The Best First Kiss
Harry/Draco [G, 2861 words]
Disclaimer: JK Rowling and co own everything. I'm writing for fun and not for profit.
A/N: Digthewriter, I loved this art and I hope you enjoy this fic. A thank you to my beta as well as the mods. Inspired by the lovely art "The First Kiss" by digthewriter.
Summary: Harry has this theory that his best first kiss is going to be in the rain since his first and worst kiss ever would best be described as 'wet'.

The Best First Kiss

For the longest time Draco didn't understand why Harry loved the rain.

"Come on, Draco, let's walk for a bit longer," Harry had once said as they spent the day shopping in Muggle London.

"Are you mad? In case it's escaped your notice, it's raining." Draco had shaken his head at Harry's sheer stupidity. Getting caught in the rain was the last thing Draco had wanted to do and he was ready to walk into the nearest alley and return to the Manor. After all, he had to think of his hair. Draco had shuddered at the thought of his blond hair saturated with rain, or even worse, having frizzled hair with no chance of ever returning to its natural state.

"It's just drizzling, Draco. It's the perfect weather! I love it more than anything," Harry had replied, grasping Draco's hand and twining their fingers together. "I promise I won't let anything happen to your hair."

Normally, Draco would have scowled and said something about the state of Harry's hair, just a bit unkind and undeniably true. This time was different. Whatever words Draco had been about to say had disappeared as Draco stared down at their hands. This was new, he had thought. Harry had never given any indication that he liked men as well.

At once, Draco had tried to pull his hand back, certain that it would become awkward between the two friends, but Harry had only held on tighter. In fact, he seemed to get closer to Draco, enough for the blond to notice that there was a light blush on Harry's cheeks.

This could only mean one thing. Harry was a foolish Gryffindor, but he wore his heart on his sleeve.

Draco, however, was a Slytherin, and he still had a strong sense of self-preservation. He had to know what was going on between them. Despite being Sorted in different houses at Hogwarts, they had been best friends since meeting at Madam Malkin's the summer before their first year. They were rivals only on the Quidditch pitch. Draco would love nothing more than to pursue a relationship with Harry, but he still needed an emergency plan in case everything fell apart.

However, one look at Harry had Draco forgetting all about that. Harry still looked the same as he had back at Hogwarts, except with nicer clothes and modern glasses. He had unruly black hair that refused to lie down despite the rain and his fringe was long enough to hide his scar. His green eyes met Draco, and even though they were half-hidden behind the fogged up square glasses, the glance hit Draco like a jolt of raw magic. It burned even more when Harry smiled at him.

Draco had decided then and there that he shouldn't question their relationship and instead should focus on making Harry smile again.

"Okay," Draco had said. They held hands as they walked the rest of the way to the Leaky Cauldron in silence. Draco had not even been tempted to cast a water repelling charm, grinning whenever Harry would purposely splash into the puddles and send water flying everywhere.

#

Draco noticed a pattern soon into their relationship. Every day that it rained, Harry would smile and be more affectionate towards Draco. Hugs and casual touches replaced handshakes and arms swung over shoulders that had Draco, who was not used to them, sit still as the warmth spread all over. In all their years at Hogwarts, Harry had never acted this way, not even with the few girlfriends he had, or even when it did rain. What had changed since then? With that in mind, Draco watched Harry carefully to see if he could find an answer.

Harry would wake up early every morning and run for an hour and even stay out longer if it was raining. Draco called him an idiot who would catch his death out in the storm and wouldn't that be a tragic way to die? He would also refuse to let Harry enter his flat if he even suspected that he came to visit Draco just after he had finished running in the rain. Harry would only laugh and use his wand to dry himself up before inviting Draco to breakfast. Harry would only be allowed back in Draco's good graces if he brought chocolates. Usually.

Then, Draco had thought that Harry enjoyed the rain because of the rainbows that came after. Harry and his godson, Teddy, would sit inside and watch the storms through the sturdy glass windows Harry had installed just for this purpose. Teddy loved the lightning that streaked across the sky, pressing his hands against the window, mouth opened in awe. The best part, however, was seeing Teddy's hair change colour as the storm cleared and a rainbow appeared. The boy could never decide which colour he liked best. Afterwards, Harry would Apparate them to the nearest park to walk around and explore the effects of the storm. Draco had joined them once and it had only taken one set of ruined clothes to convince himself to never make the same mistake again.

#

At 1 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, Draco found out why Harry loved being in the rain.

Before that, though, he had found out that being in a relationship with Harry was just as easy and natural as being best friends with him. They didn't have to waste their time with awkward dates in trying to get to know one another and they had mutual friends that could always be counted on to do something fun.

A few days after holding hands in Muggle London, Harry invited Draco over to his home for lunch. The meal was nothing fancy and they spent most of the time laughing at Rita Skeeter's articles in that day's Prophet. The red colour in Harry's cheeks and the bright sparkle in Harry's eyes made Draco lean in and kiss Harry. Or attempt to, as Harry surprised him by turning his head to the side so that the kiss landed on his cheek.

Draco's hands trembled at the thought of being rebuked that he quickly stood up and snatched his wand from the table. His heart was pounding something fierce and his vision began to get blurry as tears threatened to fall, but he had to control his emotions in order to Disapparate.

"No, Draco! Don't go," Harry said, reaching out and stupidly taking hold of Draco's wand. He waited until Draco looked his way before continuing. "It's not that I don't want to kiss you, but I can't."

Draco stared at Harry in disbelief. He had never heard of such a ridiculous thing as that, and Harry had certainly said, and done, stupid things in the past. "If this is your way of telling me that you changed your mind," Draco began, but was quickly cut off when Harry placed his hand over Draco's mouth.

"Sorry," he said, genuinely upset. "But I need you to listen to this, please. I have this theory that my best kiss is going to be in the rain." He shrugged his shoulders at Draco's incredulous look. "See, my worst kiss was with Cho- and she was crying, not that I blame her as she still hadn't recovered over the shock of her boyfriend Cedric's sudden death. But anyway, if my first and worst kiss was wet, then I think the same has to be said for my last and best kiss. Do you understand?"

Draco shook his head in confusion. He had never known about Harry's first kiss, but if it had been so bad that it had scarred Harry, he could understand why Harry was reluctant to share. Draco opened his mouth to ask why Harry had even bothered to start a relationship with him, but Harry interrupted him.

"No, I don't think you don't, either. But please trust me on this. And you see," Harry said, pointing outside the window at the bright blue sky, "it's not raining."

#

They had their first fight a few weeks after Draco had moved into Harry's home. It wasn't even a major fight, but rather a one-sided squabble over something silly that embarrassed Draco whenever he thought about it.

Draco would wake up in the middle of the night to discover that Harry would leave the windows wide open as they fell asleep. The house had strong wards that wouldn't allow anything except the breeze in, so Draco wasn't too worried about having the windows open. In fact, on most nights, Draco would flick his wand and close them shut before falling back asleep. It was when they had unexpected storms and Harry forgot to add Impervius charms that had Draco in a foul mood because he would wake up cold, wet, and miserable with silk sheets ruined beyond repair.

The next time it happened, Draco confronted Harry in the morning, only to have the other man promise the same thing every time.

"All right, Draco. I won't leave the bedroom windows open anymore."

"I mean it this time, Harry. I don't care how much you love the rain, I won't be sleeping in a bed where I can easily catch a cold and die."

"Okay," Harry replied.

Draco nodded and then thought nothing of it for the rest of the day. Until that evening when Draco waited patiently for Harry to finish showering and join him in bed. A half hour passed before Draco began to search for Harry, only to find him lying on the guest room bed with the windows open.

Harry was lying down on his side, staring outside at the storm. The duvet was pulled up to his shoulders to protect him from the rain that splashed into the room. He laid still, not even moving as lightning and thunder shook the sky. Not for the first time, Draco wondered what Harry thought about during storms to make him be so calm.

"What are you doing here?" Draco had said at last, leaning against the door with his arms crossed.

Harry fell onto his back and squinted at the door, relaxing when he saw that it was Draco. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"I thought you had left."

Harry shook his head. "Why would I do that?"

"You didn't come to bed."

"You told me we couldn't sleep in the same bed anymore."

"I never said that."

"It was implied. Besides, I've spent most of my life sleeping alone. There should be no problem starting that up again."

Draco's heart sank at hearing those words. He had become used to sleeping next to Harry, whose presence was enough to ensure that Draco never had any nightmares, that to never do that again was unimaginable. That was when Draco knew that if he ever had any hope of being happy for the rest of his life, then he must be willing to make some sacrifices.

The bed creaked as Draco laid down and wrapped his arms around Harry's chest, resting his head on Harry's shoulders. "You don't have to sleep alone, you know. I'll always be here until you get sick and tired of me." He squeezed Harry's arm once, before settling down to sleep.

"Even when it rains?" Harry asked quietly.

"Of course. I might be a Slytherin, but I'm not completely evil, you know. A little rain won't harm me."

#

It turned out that a little rain did harm Harry to the point that he became sick. Draco took time off work to take care of Harry, whose problems had started when he had been caught running during a storm in Muggle London.

"Why didn't you Apparate home?" Draco asked, ushering in a freezing, rain-soaked Harry. "You'll catch your death for sure."

Harry shrugged. "I wanted to finish my run," he said, shivering. "Besides, it's nothing a nice, warm bath won't cure. Care to join me?"

Draco might have been tempted to say yes, but when Harry sneezed in his face, he sent his boyfriend away immediately.

Harry kept sneezing, coughing, and, as the night went on, could not seem to keep warm even with heating charms. Every time Draco asked if he was okay, Harry would nod, but his runny nose and watery eyes said otherwise. That night, neither one of them slept well, as Draco kept watching Harry toss and turn all night, mumbling in his sleep.

Draco woke up to the sound of Harry vomiting in the bathroom. Despite Harry's protests that he was fine, Draco threatened to send him to St Mungo's if he didn't let Hermione come and evaluate him. Harry finally accept the fact that he was sick when Hermione gasped and turned white as she looked at the results of her diagnosis spells. Harry had both the flu and Dragon Pox, which was deadly for adults. They could treat only one illness at a time because the ingredients in the two potions used as a cure could not be combined.

Without hesitation, Harry chose to be treated from Dragon Pox because he could be quarantined at home and have Draco take care of him instead of admitting to St Mungo's. Draco might not be a healer, but he was an excellent Potions Master who was immune to the pox, having already suffered through it as a child.

The days were boring and slow as Draco took care of Harry, who would sleep the entire day, waking up only to eat, drink his potions, and use the toilet. His skin turned a pale green and what was once smooth skin turned rough, marked, and became very itchy that Harry sometimes had to be restrained from scratching.

Draco was tense during the day, trying not to panic at the thought that Harry's fate was up in the air. Nighttime brought a sense of peace to Draco, because Harry would ramble on about anything and everything under the sun. He learned so many things that he knew Harry would have never dared to say if he was in control of his senses and not suffering from Dragon Pox.

Once, just before dawn, Harry mumbled "I love you". Draco paused, looking up from the cup of tea he was about to sip. His heart stopped and then beat frantically all within a second as he tried his hardest not to react to those words. Harry was probably under the influence of Merlin knows how many potions and would more than likely say that he was a pirate as well. But one large part of Draco's heart rather hoped he did. Neither one of them had yet to say those words, but it was nice to hear affirmation of what they both knew to be true.

Two days later, Harry finally woke up without a trace of Dragon Pox left in his system. Draco turned over to find Harry staring at him. Self-consciously, Draco tried to fix the mess his hair was in and wiped at his face to remove any traces of drool.

"Are you feeling better?" Draco asked at last.

Harry nodded. "Thank you for taking care of me. I know it must not have been easy since I don't particularly like being sick."

"Of course I would. I'm your boyfriend."

Harry muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "not for long" under his breath.

Panic and anger began to build up and Draco struggled to keep his voice even. "What does that mean, Potter?"

Bright green eyes softened as Harry said, "I don't remember a lot from the beginning, but I do remember saying that I loved you."

Draco covered his face with a pillow to hide his burning cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about. You were delirious most of the time and nothing you said can be taken seriously," he mumbled.

Draco gasped when Harry Vanished the pillows and duvet from their bed. He tried to look away, but Harry hoovered over him. "But I am serious. In fact, I think it's time we paid a visit to your parents."

"Now I know you are sick. You never want to willingly go there."

Harry shrugged. "True, but this is important. I need to ask them a question."

Though a thousand questions came to mind, Draco held his tongue and nodded.

#

Harry and Draco's first, and, Draco hoped, best kiss did not happen under the best of circumstances.

Rain was falling down hard and Harry's hands were clenched in fists, and he bit the inside of his cheek so hard that he tasted blood. Draco tilted Harry's face up and, giving him a chance to back away, kissed him.

When they broke apart, Draco said, "Yes. I don't care what my parents say. I will marry you."

Harry smiled and, feeling a huge weight lift off his shoulders, kissed Draco again. In the rain, no one could tell that he was crying.

#

Soon after Draco said yes, Harry had to wait for the perfect day to get married. If he had to wait a while, that was fine by him. After all getting married in the rain was considered a sign of good luck.