into figuring out what he was,\" Ron pointed out. He looked between Harry and Draco again before turning around to finish up his packing.

Draco sat on the bed and folded his arms, disinterested in speculating on Snape, and looking quite put out that they were still on about it.

Taking the hint, Harry sat next to Draco and kissed his temple as he wrapped his arms around him. \"Do you feel too weak to carry your trunk?\" He smirked, knowing the answer even before he felt the nod.

\"Oh yes, I don\'t think I could manage it on my own,\" whispered Draco.

Ron rolled his eyes. Some things never changed, but he was relieved to see that the two were close again. He was about to say something when Hermione poked her head in the door, followed by Ginny. \"They\'re here.\"

\"Need help with your trunk?\" Ron offered to his girlfriend.

Hermione grinned, but shook her head. \"I have it. Thank you, Ron.\" Seeing Harry and Draco get up and that Harry was working at grabbing Malfoy\'s trunk along with his own, she shot the Slytherin a disapproving look.

Draco sneered at her and kissed Harry\'s cheek. \"Thank you, lover.\"

Ginny rolled her eyes. \"Do you need help with those, Harry?\"

\"I have them, thanks.\" Harry turned around and charmed the luggage together and then tugged, pleased with his own cleverness.

Glaring at Ginny, Draco took Harry\'s free hand and interlaced their fingers.

She shook her head and led the way down the hall, followed by Ron and Hermione.

Draco stopped Harry before they continued and looked at him seriously. \"I\'m scared,\" he whispered. \"This... year is going to be hard. We won\'t be in the same room anymore and the final battle...\"

Harry cut him off with a kiss and smoothed his fingers through Draco\'s hair. \"I\'ll protect you, Draco. I know this summer was... but we... I think we learned some things. And don\'t forget that I have an Invisibility Cloak and I\'m not afraid to use it.\"

Beaming, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and squeezed him close. \"I\'m going to make sure you do. I expect I\'ll need you around a lot.\"

\"I\'ll be there, Draco. If it\'s within my control, I\'ll never let you down again.\"

\"I won\'t let you,\" Draco vowed.

\"I love you. No matter what happens, remember that.\"

Draco smiled softly and brushed his lips over Harry\'s scar, making him shiver. \"I love you, too.\"

Giving each other one last, lingering kiss to sustain them for their adventure to King\'s Cross, Harry took the handle of their baggage and the boys headed for the door. Whatever the final year demanded, they knew they would face it together. They left Grimmauld Place hand in hand, stronger and more determined. This time, it really was forever.