The 12 Days of Christmas or a HarryDraco Fairytale

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mystiedaze: thanks ^^

elfhyrbid: thanks ^^

hiesidragoness18: yeah...i thought it was a sweet way for the boys to learn to get along ^^

Black Padfoot: ... that is true. still...i cannot help but wonder if i'm doing so poorly that no one reads or reviews...thanks!

SP777: I saved you for last since you have been granted a giant home made cookie! You figured out how I progressing the plot and their relationship! kudos and a cookie for you!!

A/N: And now, ladies and gentlemen and all you people inbetween: Harry and Draco finally kiss!!

On the ninth day...

Harry left before breakfast to get the items they had put together from the library and from what he had grabbed from the upstairs to the Ministry. It was early so there were few other people in the building and he made it easily to the office that had been created after the war specifically for the collection of cursed objects.

It had started out as a simple bargaining chip. People who were found guilty of whatever war crimes could find their sentence less if they came clean with any cursed family heirlooms. Since so many families still had such cursed objects about their homes, it had been too much for one office to handle since it had been doing so many other runs in the country to where relentless Death Eaters were causing trouble. Hence, the creation of a new, temporary office.

Thankfully, the Ministry was still searching homes that had been left with no heir and the office was still needed. So, when Harry dropped off the five bags, he was grateful not to have to deal with a secretary who was overrun and hassled.

He met Hermione in the atrium as she was going in for her training in the Department of Mysteries. She asked how he was getting along with Draco and checked him for any wounds. She obviously found the ones that were just healed from their fight, but he quickly assured her it was in the past and they were getting along better for it.

Since she didn't look like she believed him, he told her to visit for dinner that night to see for herself. She agreed and said she would be over probably about seven.

It was only after he saw Draco making breakfast, that he wondered if perhaps he should have asked if it was all right with Draco. Which then made him shake his head. It wasn't like they were together, was it? He didn't have to ask permission before inviting someone over. Still...the guilt was there.

"Morning," Harry called out as he hung his cloak in the hall and went in to get a cup of coffee.

"Morning," Draco said.

As Harry wondered how he would say something to Draco about Hermione, Draco put the meal on the table and looked up at Harry. "All right?" He looked worried and Harry realized that since they barely knew each other, Draco probably was thinking that maybe Harry would bring him back to Azkaban.

"I invited Hermione over for dinner," Harry blurted out.

Draco blinked and then started worrying his lip. "No problem. I'll make sure I'm upstairs when she comes over."

"No!" Harry said and took a deep breath. "It's just...she didn't believe me when I told her we were getting along and that other than that one fight, we haven't fought. I thought that maybe, if she came over, she would believe me."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "She didn't believe you?"

Harry looked away, feeling sheepish. "I haven't told her some things in the past and lied about some."

"Ah," Draco said. "So...you want me to meet her?"

Harry wanted to joke and ask Draco not to greet her as a Mudblood, but he knew that Draco wouldn't take that as a joke. Instead, he said, "Yeah. If you want to. She'll be coming over for dinner, so if you don't mind eating late..."

Draco smiled. "That's fine. Gives us plenty of time to fix up at least one of the rooms so she has a decent place to sleep if she's over later than she expects."

Harry felt relieved. "Yeah. Sounds good." He remembered suddenly that he had also stopped by Diagon Alley to pick up some catalogs. He pulled them out of his pocket, resized them, and gave them to Draco. "These are the catalogs for the rugs. You can look over them when you get some time."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Don't you care to know which ones I choose?"

Harry blushed, realizing what that implied. "I trust your taste."

Draco smirked and licked his lips as he took the catalogs. "No problem. I promise not to make it look too bad."

Harry laughed weakly and tucked into breakfast, too embarrassed and confused to say anything else.

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

Not only did Harry need some space away from Draco to think, but to save time and get the job done faster, they split up and cleaned separate rooms. It was five when Harry finished up his set of rooms and he took a shower.

"I'll set up one of the rooms so you can start dinner, okay?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "Sure."

"Does she prefer purple or red?" Draco asked. "I wanted to start with either of those, but if she likes one better than the other..."

Harry flushed, remembering exactly why he had chosen the red sheets. There was only one set of the red for a reason--Harry was sure Draco would look spectacular against them. "Th-the purple ones."

Draco gave Harry a long look. "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah." He cleared his throat as his voice had cracked. "I'm going to the kitchen."

Draco smirked as Harry left.

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

Hermione arrived early and she looked surprised to find both boys in the kitchen, comfortable with each other.

"Hey!" Harry called as he put one of the burners on low and ran over to give Hermione a hug.

Draco t'sked and went over to finish stirring the rice. Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry, who had turned to look at Draco. "Thanks."

Draco waved him off and Harry brought Hermione over to the table. "Did you finish early?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It was an easy day." She dragged the book Draco had been reading over to herself. "Catalogs, Harry?"

Harry nodded, blushing a little. He wondered if he was going to start getting dizzy, with the way his blood kept rushing around all the time. "Yeah. I got the rooms cleared out of all the cursed objects and we cleaned them out. I got some bed linens and curtains, but I didn't know which rugs to choose."

Hermione looked gleeful. "And Draco is picking them out?"

Harry cleared his throat as he looked away, at anything other than Hermione and Draco. "Well, yeah. He knows these sorts of things better than I do. Besides, he's going to be staying here for a while. It's not right that he's got to look at something garish."

Hermione looked at Draco who had turned from the stove and when he saw her looking at him, he winked. "It figures the hero doesn't know if red goes with blue."

Harry threw a dishtowel at the other wizard. "Hey!"

Draco chuckled and threw it back. "Finish up this meal. Seems to be the only thing you're good at."

Harry stuck his tongue out and turned to Hermione. "This after he told me that I don't know how to make a pot of tea."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Just finish this."

Hermione laughed at their camaraderie. Draco took back the catalog and started flipping through it again. "So, do you believe Harry now?"

Hermione nodded, looking between them. "I do. I'm glad."

"Now we just need to break this to Ron," Harry said as he put the food on the table.

Hermione shook her head. "One thing at a time, Harry. I haven't told him yet about Malfoy staying here."

"Surely one of his brothers has told him," Harry said.

Hermione shook her head. "They've all been so busy, with George and everything else. They didn't know you had left the country, Harry. I'm sure they don't know Malfoy is staying here."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her. "I thought you were staying with them?"

"I couldn't," she said. "Mrs. Weasley keeps going on about how it's time to move on and one of the best ways is to settle down, start a family. I tried to tell her I want to start my career first and Ron wants to at least try out for one of the Quidditch teams, which if he gets a position, he'll be traveling."

"Not a good time to settle down," Harry agreed.

"Besides, we need first to rebuild our society," Draco added. "We do need to do something about the wizarding population, but how can we do that on a broken back?"

Hermione smiled brightly. "Exactly!"

Harry smiled watching them. He was glad they could get along. Something, deep inside, had hoped they would because he knew he wanted Draco around for a long time.

Now he just wondered if Draco would want to be.

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

Later on, after Draco had said he was going to bed, Harry and Hermione went into the library which had been cleaned the day they had purged it. Harry had never realized it before, but once cleaned up, the Black Manor looked beautiful. The library did need a new chandelier as this one was chipped and cracked beyond repair, but other than that, it looked good.

"I can't believe this house is beginning to actually look habitable," Hermione said as she took in everything.

"I'm going to get some paint and paint the walls," Harry said. "Nothing too bright, but something other than black."

"Maybe a light yellow?" Hermione suggested. "It's not dark and if it's a lighter yellow, it won't be bright."

"Maybe," Harry said. He also thought about a spring green. That would look nice, too.

"So, what's going on between you and Draco?" Hermione asked.

Harry inhaled his tea at her bluntness and coughed. He was sure he'd never looked so red. "What makes you think there's anything going on?"

Hermione leaned back in her chair. "The way you two look at each other when you think the other isn't looking. Tell me, Harry. What's going on?"

Harry sighed, knowing there was no possible way to get out of this. Besides, if he said it aloud, he would be less confused. "I'm...not sure."

Hermione looked like she understood. She moved closer to him. "Just talk to me, Harry. You know I'll listen."

Harry nodded. He knew that. He also knew she wouldn't judge him or yell at him. "He hasn't said anything, Hermione. I know I haven't either, but it would help if I knew what he was thinking. I mean, I didn't even think I liked men that way until I saw him bending over one day when he was cleaning. And then, we accidentally brushed fingers and...well, it wasn't amazing, but there was something there. And he's been flirting with me...at least, I think he has been."

"Have you been flirting back?" she asked.

"I...think so," Harry said. Had he?

She smiled. "How would you feel about being in a relationship with him?"

Harry started at the question. How did he feel about that? He knew he had been wondering what it would be like to have sex with Draco, but he had been so confused to even think about anything like a relationship. Did he want one with Draco? Was wanting sex with someone enough for a relationship?

"Harry," Hermione called. When he looked at her, she smiled softly. "Talk to him. You're the Gryffindor here. He's probably as confused as you are."

Harry nodded. "Probably. Thanks, Hermione."

She smiled as she stood up. "You’re welcome. Thanks for dinner. I should go since I've got to be at the office by seven."

"You can stay here, if you want," Harry suggested. "Draco made sure to set up one of the rooms if you choose to."

She shook her head. "No, thanks. Besides, if I wanted to stay with sexual tension, I'd stay with Ron." She winked at him and with one last hug she was gone through the floo.

Instead of going to bed, Harry stayed downstairs, staring into the fire. He and Draco had been talking quite a bit the last couple of days as they had worked their way through cleaning the house and Harry knew that at the very least, they were friends. Was it enough, though?

"Harry?"

Harry turned and smiled at Draco. "Hey."

"She went home, then?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "Said she felt more comfortable at her house." It was only a partial lie. Right?

"Are you okay?"

Harry sighed and shrugged. "I think so."

Draco sat on the couch next to Harry. "You looked really upset when I came down."

Harry took a deep breath. "It's just...I mean...are you gay?" Fuck. Harry closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean...sorry."

Draco laughed. "It's okay. I thought it would be obvious by now, but, yes, Harry, I am gay." He took Harry's hands in his own. "Are you?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I think I'm bisexual."

"Well, I know you have kissed a girl," Draco said. "I think you should kiss a boy to be sure."

Harry looked into Draco's eyes, seeing nothing but kindness there. Better do it now, he thought to himself. Before he could lose his bravery, Harry leaned forward to kiss Draco. It was nice, but he tried to make it quick, so it wouldn't look like he was trying to force himself on the other wizard. Draco cupped the back of Harry's head and kept their lips pressed together.

Harry put his hand on Draco's thigh to keep his balance and Draco sighed into the kiss. Harry slipped his tongue into Draco's mouth and they both moaned softly when their tongues caressed each other. They kept kissing until they couldn't breathe any longer.

Draco licked his swollen lips. "That was amazing."

Harry nodded. "It was." He bit his lip. "Draco--"

Draco put his finger on Harry's lips. "We're not in grade school any longer. Don't even think about asking me to be your boyfriend." He was smirking playfully so Harry didn't take it as an insult.

"Wasn't going to," Harry mumbled. "I just...what now?"

Draco chuckled. "I think the adults call it 'dating', Harry."

Harry lightly hit Draco's arm. "Prat."

Draco kissed Harry again. "Honestly, Harry, I like you. I never thought you'd be this way."

"You made that clear in school," Harry said. "I'm finding the same about you."

"Good. Let me just ask--that thing about the rugs wasn't some ploy to ask me out, right?"

"Of course not. Now, hush. I want to kiss you again."

"Mmm."