Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Kissing it better

Pansy had spotted Harry and Draco arriving at Dumbledore's birthday party not ten minutes after they had flooed in. She had whisked Draco away with her with a good grip on his left arm, giving barely any notice of Harry. Pansy had started talking animatedly as soon as the two were out of ear shot. Draco gave Harry one last please help me –glance over his shoulder but Harry just shrugged and offered a sympathetic smile. He knew better than to get in the middle of that particular conversation. He'd had a similar one with Hermione the previous week and didn't want to repeat the experience.

As far as Harry knew, Pansy was going to pester Draco until the man either went mad or gave her the information she wanted. In this case she probably wanted a satisfactory reason why Draco hadn't returned her fire calls for weeks and then had the nerve to show up at a major social event with none other than Harry Potter and act like it was the most normal thing to do. Harry had immense faith in his boyfriend's mental capacity but he couldn't help being a little worried. Pansy's work during the War had been invaluable to the Order, true, but some of the stories Harry had heard of her interrogation techniques had been somewhat unsettling, the Death Eaters involved often ending up mentally scarred for life. And that's Death Eaters we're talking about, not first year Hufflepuffs.

Harry took a flute of strange fizzy purplish coloured drink from a house elf passing by. He raised the flute to his lips, then stopped and took a double take. The drink was indeed sparkling brightly and Harry made a mental note to find something else to drink. He'd pass the flute to Draco later; the man was like a magpie and secretly loved anything that had glitter in it.

Discreetly lowering the drink Harry scanned the room for a familiar face. He quickly spotted Fred and George talking to Oliver Wood and a young woman Harry didn't recognise; probably a friend of Oliver's. Oliver and his friend seemed captivated by the story the twins were telling, their attention flicking from one twin to the other as they took turns finishing each others sentences. After a while all four burst into a heartfelt laugh. Then Harry saw Oliver put his arm around the woman's waist and slide his thumb under the hem of her shirt while the woman leaned a bit closer to him. Funny, that. Harry had always thought that Oliver fancied sleek muscle and stubble instead of giggles and girly curves, but obviously that wasn't the case at all. He was suddenly startled from his thoughts by a loud voice.

"Harry! It's been too long, mate." Ron waved his hand high above his head and pushed himself through a small group of people.

"Hey there yourself. How've you been, Ron?" Harry was frankly a bit surprised to see the man, but smiled and clapped Ron's shoulder anyway.

"I'm fine, fine. Careful with that drink there, mate, it'll knock your socks off. Or so I've been told. Haven't tried it myself 'course. Looks suspicious. Twinkling things remind me of baby toys and... Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore, eh? Yeah, now that you mentioned it, it does kind of remind me of him. Weird, but strangely appropriate given the occasion." Harry felt even less like he wanted to taste the purple stuff now. "Nervous, much? You're kind of babbling away."

"Nervous? Now why would I be nervous? Nothing to be nervous about, nothing at all. Have you seen 'Mione around? Shouldn't be alone right now, not at her state." Ron took a healthy swig of his beer.

"No, I just came here myself. I thought you two'd be together though, that you'd keep an eye on her. Just in case, you know? Constant vigilance and all that."

"Yes, yes, I know. She got lost at some point. Or I lost her. Or I misplaced her, really. Can you even misplace people? One moment she was there and the next she wasn't. I should go and find her. What if the baby decides now's the right time to see the world and I'm not there?" Ron babbled on with the slightly hysterical tone of someone who's been to the local seven eleven too many times to buy pickles and strawberry ice cream at 2 am. He finished his beer in three efficient gulps and set the empty glass on a tray of another passing house elf. "Stupid idea to come here at all, she being so... pregnant. She was due two days ago, you know? Two days! And now I've lost her."

"Well I'm sure you'll find her, Ron. She's so big these days you'll spot her in no time."

"Oi! That's my wife you're-"

"And," Harry continued, never minding Ron's protests. "She'll probably have a group of excited women around her, patting her belly and making funny noises at it."

"Right. Funny noises... I must go and find her; she hates it when people do that!"

"I think that'd be a good idea. See you later, Ron!"

"Yeah, later, Harry," Ron said distractedly, looked around for a bit and then headed determinately towards a large gathering of cooing witches.

"I love my brother and all but someone'd better smack some sense into him before Hermione does," a familiar voice somewhere behind Harry's left shoulder blade said in exasperation. Harry turned around to find Ginny standing there, still following Ron's retreating figure with her eyes.

"Oh, hullo, Ginny. Actually, I think Ron's being kind of... sweet."

"You wouldn't if you had to be the sole focus of all that attention all day every day. I bet Hermione sneaked away on purpose. I bet she's really relieved when the baby eventually comes because then Ron'll have two girls to fuss over instead of just one. Anyway, all I know is that were I in her place, Ron would be dead meat by now. "

"Ginny, if you were in her place it would be called incest," Harry said mock seriously. Ginny stared at him with her mouth slack and eyes wide before slowly recovering from the shock.

"Eww, that's just... I think you just broke my brain there, Harry. You know I was speaking figuratively, you twat. I have no intention of ever bedding any of my brothers, thank you very much." For a moment Ginny looked like she really felt physically ill at the mental images. Then she seemed to pull herself together and cheer up, leaning closer with a teasing smile playing on her lips.

"But you could, couldn't you?"

"Ginny, no. Don't even think of going there. You know as well as I do how much I think of them as brothers. So thanks for the image there, really appreciated."

"What goes around, comes around, Harry. Remember that the next time you use the word incest around me, will you?" Ginny winked at Harry good naturedly.

"It never was like that when we were together, though," Harry said and glanced at Ginny with a smile of his own.

"What, like banging your sister? I sure hope not," Ginny replied. She tossed her hair back and raised an eyebrow at Harry's sudden nostalgia.

"No!" Harry snorted. "No. I mean, we had it good, right?" Ginny looked at Harry seriously for a while, and then moved her gaze away to the crowd.

"Yeah, we did." Ginny stroked Harry's arm and shoulder and looked up with amusement in her eyes. "But your gayness kind of got in the way after a while. You're seeing someone, right?" Harry crossed his arms around his chest.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"You get all maudlin with me every time you start something new with someone. Now who is it? I have dibs on all the dirty details, mind you," Ginny added gleefully.

"No, I'm not telling you. Not yet, anyway. But it's good too, you know. Brilliant, even." Harry could barely contain the smile that was threatening to split his face in two. He lowered his eyes and the glittery drink caught his attention. It was still shining in pink and blue, and for some reason it made Harry smile even more.

"Aww, it certainly looks like twue wuv from where I'm standing," Ginny teased with a grin. She opened her arms and hugged Harry close. "But really, congratulations Harry. You deserve to grow old with the one who puts that big a smile on your face," she said next to his ear.

"Thanks, Ginny." And if Harry's answer turned out slightly muffled, it was entirely because of Ginny's massive hair was blocking his mouth. Entirely.

After he'd gotten himself in check, Ginny patted his back and took half a step backwards. She raised his hand to stroke Harry's hair out of his face and kissed him firmly on the cheek. Then she looked over Harry's shoulder and quickly pulled her hand back.

"Your boyfriend wouldn't happen to be Malfoy, would it? Because I can't for the death of me imagine any other possible explanation as to why he'd look at me like I'd just stolen the love of his life if he isn't."

Harry turned around before Ginny had even properly finished her sentence. The look on Draco's face was indeed murderous, and before Harry could even register what in fact had just happened, what Draco had seen and how he'd probably drawn the worst possible conclusions, Draco had turned around and, as coolly as ever, started to make his way to the floo.

"Shit. But that's- He just- Sorry Ginny, I must go now. Hold that for me, yeah?" And with that, Harry pushed his drink into Ginny's hands and followed Draco, leaving the party not quite as gracefully as he had.

"Have you any idea what you just did there, Weasley?"

"Yeah, I really am sorry. But it wasn't like that at all, Harry had just told me he was seeing someone and looked so happy about it and... Well, I just wanted to congratulate him. I had no idea it'd be Malfoy, though."

"That's not what it looked like where we were standing. It looked more like you couldn't keep your hands to yourself and Harry wasn't doing anything to stop you."

"Well it wasn't like that! I told you already. But you know what I think, Pansy?"

"What's that?"

"I don't really know about Malfoy, but he looked absolutely furious before he left. And as far as I'm concerned, you don't get that mad unless you're really head over heels with the person you caught doing the nasty. And Harry pretty much told me he loves Malfoy."

"And your point was...?"

"Point was that sure, they'll yell at each other for a while but eventually they'll get over it. And end up having unbelievably hot make up sex. All's well that ends well, right?"

"I guess. I can't wait to hear the details to that."

"Me neither."

The two women raised their glasses –both looking a bit surprised to find themselves holding delicate flutes of sparkling purplish stuff- and took a cautious sip.

"To hot guys having steamy sex."

"To Draco and Harry."

"That's what I said."

Harry stumbled through the floo just in time to hear the bathroom door slamming closed and the lock clicking shut. He sighed in frustration.

"Draco!" he shouted while taking his time walking up the stairs and behind the door that held Draco hostage. Or maybe Draco was holding the room, you never knew. "Draco," he called again and knocked on the door.

"Fuck off, Harry!" Okay, so he never expected it to be easy, but... really? Sometimes he felt he was talking to a pampered child. Which, in a way, he was. The pampered bit anyway, if not the child.

Harry leaned himself against the wall on the opposite side of the door and slid himself down to sit on the floor. He bent his legs and he rested his elbows on his knees. He could wait. It'd be of no use to try opening the door, even if the lock itself held no magic. Harry knew that with a simple spell he could easily unlock the door, blow it into tiny smithereens or make it vanish altogether. He also knew that Draco would be incredibly pissed if he even thought of doing any of that. Even more than he was now, that is. Possibly even enough to withhold sex for an indefinite period of time. Harry sighed again and rubbed his neck. This was going nowhere.

"Draco? Would you please come here? Or open the door so I can get there?"

"I'm not talking to you."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Harry left to fetch a piece of parchment and, after a brief moment of consideration, wrote down a few sentences.

Dearest Draco,

we both know how silly this is. I love you like mad (sometimes quite literally) but you already know that. So what the fuck are you doing in the loo?

Yours, Harry.

After reading and the note a few times Harry slid the parchment under the door and made his way across the hall to sit against the wall again. He heard a quiet intake of breath on the other side of the door and then the slip of parchment was pulled in. It took a couple of heart beats for Draco to read the note, then a couple more to read it again. Then the door clicked open and was pushed ajar as Draco peeked from the doorway.

"Hi."

"C'mere," Harry said in a low voice and reached his hands up towards Draco. Draco closed the door behind him, confused and weary, looking at the floor instead of Harry. The note was still there, hanging from his hand.

"It's okay," Harry said and beckoned Draco closer as he finally looked up at Harry. Harry smiled softly and then Draco was there, leaning down and squatting awkwardly in front of Harry. They didn't touch each other until Harry laid his hands on Draco's sides, stroking and soothing his hurt like petting down the ruffled feathers of a frightened bird. Draco was staring at Harry intently; searching his face for something Harry had no clue would be there or not. Maybe it was signs of betrayal and ridicule he was looking for, maybe signs of trust and loyalty. For a few moments he was unsure if Draco would ever find what he was after.

Then something changed, fell in place and Draco raised his hands up to touch Harry as well, letting himself be pulled closer. Harry held Draco as he slid his feet across the hall. The sudden lack of support caused Draco to fall forward into Harry's lap, his knees resting on the floor on both sides of Harry's hips.

Draco's quiet "Sorry" was met with an equally quiet "I love you" from Harry. They both laughed a little. Harry looked up at Draco as Draco looked down and away again, now smiling instead of being upset. Then Harry brought his other hand up and turned Draco's face back towards him. Both of the men settled down and Harry raised his eyebrows in silent question.

"Well obviously, why else would I leave a perfectly nice birthday party without even seeing the host and then lock myself into a bathroom like a bloody girl after seeing you not doing anything to discourage that slimy piece of shit that was pawing you like you were her personal property or something. I wanted to transform her into the thing that flobberworms eat, then feed her to said worms, then carefully chop the worms and use them for potions."

"You're scaring me a little sometimes, you're aware of that, right?" Harry said in a minute, half stunned of his boyfriend's viciousness and half impressed by his creativity.

"I have it in here black on white that you love me anyway," Draco said in a sing-song voice, raising up the piece of parchment and giving it a small wiggle. Neither of them turned to look at it.

Harry tilted his head and looked up at Draco speculatively. "You really didn't know how I felt about you, did you? How could you not know, I've told… Well, not told, but. Well. As I said there, I'm completely crazy for you. And I really thought it showed quite embarrassingly clearly, but obviously not. You really have nothing, and I repeat, absolutely nothing to worry about. Least of all from Ginny, she's just a friend and wants nothing but happiness for us both." Harry's fingers wound up in Draco's hair as he pulled the other man even closer. "I'm yours. And that's there on the parchment too."

They lost a little of themselves into the kisses that followed, both smiling away like stupid and Draco saying things like yes and mine in between every light kiss.

After a good deal of kissing and licking and the occasional nibbling, Draco leaned back and stood up, pulling Harry up too. He reached around Harry's shoulders to hug him close again, breathing in deeply and sighing contently. Harry wrapped his arms around the taller man as well, not caring whether hugging was girly or not, because he simply felt too good to care. The parchment fluttered down to the floor but neither of them noticed.

"When you thought Ginny was getting too friendly with me you could've just... I don't know, come over and touched me, hugged me or kissed me or squeezed my arse or something. No need to work yourself into a state and start planning gruesome ways to get rid of potential competitors. Which Ginny is not, I assure you."

"But... As of yet, I didn't think I had such privileges. Showing my affection in public, not planning a murder, mind you. Every witch and wizard is born with that particular privilege," Draco smirked in attempt to make light of the conversation topic. Harry merely rolled his eyes and adjusted his hold of Draco.

"Well you have. You have all the privileges in the world, at least when it comes to me. And I really hoped you would have known that by now. Didn't we already go through this?"

"Yes. And I'm not talking about that now. That part is crystal clear. What I mean is, have you even told anyone about us yet? Might come as a bit of a shock if I just grabbed you and had my wicked way with you in front of everyone. I might even get a few hexes thrown at me. Not the ideal way one wishes to spend an afternoon, healing from the Weasley jinxes." Draco leaned against the wall and pulled Harry into his arms in an attempt to get more comfortable.

"Yeah... You're probably right about that. I haven't told everyone, just a few people." They were both silent for a while. Then Harry lifted his head and caught Draco's eye. "You know what? I'll tell the lot as soon as possible so that you'll get to harass me all you want the next time someone so much as looks at me the wrong way, 'kay?" His eyes sparkled like he was actually looking forward to it.

"Fair enough. Just remember whose idea it was when the hexes start flying."

"Hmm... I don't think I will. I'll probably be too busy getting snogged six ways from Sunday to notice." Harry swore he could feel the laughter swelling in Draco's body and finding its way out even before there was any actual sound. In a very short time they were both laughing, Draco leaning to the wall for support and Harry snuggling up against him.

"Hah. You wish. I do hope it's your scrawny arse they end up accidentally hitting rather than mine. That should teach them a lesson, it's not good practise to fling out hexes at people like sweet nothings."

"Oi! My arse's not scrawny!"

"Sure it's not."

"Besides, you love my scrawny arse. That I have heard you say. Several times in fact."

Draco grabbed the arse in question and squeezed it thoroughly through Harry's dress robes. "Oh yes. It's all coming back now. Definitely love this arse. Also, I happen to have quite similar feelings towards the creature attached to it."

"Aww. You sure know how to make one feel special."

"I sure do," Draco murmured. He then leaned close to kiss Harry and proceeded to show exactly how special he could make Harry feel about himself.

Fin.