Flirt by xErised

Bloodline

"Harry, I have absolutely nothing to wear."

"Shirt, jeans, Converse sneakers, and you're all set," Harry muttered without missing a beat, barely nudging his nose out from the pages of his beloved Quidditch magazine.

"What exactly is… Converse?" Draco asked, wrinkling his nose and tilting his head in curiosity. "Is it those shoes that you wear all the time? Those scuffed shoes with those long, unkempt shoelaces that you absolutely insist on wearing even when we have dinner at fancy restaurants?"

Harry's eyes paused marginally at the sentence that he was reading before slowly peering out from his tousled mop of black hair. The brunette roused himself from his slovenly slouch and propped himself up with his elbows, a dismissive expression on his face.

"It's just a dinner, Draco. Just pop on something comfortable, nothing too fancy and we'll be off," Harry replied, sneaking a glance at his watch. A scowling Draco crossed the distance between his wardrobe and his bed easily with two long strides of his legs. With his murky grey eyes flashing with irritation, the blond flipped the magazine close with his fingers and shoved it to one side.

"It is not just a dinner, Harry Potter! Do you not know the importance of this so-called simple dinner that the Weasley seniors have invited me to? This is a test, some sort of arduous, scrutinizing ordeal that I've got to pass before they'll acknowledge me! I've got to be at my best, I've got to impress them to show that I'm serious about you, that I'm serious about us, don't you understand?! If I slip up and make a single mistake, a single faux pas, I'm gone! I'm gone, done, finished, kaput!" Draco rambled, panic fringing the edges of his voice.

Harry looked at his boyfriend of three months (excluding the initial two months) with blinking wide eyes. The Weasleys still hosted their monthly dinners for the whole family, and for the past few months, Harry had been going alone, just like old times. But it was only tonight that Arthur and Molly Weasley had asked Draco to come along, and the ex-Slytherin was obviously thrown in a tizzy over the supposedly suspicious invitation.

"Calm down, Draco, they just want to get to know you better-" Harry started.

"Don't ask me to calm down when I'm already calm!" Draco shrieked in agitation as he yanked his clothes out from his wardrobe and threw them viciously on the bed. The ex-Gryffindor had to quickly hop out of the way to avoid being buried under an avalanche of suits, ties and dress shirts. "Get to know me better?!" Draco hissed through gritted teeth while he pawed through the clothes ferociously, a crazed, manic look radiating from his eyes.

"Of course it's nothing to you, Harry, you've grown up with them, eaten at the dinner table with them, hell, you're an honorary Weasley, you can change your bloody name to Harry Weasley and no one would bat an eyelid, but for me, oh no, it's different! The Malfoys and the Weasleys have been feuding for generations, and the things that I've said about them-" Draco cut himself off abruptly, his face paling when he recalled all the insults that he had inflicted on the Weasley family.

"-never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave-"

"red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford-"

"And… sweet Merlin, Harry, the Quidditch cheer that I came up with during our fifth year… I called Arthur Weasley a useless loser. I called Molly Weasley porky, ugly and fat and you remember, Harry, I called the woman who is going to graciously invite me to her home and treat me as one of her family porky!"

"That… um… does ring a bell-"

A frazzled Draco began to pace nervously, his teeth gnawing inelegantly on a knuckle. He tangled a hand in his blond locks, curling it twitchily around a finger. His intestines were squirming like a worried sea of snakes, and Draco increased his pacing even more, his arms swinging upwards heatedly as he continued fretting.

"They're going to form a lynch mob, gather ammunition and hurl every single one of them at me! There's around twenty of them, and there's only one of me! It'll be like chivvying the poor, innocent, little sheep into the jaws of twenty ravenous, bloodthirsty lions! I won't come out alive, I'll be devoured senseless, Harry, I'm going to… I'm going to-" Draco's voice deflated to a mere whimper and he stared at the dumbstruck brunette with horrified grey eyes.

"Tell them that I've got a bad case of the flu. And a stomachache. And a headache. And I've got diarrhea and vomiting symptoms. Do you think they'll ask for some sort of verification that I'm unwell? Do you think I should check myself in St. Mungo's, Harry?" Draco moaned in a bout of misery, throwing himself face-down into the tumble of clothes on the bed.

Harry gawked at a totally defeated Draco for a moment, before bursting into peals of laughter.

Honestly, Harry knew that Draco's over-active imagination was a quirk that took some time getting used to. It was rather adorable, but at times like this, it was perfectly preposterous.

"Why are you laughing?! This is no laughing matter, Potter!" Draco hollered, lifting his face up and eyeing Harry murderously from the jumbled disarray of his clothes.

"Then you could have told them that you didn't want to go," Harry pointed out gently, crawling over to the blond and hoisting him up to a sitting position.

"If I refuse to go, I'll seem snobby and everything, won't I? I… don't want to give them that impression. And besides, I know that this probably means a lot to you, you soppy Gryffindor. So I thought that I might make an… effort to integrate myself into what seems to be your non-official family," Draco muttered in a voice that was almost too low for Harry to catch. The blond's fingers were playing with the hem of a stray jacket neurotically, his eyes vulnerable and downcast. Harry smiled warmly at the other man, touched that Draco had thought of all that and chose to relegate his pride to the backseat for once.

"It's going to be fine, okay? You're already friends with Hermione, and Ron is on civil terms with you, Rose and Hugo adore you-"

"I'm worried about the rest of the Weasleys, not them," Draco said, nibbling on his lower lip uncertainly. "Especially George Weasley and… the Weaslette," Draco revealed, his voice trembling. "They're going to stuff you full with mashed potatoes until you can't move a muscle, they're going to abduct you and marry you off to that Weaslette! And it's all because of you, Potter! The only precious daughter of the Weasley family is in love with you and you rejected her! They're going to put my head on a sodding stick because of you!" Draco wailed in distress and buried his head in his hands despondently while he dissolved into bits and pieces of unfounded paranoia.

"Firstly, she isn't the Weaslette, she's Ginny. And secondly, Ginny's no longer interested in me, she's recently started to date someone else! Lastly, there is no way that I will marry someone that I don't want to, so there will be no abduction, no kidnapping, nothing of that sort at all. Understand?" Harry explained clearly and slowly, prying Draco's wrists away.

"Really? So… they're all fine with us being together?" Draco asked in a small voice, his defenseless eyes peeking out from the slits between his fingers.

"I… um… don't know about that," Harry hedged. "But hey, look on the bright side, Ron's family's fine with us, I know Mrs. Weasley's fine too because she asked you along, and um… that's five out of… fifteen, so I reckon that's not… too bad…"

Draco could only let out a tortured groan and sink back into the pillows. But as though some alarming horror of a thought had jammed itself throughly into Draco's brain, the blond catapulted himself into a sitting position and shook a squealing Harry savagely by the shirt.

"Promise me that regardless of what they say, regardless of what they do, no matter how much they provoke me, you'll still be with me by the end of tonight, won't you, Harry?"

"Draco, listen to yourself! You're getting all worked up over nothing-"

"Promise me, Potter!" The ex-Slytherin roared frightfully into Harry's face.

"Yes, yes, I promise, Draco dear!" Harry shouted back hastily, and it was only then that Draco relinquished his hold on Harry's poor shirt and hauled himself out of bed. Harry looked at the other man with cautious eyes, gauging whether The Outburst was finally over.

"So. What should I wear?" Draco said calmly, sifting meticulously through his various tailored suits, pants and ties.

"All that's a bit too formal, isn't it? I think… these will do," Harry suggested, pulling out a black short-sleeved shirt with collars and a pair of jeans. Draco looked at both garments dubiously, then let out a long-suffering sigh and shrugged off his clothes, leaving only his underwear on. Harry grinned, placing the clothes that he was holding down on the bed and wrapping his arms possessively around the blond, a devilish slant on his eyebrows. Harry stared steadfastly at the mirror in front of both men, his flirtatious green eyes flitting appreciatively on Draco's body. Harry dipped his head and began to suck on Draco's neck, his hand travelling down to his bum and squeezing it lasciviously.

"Get a grip on yourself, Harry," Draco muttered, wriggling firmly out of Harry's lewd gropes and pulling on the black shirt and jeans.

"I'd rather get a grip on you," Harry purred. He stepped forward and dropped a last kiss on the other man's cheek, glad to note that Draco had been putting on a healthy amount of weight and was no longer all skin and bones. Draco had been getting used to eating three proper meals a day, thanks to Harry's ceaseless nagging, but the brunette hoped that Draco would be fine when he saw the whole smorgasbord of food that was sure to be present at the Weasley home.

"Ready to go now?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco said, replacing the last of the remaining clothes back in his closet. Harry heaved a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the Floo, but not before he heard Draco's horrified squawk.

"Oh sweet Salazar, my hair!"

They arrived twenty minutes later than planned.

Both brunette and blond stepped out of the Floo at the Weasley abode. Harry had mentioned that the Weasley children (including Harry himself) had chipped in a decent amount of Galleons each to spruce up the place. It wasn't a mansion even after the work done, of course, but it had still retained that cozy, warm and lived-in feeling.

Pinkish, flittering rays of the late sunlight danced and shimmered over the small lake that resided in the garden. Fragments of fluffy clouds drifted in the sky as afternoon began to stretch into evening. Instead of the usual mess of weeds and over-grown grass, a cornucopia of flowers, ranging from deep purple hyacinths to sunshine beams of daffodils graced the lovingly tended garden. At the orchard, partially hidden by the huge trees, Draco could see people zipping up and down in the air on broomsticks.

The wallpaper in the interior of the Burrow was slightly faded, but still presentable nonetheless. There were two huge clocks mounted on the wall that didn't tell the time, but instead the present location of each and every member of the Weasley family. Things were rather messy in the sitting room, but it was no surprise since the home had a history of accommodating so many people. Moreover, Arthur and Molly Weasley enjoyed taking care of their grandchildren whenever they had a chance to, so the tables were littered with school textbooks, books and games. There was a hodgepodge of squashy couches and armchairs in colors that clashed horribly with the overall color scheme of the place. Draco could see seams of stuffing oozing out from one or two armchairs.

This whole scenario was a far cry from the regal and aristocratic atmosphere in the manor that Draco had grown up in.

The ex-Slytherin wetted his dry lips and stuck a finger in his collar, loosening it slightly. Riddled with self-doubt, Draco tempered down the trepidation that he felt and plastered on a bright little smile. It wasn't the bloody décor that he frightened to bits of, it was the people.

The circles of easy conversation and amiable chatter gradually ebbed away and slowed down to a stuttered stillness as the Weasleys registered the presence of Harry and Draco amongst them. Grey eyes immediately pinpointed the Weaslette sitting in a corner with George and Angelina, together with Fred and Roxanne, their kids. Draco matched Ginny's glare with an equally cool one in return, but he couldn't ignore the jerk of alarm that tugged on his heart. There was an icicle of awkwardness oh for Salazar's sake, they're looking at me as though I'm some sort of intruder!- hanging forlornly in the air, and Draco gulped. He had made Harry give a verbal introduction of each Weasley before they had arrived, but as the blond tried to cycle through each name and each branch of the extended Weasley family, he realized that everything had all but flown out of the bloody window.

Harry saw the color mounting in Draco's cheeks and he quickly slipped an arm around the other man's waist.

"Hi everyone, this is Draco Malfoy, my boyfriend of three months. All of you'll make him feel welcome, won't you?" Harry said casually, planting a chaste kiss on the blond's cheek.

"How good of you to join us, Draco!" Molly Weasley greeted cordially, emerging from the kitchen. The jolly lady of the house wiped her hands on her apron and made a beeline for the wary blond. Draco was rapidly going through the etiquette rules should I shake her hand, or- that Narcissa had ingrained him since young.

"It's a pleasure to be here too, Mrs… Weasley," Draco said, stumbling a bit at the end. His hand fluttered slightly above his waist, ready to grasp Molly's proffered hand if necessary.

"Harry's told me a lot about you," Molly started, beaming sincerely. "Arthur's upstairs sorting out the ghoul in the attic who won't stop screeching, but he'll be down shortly. Do make yourself at home."

"Do you want me to help you with anything?" Draco offered pleasantly, much to Mrs Weasley vehement protests. George Weasley snickered loudly, and his wife elbowed him sharply.

"It was polite of him to ask!" Angelina hissed to the redhead under her breath.

"Just a few finishing touches and I'll have dinner ready. Do make yourself at home," Molly said, shooting Draco one last smile and bustling back into the kitchen. With that, Draco lingered uselessly in the background like a spare part, until Harry surreptitiously nudged Draco away from the spotlight and towards Hermione, who was sitting with Audrey, Percy's wife.

Draco's brain slowly started to click into place, and he civilly asked after Audrey's children, Molly and Lucy. Audrey looked rather surprised that Draco remembered, but replied graciously.

"Where's the rest of them?" Harry asked, raking the people in the sitting room with an inquisitive glance.

"Bill's family is in France visiting Fleur's parents. Ron, Percy and most of the kids are outside playing Quidditch," Hermione said, pausing when she saw that Draco's eyes were focusing somewhere else. The blond was pinioning Ginny's eyes with his own, a hint of a sneer forming at the side of his lips. He interlaced his fingers together with Harry and squeezed their hands together, a spark of triumph igniting his smirk when Ginny narrowed her eyes and looked away. George caught the exchange and raised an eyebrow at Draco, and the blond seemed like he was about to retaliate. Harry quickly whirled him away and started to introduce Draco officially to everyone else, making a mental note to tread a bit more carefully around George and Ginny.

Charlie Weasley was the nicest one out of the whole lot, his demeanor immediately becoming warmer when Draco asked how his dragons were doing. His cheeks were sprinkled liberally with the trademark Weasley freckles, and his hair was pulled up to a long ponytail. After listening to Charlie's prattling on about his dragons for a while, Harry and Draco moved on to George and Angelina, together with Fred and Roxanne. Angelina was friendly enough, and Draco marveled at how she managed to keep George Weasley in check with just a simple glare when he looked as if he was about to say something rude.

Roxanne, the only daughter of George and Angelina, had been staring non-stop at Draco with stars in her eyes, and the blond fidgeted slightly under her penetrative scrutiny.

"Rosy darling, you know it's rude to stare," Angelina admonished gently.

"But… But he looks like a Barbie doll!" Roxanne cooed in wonder, brightly displaying teeth in various stages of development. "Can I buy him and bring him home with me, Mommy?"

"That can't be done, I'm sorry, because your Uncle Harry owns me now, but I promise that when I'm available for sale I'll give you first priority. How does that sound?" Draco bent down and whispered confidentially in Roxanne's ear. The young girl giggled and nodded happily. George couldn't help but guffaw raucously.

"You know, Malfoy, you might actually be decent, for a change," he conceded, a tricky little grin playing on his lips.

"What on earth is a Barbie doll? Is it some sort of Muggle toy? It sounds rather fishy to me. Is it a girl doll? Or a boy doll? It sounds like a girl doll, but I don't look feminine, do I?" a perplexed Draco asked, shoving Harry to one side after their conversation with the couple was over.

"Well… it's a sort of blonde doll that girls dress up in puffy ballroom gowns and have things like tea parties and stuff like that. But it's a compliment of the highest order, honest!" Harry concluded promptly when Draco let out a strangled croak at the thought of being compared to a girl's mere plaything.

They left Ginny for the last, and Harry had swiftly ushered Draco away in a flurry when the perfunctory smiles Ginny and Draco had traded seemed to be a bit too frosty for his liking.

"Mister Malfoy!"

In pattered a series of small feet, along with Ron and Percy. A tutting Hermione immediately whipped out a face towel and began wiping the sweat off a widely grinning Hugo and Rose. Ron stood innocently beside Hugo and waited for Hermione to do the same to him. Hermione sighed, flipped the towel around and gently mopped Ron's flushed cheeks, but Draco could see a small, adoring smile lurking behind her half-annoyed expression.

"Hello there," Draco said, lowering himself to Hugo's height and ruffling his hair affectionately. The ex-Slytherin had gotten closer to both Hugo and Rose during the past few months, much to Harry's delight. Hermione had invited Draco over for a meal at their house, and since it had been Hugo's turn to choose the weekend movie, he had carefully selected 101 Dalmatians, an animated film. Draco had scoffed and turned his nose up at watching a kid's cartoon, but it wasn't long before Hugo was curled up on Draco's lap, flanked by Rose and Hugo's Pooh bear at the blond's sides. A transfixed Draco, Hugo and Rose had stared avidly at the screen, not moving a muscle except to ferry more popcorn in their mouths. At a crucial point in the movie, Draco couldn't hold it back any longer and had shrieked "Cruella, you bitch!" passionately at the television, making Hugo and Rose jump beside him.

Harry had been amazed to notice that Draco seemed to be enjoying the movie (even though he had adamantly refused to admit it later) as much as the kids.

"Have you ever been surrounded by so many Weasleys before, Mister Malfoy?" Hugo asked curiously, tilting his head to one side. Draco shook his head, and Hugo gave the blond a toothy grin.

"Then you better behave yourself, Mister Malfoy, if not I'll get... I'll get Uncle Harry to pinch your bumbum!" Hugo trilled playfully.

"Oh, I'm afraid he's done a lot more than that," Draco answered cheekily, a light scarlet tint spreading across his cheeks when he remembered exactly what Harry had done to his arse three nights ago.

A stunned silence in the Weasley household ensued.

Draco flailed helplessly and pressed a hand to the side of his face, his grey eyes puddles of embarrassment as he tried to think of something intelligent and appropriate to say after that mortifying revelation. His veneer of cool modesty was crumbling as his face reddened steadily, matched by Harry's own deep blush.

"… Uncle Harry does things to your bum? What does he do, Mister Malfoy? Uncle Harry, do you do things to everyone's bums? Or do you do it to Mister Malfoy only? Why don't you do things to my bum too, Uncle Harry? Mum, why are you pulling me away, Mum, Mum!" Hugo wailed as Hermione carted Hugo and a giggling Rose away to the bathroom.

"Dinner's ready, so wash your hands," Hermione ordered, ironing over the uncomfortable silence effectively. Grateful for the intervention, a relieved Draco flashed Hermione a quick smile.

The family filed out in the backyard, where the tables and cutlery were already set. Draco recoiled slightly when he saw the sheer magnitude of food that sat ponderously on the tables. There were two fragrant chicken and ham pies with their perfectly baked crusts and sprigs of parsley gracing the pies right at the middle and mountains of creamy herb-seasoned mashed potatoes. There was a tray of piping hot chicken casserole, monster slabs of lamb chops resting on a bed of steamed broccoli and drenched in a torrent of rich, luscious sauce, fat, juicy fingers of fried sausages and fried tomatoes with delectable char lines on their skins. A big pot of cream of pumpkin soup, together with a gargantuan bowl of tossed salad, made up of homegrown vegetables such as tomatoes and cabbage was also offered up on the table that was practically groaning with the amount of food on it.

"Harry…" Draco said pleadingly, tugging on the hem of Harry's shirt.

"Hey, it's going to be fine. Take a bit of everything, and if you want to, you can always help yourself to seconds. Just don't throw away any leftovers, Mrs Weasley won't be pleased at all if you do that," Harry warned, kissing a grimacing Draco lovingly on the forehead. Whenever he cooked for Draco, he would make sure that the portions on the plate weren't too large for the tiny appetite of the blond's.

When everyone was seated and were beginning to help themselves to the dishes, Draco could feel Molly's raptor eyes on him. Draco gulped and scooped up a large mound of salad and some meat. He dropped thimblefuls of potatoes (carbohydrates) on his plate, but froze when Molly's voice rang out.

"Is the food not to your liking, Draco?"

"No… really, everything looks delicious-"

"We ate before we came," Harry lied, and Molly scoffed.

"Everyone knows that you never eat before you come for dinner here. Now, Draco, do take more mashed potatoes and chicken and ham pie! They're my specialties," Molly recommended, puffing her chest out proudly. "You've got to eat more, Draco, I don't need to look twice at you to know that you're frightfully skinny under those clothes! Has Harry not been taking proper care of you?" Molly commanded, clucking disapprovingly at the brunette.

"No, it's not that! Harry cooks wonderfully! I'll just help… myself…" Draco said weakly, trying hard not to wince when he splattered beefy globs of mashed potatoes on his plate. He picked up his knife and fork, but faltered when he saw the corpulent slew of food in front of him. Draco swallowed and cringed inwardly when he thought of how he would have to starve himself in the days to come to make up for the staggering load of calories consumed tonight.

"Too used to escargots and crème brulees, Malfoy?" Ginny wondered out loud, her insidious insinuation drizzling from her lips in a superior drawl and challenge twinkling in her arctic blue eyes.

Draco's head snapped up to face Ginny, who was seated directly across the table in front of him. He could feel Harry's hand on his thigh, pressing gently in a way to restrain him. Draco's spine stiffened and he squared his shoulders combatively, his eyes a swathe of crystal grey. He arranged his features skillfully into a serene, silky smile and didn't bother to respond to the redhead. Instead, Draco simply took a bite of mashed potato.

"Harry always raves about your cooking, Mrs Weasley, and it truly is as good as he describes it," Draco praised, causing delight to bloom on the witch's face.

"That's nice to hear. Then do eat more," Molly said fondly, leaning over and ladling a splash of pumpkin soup to Draco's bowl. The blond blinked and tenaciously continued to shovel food in his mouth. He didn't give a toss about his weight anymore, if this was what it meant for him to show his dedication and wholeheartedness about Harry, he would choke down every damn morsel of food on his plate. Hell, he would even lick every droplet of sauce off (although that really wouldn't be very dignified).

On top of that, Mrs Weasley's cooking really was superb.

"Yes, I know he's a Malfoy, Arthur, but I don't see any issue! Just look at the poor boy, he's lost his parents after the War! Don't you think he deserves a nice man like Harry to take care of him? Harry's happy with him, and I do think Harry is old enough to think for himself!" Molly Weasley said firmly, reaching for a dishcloth and wiping a plate dry.

"He has turned out to be a pleasant young man, and Harry does have the right to date anyone that he wants, but the fact remains is that he was Lucius' Malfoy's son, and to a certain extent-" Arthur fell silent when Draco cleared his throat respectfully behind them. The tips of Arthur Weasley's ears went red and Molly shot a reprimanding look at her husband before turning towards the blond, her plump cheeks shifting upwards as she beamed warmly.

"Thank you for the lovely dinner and for inviting me into your home," Draco started formally, his arms held steadfastly behind his back.

"You're welcome, I'm glad that you enjoyed it," Molly replied, pleased.

"It would be rather rude of me to come without some tokens to show my gratitude, so…" With that, Draco brought his hands forth and fished out from a bag a small box with a dark blue ribbon tied neatly right at the top. He handed it over to a shocked Arthur, who hesitated.

"This isn't necessary, Draco, this isn't necessary at all," Arthur protested, placing his hands up. Draco only pushed the gift marginally towards him, and Arthur had no choice but to accept it. Under Draco's watchful eye, Arthur undid the bow and opened the box, expecting it to be some Muggle phone device, things which his children were so fond of giving him until he had a whole room devoted to it. He would be happy enough sitting in his room the whole day tinkering around with the machinery and the wonder of it all.

But this was a completely different present altogether.

"Great Scott, Draco, is this… is this what I think it is?" Arthur breathed with undisguised stupefaction as he extracted the present carefully out from its package and lifted it up to the light reverently.

Oh no, this was not some state-of-the-art Muggle phone that could send out messages from any corner of the world and could take photos with startling clarity, this was something from a different league altogether, something more simple, something more straightforward, but so much more cute…

It was a rubber duck.

"I asked Harry what were the earliest memories he had of you, and he mentioned that you asked him what the function of a rubber duck was, so I thought you might like it," Draco explained confidently, but grains of worry what if he doesn't like it at all- still niggled at him. He rocked himself up and down the balls of his feet, his fingers winding themselves tighter around the handles of his bag.

"Does it quack? Does it really quack? And it floats on water, doesn't it?" Arthur asked dreamily and squeezed the duck experimentally.

The yellow toy quacked dutifully.

"You could take a bath with it. That's what it's primarily used for, anyway," Draco pointed out, much to Arthur's disbelief.

"I can bathe with it?! What does it do in the tub? Can it scratch those hard-to-reach places at my back? Those absolutely splendid Muggles…" Arthur suggested excitedly, squeezing the duck once again and practically flying on cloud nine when it squeaked joyously once again.

"No, it can't do that, I'm afraid. But it… er… squirts water when you squeeze it in the bath. And I reckon it… doesn't get that lonely in the bath when the duck's with you," Draco guessed hopefully. But Arthur's mind was scampering off to a World Full Of Rubber Ducks, his imagination running wild.

"I've already got a decent Muggle phone collection, how about a rubber duck one?! I could get rubber ducks with sunglasses! Different colors and designs of rubber ducks! Rubber ducks themed with holidays of the year! Christmas rubber ducks, perhaps? I've once seen a picture of a rubber duck in a pink tutu, oh that was an utterly mind-blowing work of art! Molly, it's going to be wonderful, I-"

Sadly, Arthur's overbearing enthusiasm was curbed by just a single Death Glare from his wife.

"But Molly dear, listen to it! It's practically a symphony!" Arthur said eagerly, and proceeded to quack the duck right into Molly's ear, making her jump.

The portly witch sighed and threw her hands up in the air.

"I'll let you keep rubber ducks, but only if you clean up that room with your Muggle phones and put your duck congregation in that same room! There's not enough space in the house for all of your Muggle whims, Arthur!"

"But my Muggle phone collection!" Arthur demurred, but ended up nodding meekly when Molly shot him another one of her practically patented glares again.

"And this is for you. You could keep it for special occasions," Draco recommended, pulling out a bottle of wine which had two stalks of fresh roses twined artfully around the neck of the bottle, and presented it to Molly. Initially he had wanted to get something more practical, something that could help Molly around the household, but he wasn't sure how Molly would take it, since Draco reckoned that Molly might not want to be reminded of chores all the time. He couldn't get roses, because he was afraid that Arthur might arrive at the wrong conclusion, so he decided to play safe and opt for wine instead.

"Why, Draco, this must have been terribly expensive. Thank you very much, dear," Molly said, noticing the elegant calligraphy font on the label and the frosted glass of the bottle. Draco only waved a hand in the air dismissively, shrugging the cost off.

"And… Mr Weasley? I know that our families have had bad blood before, especially the altercations that my father had with you, but I would like to clarify with you that I'm… serious about Harry, and that I would really like to put the past behind us. Is that… possible?" Draco asked tentatively, gingerly lifting his right hand. Arthur noted at the candidness of the blond's expression, smiled genuinely and shook Draco's hand heartily.

"Of course, Draco. Many years have passed."

"Take a seat outside, dessert will be out shortly," Molly said, gently ushering the ex-Slytherin to the sitting room.

"I like stars," Hugo announced suddenly with a mouthful of homemade fudge, reaching up and prodding the silver star-shaped earring on Draco's left earlobe. The young boy had spent most of his energy running up and down the house with the rest of the kids, and finally worn-out, he sat quietly on Hermione's lap. Hugo's eyes widened in amazement as the five points on Draco's earring squirmed and wriggled under Hugo's touch.

"Cool! It's a magical earring! Mum and Uncle Charlie's got them too, but yours is really nice, Mister Malfoy!" Hugo squealed volubly. He scrambled out of his mother's lap and perched on the arm of Draco's chair, his chubby legs dangling from its edge. He began to poke with abandon at Draco's earring with his pudgy finger.

"Hugo!" Hermione barked.

"No, it's fine. Do you want to go out and look at the stars? My family's named after the constellations, so I do know a fair bit about them," Draco offered, popping a forkful of fudge in his mouth and giving the rest to Harry. He had been way too full to eat a complete serving of dessert, so he had no choice but to share his slice with Harry.

"That sounds great! I can revise for my astronomy test," Rose piped up.

Draco shot a quick, querying look at Hermione and Ron, who both nodded. With Rose and Hugo trotting alongside the blond, the trio exited the house and out into the porch.

"Sometimes it's good to stop thinking so much about schoolwork for a while," Draco said, addressing Rose. The ex-Slytherin thought about Harry and couldn't help but smile.

"I know, but I still have my grades to maintain and everything. But well… there's this… boy in my class…" Rose stated, going rather pink in the face after her confession.

"Ah, a boy. Let me guess, a rather smart one, probably top of the class, and I reckon one of the most good-looking out of the lot, is it?" Draco asked, an eyebrow raised airily and his lips curving up into a sincere smile.

"How'd you know?!"

"Been there, done that," Draco quipped.

"He's really hot, with the bluest eyes that I've ever seen and his smile, Merlin, when you see his smile, it's like… it's like he can fix every problem in the universe armed with just that smile," Rose gushed dreamily. "But I haven't told Mum and Dad about it. It's so predictable, Mum will ask me to concentrate on my studies, while Dad will probably map out some top secret attack strategy for me to… seduce Brian one way or another. Only you and Uncle Harry know," Rose finished, winking confidentially at Draco. The blond laughed and promised that he would keep Rose's secret for her.

Well, that was until Hugo stopped in his contented burbling and stared incredulously at his sister.

"Rosie, you've got a boyfriend?" Hugo asked, his eyes round with astonishment.

"Oh bollocks," Rose huffed anxiously, trying to perform some semblance of damage control. "Listen, Hugo, he's not a boyfriend, he's just someone in school that's rather… nice, okay?"

"Rosie's got a boyfriend! And she said a bad word!" Hugo chanted in a sing-song tune, much to Rose's chagrin. She pounced on her brother and began to tickle him at his sides until a roaring Hugo fell over in bouts of uncontrollable laughter.

An amused Draco tipped his head to one side and let the two children play for a while, before propping the both of them right back up on the steps again and indicating towards the jeweled night sky.

"See that group of stars over there? Well… it's a constellation named…"

Meanwhile, back at the sitting room, a confounded Weasley household, with the exception of Harry, Ron and Hermione, ogled at the spectacle of ex-Slytherin, ex-Death Eater and pureblood Draco Malfoy spending time with a pair of "blood traitor" Weasley kids and actually enjoying himself.

"You know what, Harry dear," Molly said, breaking the stunned silence. She smiled supportively at the brunette before continuing her sentence.

"I think he'll fit in just fine."

"Come to bed," Harry murmured, kicking the sheets back with his feet and turning his sultry bedroom eyes on Draco. "And don't bother putting those on," the brunette said, jerking his chin towards the blond's clean clothes. Draco licked his lips, quickly toweled his hair dry and crawled on all fours towards Harry on the bed.

"You've been a good boy tonight, haven't you?" Harry whispered, tracing a lone finger from Draco's naked shoulder to his hip. He slid his hand teasingly into the side of the blond's underwear, hooking the hem smartly around his finger and nudging it down.

"No, not yet," Draco breathed, clutching Harry's hand with his own. "What reward do I get for behaving myself?"

"We spent five hours there. One fuck for each hour," Harry said, pushing Draco on his side and pressing the ex-Slytherin's back against his front. Draco's grasp on Harry's wrist loosened when Harry pressed his erection against Draco's lower back. Draco moaned and arched his back towards Harry's body, his long fingers wrapping around the waistband of Harry's boxers.

"Although I should take off a few fucks for the teasing you did, shouldn't I?" Harry purred playfully, moving down and increasing the speed of his grinding just by that little bit that he knew would leave the other man gasping for more.

"I… didn't tease you, I really didn't," Draco bit out, his words accented by small moans and gulps as he thrust his hips further back and jutted his arse out, mesmerized by the sensuous, rocking motions of Harry's cock.

"Oh, really? Then why did you bend over so many times in those jeans and shoot me those privately filthy looks? You don't know how many times I felt like slamming you up and over on the dinner table and fucking that pretty little arse of yours. You made me think of all those things right in front of everyone, you made me get a hard-on, don't you deserve to be spanked, hmmm?" Harry hissed, his hot breath dancing on Draco's neck.

"No, not now…"

"You wanna get fucked first? Yeah, let's do that. Or I could spank you while I'm fucking you, yeah, that'll work," Harry suggested, his lips curved up in a feral grin and his voice as tempting as rustling of bedsheets.

"No, Harry, don't distract me! I've got something to tell you," Draco said, turning his body around and yanking his underwear up properly. Harry drew back and blinked curiously, inspecting the somber expression on Draco's face with growing concern.

"What happened? Did Ginny say something to you? Did she?! Or was it someone else? Draco, tell me, or I'll swear I'll go back there and- Draco? Draco, what's wrong?!" Harry squawked, now fully alarmed by the discomfort and seriousness written all over Draco's features. The blond's grey eyes were skittering down to his hands and up to Harry's face in fits of nervousness, and his throat was bobbing up and down as though he wanted to say something but it refused to come out-

"Harry, I- um… I luh-uh… I…" Draco's stammers were a stark contrast to his usual eloquence and articulation, and Harry tilted his head in confusion, his nose scrunching up with question.

"Are we playing some game? Charades, perhaps? Am I supposed to guess what you're saying? Well, if you want to play you could have told me beforehand! Wait, let me get some clothes on," Harry said, but before he could hop out of bed, Draco exhaled heavily.

"No, you dimwit!" Draco shrieked, clamping a hand on the brunette's elbow and roughly tugging Harry back to him. "I just wanted to say that-" With that, Draco pointed a finger to himself i-, joined the two index fingers of both his hands together and drew the shape of a heart love- in the air, before pointing the same finger to Harry's you- chest. A flood of abashed red invaded Draco's face, and the embarrassed blond immediately turned his back to Harry, curled himself up into a little ball and burrowed under the blankets in sheer mortification.

A stunned Harry sat there for a few seconds, before a smile like a burst of fireworks exploded on his face. His heart lifted dangerously and he felt his insides wriggle with affection.

"Really?! I mean, you really do-"

"Of course I do, for Merlin's sake!" Draco bawled, throwing the covers back and regarding Harry with a thunderous expression, but the effect turned out to be highly comical as remnants of his blush were still mottled on his cheeks. "Do I go around saying those three bloody words to everyone on the sodding streets, Potter?! I had to say it someday, didn't I? You say it every other bloody day to me, as though I'll forget it! Well, if you don't believe me, I'll take it back, thank you very much!"

"No, but that didn't really count as saying, did it? Say it, Draco. I'll show you how to say it," Harry badgered, a gooey smile splattered on his lips, his hands clasped tenderly around Draco's wrists and he began to enunciate the words very slowly and carefully. "I love you, Harry. I love you very much, Harry Potter. I love youuuuuuuuuuu, Harry baby!

An incensed Draco grabbed a pillow and bopped a laughing Harry over the head with it.

"Stop demanding so much from me, you git!" Draco hollered agitatedly and let out a small humph, his arms folded across his chest. The brunette shuffled towards the blond and hugged him tightly. He started to dust butterfly kisses all over Draco's shoulders, collarbones and neck.

"I love you too, Draco Malfoy. I love you so much. I want to hear you say the same thing to me too, in that sweet, shy voice of yours, but I'll wait, alright, I'll be patient and wait for the day when you're ready," Harry said softly, smiling happily against Draco's heated cheeks. Draco lowered his forehead onto Harry's shoulder, his hands curling possessively on Harry's waist and trying to hide his silly grin from Harry.

"And you can tell Roxanne to give up hope because there's no way in hell I'm returning this breathing, life-sized Barbie doll of mine because he's absolutely perfect in every single way. He's gorgeous, sexy, witty, charming, capable, and he's got the most fuckable arse that I've ever laid eyes on," Harry murmured cheekily. Draco pouted and smacked the top of Harry's arm crossly. Harry's grin widened even further as he leant in, cradled Draco's face in his hands protectively and kissed his smile tenderly.

/tbc

Next chapter is going to be the last one! :O