I've been loving all the comments on the last chapter. Especially the ones about Al and Scorpius and what exactly their relationship is. You'll find out soon enough. :) By the way, we are nearing the end. There will be a total of 28 chapters.

Chapter Twenty-Five – A Place to Call Home

The house wasn't really impressive by Malfoy standards. It was large enough for the four children and two adults in the summers, but not really fancy. It was, if Draco had to describe it, cozy. It was cozy in the same way that Harry was. It was simple, the way Harry liked things to be, not flashy. At one time Draco might have been annoyed by the country quaintness of the place, but it felt right because it felt like Harry.

With that thought in mind, and with no small amount of disgust with himself for thinking something so ridiculously sentimental, he resolved to make at least his office as un-Harry as possible.

He and his decorator, Paul, started with the windows. Draco loved the way the morning light filtered in, the way he could stare out at the lawn and trees. But the windows needed something for those days when he didn't want sunlight. He may not be as depressed these days, but he wasn't exactly perky either. The answer was heavy, dark green drapes. The rest of the room kept a very modern feel. The walls were adorned with Draco's own eccentric taste of art, along with a portrait of Lucius Malfoy over the dark marble fireplace. Harry wasn't particularly keen on that, but since it was Draco's father, he had little room to argue.

Of course, the very first order of business, before office equipment or sofas, was getting a new bed. Draco had it picked out before they had even officially bought the house. It was, after all, the most important piece of furniture in the house and he was very particular about it. Draco had waxed poetic about the bed for days leading up to its purchase. "Harry, this is the bed in which we are going to fuck for many years," he had said. "We cannot just pick the first piece you come across. It can't be like that monstrosity in your flat."

"My bed is comfortable. I sleep well on it."

"Yes, it is comfortable. But that's all it is. The frame is very boring. A bed should inspire one to be better, to be creative. To be a sex god. Your bed, while adequate for sleeping, is uninspiring."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I can think of quite a few inspiring moments we've had on that bed."

"Yes. And just think of how many more we can have with a bed that inspires one to creative genius!"

And so Harry had handed over all control of their bedroom décor to Draco, who wouldn't have had it any other way. He was taking his time choosing the perfect pieces to compliment the bed. A week after they started sleeping in the new house, they still only had a bed and a mirror. Nothing to put clothes in, which was a problem for Harry, but not as much for Draco, considering he insisted on hanging almost all of his clothes up in the enormous closet so as to avoid unsightly creases. Harry, who really didn't care about creases, teased that Draco should have special hangers made for his socks and underwear. It worried Harry just a little bit when it appeared that Draco was taking the suggestion under advisement.

The closet was something that almost made Draco pass on the house altogether. It was decent size, to most people. To Draco, it was scandalous. Harry actually had to remind him that it was very little trouble to use magic to expand the closet and that was the first thing he did after the sale was final. He gave everything its own place: accessories, muggle clothes, robes and especially shoes. No one really realized that he had a shoe problem until they had to move them out of his flat. Harry watched it all in amusement.

"You could be Carrie Bradshaw's twin," he had commented.

"Who?"

"She was a character on Sex and the City." Draco stuck his head out of the closet, staring at Harry with confusion. "When we first left school Ginny moved into my flat in a muggle neighborhood and she soon became addicted to TV, particularly that show. She had to watch it every week. Even had to see the movies they made after the show ended."

"And of course you had to watch it with her." Harry nodded. "Let me guess, you thought Carrie and Aiden were the perfect couple and were only moderately satisfied when she ended the series with Big."

He laughed. "You know me too well. Anyway, you are the only man I've ever known, gay or straight, who comes close to the same kind of shoe and clothing addiction as Carrie."

Draco crossed his arms over his chest. "Good story, Harry, really. First of all, I can't believe you'd admit to being old enough to remember that show. Secondly, you know what just boggles my mind? How, given your television preferences, no one ever figured out that you were gay."

And with that, Draco went back to his closet remodeling, leaving Harry to ponder that last comment.

One down side of the decorating process was that Paul was around. Constantly. Harry didn't mind Paul all that much, except for the knowledge that Draco had slept with him. But then, Draco had slept with everyone they knew at one point or another. It was unavoidable. Paul didn't seem to get the hint though. Harry made it clear that Draco was off limits in their house, but Paul still hung all over him. He had a way of putting his hand on Draco's at every available opportunity. Harry accepted that Draco was free to be with whomever he wanted. And he knew that to Draco, Paul was nothing more than a friend and former lover. There was absolutely nothing between them anymore. It was more the fact that Paul insisted on making his move right there in their home that really bothered Harry.

And what was more, Lily had noticed too. Paul, for the most part, acted as if she wasn't even there and she was smart enough to pick up on the flirting. She was old enough to understand the basics of how relationships worked; Ginny had "the talk" with her ages ago. So Harry cringed one morning in the kitchen when she asked him about Paul.

"He just likes Draco. That's all."

"But Draco is yours."

Harry snorted. "I don't claim ownership over any human being. Draco is my partner, but I don't have any say in who his friends are. I accept Paul as Draco's friend just like Draco has to accept your Uncle Ron as my friend. They don't like each other, but they do it for me. And Draco would have fit if you implied he was owned by anyone."

"But this is different. I'm pretty sure Paul wants to have sex with Draco."

And then it was out. Harry's eleven-year-old daughter had just said the word "sex" to him. Harry froze in shock, which was awkward since he was halfway through swallowing a spoonful of porridge at the time. After coughing for several seconds, he collected his wits enough to respond to Lily.

"What makes you think that?"

"Dad, I'm not an idiot. I know what sex is."

"Yes, I get that. Now will you please stop saying it?"

"You need to do something that shows that Draco is yours."

"Moving in with him pretty much does that."

"No, I mean a big, romantic gesture. A ring would show everyone that he's got someone. They wouldn't flirt as much."

"Trust me, it wouldn't stop Paul."

"So you're saying you don't want to marry Draco?"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. It was really too early for this conversation.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you something because if you're old enough to say the word sex in a sentence you can follow some of this. I'm not going to marry Draco. It's not legal under wizarding laws, first of all. And I don't feel like I need a ceremony or piece of paper to tell me that we're together."

"You married Mum."

"Can you picture your grandparents letting us get away with not having a ceremony? Besides, your mum is very traditional. Honestly though, I would have been happy to skip the wedding." Harry shrugged. "But that's just me."

"So you don't care that he just flirts with Draco?"

"I care, but Draco and I trust each other. Paul is… annoying. I'll admit that. But every relationship has its rules. We've finally found how we fit together, I think, and I'm happy with things the way they are. I don't need the unnecessary attention drawn to myself that a wedding would produce."

"I still think you should get married."

Harry rolled his eyes, thinking of the massive freak out Draco would have if the "M-word" was mentioned. "No, you just want to be in another wedding. Wait a little longer and I'm sure Victoire will let you be in hers when Teddy finally gets the nerve to ask her."

The subject was closed for the time being. She seemed happy with that idea, but Harry figured she was just the first of many who would ask. He didn't feel like he should have to answer to anyone on it. People were too nosey. He could still remember being harassed for years about when he and Ginny would get married. And once they were, people began asking when they would have children. It never stopped. He supposed it wouldn't be much different with Draco. Except the having children part.

Despite the talk with Lily, the worst of moving week came when Draco's mother stopped by. Harry had only seen her once since he started seeing Draco. The day after their official appearance as a couple she arrived at Draco's flat quite unexpectedly and Harry got the feeling that she was actually reconsidering her decision to save his life twenty years ago. She didn't say much to him, but even if Harry wasn't a highly trained Auror, he would have been able to read the body language.

Draco's relationship with his mother had been strained for months. She had alternated between smothering him and pushing him away ever since Lucius' death, but once Astoria began trying to turn Scorpius against Draco, Narcissa had taken her side. It was only because she knew Astoria would keep her grandchild from her, but Draco was still bitter about the betrayal. As such, he didn't feel the need to give his mother any warning that he was in a relationship with the most famous wizard in the world. She found out about it the same time as everyone else: in the Daily Prophet. Needless to say, she was not happy about it.

Lily answered the door when Narcissa arrived, and though no one ever found out the exact exchange that occurred between them, Draco appeared in the hall to find the older woman looking down at the girl with an elegantly arched eyebrow and the smallest of smirks on her lips.

"Mother! What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet me? I had to see where my son would be living, didn't I?"

"Sorry. So what do you think?"

She made a point of glancing about before answering. "It's… quaint."

"Well it's not finished yet. Still a lot of decorating to do. Lily here is helping do the boys' rooms."

"I am sure she is a big help."

Harry's footsteps above became louder as he reached the stairs. He practically skipped down the stairs, beginning to say something about the color of Al's walls, but the words died on his lips when he caught site of Narcissa Malfoy.

"Hello," he said awkwardly. "I'm sorry. If I'd known you were here I'd have come down sooner."

"You see, Draco? That is how you should greet your guests. I am surprised that Potter has to teach you manners."

"I said I was sorry. Come in. I can show you around. Paul and I were just going to do a walk-through to make a list of all that we still need. I know how much you would love to include your opinion on it."

"Paul?"

"My decorator." He glanced at his mother's robes. Light blue and gorgeous, but not something that Paul would likely accept as normal clothing. "He's actually a muggle, so you may want to change."

"Of course." She took out her wand and in one fluid movement that Harry had to admire, her clothing was altered. She was now in an ash gray pencil skirt and white blouse with very expensive looking black shoes.

Draco looked her over again. "Paul is going to love you."

"Great," Harry muttered.

Draco spent the next several hours showing his mother around the new house with Paul and making notes on what still needed to be done. Narcissa seemed to be a natural at choosing colors and patterns. She must have gone through a hundred paint and fabric samples and by the end of the afternoon and most of the decorating plans had been made. That taken care of, Draco sent Paul home, made some tea and sat down with his mother at the kitchen table, since the sitting room had not yet been furnished. They made small talk for a few minutes and Harry was in and out of the kitchen himself fixing some plumbing under the sink. He tried not to listen to their conversation, but it was hard at times.

"Paul seems nice." Narcissa said suddenly, almost offhandedly.

Harry and Draco both froze, considering her tone. Harry's head was still inside the cupboard under the sink, using a ratchet charm to fix a loose pipe, but his hearing was quite good and it sounding like she was up to something.

"Yes," said Draco carefully. "He is."

"You know, I think he fancies you quite a bit."

"Yes, I know. But we're friends. That is all."

Narcissa nodded. "Do you remember my friend, Hera?"

"Vaguely."

"I saw her last week. You remember her son, Damien?"

"Also vaguely."

"There were some rumors that he was not all that interested in women, you know. Well Hera confirmed that it is true."

Draco shifted in his seat, noticing that Harry's work had gotten very quiet. He was hearing every bit of this too. "Oh?"

"He is quite handsome. And I remember how the two of you got along so well when you were children."

"Mother…."

"Well, you know I've never understood your desire to be with men, but if you must…"

"Mother," Draco whispered harshly. "I cannot believe that you are trying to set me up with someone the same week that I'm moving in with my boyfriend."

"You are moving in, you can just as easily move out one day. It is not as if you're bound to him forever."

She wasn't bothering to keep her voice down, knowing that Harry could hear her. Draco could see his fist clench before standing and walking stiffly out of the room. Draco took a deep breath, willing himself to not get upset. He needed to keep his cool. Maybe a few months ago he would have allowed her to say what she liked and complain about it later, but not now. If this was going to work he had to be direct with her. She didn't have to like his choices, but she had to respect that they were his alone to make.

"You're wrong, Mother. I am bound to him. Forever. Or until he sends me away. I love him. Even Scorpius loves him and you know how particular he is about people."

"Draco, you can't be serious."

"Did you think I'm not? That I'm just doing this to upset you? He makes me feel… like me. I've been just wandering through life, wondering when it was going to be over. I have tried everything I know to numb the pain and anger I felt, still feel, toward myself and the world. I lost so much of myself to that. And because of that I almost lost my relationship with my son. I almost took the same way out Father did. But Harry reminds me of who I am, or at least who I am capable of being. He understands me and makes me want to be better. He saved me… in every sense of the word. And I think… maybe… in a way, I saved him too. So yes, Mother, I am completely serious. And though you have the right to your opinion, I have to ask that you not insult him in our house."

She at least had the decency to look ashamed. "I apologize. I will do my best to accept him, but it will not be easy. I am only concerned for you."

"I know." Draco smiled a little. "But for the first time in probably my whole life, you don't need to be."

Draco found Harry twenty minutes later out in the storage shed polishing his favorite quidditch broom. Draco had come to notice that he only did that when he was particularly frustrated with something. Even though Harry had never shown anything other than complete patience with Draco, he knew that it took great effort for Harry to keep his temper under control. Anything that kept his hands busy helped the cause. Draco knew he left the kitchen because he was dangerously close to an outburst and he was trying desperately to get along with Narcissa.

"Are you pouting out here?" Draco asked.

"No." He most definitely was.

"Ignore my mother. She is an acquired taste and she only acts this way because she is protective of me."

"I can tell."

"You know if it was anyone but me you would win the parents over without a problem. I mean, who wouldn't want their son dating the great Harry Potter?"

"With us, with your family, there's just too much history." He nodded. "I understand. It's just… She's doing everything she can to convince you that you can do better."

"I've spent the past few years deliberately going against her wishes and loving it. I can disappoint her once more. Once she sees that this is for real she will accept you."

"You think so?"

"Case in point: Mrs. Weasley is the stand-in for your mother. How long did she tell you that you could do better before she came over here with a cake and gave me a huge kiss on the cheek?"

Harry thought about it. Molly had been not so subtly hinting that Draco was not good for Harry ever since she found out about them. The protests had lessened some after Harry's injury, but she started again full force when she found out they would be living together. As soon as the papers were signed on the house she mysteriously changed her tune. Harry suspected Ginny had something to do with it, but couldn't be sure.

The first day they spent in the new house, just fixing odds and ends and painting, Molly showed up out of the blue, shoved a plate of food at Harry and had Draco taking her on a tour of the house. It was as if none of her objections mattered any longer.

"So you're saying with a little time Narcissa will warm up to me and start baking cakes?"

"Certainly not. But she won't look as if she wants to curse you."

"Well that would be nice. Quite frankly, she scares me." Draco laughed at him. "I know she just needs to be protective of you. That's her job and it doesn't change just because you're grown up. I just… I don't know. I'm being stupid probably."

"Yes, you are. You have the right to have doubts though. I've given you plenty of reason for it. But I'm here because I want to be. And because I'm done running away from you. My mother isn't going to change that."

"But all of this is scary still. Moving in together is… probably stupid. Probably moving too fast."

"Harry, do you know why agreed to this particular stupidity?" Harry shook his head. "Well, aside from the whole thing about being done running from you and trying to change my views on relationships and commitment, there was one other thing that made me say yes. I want you to know that this is extremely beyond my normal level of sentimentality, so you're only going to hear it once. The morning after you asked me I woke up next to you. I realized that there was no other way I ever want to wake up again. My flat doesn't feel like home anymore unless you're there. The night before the ball, when I had my little fit and left your place, I just didn't feel right. I couldn't sleep and when I finally did it wasn't restful. The home wasn't our home. The bed wasn't our bed. I like that when we're out and you say 'let's go home,' you imply that it is our home, that it's someplace that I belong. So ignore my mother, because I know that I am where I am meant to be and where I want to be. I've never felt that in my entire life. I'm hanging onto it."

They shared a kiss that was meant to be tender, but soon became much more serious. Soon Harry was pressed against the wall of the shed.

"We shouldn't do this now," he gasped. "Don't you have guests?"

Draco placed kisses along his jaw, pausing between to speak. "Paul has gone back to the city hunting for fabric for the study and Mother went home."

"Lily is still here… Ahhh…"

Draco grinned at the reaction she was getting. Harry had very sensitive ears.

"Yes, but she is in her room with a stack of catalogs to choose her curtains and linens."

"Oh." He tilted his head to the right to allow Draco full access to his neck and shoulder.

"It will keep her busy for another half hour at least."

"Oh?"

"She won't miss us at all."

"Well, if she's busy then I guess there's no harm…" Harry flicked his wand toward the door for a quick lockin charm and then grabbed Draco's hips and pulled his boyfriend flush against him. "I could really get used to this living together thing."

"Me too."

All in all, the transition from their places in the city to the new house was quite smooth. Lily and Draco went a little mad with the decorating, but it was nothing that Harry hadn't already expected. What he really hadn't expected was how easy it was to live with Draco. He was practically Lily's best friend and the three of them felt completely comfortable moving around each other.

The only exception was the sex. When Lily was with Ginny then sex was just as amazing as it had ever been. But when she stayed with them, Harry found himself reluctant to get too romantic. It was completely ridiculous, he knew. After all, he and Ginny never had a problem having sex after the children were asleep in their rooms. It felt different with Draco. Maybe he was just used to it being just the two of them. Maybe it was leftover awkwardness from only just recently coming out. But he didn't have a problem with other displays of affection in front of the children. They kissed or held hands when Lily was in the room, but for some reason he found himself holding back. Even after he knew Lily was asleep, he was careful not to be too loud and always had a feeling that she was about to walk in on them. Not the best way to feel in his own house and it didn't take long for Draco to do something about it.

It was the middle of the week and Harry was half way through an extremely boring case report, written by Auror Matthews, when Natalie's voice came over the intercom on his desk.

"You have a visitor, Auror Potter."

"I thought we agreed I shouldn't be disturbed until the paperwork is finished." They did this every week to ensure Harry wouldn't put it all off until the end of the week. He had done that occasionally and it made for very hectic Fridays.

"I'm sorry, he's not taking no for an answer."

"Unless it's Minister Shacklebolt, then…"

Harry trailed off when he heard Natalie giggle quietly. He'd heard the same giggle once when the Russian ambassador flirted with her, but normally Natalie was all business. Occasionally someone would make eyes at her, trying to get in to see him, but she was firm. That was what Harry loved about her. It took a master of flirting to get past her defenses and he didn't have to worry about being disrupted throughout the day when Natalie was on the job.

"Natalie?"

"Sir, I'm sorry. He's very persuasive and I'm ninety percent sure you want to see this one."

"Can I at least know who it is first?"

Instead of a response from Natalie, Harry got his answer when the door swung open to reveal Draco. He grinned at Harry.

"Security is terrible around here. They'll let anyone in."

"What are you doing here?"

"Stalking you." Draco greeted Harry with a kiss and sat down on the edge of the desk. "Actually Lily sent me to deliver a message. She has new plans for Albus' room." He pulled some papers out of his robes pocket and unfolded them, handing them over to Harry. "She wants to do something like this."

"I don't see any reason why not. We're already spending a fortune, we may as well go completely broke."

"What fun is decorating if you don't spend a lot of money?"

"You came all the way down here to get my approval for this when you know she will have changed her mind by the time I get home tonight?"

"I may have had… other motives for coming here."

It took Harry a moment to realize what Draco meant, but then his eyes widened.

"No. Not in my office. I will never be able to get any work done in here again if I keep picturing you bent over my desk."

"Come on. We've hardly done it this week because of Lily more or less living there."

"Well, now you know what it's going to be like this summer."

"Exactly. I will be coming to see you on your lunch break every day."

"No. Some of us actually have to work at work."

"Well then you're going to have to get over the thought that the children are in the house. Christ, didn't you and the wife do it in the same house as the kids? This isn't any different."

"You're right. I know. It just feels different."

"Silencing spells still work, you know."

"Yes, you've made your point. We're still not doing it in my office."

"We'll see about that, Potter. You have now made it my mission in life to fuck you at work." Draco smiled widely with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows before leaving the office. As the door clicked shut behind him, Harry shuddered. For he knew it would not take long to break his defenses. Draco Malfoy would have his way.

It only took him three more weeks to make it happen.