"-You silly bastard, Rennervate."

Darkness swirled around Harry's brain as his ears woke up and feeling came back into his limbs. He felt air rushing down his throat and pressure on his face. Three breaths and another Rennervate. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up from Draco Malfoy's examination room floor just as his childhood enemy leaned in to breathe air into his lungs again.

His mouth touched Harry's and exhaled, once, twice, three times. But as he was pulling away again Harry's arms swept up and curled around his shoulders and pulled him back down to his lips.

He kissed Draco deeply, his fingers running through his blond hair and holding him close. Draco startled and tried to pull away but Harry was having none of it. He parted his lips and pressed forward, inviting Draco to kiss him back. And then he did. He leaned in against Harry's mouth and swept his tongue along his bottom lip, then their tongues slipped together and his arms worked their way beneath Harry's back.

Harry's stomach turned flips. He slid his hand down Draco's back to his waist and firmed his grip, then tried to roll them over so he was on top. But his antler struck the tile floor and his forehead collided with Draco's, resulting in his first kiss-headbutt combo.

"Fucking hell, Potter," Draco released his mouth and rubbed his forehead. "I could have done without that."

"Sorry," Harry reluctantly released the other man so he could sit up. "What happened?"

"The cure-all didn't work," Draco said dryly as he climbed to his feet. "And it bloody well nearly killed you."

"What was in it?"

"I don't know yet," Draco scooped the phial off of the floor and sniffed the cork. "You collapsed and I was a bit busy trying to keep you in the realm of the living."

"Who would have predicted that?" Harry climbed to his feet, too. "I never would have thought I would utter the phrase, 'Draco Malfoy saved my life.'"

"Really?" Draco said mildly. "It's not like it's the first time."

Harry ducked his head. Of course. There was the time at Malfoy Manor and the time he kept his friends from killing Harry in the Room of Requirement, right before Harry paid that particular life debt back.

"I know," he said softly. He swept his hand out to snag Draco's fingers and tugged him forward. Draco pulled back and disentangled himself.

"I shouldn't," he said.

"Why not?" That wasn't the reaction Harry was expecting. He scooped Draco's hand up again. "Let's put on our hats and go for a walk in the snow."

"I can't," Draco freed himself again. "Healer's Code. I can't get familiar with patients."

"Rubbish," Harry stepped up close and pressed Draco against his desk. "I know you like me. Antlers and all." He raised Draco's arms and curled his fingers around the tines. "How would you like to grab on and make me do whatever you want?"

Draco bit his lip and tugged slightly, and Harry swept his mouth up in a kiss. Draco's grip tightened and he pulled Harry in closer to deepen the kiss. Harry threaded his arms beneath his Healer jacket and held him close, reveling in the warmth of his body and soft wetness of his mouth.

Suddenly Draco released him and ducked out of his grip with an embarrassed flush in his cheeks. "I'll be brought up on ethics charges again. I can't do this."

"Well," Harry's mind whirled desperately. "Maybe I don't want you to be my healer anymore. I'll go back to the Ministry Healer. He seems like an upstanding chap, I'm sure he'll think of something."

"He couldn't heal his way out of a paper bag," Draco snorted. "You'd be choosing a hopeless path just for a shag."

"Who said anything about just a shag?" Harry asked. "I want a walk in the snow. I want to hold hands beneath the holly and Christmas lights and I want a kiss under the mistletoe."

"You're giddy because of the near-death experience, Potter," Draco said. "And besides, the day after Christmas, will you still be happy that you made your choice?"

"I don't know," Harry furrowed his brow. "What do reindeer do in the off-season?"

"You need to think about what you're saying," Draco straightened his collar and resumed his professional demeanor. "In the meantime I need to do a quick exam to ensure you're not affected by that Necromancer's rubbish."

Harry obediently sat on the examination table and removed his shirt and trousers without being asked. Draco folded his arms across his chest and raised a disapproving eyebrow.

He stepped between Harry's knees and inspected the top of his head, fingers tracing around the base of his antlers. Harry trailed his fingers up Draco's legs to his hips and ran his hands over his arse. Draco peered into Harry's eyes and checked his ears while Harry slipped his fingers beneath his shirt tail and found the warm skin of his back. Draco laid him down and inspected his shoulders, chest, and arms, while Harry hooked one finger over the waistband of his trousers and ran his thumb along the small of his back. Then he reached up and drew Draco's mouth down to his to kiss him again.

With a little encouragement he managed to get Draco up onto the examination table with him, and thankfully he laid himself across Harry's body and kissed him back. Harry didn't mind that the weight of the antlers dangling off of the edge of the table pulled his head back. He didn't mind that the wooden plank beneath him was hard and the sheet offered no comfort from the cold. He consumed Draco, he devoured him. He wanted to be devoured back.

"Merlin, Potter," Draco broke free and squirmed down to the floor. "I really can't. I would be ruined."

"We won't tell anyone," Harry sat up, painfully hard and needy.

"Awfully hard to keep it a secret if you want to go walking in the snow," Draco reminded him. He restored his professional detachment. "Get dressed and try a couple of spells."

Harry obeyed and showed off a few basic charms, then shoved his wand up his sleeve and levitated Draco's textbooks with wandless magic. Draco rolled his eyes but didn't shed his professional demeanor any further.

"Cast a Patronus and I'll declare you healthy," Draco leaned on his desk.

"I can't," Harry shrugged. "I haven't been able to summon one."

"Since when?"

"I don't know, I tried a week or so ago."

"And you didn't think to mention that?" Draco's voice was dangerously flat. "You didn't think that casting a Patronus at a criminal, who hexed you in return, and then you growing antlers, and then your Patronus no longer working was worth mentioning?"

"Well when you say it that way-"

"Potter," Draco squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath. "Show me."

"There's not much to see," Harry shook his wand into his hand and swished it. "Expecto Patronum." The white light guttered and fizzled and faded.

"And you're certain it worked on the day of the curse?" Draco asked.

"Positive," Harry nodded. "I cast Expecto Patronum and he cast a curse at the same time, which is why I didn't hear it. Then it bounced back at me and the next thing I knew I was on the ground."

Draco's eyes widened. He snapped his fingers and ran into the potions lab without a word. A moment later he raced at top speed through the examination room to the stairs and took them by twos up to the lounge. Harry followed quickly, knocking pictures off of the wall all the way up.

"It's here somewhere," Draco was muttering as he traced his fingers along the spines of the old tomes lining the bookcases. "Where is it?"

He whirled around and ran up to the top floor, where he ransacked every bookcase until he found what he was looking for. He barreled back down the stairs and pointed at Harry triumphantly.

"Reflecto Patronum!" he cried.

Harry blinked, then reached up to confirm that the antlers were still there. "Beg pardon?"

"It's the spell! It's the spell that wizard cast before Weasley topped him!" Draco's professionalism was gone. He pointed frantically at the yellowed page of the old, crumbling tome and repeated himself. "It's the spell!"

"Reflecto Patronum?" Harry frowned. "I don't recall hearing that."

"That's the point! He cast at the exact same time as you," Draco traced his finger along the description. "It sounded just like your spell so when you tried to remember it, it wasn't distinct from yours."

"This is madness," Harry shook his head, bonking on the wall beside him. "What does it do?"

"Your Patronus comes from inside of you," Draco said. "The reflection spell sends it right back in, where your body consumes it. Your Patronus is..." he trailed off expectantly.

"A stag," Harry touched his antlers again. "So Hermione was right, this was caused by my Patronus."

"Indeed," Draco said. "It's an exceptionally niche spell. Very difficult to cast because the timing has to be exact. Risky to throw because if it fails you're wide open."

"He was desperate," Harry said. "Merlin's beard, Malfoy, have you really figured it out?"

"I think so," Draco's gray eyes were wide and hopeful. "Which means we're that much closer to figuring out how to reverse it."

"Amazing."

Hope blossomed in Harry's chest as the significance of the finding sank in. He laughed once, and then tears welled up in his eyes. Belatedly he launched himself across the room and seized Draco in his arms, swinging him around once before setting him down with a grunt. Then he planted a kiss on his lips and hugged him close.

"Let's celebrate," he said when they parted. "Let's go for a walk in the snow."

"Potter," Draco sighed. "Don't you think you should wait to celebrate until you're actually cured?"

"Come on," Harry pulled him in close again. "It's Christmas and there are snow and lights and holly out there."

"I can't risk it," Draco said. "The Healer Code says I can't get involved with patients, past or present."

"What?" Harry released him. "So even if you cure me, you still couldn't-"

"I can't have an ethics charge," Draco's eyes were pleading. "I shouldn't even have you up here right now."

"So there's no chance," Harry said. "And this," he gestured back and forth between them. "I mean, I didn't imagine this, did I? Is it all just me?"

He felt foolish, standing there with his stupid ten point rack, barely even able to emote without risking a collision with the wall. Of course it couldn't happen. The Healer Code thing was probably a convenient excuse anyway. Who would want to be with a man with horns?

Antlers.

Whatever.

"Okay then," he turned and clattered down the stairs. "I'll see you around."

"Harry," Draco followed him to the door.

"Don't bother with Harry," he grasped the handle but couldn't look him in the eye. "Potter's good enough."

"I'm sorry," Draco said softly.

"Don't worry about it," Harry unlatched the door and skipped down the stoop. The door closed behind him before he realized he hadn't put the invisibility cloak on yet. Fuck it, let them see.

Ministry Ball Tonight, Auror Potter Goes Stag

Yeah, that seemed about right.