Attention: If you haven't read Always & Forever this probably won't make sense!
I recommend if you're interested you start by reading that. Always & Forever is an epistolary fic, written by myself (catrites) and Lexi (Leximaven) here, as PurePeace. This oneshot, and another on our page (A Look into the Mind of Draco Malfoy) are reaction-pieces to letters that Harry and Draco have recieved. These reactions will make more sense if you read the letters themselves!

On that note: I don't own them! They belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bro's, and the owl is Phil, who belongs to PhiloctetestheOwl, my sister, who graciously allows me to write about him! :P

Harry looked up from his breakfast as an owl swooped in, and grinned when he recognized the regal eagle owl. He was beginning to look forward to the sporadic letters from the Malfoys, as strange as that may sound.

The owl settled itself on the table next to Harry's plate, patiently waiting for Harry to take the letters before helping itself to the remains of Harry's toast. The first time Harry had offered the owl toast he had been given a very sceptically confused look before the bird had taken the toast. Now, on its fourth trip here the creature was obviously starting to feel comfortable eating Harry's food.

As Harry walked into his living room, he turned the letters over in his hand. Generally he read Draco's letter first, but today...

He had never told anyone what he had told Narcissa in the last letter. His hands were shaking as he fingered the envelope, both eager to see her reply, and terrified of her reaction. Taking a deep breath he opened the envelope and pulled out the neatly folded paper, only to set it aside quickly.

Harry had been anxiously awaiting Narcissa's response for days, but now that it was here he was afraid to open it. It was the first real test.

He picked up Draco's letter, hoping to distract himself before reading Narcissa's.

"my mother is basically all I have. I don't react well to people undermining that."

Harry let out a noise of frustration and picked up Narcissa's letter again. "Your mother is basically all I have, too, at the moment..."

He couldn't wait any longer, he had to know what Narcissa had said. Harry took a deep breath, steeling himself as he unfolded the letter and began to read...and almost dropped the paper in his surprise.

"I am so proud of you for having the courage to tell me this."

"Rest assured, my dear, I love you all the same."

"You have nothing to fear."

Tears streamed down his face unnoticed as Harry skimmed over her comments about Ginny and the details about meeting for tea without taking in the details. His tears continued to flow as he read her sign off.

"I am proud of you, dear."

"With all a mother's love."

Harry let out a sob and pulled his feet up into his arm chair, curling around himself as he struggled to regain control. He felt a tense ball uncoil in his chest as he realized that not only had she accepted his sexuality, she had continued to affirm her love for him, and her support for him. He sobbed harder, losing all remains of his composure and hugging the letter to his chest.

When his sobs began to die down Harry wiped off his face and attempted to smooth out the wrinkles he had made in the letter, but he didn't move from his position in the chair as he reread the letter.

As he finished reading it for a second time, he held the letter to his chest again and laid his head back against his chair. Up until reading Narcissa's reply Harry hadn't realized how much he had actually invested in telling her. He had been nervous and, well, completely terrified to tell her, but it was so much more than that. If Narcissa, who claimed to see him as a second son, hadn't been able to accept him for who he was, then how could he have expected anything more from anyone else?

Harry ran a hand over the smooth, fine quality parchment as he set Narcissa's letter aside and picked up Draco's again. He took a breath to calm himself, began to read, and almost immediately remembered how much personal information he had shared with Draco in his last letter as well.

Harry groaned and his head thumped back on the couch. What was it with these people that made him open up to them so easily? He hadn't ever trusted Malfoy before, yet in his last letter he had found himself telling him about that night in the forest—something he hadn't even shared with Hermione and Ron, who knew him better than anyone else.

Harry continued reading, and couldn't help but laugh when he found his thoughts echoed by Malfoy,"Yet still you tell me, your once enemy - the man who should mean less than nothing to you?"

"I have no idea. Don't ask me why," Harry muttered to the paper.

"But you're right, there is…something."

"Is there?" Harry asked the paper rhetorically. "Glad it's not just me losing my mind, then."

"Has anyone ever told you that you trust too quickly?"

"No, actually. Hermione tells me I should be more willing to trust people," Harry rolled his eyes at himself. "'Course it would be you that I irrationally trust."

He continued reading, unsurprised by the responses in the next few paragraphs, until he reached a question about what he had thought to be an innocent statement.

"Or do you simply seek to keep me from the path my father took, humbling himself to a madman?"

Harry blanched. He actually had meant the sentence as a compliment, he hadn't even thought of the interpretation Malfoy gave him. Obviously he'd need to watch his wordings...

Harry found himself smiling as he read Malfoy's next paragraph, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise as he realized Malfoy had read a Muggle book, Alice in Wonderland, one of his personal favourites, no less. He actually laughed out loud at Malfoy's reference to Buckbeak, and continued to laugh until tears were once again streaming down his cheeks as he read on,

"purebloods don't date, we court. Or we tumble around in the sheets."

He found his smile slowly fading as he reached the more serious topic of Malfoy's sexuality. Harry was still a bit surprised at himself for asking at all, but his curiosity had been aroused when Malfoy talked about Blaise expressing interest.

"I do actually prefer men. Well not so much 'prefer' – they're not a preference, they are a requirement."

Harry stared at the line for a moment, his heart racing. How could he have missed that in all the years he had known Malfoy? Granted, he hadn't even known his own sexuality, but he had always thought he knew Malfoy better than the back of his own hand. He knew exactly what to say to pick a fight, he knew what Malfoy cared about most in the world, he even knew the kind of jam he preferred on his morning toast, but he had missed something as large as this?

Narcissa's easy acceptance was easily understood now. Her own son was gay and she didn't love him any less. She still faced death for him. Somehow, it was reassuring.

Harry skipped over Malfoy's teasing words at the end of the paragraph, he wasn't quite ready to face them, and although they were meant in fun, he was a little afraid to think about them too deeply.

"In all honesty, do you even know who you are? The person you make yourself out to be– is he really you?"

Harry's heart rate quickened as he read Malfoy's words. How had he managed to figure that out? Even Ron and Hermione didn't know that he didn't have a clue who he, Harry Potter, actually was outside the stereotypes—they bought his act, just like the rest of the world. Except Malfoy.

Harry read on, skimming over the more heavy issues—he wasn't in the mood to handle politics—until he got to the next shocking sentence...

"...perhaps in this scenario I can take you from behind… Oh Merlin. I didn't mean it like that, Potter, get your mind out of the gutter."

Harry actually couldn't hold back his snort and the grin that slid across his face. It was blatantly obvious where Malfoy's mind was...Harry probably wouldn't have even thought of the connotation without Malfoy's comment.

And then he made it to Malfoy's sign off, and Harry felt his heart stall.

"Wondering how long 'always and forever' lasts,"

What on earth did that even mean?

So...what'd you guys think? Reviews, please?