Coming Home

A/N: Wow…I’m just knocking these out, aren’t I? ^_^ Okay, so…I’m not entirely sure how this one is going to work out, just that it will, essentially, follow the song. If something doesn’t follow the song and is just sort of…there…I’ll, I dunno…I’ll mark it with this symbol: *_* ‘Kay? Good. Now, please go the extra three inches to rate and review; considering how odd this story is, I can really use the support and praise, not to mention they prompt me to post! Hope you all enjoy and feel free to leave your e-mail addies as I alert to updates! ~ FA

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*_* (SET-UP)


Harry put off talking to Draco face-to-face until after Double Potions on Friday, though he’d made sure to send the boy an owl after talking to Ginny Monday evening to let the Veela know he’d ended things with her. Anyway, after Potions he rushed out of the classroom (he’d been slightly detained) and chased Draco up two flights of stairs and down several corridors before he finally caught up with the blonde. Winded from his mad-dash, he yelled up the hallway.

“Malfoy, wait up a sec!” The Veela froze and turned slowly, cocking his head to the side to watch Harry’s approach. “I, um…” Harry smiled weakly at Draco as he caught his breath. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Draco replied softly. “Was there something you wanted, Harry?”

Harry nodded, than flushed as he realized nearly everyone in the hallway had stopped to stare at the two of them. “Um, I think we should talk, but perhaps someplace more private?”

Draco nodded cautiously. “Alright, but right now I have a private lesson. Could we meet up later tonight?”

“Yah.” Harry smiled slightly. “So…yah. I’ll see you after dinner, then?”

Draco nodded again and walked away, puzzling the whole odd conversation over in his head as he went.

~*~*~*~*~*~

*_* (DRACO’S LESSON)

Draco walked into the Room of Requirement, smiling at Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, his tutors. “Hey.” He said quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Sasveria. “What’re we going over today?”

Remus smiled back from his seat on one of the two sofas in the room. “Well, we thought we’d work on you focusing your Touch.”

“My…touch?” He asked with a frown. “What do you mean by touch?”

‘Moon-child.’ Sasveria told him in his mind. ‘By Touch he means the gift you shall give to your mate.’

Sirius spoke up now. “It’s not really safe to use Touch on Rem so soon after the full moon, cause he’s still a little skitzy, so you’ll be using it on me.” He gestured to the seat next to him on the second sofa. “Come on, Drake, have a seat.”

Draco nodded and sat, frowning still. “Sasveria says Touch is for my mate…why am I using it on you, Sirius?”

Remus answered. “When you’re learning it, you’ll very likely go too strong quite a bit. Since you’re not interested in Sirius, it will be as simple as you stopping and having me restrain him if necessary. If you were to do this to Harry, you could accidentally influence his decisions and wind up pushing him further than he would otherwise be willing to go.”

Sasveria nodded from her place on his lap and told him. ‘He is correct, Moon-child.’ She intoned. ‘You can hurt your mate if you do not first learn to control your powers.’

“Now, I want you to place your hand on Siri’s arm.” Remus instructed and Draco obeyed, knowing the werewolf was highly qualified as a Veela trainer. “Good. Now I want you to focus your Charm on the skin of your palm. Don’t let it loose; just center it in your palm.”

Draco chewed his lip and did his best to follow Lupin’s instructions. Sasveria wrapped herself around his wrist and he felt as she helped him draw his Charm to his hand and was grateful for the aid, at least this first time. “Okay.” Draco said, his voice tight from concentration. “What now?”

“Now let the Charm trickle slowly from your hand to Siri’s skin. Don’t spread it; just let it rest on the skin beneath your palm.”

Draco nodded and then tried, only to feel suddenly as though hundreds of thousands of centipedes were walking all over his skin. “AH!” HE shrieked and jerked away from Sirius and accidentally sending Sasveria flying to the floor. He started to brush himself off, but calmed quickly as the feeling faded.

Remus was shaking his head at him. “Draco, I told you to trickle the power, not flood Siri with it!”

Even as Remus scolded him, Sasveria did the same. ‘Moon-child, you need to be more careful. Look what you did to him!’

“I didn’t mean to!” Draco protested to both at once as he noticed that Sirius was still recovering from the brush with Touch. He was quite aroused and staring at Draco in a semi-hungry way. “I don’t even know what I did!”

Sirius smiled brilliantly at him. “It was like nothing I can describe. If you can learn to control that, Harry will be one lucky man.”

Draco blushed and Remus rolled his eyes, before saying. “Now that that particularly illuminating statement has been made, can we get back to working on this?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

(THE MEETING)

Draco sighed and walked out of the Great Hall. He was exhausted after several hours of practicing with Remus, Sirius, and Sasveria. He had improved over the course of the lesson, but it had drained him greatly and the sugary dinner he’d had hadn’t quite kicked in yet.

Suddenly he felt a throbbing heat on his arm. He glanced down to see it was a hand, than followed it up to see it belonged to his mate. “Harry.” He gasped, suddenly remembering that they’d agreed to meet up after dinner. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Harry smiled weakly at him. “I, um…I got permission for us to hang out on the grounds for as long as we want. Is…is that okay with you?”

Draco bit his lip and nodded. “Yah. That…that sounds nice. Can…should we go out to the lake, then?”

Harry nodded and they walked out of Hogwarts and across the grounds to the lake, where Draco transfigured their robes into blankets. He spread one on the ground, which they sat on, and wrapped the other one around the two of them. They leaned against each other, staring out at the water as the sun set, reflecting brilliantly off its glossy surface as it streaked the sky with stunning colors.

“It’s like a movie.” Harry said quietly. At Draco’s questioning look, he said. “It’s a Muggle thing. Like a play, but a recorded version not a live one.”

“Oh.” Draco sighed and smiled down at Harry. “It sounds like it would be fun to see one of those. Will you take me some time?”

Harry looked shocked for a moment, then nodded. “Sure. I’d love to take you to see a movie some time. Perhaps over the hols?”

Their conversation continued thus for many long hours, with each boy in turn promising to take the other to various places and show the other various things from their respective worlds. Before they realized so much time had passed, the sky overhead was lightening as dawn broke.

“Oh wow.” Harry said, yawning. “I can’t believe how late it is!” He smiled at his companion, who had turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. “Or is early the more accurate term?”

Draco smiled back. “I’m sure it’s irrelevant as either way we should be heading in to bed.”

Harry nodded, still smiling slightly at Draco, and before he knew what he was doing his lips were against those of the Gryffindor boy. Harry froze, unsure of how to react, but didn’t pull away. Draco was intent on making this the best kiss he could for Harry and focused his Charm on his mouth as he gently brushed his lips over Harry’s. He struggled to keep a leash on his powers even as he let them go a little.

Harry’s eyes were wide as he felt Draco’s lips slide over his. Should he pull away or should he kiss back? Then it was as though his lips were tingling. He whimpered and melted a little, leaning into the kiss. Draco’s tongue touched his and he jumped, than moaned. Draco’s tongue touching his was sending little jolts of pure pleasure through Harry’s body. He slid his hands over Draco’s shoulders and kissed back, sinking deeper into the Veela’s addictive kiss.

Draco moaned softly as he felt his mate’s hands on his shoulders, urging him closer even as the kiss deepened. This, this was how his powers were meant to feel. Not as though his skin were crawling, but as though he were being gently caressed by his mate everywhere are once. Was this how Harry felt? Inflamed? No, he couldn’t, for Draco was reigning his Touch in. He was tempted, as Harry’s tongue danced lightly over his, to let it go. Sasveria gently chided him from the ground, however, and so he pulled back instead.

Harry gazed at Draco with glassy eyes, his cheeks flushed and his breathing more than a little uneven. “That…” He let out a shaky laugh. “What was that?”

Draco smirked slightly at him, even though he felt a bit weak. It took quite a bit out of him to control Touch. “That was what the Veela call Touch. It’s an extension of our Charm. It works on everyone, but Veela are meant to use it only on their mate and it’s extremely uncomfortable for us to use on anyone else. It’s a Veela’s gift to their mate.”

Harry laughed again and ran a hand nervously through his hair. “That’s a hell of a gift, Draco.” He told the blonde. “I’ll have trouble keeping my head around you if you keep doing that.”

“I was keeping it mostly controlled.” Draco intoned softly. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you and…influence you to make a decision you might not otherwise be prepared to make just yet.”

Harry nodded slowly, than smiled brightly at his Veela. “Thank you for that. It means a lot to me that we’re going slowly. A lot.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

(THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS BREAK)

Draco and Harry wandered along the edge of the Black Lake, hand in hand, as they tended to do. As they paused to watch the sun dip beneath the horizon, Draco pulled Harry gently into his arms. Harry whimpered and leaned into the kiss, shivering at the little jolts of pleasure that sparked anywhere Draco made contact with him. The more he and Draco kissed and touched, the more Draco let his Touch go. Harry was beginning to crave it. Draco gently ran his fingertips over Harry’s neck, smiling into the kiss as Harry shuddered under his touch. He slid his hands down Harry’s chest and inside his cloak, than slid them up under Harry’s shirt.

“OH!” Harry gasped, shivering. “Y-your hands are c-cold.” He shivered again.

Draco chuckled softly. “Sorry, Harry.” He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Harry’s neck, running his fingertips lightly up and down Harry’s ribs at the same time. “Better?”

Harry shuddered again and nodded. “Yah.” They kissed again and it was a few minutes more before Harry finally pulled away and spoke again. “I can’t believe how far we’ve come.”

Draco nodded, pulling Harry close to him and feathering kisses lightly over the Gryffindor’s cheeks and nose. “I know.” He smiled slightly. “I remember the first time I kissed you.”

Harry laughed softly. “It was right here. You were nervous, remember?” His nose wrinkled up slightly as he added. “So was I, come to think of it. Now we rarely go an hour without kissing and more often than not we’re constantly touching in some way, shape, or form.”

“The nature of the beast,” Draco stated. “I need to touch you. It’s going to be very difficult over break, I think.”

“I can’t believe we leave tomorrow.” Harry’s smile wavered. “You’ll be okay, won’t you?”

“I don’t know.” Draco replied honestly. “I don’t know how I’ll handle not seeing you or hearing your voice for the next two weeks.”

Harry cupped Draco’s face in his palms and held his gaze intently as he spoke. “I will think of you every minute we’re apart.” He smiled slightly. “You are what occupies my mind at all times. Your health, your state of mind, your general well-being…I think of you all the time. I swear I will think of you all through break.”

Draco nodded and chewed his lip. “You swear it? You swear you won’t decide to like someone else while we’re apart? Because I won’t ever get over you, Harry. I’ll just die if…”

He stopped suddenly as several students walked by and they fell silent until they were alone again. When they were, Harry said quietly. “Let’s try that again, shall we, Drake? You’d just stated that you’ll never get over me. I love that you’re so honest about what you are, Draco, because I love what you are. Don’t worry; I won’t change my mind over the hols.”

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(LEAVING TIME)

The train was slowing as it pulled up to Platform 9 ¾. Harry and Draco glanced at their respective bags, which rested on the floor before the door. They had to part ways now; both boys knew it. They stood as the train stopped and Harry shoved something into Draco’s hand.

“If you say my name while you’re holding it, we’ll be able to talk.” Harry muttered under his breath. “I have the other one.”

Draco nodded and stuck the small mirror into his pocket. There was a pause, than he pulled Harry into his arms for a fierce kiss. “I wish these last words could make it okay that I have to go.” He whispered, kissing Harry again. “They’re not, though, and they won’t ever be.”

Harry nodded and kissed Draco lightly, before pulling away and grabbing his bag. “I have to go.” He said softly. “Bye.”

Harry ran off and Draco departed the train as well, the two of them going their separate way. Draco’s heart hurt, but what could he do?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Let's make a date out of the cinema
Then stay out till early in the morning
I always like it cause we take it slow
While everyone around us seems so hurried

It feels familiar, cause I've been here before
When your words
Swept the ground right from under me
Remember when you were so insecure
Now you can't get your hands up off of me

But the time we spent was so short
Can't believe it's time to go again
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it

Can we pick it up where you left off
When you said you'll never get over me
I'll take for granted every roll off your tongue
Cause you're screaming out all your honesty

But the time we spent was so short
Can't believe it's time to go again
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it

You know it's time,
You see the bags at the door
I'm minutes away from departing
In exchange for a few last words
Will never be enough for me

You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it
Cause there’s nothing I’d rather think about
Believe it; believe it
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it
But the time we spent was so short
Can't believe it's time to go again
You're always on my mind, all the time
On my mind, believe it

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A/N: Okay, here’s Chapter Four! You guys are now caught up with my writing, so I’m off to write Chapter Five. Hope you all like this! Please rate and review and leave your e-mail addies as I alert to updates! ~ FA