"Harrrrryyyyyy," Draco whinged, "I don't want to go!"
"Draco, babe, we have to. They're my best friends, and I said we'd both go," Harry reminded Draco, knowing he was going to try everything to get out of going to the Weasley's for Christmas lunch.
"Yeah, but you didn't tell them it was me, did you?" Draco pouted.
"Did you want me to?"
"No, I want to see the shock on their faces when I turn up." Draco smirked.
"Ah! So you do want to go," Harry said triumphantly.
"No, I don't want either of us to go. I want to stay home with you," Draco said honestly.
"Well, if you don't come, you can't get your other Christmas present," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"What? You're lying, you already got me everything I wanted."
"Yes, but this one's a surprise."
"And you're giving it to me in front of the Weasleys because…?" Draco asked, trying to work out what it could be.
Harry noticed the calculating look in Draco's eyes and decided to play it safe.
"I left it there by accident after shopping with Ron and Hermione," he lied.
"Oh, ok then." Draco said, falling for it.
"So, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Draco said, falling back into his whingey tone of voice.
"Don't be a grump about it, Draco, it's Christmas. Today's meant to be a happy day," Harry said, muttering the last part as he grabbed a handful of floo-powder from the jar on the mantelpiece. "Shall I go first, dear?" he asked, grinning when Draco scowled at him. He knew Draco only pretended to hate the pet names that made them sound like an old married couple.
"I guess you should, so you can, you know, introduce me and everything," Draco said, suddenly smiling quite smugly.
"Ok. Whatever happens, just remember that I love you. And please, don't run off if people start shouting."
"Me? Back away from a confrontation with Weasleys? Never!" Draco said, faking shock.
"The Burrow!" Harry shouted, dropping his floo-powder and disappearing in a burst of green flames.
"Harry, mate, you're here! Happy Christmas!" Ron shouted, leaping up from the couch, where it seemed he had been watching the fireplace. He hugged his friend briefly before looking towards the fireplace again. "So… is he coming?"
"Yeah," Harry said, as a squealing Hermione ran into the room and hugged him tightly. "He likes a bit of drama though, no doubt he's waiting until everyone's bound to be in the room," Harry smirked, "Give him ten minutes."
"OK, mate. I'll go get mum," Ron said, heading to the kitchen.
"It's lucky you told Ron to tell me it was here, I would have gone to your place otherwise. When he said 'Hermione wants you there at twelve', I thought he meant that you guys would be hosting."
"Oh, yeah. But I volunteered organising it. I know Molly likes to organise things like this but I thought she needed a bit of a break, you know?" Hermione asked as the rest of the Weasley clan trouped into the room.
Harry nodded; he did know. Mrs Weasley had until recently been very busy looking after Bill and Fleur's three year old twins while they were on holiday. The two girls were shaping up to be almost as bad as Fred and George, and, needless to say, the older Weasley twins were the girls' favourite uncles.
"Harry! Merry Christmas, dear," Mrs Weasley said. Mr Weasley shook his hand. "Good to see you, Harry. Merry Christmas."
"Hey Harry, happy Christmas," Ginny said, leaning casually in the doorway.
"Is your fella coming, then?" Fred grinned as he hugged Harry in greeting.
"Yeah, he's coming," Harry said.
"Probably quite often, if I know Harry," George muttered under his breath to Fred. Fred snickered; Harry heard and blushed slightly.
"Just wait, George, you won't be so quick to joke when you see who it is," Harry whispered. George raised his eyebrows.
Suddenly the fire turned green, and Draco stepped out.
"Speak of the devil," Harry said, grinning as he walked up to the fireplace and gripped Draco's hand tightly in his own.
"Draco, meet my family." Harry said, smiling brightly even though his insides felt like jelly.
There was shocked silence for a moment or two, before Mrs Weasley let out a choked sob and ran forwards to embrace, not Draco, but Harry. "Did you hear that, dear?" She asked, addressing her husband, "He called us his family. Oh, Harry, dear," she sobbed, hugging him tightly. Then she stepped back and looked at Draco for a moment.
"Draco, dear, what is it that you are doing now?"
"I – work for the ministry, Mrs Weasley," Draco said, trying to smile.
"Really? That's great, Draco – you know my husband Arthur works at the ministry. He's head of the Department of Enchantments," Mrs Weasley said proudly.
"Yes, I know," Draco said, smiling easily now. "He's my boss."
Harry laughed at the shocked looks on the faces of the Weasleys. He had forgotten that detail briefly.
Mr Weasley stepped forward and shook Draco's hand enthusiastically. "Nice to see you in a more social context, Draco," he said cheerfully.
"You too, Mr Weasley," Draco said. Harry could tell Draco genuinely liked the man.
"Call me Arthur when we're outside the office, Draco."
"Will do. Merry Christmas, Arthur." Draco said.
This seemed to break the barrier. Hermione came forward first and to everyone's surprise, gave Draco a quick hug and a knowing smile as she wished him a happy Christmas.
"Harry," Ron said as the other Weasleys were wishing Draco a happy Christmas, "why didn't you tell us? I would never have – you know, yesterday, if you'd told me…" Ron said, seemingly a little embarrassed.
"Ron, don't worry about it. I know it's not going to be easy to-"
"It'll work, Harry. If you're really serious about it, it'll work. I'll be nice. Besides, he doesn't seem so bad… now," Ron added, smirking.
"You're right, Ron, I'm sure it'll work out. And he really is a sweetie... now," Harry said, laughing along with Ron at the way he mimicked Ron in the last word.
"Lunch!" Hermione shouted from the kitchen, where she and Mrs Weasley had excused themselves to after wishing Draco and Harry a happy Christmas.
"Excellent! I'm starving," Ron said, grinning. Harry rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm casually around Draco's waist and steering him to the table in the dining room.
"You're always starving, Weasley," Draco commented, receiving a small grin from Ron and a large one from Harry.
"Yeah, well… runs in the family," Ron said, looking pointedly at Fred and George, who were already seated and eyeing the food hungrily. Harry swore he could see a bit of saliva at the corner of George's mouth.
Draco laughed. "It seems you're right."
Once everyone had finished eating, there was a chorus of appreciation.
"That was fabulous, Mrs Weasley," Draco said politely.
"Oh, don't thank me, dear, it was all Hermione!" Mrs Weasley said, beaming at Hermione.
Draco raised his eyebrows. "In that case, nice cooking, Granger."
"Thanks, Malfoy."
"It really was delicious, Hermione," Harry agreed, patting his full stomach.
Ron elbowed him in the side. "Just wait til you see what she did for dessert!" Everyone groaned, feeling ill at the thought of more food.
"Don't worry, it's not ready yet. We should do presents first," Hermione said, rising gracefully from the table.
"Phew," Draco said, hours later as he and Harry snuggled into bed. "I'm glad that's over."
"Yep. And you have a whole year to recover before the next one." Harry said, nudging Draco as he tried to keep the gleeful tone out of his voice. He had loved watching the blonde's initial discomfort.
"What? No, I'm not going to one of those again. And anyway, who's to say we'll still be together?" Draco said, grinning to indicate he was joking.
"Well… actually," Harry gulped nervously, "I was going to ask you today at the Weasley's, but I thought you were coping so well I didn't want to interrupt. I'm really proud of the way you behaved today, Draco, you were really mature…"
"Potter, what are you trying to say?"
"Well, I just… I mean, um, that is, er-"
"Get on with it."
"Will you marry me?"
"Is that all? I thought you were going to ask if we could adopt a child or something."
"Is that a yes then?"
"Of course it's a yes, you idiot. How can I refuse an offer like that?"
"Prat."
"So where's my ring?"
"Huh? Oh…" Harry sat up and rummaged in the drawer of the bedside table, finally removing the box that he had carried around with him all day. He opened the box and removed the ring, before lying himself back down and reaching for Draco's hand.
"Lumos," Harry whispered, producing a ball of light in his hand so that Draco could see the ring.
"It's beautiful. Thankyou," Draco breathed.
"You're welcome. I love you. Nox." The light went out.
"I love you too," Draco whispered, touching his lips softly to Harry's before snuggling up next to Harry and laying his head on Harry's chest.
"Draco?" Harry whispered a few minutes later.
"Mmmm?" Draco responded tiredly.
"You know… that adopting a child thing… I wouldn't mind doing that… someday."
"Harry. Go to sleep."
"Yes, I will, but I was just thinking-"
"We'll discuss it later."
"Tomorrow?"
"Fine. If we must."
"Love you."
"Love you too."