Harry half-opened his eyes and yawned lazily. He, Draco, Ron, and Hermione hadn't arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron until about two o'clock that morning after going out for dinner at a Muggle restaurant. They stumbled into bed, already half-asleep. Harry groped for the bedside clock and lifted it close to his face so he could see the hands. Twelve-thirty. He yawned again and tightened his arms around Draco's sleeping figure. The blonde stirred and groaned, burrowing deeper into Harry's embrace. Just then, the door burst open.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" came a chirpy greeting. Ron strode into the room and threw open the curtains. Harry let out an unintelligible cry and pulled the blankets over himself and Draco. A moment later, they, too, were pulled off and the couple was left lying on the bed, limbs entangled, clad only in their boxers.
"Weasley, if there's once ounce of decency in you, you will give us those blankets back, close the bloody curtains, and leave the room," Draco grumbled, his voice muffled as his face was buried in his fiancé's chest. Harry grinned.
"We'll be out in a bit, Ron," he told his friend, gently rubbing Draco's back.
"All right. But you might want to hurry up," the redhead advised, heading towards the hallway. "Ginny's awfully eager to spend some time with all of us today."
Having said that, Ron stepped outside the room and shut the door. Harry and Draco looked at each other before jumping out of bed. They dressed rather quickly and dumped the blankets back on the bed. Sure enough, not fifteen minutes after Ron had left the room, Ginny came bouncing in.
"Let's go, you lazy boys! You've wasted half the day already!" the redhead cried, jumping on the bed. Harry and Draco grinned at the youngest Weasley's energy as she dragged them out the door. This became a daily ritual, which Ginny seemed to get immense enjoyment from.
September first
The first day of school rolled around much too quickly for anyone's happiness. That morning was spent rushing around and collecting thing everyone had forgotten abut the night before. During one of his sprints back upstairs, Harry was stopped by the old innkeeper, Tom, who told him their Floo fireplace had recently been connected to one on Platform nine and three-quarters. Harry thanked him profusely before he bounded back upstairs, wheeling down the hall to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room. He knocked on the door and, a moment later, it was opened by a frazzled-looking Molly Weasley. He quickly repeated what Tom had just informed him, to which Mrs. Weasley threw up her hands and exclaimed, "Oh, thank Merlin, that's wonderful!"
By ten-thirty, everyone was ready to go. Tom had promised Mrs. Weasley he would scour the room and send anything he found along to her. They all thanked Tom before stepping into the fireplace with their trunks and bags and shouting, "Platform nine and three-quarters!"
When Harry's turn came to use the Floo powder, he removed his glasses and stuffed them in his pocket. He took a pinch of the green powder and threw it into the fireplace, crying, "Platform nine and three-quarters!" The fireplace began spinning and soon, there were dozens of grates whirling by. Harry felt a familiar wave of nausea and shut his eyes tightly. Gratefully, he felt a pitch forward and he was able to stick his hands out in front of him to stop himself from falling on his face and breaking his nose. He rolled over and saw Draco's blurred face lingering above him, grinning. Harry put his glasses back on his face and accepted the hand his fiancé had offered.
"Graceful, Golden Boy," Draco teased gently, smirking. Harry blushed lightly.
"What can I say?" he replied, smiling. "I try."
Draco laughed and kissed Harry before quickly pulling him out of Ron's way, who had just tumbled through the fireplace. Once everyone had made it relatively safely to the secret platform, they picked up their bags and headed over to the train. Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny found an empty compartment near the end of the train and stored their trunks and miscellaneous luggage there. The train would be leaving in several minutes, so they stepped off to say goodbye to the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley gave everyone bone-breaking hugs and also kissed everyone goodbye. Mr. Weasley embraced Ginny and Hermione and shook hands with Ron, Harry, and Draco.
"Now, you listen to me, all five of you," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking a finger at all of them. "I want all of you to be very careful. If anything happens – anything at all – I want a letter immediately. Do you hear me?"
The five students nodded their heads and chorused, "Yes, Mrs. Weasley."
Her eyes watered up and she dragged them all into her arms again. She let them go only when Mr. Weasley noticed the train would be leaving in a minute. He shooed them onto the train and firmly closed the compartment door. Ginny and Hermione crowded next to a window and waved to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. The two girls pulled Ron, Harry, and Draco over next to them so the could wave goodbye as well, which they did until the Weasley parents could no longer be seen.
After a few moments during which they changed into their Hogwarts robes, Ginny ventured off in search of several of her friends and Ron and Hermione needed to report to the prefects' compartment for their instructions. Harry and Draco were able to keep straight faces for about five seconds before they turned to each other, grinning.
"My, my, my. All this time and no one but ourselves to spend it with," Draco said demurely, a mischievous twinkle glinting in his eye. He traced a random pattern on the seat cushion before glancing up at Harry through dusky eyelashes. Harry growled possessively and launched himself at Draco. The blonde caught Harry and laughed before he was cut off by Harry's lips descending upon his own. Draco flipped Harry over so he was on top and kissed his with even more fervor and passion. Harry felt an electric thrill run through his body and he laced his fingers through Draco's silky soft blonde locks. He felt Draco deliberately drag his tongue over Harry's lower lip, asking for entrance.
The raven-haired Gryffindor shivered and opened his mouth invitingly, drawing Draco in. They were oblivious to all else, their tongues engaging in a heated duel, hands roaming over the other's body. Draco deftly unfastened the lower three buttons on Harry's shirt and slipped his hand through the two halves of the shirt. His fiancé's hand on his skin felt like fire, burning with passion. Harry moaned into Draco's mouth and felt the blonde smirk. Draco's mouth then made its way down to Harry's collarbone, where it nipped and licked, marking Harry as Draco's own. Draco had just pulled away to admire his work when the compartment door slid open again.
"Get a room, you two," Ginny called as she walked into the compartment. Grumbling, Draco clambered off Harry and was going to sit in the opposite seat when he was grabbed around the waist and pulled back to sit on Harry's lap. Harry nuzzled Draco's neck until the blonde started giggling. Then Harry bestowed upon his fiancé a sweet kiss.
"Awwww," Ginny taunted. Draco opened his mouth and looked as though he were about to unleash a vile verbal offense at the redheaded sixth-year. Suddenly, the compartment door slid open again and Seamus and Dean strode in.
"Hello, all!" Seamus greeted brightly. Everyone greeted the couple excitedly and Ginny moved over to make room for them. The five began talking about their summers, although soon they just let Seamus tell them what was, they believed, a much-exaggerated account of how he spent his month in Ireland visiting relatives and while he was there a gorgeous man was hitting on him, but he refused to pay any attention to him because he was in love with another man . . . Dean.
So, as one could imagine, Ron and Hermione's reappearance to their compartment was greeted with an enormous amount of excitement. Other than that, the rest of the ride to school was relatively uneventful. It was, however, with a certain sadness when they stepped off the train to make their way to the carriages pulled by the Thestrals.
"This is the last time we take this ride up to the castle on the first day of school," Hermione noted, her face downcast.
"You're right," Harry agreed, a slight melancholy settling into his voice.
"Why are we all being so depressing?!" Draco exclaimed, looking incredulously at his friends and fiancé. This is our last year at Hogwarts! Let's make it worthwhile!"
And with that, he grabbed Harry's hand and bounced to one of the carriages.