Once their friends had left for the train home, Harry and Draco almost had the castle to themselves. Only two other students, one Eagle and one Badger, had stayed behind this year, everyone else preferring to be with their families.
Since so few students were in the castle, Dumbledore made an exception and let everyone order dinner in their rooms, if they wished.
Harry and Draco took full advantage of the new exception and had heaps of food delivered to their rooms by Harry's favorite elf, Dobby.
"Dobby be liking young Master Malfoy. He make Master Harry eat good! Master Harry not eat enough! Master Harry worry too much!." Dobby squeaked one afternoon, after he had brought the boys lunch.
Before either boy had a chance to respond to the little house elf, a loud peck came from the window. They both turned and saw the grey eagle owl and knew it was a response from Draco's family.
Harry's stomach dropped and Draco went to the window. "I'm sure it's fine Harry. It's just a response to my note. They don't even know about you yet," the blond said, trying to calm his mate's nerves.
Draco opened the window and took the note from the owl, giving him the crust from a piece of bread off their lunch tray and sending him away.
The confident wizard tapped the sealed parchment twice with his wand and it unrolled. He read "Dearest Draco, Your father and I would be delighted to come to your school and see your new accommodations. We will come on the day before Christmas Eve, and bring your presents with us. Enjoy your time alone with your friends and try not to get into too much trouble. Love Mummy."
Harry's pale face got a little brighter and he laughed, "Mummy?"
"Shut up Harry," Draco said with a frown. "I haven't called her Mummy in years but she insists on calling herself that when she's talking to me."
Harry went over to his mate and pulled the taller man into a hug. "You know I'm just teasing, and I'm probably more nervous than you are. After all, who is 'mummy' going to hex, me or you?"
"Mum isn't going to hex anyone, it's beneath her. She'll make father do it," Draco smirked as Harry's face paled. "I'm teasing you git, now quit teasing me and come eat."
The boys sat down in front of the platter of sandwiches that Dobby had brought, and tucked in.
A little while later, after a relatively quiet lunch, Harry asked Draco, "So should we turn the beds back into two when your parents come?"
Shortly after they had moved into their rooms, the boys had turned their two beds into one king sized bed with green and gold bed clothes.
"Nah," Draco replied. "Mum and father aren't going to care as much as you think they are. I already told you mum will be thrilled. Father won't be thrilled, but he knew this was a possibility when he found out mum was part veela. He'll deal with it better than you think," he continued to reassure his boyfriend.
"Well, if you're sure. I just don't want to be hexed by my new in-laws before they're my in-laws."
Draco assured Harry that he wouldn't be hexed by anyone, and then pulled out the Exploding Snap cards that they kept in the drawer under the table.
The boys played game after game that afternoon, until their stomach's were growling and they found themselves calling for Dobby again, having no desire to go to the Great Hall and eat at the big table with all the teachers trying to make small talk with them.
Dobby brought them a tureen of onion soup that smelled heavenly, and tasted even better, a plate of chicken drumsticks, a huge thermos of pumpkin juice and a plate of chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
"Your elf sure seems to know what we like," Draco commented.
"Well, he used to be YOUR elf, and I freed him from your father if you remember, so of course he knows you, and since I freed him, he sometimes acts like I'm his new owner, so he's taken it upon himself to learn everything possible about me, and seems to have succeeded." Harry explained.
Draco shrugged. "At least we have excellent food for every meal."
Harry agreed and they dug into the delicious food.
Once the boys had devoured most of the spread in front of them they stretched out on the couch together and watched the fire crackle. Draco used his wand to add wood to the fire and make the flames higher, he could feel the air getting cooler and he didn't want Harry getting chilled.
The blond wizard pondered over the great urge that he had developed to protect his mate, as he wrapped his arms tightly around Harry. He wondered if it was normal and decided to make a trip to the library the next day to see if there were any books on veela mating.
"Why don't we go to bed Harry?" Draco suggested. "It's awfully cool in here and we'll be more comfortable under the blankets in the big bed and I can start another fire in there."
Harry agreed and the two veela headed into the bedroom where Draco ushered Harry our of his clothes and under the covers as he built a roaring fire in the fireplace and used a few well placed heating charms to warm the area around the bed until the fire could get the whole room nice and toasty.
Draco crawled into bed and Harry turned to face him. "I love you, Drac."
Pulling the green eyed wizard close to his chest, Draco responded, "I love you too Harry, more than you know."
They snuggled together and fell asleep quickly in the cozy warmth of each others arms.