Day 9 of my 25 Days of Draco and Harry. This takes place a couple of months after Draco's Prejudice. This chapter you'll see a special appearance by an OC from Harry and Draco's honeymoon who they basically brought home to England with them. If you want more backstory on this character, check out American Honeymoon. :) You can find a link in my Author profile.

Christmas Day, 2010

Image Inspiration: Two hands pulling a Christmas Cracker

"Fuck!" Harry pushes out through the door of the Burrow and stalks to the corner of the house where he'll be out of sight of any windows. He begins to pace, muttering to himself.

"Fucking arsehole. Picking today of all days to get himself in a snit about a something so utterly stupid. Like it's not fucking Christmas, and now I have to go in there and pretend to be happy and cheerful when my fucking husband won't even talk to me."

"Cousin Harry?" a small voice yells from the porch of the house, his American accent making it clear which child this is.

"Back here, Ethan!" Harry calls, his irritation thawing a little as he sees Ethan's smile. He can't believe the boy is ten already. He and his mother, Gen, have settled into their new country nicely, and Harry is glad to see the upheaval of the last year hasn't affected him too much. It's hard enough to find out about magic, but to up and move countries at a moment's notice would be difficult for any child.

But Ethan is an amazing child, and Harry is thankful to whatever fates put him in Harry and Draco's path on their honeymoon all those months before.

"Are you mad at Draco, Cousin Harry?"

Harry loves it when Ethan calls him that. He's not really his cousin, but for appearance's sake, and for Ethan and Gen's protection, they keep up the ruse. Harry's beginning to forget it's not true.

"Sometimes married people argue, Ethan. It's okay." Harry smiles and mutters under his breath, "He'll pull his head out of his arse eventually."

Ethan smiles. "How old do I have to be to say arse?"

Shite. "Seventeen," Harry says, smiling. Don't tell your mum I said it, okay?"

"Sure. So what did you do wrong that Draco's mad?"

Harry looks down at the boy, his honey-brown hair blowing in the wind. "What makes you think I did something wrong?"

"Well, he's the one who's angry. Have you said sorry? Mum says you should say sorry when you do something wrong."

Harry sighs. "No, I didn't say I'm sorry."

Ethan nods knowingly. "I figured. Mum also says that sometimes she's more angry because I won't say sorry than she is that I did something wrong."

Harry leans back against the house, and Ethan mimics his stance.

"How did you get so wise?" Harry asks.

"I turned ten."

Laughing, Harry ruffles his hand through Ethan's hair. "Thanks for the advice, mate. Let's go back inside so I can say sorry, yeah?"

"Okay." Ethan reaches out and hands Harry a Christmas cracker. "Mr Weasley gave me this and said that you should use it with Draco because it'll cheer you up."

"He did, did he?" Harry smiles. Arthur is always good at this kind of thing. "Well, let's go then."

Back in the house, Harry finds Draco at the chessboard with Hermione, laughing at something she's said. Harry watches for a few minutes, loving the friendship that's developed between his husband and his best friend.

"Your turn, gorgeous," Draco is saying, but Hermione is watching Harry approach.

"I just need to use the loo. Harry, take my turn?"

She pulls him down for a kiss on the cheek as she passes and whispers "Good luck" in his ear.

He takes her seat and places the cracker aside, looking up at Draco, who remains staring at the chessboard. "I'm sorry. I know you hate it when I use your shaving lotion, and I did it anyway, then didn't even tell you so you could make more. It was rude and unthoughtful." He sighs. "I really am sorry I upset you."

"It's not just that, Harry." His eyes remain on the game. "I've told you so many times I don't like it. It's like you don't care that it bothers me. I know it's something little, but it's also something little not to use it. It's like what's important to me doesn't matter."

It feels like something kicks Harry in the stomach. He's never thought of it like that, and it makes him feel like shit. "Draco," he says, then pauses to think about how he wants to word his thoughts. He takes a deep breath. "You're right. It does matter. I'm going to try to do better at it, I promise. I love you, and I want you to be happy. I'm really sorry."

Draco nods, his grey eyes finally meeting Harry's, and Harry relaxes. "I'm sorry I made such a big deal about it, but when I don't, you don't pay attention."

Harry nods. "I know."

Draco leans over the table, and his lips meet Harry's. "Okay, let's start over. Happy Christmas, Potter."

Harry smiles. "Happy Christmas, love. Now, Arthur passed along a cracker he said we'd like." Harry picks up the cracker and offers Draco the other end.

Draco grins and pulls, and green glitter slime explodes all over them both, sinking into their hands and face and hair, drying after only a few seconds. Harry looks at his husband, his hair and face now sparkling green, and starts to laugh.

"Ethan!"

Ethan runs in, giggling when he sees Harry and Draco.

"Who gave you that cracker?"

"Mr Weasley."

"Which Mr Weasley?" Draco asks, his tone dry.

"George. He's so funny."

Draco glares at Harry, but what can he do but shrug? He'd just assumed Arthur, hadn't he? And Draco did look cute this way, glittering green with a petulant look on his face. "It's very festive," Harry answers.

"You suck."

"How old do I have to be to say 'you suck', Cousin Harry?"

Great.

A/N: I hope you enjoy Ethan. If you read American Holiday, you might remember than Ethan is Autistic and based pretty closely on my own son of the same age. The current obsession of asking "How old do I have to be to say...(insert curse word here)" is driving me mad these days, so I thought it'd be fun to include it. That story also digs a bit into what kind of accommodations a school like Hogwarts might need to make for a child who might have additional needs beyond the typical student.

9 days down, 16 to go.