"So what do you want for Christmas Teddy Bear?" The boy was curled up in Harry's lap on the couch, head resting on Harry's shoulder. He was half asleep and only keeping his eyes open to take sips of his hot chocolate. They'd had a tiring evening playing Quidditch at the Burrow, but Teddy had insisted on staying up later than usual to talk about the holiday they were planning for Molly and Arthur for Christmas.

"I want to see Uncle Draco again."

Harry froze, jolting Teddy and splashing hot chocolate all over them. Teddy looked up at him curiously, suddenly wide awake.

"Uncle Harry?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth, trying to find some way to answer Teddy without breaking his little heart. Harry wanted to see Draco again too, wanted to curl up with him on the couch and take Teddy to the park when he finished school, but he knew the chances of it happening again were slim to none.

The last time Harry had seen him was three months ago, when they broke the bond that had trapped them together for months, and Draco had very gently rejected Harry.

"He still owls you, doesn't he?" Harry decided on eventually, when the silence had begun to stretch on uncomfortably long.

Teddy nodded, placing his cup on the coffee table and wrinkling his nose at his wet pyjamas. "All the time, but he's always busy and I want to see him again. I like writing to him, but I want to hug him again. Uncle Draco gives good hugs."

Teddy frowned and buried his head into Harry's shoulder. It was painfully obvious that he was trying not to cry. Harry rubbed his back in what he hoped was a comforting manner and cast a drying charm over them.

"How about I owl him? Maybe we can find a day where we're both free and you can see him again."

"I don't think he'd come," Teddy replied quietly, toying with the hem of Harry's jumper. "Nanny said that Uncle Ron hadn't been very nice to him when you and Uncle Draco were stuck together, so he doesn't want to be around the Weasleys."

"That doesn't mean he won't see you. We could just invite him to the park, or to the skating rink," Harry felt a pang of guilt at lying to Teddy; he'd asked Draco himself to just come for a drink, or a bite to eat with Teddy in the past and he'd refused each time. He couldn't see Draco changing his mind, but he didn't exactly want to send Teddy to bed in tears.

"M'kay," Teddy said reluctantly. "Pinky promise?"

Harry dutifully linked his little finger to Teddy's before scooping the very tired boy into his arms and carrying him upstairs to bed.

We both know that 'just a bit of lunch' will lead to far more, and we both know exactly why that's a bad idea. I refuse to sit through anymore dinners listening to Weasley suggesting better matches for you or having hexes thrown at me by your fans.

I have a feeling I'll regret this the instant I send the letter, but for Teddy's sake, I'll meet you outside of Grotto at 11 on Tuesday.

Draco

Draco had agreed.

Draco had agreed.

Harry could barely believe what he was reading and if it wasn't for the fact that Teddy was asleep in the bed next to him, he would have jumped for joy.

"Uncle Draco!" Teddy sprinted across the street, coat flapping behind him and arms outstretched. Draco caught him in his arms, holding him close and spinning him around. A breathtaking smile lit up his face, forcefully reminding Harry of why he'd found it so easy to fall in love with Draco.

"I've missed you Teddy," Draco said, before glancing up at Harry, his smile dimming. "It's good to see you too."

Teddy wriggled and slid out of Draco's arms. Before his feet had even touched the floor he was chatting away to Draco, filling him in on everything he'd missed since they'd last seen him. Draco listened intently, taking Teddy's hand and guiding him inside the cafe, leaving Harry to trail behind them.

The afternoon continued in a similar fashion. Teddy and Draco laughed and joked together over festive biscuits, leaving Harry to watch on and occupy himself with memories of the months they'd spent together.

Everything hurt.

Harry could hear people shouting orders around him and someone pressed warm hands against his chest.

"You'll be ok," A familiar voice whispered as the hands pressed harder against his chest, magic flowing from their fingertips and into the wounds covering his torso. "Just keep breathing."

The magic flowed faster and suddenly, the shouts grew louder and more panicked. The hands on his chest grew unbearably hot and he felt soft hair tickling his chin before he passed out once more

"Malfoy?"

Malfoy was perched on the end of his bed, watching Harry with weary eyes. Harry made to get up out of the hospital bed, hoping to find someone who would kick the other man out of his room, but Malfoy put a hand out to stop him.

"I wouldn't move if I was you. You're still healing and I'm afraid there were a few complications with the procedure when you first came in."

"Complications?"

"It seems our magic is unusually compatible, so there was a strong reaction when I healed you. That, combined with the life debt I owe you created a very strong bond between us."

They'd been stuck in the hospital room for three weeks now.

The Weasleys had visited a few times, and so had Hermione, but most of their time was spent alone in frosty silence.

"You're being discharged tomorrow," Malfoy said. "And we can't be separated."

"We're staying at my house," Harry said immediately.

"You're sure you don't want to live in the same house as my father?" It took Harry a few moments to realise that he was joking and let out a surprised laugh. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Teddy's staying the night."

Harry waited for an outburst, a sneering comment about blood and werewolves, but instead he was meet with a bright smile.

"I've always wanted to meet my little cousin. As you can imagine, my father doesn't encourage interaction with those he sees as inferior."

Malfoy really was just full of surprises.

"So when do you expect the bond to be broken? I do hope it's soon," Molly said, breaking the tense silence that had settled around the table.

"We don't know if we can break it Molly," Harry replied. Besides him, Draco had gone bright red and was staring intently at his peas.

Harry was starting to enjoy being around Draco. He was surprisingly funny when he wasn't being horrible, and they had far more in common than Harry thought, but the Weasleys had made their disapproval of his presence quite clear.

"Merlin, imagine if you were stuck with Malfoy for the rest of your life."

"He's right here, Ron," Harry snapped, annoyed. "Leave it alone."

The quiet clinking of cutlery was the only sound to be heard for the rest of the meal.

"We've found a ritual that will break it."

Harry's heart sank and he wondered just how long he'd be able to keep Draco before the bond broke and he lost him forever.

"So," Harry said awkwardly. They stood outside the room where the final stage of the ritual would take place. When they left, they'd both be free of the bond.

Strangely, the thought made Harry's chest ache.

Draco was oddly quiet. Harry had discovered over the past month that he was generally a very chatty person and the silence was unnerving.

Harry linked their fingers together, squeezing Draco's hand. He had an unusually intense look on his face and before Harry could ask what was on his mind, Draco kissed him.

His lips were just as warm as the hands that slid to his waist, thumbs sliding under his shirt and rubbing small circles on his skin. It was intense and far less gentle than their previous kisses, kisses that they had shared in the safety of their bed at Grimmauld Place.

It felt like goodbye.

"Uncle Harry?"

Harry started. "Sorry Teddy, what did you say?"

"Have you finished? Draco wants to show me his new potions shop."

His coffee had long since gone cold and the half-eaten gingerbread man no longer looked as appetising as it did before. He pushed the plates away with a sigh.

"Let's go."

"You don't look great," Ron remarked, pushing Harry's beer closer to him. "Everything ok with Teddy?"

Even a week after seeing Draco, Teddy still talked about little else.

"I miss Draco."

"You can't be serious. You got rid of that snake months ago."

Harry simply looked at him, hoping his best friend could see just how much he was hurting. If he opened his mouth now, Harry was quite certain he'd cry.

"Merlin's balls, you are serious," Ron downed the rest of his drink. "I feel like a dick now."

"You should do," Harry mumbled. "I asked him out on a real date right after we broke the bond, and he said no. Do you know why?"

"Because my family treated him like shit. Even after he apologised for the way his family treated us in the past," Ron sighed, scratching his chin as an embarrassed flush crept up his cheeks. "I owe him an apology I guess."

"You'd do that?" Ron was one of the most stubborn people he knew and Harry could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard him apologise.

"'Course. You're clearly head-over-heels in love with him and even if he isn't my favourite person, he makes you happy so I might as well do my bit to help you win him back."

"Can I go up on my own nan?" Teddy pleaded, his broom grasped in his hands. "I'm 8 now, I'm a big boy! And Harry will be there to catch me!"

Andy sighed but shooed them out into the garden. "Only for a few minutes. You need a bath and Santa won't come if you aren't in bed nice and early."

Cheering, Teddy ran out of the door and hopped onto his broom the second his feet touched the grass.

"Careful, Teddy! Don't go too high!"

"I won't, I won't," He kicked off the ground and floated up into the air with an excited giggle.

He did several, slow laps of the garden, waving to Harry each time he passed him. "I'm doing it on my own!"

Suddenly filled with confidence, Teddy took one hand off the broom and reached out to steal Harry's glasses. He pulled the frames off Harry's face with a laugh that quickly turned into a shout of fear as the motion knocked him off balance.

Before Harry could even move his wand, Teddy was on the ground, tears streaming down his face as he held his arm out, wrist bent at an odd angle.

Andy rushed out into the garden as Harry carefully scooped him into his arms. "St Mungo's?"

She nodded, her face white as a sheet. With Teddy's magical abilities, they couldn't just cast a quick healing spell, or give him a standard potion in case it reacted poorly and his magic levels changed drastically.

Harry was through the Floo in seconds, closely followed by Andy. The waiting room was practically empty, given that it was Christmas Eve. The witch on the desk simply pointed them in the direction of the children's ward as Teddy cried softly into Harry's jumper.

They hurried through the doors, but Harry stopped dead when he saw who was there.

"Draco?"

"What happened?" Draco guided them to an empty bed and drew the curtains around them. Harry settled Teddy on the bed and let Andy explain.

"Oh you poor thing," Draco murmured, taking Teddy's wrist in his hand and running his wand over it. "It's a clean break, thankfully, but we will have to keep him in overnight to monitor his magic levels once we've given him a potion to heal his wrist."

"So I'll miss Christmas?"

"I'm sure we can get a message to Santa and let him know that you're here. And if I'm not mistaken, there's a nice big box of biscuits in my office that you can help yourself to once you've taken your medicine."

After stuffing himself with custard creams, Teddy fell asleep holding Harry's hand.

Andy had left an hour ago to stay with Molly at the Burrow. The hospital chairs weren't the comfiest things in the world and Molly had been quite insistent that Andy would spend the night in a proper bed.

"Knock, knock," Ron pulled the curtain open with one hand, the other holding several brightly wrapped presents. "How's he doing?"

"Better now he's full of potions and custard creams."

Ron placed the presents around the little tree they'd transfigured out of a rubber glove. "I always say biscuits make everything better."

"How's Rose?"

"Wasn't too happy that we put her in bed early because she wanted to come and say hi to Teddy. She was quizzing Hermione about Santa Claus when I left."

"She's too curious for her own good." Rose was a carbon copy of her mother and he had a feeling she was going to cause quite a bit of trouble for McGonagall when she reached Hogwarts.

"I bumped into Malfoy out on the ward just then," Ron said. "Mum mentioned that he'd stayed to make sure Teddy was ok and I felt even worse about the stuff we said to him. I mean, he can't be that much of a dick if he's willing to stay here on Christmas Eve to look after little kids, can he? So I apologised. Thought he was going to tell me to shove it at first, but he thanked me."

"That means a lot to me."

Ron flushed. "Well, you know, he clearly adores Teddy and I don't want to be the reason why he feels like he can't visit. But that's your Christmas present from me this year, don't forget that!"

Harry laughed. Ron's heart was in the right place, even if he could be a bit of a dick at times.

"If my boss catches you here after visiting hours she'll murder me, Weasley," Draco said, holding the curtain open. "You can come back tomorrow."

"Well that's me told, then," Ron kissed Teddy's forehead and patted Harry on the shoulder. "I'll see you all at the Burrow for Christmas dinner tomorrow."

And then it was just the two of them.

"I'm beginning to think I've inhaled too many potion fumes. I've just imagined Ron Weasley apologising to me and then inviting me to Christmas dinner."

"He felt guilty about the things he said."

"He's a Gryffindor. Of course he did."

Teddy shifted in his sleep as Draco waved his wand over him. "His magic levels are stable and his wrist is healing nicely. He'll be right as rain in the morning."

Draco made to leave again, pocketing his wand, but Harry called out to him.

"Stay? There's only two or three other kids on the ward and they're all stable and fast asleep."

With an exaggerated huff, Draco sat down on the empty chair next to Harry. "If I must."

"So, you work with children now?"

"The hospital didn't want to risk me bonding to another patient during an emergency. It's much easier working with kids though. All it takes is a chocolate frog to make them take a potion and none of them accuse me of attempting to poison them because of the mark on my arm."

"Do you ever miss it?"

"My old position? Not really, there's far less blood working with little ones."

"I meant the feeling of the bond." Harry said quietly. The bond had felt like a string connecting them, permanently keeping them close together. It was a comforting, warm feeling and without it Harry felt like he'd lost a part of himself. If he focused, sometimes he imagined he could feel the connection again, the bond coiled tightly between them. He wanted reassurance that what he was feeling wasn't all one-sided, that maybe they did have a chance at a relationship in the future.

"Oh," Draco was quiet for several, agonisingly long moments before he answered. "All the time. I miss waking up next to you and feeling it between us."

"Yet you still refused to meet with us."

Draco winced and reached out to take Harry's hand. It was painfully similar to their last bonded moments and for a second, he considered pulling away.

"I thought it would be better for everyone that way. Your family didn't want me around and I didn't want to cause an upset or subject myself to snide comments every time we went for lunch."

"So why did you agree to lunch with Teddy after 3 months?"

"I agreed to lunch the other week because I wanted to see you both again. I missed you and I know a relationship between us would probably only cause problems but I couldn't help myself. But now Weasley has apologised I think I might be reconsidering that."

"So does this mean you'll let me take you on a date?"

Draco glanced upwards with a smile. "I suppose it does. And besides, I think it would be rather rude not to kiss under the mistletoe that your friend has kindly left for us."

Draco tugged him forwards by their joined hands and pressed their lips together.

It was slightly clumsier than Harry remembered it, and his glasses pressed into Draco's cheek in his eagerness to close the gap between them, but it was just as perfect as the last time.

Except this time, it felt like a promise of forever.