A Moment in Time
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter (and associated characters, likenesses, concepts, etc.) belongs to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic, Inc. AOL/Time Warner, Inc., among others. I make no claim, written or implied, upon Harry Potter. No money is being made and no infringement or disrespect to the creators / copyright holders is intended.
Warning: This story will contain slash (ie. male/male relationships) and mpreg, although neither will be graphic.
A/N: This story was inspired by the many wonderful stories that I have read and enjoyed here at fan fiction and any similarities to existing stories is not intended. This story is AU, meaning that the events that occurred in the OOTP have not been taken into account and am I in no means suggesting the material described in this story should be considered as a direct interpretation of cannon. Also, I am American so I apologize in advance for any Americanisms.
Chapter Twenty-Two Parties and Strife
The room was quiet, too quiet, as Harry entered the common area of his Godfather's apartment. Matthew and Evan huddled close to their daddy as they shuffled into the darkened room after Harry. "Where's Uncle Siri?" Matthew whispered, looking around the empty room.
"I don't know… Why don't you and Evan go on in and see if you can find him?" Harry suggested, trying unsuccessfully to hide the grin on his face. Harry had brought the twins to visit Sirius on the guise that Uncle Siri had some chocolate frogs for the boys, but it appeared that no one was currently at home.
Looking back at their daddy to make sure it was all right, the boys cautiously crept into the center of the room, chocolate frogs being as much of an obsession for them as it still is for their daddy. But before they could make it across the room to the hallway, which led to all the other rooms in the apartment, the lights flooded on and a loud shout of "SURPRISE!" caused both boys to jump and run back to where Harry was still standing in the doorway.
"I told you a surprise party wasn't at all the thing for a three-year-old birthday party," Harry gently reprimanded his partner. Draco had jumped out from behind the furniture along with Nicole, Sirius and a couple of small children that the boys had befriended in the three weeks or so that they had been living at Hogwarts. Severus was going to stop by later; he had refused to put himself in the undignified position of having to hide behind a sofa or chair, regardless of how fond he had grown of the boys.
Matthew and Evan let out a wild squeal as soon as the twins saw the familiar faces. Running from their hiding place behind their Harry's legs, the twins ran first to Nicole and then over to where Draco was standing.
"Happy Birthday, kiddos," Draco said with a big smile, overjoyed at the prospect of spending his sons' birthdays with them for the first time ever. Their eyes lit up when they realized that today was their birthday. Time didn't have much meaning for children as young as the boys, but they were at able to connect the concept of presents and cake and other goodies with their birthday.
"Yeah" they cheered loudly in unison. "Cake?" "Presents?" they asked their Father. They were so excited and were jumping around like Mexican jumping beans that Draco couldn't tell which one was asking which question. Apparently, it didn't matter, for in the next instant, a loud crack was heard and in front of the twins' eyes, a house elf delivered a mammoth sized birthday cake. The cake had two distinctive sections. One was shaped like a dog and was snuggled up against the other half of the cake that was made to resemble a bunny.
Harry inspected the cake. The house elves had done a marvelous job and had followed his instructions exactly. Each boy's respective half of the cake looked almost identical to their favorite stuffed animals and had the words Happy Birthday Matthew or Evan written in dark green or silver icing, respectively, along with three candles.
Noting that Severus had indeed decided to grace the group with his presence, Harry indicated for the elf to light the candles. Harry winced as his trained musical ear was assaulted by one of the worst renditions of 'Happy Birthday' he had ever been forced to witness. The twins, not realizing that the song was being sung for them, joined in at the top of their lungs, only to be out shouted by both Sirius and Draco, who had taken it upon themselves to see who could sing the loudest. 'They must be trying to make up for the last two birthdays that they missed by being extra enthusiastic,' Harry thought to himself. Unfortunately, it wasn't the only time during that twins' party that that thought crossed his mind.
* * *
Feeling stuffed and a little jittery from all the cake and ice-cream that he had consumed, Harry leaned back against Draco who was standing behind the shorter man, watching their sons open the small mountain of birthday presents. "This is really way too much, you know?" Harry whispered, as another joy filled shriek filled the air.
Draco had managed to purchase for the boys practically every wizarding toy appropriate for three-year olds, and even some that in Harry's mind were not quite so appropriate. Draco decided to ignore Harry for the moment as saw Matthew reach for yet another brightly wrapped package. "I thought we agreed to just get them the training brooms." Harry was starting to get annoyed, not too keen on being ignored.
Smirking at his mate, Draco tried to console the upset man. "Now Leo, while I did agree that the brooms would be the perfect gift for the boys, I never said that it was going to be their only gift."
Looking around the room in exasperation, "Well, now that you bought out the store, Dray, what's left for Christmas?" Harry replied sarcastically, secretly pleased that Draco had gone to all the trouble to select and order via owl post the huge pile of presents.
Raising one of his fine eyebrows that was so blonde it looked almost white, Draco smiled, "Well, we'll just have to worry about that in December then, won't we?"
Harry shook his head, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the Slytherin, and in all honesty, he didn't really blame him. It was Draco's way of trying to make up for the birthdays that he had been absent. "I admit the Monkeys in a Barrel are a blast, but don't you think they are a little too young for Wizarding Operation?" The Monkeys in a Barrel were similar to the muggle children's game but the monkeys were enchanted to act like real monkeys. The boys had torn open the box and there were currently monkeys running amok all over Sirius' apartment. The adults had long given up on trying to round them up, knowing that the enchantment was only temporarily and was automatically reapplied each time that the monkeys left the barrel.
Again, it looked like someone with a muggle upbringing had brought with them the ideas of the games they had enjoyed as a child when making the wizarding version of Operation. However, instead of the person's nose lighting up whenever someone touched the sides of the game while trying to delicately extract a small oddly shaped game piece with a pair of plastic tweezers; this one had the person shriek and twist in agony. It had scared poor Matthew so bad that he didn't want to open another present for over fifteen minutes.
Knowing that he was wrong, Draco still couldn't help but defend himself. "It's a good way for them to develop their small motor skills." Draco smirked. "Besides, I had one when I was their age."
"And we all know how you turned out," Harry said smugly.
Draco refused to take the bait and instead, returned his focus to their sons.
With a sigh, Harry snuggled back against the strong body behind him. It amazed him how much comfort he could derive from just touching the other man. The last few weeks had done nothing but strengthen their commitment to each other and to their family.
Watching his sons tear though their presents reminded Harry of his own birthday celebration that had occurred only a week ago. Naturally, it was more subdued with quite a few less gifts, but it was just what Harry had wanted. Draco had invited Sirius and Severus to have a quiet dinner with the family in the private dinning room in the Founders Hall. Draco, in trying to tease his Godfather, asked him to bring a date for the occasion. The joke was on Draco however, when Severus showed up with Remus on his arm. Sharing his birthday dinner with Remus wasn't as bad as it could have been. In the weeks since Harry had been at Hogwarts, he managed to treat most people civilly, albeit a little coldly.
Harry chuckled to himself as he remembered the expressions on Severus', Remus' and Sirius' faces when they first stepped into the Hall. He imaged that his face most likely had had the same dumbfounded expression as theirs had. After a quick tour, where as expected, Severus had to be forcibly dragged out of the potion chamber after he had abstracted a promise from Harry and Draco that he could return later to more fully inspect the room and its many wonders; the five men and Nicole, who had asked Sirius to be her date for the evening, settled into the dinning room for an elegant five course meal.
Draco had asked the house elves to prepare his favorites, and overall, the night had gone well. The one dark spot had been when Harry had opened a small gift that didn't have a card. Inside the small box was a high quality brass sneakoscope. It resembled the ones that Mad Eye Moody used to have. Only after removing the small object from the box, did Harry notice the small card attached to the sneakoscope.
Dear Harry,
We hope that you use this one as well as you used the last one. Happy Birthday.
Ron and HermioneAs soon as he saw the sneakoscope he had been immediately reminded of the first birthday present that he had ever received, excluding Hagrid's cake of course. It had been the summer before his third year when he had received presents from his two best friends. Ron's gift had been a cheap sneakoscope that he had picked up while on vacation with his parent's in Egypt, while Hermione had sent him a broom servicing kit. Sending him this now was no doubt an effort to remind Harry of how close the trio had once been.
How he had treasured those first gifts, they had meant the world to him at the time. It was funny actually how even when Dumbledore had finally returned to Harry his personal belongings that had been left at Hogwarts that he still felt deeply attached to those two things, even though he no longer felt anything for the people who had given them to him.
It was wonderful to get his old trunk back. For awhile after it was returned, Harry couldn't even bring himself to open it. The trunk merely set locked up against a wall in his and Draco's bedroom. Finally after Draco got sick of looking at it, did he force Harry to sit down and deal with its contents. Looking back, Harry was quite glad that Draco had made him face his past once again.
Sitting side by side on the floor of their bedroom, Harry and Draco painstakingly went through his school things, piece by piece. The books were added to the library. The old robes and clothing were thrown away. Item by item Harry would have a memory to share or a story to tell. The two young men passed the better part of a day that way, until the trunk was finally empty. Now the empty trunk was stored away somewhere out of sight and anything worth keeping was carefully put away. Harry was overjoyed to discover that his father's old cloak was still there in the trunk. He was sure that Dumbledore would have given it to someone else or that Ron would have taken it for himself. But neither of those two events had happened and now the cloak was back with its rightful owner.
Harry was grateful that Draco had understood and had helped him deal with things. Draco was the one that helped Harry understand that it was alright for him to still cherish the memories of his earlier school years and the friendships that he had then, while not liking the people that those childhood friends had eventually become. He could miss the Ron and Hermione that he had enjoyed so many adventures with, while not forgiving their adult selves for what they had eventually done to him.
The other item that Harry was ecstatic to have returned was his old broom. The Firebolt that Sirius had given him so long ago was still in great condition. Sure there were newer and faster models on the market now, but Harry was just happy to have his trusty old broom back, feeling like he was reunited with an old friend. Of course that didn't even compare to the feeling he had the first time he kicked off hard from the ground and flew up high into the sky above. Merlin, he had missed being able to fly. The closest he had gotten to being this free was when he was able to transform into his phoenix animagus form. Actually, Harry liked flying as a phoenix better than on a broom as he was able to have even greater control and freedom that way, but as phoenixes were highly unusual, his opportunities to fly that way where extremely limited. Since he had rediscovered the joys of flying, Draco and Harry would sneak out to fly as often as possible.
Harry's birthday had ended the best way possible, with just him and his lover together reaffirming their love and commitment to each other. Draco had taken him in his arms and gently made love to him again and again, for the better part of the night. At some point, they had ended up making love in the hot spring in their master bathroom, and that was a memory that would certainly stay with the dark haired man for a long time.
Peeking over Harry's shoulder, Draco saw the blush creep up his face. With a soft nip to his ear, Draco whispered, "What are you thinking about, because it sure isn't the story books that Nicole just gave the boys?"
Seeing Harry's blush deepen at being caught thinking whatever naughty thoughts he was currently entertaining in his head, made the blonde smile. "I'll tell you later," Harry whispered back, hoping that Draco would let the matter drop.
Squeezing Harry tightly around the waist, Draco pressed his lips against the raven-haired man's neck before using his tongue to make small circles on the sensitive skin there. "I've a better idea, how about if you show me later."
Harry had to bite his lip to prevent the groan that threatened to come forth at his mate's tender administrations. Leaning his head forward away from Draco's hot mouth, Harry managed to gasp, "Stop it, stop teasing."
"Hey, are you two alright over there?" Sirius yelled from across the room where the growing mound of crumpled wrapping paper was becoming dangerously high.
If possible, Harry's blushed even harder as their actions had attracted the attention of not only his Godfather, but of the other adults in the room.
* * *
Harry rolled over in bed so that he was lying on his back beside a certain sexy blonde. After the party, the young men had excused themselves and left Sirius and Nicole to get the twin's many presents settled into the newly expanded playroom.
"What are you thinking about now?" a sleepy and sated voice asked.
Running a hand down his lover's sweaty chest, Harry leaned down a pressed a soft kiss on the warm flesh. "I was just thinking about how happy I am." Harry was startled to realize just how true his words were. Sure, the transition back to Hogwarts and the people there had been difficult, but with the support of his family he was doing fine. His life had changed so much in the last few months, that if someone who knew him from before saw him now they wouldn't be able to recognize him, and that wasn't only attributed to his physical change in appearance. He was genuinely happy.
He had been overjoyed when the boys were born, but the completeness that filled him now was due to only one thing, one person. His happiness was directly related to his relationship with Draco. Never could he have imaged being as close to someone as he was to the blonde. To say they shared everything didn't seem to express how connected the two men really were.
It was depressing to witness exactly what Voldemort and his 'less than merry men' had done to this part of Europe. However, Harry just couldn't deny that he was where he belonged. Not sure if it was Europe, Scotland, the wizarding community in general or even Hogwarts, but there was something about being here that felt right.
Just thinking about the monster made Harry feel slightly nauseous. Since coming back to Hogwarts he had been experiencing occasional pain in his scar, just like he had during his school years here; just a nagging reminder of his regrettable connection with the Dark Lord. Apparently, the distance between them had been just too great while he had been living in the States for the connection to function.
Pushing down any thoughts of his own discomfort, Harry thought about his mate's bond to that beast. Draco never complained but Harry would see him wince occasionally and discretely rub the spot on his arm where the dark mark was located. Similar to his connection, now that they were in close proximity to Voldemort the ugly tattoo on Draco's arm would burn when he was being summoned. Of course, Draco never answered the summoning, but that still didn't prevent Harry from worrying about him.
Harry had even taken it upon himself to speak to Severus about whether anything could be done about the connection that Draco had to the Dark Lord via the mark, as Severus was intimately familiar with the subject matter. Harry was glad to learn that Draco had already spoken with his Godfather and that Severus had already developed a potion that while it couldn't break the bond, it would help reduce some of the pain that Draco felt when the mark burned.
Even knowing that had they stayed in California, they wouldn't have to deal with their connections to Voldemort, Harry was glad that they had come back to Scotland. Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the dark thoughts, Harry let his gaze wander some more over the gorgeous man beside him.
Determined not to let the depressing thoughts ruin his good mood, Harry rolled over on top of his companion. "I love you," he said softly, his voice husky and deep with longing.
Draco caught his breath when he saw the flames burning once more in his mate's eyes, which now resembled the lush grass in the early spring when life was once more returning to the barren fields. Draco barely had time to whisper, "I love you too", before his lips were once more captured in an earth moving kiss.
"I want to make love to you."
Remembering the activities of yesterday afternoon, last night and then again once already that morning, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. "Again? I never knew that you were this frisky. I thought you would want to get up and spend some time this morning with the twins playing with their new toys from yesterday."
Not the least bit embarrassed, Harry reached down and nuzzled Draco's bare shoulder, pressing the proof his desire into Draco's muscular thigh. "Again, and again, and again…"
Seeing the lust in Harry's eyes, Draco managed to groan his approval before surrendering to the molten heat that soon overcame him. The boys would just have to wait a little longer.
* * *
Harry's scar had been bothering him on and off all day long. It was an annoyance more so than painful. The dark haired man ran a tired hand over his face as he tried to stifle a yawn. He was exhausted, a couple of days had pasted since the twin's birthday and Evan wasn't sleeping well. Evan had a nightmare last night, and Harry had been up with the child. It took over an hour and a half of cuddling before Evan fell back to sleep. This had become something of a routine since they had moved to Hogwarts, but his nightmares had steadily increased in frequency until he was having one almost every other night.
Harry was worried, but knew that there wasn't anything he could do to help Evan stop having nightmare but make him feel safe and secure. He and Draco had taken to spending breakfast and dinner with the boys, as well as playing with them for no less than two hours each day, no matter how much training or strategy sessions they were participating in.
In keeping with his word, Harry attended most Order meeting voluntarily, although he mostly just listened and rarely interjected an opinion. He also partook of the daily training sessions to catch up with any hexes curses, or spells that he may not have had the time to learn before. Careful to always use the wand that Dumbledore had given him to replace the one that had been snapped, Harry kept his wandless magic talents a secret. Furthermore, Harry never cast his spells at full strength, feeling that the more he kept to himself until needed the better. Harry smirked when he saw how impressed Dumbledore and the others were with how much magic he had been able to retain in the years since he was permitted to practice.
Other then those activities, his and Draco's daily schedule included some sort of physical activity, either flying or going to a run, spending time in their private library researching anything that could help them in this war, as well as practicing dueling in their private dueling chamber. Often, Sirius, Severus and Remus would join them there. Although when Remus accompanied Severus, Harry made sure he toned his abilities down a bit. Of anyone in the castle, Harry was pretty sure that Remus suspected something, even though he never acted differently or asked him about his abilities directly, on several occasions, Harry found the werewolf looking at him in a funny way.
Draco did make sure that he had plenty of time to experiment in the potions lab, many times with Snape's aid. Already they had been able to stronger and more potentate versions of many of the healing drafts that were currently in use in the medical ward.
Nicole spent a good part of her day with Matthew and Evan, but for a few hours in the afternoon or an occasional night when she would volunteer her services in the hospital wing. After a few heated arguments, she had managed to convince Harry that she needed to do more for the war effort than just being a baby sitter. She was a trained healer and she wanted to use those skills that were very much in demand.
Harry eventually consented when she pointed out that it was good for the boys to start making some friends of their own. Matthew and Evan had been very taken with the idea of playing with other kids their age, so now, every afternoon after lunch the boys would go to the daycare center to play for a few hours.
Still the center of attention whenever they left the Founder's Hall, Harry and Draco managed to ignore much of the attention directed their way, satisfied with the routine that they had found their lives in. However, as Harry looked around at what remained of their dinner, he thought to himself that routine wasn't always a good thing.
Draco, Nicole, Matthew, Evan and Harry had been sitting down enjoying a quiet evening meal in their private dining room when out of nowhere, with out the slightest provocation, Matthew simply picked up a fork full of peas and whipped them across the table. The peas which were slightly mushy hit Evan smack on the forehead. Before Harry could recover, Evan retaliated. He levitated his goblet of milk over to where his brother was seated and promptly dumped it over his head.
Both boys were now freely using wandless magic to banish various food items at each other. Harry winced as Draco tried to get in between the fighting boys and was rewarded with a boatload of chicken gravy splashed in his face. Now the Slytherin was mad, but instead of acting like the twenty some year old that he was he regressed back to his own childhood and smeared boiled potatoes in both boys' hair.
"I hope you realize that it's your turn to give them baths tonight," Harry shouted over the loud shrieks and screams.
Hearing his partner's remark, Draco stopped tossing cooked carrots at his sons and instead, changed his target for a much larger one. Nicole wisely took this opportunity to make a break for it before she could be caught in the crossfire.
Not happy with being hit in the face with a hand full of candied carrots, Harry picked up what remained of the applesauce. Draco saw the glint in Harry's eye and knew that he had gone to far. Throwing both his hands up over his head, he screeched out, "Not the hair, please not the hair", only moments before the applesauce was ceremoniously dumped over his blonde head.
Matthew and Evan had only paused for a moment, carefully watching their father to see what his response was going to be to the fragrant applesauce bath. The blonde man carefully wiped the chunky offensive substance off his face, before he stood up from the table and walked over to where Harry was still sitting. Looking his lover directly in the eye, Draco picked up the pitcher of pumpkin juice from the table and emptied the entire contents on Harry's lap.
Harry shrieked when the icy cold juice landed on his sensitive area. "Merlin, Dray, that's cold!"
Seeing their parents participating in the fight, the twins took to whipping anything that remained on the table at anyone in the room. No prisoners were taken and no mercy was given.
The sound of someone chucking could barely be heard over the din of the battle. "Excuse me." Seeing that no one had heard him, the person repeated himself, this time a little louder, "Excuse me."
Turning, Harry saw his Godfather standing in the doorway to the dinning room moments before being hit in the chest with what he hoped was chocolate pudding.
"I really hate to interrupt important family gatherings," Sirius chucked and then got serious looking at both Harry and Draco, "but your presence is requested in the Phoenix Chamber."
"Now?" Draco croaked as he tried to pick some of the drying applesauce out of his hair.
Not being able to look at the usually immaculately attired Slytherin without laughing, he managed, "Yes, now. Something's come up that we need to discuss." Sirius risked a peak at the blonde man as he was leaving. "Oh and by the way, you have something all over your face."
Harry took stock of the condition both he and Draco were in before raising his hand and casting a thorough cleaning charm, it didn't work nearly as well as a nice hot shower but it would have to do for now.
"Oh, my beautiful hair," moaned Draco, as he rubbed a hand over his blonde locks, which were no longer coated in applesauce but still felt sticky.
"Come on Dray, we'd better get up there and see what the old man wants now," Harry coaxed, knowing that there was a chance that Draco would refuse to go anywhere until he had a bath and a change of clothing.
"Fine." Draco pouted as he stomped out of the dining room.
With a yell to let Nicole know where they were going and to ask her to please clean up the boys, the two men made their way quickly to the Chamber.
* * *
Taking their customary seats in the back of the chamber, Harry and Draco waited for the meeting to start.
Harry had to cover his mouth to hide his smile when Ron Weasley upon entering the room looked around expectantly as if looking for something. It was hard not to burst out laughing when his wife asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for the refreshments. When questioned why he thought that there would be refreshments served tonight when there seldom were, he replied, "don't you smell it? I know I smell apples?" Ron looked around, "Yes, I definitely smell apples, apples and I think it's chocolate. I wonder where they put it."
It seemed that somethings never changed, and that Ron's first and primary concern would always be his stomach. Harry had to kick Draco under the table to keep the sensitive blonde from hexing the man. Not sure how long he was going to be able to keep Draco away from the red head, Harry was grateful that they were some of the last people summoned to the meeting and they didn't have long to wait.
Seeing that all the seats in the Chamber were now filled, Albus stood. "Our sources have informed us that there will be an attack at a large muggle village somewhere in Yorkshire later this week. The attack could come as early as tomorrow."
Attacks hadn't been all that infrequent, as the Order had fought in a hand full of skirmishes since Harry's return, although Harry himself had not yet participated in one. "We do not have a lot of information, but what we do have suggests that this battle will be a rather large one, with Voldemort attacking such a visible target. There is even a rumor that Voldemort himself may be present for this battle."
"How reliable is this information?" someone off to the left of where they were sitting asked.
"Our sources are not as accurate as they once had been," Dumbledore paused as he looked directly at Draco before continuing. "But they feel that this information is true. Our source risked much to bring us even what little information that they could."
The Phoenix sat down as the discussion of the best approach to take regarding this new information got started. Harry tried hard to pay attention to the strategies being discussed, but found that it was hard to do under Dumbledore's penetrating stare. Ever since the old man had sat back down in his seat, he hadn't taken his eyes off of the raven-haired man, and Harry found it slightly unnerving.
Finally, the Order had decided on an approach. Three Order members would continuously act as lookout over the muggle village, watching for any sign of trouble. When they saw any indication that the attack was going to start, they would immediately inform the Phoenix via Fawkes. At that time, two of the six teams of warriors would apparate in to the village to fend off the attacking Death Eaters. Additional teams would stand by to be called if needed as back up. The plan, while certainly not the sexiest of battle strategies, appeared to be sound.
That having been decided, Albus once more called attention to himself. "I wonder Harry, do you plan on joining the Order in this endeavor?"
Knowing that even if there was only a remote chance that Voldemort was going to be there that he had to go, Harry nodded. "Yes, I will accompany the two teams that are sent in the initial wave," he stated calmly.
Harry caught Draco's eye and flinched at the determination he saw there. Harry knew immediately that Draco wanted to be involved in this altercation as well.
This situation strongly reminded him of his and Draco's first real fight that they had since they reconciled. A few days after they arrived at Hogwarts, Dumbledore approached Draco on one of the rare occasions when Harry wasn't with him, and discussed the possibility of Draco returning to Voldemort as a spy.
Harry was beyond furious when he had found out. Just thinking about it even now, weeks later was enough to make Harry's blood pressure rise.
Flashback"Surely you're not considering going back to that mad man." Harry was exasperated that Draco would even entertain the thought of returning as a spy.
"Look Harry, you're not the only one who is needed in this war. I have a role to play too. And unfortunately, that role includes being close enough to that snake bastard that I can pick up on valuable information." Draco said defensively.
Harry's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe they were actually having this conversation. "Draco, I have no doubt about your abilities, or the role that you've played in this damn war. But when you decided to stay with me and the boys in California, I thought you made the decision to leave your role as a Death Eater behind, and move on."
Draco was so angry that he didn't even look directly at Harry. "I did make that choice, and given the chance, I'd make the same choice again, but Harry, we're not in California anymore. We decided to come back and end this thing once and for all. And if I have the opportunity to help in that effort, then I think that it's only fair that I do everything in my power to bring this mess to a successful conclusion."
"So you've already made up your mind then, have you?" Harry sneered, clearly upset. "Why are you bothering to even ask my opinion, it clearly doesn't matter."
"Damn you, Harry. Do you think that you're the only one that has something to offer in this war? Are you sure you even want to spend your life with a worthless person such as myself? How can I even hope to compare to the Great Harry Potter, clearly I'm not the Boy Who Lived, but stupid me, I still thought that I had a useful part to play." Draco's voice cracked.
Not wanting to continue to fight with Draco, Harry put up both of his hands in a sign of surrender. "Dray, I'm sorry. I never meant that you were less than I was, or that the efforts that you've made during this damn war have been anything less than extraordinary. I know you. You never do anything unless you can give it everything that you have inside of yourself. It's one of the things that I love about you." Harry covered his face with both of his hands and rubbed his eyes. "But when I think of you going back to that monster. Kneeling down to him, kissing the hems of his robes, letting him curse you. Merlin, Draco, I just can't do it. I'm sorry. But this isn't about what I think you're capable of, it's about me."
Moving his hands from his face, Harry raised his troubled eyes, to Draco's. Piercing forest green met the turbulent swirling gray that looked almost like the ocean waves after a strong storm had just passed. "Every time that mark on your arm would burn and you were summoned; every time I would have to kiss you goodbye and see you leave me knowing that it could be the last time that I could ever see you, I would die a little."
Anger fading in light of Harry's emotional pain, Draco pulled the shorter man to him. Holding on to him as tightly as he could, Draco whispered into his ear, "What do you think will happen to me every time you go off to fight?" Draco knew what Harry's destiny was, hell, he was party to convincing him to return to help defeat Voldemort. But deep down, he was worried. What if Harry wasn't strong enough? What if Voldemort managed to kill his love? How on earth would he ever be able to tell their children that their daddy wasn't coming home to them, and that it was partly his fault for allowing the Order to find Harry in the first place? Draco knew that if something happened to Harry, that he wouldn't want to live anymore, and it seemed that Harry felt the same way.
It had been over a month and a half since he had responded to one of the Dark Lord's summonings. Even if he wasn't immediately suspected and questioned as a spy, he knew that Voldemort wouldn't let him go without a few well-placed curses. It was highly unlikely that Voldemort would trust him anytime soon, as this was the second time that he had vanished for a length of time without any legitimate reason. Taking into account the high risk of discovery, as well as Harry's feelings on the subject, Draco decided that it was too dangerous at this time to return to his former Lord.
End Flashback
"I will be going with him," came the strong voice beside him. Knowing that he didn't have the right to ask Draco to stay safe when he was taking the same risks himself, Harry merely nodded his head in agreement. Whatever they would have to face, they would do it together. Slowly rubbing the back of Draco's hand with his thumb, Harry offered up a silent prayer that whoever looked out over them would make sure that his family came out of this war alright.
To Be Continued.