How to Save a Life

When Harry woke the next morning he felt disorientated and unsure of where he was. Then he felt an arm slide round his waist and he rolled over to look at the sleeping face of his boyfriend.

Harry could tell from Draco’s steady breathing that he was still asleep. Unable to resist the angelic picture that the sleeping blond made, Harry leant forward and pressed tiny kisses to each closed eyelid. Draco murmured softly at the gentle pressure but otherwise remained lost in his dreams. And very good dreams the must be, Harry thought to himself as he felt Draco’s erection nudge his thigh.

A smirk crossed his face at this and he began to shimmy under the covers, intent on waking the blond in the most delicious way possible.

No sooner had he begun gently suckling Draco’s arousal, Harry was startled from his task by a loud crack, followed by a nervous sounding cough. Flushed with embarrassment at being caught in such a compromising position, Harry reluctantly slid his head out from under the safety of the covers.

He was faintly relieved to find an anxious looking house elf standing at the foot of the bed, hands twisting nervously in its pillowcase.

“Hello,” Harry said after a moment’s silence. The elf was obviously as uncomfortable as he was. He fumbled on the side for his glasses and squinted back at the small creature.

“I’m Harry,” he began, wanting to ease the elf’s discomfort. “I think I saw you at dinner last night. What’s your name?”

The elf started at this, unused to such courtesy from guests at the Manor. “I is Twinkle, Sir,” The elf squeaked, eyes wide.

“Hello, Twinkle,” Harry smiled. “So what can we do for you? I assume someone sent you here?”

The elf nodded furiously, “Yes, Sir. The Mistress bid me come wake you and young Master Draco. She is wanting you to come down for breakfast before she has to leave.”

It didn’t escape Harry’s attention that the elf cast an uneasy look in the direction of the sleeping blond. He chuckled to himself, knowing only too well just how moody Draco could be first thing in the morning.

“It’s ok, Twinkle. I’ll wake Draco up; you tell your Mistress that we will be down shortly.”

The elf nodded gratefully and bestowed upon Harry an adoring smile that reminded him just a little of the way Dobby used to look at him. Then there was another loud crack and Harry found himself gazing upon an empty space.

Reluctantly, Harry reached over and gave the sleeping blonde a gentle shake. “Draco! C’mon, wake up.”

“Mmmpf,” was the muffled reply.

“Draco!” Harry tried again, a little sharper this time.

“Don’t wanna,” Draco protested sleepily. “Was havin a nice dream.”

“Oh really, I hope it was about me,” Harry teased.

Draco cracked open one bleary eye, “Of course,” he huffed. Then a smile crossed his lips, “You were waking me up in the nicest way.”

Harry chuckled, “That was no dream.”

Another eye cracked open at this and Draco pulled up the bed sheets to peer down at his body. “Either I’ve got incredible stamina, which I’ll admit is possible, or you didn’t finish the job.”

“I got a little distracted,” Harry confessed with a wry smile.

“What could possibly be more important?” Draco pouted.

“We had an audience,” Harry replied simply.

“Fucking Pansy,” Draco scowled. “She’s such a bloody perv.”

Harry couldn’t restrain a giggle at this. “As disturbing an image as that would have been, I think that Pansy watching us would have been infinitely preferable to being caught blowing the Master’s son, by one of his house-elf’s.”

Draco chucked throatily on hearing this. “I can see how that would be off-putting.”

“That’s one way of describing it. I’m glad you find it amusing. I could be scarred for life, you know? I may never be able to give another blow job again.” Harry declared in a melodramatic fashion that he had definitely borrowed from his boyfriend.

Draco wrapped his arms tightly round Harry. “We definitely wouldn’t want that,” he murmured huskily. “I can’t think of a nicer way to start the day.” Grey eyes widened and scanned round the room. “I don’t see any elf’s around now, so how about it?” He asked, one eyebrow quirked.

“When you put it so nicely, how can I possibly refuse?”

“Beats me.” Draco flipped the covers back off them, revealing both their naked bodies. He turned lust filled eyes on his boyfriend and quickly tightened the embrace.

“Dray, we can’t,” Harry gasped as a tongue licked up the side of his neck.

“Sure we can, Harry. Just relax.”

“But your mum,” Harry began.

Draco rolled off his boyfriend with a huff and lay flat on his back. “You really need to work on your dirty talk, you know?”

Harry bit back a laugh. “Your mum sent the elf. She wants us down at breakfast.”

“Not helping, Harry,” Draco complained as he cast a mournful glance at his waning erection. “At least I won’t need to have a cold shower now.”

With that, the blond sat up and gave Harry’s bare thigh a playful slap. “C’mon then, it’s been at least five minutes since the last elf, and my mother isn’t exactly renowned for her patience. The next one will probably be along any minute.”

Harry let out a squawk at this piece of information and hurriedly retrieved his trousers from where they lay, strewn on the floor.

“You go shower quickly,” Draco advised. “I’ll come get you in 15 minutes.”

Harry cast a longing gaze at the naked figure of his boyfriend as Draco disappeared into his private bathroom. He had rather been looking forward to them showering together. But that would have to wait now, thanks to Narcissa Malfoy and her voyeuristic bloody house-elf’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of all the ways that Harry had imagined spending his first day at Malfoy manor, none of them came anywhere near to the reality.

Both boy’s dragged themselves down to breakfast eventually, only to be informed by Narcissa that she and her sister were going to Diagon Alley for the day, in order to purchase some items for their visit to Lucius the following day. This meant that Harry and Draco, along with Pansy, were being left in charge of Teddy for the majority of the day.

Andromeda said with a smile, that she thought it was a marvellous chance for Harry to get to know his godson. Harry rather suspected it was just a marvellous chance for Andromeda to get to know the shops of Diagon Alley, without the distraction of a small child. Not that he minded spending time with Teddy, nor did he begrudge the boy’s grandmother some time to herself.

There had followed a seemingly endless lecture on the subtle intricacies of childcare. So in depth was it, that even Harry’s good natured politeness became strained. In the end it was Draco who snapped. He coolly informed the two women that perhaps neither of them should actually leave as they obviously thought the three of them were complete imbeciles.

He even took a pointed shot at his mother, by calmly informing her that if help was needed then they could always ask a house-elf, who had, after all, had plenty of experience from practically raising him as a baby. Narcissa wisely chose to ignore this provocation and promptly steered her sister from the room.

The friends then passed a pleasant morning engaged in decorating the Christmas tree for the sitting room. Or rather, Harry and Pansy decorated, Draco supervised and criticised, and baby Teddy had a glorious time rolling about in the tinsel and trying his hardest to pull the tree crashing down on the lot of them.

Every time Draco looked at the small boy it was with a definite air of smugness. Teddy was once again sporting silky blond locks and, as irrational as he knew he was being, it irked Harry no end. Draco, of course, knew this and used the information to torment his boyfriend mercilessly.

As if he had somehow understood the problem, Teddy then promptly placated Harry by smiling up at him with sparkling green eyes.

As he took in the picture that Teddy made with his eyes and Draco’s hair, Harry felt a sharp pang in his chest and a definite lump in his throat. Catching Draco’s eyes over the small child’s head, he saw a similar emotion in the blonde’s expression.

Neither one of them actually dared to admit what it was they were thinking, but as it turned out, Pansy had no such problems.

“Merlin!” she shrieked. “Look at him; he could be your kid!”

Twin glares shot in her direction but they were short lived. Teddy, slightly on edge from Pansy’s excitement, pushed out his tiny bottom lip and whimpered softly. He tumbled towards the safety of ‘Uncle Draco’, who willingly scooped the nervous boy up in his arms. Harry, in turn, scooted closer and rubbed Teddy’s back soothingly until the noises stopped.

“I don’t know why you two are sulking,” Pansy said, breaking the short silence that followed. “I should be the one offended. He doesn’t look anything like me.”

“What exactly did you expect him to do, Pansy,” Draco demanded. “Grow a pair of tits, perhaps?”

Harry promptly covered Teddy’s ears and firmly scolded his boyfriend for using ‘bad words’ in front of the baby.

As Slytherin as she was, Pansy couldn’t deny the warm mushy feeling that filled her at the sight of the three of them, cuddled closely together, like the perfect little family.

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The afternoon was spent showing Harry round the extensive grounds of the Manor. Although in reality, this was little more than an excuse for them to tire out an excitable Teddy. Not that the small boy fell for the ruse, and when three tired teenagers returned to the house some time later, they were accompanied by a wide eyed baby.

He had eventually fallen asleep, cuddled against Harry’s chest, as the older boy himself snoozed on the sofa. Draco couldn’t take his eyes of the picture his boyfriend made and received a sharp dig in the ribs from his friend.

“Just tell him.”

Draco flushed at having been caught out. “Shut up, Pansy.”

“Look, why don’t you do it now? I’ll just disappear.” Though not too far away, Pansy thought slyly.

“I’m waiting for the right time,” was all Draco was willing to say on the subject.

“Bloody hell, Draco,” Pansy cried in exasperation. “How much more right does it get. Just look at him!”

And Draco did just that. Harry’s cheek was resting gently on the top of Teddy’s blond head, his arms tenderly cradling the small body to him. It was too perfect, and for one awful moment Draco thought he might cry.

Seeing Harry with his godson just reminded Draco of what his boyfriend was giving up, what he himself was giving up, by their being together. There would be no blond-haired, green-eyed children for them, and Draco wasn’t sure that he could ask Harry to make another sacrifice in his life.

Sensing her friend’s turmoil, Pansy wrapped her arms quickly around him. “Stop it,” she chided gently. “He loves you, and you love him. That’s all that really matters.”

Draco looked like he wanted to dispute this point but a sleepy voice interrupted.

“Hey, Parkinson, that’s my boyfriend. Hands off!” Harry grinned up at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

“Sorry, Harry. I just can’t help myself around him. You know how it is.”

And from the look in Harry’s eyes, it was obvious that he did.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Pansy yawned. “I’m off for a nap. This baby-sitting lark is really tiring.” She left the room, pausing only to shoot a pointed look at Draco.

Harry smiled at his boyfriend and then patted the sofa next to him. “If you’re in the mood for cuddling, you could always join us.”

Needing no further invitation, Draco swiftly crossed the room and curled himself into the warmth of his boyfriend’s body. Harry slipped one arm round him tightly, pulling him closer still. Draco let his head rest on Harry’s shoulder and gazed softly at the sleeping baby in his arms. He then closed his eyes and allowed himself to dream, just for a short while, that this was their home, their family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, as Harry was making his way stealthily across the landing to Draco’s room, his ears picked up the sound of muffled noises. Stopping to listen for a moment, he realised that they were coming from Pansy’s room. Without thinking, he crept nearer to the door, listening carefully. A few more seconds told him all he needed to know, and within moments he was inside the room, holding the sobbing girl in his arms.

For someone who had always been so uncomfortable with physical displays of emotion, it continually amazed Harry how these Slytherins, who were reputedly cold and unfeeling, never failed to bring out this sensitive and tactile side of his nature.

He rocked Pansy gently in his arms, murmuring soothing words and nonsense noises, his chin resting lightly on the top of her head.

“I wanted to do it so bad,” she choked out between sobs.

“But you didn’t, you were strong,” Harry reassured her, knowing instinctively what she meant.

She didn’t speak further and Harry didn’t pry, he had a fairly good idea what was upsetting her and he didn’t think it would help to make her relive it by questioning her further. He just knew that whenever he had been scared as a child, even as a teenager if he was honest, he had desperately wanted someone to simply hold him and tell him everything was going to be ok.

Slowly, the sobs racking Pansy’s body faded, though Harry could still feel her tears, hot against the skin of his neck. Finally, when only the odd tremor ran through her slender frame, Harry gently eased her back down onto the pillows. He gently brushed his thumbs over her tear stained face, before curling up behind her, holding her tenderly.

He almost missed the light knocking on the door, and it was only when he heard it opening that he looked up and watched in horror as Draco entered the room.

He remembered only too well the fit that his boyfriend had thrown simply because he had sat next to Ginny at breakfast. He couldn’t begin to imagine the tantrum that would ensue now that he had caught him in Pansy’s bed, however innocent it may be.

“You’re lucky,” Draco began, crossing the room towards the bed, “That I’ve enjoyed conclusive proof that you prefer men. Otherwise you would be in a world of trouble by now.”

“You’re not angry at me then?” Harry asked warily, watching as Draco settled himself onto the mattress the other side of Pansy.

“I don’t think I know how to be anymore,” Draco replied honestly, leaning over the sleeping girl to press a light kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. “How could I be mad at you for this?”

Draco settled himself down amongst the multitude of pillows that littered Pansy’s bed and then pulled the bedclothes over his body.

“We’re sleeping here?” Harry questioned.

“Might as well. I’m comfy now and I can’t be arsed to move.”

Harry looked at Pansy’s sleeping form and then grinned wryly at his boyfriend. “You realise this is probably every straight bloke’s fantasy come true?”

A snort came from the huddle of blankets in between them. “Never mind straight blokes, I think I’ve just woken up in the fantasy of about every girl at Hogwarts.”

Draco grinned and slid his arm around the girl’s waist and kissing her cheek. “You say the nicest things, Parkinson. But don’t go getting any ideas; he’s mine.”

The room fell silent then, only the sounds of their steady breathing were audible. Then a definite snicker was heard from the Draco’s direction.

“You know, Harry, I was just thinking. You thought this morning’s wake-up call was embarrassing, imagine how traumatised the house-elf that Mother sends to wake us tomorrow is going to be!”