disclaimer: these lovely characters belong to JKR, not me

Moonlight and Roses

Chapter 2

The gifts were wrapped, Harry and Draco were dressed, and there were a few minutes to spare before they had to leave for the party. The Weasleys were having a Christmas party this year, despite the tragedy of loosing Fred still fresh in their minds. But, they decided that Christmas must still go on, and what better place to have a party than the burrow. Harry knew though, that it would never be the same without Fred, but he also knew that the Weasleys were trying as best as they could to recover from their grief. They still had six children, so naturally there was still quite a bit going on.

Harry loved Christmas. Ever since he had started spending Christmases at the burrow, with the Weasley clan, he had grown very fond of it. He loved the festiveness of the decorations and the warm and loving feeling that seemed to surround everyone. But, most of all he loved the amazing food, of course. For Draco, it was different though. The Christmases at his house never seemed to have that warm and loving feeling. So, he wasn't sure what to expect. But, he knew that he would like it, because he had always had the feeling that this was what Christmases were supposed to be like.

They stood in front of the bathroom mirror, putting the last touches on their appearances. Or, rather Draco was, as Harry had already given up on the chance that his hair would ever lay flat. Draco kept fussing with his hair, trying to make it look perfect.

"Draco, you look fine." Harry sighed.

"Well, I have to make a good impression." Draco replied, giving his hair one last smooth.

"On who? We know everyone who's going to be there?"

"I don't want anyone thinking I've let myself go, now do I?"

Harry chuckled and put his hand on Draco's shoulder. With a look of mock concern, he said,

"You're not nervous, are you?"

"What? Hardly," Draco replied, "I don't get nervous."

With that he turned to Harry. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Alright your highness." Harry joked as he bowed down. Draco still did have a bit of pride left in him.

They gathered everything they needed and headed over to the fireplace. Nowadays they usually used the floo network to get where they needed to go. Neither of them was particularly excited about the idea of the press getting a hold of them. There were already enough speculations in the Daily Prophet about them. In fact, in the beginning there was at least one mention of them per day in it. People were obsessed with hearing about "the boy who lived and that Malfoy boy".

As they stood in front of the glowing fire, they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed passionately. After all, it had to last them the whole evening. They had decided to go easy with showing affection for each other at the party, because they were sure that not everyone was exactly comfortable with them being together like that. Some people weren't entirely convinced that it was a good idea for them to be together, and Harry knew the Weasleys had their doubts. He didn't blame them though, because to them it probably seemed rather suspicious. So, Harry and Draco would attempt to refrain from kissing and such for the duration of the party. They pulled away from each other, and Harry grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the flames.

"The burrow."

He felt the familiar spinning sensation, and a moment later he found himself in the decorated and lively living room of the burrow. Draco was beside him a few seconds later. They were surprised by how nicely the house was decorated. There was a huge tree in the corner, adorned with glistening snow, ribbons, and twinkling lights. There were real icicles scattered about the room. This was one of the times when Harry really loved magic.

There were quite a few people there already, and in the blink of an eye, Hermione was there, hugging both of them.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you two!" she squealed, "How are you?"

"Great, you?" Harry replied with a smile, he had forgotten how much he had missed her.

"Things are going really well Harry, it seems like things are starting to get better."

Harry nodded, knowing what she meant. It might not ever be the same as before, but things were slowly beginning to heal.

Hermione grabbed their hands. "Everyone is going to be so happy to see you. You've been holed up in that house of yours forever."

Draco laughed. "Is it a crime to want some privacy?"

"Well, I guess there must have been some reason." She smiled. "Come on, Molly's in the kitchen."

The three of them maneuvered their way through the crowd, Harry and Draco saying hurried greetings to everyone.

"Hiya, Harry."

"Hey Seamus."

"Draco, nice to see you."

"Hello Blaise."

"Harry, haven't seen you in ages."

"Hey Neville, it's been a while."

They finally made it to the kitchen, and when Molly saw Harry, she almost dropped the dish she had in her hands.

"Oh my, Harry it's so good to see you! We've been so worried!" She practically shrieked as she set down the dish.

"Mrs. Weasley." Harry smiled.

She gathered him in a hug and then held his face in her hands. She narrowed her eyes. Harry noticed that her face looked more hollowed, and tired. But, Harry thought she was doing extremely well.

"You're looking a bit skinny, have you been eating enough?"

Then, she looked at Draco, her eyes lighting up. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"Draco, how have you been?"

She hugged him, and Draco, clearly surprised, sputtered, "Uh, fine."

She drew away from him, and looked at both of them with quite a large smile.

"Sit down boys, and have something to eat."

"I'll go get Ronald," Hermione said, "he'll be happy to see you." She just about skipped out of the room.

"She seems pretty happy." Harry chuckled.

"Come to think of it, she has been in quite a good mood lately." Replied Mrs. Weasley.

Just then, Mr. Weasley walked into the room, a smile blooming on his face when he saw Harry.

"Harry, my boy, it's so good to see you." He said, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"It's great to see you too Mr. Weasley." Harry replied.

Mr. Weasley looked over at Draco and frowned.

"Hello Draco." He said stiffly, and walked out of the room before he could reply.

Draco frowned slightly, and harry reassuringly squeezed his shoulder.

"Oh, don't mind Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said, "He's just not used to the whole thing just yet."

"It's alright," Draco replied, "I didn't expect everyone to be." He looked over at Harry. Harry felt his heart break a little, from the look in Draco's eyes. He was trying so hard to prove himself to everyone, and Harry could tell that it hurt him when people acted that way towards him. But they were glad that so many people had accepted him, especially Mrs. Weasley.

"Well, grab a plate of food," she said, gesturing to the table which was almost overflowing with every kind of food imaginable, "and go enjoy the party."

They both filled their plates with food and wandered into the living room. They meandered around until they found a less crowded spot by the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

"Oi, there you are mate." Ron said as he clapped Harry on the back.

"Hey Ron, good to see you." He was extremely glad to see Ron. He had forgotten how much he had missed his friends.

"Yeah, it's been a while eh? Good to see you too, Draco."

Surprised again, Draco nodded.

Hermione laughed. "You know Draco; you're just as welcome here as Harry is."

"I know, I know. But it's just strange, everyone being so, well…comfortable with me here." Draco replied.

"As long as Harry trusts you, so do I." Ron said, and they all laughed. Harry noticed that Draco seemed to relax a bit, and made a mental note to thank his friends later.

"So," said Hermione, "tell us what you've been up to."

Throughout the rest of the party, they wandered around and caught up with all their friends. They hadn't seen many of them since they'd were at Hogwarts the previous year. They heard all kinds of interesting things about what people were doing, who was going out with who, and those sorts of things. They had had a particularly strange conversation with Luna about her trip to look for crumple horned snorkacks, and as she walked away, she said brightly, "Don't forget about the nargles, they tend to be around the mistletoe." They both laughed and shook their heads as they sat down on the sofa.

"She's crazy, but you've got to love her." Harry said as he put down his plate on the coffee table.

"I can't believe that Pansy and Seamus are together, who would've thought?" said Draco.

"I know, and can you believe that Dean was offered the spot of History of Magic professor at Hogwarts! I never saw that one coming." Harry replied.

"I guess we've been out of the loop too long."

"Yeah, we should probably keep up with people more."

Harry was brimming with happiness, and he could tell that Draco was too, because he hadn't been this relaxed in a long time. Harry was so happy to see Draco talking with everyone and seeing that he was able to handle it made Harry want to grab him and plant a kiss on his lips. But, he had to resist the temptation. The truth was that this was good for them, because it made them feel normal, and they hadn't felt like that in a long time.

They heard a tinkling noise, as someone was tapping their glass. They turned around and saw Ron and Hermione standing in front of the tree. Ron cleared his throat and said,

"We, um, have a little announcement to make." His face turning red as he said it. He never was very fond of speaking in front of large crowds. Sensing his distress, Hermione broke in, saying,

"We're engaged" Both of their faces were lit up with huge smiles.

Ron grabbed her hands and pulled her into a loving embrace. The crowd erupted into cheering and applause. Harry and Draco stood up and clapped.

"It's about time." Harry said smiling.

"We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later." Draco replied.

That was very true. Harry didn't think that anyone was surprised. Although Ron and Hermione seemed a bit young, everyone had always known that it was only a matter of time. They really had been together since they were eleven.

Harry noticed Draco looking at Ron and Hermione with a strange look on his face. He was smiling, but his eyes betrayed him. Was that longing that Harry saw reflecting in his eyes? That's when an interesting thought began pushing its way into Harry's mind. But, he pushed it away, intending to ponder over it later.

"C'mon, let's go congratulate them."

They walked over to the happy couple, and this time it was Harry clapping Ron on the back.

"Finally popped the question, did you?" Harry chuckled.

"Yup, I figured it was about time." Ron said as he put his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Congratulations," Draco said, "I'll bet your parents are happy."

"Oh, yeah, Mum's ecstatic. She's already planned the whole wedding and everything." Ron replied.

Hermione smiled. "My parents are kind of shocked, you know, with us being so young, and the fact that I'm marrying a wizard." She looked up at Ron. "But, they're happy for me."

Draco smiled slightly, that same strange look in his eyes. Then Seamus and Dean came walking up.

"I think you've really gone mental this time." Said Seamus, shaking his head, a mock frown on his face. "Things can only go down from here."

"Oh, honestly." Said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"I'm only joking." Seamus said laughing.

Harry and Draco stayed and talked to Ron and Hermione for a while. They planned on getting married in the summer, at the burrow, as Bill and Fleur had. They wanted the ceremony to be a bit simpler, and they insisted that Harry and Draco be a part of it.

After a while though, Harry noticed that Draco was beginning to fade slightly. Harry was a bit tired himself, and he decided that it was time for them to go. They said their goodbyes to Ron and Hermione and all their friends, and went into the kitchen to say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley. To Harry's surprise, Ginny was in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley. She turned around when she heard them come in, her eyes darkening when she saw Harry.

"Oh, Harry, how lovely." She said, turning back around.

Harry sighed, and he and Draco said their goodbyes to Mrs. Weasley. Ginny had never forgiven Harry for everything. She had always loved him. She still hadn't gotten over him, and Harry thought that she would still be bitter towards him for a while. But, what did he expect? He did break her heart after all.

As Harry and Draco walked out of the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley called to them,

"Remember, you are always welcome here. Whenever you're feeling hungry, don't be afraid to pop in."

"Thanks, we will." Harry replied.

Then, they went to the fireplace and flooded back to their house. They were both quite tired, so they decided to just go to bed. As they were climbing underneath the covers, Harry noticed that Draco was being unusually quiet. Snuggling under the covers, Harry asked,

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Draco replied, snuggling under the covers himself. But, Harry could sense that something wasn't right. He pulled Draco closer, putting his arms around him. He gently caressed Draco's back, as he rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"Draco, you know you can tell me anything." Harry whispered,

Draco looked up at him, the moonlight illuminating he perfect pale face. Harry looked into his big silver eyes, so full of emotion. Those eyes made his heart melt, and every time he looked into them, he fell in love with him all over again.

Draco sighed. "It's just that, well…sometimes I just wonder if things would have been different, if we were…normal I guess. You know."

Harry just nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. They were brought together by things that were out of their control. Their relationship developed out of pain, suffering, and need. If things would have been different, they might not have fallen in love. The bottom line was that they weren't meant to be together, and that was a heavy burden to bear.

"I love you." Whispered Draco, as he drifted off to sleep.

"I love you too." Harry whispered.

They both meant it, and knew that they were in love with each other. But, Harry knew that it wasn't a question of their love for each other, it was a question of whether it was right. Although beautiful, every rose has its thorns.

Thanks for reading, and i hoped you liked the second chapter!! Sorry it took me so long to upload it, hopefully i will have the third and final chapter up by next weekend. Oh, and about the whole floo network thing, the reason for that is because...i forgot about apparation *bashes head off desk* I have no idea how i forgot about it! I decided not to change it, because i realized that whole thing after i was done, and i was just so shocked. Jeez, i must be exhausted. Well, anyway, next time is the final chapter, and thanks again for reading!!! Review if you can!!

Till next time,

Wynter