Author's Note: Another background fic for an RP. This time what happens directly following the war.
The war was over. He had done it. They had won…
The Boy Who Lived and the Blonde Slytherin Boy were inside the damaged castle, in a room where they could not be seen. "I'll come back for you…" The words did little to comfort him, his arms still firmly wrapped around the former Death Eater. He didn't want to let go. They had won…it was over. Why did Draco have to leave? "I promise you I will, I have to go with my parents…till things settle down…"
They'd have to go ask for pardon from the Minister…Harry would fight like hell to keep Draco out of Azkaban and he knew just how to do that. "Stay, we'll go talk to the Minister together…I'll tell him how your mother saved me…made it so I could defeat him… He'll have to let you all off." Harry pulled back looking desperately into Draco's eyes. "Pleast Dray…stay…"
Draco Malfoy smiled and pressed his lips to Harry's, kissing him softly. "I know you will…but for now. I must leave Harry. I have to go with my parents." Again, their lips met. "I love you, and always will. Don't forget that." There was a crack, and Harry found himself standing alone again. Draco was gone.
Their relationship had not been an easy one, not at all. They had had to hide it from the entire world when all Harry felt like doing was standing out in the courtyard of the school and declare how much he loved Draco. Though their situation prevented that. It had changed the both of them. In public they acted exactly the same as they had for the first five years at school, like they hated each other, but behind closed doors, Harry and Draco would act as though there was no one in the world but them. He figured if the others found out they would act like he was insane. How could he possibly love someone who had done everything that Draco had? His only answer was that he just did.
In his heart, Harry didn't blame anything that had happened on Draco. Yes he had become a Death Eater, but he didn't have a choice. It wasn't like he killed Dumbledore; that had been Snape. And yes it had been Draco who made it possible for the Death Eaters to get into the school, but it was a complicated situation. Harry knew that if Draco had flat out denied to do any of the things that were demanded of him, that he would have been killed. The Second Wizarding War had taken a toll on them all, and put a strain all relationships. For them, it had only made them stronger.
But if there was one person that Harry James Potter wanted to see more than anyone else in the world at that particular moment in time, it was Draco Lucius Malfoy. It had been a year since the Battle for Hogwarts, and a year since Harry had last seen the man he had fallen so desperately in love with. They only had a brief moment to talk before Draco had left with his mother and father, and Harry had stayed behind to help out at Hogwarts, and to stay with Teddy.
He was Harry's godchild, and Harry had no intention of ever breaking his promise to Remus Lupin, he would take care of him, he would prove to be the kind of father he always wished he could have had. It was why he had spent so much time at the Ministry of Magic talking to all the right people in order to officially adopt Teddy Lupin. Though the process was proving difficult as Harry could not find a place to live, or just one place. He kept moving around. Currently, he was renting a small flat in London near Piccadilly from a wizarding apartment complex. It really was, however, quite small, simply not big enough for him and Teddy but he made do.
With the money he inherited from his parents, he got by and was able to rent the flat for nearly nothing by doing skills he learned from the Dursleys for the landlord of the apartment building. He'd cook, clean, and do odd jobs, but he didn't mind, it kept him with Teddy for the majority of the day. The little blue hair boy couldn't go outside, couldn't play with other children because of his vibrant colored hair. But, despite what Harry worried about, Teddy seemed fine, content to sit there and color with crayons, or looking at pictures in a book. Still, Harry wished there were other children for Teddy to play with.
At the current moment, Harry was back in the flat, the sun having just set beyond the skyline of the city, the room filling up with shadows. Teddy was asleep in his crib beside Harry's bed, a stuffed wolf hugged against the small boy's chest. It had been a long day and Harry was just about ready to head off to bed. He pulled off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Merlin, he was so tired, but he had to stay awake…he always stayed up till midnight, till the witching hour, just in case Draco came back.
The floorboards creaked, and Harry's entire body went stiff, his fingers searching for the wand that lay beside him on the couch, glasses all but forgotten. The soft gentle touch of fingers on his cheeks, the scent of wood fire mixed with spruce trees drifted to Harry's nose, the sensation of the old and powerful magic that rain through the person's veins filled him up. The smile that crossed his lips as a true and genuine smile, one that his face had not shown in weeks formed at the touch from his lover. "Malfoy…"
"Able to tell without your glasses Potter?" Malfoy asked in a hushed tone so to not wake the sleeping child that was no more than ten feet from them. Before Harry could have a chance to answer, Draco brushed his lips lightly against Harry's.
"Can always tell it's you," Harry whispered to him, reaching back to touch Draco's cheek with his fingers. "I know you…your scent, your touch, the feeling of your magic when you touch me. It's you…could never forget you…can always tell you apart from everyone else."
The feeling of Draco's hands left his cheeks, but only for a moment, till the Slytherin was sitting beside him, an arm wrapped around Harry, while the other put the glasses back on Harry. "There…now you can see me too." And Harry could, from the blonde hair only messy due to travel, to the small smile on the pale lips, and finally the look of complete and utter love in Draco's eyes, Harry could see it all. Draco brushed his thumb against Harry's lower lip, still smiling at him. "They wanted me to move with them…but I could not leave you behind."
Harry leaned into his embrace, a feeling that he had missed over the past year desperately, one hand resting on Draco's chest. "I always hoped that you would come back, but there's a small part of me that did wonder if you would be better…"
The Slytherin moved his hand to rest over Harry's that was on his chest. "Hush. Don't say things like that don't even think it. I couldn't imagine myself without you in my life, without you as a part of my future…" A smile formed on Harry's lips as their fingers intertwined together. "You are the fire to my ice, we balance each other out." Draco lightly nuzzled his nose against Harry's cheek. "I want to raise Teddy with you…to give him the childhood we never had but always wanted…I want it all, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you Harry…"
They never used their first names with each other out of habit, the only time they did was when they were completely alone, those private special moments between them, where they could just be themselves. Harry pulled back, still holding Draco's hand to look into his silver-gray eyes, a look of mild confusion in his own eyes. There was no way that he was…
Draco leaned forward brushing their lips together in a soft kiss that made Harry's heart pound hard and fast in his chest. He could feel Draco's hands move to hold his face, felt the couch move beneath him as they both slid closer as their lips moved against one another. The kiss broke, their foreheads still touching. "Harry…will you marry me?" Draco whispered, his breath ghosting against Harry's lips.
His mind seemed to stop working at that precise moment in time, he hadn't thought…hadn't believed that the two of them would actually reach that point, though he had hoped that they would. And there it was, the question he had longed to hear from Draco, and all he had to do was answer it, to throw caution to the wind. Damn what his friends and family would think, this was what he wanted, and Draco was whom he was meant to be with. He truly believed that.
He brought his hands up, let them cover Draco's, and opened his eyes gazing at the man across from him that had stolen his heart so very completely. A smile graced his lips, one that was mirrored on Draco's not a moment later as Harry whispered the words that would change his life forever, and bind the two forever. "Yes, I will marry you…"
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