-4-

"Thought I would find you here." Harry jumped as Draco's voice rang through the cold air.

"Draco-" His voice was pained and his eyes pleading.

"I've already warded this area so that no one can listen in." Draco said tears dripping from his eyes as he looked away. There was a slight chill to the air, a breeze that rustled the grass and added to the eerie feel that cemeteries generally had. Harry looked away from Draco and stared at the granite marker before him.

"It seems strange to know that this grave is empty." Harry said quietly. "It feels…hollow." He said placing his hand over his chest. Arms wrapped around him with sudden fierceness.

"Harry…Harry…Harry…" Draco repeated softly as he sobbed into the back of his neck. "You just let me beat you…why did you do that?" He whispered.

"You were supposed to stay in Malfoy Manor Draco, it's not safe-"

"I'm safer here with you than I am anywhere else damn it! Did you really think I could keep away after-after-!" He sobbed and Harry let out a long tired sigh before reaching up and grasping Draco's arm.

"I would have done it Draco." He said quietly. Draco sobbed louder.

"I know! I know you lousy bastard! But you didn't, and damn you but I love you Harry fucking Potter!" Draco cursed squeezing him tighter. Harry's breath caught in his throat.

"Draco…" He closed his eyes in pain.

"I know!" Draco cried out petulantly. "Just shut up and kiss me you bastard!" He said yanking Harry's hair until he yielded and sank into the hungry lips that sought his. The kiss was fierce, desperate and wrong, they both knew it, too much had been said, something between them was broken. Draco let go with a gasp and a broken sort of sob before crawling away and burying his face in his knees. Harry struggled to regain his breath.

"I saw Snape." Harry said after a moment. Draco stiffened but nodded his face still buried in his knees.

"If it were anyone else I don't think I could have let them have you." Draco said his voice muffled. Harry snorted bitterly.

"He doesn't want the likes of me Draco you know that." He said quietly.

"But you've already made your choice, and you've chosen him, just like I knew you would. I've already lost you Harry." Draco said lifting his reddened tearstained face. Harry looked away uneasily.

"I can't help the way I feel Draco." He said grimly.

"I know." Draco said emptily. "I'm not asking you to." He added. Harry didn't know what to say to that and the silence stretched between them for a while.

"Where do we go from here Dray?" Harry said feeling suddenly insecure. Draco sniffed quietly and smiled faintly.

"To church I suppose." Draco said humorlessly.

#$% #$% #$% #$%

"You know you could just have the elves make it." Draco said his hands gripping the dashboard tightly as Harry pulled into the church parking lot. The boot of his car was stuffed with grocery bags and Draco's quota for exposure to muggles had been overwhelmed nearly twenty minutes ago in the grocery store.

"I like to cook." Harry said with a shrug. His quota for Draco's attitude had been overwhelmed five minutes into their shopping trip. "And you locked down Malfoy manor." He reminded with a half hearted glare.

"You told me to lock it down; you didn't stay to be inside when I locked it down." He said nearly jumping out of the car as it pulled to a stop. Harry snorted and climbed out.

"So your next logical conclusion of course was to live in my apartment?" He asked curiously. Draco smirked and crossed his arms.

"It's hardly even your apartment, you rarely even sleep there, you just crash in the office. I'm hardly in the way." He said with a sniff. Harry rolled his eyes and stilled as a familiar echo filled his perception. Draco noticed and the glitter in his eyes died a swift and painful death.

"Harry, Draco." Snape greeted as he approached. It had been a week since Harry had started coming every night to make dinner for the children and simply sit and talk with Snape, Draco had joined him on occasion but it was hard Harry could tell.

"Chicken parmesan sound good?" Harry asked as he handed Draco two large bags of groceries.

"Good gracious Potter you're spoiling them." Snape said with a contented smile as he accepted one of the bags. Harry took the last three in his arms and with a quick glance around spelled the boot closed.

"I should hope so!" Harry said with a grin.

"I still don't understand what you see in them." Draco muttered as they made their way to one of the side doors. "Their messy, noisy and have no respect for personal space." He said shaking his head.

"Sounds a lot like you don't you think?" Harry returned as they stepped into the kitchen. Snape snorted and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Watch it Hart or I'll show you just how little I think of personal boundaries." Draco said with a flirtatious wink. Harry glowered at him for a moment while Snape sputtered.

"We're in a church Dray." He said shortly.

"We're wizards in a church." Draco commented smugly. "Gay wizards in a church." He said effectively outing them both. Harry twitched.

"Ahem." Snape said a faint blush on his cheeks. Harry crossed his arms effectively becoming a solid figure his eyes narrowing.

"So, you're saying that because I'm a wizard by birth, something I had no choice in, and because I just happen to find men attractive that I'm not allowed to believe in God?" He said quirking his eyebrow. "Do you think I'm tainted Draco?" He said forcefully. Draco's expression immediately became alarmed.

"Hart you know I didn't mean it that way-"

"Then don't make comments that offend me." Harry said sharply before turning to the sink and beginning to rinse the lettuce.

"Hart…"

"Don't." Harry said sharply. "Don't call me that." He said quietly.

"Why? Why can't I? Because Snape is here? Because we can't be lovers any more? Can't we at least be friends Harry?" Draco's voice was rising and Harry had the urge to smack him for making a scene.

"We'll talk about this later Draco." He said sharply.

"When?" Draco demanded. "In three days when you finally decide to come home and crash on the couch? On the lunch break that you don't actually take? When are you going to schedule me in Potter? Between meeting with the minister and catching the next bad guy?!" Draco nearly shouted. Harry spun around his eyes cold and his jaw clenched. Draco was panting his gray eyes flashing, itching for a fight.

"Maybe you should go home Draco." It wasn't a suggestion. "To your wife." Draco flinched as though he'd been hit.

"When are you going to live Harry?" He said tightly. "When are you going to stop fighting for everyone but yourself!?" He was panting his hands twitching and there was nothing Harry could do about it. Draco let out a curse before turning sharply and striding out of the room apparating with a pop. Harry sighed heavily and turned back to the sink.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that." He said quietly. Snape was silent for a moment.

"He seems to care for you a great deal." He said carefully. Harry nodded slowly.

"I thought I could love him once, I thought I did love him, but it wasn't the kind of love he wanted, it wasn't enough no matter what I did." He said shaking his head. "He gets like that some times, especially right now with his father-" He cut himself off and shook his head.

"Ah- I think I see." Snape said with a nod.

"Things were said, and done, things that broke us. I'm trying to be a friend to him but-" He shook his head slowly. "He doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that I like to help people when I can; that this life, this is all I've ever known." He shook his head. "It sounds stupid to say it though." He said shaking his head.

"No it doesn't." Snape said quietly. "You are a very generous person by nature whereas Draco has been spoilt all his life- in this way the two of you will clash quite frequently. Though I suppose there is something to be said about working too hard." He said pointedly. Harry smiled wanly and began chopping vegetables.

"I take breaks every once in a while." He defended.

"When you're too injured to work?" Snape guessed. Harry winced and nodded.

"Caught me." He said with a slight grin. "But I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not working; I end up doing research or working my way through paperwork anyway." He said with a shrug.

"I cannot tell you what to do Potter, but it seems to me that what you can do when you aren't working is spend your time with your friends. You seem to think that your family is falling apart, perhaps instead of burying yourself in your work you should spend the time trying to fix what is broken." Snape said leaning against the door frame. Harry hesitated his hand pausing mid-motion as a slow self depreciating smile crossed his lips.

"You always did know exactly what to say." He said softly. "You didn't mince words or try to sugarcoat them like everybody else does around me, and you were never afraid to tell me what I should be doing or that what I was doing was completely and utterly wrong." He said his shoulders slumping slightly as his eyes darted away afraid to show the slight gloss of tears. "I missed that Snape." He whispered.

"Hmph, perhaps I'll have to berate you more often then." The man said dryly. Harry snorted and continued to chop idly.