- Chapter 21 -

Draco stood up, smoothed down his shirt, and then he offered a hand out to a still sitting Harry, who grinned wryly up at him but placed his own over top it after only a second's hesitation. "All right, but first," he said, pulling him up and against his chest, green eyes growing more amused, "do you want to see your gift?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah okay." He glanced over a soundly sleeping Pansy and Blaise and to the edge of the room, searching the darkened grounds beyond curiously. "You said it's outside?"

Draco nodded. "It is." And he tugged the wizard along, his fingers still intertwined with Harry's, the touch calming the blond's nerves as he felt the door swing open at his approach, and cool air began to seep into the room. He glanced over his shoulder. "Will you be warm enough?"

Harry looked down at his sweater and then back to the blond, growing increasingly curious as the wizard stalled. "Yeah, should be."

Draco nodded at that and then made his way out the invisible door and onto virgin snow with Harry by his side, the only sound frozen white powder crunching under their feet. He stopped a few yards out and looked up at the sky, his breaths not showing beside Harry's warm clouds of exhalations. "The charm doesn't do it justice," he said quietly, "no matter what the elves do. It just looks clearer out here."

Harry nodded silently, and he glanced over to the wizard, his platinum silky locks hanging back from his face as grey eyes studied the night sky with an intensity that Harry had come to realize Draco faced all aspects of his life with. He smiled as he looked back up at the sky. "Yeah. Is this my present, looking up at the starless sky with you?"

Grey eyes shifted over and down to eye Harry, the wizard's chin only dipping slightly as red lips curled up on one side. "It's not starless, it's cloudy. And what if it was? Would you be disappointed?"

Harry huffed a laugh as he cracked a grin. "No," he said, "but I'd probably be really confused."

Draco let out a laugh at that. He rolled his eyes. "You're too honest." He glanced around them, and then he took Harry's hand in his again and began to lead him further out towards a line of trees, Harry walking beside him quietly, looking around.

"So what is this gift?" Harry asked as they continued along, the wizard eyeing the snow and trees around them with increasingly furrowed brows.

Draco held back a grin. "You'll see," he said and then stopped abruptly by a mostly snow-hidden boulder that stood at almost half his height, releasing Harry's hand to pull his wand from his left sleeve. He held it out and then began to wave it in an intricate pattern and when he finished a large black wooden door with a highly polished, silver handle began to appear before them out of thin air.

The blond took a step back and looked to Harry expectantly.

Harry moved forward tentatively, placing his hand on the knob, and he glanced once more at Draco before turning it and pushing the door open slowly. He peered in to find a dome shaped, stand alone room a little smaller than the size of Draco's bedroom in the manor. The walls a smooth soft grey, windowless, and it appeared to be completely empty.

He moved in and stopped in the center of the room, looking around curiously. "What is this?"

Draco closed the door, it shutting with a soft click, and Harry looked around for any sign of light, and the walls began to glow softly around them, casting a warm light on the two wizards as Draco approached Harry slowly.

The blond stopped just in front of him, closed his eyes and breathed in slowly, Harry watching him in growing confusion, and then the floor beneath him shifted. The wizard looked down to find honey wooden planks for flooring where there had only been dirt, and then a deep red and overstuffed couch appeared to his right, a stone fireplace forming on the grey wall only feet in front of it with pieces of wood already in it, flames licking to life instantly. Harry turned and found another door materialize and then a hand was on his sleeve, and he found himself looking into grey eyes as Draco guided him towards the couch and away from the center of the room.

"Is this-"

"Hold on," Draco said, and Harry watched the tall blond close his eyes once more, and then a tree with long, soft bluish-green needles was standing, planted in the center of the room, its tip just brushing the ceiling and warm lights began to twinkle on its limbs as they made themselves known. Harry's lips began to turn up when crystal ornaments of various shapes began to appear, some clear and some frosted, hanging weightlessly from the limbs and widely spaced. Draco cleared his throat, the sound almost frustrated, and then very slowly softly hued ornaments of widely varying colors and materials began to appear in the empty spaces.

Harry let out a whisper of a laugh as he walked over to get a closer look, disbelieving his eyes. The dark-haired wizard reached out, carefully cupping his hand around the back of a small red, brown and white reindeer ornament that looked to have been stuffed and sewn by hand years ago, the stitching uneven and colors faded. He ran his thumb over the reindeer as the fire crackled softly behind him, and he breathed in the scent of needles and sap, his smile growing along with a warmth in his chest.

The wizard looked over the rest of the tree, his gaze flicking between the two starkly different kinds of ornaments that complimented each other perfectly in his opinion, eyes settling on a clear globe with shreds of glass piled in its center, the tree lights reflecting through it, making it look like it was glowing. "How'd you do this?" he asked quietly.

"I found a simpler variation of the charm-work for the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, and I altered it a bit, the original didn't conjure items as accurately."

Harry nodded as he studied a wooden snitch ornament that was painted red with tiny golden trees stamped all over it, looking like something he would've actually made himself, and then green eyes shifted over to where the tall blond was standing, hands shoved deep in his slacks pockets, angular shoulders pulled up, stretching the material of his crisp dark green shirt smooth around his waist, facial expression neutral but grey eyes active.

"It's a tradition in my family," Draco said when Harry just stared at him, and he rocked up onto the balls of his feet and then back down to his heels. "Well was - my father... he used to give my mum something every year with a spell he'd specialized for her."

Harry nodded again, more slowly, watching the wizard push up onto his toes again as he realized Draco had just compared them to his parents. And his chest began to grow uncomfortably but not unpleasantly tight as he struggled to respond.

"Shit Harry, do you like it or what?"

Green eyes widened, and Harry shook his head to clear his muddled thoughts, realizing just then that the wizard was fidgeting. "Oh—Yes. Yes of course I do," he said quickly, and when platinum brows lifted, and red lips pressed together in a tight line he let out a laugh. "I do, really, it's great, thank you, I was just surprised is all."

Draco stopped shifting at that. "How so?"

Harry froze. Shit. "Ah. Well-" He glanced over to the tree again, searching it, and said, "That you could picture homemade ornaments so well." He looked back to Draco.

Draco blinked. "You bloody hate it."

Harry let out another laugh as he shook his head. "No. That's not true. I swear." He made his way over to the blond, stopping just in front of him, and he grinned at him, the expression apologetic but genuine. "It's the best present you could've gotten me."

Draco eyed him shrewdly. "The best..." he parroted his words, disbelief dripping from his words.

Harry's grin grew impossibly wider. "Yeah, I'd say so, I'm not into purchased presents."

Draco nodded slowly, his expression slowly softening, and he reached out, clasping some of the wizard's heavy sweater between his thumb and index and gently tugged him nearer, wrapping his other hand around his waist as he looked down at him. "You're terrible at receiving gifts."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, sorry," he said sheepishly, and then cool fingers were on his neck, and he felt a familiar surge jump from him and into Draco's hand for the second time that night, and his eyelids dipped in relaxation.

"It's okay," was said quietly and then in a more amused tone, "So the ornaments look good then?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Very authentic," he said, matching his tone.

"They should," Draco said curtly, drawing Harry's full attention at the sudden seriousness. The blond sniffed. "Because I nicked them from a family down the street."

Harry huffed a laugh at that. "Tell me you're joking," he said as a thumb began to slide up and down over his neck, warming the area, and he shifted feet closer.

Draco blinked down at him. "I'm joking Harry." He dead-panned.

Harry laughed again, and Draco tilted his chin down, bringing upturning red lips closer, making the wizard's pulse speed up. "Thank you, Draco," he said, his voice roughened as the thumb began to slow on his neck.

Draco nodded slightly, and he found himself leaning in. "Do you want to stay in here tonight?" he said in almost a whisper against parted lips, fighting the urge to move coated teeth down to inviting skin below.

Harry felt the air leave his chest in a whoosh as his body pressed against Draco's, the simple offer filled with something that made his heart begin to dance around in his chest. "Yeah, I'd like that."

And then lips were on his as a bed appeared behind them.

"Fuck," Harry cursed as Draco pressed kisses down his bare stomach at a leisurely pace, his fingers laced in silky blond locks as he stared up at the dome grey ceiling, like-colored sheer curtains pulled around them. A breath escaped his lips sharply when teeth nipped at the skin just above his hip, and he began to push down gently on the wizard's head, and lips began to move back up in response. "Oh, fuck me," he groaned.

The blond pressed a kiss just below the wizard's ear and murmured against sensitive skin, "If that's what you really want, Harry."

Harry gasped a laugh even as his heart skipped a few beats at the words, and a tongue began to slide along the shell of his ear, and green eyes fell shut when lips began to nibble at his jaw line, the action feeling far better than he thought it should, and he grabbed onto pajama-covered hips. And then Draco's legs shifted apart more in response, and hips lowered along with other body parts, and Harry rolled his own up to close the gap and then groaned, the sound echoed from deep red lips above him.

"Harry, Harry, you feel so amazing," Draco murmured, holding his body still, hands planted on either side of the wizard's shoulders. He dipped down and met parted lips with a gentle kiss. "What do you want to do?" he whispered.

Harry's mind hummed indecisively as lips began to press against his in small kisses, and he stilled completely as he tried to think clearly. "We could try something new," he hedged, and he soon found himself looking directly into intense grey eyes. "If you want," he added.

Draco smiled slowly and then lowered down to whisper against his lips, "I do want." His smile growing to reveal perfectly white teeth when Harry laughed, the sound rough but amused, and he kissed the wizard's lower lip gently. "You make me happy, Harry," he said in a deep silky voice.

Harry's eyes widened slightly as the blond continued to pepper his lips with soft caresses. "Yeah?" And the vampire nodded, amusement obvious in grey eyes. He blinked a few times rapidly, his chest filling with a tingling, warm feeling that refused to dissipate only growing, and he swallowed hard before he heard himself say: "I think I might love you."

And then he wanted to grab the not-three-but-equally-bad-six words from the air and shove them back down, because Draco was no longer amused. He looked startled and possibly upset, and he had pushed himself up and away a few extra inches. "I mean-"

Grey eyes blinked. "You might...?"

Harry's tongue wet suddenly dry lips, eyes falling shut and not opening back, refusing to meet the hovering wizard's directly above them. He had already told Ron and Hermione, and Blaise uninentionally, and surely most of their classmates knew by now too; he had shouted it.

He forced his gaze to meet Draco's again, not able to read his response still, the wizard's expression maddeningly blank, and he found himself nodding almost regretfully as he forced out, "Yeah. I do."

Draco blinked again, a heat flooding his chest and very core that had nothing to do with his vampiric leeching abilities but still everything to do with the wizard beneath him. "I love you too Harry."

Harry froze. He had to have misheard. "You do?" he asked, even as his heart began to thump in his chest at the words as if it wanted to try to explode or something else equally ill-advised. And Draco laughed, the sound happy, and then his lips were pressing to his as he nodded in small movements but very adamantly, fingers running up into black hair.

"I do," Draco said, and then tangled fingers pulled the wizard's head to the side gently, eyes sliding over smooth exposed skin that glistened softly over stretched muscles, and he felt venom suddenly coat his teeth, and he held himself back, the action painful. "I want you, Harry, it's killing me to wait."

Harry sucked in a breath, his grip tightening around the blond's hips, because the way Draco was studying his neck made him think how he wanted him might not be so simple. His fingers began to nudge down the blond's pants. "Draco," he said around unsteady breaths, bringing darkened grey eyes back to him a little too slowly, and he lifted his hips and began to push down his own. "Help me with this."

Draco blinked again, his mind redirecting suddenly at the wizard's request, and he nodded, kicking off his own pants that were gathered around his knees before shifting down silky crimson sheets to pull Harry's over his calves and off for him. He left them at the foot of his bed and began to crawl back up until he was level with the dark-haired wizard, and he looked down at him. "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Harry said in a rough voice, and pushed up on one hand to meet hesitant red lips as the other wrapped around the blond's neck, and he pressed his heated upper body against a cool one, needing more. "Very sure," he husked and then he pulled him down with him until his back was once more on warmed sheets, Draco's body over his. "Very sure."