Hello, Readers :)
The guys doing roadworks outside my house somehow accidentally cut off our electricity and water, and so this comes to you from within a bustling Starbucks. It cost me £2.35 to bring this to you. You're welcome.

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Harry slept soundly past sunrise for the first morning in a very long time. He stirred, bleary eyed and fuzzy brained, as an annoying, shrill alarm sounded within the curtained border of his bed. An agitated, muffled mumble sounded from somewhere above his head, and the noise silenced as abruptly as it had started.

"Sorry," that same sleepy voice murmured, "I have to set an alarm, or I don't get up. I am not a morning person."

"It's okay, it's a good thing you did; I think I could have slept through all of potions and well into charms."

Draco lazily traced patterns over the warm, soft skin of Harry's back. The blonde himself was sprawled out quite inelegantly, his long limbs thrown haphazardly over the bed. Harry fit rather nicely around his body, half by his side half on his chest, his head tucked neatly under Draco's chin and their legs tangled together. "What, no raging insomnia?"

"Nope, I was out like a light," Harry spoke softly, his voice dreamy, "I think someone made sure to thoroughly wear me out."

A pale hand came up to run through messy dark hair, tugging slightly to pull Harry's face up. "Well, if that's what it takes for you to get a good night's sleep, I'm happy to oblige. Many times. Any time."

Harry gave him a cheeky smile, crossing his arms over Draco's chest so he could prop his head up and look directly at him. "Hmm, I suppose that could work, although I'd have to check my diary." He leaned forward to give the Slytherin a small peck on his lips when Draco flicked his nose, an unamused look on his handsome face. "I would like that. A lot."

Draco leaned forward, chasing Harry's lips and trying to deepen the kiss, but Harry kept his hand firmly on his chest, pinning him down as he sat up. "Not that I don't love your kisses, but we're both not so fresh, and we need to get up and get ready."

"Fine," Draco grumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes, "I'll take an IOU on that one. And I will be cashing it in."

"I'm counting on it." Harry winked at him over his shoulder as he slid on the pyjama bottoms he had, very briefly, worn the night before. "You might want to cover up; I'm opening the curtains. And, as much as the sight of you lying there is pretty damn hot, I want to be the only one that sees it."

Draco hastened to comply, a faint blush high on his cheeks. He dragged a hand through his hair, but the long, loose strands soon fell back around his face. He nodded with a sigh, preparing himself for what he was sure would at best be a verbal onslaught and at worst a brutal murder at the hands of the other Gryffindor boys.

Harry appeared to steel himself too before plastering on a carefree, joyful grin that didn't quite make it all the way up to his eyes. He yanked the curtains back with a flourish, breaking the silencing charm. "Morning, everyone."

"Alright there, Harry?" Seamus shouted back in his thick accent, not looking up from where he was hopping around the room yanking on a bright crimson sock, "You're up late, you early bird. Were you having nightmares again?"

"He was having something, but I don't think it was a nightmare," Dean called out from across the dorm, his rich, velvety voice accompanied by a deep chuckle. "Good morning, Harry. Good morning, Malfoy."

"Did someone say Malfoy? Oh, bloody hell, what's he doing here?" Ron bellowed as he rushed from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. He pointed it accusingly at his best friend before brandishing it like a weapon at Draco.

The Slytherin was completely unfazed and merely got off the bed, picking up his overnight bag. However, the clothes and shoes littered around the bed in messy piles, obvious evidence of their actions from last night, made the skin on his face feel uncomfortably warm. He ruffled Harry's hair as he sidestepped him, heading towards the now familiar bathroom. "We had a sleepover."

"Oh, I bet you were sleeping all over our Harry here," Seamus taunted with a suggestive wiggle of eyebrows. He let out a whoop when Harry and Draco shot each other far from innocent smirks.

"That's not funny. Don't joke about shit like that, mate, it's just wrong," Ron said, his reddening face screwing up like he could smell something bad. He shuffled to the side to fully block the door to the bathroom, not allowing Draco to pass through. His scowl deepened when the blonde just rolled his eyes at him.

Draco decided to push his luck and sat down on the end of Dean's bed, the closest to him. He plopped his bag into his lap, stretching out long, slender legs, becoming the very picture of bored indifference. He would be forever grateful that Dean didn't even so much as blink an eye in reaction. "And what, pray tell, is wrong?"

"You! And Harry, and eugh, I don't even want to think about it," Ron made a dramatic retching noise, making sure to fully drive his point home. "And, it's so bloody weird that all of you lot are thinking about it. It's bloody disgusting, isn't it, Neville? Back me up here, mate."

Neville, who had managed to get by so far unseen and unnoticed, gulped audibly as five pairs of eyes landed on him. "I…I…" He snapped his mouth shut, shaking his head to try and clear it. He looked up at Harry, seeing the distress on his face and the small, worried glances he shot at Draco as the silence dragged on. He sighed, shaking his head again, but this time to indicate the negative. "No, you're wrong, Ron. I don't care. The only people this actually affects in any way are Harry and Malfoy. As long as Malfoy doesn't hog the bathroom, what difference does it make to the rest of us, really? Harry seems happy, and Malfoy doesn't seem to be hurting him in any way, so why not just let them get on with it? The only person hurting Harry is you and your attitude, Ron." He broke off and the room fell tense and quiet, but he smiled as the majority of his friends looked at him with a mixture of pride, support, and gratitude. He cleared his throat, attempting to mimic one of Harry's goofy grins to lighten the mood. "Besides, so far he's been a lot more tolerable then Lavender Brown was when you used to sneak her up here when you were dating."

A chorus of loud agreements followed his statement and the tension soon lifted as the boys joked and laughed. Ron stared around at them all angrily, throwing his toothbrush back in the general direction of the sink before grabbing his bag with a huff, stomping over to the door. "I'm going downstairs to see Hermione. I'll see you all later in the common room. That is, if you can all stop making out in time for breakfast." The door slammed shut behind him.

Harry felt the first prickling of tears and scrubbed at his eyes furiously. He crossed the room as Draco stood up, wrapping his arms around the blonde from behind. He held him tight, burying his face in the warm skin between his shoulder blades. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect him to be like that."

"I did." Draco caught the small hands at his waist in his, giving them a soft squeeze before opening them up, releasing Harry's grip. He pulled the boy around his body and into his arms, one arm securely around his back and the other hand cradling his head against his chest. He rested his chin atop the messy locks, allowing himself to enjoy the comfort of Harry's skin against his own as arms wound once more round his waist. "A lot of people in the magical world are like that, especially the purebloods. If I were still on speaking terms with my father, he would murder me in cold blood if I told him I was gay. And I mean that literally, I'm not being dramatic."

"He's right, Harry," Neville interjected, his tone sad with a slight tinge of anger. "Most pureblood families value the family name over everything else, even happiness. It is expected that you get married, give or take a respected name, and then have children to pass on that name. Any deviation from that is highly frowned upon. Same sex couples have the issue of deciding which name is taken, if they decide to marry, which can cause a rift as it can be seen as a declaration that one family is superior to the other. This is worse for men; if a man takes another's name, he is usually cut off and shunned by his blood family. There's also the issue of same sex couples not being able to produce biological children." Neville pressed his lips together in a hard line. "My own grandmother, who is quite against some of the more barbaric traditional practices, and who loves her family deeply, told me that if my father or I were homosexual she would have arranged marriages for us anyway. And, she didn't say how, but she told me that she would make sure she definitely gets grandchildren."

"That's horrible!" Harry gasped, looking between the two purebloods. He clutched Draco tighter. "The Weasleys can't be like that, surely? They've always been so loving and kind. They don't seem to mind that Charlie has no interest in getting married and having children."

Draco nodded, running a soothing hand over his back. "Thankfully, they're not, they're one of the most progressive and indiscriminate pureblood families out there. I don't think the issue lies with them; I think it's purely Ronald. And maybe that older brother of his too, the one that works in the Ministry."

Harry sighed, shaking his head and pulling away from his boyfriend so he could smile at his friends. "Then I'd like to thank you all for supporting me, us. It means a lot."

"You don't have to thank us for not being arseholes, mate," Seamus grinned sheepishly. "I know there was that time we were going on at Dean 'cause we thought he was gay, but we thought we was just messing. It was only after you yelled at us we realised how fucked up we were being. McGonagall wrote home to me mam after that, and she was angry; she raised me good and proper, she did. Would've clouted me if she could."

Dean nodded his agreement, "You're a good friend, Harry, we've got your back. Besides, this means there's no risk of little baby Malfoys running around terrorising the place. the world should be thanking you for your services to humanity."

Draco flipped him off but smiled a genuine smile at the Gryffindors. "Really though, thank you all. Both for not turning against Harry, and for not mounting my head on a pike or burning me at the stake."

"Those things sound like a lot of effort," Neville said, "But, if you ever hurt Harry, we don't mind a little effort." He had let a hint of threat drop into his voice, and the tone coming from someone usually so softly spoken and mild mannered was downright frightening.

The Slytherin gulped, forcefully reminded he was in the depths of the lion pit. He nodded his understanding and let out a breath, turning his attention to Harry. He placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a light shove towards the bathroom. "Come on. We need to finish getting ready, and let the others, or we're all going to miss breakfast. I am not sitting through double potions with a bunch of hungry, cranky Gryffindors."

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A short while later, the group of boys descended the staircase into the common room, shouting and laughing. Draco was in the middle of it, unused to the loud, rambunctious start to the day, but the feeling of being included in their ranks filled him with a pleasant warmth. The hand in his and the unbridled joy lighting up Harry's pretty face was also something he could feel himself growing addicted to.

Harry was surprised to see the majority of his house still in the common room, especially the older years, but he kept his expression light as he greeted them, "Morning, everyone! It's busy in here today. Breakfast started twenty minutes ago, it's usually dead by now."

Ron stepped forward confidently and the rest of the gathered crowd seemed to lean in and hold their breaths, as if waiting for something exciting to happen. He cleared his throat, addressing Harry directly, "We're here because some of us have some things we'd like to say." At this, a few of the eavesdroppers stepped back as if to separate themselves from this collective 'we', but some appeared even more eager. "We're not happy that you let Malfoy in here, and we're not happy that you're playing some sick joke and pretending to be all gay with the lads. It's gone on long enough, it ain't funny. I know you're just trying to get some attention, but you've gone too far, mate, it's just wrong."

Harry frowned, perplexed. He wanted to call Ron out, but also didn't want to make Draco uncomfortable by sharing private details. He looked to the blonde, a silent question in his eyes, and Draco gave a small nod in response. He gave a firmer nod when Harry muttered a quiet "you sure?" under his breath. Harry smiled at him warmly before returning his attention to Ron.

"I don't know what you think's going on, but I'm not playing any jokes, and I really don't want any attention, especially as I'm sure the majority of it's going to be negative. But, I think we're going to get it all the same." Harry let out a sigh, hoping his voice sounded as sincere as he felt, "I really like him, Ron, and we're going to be spending a lot of time together. Please, either get over it or just leave us alone. I'd rather not lose you; we've been through a lot together, and I thought we were best friends and nothing could change that. But, if you're going to hate me for being with Draco, then I don't think I want to be friends with someone like that."

"But why can't it just be like it was before?" Ron whined loudly. "You always hated each other, and that was fine, that's how it should be. And then you just suddenly decided you were gonna be friends our first week back at school. It was bloody weird, but I could kinda be cool with it 'cause you just hung out in class or studied at the library. But now it's way too much, mate. He's eating at our table, like, all the time now, and you spend all your free periods with him, and now you've brought him here! And he stayed over!That's really not normal, and a bit creepy, mate. People don't want to see that stuff, and people are gonna think that you're- Merlin's balls!" Ron cut himself off with a loud exclamation, his eyes and a pointed finger aimed accusingly at Harry and Draco's interlocked fingers. "You're holding his bloody hand! Everyone's gonna think you're queer now, if they didn't already before."

Harry arched a single eyebrow, staring at him as if he were a small child throwing a temper tantrum because the sun had dared to shine. He looked far from amused, and the listening crowd seemed to be splitting up into factions that gravitated closer to either him or Ron. "People can think whatever they like, I don't care, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not going to not spend time with my boyfriend just because some people are stuck in the 50s."

"Boyfriend?" Ron shrieked the question, outraged, his face turning a deep, angry crimson. Whispers erupted in the common room and Harry was met with an odd assortment of hateful glares and supportive grins.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot we were alone when that happened. I thought it was obvious and, from the way you're talking, I thought everyone knew." He gave a half-hearted shrug, stifling a yawn as if growing bored of the conversation. "I asked him out last night, and he said yes. So, yeah, Draco's my boyfriend," Harry spoke in his light, carefree tone. He swung up the hand that held Draco's so that he could place a chaste kiss to pale knuckles.

Ron took a step closer to the pair, not seeming to care as the other boys from his dorm, who hadn't left Harry and Draco's sides since coming down the stairs, took up defensive stances. "What, so you've just decided you're going to be gay now? I thought you and Ginny had a thing? You're choosing that ponce over her? She's gonna hate you now."

"We did have a thing, and now we don't. People can have a dating history longer than one person, Ron. If she wants to hate me, she can, but I don't see why she would. We're both much happier now."

Ginny stepped forward, a smile on her face as she looked at Harry, but it turned to a deathly glare as she locked eyes with her brother. "How dare you say all of those things to Harry? He's a great man and a great friend, you're throwing away one of the best things in your life. Harry and I were never going to work out; he's like my brother. And, at the minute he's being a hell of a better brother than you are. I'm happy for him. And Malfoy."

Hermione slung her arm across Harry's narrow shoulders, her hand landing casually on top of one of Draco's. She gave an affirmative nod, "I agree with her, Ron. Draco makes Harry happy. That should be all that matters here. If you'd rather put your own bigotry over your best friend's happiness, I don't want to be friends with you."

The other sixth year Gryffindor boys all called out their own support of Harry and Draco's relationship, giving either or both hearty claps on the back. The majority of the house seemed to be in agreement, and most shouted out congratulations and other positive statements to the new couple. Harry had a huge smile on his face, his whole body felt warm as he basked in the love and acceptance of his friends. He could see Draco sporting a similar look out of the corner of his eye and spoke up for the both of them, "Thanks, guys, all of you. It really means a lot to us."

Draco shook himself out of his silence, his smile growing. He had remained quiet for the confrontation; he didn't want to interfere in Harry's relationship with his best friend, and knew Harry was more than capable of standing his own ground. He knew that offering his silent support was enough, and if Harry needed him, he'd ask. But now that it seemed to be over he let his voice take on a grateful, sincere tone, "Yes, we really appreciate it. All of you that have stood by Harry are what Gryffindor is truly about, and you all have my thanks and respect."

"We stand by you too, idiot," A hand was suddenly ruffling through Draco's hair, quickly messing it up. Draco snapped his head round to see Dean smiling at him and Seamus giving a double thumbs up, "You're one of us, now."

"So, what, you're all okay with this?" Ron shouted, as stubborn and hot-headed as always. "Harry decides he wants to be gay and fuck around with that slimy git of all people, a bloody evil Slytherin, and you're all just gonna nod along and pretend everything's fine and normal?"

"People don't choose to be gay, Ron," Harry said calmly, "And I don't know if I am; I could be, I could not be. Who cares, I certainly don't. I'm with Draco, and I'm happy being with Draco, and I don't really see the point in dwelling on anything other than that. It just doesn't matter to me what people decide to label me, or us. What's another label after all the ones I've already got, anyway."

"I love that," Draco piped up, his tone mirroring some of Harry's carefree quality. "I know that I am, though. Gay, that is. Like a hundred percent gay. Like the-Slytherins-used-to-call-me-Princess level gay."

"You realise you've just signed your own death warrant, right?" Harry grinned evilly at him, "That's all you'll ever be called by Gryffindor now too, Princess."

That seemed to be the last straw for Ron and the boy whirled around, storming off towards the door. A few of the crowd shot the couple a hesitant look before following after him. Harry sighed, a small, defeated smile on his face. He was sad to see Ron go, but in the end, he was glad he had seen this side of him now rather than later. He felt a certain level of cold acceptance that the friendship was over. Both Hermione and Draco tightened their grips on him and he raised his head, standing confident and proud as he led the remaining people towards the portrait.

They were just passing through the exit, the tense atmosphere of the group finally easing and returning to the usual boisterousness that accompanied a crowd of Gryffindors, when a loud bell echoed through the stone walls signally the end of breakfast and the start of classes. They all groaned collectively, and Harry and Draco were bombarded with rowdy, bantering complaints. However, they all stuck tight around the couple as they headed towards Potions, keeping them safe and shielded from unkind eyes and sharp whispers inside a warm bubble of friendship.

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To Be Continued (within 48 hours).

Happy Reading,
Love,
Bambi x