Chapter fourteen

Later that day, Draco went back home and packed his things. His mother was a little sad, but Draco promised they would see each other a lot until Hogwarts opened. Harry couldn't stop smiling as he watched Draco unpack his stuff. He just sat on their bed watching Draco levitating all his clothes into the wardrobe.

'You sure have a lot of clothes love.'

Draco laughed, 'Yeah, one thing I like to do is buy clothes, I think I'm worse than some woman, that's what my mother usually says anyway.'

'I only bought clothes for myself before I felt the pull, I actually enjoyed it. But I'm more of a jeans person even if I did buy some nicer clothes.'

'I noticed the night we got together. You were in clothes I have never seen you wear before,' Draco finished unpacking then pushed Harry back so he was lying down, then lay on top of him, 'So from now, we are officially living together, which means we can shag any time we want or anywhere.'

'Oh the possibilities,' Harry pulled Draco's head down and started kissing him, then both their hands were all over the other, trying to get rid of the clothes between them. Harry never gave Draco a chance as he moved straight down his body until his mouth surrounded Draco's erection, but Harry felt Draco pulling at him so he turned so both their mouths were occupied.

When they were both satisfied, they just stayed in bed with their arms around each other.

'So we can always stay like this and even at Hogwarts. That really surprised me babe, hearing Professor McGonagall say we can have our own quarters.'

'Yeah, shocked the life out of me, but I get why she did allow it. We are all older than most of the seventh years would normally be. So you really want to sit with me at the Gryffindor table, because I know I'd like you to, but you are a Slytherin.'

'I was only a Slytherin because of the way I was raised, with my father's beliefs, not my own. If I could be resorted now, I think I'd end up either in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, more likely Ravenclaw. I was always pretty smart, but not overly courageous. Can I ask you something babe?'

'Anything,' Harry smiled up at him.

'If you're life had been different, you know, no Voldemort, do you think you would have been as brave as you have been over the last few years,' Draco ran his hand down Harry's black hair.

'I never felt brave Dra, there were a lot of times I was really frightened. I know at the right time, when I needed to bring out that courage, I could, but before and after I was usually shaking,' Harry sat up and faced Draco, 'When I had the sorting hat on, I was so scared that it would put me in Slytherin. I'd heard from Hagrid about Voldemort being in that house, then I met you in Madame Malkins and some of the things you said made me want nothing to do with Slytherin, then on the train with Crabbe and Goyle. So as I was sitting there with the hat on my head, I kept saying, not Slytherin, not Slytherin. I could hear the sorting hat talking to me, saying I would do well in Slytherin, that it would help me on the way to greatness. It finally said I had a lot of courage. But I just kept saying not Slytherin, that's when it said Gryffindor. I spoke to Dumbledore about it after I rescued Ginny from the chamber of secrets. Something Voldemort said to me in the chamber made me wonder if the hat made the right choice.'

'You saw him, but he wasn't back yet.'

'The diary you're father slipped to Ginny, it was meant to have someone open the chamber, but it was also Draining the life out of her and he's memory was coming to life. When I saw him, he was almost back. But he was young, about sixteen, so that's when he enchanted his diary.'

'Okay, so what did he say to you then?'

'He said we were a lot alike, very similar in ways. When I saw him, we even looked alike. So I spoke to Dumbledore about it, he said it was just small things we were alike in, like speaking parseltongue. Then Dumbledore handed me the sword I used to kill the basilisk, it had appeared to me out of the sorting hat. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix had dropped it in my lap. Dumbledore said only a true Gryffindor could pull that sword out of the hat, it was the sword of Gryffindor, which only presents itself to a true Gryffindor and only when that person has real need for it. Like the night of the fighting, it presented itself to Neville. He showed the courage of a true Gryffindor, so the sword presented itself to him right as he needed it and killed the snake.'

'You were never meant to be in Slytherin Harry, you're not sneaky, or underhanded, you never think of yourself. You're the complete opposite, you think of everyone else before yourself. I used to see it even if I tried not to. I was so jealous of the courage you had and how you cared about everyone, including creatures. After hearing what you said about your relatives, how did you end up being so good Harry? I think most kids that had been badly treated would have turned out hard, cold or uncaring, but you didn't.'

'When they locked me up, I used to sit and talk to my parents. When I did that, I used to get these feelings, like they were with me. It's hard to explain, but I always felt them. I've been asked the same thing by others and I tell them what I'm telling you, it was my parent's presence that kept me from turning out like the Dursleys. Then I met Ron and Hermione, Neville and everyone else, so I had some good people around me. Dumbledore, Sirius, even if I only saw him a dozen times, Remus, we were just getting close before he died. All those people have made me who I am. You know I used to worry that I could turn out like Voldemort.'

'Never Harry, how could you ever think you could?'

'Because I got angry all the time and didn't know why. Sirius told me, you're not a bad person Harry, you're a good person that bad things have happened to. I never understood that until after I found out about the horcrux. He was right, I wasn't bad, I did just have a lot of shit happen to me over the years. All the anger was him, always him, never me. Since that night, I haven't gotten angry once and it's the first time in years that I haven't.'

'Like I said to you before, I saw you angry a lot and didn't know why. But since we've been together, no, you haven't been angry or upset really.'

Harry lay back across Draco, 'No and it's a good feeling Dra, the best I've felt in my whole life. Part of that is because of you though, from the moment we met, I just felt whole, like I'm complete and that's only gotten stronger since we admitted how we felt about each other.'

Draco smiled as he ran his hand down Harry's hair again, 'I feel the same babe, from the moment we got together I was complete,' Draco kept his hand moving down Harry's hair until he heard Harry's breathing even out and knew he'd fallen asleep, so Draco leaned down and kissed Harry's head before closing his eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep.

Over the next few weeks, Harry and Draco were never apart. Hermione and Ron visited a lot, some of their other friends would as well. Harry was happy that all his friends had accepted Draco now. They always included him in any conversations, sometimes bringing up things they used to see him do, but it was all fun and they liked to wind Draco up just like they did with Harry. Harry and Draco had Narcissa over for dinner a lot along with Andromeda and Teddy. Harry and Draco would mainly spend all their time with Teddy, why Narcissa and Andromeda got to know each other again.

Kingsley had informed them of more captures and that the ministry was completely back under control of the right people. They knew there might still be Voldemort supporters there, but unless they did anything, the aurors and magical law enforcement squad couldn't do anything. But the wizarding world was starting to put all the pain and suffering that Voldemort caused behind them.

Harry and Draco had received their letters for Hogwarts, so they made plans with Hermione, Ron and all their friends to meet up in Diagon Alley and of course Jeremy and Oscar went with them. Harry and Draco were standing with Jeremy and Oscar just through the archway into Diagon Alley when Hermione, Ron and their other friends all turned up together.

'Hey,' Harry and Draco greeted everyone.

'Before we head off Harry, I thought I'd tell you that Ginny has decided to go back to Hogwarts. So I asked her about playing quidditch. At first she wasn't sure she could, but she realised if she wants to get spotted by a scout, she'll have no choice.'

'Then I'll try and make her feel comfortable at training, don't know if she will though.'

'We can make sure we don't snog in front of her until she gets settle,' Draco said as he slipped his arm around Harry.

'Yeah, that might help, oh and Professor McGonagall is allowing me to donate the new brooms, so I have to order those why we here and have them sent to Hogwarts.'

'You're going to buy all of them Harry?' Seamus asked.

'Yeah, I can't buy for the other three, it wouldn't be fair.'

'Okay, I suppose it's your choice, so what's first, new robes, they take a while to get fitted.'

'Might as well Seamus, but I need everything new. I left all my old stuff at the Dursleys and knowing them, they burned it all.'

The group headed off to Madame Malkins and with so many being fitted, it took a couple of hours. A lot of younger students were also in there being fitted and they kept staring at the group of friends, but of course Harry was getting stared at most. When they finished in there, Harry ordered and paid for the new brooms for Hogwarts. The owner of the shop said he'd never had an order that big before, so he couldn't stop smiling at Harry. Harry also had the names of each house printed on the handles, but he also bought another twenty separate brooms to be used for flying lessons, then the owner sent all forty eight brooms to Hogwarts before handing Harry a new broom-kit servicing kit as a thank you for such a big order. Harry shook the man's hand, then left the shop with his friends.

Over the next couple of hours, with a break to have some lunch, the friends bought everything that was on their lists and of course a few extra items from shops like Weasley Wizard Wheezes that George had just opened again with help from Lee and his old assistant verity. They met up with a lot of their other friends as they walked around Diagon Alley. Most were a little stand offish with Draco until they noticed Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest of the friends talking friendly with him, so they finally started to talk to him as well which made Harry relax more that everyone was finally accepting Draco as his partner and realised that he never wanted to be involved with the death eaters or Voldemort. When they finished shopping, all the friends went their separate ways to take their huge amount of school supplies home and relax for the last week because they all knew once they started at Hogwarts, they wouldn't get a lot of time to relax, not with how exhausting the N.E.W.T.s were. But one thing they all were happy about, they were finally going to have a normal year at Hogwarts, so they were determined to enjoy it especially since it was their last year at the old castle.