Chapter 13
"Your smile warms me like central heating
Hot chocolate on a frosty evening
Warm breath cold lips that I've been waiting for
All my life to kiss."
Song - Christmas in the Air Tonight, by Scouting for Girls
13 December 2005
"Uncle Harry! You're here!"
Draco looked up from his place kneeling on the ground, tying Teddy's skate tightly. The crowd appeared to part as Harry walked through; even though they were Muggles, even though they had no idea who Harry was, the people seemed to simply recognise Harry's presence.
It was more than a little arousing, truth be told, but Draco was well practised at concealing the thrill he received to know this was his boyfriend. His. It didn't seem to matter that they lived together, that they'd spent the previous evening planning a formal dinner together and then falling into bed as Harry took him apart, piece by piece. There was something about seeing him stride towards him that could make him go weak in the knees.
So yes, it was a good thing he was already kneeling. It was also a good thing that Teddy babbled happily to his godfather; otherwise, Harry might realise the effect he still had on Draco, and that would never do.
Thank goodness for loquacious seven-year-olds on a cold winter's eve.
"Are you going to tie my skates too, Draco?" Harry put his foot out on Draco's knee, Teddy now tucked under the muscular arm that Draco knew only too well.
Fuck, Draco, put it away. Skating.
"No amount of my help is going to improve your skating, Potter. You're hopeless." Still, he took the skates from Harry's outstretched hand and removed the shoe on his knee. A quick run along Harry's arch and a flirty peek at Harry through his lashes had its desired effect, and Harry shifted on the bench.
"Just tie the skates, please," Harry said, his voice rough.
"I remember the first time you went skating, Uncle Harry, and you fell a bunch of times and Draco had to catch you."
Harry ruffled Teddy's hair. "He wasn't even my boyfriend then, so it was very nice of him, don't you think?"
Teddy snuggled into Harry's side and hugged him tightly as Draco completed the second skate. "Well, I couldn't let the Boy Who Lived die skating, could I?"
"Draco, Uncle Harry thinks that name's bloody awful, and it's not nice to call him that."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Language."
Teddy shrugged and jumped up, moving toward the ice. "Yeah, sorry," he called over his shoulder.
"Is it just me or does he get more difficult the older he gets?"
Harry took Draco's hand and pulled him after Teddy. "He'll be eight soon. It was bound to happen."
Draco squeezed his hand. "Two years. It seems like yesterday."
"Hmm… And look at him now." Teddy sped around the rink, moving in and out of the slower skaters on the ice, then he turned back and waved at them both. "You're a good teacher."
They began to move, hand in hand, Draco giving Harry the extra stability he seemed to need when on skates. There was something about being here, back on the ice with Harry and Teddy at Christmastime, that made Draco feel maudlin. They skated like that for a while, cheering Teddy on at a distance, and that feeling only grew.
Later, Draco could only blame the confession that came next on the sentimentality of the moment. "That day two years ago? That was when something changed, you know. I'd known before that our growing friendship was something different, but I hadn't recognised yet what it was. But that afternoon, skating with Teddy, watching you fumble, seeing the relationship between you and Teddy… That was the day I realised that I was feeling something more, something romantic, and it scared the shit out of me."
"I wanted to ask you back to Grimmauld Place," Harry said quietly. "You were standing there, getting ready to Apparate away, a little bit of hot chocolate on the side of your lip and Teddy asleep on your shoulder, and everything inside me was screaming to kiss you and take you home with me."
"Really?" This was new information. He hadn't thought Harry had started to feel anything until that day in the pub when they'd talked about the nature of love. That night, the sparks had been obvious, but that wasn't until a couple of weeks after their skating outing. It was good to know he hadn't been the only one to feel it so early.
"Really. And here we are now, and it's even better than I thought it could be."
"Harry," Draco said quietly, pulling them to a stop on the side of the rink and drawing Harry into his arms. He just needed to kiss him, to feel his body against him for a moment, to pull himself back into the here and now when Harry was his.
Harry's lips were gentle and familiar now on his own. However, before he could think much on it, could enjoy it fully, a small body slammed into them, an arm wrapped around each of their waists.
"Uncle Harry! Draco! Are we having a group hug? I love group hugs! And I'm cold. Is it time for hot chocolate yet? It's tradition for us to get hot chocolate, right? That's what we get every year after skating. Or does Uncle Harry have to fall first? Because if so, can you do that now, Uncle Harry, so I can get extra marshmallows?"
Green eyes met Draco's, full of amusement. "Well, if it's tradition, I'd best get on with it," Harry laughed, pushing away from the wall and skating solo into the crowd.
"How long do you think he'll make it before he falls?" Draco asked Teddy, pulling the boy's hat off and ruffling the hair they'd charmed brown for the day.
"Well, it's kind of crowded," Teddy said, watching Harry as he rounded the rink slowly. "I think he'll make it around at least once more before he crashes into someone."
"I think he'll fall right before hitting someone. No crashing. Want to make it a bet?"
Teddy grinned up at him. "You're on. Whoever loses give the other their marshmallows."
"Whoa, big stakes. I accept those terms."
They shook hands before turning back to watch as the man they both loved slammed into a wall while trying to avoid falling over a couple of teenagers who were trying to do figure skating jumps.
"Hmm…I think I win," Draco said smugly.
"No, you said he'd fall. He didn't."
"Well, he didn't crash into someone either, so—"
"Neither of us wins and we keep our marshmallows?" Teddy asked hopefully.
Draco pretended to think about it. "I don't know. I think I was closer, and I really love marshmallows."
"Draco!" Teddy whined.
Draco laughed as Harry hobbled over to them. "Fine." He took Harry's arm to help him from the ice. "It's a draw."
"What's a draw? Were you betting on me falling?" Harry sounded offended, but Draco could see the laughter in his eyes as they walked towards the hot chocolate stand. "Teddy, you know Andromeda wouldn't like you betting on things. What have we told you about doing things your grandmother wouldn't approve of?"
"Not to get caught?"
Shit.
"Draco?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing. "Where did he get that?"
"No idea. Must be from you and all of your rule-breaking ways." He shot Teddy a look that he hoped the boy would interpret as, 'Keep your mouth shut.'
"Draco said that some rules were arbitrary. He said we should follow the important ones, and make sure we're not caught breaking the others."
Harry closed his eyes, and Draco considered slipping away in that moment of cover. Instead, he just glared at his little cousin, who simply beamed at him.
"It's our turn!" Draco said suddenly, their turn at the front of the queue finally bringing them to the counter. "Three hot chocolates with extra marshmallows."
"It's our tradition together!" Teddy told the lady in the window, and Harry's pretend annoyance fell away.
"It is, isn't it?" He took Draco's hand, his other arm around Teddy.
And Draco loved that they were right. This tradition was already there and established. It felt good. It felt really good. And when they turned to go home and get Teddy ready for bed, this time he didn't have to fight his emotions and leave Harry behind.
And that felt even better.
A/N: My beta reader was teasing me about the amount of fluff and sweetness in this story, lol. What can I say? It's my established relationship series at Christmas. Fluff and tooth-rotting sweetness is the rule. If you're waiting on angst, you'll be better jumping to some of the other stories in the series. There IS a little bit more hurt/comfort coming up in a couple of days, however.
