When Harry woke up, Draco had shifted over but his hand was stretching out to hold his waist. He was tempted to let Draco sleep, but couldn't help himself. He eased his way under Draco's arm and gently stroked his chest. Draco's eyes snapped to awareness immediately.

"Morning," Harry said.

"Morning," said Draco. He drew Harry closer to him. "Happy Christmas." Harry grinned and nuzzled into Draco's neck. "That tickles," Draco protested sleepily.

It was incredibly hard to extricate himself from his warm bed and the willing embrace of Draco. As Harry walked towards Hogsmeade in order to apparate, he felt as though there were marks on his skin where Draco's arms were, and it was as if he had gotten up in the morning and left behind half his body.

The cold morning air helped to clear away his pining. He needed focus for today. Though he had yearned for The Burrow more than he had expected, he had avoided thinking too hard about meeting Ginny there. Even weeks ago, he had been thinking it would be better to clearly state that they weren't together. Now, it was essential. He didn't consider being with Draco cheating, not when he hadn't so much as kissed Ginny since Bill and Fleur's wedding. But neither did he think either of them would be truly free until they cleared the air.

Now that he knew what to be aware of, he felt when he exited Hogwart's boundary, and he took a few more steps to be sure, before Disapparating. Once he Apparated just down the country lane from The Burrow, Harry found himself considering flying back to Hogwarts. While convenient, he didn't think he would ever get used to the awful feeling that went with Apparition. He re-centred the small pack on his back and approached the house, knowing that he would Apparate back. He didn't want to waste a single moment travelling that could be spent at either of his two favourite places.

He walked easily into the kitchen and was delighted to see Mrs Weasley at the stove. She spotted him at the same time and bustled over to give him a warm hug.

"How are you, Harry dear?" she said. "It does me good to see you not looking like a starved puppy, I must say!" She let him go and started filling a plate for him. "Hogwarts is good for you,"she told him. George and Ginny were sitting at the table and Harry hugged them both while Mrs Weasley piled on bacon, eggs and toast onto his plate. He gratefully accepted it, feeling the hunger that came after Apparition sickness passed.

"How's work going?" Harry asked George.

"We can't make products fast enough, nearly everything's on backorder. Ron's driving me mad, keeps trying to get new stuff in when we can't cope with the existing stuff." There was a tinge of pride in his voice. "Did you know he'd been keeping a journal of ideas? He said he used it to distract himself last year."

Harry shook his head in wonder. He had known Ron was helping manage the store but hadn't realised that he was contributing to it as well.

"Go get some of those snakes Ron designed, show Harry," said Mrs Weasley. "He's doing a really good job."

"Don't sound too surprised," said Ron from the doorway. He threw what looked like a cheap Muggle toy snake at Harry. As he caught it, it began to move, creeping around his wrist with convincing life. It hissed madly and waggled its eyes.

"This is amazing!" said Harry.

"Should have known it wouldn't freak you out," said Ron. "I'm going over our adventures and making the worst parts into toys."

"Sounds therapeutic," remarked Harry.

"He's not the only one cashing in on it," Ginny told him. "Ron got an owl the other day, they want to make a chocolate frog card for him. And Shacklebolt arrested Dung for selling 'genuine' Harry Potter and Friends autographs." Harry groaned. "How do you manage being a famous person and a professor?"

"Dumbledore managed it," Harry said automatically. It had become his natural defence. He reminded himself he was with family and forced himself to continue. "The younger ones don't really care, and the older ones knew me at school, so they'd gotten used to the idea of being around me. McGonagall tells me parents keep coming up with excuses to meet with me, but none of them would be good enough for the other professors so she's managed to turn them all down so far."

Hermione entered the room, hair still wet from a shower. She smiled at Harry and moved naturally under Ron's arm. Harry finished off his breakfast quickly to give them room at the table. For Christmas lunch they would be eating outside to fit everyone, but in the meantime the kitchen was getting cramped. Ginny caught Harry's eye and they both walked outside. Harry had never been to The Burrow during winter, but there was some kind of charm keeping the garden warm.

"We let the snow in generally, but with everyone needing to eat outside, it's better to have it warm," Ginny explained. Harry looked at her properly for the first time. Her eyes were brown and lovely, and he was shocked he had forgotten that. Her hair was bound in a messy braid and she was wearing a huge, dark blue Weasley jumper with a 'G' on it.

"I didn't realise I missed you until I saw you," Harry said gently. Ginny smiled sadly.
"Me neither. Doesn't bode well, does it."

"I don't think I would have managed last year without the thought of coming home to you. But this year, which is really a lot less stressful, I forgot … I forgot the colour of your eyes."

"It's not just that," said Ginny. "Last year, we didn't know if we would survive. I didn't dare think of the future. Now I have." She grimaced. "I don't think I could just be Harry Potter's wife. Or even girlfriend. If that was my identity … it just doesn't leave room to be me."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Harry attempted a smile.

"At least we're on the same page. I'm really sorry I avoided talking about it sooner."

"You would have had to drag me out of the sky to do that," said Ginny gently. "I wasn't ready for that chapter to be over."

They walked for a while in companionable silence. Harry had the bizarre impulse to tell her about Draco, something that showed him he really didn't think of her romantically anymore, but he kept quiet. He wouldn't like to hear that she had been with other people before they talked. He would have understood, but it still would have hurt. Especially seeing as he was starting to think that it wasn't just about sex.

By the time he and Ginny entered the house again, the kitchen was empty. Harry left her in the living room to climb up to Ron's room. He knocked out of habit.

"Just a minute," Ron cautioned. Seconds later, Ron opened the door, pulling his shirt down over wild orange hair. "Oh, it's you. I was just getting changed." Harry flopped down onto Ron's bed.

"I talked to Ginny," Harry said.

"How'd it go?"

"Yeah, we agreed to end it. Or continue with it being ended."

"For the best, mate," said Ron. "She wrote to me more than she wrote to you."

"I know." They sat in silence for a bit, but Harry felt his secret threatening to come out. Better to take control rather than just blurt it, he reasoned. "I want to tell you something, but I don't know how you'll react." Harry stared at the ceiling to avoid looking at Ron.

"Full disclosure … Hermione's here." Hermione edged awkwardly out of Ron's closet.

"Sorry, Harry," she said. "Mrs Weasley has been keeping us in separate rooms, we didn't think she would feel comfortable with us alone together. Do you want me to leave?"

"No," said Harry honestly. "I was going to ask your opinion anyway."

"So what's going on?" asked Ron. He sat on Harry's camp bed and Hermione settled herself leaning on him.

"So Malfoy's been sleeping in my office." Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. "Hermione already told you," Harry guessed.

"Only so much happens to me to put in a letter," said Hermione. "We tell each other what we eat just for something to say." Harry shifted awkwardly. He had no idea how to continue. Ron started to say something but Hermione put her hand on his and he kept silent. Harry kept his eyes fixed on a Chudley Cannon's poster.

"Have you ever thought … have you ever thought about being with a guy?" Harry closed his eyes against their reactions. Ron and Hermione exchanged looks carefully. Hermione nudged Ron. It was him the question was directed to. Obviously she wasn't opposed.

"Uh, well … blimey mate, that's put me on the spot. I mean Dean and Seamus are … gay, so that makes you think," Ron said.

"Dean and Seamus are gay?"

"You are so oblivious," sighed Hermione. Harry sat up. His friends were smiling kindly at him, as if they would love him no matter what. Which was probably true, seeing as they'd followed him despite threat of death multiple times. Harry found himself preferring the real challenge to talking about his feelings any day. There wasn't much chance of a dragon bursting in, so ...

"Okay, so I told you that he needed support, that we talked about stuff. He … he kissed me. And then I talked to Hermione about the support stuff and wanting to have boundaries, but didn't want to mention the kiss."

"Kinda relevant information, Harry!" Hermione sounded exasperated. "That's a bigger boundary than what we discussed!"

"And then I decided to be professional and then I couldn't be because …" Harry looked at them desperately, unable to articulate it. Ron and Hermione waited for a bit to see if he would finish his thought.

"Harry, do you want to be with Draco?" asked Hermione. Harry looked at Ron to try and gauge his reaction. Ron was keeping a pretty straight face, but he couldn't completely hide a bemused smile.

"I think so, but …" Harry took in a deep breath. "I'm very attracted to him, and I feel like I might be the only one that gets him and I feel like I have to mention that I'm attracted to him again because that's really important." Ron snorted and Hermione smiled but they didn't interrupt. Harry thought he was being more funny than that, but continued anyway. "I mean there's the obvious, that we've hated each other for years, but that really doesn't seem to matter anymore," and Harry stopped himself from saying and it actually might make it hotter. "But then there's the fact he's my student and then there's the fact he's a Malfoy, so I don't know what I'm feeling."

"We can't tell you what to feel," Hermione told him gently. "But we're on your team, right Ron? Always on your team."

"What I don't get is that it's Malfoy," Ron said. "He's not what I'd call classically handsome," Hermione glared at him. "What?" he protested.

"Harry's had very intense feelings about Draco since they met."

"Who would you call classically handsome?" Harry asked curiously. Ron turned very red and collapsed onto the bed, hiding behind Hermione.

"I think you could do worse," Hermione said. "He has nice cheekbones." Harry and Ron laughed at Hermione's matter-of-fact tone.

"There's the fact that he's a giant git," Ron said. "That counterbalances bone structure for me!"

The whole thing was ridiculous. Harry and Hermione probed Ron further, trying to get him to confess attraction to a guy, before Ron very pointedly turned the conversation to his latest invention, which Hermione was helping with. She was too excited by new magic to change the subject back. It was a potion that could be put into sweets that made a random body part grow. Ron had pitched it to give the recipient ridiculously sized breasts, but George had been skeptical about marketing. After all, kids were their main target, and that was the kind of thing that got kids banned from visiting their shop. So, Ron thought random body engorgement would be just as funny, and have the added bonus of surprising the pranker as well as the audience.

"George is making me fiddle with the probability so that people don't get massive dongs. He really isn't as fun anymore." They talked as they used to at Hogwarts, and Harry felt lighter than air. His friends supported him.