A/N: You know what? Slave drivers, you lot. My fingers and threatening to
go on strike! Me personally? I'm lovin' every second of it! This, by the
way, is a little interlude. Oh, it's a real chapter, but I need a space to
figure out where this fic is really going (You didn't think I knew, did
you? Oh dear, no I haven't a clue). I've gotten the suggestion to keep
Ron evil. I've been toying with the idea, and really kind of like the way
that it could lead the story. Problem is I already said he'd be redeemed.
So, since this is a democracy (I swear it is. This story is totally open
to suggestions) there is a poll set up in my LJ: purpledusk.livejournal.com
every vote counts, and I will leave it up and open until Sunday. After
that I'm afraid (if you want this to keep at the current update speed) I'm
going to have to make an executive choice.
As far as the sap tap goes? I'll try to keep it on an even keel.
Wonaplaei: See see! I really like your idea, so let's see what everyone else wants. Thank you for the review, and I'm updating now, aren't I? :o)
Volion: You're here! It's just not a chapter without you! I never would have thought of Elvin cloth! Hmmm we could dress Draco up like Legolas and Harry could... ~firmly pulls mind from gutter~ Let's not go down that road just now. Anyways, I really love your ideas, and plan to use them! I mean there's Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Saturdays ;o)
Thank you all bunches and love you lots!
Draco was waking up. He knew he was, and he didn't mind. He didn't mind because this time he knew the warmth that permeated his every pour was going to stay. He had no fears of Harry shunning him; at this moment he had no fears at all. His uncovered feet were a little chilled, though. ~There's one way to remedy that problem~ Draco slowly pulled his feet under the blankets and rested them against Harry's legs.
"Ah-ah! Your feet are like ice! Get them OFF, Draco, please."
Draco turned in Harry's arms to face him, innocence embodied, "But Harry. They're cold, and you're so warm. You don't want me to be cold do you, Harry?"
"You insufferable gi-" Draco batted his eyelashes. Harry just sighed, and kissed Draco gently on the lips. "So, my imp, what suggest we do with our day?"
"'Imp' is it? Well, as long as I'm yours"
"Always"
Draco put a finger against Harry's lips, which Harry began to kiss, "Harry, Harry, stop, I think we really need to talk about this." Draco began to realize that he did have fears, the night before had been wonderful, but still he had no real answers.
"Yeah, I think we really do, too. I was just, oh never mind. How 'bout we get dressed, send for some breakfast, and talk on the couch?" That sounded as good as anything Draco would have come up with, so he agreed, and Harry went back to his own room to get dressed.
As Draco pulled clothes from his wardrobe he decided that he was in desperate need of a shower. So, reluctant as he was to wash Harry off of him, he stepped under the deluge.
When he emerged from the bathroom he saw Harry waiting patiently on the couch, a tray of various fruits, breads, and cheeses on the coffee table. He watched as Harry realized he'd walked in the room, and relished the look that graced that much beloved face.
"Harry," he said as he crossed the room to sit beside the other man. "Harry, we" but he didn't know what to say, he just shook his head. What would they do? It wasn't like this was just some physical attraction ~Not that that part isn't nice~ or they had just met. They had a history. When the many threads in Draco's mind gave him no answers, he looked to Harry. Harry, who, Draco rolled his eyes, was munching an apple at the moment.
"Draco, don't get irritated. I do my best thinking when I eat"
"Yeah, well then you must think an awful lot more than I thought." Draco mumbled, and Harry chuckled.
Draco watched as Harry's face turned sober, and his posture wary. "How about we do it this way, I'll tell you exactly what I feel, and you do the same in return. I can't see any other way to work this out. We're going to have to be honest" Draco nodded, wanting to know what Harry really felt, while dreading rejection.
"Alright, I've spent the last three months here, living in the same quarters as you, and I've never felt so whole in my life. At first I thought it was just being here, because Hogwart's was always home for me, but then I realized I was wrong. It was the people here, Draco. Who I was with, the people that completed me. When I was a student it was Ron and Hermione, now it's Hermione, Sam, and you, Draco. I know we don't have all the little quirks and tidbits memorized. I know that there are things about you I don't know. There are things I haven't told you, but if you let me, Draco, I'll spend the rest of my life learning anything and everything about you. If you'll let me Draco, I'll bare my everything to you, hold nothing back. Because as much as I don't know there is one thing I know as sure as the sun. I know that I love you and leaving you would be like cutting out my own heart and walking away. Even if it were possible to live through it I wouldn't want to." Draco could hear Harry's breath, shallow inhalations that could never really fill his lungs. He could see the huge tears running down Harry's face. He was mesmerized. So much that he hadn't realized Harry was sitting there waiting for a reply.
Draco wrapped his fingers around Harry's chin and kissed away the teardrops, tasting the salt on his tongue.
"Harry," Now Draco knew why Harry had given the litany, there seemed to be a direct link between his heart and his tongue at the moment, and he could do nothing but obey. "You didn't save my body, that night, Harry you saved my soul. Do you realize that? You pulled the blinders off Harry and I saw. I saw everything for the first time. I saw what you were fighting for and I wanted it. I saw the Light in you, Harry, and I wanted to warm myself by it. Because I was cold Harry, inside and out, and I've had to warm myself on that memory for ten years. You saved my life that night against my father, but Harry, you saved my soul that night on your broomstick."
Draco found himself gasping as well, and he fisted his hands in Harry's shirt. "Harry, if you have felt that way for three months, I've felt it for ten years, and I'd do anything to not have to spend the next ten alone. Not alone as in by myself. I've been alone in the Great Hall at Feast time. Harry, I mean alone inside, without that piece you took with you that night. I swear you can keep it, if you never leave me again."
Harry's answer was unequivocal, if nonverbal, and when the parted he began to laugh. "We are the stuff of cheap romance novels, aren't we?"
~What's he talking about, I just bared my soul to him and he~ and then Draco realized what Harry was doing. ~He's being Harry~ with that Draco beamed at the man he planned to love forever, and pinched him firmly on the ribs. "I don't see what you think is so funny, Potter, I'm sure my monologue would have made it to hardback."
A/N: What was it I said about the sap tap? Well, sorry, I lied. This is short, I know, but it's the third update today, so all told it's long right? Remember to vote if you have an opinion. I swear the results of the poll will give nothing away, except maybe who the villain in this thing will be.
As far as the sap tap goes? I'll try to keep it on an even keel.
Wonaplaei: See see! I really like your idea, so let's see what everyone else wants. Thank you for the review, and I'm updating now, aren't I? :o)
Volion: You're here! It's just not a chapter without you! I never would have thought of Elvin cloth! Hmmm we could dress Draco up like Legolas and Harry could... ~firmly pulls mind from gutter~ Let's not go down that road just now. Anyways, I really love your ideas, and plan to use them! I mean there's Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Saturdays ;o)
Thank you all bunches and love you lots!
Draco was waking up. He knew he was, and he didn't mind. He didn't mind because this time he knew the warmth that permeated his every pour was going to stay. He had no fears of Harry shunning him; at this moment he had no fears at all. His uncovered feet were a little chilled, though. ~There's one way to remedy that problem~ Draco slowly pulled his feet under the blankets and rested them against Harry's legs.
"Ah-ah! Your feet are like ice! Get them OFF, Draco, please."
Draco turned in Harry's arms to face him, innocence embodied, "But Harry. They're cold, and you're so warm. You don't want me to be cold do you, Harry?"
"You insufferable gi-" Draco batted his eyelashes. Harry just sighed, and kissed Draco gently on the lips. "So, my imp, what suggest we do with our day?"
"'Imp' is it? Well, as long as I'm yours"
"Always"
Draco put a finger against Harry's lips, which Harry began to kiss, "Harry, Harry, stop, I think we really need to talk about this." Draco began to realize that he did have fears, the night before had been wonderful, but still he had no real answers.
"Yeah, I think we really do, too. I was just, oh never mind. How 'bout we get dressed, send for some breakfast, and talk on the couch?" That sounded as good as anything Draco would have come up with, so he agreed, and Harry went back to his own room to get dressed.
As Draco pulled clothes from his wardrobe he decided that he was in desperate need of a shower. So, reluctant as he was to wash Harry off of him, he stepped under the deluge.
When he emerged from the bathroom he saw Harry waiting patiently on the couch, a tray of various fruits, breads, and cheeses on the coffee table. He watched as Harry realized he'd walked in the room, and relished the look that graced that much beloved face.
"Harry," he said as he crossed the room to sit beside the other man. "Harry, we" but he didn't know what to say, he just shook his head. What would they do? It wasn't like this was just some physical attraction ~Not that that part isn't nice~ or they had just met. They had a history. When the many threads in Draco's mind gave him no answers, he looked to Harry. Harry, who, Draco rolled his eyes, was munching an apple at the moment.
"Draco, don't get irritated. I do my best thinking when I eat"
"Yeah, well then you must think an awful lot more than I thought." Draco mumbled, and Harry chuckled.
Draco watched as Harry's face turned sober, and his posture wary. "How about we do it this way, I'll tell you exactly what I feel, and you do the same in return. I can't see any other way to work this out. We're going to have to be honest" Draco nodded, wanting to know what Harry really felt, while dreading rejection.
"Alright, I've spent the last three months here, living in the same quarters as you, and I've never felt so whole in my life. At first I thought it was just being here, because Hogwart's was always home for me, but then I realized I was wrong. It was the people here, Draco. Who I was with, the people that completed me. When I was a student it was Ron and Hermione, now it's Hermione, Sam, and you, Draco. I know we don't have all the little quirks and tidbits memorized. I know that there are things about you I don't know. There are things I haven't told you, but if you let me, Draco, I'll spend the rest of my life learning anything and everything about you. If you'll let me Draco, I'll bare my everything to you, hold nothing back. Because as much as I don't know there is one thing I know as sure as the sun. I know that I love you and leaving you would be like cutting out my own heart and walking away. Even if it were possible to live through it I wouldn't want to." Draco could hear Harry's breath, shallow inhalations that could never really fill his lungs. He could see the huge tears running down Harry's face. He was mesmerized. So much that he hadn't realized Harry was sitting there waiting for a reply.
Draco wrapped his fingers around Harry's chin and kissed away the teardrops, tasting the salt on his tongue.
"Harry," Now Draco knew why Harry had given the litany, there seemed to be a direct link between his heart and his tongue at the moment, and he could do nothing but obey. "You didn't save my body, that night, Harry you saved my soul. Do you realize that? You pulled the blinders off Harry and I saw. I saw everything for the first time. I saw what you were fighting for and I wanted it. I saw the Light in you, Harry, and I wanted to warm myself by it. Because I was cold Harry, inside and out, and I've had to warm myself on that memory for ten years. You saved my life that night against my father, but Harry, you saved my soul that night on your broomstick."
Draco found himself gasping as well, and he fisted his hands in Harry's shirt. "Harry, if you have felt that way for three months, I've felt it for ten years, and I'd do anything to not have to spend the next ten alone. Not alone as in by myself. I've been alone in the Great Hall at Feast time. Harry, I mean alone inside, without that piece you took with you that night. I swear you can keep it, if you never leave me again."
Harry's answer was unequivocal, if nonverbal, and when the parted he began to laugh. "We are the stuff of cheap romance novels, aren't we?"
~What's he talking about, I just bared my soul to him and he~ and then Draco realized what Harry was doing. ~He's being Harry~ with that Draco beamed at the man he planned to love forever, and pinched him firmly on the ribs. "I don't see what you think is so funny, Potter, I'm sure my monologue would have made it to hardback."
A/N: What was it I said about the sap tap? Well, sorry, I lied. This is short, I know, but it's the third update today, so all told it's long right? Remember to vote if you have an opinion. I swear the results of the poll will give nothing away, except maybe who the villain in this thing will be.