Author's Note: My goodness, thank you for your wonderful reviews! I read every one of them and they are wonderful and so helpful! So there will be only a couple more chapters left before I am finally finished with this fic and then I can move on to a new project. This is Harry's POV!

Chapter 21

Harry woke up to an empty bed the next morning. He rubbed his eyes, confused and sleepy. Where were Draco and Becca? He was usually up before the other boy and it was his job to take care of Rebecca in the mornings. Granted, he did spend a good portion of the night crying his eyes out, but still. He had hoped to talk to Draco before he disappeared for the day. He peered out of the curtains to find the dorm empty. That's just bloody fantastic. He got dressed rapidly, snagging his bag off of the floor. He noticed Draco's journal and picked it up, too.

He ran through the common room and jumped through the portrait hole into the corridor only to connect heads with another student. "Ouch!" he rubbed his forehead.

"Watch where you're—oh, Harry! You're up!" Blaise looked up at him, massaging his head as well. "You've missed the first few classes, I was just heading back in to wake you up and give you Becca," he held out the doll for Harry to take.

Harry blinked at him and took her from his waiting arms. "What? Why didn't you get me up before?"

"We tried, but you were out cold! So we gave your professors the proper excuses and said that you were sick." Blaise glanced at the journal in Harry's hand and raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that…?"

"Yeah," Harry answered hurriedly, "Speaking of Draco, where's he?"

Blaise's other eyebrow rose as Harry spoke Draco's given name and shrugged. "Probably in class by now. Shouldn't you be heading to Charms?"

Harry waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, that can wait. I've got to speak with him." He started jogging off to Draco's Potions classroom.

Blaise squealed and followed him. "Ooh, this should be good!"

Harry sprinted through the corridor and burst into the classroom, interrupting one of Slughorn's lectures with a loud bang. The whole class stopped and looked at him. Harry noticed that Draco turned his eyes down to the table and pretended to be enthralled with a mote of dust. "Harry?" Slughorn peered at him from the front of the room, frowning. "What are you doing here?" Harry, still out of breath from running, stared blankly at him.

Blaise tapped his shoulder. "You didn't think this one through, did you?" he whispered.

Harry shook his head, still panting. "My plan went as far as getting here. After that, I don't know exactly."

Blaise snorted, pushing him into the room gently. "Typical."

Harry took a breath and cleared his throat. "Excuse me sir, but I need to take him out of class for a moment," he said, nodding towards Draco. The other boy's gaze remained stubbornly glued to the table as the entire class watched avidly.

Slughorn frowned some more. "I'm sorry, but what do you need Mr. Malfoy for?"

Harry tried to look intimidating, but he knew it was a ridiculously futile attempt. Here he was, disrupting a lesson with rumpled school robes, messy hair, a snickering Blaise, and a baby doll in his arms. He wasn't scaring anybody. He looked at the floor. "Never mind, sir. I'll just go." He started towards the door; anxious to get out of the awkward situation he had created for himself.

"Is that mine?" a voice called out tentatively. Harry spun around and found that Draco was staring at the journal still in his grasp.

Harry forgot all about awkward situations and leaving. "Yes."

Draco looked shocked for a moment, then irritated. "Why do you—?"

Harry cut him off. "Do you still care about me?"

For a split second, Draco looked uncertain but his Malfoy mask of disdain was back in place as quickly as it left. "What we had is over, Potter. I feel nothing." He sneered, his eyes not quite meeting Harry's.

Harry shook his head. "Tell the truth. I've read the book, you know, but I want to hear you say it."

Draco's pale skin turned a few shades paler. He snarled at Harry, his eyes flashing angrily. "You had no right—"

"Stop it! I have every right and you know it! You wouldn't tell me, so what else was I supposed to do? Just admit it, you still care about me just as much as I still care about you!" Harry shouted.

Draco's mask slipped from his face in an instant. His expression was one of naked insecurity. "You… still care about me?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically small.

Harry closed his eyes and laughed humorlessly. "You never listen to me, do you? Of course I do, you silly git. One stupid remark isn't going to make me stop."

Draco turned his eyes down to the floor. "But it made you leave me," he whispered, tracing patterns on the cement with his foot. Harry walked over until he was right in front of him.

"And I was wrong. It was my fault, I was stubborn and angry. If I only knew how much I was hurting you I would've never—"

Draco broke in. "No, it was my fault. I should've never said any of that, it was cruel and vicious and you have every right to hate me for it. I knew what I was doing so it wasn't an accident. I don't understand why you're not walking away," he said quietly to his feet.

Harry took Draco's hand gently. "There's this crazy thing, I'm sure you've heard of it. It makes me do bizarre stuff like copying your Potions notes when you're not looking and kissing your nose and grabbing your hand in the middle of the night. Like defending you in a crowded pub and failing, like ignoring you and failing, like trying to move on and failing. Like stealing your journal and interrupting your class obnoxiously and learning to forgive for every one of your mistakes." Harry tipped Draco's face up to look into his eyes.

"It's called love, Draco."

Draco's bottom lip trembled when he heard his given name and he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Harry and burying his face into his neck. Harry closed his eyes and leaned into the embrace, nuzzling his nose in the soft blonde hair. Relief and joy hit him like a brick wall.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Draco paused and looked up into his eyes earnestly, "I love you, Harry," he whispered.

"Shh, I know, I know, it's okay. I love you too, Draco."

Draco sighed contentedly and they held each other for a few moments without saying anything. He sniffled. "Harry?"

"Hm?"

"I'm going to kill you for making me get emotional in front of an audience."

Harry laughed and looked around at the surrounding students, who were all watching their display unashamedly. "As long as you do it with love."

They tread cautiously around each other for a couple of days after that but as the weeks went by, Draco gradually became more teasing and Harry more playful. Harry knew that with each passing day he was slowly falling more and more in love with the Slytherin. Everybody could see it. Hermione smiled happily at him, Ron patted his shoulder supportively and Blaise, Dean, and Seamus shot him sly looks. Even Snape had noticed, judging by the several extra assignments and the scathing looks. Aside from Snape, people were treating Draco with more respect because of it.

On a late spring afternoon, Harry was lying on his bed in Gryffindor Tower watching with amusement as Draco struggled with Rebecca's diaper yet again. "I still can't believe that after all these months you're still having trouble with that," he said with a grin, receiving a pillow to the face for his commentary.

"Yeah well, we can't all be Father of the Year like you, can we?" Draco replied sarcastically, brows furrowing at the little clasp on the diaper. "What the hell does this do?"

Harry smiled. He was so cute when he was frustrated. "Need some help?" he asked.

Draco turned his nose up in the air a little. "Malfoys do not ever require assistance, Harry! I am perfectly capable—ah! See?" He held up the tiny doll with pride. Harry took one look and hooted with laughter. Draco frowned. "What? What's wrong with it?"

Harry got up and wrapped his arms around the blonde. "It's on backwards, love." He chuckled, taking Rebecca from Draco's grasp and setting her down on the little changing table.

Draco pouted sweetly. "Damn it, I thought I had it this time!" Harry laughed again and kissed his nose before capturing his lips enthusiastically. Draco responded just as eagerly and the kiss became more passionate. Harry had his hand halfway up Draco's shirt before the blonde pulled away, gasping. "Do you want to—?"

Harry widened his eyes, but nodded slowly. Draco had waited patiently for him, always letting Harry decide when to take it a step further. "Yes, I—I think so," he stammered nervously. "Just… give me a minute, will you?" Draco nodded, letting go and Harry rushed over to the bathroom. He splashed water on his face several times and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

This was it. He had promised himself that he wouldn't have sex unless it was with someone he could see himself loving for a long, long time. And somehow, he knew that he would not regret it with Draco. He knew that he was about to lose his virginity to the man he planned to keep in his life for the long run. Harry smiled at his reflection one last time and walked out of the bathroom with confidence. Draco was already on the bed, wearing nothing but a seductive expression and Harry's Gryffindor tie.

"I heard Gryffindors are pretty wild. Should I tame you Lion boy, or would you like to tame me?" Harry's smile widened as he made to join him.

The next day they both arrived at breakfast rumpled and exhausted, but in extremely high spirits. Harry could not keep himself from grinning as he thought of the previous night. It had been one of the most exciting, stimulating experiences of his entire lifetime and he knew that he had made the right choice. With Draco, he'd never be bored again.

He passed Becca over to Blaise as he sat down, still smiling. Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Someone's looking extremely chipper today," he observed, glancing over at Draco's matching expression and grinning lecherously. "I wonder why."

Seamus snorted as he sat down at his seat with Dean. "I don't have to wonder anything. I could hear them going at it all night. Honestly guys, think about using a Silencing charm next time," he complained, winking good-naturedly at them to show that he was teasing.

Harry flushed lightly, too ecstatic to be truly embarrassed. "Right, Seamus," he replied, rolling his eyes at Blaise, who was still smiling. The boy grinned wider and gave Draco and him both a thumbs up. He was just on his second helping of eggs when he heard the doors to the Great Hall shut with an echoed thud and the room grew eerily quiet. He looked at Draco, who appeared to be just as confused as he felt. They both glanced at Hermione across from them, who was staring at the doors with a shocked expression. Another look of perplexity was shared between them before they turned around slowly. Draco gasped loudly. Standing at the doors, looking incredibly anxious and weary, was Narcissa Malfoy.

(Another!) Author's Note: This was a shorter one, but hopefully enough for now! Sorry about the quick almost sex scene, this IS rated T so no real smut will be involved. I'm horrible at writing it anyway. Thanks for reading, I'll try to update as soon as I possibly can.