A/N: Thank you to theghostwithin, superioritycomplex144, Lady Constance Malfoy Hummel and Fantony for putting ridicullously large grins on my face with their sweet reviews.

Also I'd like to dedicate this to my wonderful, amazing sister who goes by the name of the14th. I love you (:

His heart was pounding as if it was the very first visit at the Manor when Harry arrived, inconveniently landing in a big pile of snow. Brushing the white powder from his clothes, he started making his way towards the front door, fully prepared to start knocking until he would get an answer. However, when he was only a few steps away from it anymore, said door suddenly opened, revealing an unusually pale and weary looking Draco Malfoy. The fair-haired boy did obviously not notice him, since he stepped outside instead of rushing back to safety, looking as if he was treading on thin ice not solid ground,.

Although the blood rushing through his veins suddenly made it impossible for him to hear, the tightening of his throat prevented him to breathe properly and he could barely see where he was going for his eyes were entirely fixed on the figure in front of him, Harry stumbled forwards. This could be the only chance he'd get.

The ex-Slytherin looked up for a second, expression on his face positively horrified as he recognized the familiar face. He started moving backwards, when the raven-haired wizard suddenly found his voice again, gasping the other's name.

When the former Death-eater had decided to finally set foot outside again, he had definitely not expected this. After almost a week of silence, he had figured that the Golden Boy had just given up on him. He had told himself it was for the better, no matter how much pain it caused him, since, if the brunet had been able to hurt him to this extend already, he was clearly getting far too attached to him.

However, seeing the boy had made that thought vanish completely.

Pulling himself together one more time, he drawled, 'What do you want, Potter? I thought I had made it clear that I don't want to see you'. Maybe, hopefully, he mused, it would be enough to get the other to leave, since, if he stayed there was no guarantee for him acting sensible anymore.

'I wanted to apologize. Believe me, I never wanted to hurt you, Draco. I trust you, but it's just so scary, because it's all going so fast, too fast maybe, but…', the Boy Who Lived Twice took a deep breath, 'I wouldn't change it. '

It obviously hadn't been enough to shy the other away, but in that very moment, the fair-haired boy didn't care, because whatever Potter- no, Harry- was saying, it was the right thing.

It had to be the right thing, because the other wizard sounded just as frightened as he felt, but at the same time so sure of what he was saying. And if the Golden Boy wouldn't want to change this strange bond they had formed, he didn't have the strength to, either.

And suddenly, he was reminded that before all this had happened, he hadn't only enjoyed the company of the other boy immensely, but that he had actually looked forward to his visits to the point of waking up a bit happier, just because he knew he'd see him.

Somehow, he had gotten to the point of needing this.

The brunet obviously misinterpreted his silence, since he started once again, the desperation a bit more prominent in his voice. 'Please, Draco-'
'Didn't I tell you that you're not going to get everything you want just by using my name?', the former Death-eater interrupted him, smirk in place.

'W-What?', the Golden Boy spluttered, looking utterly confused. The blonde understood why; he would have reacted the same way. The thing was, if he wouldn't make clear he forgave the other in this manner, he would get incredibly sappy, and he couldn't have that. So sarcastic, it was.

'However, I think I can make an exception…', he continued, still smirking, waiting for the other understand what he was talking about.

'You mean you…forgive me?', the raven-haired wizard asked slowly after a minute, not sure he had drawn the right conclusion.

This time, the ex-Slytherin settled for something much simpler: 'Yes.'

It only took this one, little word to lift a weight off Harry's shoulders which had dragged him down for almost a week now.

'Really?', he asked not quite believing it yet. It felt so strange, the other suddenly forgiving him. What exactly he had done to deserve this, he didn't know, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

'Really. But…' his voice changed, grew more silent and sorrowful, 'In the long run, it won't matter much, though.'

The brunet felt his heart drop, 'Why?'

'Well, how could this work? I bear the Dark Mark, while you are the Golden Boy, saviour of the magical world. I'm lucky if people tolerate me, while they love you to bits, and it is common knowledge that we spent years trying to basically kill each other. We can't really walk around now, declaring that we have magically overcome our differences, can we?'

He looked both angry and unhappy when he ended, as if he had just realized what this meant at that very moment.

'That's not true', the other replied after a second small smile appearing on his face when he saw the blonde's surprised look, 'I've told my friends and Ginny about you. Or rather about us.'

It was obvious that, whatever answer Draco had expected, it hadn't been this. For a second he just stared at the visitor, before asking, 'You…you have? How did they react? They don't…hold it against you?'

'Well', Harry chuckled, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice, 'Ron wasn't exactly pleased, to say it nicely, but the others are both fine with it. Actually, it was Hermione who convinced me to come here once more. And…I am really happy I listened to her.'
'Me too', the former Death-eater responded, flushing slightly, 'And I'm glad your friends accepted this so easily, since otherwise…'

'What would have happened?'

The fair-haired boy looked directly at him, eyes emotionless except for a tiny trace of defeat. 'Otherwise we would have parted ways again, of course.'
For one second, anger flared up in Harry, because the other one did so obviously not value himself as much as he should've, but then was replaced by something softer and closer to concern.

'We wouldn't have. I can't believe you really think I would give', for a second he wanted to say you, 'this up so easily. If you believe it or not, I actually like being with you; like you. And I would never let others interfere when it comes to my choices who to be friends with. Although I know we are not there yet', he hurriedly added.

The ex-Slytherin did not respond, but the raven-haired wizard could see that he was fighting hard not to break into a brilliant smile. He looked into silver eyes and saw gratitude, happiness and hope.

And then, suddenly, he noticed something else, and it took his breath away, for there, barely obvious was trust etched into his gaze; something he had never truly seen in the former Death-eater, not even on the day their fight had started.

For a second, the brunet stayed silent, gathering up the courage he needed for his next question.
'Can I…hug you? Just for a second?', he asked shyly, blushing a little.

Draco looked at him, shock so evident in his stare, the Boy Who Lived Twice already wanted to apologize for making such a silly request, when he answered quietly, flushing in the process, 'Fine.'

A little smile on his face, the ex-Gryffindor stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around his former nemesis so carefully as if he expected the other boy to break. His smile widened when he felt the other respond to his touch, slowly embracing him as well and resting his head on the raven-haired wizard's shoulder. The weight felt nice, reassuring even, and involuntarily he closed his eyes and tightened his hold on the fair-haired boy, leaning onto him a bit more.

It was only now that Harry was sure he hadn't made a mistake by his question; it appeared that the blonde had needed this just as much as he had. Because this simple, friendly gesture assured both of them that the other wouldn't just vanish; that this was going to last, whatever odds there would be.

During the next week, Harry spent as much time as possible at the other boy's place, often only coming home to sleep. It felt as if he had to make up for the time they had lost because of their silly fight.

Also, something strange had happened on his second visit: Draco Malfoy had apologized.

They had been sitting in some room of the Mansion he had never seen before (the brunet secretly believed that the ex-Slytherin was just trying to show off the estate to him) when the fair-haired boy had suddenly spoken.

'I'm sorry', he had said quietly.

'What?', he had replied confused.

'I am sorry for overreacting…you know, two weeks ago. The whole fight we got in, it's my fault.'

'It doesn't matter-', the Boy Who Lived had started, only to be interrupted.

'It does, because I acted like a complete git and you deserve to know why', he had cleared his throat, 'As you have surely guessed, I am not used to having real friends. Not that I already consider you as such, but I suppose we could get there eventually', he had added glancing at the raven-haired boy.

'So, when we actually started to act civil towards each other, it was strange, but not unpleasant. To be completely honest, I enjoyed it…a lot', the blonde had blushed, refusing to look at his guest. 'However, when you hesitated back there, it hurt, since I thought that you didn't think didn't care as much as I do. And I just panicked. And…I am sorry; I should have bloody thought before I acted.'

It had been a strange feeling, having Draco Malfoy apologizing to him, and the brunet hadn't been quite sure if he had liked it. It just had been so completely unlike the boy he had been before the war, and it had made him look even more vulnerable and broken.

A small cough had brought Harry back to reality.

'I know I am not really an expert when it comes to this, but aren't you supposed to say something?', the fair-haired wizard had asked quietly, blushing once more. It was only then, that the Golden Boy had realized he had stayed silent for far too long.

'Sorry, I just…spaced out. Like I said before, it doesn't matter. I figured that you weren't used to this and…oh, can we just not talk about this? I'm just happy we left that behind us.'

Draco had smiled and looked oh so relieved, while the other had tried to find out why exactly the warmth which had appeared in his stomach was so overwhelming.

He hadn't noticed that he barely spent any time with his girlfriend anymore, until she pointed it out one evening. She had waited for him at his flat when he got home from the pub where he had had dinner and a couple of drinks with the blonde boy, looking just a tiny bit less sweet than usually.

'Hey', he greeted her, plopping down on the sofa next to her, 'What's up?'

'Nothing much', she answered, 'I just wanted to talk to you.'
'What about?'

'Harry', she leaned a bit closer, putting her hand on the brunet's thigh, 'We hardly see each other anymore. And if we do, it's because I come here and wait until you return from his Manor, or from the pub you've been to, with him or whatever you two have done. I'm happy that you've finally overcome this fight, but you can't spend all of your time with him. I'm your girlfriend; I want to be with you. And I want you to want that too.' She looked at him intently and the Golden Boy gave her the answer she wanted to hear, not the one he wanted to give.

'I'm sorry; I didn't realize that…I suppose it was just because I was so happy we were back on talking terms. But you're right, like always. How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?'

She smiled, but somehow the warmth it caused didn't reach your heart.

They went out that night, just like Harry had promised, to a Taiwanese restaurant close to the flat. It turned out to be a wonderful choice, since not only the food was good, but it also gave them something to reminisce about: A year ago, they had had their first real date here. And although the brunet hadn't thought of it at all, Ginny was touched by his supposedly sweet gesture and completely forgot about everything else in an instant. However, while his girlfriend was obviously enjoying herself a lot, the Golden Boy wasn't so much. There wasn't anything specific putting him off, just a constant nagging feeling that somehow this wasn't quite…right. But since he couldn't place it, he ignored it, as well as the occasional thought of blonde hair and grey eyes and drowned in the redhead's happy chatter.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was sitting at home, trying very hard to make a choice. Since they were back on speaking terms (he still refused to call the brunet friend), Harry had become rather affectionate towards him, always trying to make sure that he didn't anger or hurt the other by his actions. Now, the blonde was definitely not getting tired of the discreet glances or the small, gentle smiles; the problem was something else: He was feeling himself become more attached to the Boy Who Lived Twice by the minute.

He had accepted the fact that this did not necessarily have to be a negative thing, but in case he was going to let it happen, willingly, it would mean leaving behind the way he had lived until then.

Hiding his face in his hands, he groaned. Was he really willing to do this? He wasn't sure. But then, lifting his head at last, his gaze fell on a folded red jumper -Gryffindor red, he thought mildly disgusted- which the raven-haired wizard had handed him the day before when noticing he was cold. Still not having lost all of his pride, he hadn't accepted it first, but Harry had insisted until he at last, had given up and put it on. He had forgotten to give it back, only realizing his mistake after he had closed the door and wondered about the amused twinkle in the brunet's eyes. And although he had known he should have taken it off immediately and rushed after the other, he hadn't. In fact, he had only removed it when he had finally gone to bed a few hours later.

Upon seeing the piece of clothing once more, a smile formed slowly on his lips. Maybe he had been ready all along.