With Darkness as our Blanket

- by BiSciFiGuy -

Pairing: Harry P. & Draco M.

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: M (Violence and Gay Themes)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or character histories or places or anything except my own plot. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 3 : Home

Harry stood behind his bedroom door, his ear pressed against the wood. Something was happening outside in the apartment. He quickly checked the time, it was just past eight, an atrocious time for him to be awake. He put his head against the wood again. Music emanated from one of the rooms. Metal was clinking against metal, something was scraping against the floor and he was sure he heard the vacuum cleaner somewhere in all of it. It sounded as though there was an entire army of maids in his apartment and knowing Draco, it was a distinct possibility. He heard the sizzle of oil in a hot pan and moments later his nose was assaulted by the smell of bacon. He breathed deeply and stared at his bed.

"How the hell am I supposed to sleep with all this going on?". He told the empty room and opened the door, he yelped and jumped back into the room as his vacuum cleaner rushed by him towards the front of the apartment. He stood clutching his chest, feeling his heart beat everywhere it shouldn't be beating. Again he stepped out of his room, checking for flying appliances this time and walked down the hall into the kitchen.

Draco was in the middle of the kitchen, dancing to one of Harry's favourite songs and conducting the various appliances in the house with his wand. He was wearing tight green cotton boxers and a green T-shirt, which also clung to his body in a very nice way. To Harry's astonishment, his friend was even wearing a pair of bright green sneakers. He watched Draco drum at the air with his wand, pointing it at the fridge, calling forth the orange juice. Harry watched as glasses floated to the table and the box filled them before returning to the fridge.

Harry smiled as he surveyed the scene, most of his pots were hanging in the air, various cloths washing them, brushes were cleaning the floor, a broom was sweeping the small balcony and a spatula was turning eggs in a pan on the stove, the bacon floated to the table in a leisurely way. The song ended and Draco swung his wand behind his back and repeated the song with a simple flick. The Clarkson girl started singing again. All the while Harry watched Draco swayed and bounced to the music, without warning Draco turned around and sang loudly when the chorus began, using his wand as a mike, he only sang a few words before he noticed Harry, who was trying his best to keep his laughter from bursting from his throat.

"Good Morning". Draco said innocently, trying to slip his wand back into his sleeve, the blush unmistakeable on his face..

"I'm glad you've made yourself at home". Harry said, still trying to contain himself.

"Well, I had to do something, Merlin!, this place was a sty, what the hell have you been doing? Living like a muggle?".

"Yes actually". Harry whispered as he sat down at the table.

"Oh". Draco looked around the kitchen, oddly seeming embarrassed. "Well, at least the muggles have good taste in music". Draco said as a new song began playing.

"What Draco?, did you just say something good about muggles?". Harry cried out in mock astonishment.

"Shut up". Draco said and the eggs drifted towards the table. Draco sat opposite Harry and the food began to scoop itself into their plates.

"Could you be any more lazy?". Harry asked him.

"What's the point of learning all that crap from school if you're not going to use it?". Again the innocent voice. Harry felt himself longing to hold Draco again, instead he decided for a few more snide remarks.

"Aren't you overdoing the green a bit?".

"Please, like you aren't overdoing the red". Draco pointed at Harry, who noticed that he was in fact wearing red shorts and a wrinkled red shirt.

"Well, it's just coincidence". He mumbled as he forked egg into his mouth. They ate in silence and Harry watched the plates clear themselves from the table. He smiled again and looked at Draco, who had suddenly become serious.

"I want to thank you Harry, for…".

"You don't need to mention it Draco, really. I love you and I'll always help you". For a moment Harry thought he saw tears form in Draco's eyes. They were blinked away quickly however and he changed the subject.

"What do you do all day Harry?".

"Well, usually, I'm still asleep right now". Draco looked shocked.

"What, why would you miss mornings?".

"I don't like mornings".

"Fine, what do you do when you get up?".

"I take a shower and watch television".

"That's it?". Draco looked perplexed and Harry nodded.

"Merlin, what a boring existence, thank heavens I moved in or you'd be dead soon". Harry cringed at the words, Draco didn't know how right he was.

"Fine, lets go to the beach".

"Okay".

At Harry's insistence they took a cab to the beach, even though Draco did seem quite upset about having to get into a car. He clutched the seat almost desperately and Harry leaned in.

"First time in a car?". He said mockingly.

"Yes actually, is this safe?". Just at that moment the cab hit a pot hole and Draco yelped at the impact, grabbing Harry's hand in the process.

"I want to get out, this thing is going to kill me". He reached for the door but Harry caught his arm, feeling himself smile, this was very amusing.

"Calm down Draco, muggles travel like this all the time and. Yeah, they do die sometimes but…".

"But nothing, I hate this". Harry almost laughed when he saw Draco pout like an upset child. He realised that he had laughed most of the morning and felt his heart rise, he couldn't remember the last time he had laughed at anything, let alone laughing several times in just a few hours.

They were at the beach in an hour and Harry felt the sun beat down on him and he kicked off his shoes and stepped onto the sand. Draco followed suit and they carried their gear to a spot near the centre of the sand and set up, Draco still horrified at having to do manual labour.

"I may be poor but I still have my dignity for crying out loud, Harry".

"Draco, setting up an umbrella and laying down towels is hardly undignified".

Hours later Harry lay on his towel, feeling the sun warm his body, he checked occasionally how pink he was becoming, Draco turned to him as he reached into his bag and pulled out sun screen. He handed it to Draco and turned on his stomach.

"Lather me up would you?". He heard the squelching sound as Draco squirted the cream from it's bottle and seconds later he felt it's coldness on his skin, making it tingle. He lowered his head onto his arms as Draco began working the cream into his skin.

"Wait, since I'm doing this by hand I need a better place to sit". Draco mumbled and swiftly straddled Harry, before he could protest Draco's hands were working on his shoulders again and he relished the contact. At first all he felt was the movement of Draco's hand, the lotion being worked in. As the lotion vanished into Harry's back he became aware of the friction that was developing between Draco's hands and his own skin. It was an exquisite feeling as Draco rubbed his hands over the muscles on Harry's back, massaged his neck, lingering there as they felt the tension beneath the skin. He became intensely aware of Draco's weight on his ass, he couldn't help but notice the way Draco's hips sort of thrust forward as he massaged. Draco moved lower on Harry's body and his hands started working on his lower back. The movement was just enough to awaken Harry's desire and as Draco's hands touched him again he felt the contact go straight to his swim trunks, causing the material to strain against the beast that had awakened beneath them, thankful that he was laying on his stomach. He sighed and felt more of Draco's naked skin touch his back.

"Want me to do you're chest too?". Draco whispered in his ear and Harry caught the scent again, the same smell he had felt in his brain that day in Snape's classroom. Harry felt the scent on his skin, tasted it in his mouth. It was like some kind of drug that got Harry hooked immediately. Had Harry not been so aroused he might have heard the husky tone of Draco's voice, almost begging Harry to turn over so that they could make love right there on the beach, which was what Draco was actually hoping for.

"No I can't… I mean I shouldn't… No". He said curtly, trying to force the lump in his throat back down to wherever it had come from. Draco's face seemed to fall as he pulled himself off Harry and dropped back onto the towel next to him. Harry's erection wasn't the only reason he didn't want to turn over, He knew Draco had seen his scar but he didn't want the blonde to be able to examine it closely, there was too many memories attached to them. Draco's own scars were hidden beneath a tight green surf shirt.

"The sun is almost going down, I think we should hit the water for the last time before we go back". He mumbled and got up quickly, his eyes flicking around as he made sure no one noticed his raging erection, that was making itself known proudly beneath his blue swim trunks. He tried his best however to make sure that Draco didn't notice it. They had only been in each other's company for a day and already Harry could hardly control himself and he felt like an idiot for it. He ran to the water and dived in, the cold water not doing much to stem the flow of blood to his cock, which vehemently refused to give up it's throbbing excitement. Draco slowly toed into the water and soon they were splashing each other, their little 'almost argument' quickly forgotten.

Back on the beach they quickly packed away the things they had used and Harry started walking towards the road. Draco spoke behind him.

"No way mister, I am not going anywhere in one of those horrible things again".

"How are we supposed to get home then?". Harry asked a he turned around.

"We're wizards, we can apparate". Harry felt himself tense up again, he hadn't done that in a long time, and he felt trepidation at the thought of having to use magic, something he'd sworn off. But, he thought, he was very tired and didn't know if he wanted to spent an hour in a hot cab. He sighed.

"Fine, But I haven't done it in a long time, so you'll need to help me".

"Please Harry, It's like riding a broom, once you've learned to do it, you never forget how". Draco scolded him but reached out and took Harry's arm and with a quick scan for muggles they twirled around and were suddenly back in Harry's living room, along with a tiny heap of sand.

"Okay, doing that from the beach is not such a good idea". Draco giggled as he twirled his wand and the sand slowly disappeared. Harry grumbled and dropped the towels into the hamper in the bathroom. He headed to bed but Draco caught him.

"Where are you going?".

"To bed".

"It's not even seven o'clock". Draco looked appalled.

"Yes well, I only slept two hours last night. We'll do something again tomorrow, right now I need to get some rest. I have a collection of DVD's you can watch". Draco pouted again and Harry felt the urge to lean in and kiss him until the pout vanished but he thought it improper at the moment.

"G'night". He waved as he turned back to his room.

"Good Night".

***

Bright and early the next morning Harry woke again to the smells of breakfast and he smiled, it was good to have someone in the house who made breakfast. He had hardly ever eaten anything in the mornings while he lived alone, for the simple fact that he didn't have the energy to stand in front of the stove and cook. As he sat up he noticed the small silver box beside his bed, it was elongated and he knew exactly what was in it, he had put it there almost a year ago. For a moment he considered taking it up again but as he reached out he felt himself fear the piece of wood with it's phoenix feathed and he pulled back. No, he wasn't ready.

Harry walked into the kitchen and noticed that Draco had put up a few decorations on the walls and he smiled as Harry noticed them.

"The place looked a bit dreary, so I though I'd give it a little bit of life". Harry nodded as he stared at the pictures of various magical creatures, strangely there was a picture that looked familiar. Harry stood and walked towards it. It was a picture of him, the picture that had been in the Prophet right afted the fight at Hogwarts. 'Dark Lord's rein comes to an end", the headline declared, he saw himself smiling in the photo and waving at the reporters, Headmistress McGonagall had been by his side when they released the information that Voldemort was dead and he could see her beside him, Ron and Hermione were in the picture too. Harry felt a pang of sadness when he saw them, they had been so happy before that night. Harry shook himself and turned to Draco.

"Where did this come from?". Draco blushed a little.

"I had it on my wall at Snape's old place". Harry's heart beamed.

"Really?".

"Yeah, I had it all through the trials, it was the only thing that kept me sane the week I spent in… there". Harry stepped close and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.

After the war Draco and his mother were both accused of conspiracy against the ministry, a crime punishable by years in Azkaban as well as confiscation of all property. During the week Draco and Narcissa had been in Azkaban Harry had fought many hours, not sleeping for days on end, against the possible sentence and confiscation. He had lost the fight for Draco's property but had thankfully won the battle for against them being sentenced to life in the wizard prison. After the curse box attack at Hogwarts Harry had again fought the ministry and his testimony had again been the only thing that kept Draco a free man.

"You were my hero". Draco mumbled.

"Oh no Draco, not you too". Harry giggled to lighten the mood but it didn't seem to work.

"I'm serious Harry, after everything that happened, I would have locked me up. Everything did look very…".

"No Draco, the ministry fucked up, after the war they just wanted to round up anyone they could in order to make themselves look more competent than they actually were". He squeezed Draco's arm again.

"You were forced to do things you didn't want to, I know it, we all knew it". Draco stood to move away and Harry pulled him into an embrace on impulse. Holding him tight, breathing in the wonderful scent of him, feeling his brain burn as it settled between his eyes.

"Thank you Harry". Draco mumbled and placed a kiss on Harry's cheek, sending waves of heat all over his body, making his knees tremble. Fearing he'd collapse like he did in the shower Harry held on to Draco for several moments as he tried to compose himself. He smelt something burn and pointed it out to Draco, who it turn whirled around and almost flung the pan from the heat.

"You sure do love to cook don't you?". Harry mumbled as Draco turned back to him.

"Well I like a lot of things that start with a 'c' and end with a 'k'" Draco mumbled and giggled at Harry's flustered face. He pulled Draco back into an embrace.

"I really missed you, you know".

"Of course you missed me, I'm fabulous". Draco murmered as he leaned his head on Harry's shoulder.

They both heard a 'pop' behind them and a discreed murmer. They turned and Harry smiled despite himself.

"Headmistress", Harry said pleasantly and tapped Draco's shoulder. "Draco, tell the kettle to make some tea'. They released each other and both sat down opposite the Headmistress.

"I see you are settling in well". She said, a slight tone in her voice that Harry was almost sure was pleasure at catching them in an embrace.

"I do hope I was not interupting an important moment?".

"No". Both Harry and Draco said in unison. The tea floated into the room along with a mug of coffee for Harry. He sipped and felt his tastebuds applaud, Draco had made the perfect cup of coffee.

"Draco, do you find you're new situation pleasing?". The Headmistress asked, Harry felt almost appalled that she was using his Draco's first name. He had never heard her call anyone but Professors Dumbledore and Trelawney by their first names.

"Yes, It is quite good Headmistress".

"Good, then have you considered my offer?". Draco looked at Harry, who was still somewhat interested in the whole first name thing.

"Yes, And I believe I will be joining you when the new year begins".

"Good, we will be ready by then I think, the repairs are going well and Professor Longbottom is making good progress with the greenhouses, the mandrakes are coming along nicely". She stared pointedly at Harry who frowned back at her.

"Mister Potter?".

"What?".
"Merlin, you can be so daft sometimes", Draco proclaimed next to him. "She wants to know if you're going to accept the position at Hogwarts".

"Oh, I don't know, Professor, there is still six months left, I need some more time".

"I am not going to wait forever mister Potter, I'll give you two more months but that's it, If you have not given me an answer by then I will move on to the next candidate". She stood swiftly.

"Now I bid you farewell. Goodbye Mister Potter, Draco". And with a twirl she was gone again. Leavign the 'pop' sound ringing in their ears.

"That woman in incessant!". Harry grumbled.

"She's trying to get the school back together Harry, it is important to her. Dumbledore poured so much of himself into that school and it's one of the only things she still has left of him". Harry nodded.

"I wonder what it would have been like if they had been public before his death".
"I don't know but I think if he had not been headmaster they would have been married". Draco mumbled then took Harry by the shoulder. He looked into Harry's eyes and Harry recognised the look in those grey eyes. It was the look of a little boy who had broken his father's favourite trophy.

"What did you do?".

"What makes you think I did something?". The innocent voice reappeared.

"You look like you've done something you shouldn't?".

"Oh fine, I tried to watch those DDT's of yours and…".

"DVD's Draco". Harry laughed.

"Whatever, it's a stupid concept, I tried magic but the thing wouldn't work and then I tried to do it by hand and they still wouldn't work right and I think I broke the big black thing, or else it just doesn't like me".

"Draco, It's a muggle machine, not a Hogwarts textbook. It just works, it can't like or dislike you". He put his arm around Draco's shoulder and guided him to the living room.

"Now, let's see what you did".

It took Harry most of the day to get the DVD player working again, he was still unsure of how Draco had done it but most of his collection had ended up in the machine. Some actually ending up between the cables and on the motherboard deep in the bowel of the machine. After several hours he had them all out, he sighed, they were pretty much ruined but thankfully Draco used a simple spell to repair them and amazingly they worked again. Draco appeared in the living room with coffee just as Harry put the outer cover back on the machine.

"I don't think I'm going to work with that thing again".

"I think that's a wise choice, or at least you should use it little by little until you get the hang of it". Harry said as he took the mug and sipped happily.

They spent the rest of the day on the garishly purple couch in the living room watching movies, Draco of course loved them. He laughed wildly at the comedies and clutched violently at Harry's hand duding the scary films. Soon Draco lay with his head on Harry's lap, and Harry was reminded of the night before his birthday party, when they had spent the whole night in just this position. He stoked Draco's hair as they watched a gay film that Harry could remember had caused quite a stir in the muggle world when it was released. Draco became completely lost in the film, having never seen a gay film or a cowboy before. And much to Harry's amazement and horror Draco cried at the end of the film. Harry stared down at him as tears ran down the blonde's cheeks, they were silent tears but tears none the less. As the credits ran Harry carefully reached down and whiped the tears away. The moment awoke a feeling of contentness in Harry's heart. He instinctively knew that this was how he wanted to spend his last few weeks. Draco looked at him, his eyes still a bit glazed from the tears.

"That was beautiful Harry, I can't believe I missed all these wonderful muggle things". Harry laughed, and they stood. In the hallway they stood for a moment, as though unsure of how to go their separate ways.

"I… Would you…". Harry started.

"No, we… Good night". Draco whispered and pulled Harry into an embrace, they held each other for several minutes and then parted slowly.

"G'night Draco". Harry whispered and Draco disappeared into his room as Harry walked to his own, dark empty room, feeling sad that Draco didn't follow him.

***

Harry was back in the Great Hall, the box was still shooting out curses in every direction, Harry saw a silver curse fly up to the roof and explode violently, he watched as the enchanted roof gave way and came down on his friends in a brown cloud. Beneath him Seamus was struggling, he was yelling something but Harry heard nothing as he watched the hooded figure try to make an escape only to be hit by one of his own green blasts of light, he flew through the air and crashed to the floor. Harry looked around desperately still pressing Seamus into the floor, He saw Ron running throught he dust and watched as a curse flew from the box, for a moment all thoughts of Seamus were forgotten as Harry jumped to his feet.

"Ron! Get down!". He yelled. So many people were screaming that Harry was unsure if Ron heard him and he ran at his friend, from the corner of his eye he saw a movement at the high table, it was the Headmistress, she was twirling her wand above her head in a familiar motion. She suddenly grabbed the wand at it's bottom end and thrust it down. Harry felt pain and then he was flying throught he air, he felt the hard impact as he made contact with the ground, his vision blured as he watched the Headmistress bring the point of her wand down fast and strike the ground. A flash of bright blue light exploded from the tip of her wand and flew in all directions around her. It passed over Harry and he gasped as he felt it pass over him, then he slipped away, feeling the darkness swallow him up.

Harry's eyes shot open, it took him a moment to figure out if his eyes were indeed open, since the room was very dark, almost as dark as the emptiness he had fallen into after that curse had hit him. He stared at the clock beside his bed, it was almost dawn. He sighed again as he sat up and listened. It has been a week since Draco moved in and Harry was already accustomed to Draco's early morning workings in the kitchen, today however Harry was awake before Draco.

He sat staring at the darkness, the dream had been the same every night for the last week. It never went past the point where he passed out, never showed him the rest even though he could remember it all clearly while awake. His body seemed determined to show it to him over and over while he slept, powerless to stop it.

As he sat he felt the familiar sadness flood over him whenever he came this far in the dreams, he could remember Seamus' terrified eyes as Harry held him down, he could remember the screams and most of all he could remember Ron's shocked expression as Harry ran at him through the dust.

Harry felt his heart skip a beat and a strangled sob escaped his throat.

"No", he told himself, "You've been crying for a year, get over it". But even as he spoke the words he heard his voice crack and felt the tears coming to his eyes. He let a loud sob out of its cage behind his teeth, it echoed through the room. Harry thought if he allowed one out he would be able to control the rest but the sobs took their chance and escaped from his lips, gushing forth like a fountain. He pulled his legs up and burrind his face in arms clutched around his knees. He shook uncontrollably and was soon gasping from the pain the racking sobs caused behind his ribs. His tears left stains on his arms.

Exhausted after crying for some unknown time Harry fell back, a final gasp slipped from his mouth and he fell into a fitfull sleep.

Outside the door, unknown to Harry, Draco stood with his ear pressed against the door, listening to Harry suffer. He would never admit it but he was afraid of going in and comforting his friend, not because he couldn't help Harry but because he was afraid that he would lose control of himself. He never allowed his feelings to control him.

"Fuck Harry, I wish I could just hold you". He whispered and felt his own tears form. He blinked hard several times and went to work in the kitchen, satisfied that Harry had fallen back asleep.

A/N The song referred to on the first page of this chapter is "Walk Away" by Kelly Clarkson.