hey. thanks for being so understanding with me, and to all of you who expressed sympathy. it really means alot to me.

-

and now the next part of the story for you. i tried to make it a little longer, but it's still pretty short. this story seems to have chopped itself up into short chapters.

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"Hey, Harry, back already?" The cheerful voice came from the back of the shop, as a lanky redhead stepped from the small office where he stored his paperwork.

"Yeah, Drake wanted to get a tat, and Gin's got an awesome design for him."

"More redheads?" Draco commented softly, looking between the tattoo artist to Ron and Ginny, and the twins, who had randomly showed up this morning and announced they were spending the day with Harry. "Are you guys all related?"

"Yep," answered Ron. "Charlie's the second oldest. He graduated before we got to school, or you'd already know that. Our oldest brother, Bill, works for Gringotts. And you know Gin, the twins, and me. That only leaves Percy, and he was a prefect while we were there. Stupid git," he muttered, still angry that Percy had rejected them for so long.

"So, Draco, Harry says you want a tattoo?"

"Yeah. Did Ginny show you the design she came up with?"

"No, I was waiting for you to get over here, so I could," she replied with exaggerated patience. He obediently stepped near the two redheads, sliding his jacket down to reveal his bare arm. Ginny closed her eyes, and the Dragon curled itself once more around his arm.

"Ooh, that is nice, little sister. I should hire you to come up with designs for me! Can you hold it while I draw it?"

"How long's it gonna take?"

"Half an hour, maybe?" She nodded confidently.

"So long's it's not over an hour, I can."

"Great." He looked at Draco. "Last chance to back out." Draco slid his jacket all the way off in answer.

"Do you want it to be able to move? I warn you, if you do, I can't charm it painless for you. It interferes." Draco looked at Harry.

"Will yours move?" Harry nodded. "Then I want mine to move too." Charlie chuckled.

"Competitive boys. Alright then." He led Draco over to a chair at the back of the room, gesturing for the others to make themselves comfortable in the front. Several charms later, He raised his wand, tracing gently over the outline of the dragon, the lines faint, but clearly visible through Ginny's projection. "Alright Gin, you can drop it now." He grinned at Draco. "So much for the easy part. Now for the actual tattoo." Several more muttered spells, then he touched the wand back to Draco's skin, and he gasped. "Hurts, don't it?"

"Chea!"

"Can't help it, sorry." Draco clenched his jaw, determined not to make a sound.

"There you go! You did better than Harry did, actually. Though his was a lot longer than yours, since it's actually three. 'Bout 30 minutes left to go, he started mewling. It was kinda cute, but really annoying when you're trying to concentrate. Time!" The last part was loud enough for the rest of the room to hear.

"3 hours, 43 minutes," Harry replied calmly.

"Not bad. It was pretty detailed."

"Mine took 6 hours, and 19 minutes." Harry pouted.

"So you had just got it done when you showed it to us." Harry nodded.

"Well, technically, since you wanted them animated, I had to do all three individually, with the base charms starting and finishing each one so that they would be able to move independently, so you got three tattoos in that six hours. Stop pouting, Har'. It was worth it, wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah."

"Anyway, Draco, the tattoo will be tender for a couple of days. One of the charms I put on was for rapid healing, but like I said, for some reason, the painlessness charm interferes with the animation charm, and vice versa. So I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it. It should dissipate within a week." Draco nodded, and signed the form requesting payment from Gringotts, barely glancing at it.

Harry moved to stand beside him, examining his new adornment. "It's beautiful Drake," he said softly, running his fingers over the edges as Draco had done to his the day before.

"Well, where to next?"

Harry collapsed onto his bed, pulling Draco with him, totally forgetting the tattoo on his back. He leapt back up with a hiss. Sitting down carefully, he pulled Draco into his lap, turning him so his good arm was resting against his chest, with one hand on the opposite side of his waist. Draco leaned his head against his shoulder with a sigh.

Harry ran one hand across Draco's abdomen, the other staying at his waist. Draco gently caught the wandering hand when it slid up to play with his nipples.

"Not until my arm heals, OK?" Harry nodded reluctantly; he didn't want to hurt his mate, and he knew he'd forget. But he didn't like having to wait. It felt like being pushed away. Somehow sensing his sadness, Draco turned his head and pressed a kiss into his neck. "Love you, kitten," he whispered. Harry's instant purr made him chuckle. No way Harry could hide what he was feeling. He sighed; only part of him had wanted to stop Harry, the part that was terrified, and convinced that he'd loose his gifts if he didn't keep Harry away. Most of him was crying out for his mate to take him, claim him, complete him in ways he couldn't even begin to imagine, but knew he was incomplete. He knew this last reaction was from the incomplete bond between them, the bond that would not be completed until they had had sex, but that did not make it any easier to handle. He wondered if he'd hold out until his arm healed. If not, he knew he'd end up cursing himself for getting the tattoo in the first place. Harry tilted his head down and kissed Draco's ear, then lay back so his back was braced between the bed and the wall, putting no pressure on the sensitive tattoo. Draco snuggled up against him, leaning on his left arm, the right gently draped across Harry's waist, hand lying on Harry's shoulder.

-

On the train Harry and Draco shocked almost everybody, Harry by curling up with his head on Draco's lap, purring lightly; Draco by letting him. Draco had found that sleeves didn't irritate the tattoo too badly, which was good because he didn't want anyone else to know about it until it was healed. Of all the Slytherins, only Blaise ended up sitting with Draco and the Gryffindors, not that Draco was surprised. He and Blaise had been friends since early childhood, when their mothers met for tea and sent them off to 'play nicely together'. If they had known all the mischief they had gotten into together, they would never have been allowed to see each other again. Blaise sat stiffly next to Draco, watching the Gryffindors as though he expected them to turn on them at any moment. Harry looked up at him suddenly, blinking sleepily.

"Relax. We's not gonna pounce. We's playful kittens," he muttered sleepily, lowering his head again. He was obviously more than half asleep. Draco laughed. Not only did Harry act like a cat, he actually thought like a cat.

'What?!" Blaise turned to Draco for an explanation of Harry's rambling reassurance.

"Umm, he said to relax, nobody's going to attack you. That they're harmless."

"Ah-hah. And you actually understood that?"

"You can understand anything, once you know the frame of reference." Blaise nodded his understanding of that.

"And the frame of reference there?"

"Cats." Blaise looked thoughtful.

"Cats indeed."