As Harry's feet struck the cobble floor of the Weasleys' hearth he was overcome with the sound of Celestina Warbeck's voice. He couldn't help but roll his eyes, but was barely given the time to before he was pulled into a tight embrace and his vision was blocked by a mane of fiery red hair.
"I'm so glad you made it," Molly said as she moved from Harry to Draco, and Harry was surprised, despite feeling bad for it a second later, to see Molly hug Draco just as tightly.
"Of course we made it," Draco replied, handing Teddy over to Molly's eager arms so that she could dote over him. Although he tried to distract from it, Harry noticed the small pink patches that dotted Draco's cheeks at Molly's fondness. "We didn't have much else to do." Molly gave a smile, but as Harry's eyes scanned the tiny sitting room, he noticed Ron was giving Draco a mild glare. At least he didn't say something to start an argument.
"Are you boys hungry?" Molly inquired as Harry went to sit beside Ron and Hermione.
"Starving," Ron said, patting his stomach.
"You just finished off an entire plate of turkey and potatoes, Ronald," Hermione chided halfheartedly. "Honestly, I don't understand how you manage to keep enough room for pudding half the time." Ron merely shrugged as he picked up his plate for seconds.
Molly had really gone all out this year, and Harry thought he had an inkling as to why, with the care that she was showing in serving Draco. A surfeit of food and drink greeted Harry as he walked through the kitchen door: mince pies, baked potatoes, yorkshire pudding, brussel sprouts, treacle tart, a few casseroles, ham, and a sizeable turkey covered the counters of the small room. Molly refused to let them serve themselves and wasn't content to let them return to the party until their plates were filled to spilling point.
"I didn't think there would be this much food," Draco whispered in Harry's ear. Harry only responded with a smirk. Any notions Draco might still have had of the Weasleys having a shabby Christmas would hopefully be dashed by the end of the evening.
After they were sufficiently served according to Molly's standards, they joined the rest of the group. Harry felt an overwhelming sense of heartwarming satisfaction as he looked around the crowded sitting room. George was sitting beside Ginny, who had done nothing but grin at Harry once throughout the evening so far, chatting about a new product he was working on; Molly and Arthur were slow dancing near the Christmas tree, which was covered from top to bottom in handmade ornaments; Hermione was holding Teddy and speaking softly to him, running her hands through his thickening orange hair. From time to time she would cast longing glances towards Ron, who was busy arguing with Percy about who was more likely to get the better gifts.
He turned to Draco, about to comment on the scene, and found him chatting amicably with Bill about the sort of tasks he was expected to do as a curse breaker for Gringotts. Although he was pleased to see Draco fitting in so well with the Weasleys, Harry supposed that talking animatedly about curses was likely to get Draco a few suspicious glances if the rest of the family caught on. As much as Harry liked to believe that everyone had completely gotten over their preconceived notions and rivalries when it came to Draco, he knew that it might be hopeful thinking and quickly jumped into the conversation.
"How's life as newlyweds?" he broke in at the earliest pause he could find in the conversation. Fleur had conveniently chose that moment to sit down beside her husband and Harry saw his opportunity to switch topics. "I mean, now that you can fully enjoy it," he added with an awkward smile. Bill chuckled and Fleur gave him a loving glance.
"Quite nice, really, seeing as we're no longer fighting for our lives and whatnot." Bill apparently didn't mind mentioning the hard times that had occured so recently.
"Yes, but zen, my 'usband still finds a good amount of danger," Fleur added with her signature tinkling laugh. That started a playful argument between the two of them, leaving Harry and Draco to talk finally.
"What do you think?" Harry asked. "Is Christmas with the Weasleys as bad as you thought it would be?" Draco narrowed his eyes.
"I didn't think it would be bad," Draco said with an air of defensiveness. "It's not bad. I'm actually enjoying myself."
"Did you think you wouldn't?" Harry shot back, eyebrows raised, although a subtle smile still clung to his lips. As he expected, Draco immediately began to argue.
"I— no, that isn't— It's just—" Draco spluttered and released an aggravated huff. Harry only chortled.
"I'm only teasing. You're so easy to mess with." That comment earned him a heated glare. "And incredibly cute when you're angry. Although," Harry added with mock sternness, "you ought not to judge them too harshly for being less extravagant than what you're used to." Draco displayed his irritation with a swift, albeit fairly gentle, kick to Harry's foot. Rather than taunting Draco any further, Harry turned to Molly.
"Is Charlie coming, then?" He asked, noticing the absence of the Weasleys' second oldest.
"Oh yes, he wrote and said that he might be arriving a little later, but that he was sure to be here." Bill answered him too quickly to have not been paying attention to Draco and Harry's little show. "He's probably just been held up by that Peruvian dragon or whatever that was giving them trouble."
"At least he keeps you updated," Molly griped as she came to sit nearer to them, Arthur in tow. "I swear I haven't heard a word from him since he told me he'd make it for Christmas weeks ago."
"He's a busy man," Arthur responded, patting her knee affectionately. "We should be glad he's coming at all." As if on cue, the front door opened and a disheveled Charlie came strutting into the packed interior of the house.
"Sorry I'm late, mum," he addressed Molly, brushing his singed clothes off in a rather pointless effort to look more orderly. "I would have made it on time, but we just got a new shipment of eggs from Siberia and it took a hell of an effort to get our nesting mother to cooperate."
"Never mind that," Molly said, squeezing him tightly. "Get yourself a plate. You look starved." Harry didn't think Charlie looked any different, but knew from experience that there was no use in arguing the point— not that Charlie would have wanted to, anyway; he merely shook his head, smiling, and allowed his mother to load his plate in the same manner that she had with Harry and Draco.
As the Weasleys chatted and caught up around him, Harry couldn't help but notice that Bill had been the only one to actually involve Draco in a conversation. Ron hardly looked over towards Harry and Draco's direction, Arthur was busy talking to Charlie, now that he'd arrived, and Ginny seemed to have decided it would be best to pretend Harry and Draco weren't there at all. It dawned on Harry that the aura of The Burrow was a bit more tense than he'd originally gathered, despite the general cheery air, and he had a suspicion that it had to do with Draco's presence. Normally the Weasleys were much more friendly toward him, and the fact that Molly and Bill were the only two to actively engage with him described what no one was saying: they were uncomfortable, specifically Ginny.
Just as Harry was about to try to talk to Ginny and ease her discomfort, Hermione dragged Ron over and the two of them sat down across from him and Draco. Teddy sat on Hermione's lap, a lock of her hair wrapped around his fist. She winced a bit as Teddy tugged, but didn't bother removing her hair from his grasp.
"Merry Christmas, you two. Thank you for bringing this little gentleman." She kissed the top of Teddy's head, where his hair had turned a deep shade of chestnut brown, similar to Hermione's own hair colour.
"I'm not sure what else we would've done with him," Harry said with a chuckle. "He's not quite old enough to be left home alone."
"Certainly not!" Hermione said, taking him more seriously than he'd meant her to. She held Teddy tighter to her bosom in a protective way and Harry thought to himself that she would make an excellent mother one day.
"Calm down, Hermione. It was a joke," Ron explained. He heard Draco snigger beneath his breath. Hermione chose to ignore this, still staring down at Teddy lovingly.
"So how long will you be taking care of him, then?" she asked, more to Draco than to Harry.
"Er, well… We're not actually━"
Draco was spared answering by Molly interrupting with a shout of "Time for presents!" The witch held too many presents for her arms to hold as she began passing them out to their respective recipients. "Gather round, everyone!" From beside Harry he heard Draco sigh in what sounded like relief. "And the first one of course goes to you, love," Molly said, handing Arthur a strangely shaped package, which turned out to be a fully functional, remote control model plane.
"Oh! Absolutely wonderful!" He looked at his children, his face full of wonder as he held up the aeroplane he'd unwrapped. "This is what the muggles use to travel long distances! It's incredible that it doesn't take any magic at all to keep those things in the air, though I'm still not sure how they've managed to do it. Thank you, dear!" Molly kissed him and resumed passing out the gifts while Arthur spun the propeller and muttered under his breath about the realism of it. Harry thought he could hear a small giggle from Hermione's direction. It was, after all, generally a gift meant for children, but Arthur seemed enthralled with it.
George and Percy received the next gifts. Percy opened up a new set of work robes and a book on magic and anthropology. George got a whoopie cushion and a snake nut can from Arthur, as well as a variety of magical ingredients for experimenting with and a ring that Molly had bewitched with protective charms.
"I'm always so worried when you're inventing that you're going to wind up hurting yourself," Molly started as George began to protest, shaking his head but smiling all the same. "So I took it upon myself to put some basic spells on it. It should protect from small blasts and shrapnel, in most cases. I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I thought maybe I could at least give you some sort of armor. Do be careful, George."
"Mum, I'll be fine," George responded with a small laugh. "You really didn't need to— thanks, mum." Molly shrugged, looking bashful, before moving on to Ron and Hermione.
Ron was less than thrilled with the moving Galvin Gudgeon figurine he opened. When he explained that Gudgeon had completely ruined the Chudley Cannons' chance at winning (twice in one game) she flushed and apologised, claiming she hadn't known and had bought it before that match had occurred. Ron's second present was significantly better, and Molly was satisfied when she saw the look on his face when he opened the self-filling plate.
"How did you━ this is too much, Mum!" Ron shouted excitedly.
"Not to worry, I picked it out," said George. "Mum suggested it, though. It'll keep filling itself up until you're really full. Not that that ever happens."
Hermione was pleased to receive a traditional wizard cookbook and a framed photograph of her and Ron and Bill at Fleur's wedding, which caused tears to spring to her eyes. Molly handed both Harry and Draco their presents at once and waited expectantly for them to open them.
Harry was a bit more than jealous when Draco opened his receipt for an hour long massage at Felix & Topia's Spa and Beauty Parlour in Hogsmeade. After the hell he'd been put through with Auror training he felt he could use a massage just as much as Draco.
"I just figured, since you've been put under so much strain taking care of Teddy all the time, you'd like to be pampered a bit," Molly explained. "I know how that goes, dear."
"I━ thank you so much," Draco beamed. He tucked the receipt into his pocket and scooted closer to Harry and, as if the loving gaze Molly was giving him was too much to bear, stared down at his hands.
"She didn't get me a massage," Ron mumbled across from him. Hermione elbowed his ribs and there were no more complaints from that direction, though Teddy chose that time to burp loudly, lightening the atmosphere by a lot.
At the sight of Draco's sudden discomfort Harry had the urge to ask what was wrong, but there was no time, not to mention everyone was staring, waiting for him to open his presents. He pressed the side of his leg more firmly against Draco's in the hopes that it could offer him some comfort.
"Open them, Harry," Hermione insisted. "Don't keep us waiting, there's more gifts to get through."
As slowly as he possibly could, Harry began unwrapping his first present, staring directly at Hermione all the while. She rolled her eyes and Ron snickered. Finally, Harry took the last of the paper off and looked down to find what looked like a dragon leather wand holster with his name engraved near where his wand handle would rest. While it could've appeared store bought if one didn't look closely enough, Harry could see little touches here and there that suggested it was handmade.
"Is this— did you make this yourself?"
"Well, I engraved it. Charlie's work provides dragon hide gifts— all ethically sourced, of course. They make them out of hide from dragons that died naturally. He managed to get a deal through his work and sent me the holster."
"This is— how...?" Harry whispered. "It's wonderful, Molly. I can't believe you did this! Thank you. And thank you, too, Charlie," He added, nodding to Charlie, who gave him a small smile in return.
"There's one more for you two. It's a joint gift."
Harry opened the second gift and smiled when he saw the mantle clock within the box he'd unwrapped. On it were three hands; one with Draco's name, one with Teddy's, and one with Harry's. The design on this clock's face was similar to the one Molly had, listing all the possible places they could be, including in imminent danger. Tears threatened to form in his eyes, but Harry managed to stave them off, though just barely.
"You've got a family now," Molly said softly. "You'll want to know that they're safe." There was a wistful smile gracing her lips and her eyes glistened as though she were also holding back tears. "I was going to give you the highchair that I used for all of my children, but since you two went furniture shopping I didn't think you'd need it."
"I… I don't know what to say," Harry stammered. "Thank you so much." Harry set the box containing the clock down and stood up, crossing the room to wrap his pseudo-mum in a tight hug. "Thank you," he repeated in a strained whisper. Molly patted his back and sniffled. When they let each other go, there was a moment where the two of them simply stared lovingly at the other, and for one of the first times since Harry could remember, he felt as though this was what it was like to have a real mother.
"Ahem." Ron cleared his throat, interrupting the shared affection. "There's more presents to open, so…"
"Ronald!" Molly chided halfheartedly. "Did I not teach you patience?" Placing her hands on her hips, Molly shook her head and continued handing out presents while Harry returned to his seat beside Draco.
The rest of the gifts were passed out rather quickly, from what Harry could tell, and he suspected that Molly was giving him and Draco preferential treatment, something that made him a little uneasy. For one thing, he and Ron had just gotten back on speaking terms, and he didn't think that his friend would appreciate Draco sharing that spot with him when he hadn't ever really been okay with Harry being treated that way. For another, it put a sort of focus on them that Harry didn't necessarily like being under. As much as he appreciated Molly's gifts and care, it wasn't necessary; they weren't quite a family, after all, even if he and Draco were being assigned legal guardianship over Teddy.
"Alright, everyone," Molly said, causing the chatter to dim. "I've of course made jumpers for each of you, so you'll put them on for the family photo and then everyone else can pass out their gifts. Here you are, Georgie… Ronald… Ginevra…" She began passing out the brightly coloured jumpers, stopping to smile fondly at Draco before moving on.
"A… a Weasley jumper…?" Draco held up the green jumper with a large "D" in silver yarn and frowned. "But I didn't think I'd get one…"
"Well, you have," Harry said with a smile. He slipped his own red jumper over his head. "Put it on, then." Draco eyed the jumper some more, continuing to frown at it. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just…"
"Just put the damn jumper on, Malfoy!" George exclaimed cheerily. "Come on, come on!" And he shoved the jumper over Draco's head.
By the time George managed to wrestle him into his jumper, Draco's hair had been thoroughly mussed, and Draco spent the next five minutes complaining about how George had ruined a morning's work while finger-combing it back into place. Despite the mildly sour look on Draco's face, Harry was pleased; it wasn't a proper Weasley Christmas if everyone wasn't wearing their hand-knitted gifts. When Molly had passed out all of the jumpers, one lumpy and significantly larger package remained of Weasley presents, which turned out to be for Teddy.
"I thought maybe that would be a little more useful than a jumper at his age," Molly stated as Harry held up the woolen blanket. "It'll last him longer, at least. Babies have a tendency to make a mess of their clothes, but that blanket should last him, especially if my strengthening charms hold up."
"It's perfect," Draco said, surprising Harry by shooting a beaming grin towards Molly. "Thank you for making these for us." Harry had to wonder if Draco truly meant that, when only a bit ago George had had to force him into his jumper.
Molly waved her hand and said, "Oh, it was nothing. I do it every year." She turned and regarded everyone else. "Gather 'round, gather 'round. Draco, you brought the camera, right?" Harry squinted and looked to Draco.
"She knew about the camera?" he asked, confused as to how she knew they had one.
"I had to consult someone for what to get you, otherwise I would've just bought a bunch of Quidditch related things," Draco explained. "So yes, she knows." He pulled the camera from his robes, then handed it over to Molly to set it up with a timer.
"Move in closer," she instructed as the group moved together. "No, closer. Ginny, move towards Harry. George, knock that off!" Harry couldn't see what George was doing, but suddenly he was shoulder to shoulder with Ginny, who he hadn't even known he's been standing next to. "Hermione, it's time to give Teddy back to Harry and Draco."
"Oh… alright…" Hermione stepped out of the group and gave Teddy to Draco. Draco then positioned Teddy so he was on his hip between himself and Harry.
"Percy, don't make that face— George! Knock that off!"
"I'm not doing anything!" George shouted with a laugh that sounded just like it used to. Molly glared at him in return.
"I'm looking right at you," she bit out. "Bill, if you could switch places with Ron so you're standing next to Fleur? Thank you." Molly searched the group one last time for anything that could ruin the photo and then set the timer on the camera.
"Is it always like this?" Draco whispered.
"Only most of the time," Harry whispered back. He heard Draco snort before the camera shutter released and their photo was taken.
"Don't move!" Molly cried as she squeezed her way out of the group of Weasleys. "One more, just in case George pulled anything."
"I didn't, honestly!" But George was snickering in a way that suggested he had.
Harry heard several groans coming from the crowd before the timer was set again and everyone had to pose. Just as the shutter went off, Teddy released a rather loud fart and it could be heard over the sound of the picture being captured. It seemed everyone turned to look at Teddy, then, and broke into laughter.
"What an excellent photo that should be," George commented with a hearty chortle that could be heard above the rest. "I didn't even have to stage that one. Seems like I've got a joke shop apprentice in the making!"
"I'd better get that," Draco mumbled as he stepped away and left the room. Harry was then left standing alone with Ginny as the rest of the Weasleys went into smaller groups to mingle.
"Merry Christmas, Harry," Ginny said with a soft smile. "Do you like your gifts?"
"I do, yeah," Harry said, resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck. That was sure to show her exactly how uncomfortable he was. After she had acknowledged him at the beginning of the evening, she had completely ignored his presence. Talking to her now, he didn't really know what to say. "I liked your Holyhead Harpies poster," he said, trying his best to seem lighthearted.
"So do I." Ginny seemed to be struggling with something for a moment, then said, "I don't mean to… That is, I'm wondering if you and—" She breathed out a heavy sigh. "Are you and Draco engaged? It's just that I saw the ring he's wearing, and… y'know…" Harry's eyes widened in confusion and alarm.
"Oh— no!" He shook his head quickly, wondering how she got that impression, but also knowing precisely how she had. "No, it's too soon for that, and it's not even legal. It's a promise ring. God, is that what everyone's been thinking?" Ginny's cheeks tinted pink and she glanced away for a split second.
"Not-not everyone, but… most of us, yeah." Her demeanor changed from embarrassed to apologetic. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but I had to ask."
"Is that why you haven't talked to me all evening?" Ginny shuffled her feet, giving her away before she could answer.
"That's not the only reason." She fiddled with the sleeve of her robes and chewed her lower lip a bit before she said, "I wasn't sure how to talk to you, really."
"Well, 'hi' usually works," Harry joked. He paused, then continued more seriously, "I know what you mean, though. I wasn't sure if you even wanted to talk to me, especially knowing how you feel about Draco."
"I don't even know how I feel about him, so I don't see how you could." Harry's eyes met Ginny's, trying to gather her meaning. "I mean, he was always a huge prat in school, but…" She hesitated.
"But?" Harry raised his eyebrows. He tried not to get too hopeful, but he considered the fact that she wasn't completely bashing Draco to be an encouraging sign, if only slightly.
"Well, Mum seems to think he's alright, and I've never known her to put her trust in people who didn't deserve it. I just don't know, though. I think she reckons he's changed or something, but she never saw the way he was before." Ginny looked down, her eyebrows scrunched together in contemplation. Harry, who sensed that she had more to say, kept his own mouth shut. "I can't understand it though, Harry: how can you possibly trust him after all that happened just last year?"
A long moment stretched between them before Harry answered. He knew that he couldn't satiate Ginny with just any explanation, that he had to provide her with some real evidence. Certainly she could see the difference herself from this evening. Apparently she needed Harry's own testimony before she would begin to see the way Draco had changed. The only problem was, how was he supposed to put all of the things they'd gone through together into words?
"You probably can't understand until you've gotten to know him better," Harry began, completely unsure of himself. "I thought that you, and everyone else, would see how much he's grown by seeing how he's been tonight, honestly. I guess I can't blame you if that's not enough."
"It's not that it isn't enough— well, maybe it isn't," Ginny hastily corrected herself. "But you're right. He's been really… well behaved tonight, I suppose, compared to how he normally is. Still, it doesn't prove much aside from the fact that he's at least really good at pretending to like us." Harry nodded. He could understand where Ginny was coming from, but he wished she could see that Draco wasn't just pretending. Harry could see that, despite Draco's hesitation to come, he was enjoying himself.
"He's not pretending, as far as I can tell. You know how good he is at pretending to like people," Harry chuckled, and was glad when Ginny laughed with him and nodded her head. "When I first offered for him to live with me, I was doing it more out of pity and obligation than anything else. Actually, I was sort of dreading living with him," he said candidly, hoping Draco wasn't in earshot. "But after living with him and seeing what he's like… I don't know, I just started to see that he wasn't really who I thought he was. We started opening up to each other and I got to know more about what he really thinks about the way he was raised. I won't go into much detail, because I think most of what he told me is probably confidential, but… he's different. That's all I can really say without feeling like I'm betraying his trust. At least, on that subject specifically.
"He doesn't call Hermione a mudblood anymore, he actually talks to Kreacher like a person, he's starting to see why I'm friends with Ron, I think, and I can tell he loves your mum just as much as I do, though he's probably embarrassed to admit it. You should see the way he is with Teddy." Harry smiled fondly as he recalled some of the more precious moments he'd witnessed between his boyfriend and their ward. "He's a genuinely good person. It took me a while to see that, but I reckon it would've taken less time if he hadn't tried so hard to come off as a prat when we were younger. Then again, I probably could've tried harder to understand him." As Harry spoke, Ginny's face had taken on a number of expressions. She'd gone from skeptical to smug, then from smug to wistful.
"You really do love him, don't you?" Ginny asked softly. Harry nodded, for some reason not wanting to say that he did out loud to her, especially since he hadn't yet said it to Draco. "I didn't want to believe that you did. Even when I saw the ring and thought that you two might be engaged, I didn't see how anyone could love someone like him." When Harry opened his mouth to defend Draco, Ginny cut him off. "Sorry, Harry, that's just how I felt, so don't even start. I still don't really understand why you love him, but I think I can accept it fully now. I'm happy for you. For both of you."
"Thank you, Ginny," Harry breathed. "I'm really glad to hear you say that." And it was true. Harry hadn't really known just how much he'd wanted to hear her say something like that, but now that she had he was hit with a wave of relief.
"So… friends?" Ginny asked tentatively, holding out her right hand.
"Friends," Harry agreed as he placed his left hand into hers. The two smiled amicably enough, but when he tried to pull his hand away after a moment he didn't think he imagined the way Ginny's tightened for the briefest moment.
"You're getting the next nappy," Draco groaned as he stepped up beside Harry and watched Ginny's eyes fall. He'd heard every word of their conversation, but he wasn't about to embarrass either of them— specifically Harry— by letting on that he had. "I've gotten all of them so far today and I swear he just let off a pile of dungbombs in there." Ginny sniggered as Harry grumbled petulantly and grabbed Teddy up. "Don't even start, you have no idea how many I change while you're at work."
"Not complaining, just seeing the future," Harry retorted with a sigh.
"How's it looking?" Ginny asked with a smirk.
"Brown."
More people than were actually involved in the conversation laughed at Harry's witty remark, which made Draco realise that perhaps he wasn't the only person who'd overheard Harry profess his love for him, albeit silently, to Ginny Weasley. That sort of irked Draco, that Harry was able to not-say it to her, but still hadn't said it to him, but the ring and the fact that he's admitted it at all was certainly a step forward. It was sort of difficult for him to be upset about it, when he really thought about how much effort it must've taken him to come that far. And he'd decided to be patient, so there really wasn't much to complain about… aside from the mention of Harry pitying him. He'd definitely be bringing that up later.
"So we're handing out our own gifts now, right?" Draco asked, attempting to draw Ginny's rapt attention away from Harry. It didn't go unnoticed that Ginny seemed very taken in by the fact that Harry held an infant and it was very difficult, indeed, to quell the bolt of jealousy that rang through him.
"Oh! Right," Harry said and shifted Teddy to his other hip so he could take the gifts they'd brought out of his front pocket. Draco's jealousy was suddenly replaced by relief that Harry had at least been smart enough not to put the presents in his back pocket, because most of them would be ruined if he had sat on them.
"Buh buh buh buh," Teddy commented as he reached for the presents Harry grew to original size.
"No, Teddy, these are for the others," Harry explained gently, keeping the brightly packaged items out of Teddy's greedy reach. "You've had yours already. Alright, so Hermione, Ron, here's yours…" He handed them their gift and continued passing out the others, and Draco discreetly stayed where he was so he'd have a nice view of Weasley's face when he opened the present that Draco had picked out.
"No way!" Weasley exclaimed. Granger rolled her eyes, but there was a smile playing at her lips as she looked over the Chudley Cannons comforter Weasley had to stand to display fully. "Harry, mate, this is too much!"
"Honestly," Granger agreed dryly, "it's too much."
"Oh hush, it's beautiful," Weasley shot back as he held the large blanket protectively to his chest. "It's so soft!"
"Draco picked it out," Harry called from across the room, where he was giving Molly and Mr. Weasley their present.
"It's… he did?" Weasley asked as he slowly turned to look at Draco. Draco offered a smirk and raised one eyebrow, which only added to the flustered expression on Weasley's face. "Er, thanks Malfoy."
"That was really kind of you, Draco," Granger said, sounding too forceful about it. While Draco was thankful for the fact that she was trying to make this easier for him, it was getting a bit irritating that she thought it necessary to lay her niceness on so thickly.
"There's one in there for you, too," Draco told her. She looked visibly surprised before reaching back into the gold gift bag and pulling out the VHS tapes he had picked out specifically for her.
"Sense and Sensibility? Pride and Prejudice!" she cried in awe. "But— Draco, I can already tell that Harry didn't pick these out. How did you know?"
"I… remember you reading them in school," he admitted sheepishly.
"Really?" Weasley asked, interrupting what Draco had meant to be a friendship-building moment. "She read how many books? I don't think I could list any of the titles of books she read, except maybe Hogwarts: A History."
"Well, I read a lot of books back then, too, though I made sure to do it in the dormitory rather than out in the open," Draco confided, looking more at Granger than Weasley. "I was always hungry for a new book, and I'd pretty much read everything in the Malfoy library, so when I saw you reading those I sort of…"
"You read the books I read, didn't you?" Granger said with a knowing smile.
"I had to keep it a secret from my father, of course. Imagine if he'd found out I'd been reading a muggle book." Both he and Granger shared a mutual wince at the thought and then began laughing. "I hope you don't already own those."
"I don't, actually. I've been meaning to pick these up, but I can never manage to remember them when I'm out shopping. Thank you so much, Draco."
"You're welcome, Granger."
"Hermione," she corrected. Weasley looked at her aghast before twisting his face into an expression of determination.
"Yeah, and it's Ron," he said as he looked at Draco with obvious challenge.
"Alright… Hermione. And Ron." It felt incredibly strange to him, using their first names, but he thought he could make the switch easily with Hermione. Weas—Draco shook himself mentally— Ron would take some getting used to.
"Oh! Everyone, Ron has an announcement to make," Hermione called above the rabble in the Weasley home.
"Ickle Ronniekins is pregnant?" George offered loudly, causing Charley to snicker loudly.
"George!" Molly chided, slapping her son on the arm, but also hiding a grin.
"No," Hermione said stiffly, and it became even clearer that her desire to hold Teddy so much earlier had dual meaning. "Ron, care to fill everyone in?"
"I've got into Auror Training!" he shouted, his eyes easily finding Harry as he shared a look of pure excitement with him.
"Excellent!" Harry yelled in return, crossing the room to embrace Ron and slap him on the back. The other Weasleys all congratulated Ron in turn and Draco offered a quiet congratulations as well.
"Looks like you two have an announcement to make as well," George pointed out loudly, and motioned towards Draco's left hand. "So who'll be wearing the dress and who'll be wearing the suit? Or are you both wearing dresses?"
"That's offensive, George," Hermione said absently as she resumed gawking at her new VHS tapes.
"It's not an engagement ring," Harry sighed in exasperation.
"Are you sure about that?" George inquired.
"Absolutely sure. It isn't even legal for the same sex to marry," Harry repeated one of the reasons he'd given Ginny earlier.
"Then what's it for?" Bill asked, and Draco blushed as he recalled the way he'd stared at Draco's hand off and on while they'd been chatting at the beginning of the evening. Harry turned around to regard Bill, his face lit up as brightly as the Christmas tree, but more red than anything.
"It's a promise ring," Ginny said from her seat beside Percy the Prat, as Draco referred to him mentally. "You know, for when you want to prove to someone you love them, but you also don't want to be creepy by proposing after a short time."
"Why would it be creepy to propose after a short time?" Fleur asked, sounding a bit tetchy.
"You love Malfoy?" Percy the Prat asked in his haughty voice. Draco sincerely hoped he didn't sound that way when he spoke, though he knew their accents were more similar to each other than the rest of the Weasleys were. "I thought he was just here because he didn't have anywhere else to go for the holidays. I didn't even know Harry was gay."
"Not quite gay," Harry said. "I'm—"
"I was actually sort of wondering why he was here, too," Charlie said kind of quietly. "I'm not really in the loop about these things." He shot a mild glare at Bill, who apparently was his link to the World of Weasley.
"Hey, now," Bill retorted. "I've only just found out about this myself, so don't look at me that way."
"Oh, for the love of— all of you stop this ridiculousness!" Molly demanded. Draco shot her a grateful smile. "I'm sure Draco's struggling enough to feel at home right now without all of you gossiping about him while he's right here!"
"Yes, please wait until I've gone home to discuss how mad Harry is for finding my arse ambrosial," Draco deadpanned, not at all expecting the raucous laughter George exploded with. After, that is, he'd spit his drink all over the back of Percy the Prat's head.
"You great idiot!" Percy whined as he cast a drying charm on his head and robes. "These are new!"
"I didn't want to like you, Malfoy, but I might have to change my ways after that comment," George said, offering a large smile to Draco and completely ignoring Percy the Prat.
"Draco, you may not be my son by blood, but I'll expect you to watch your tongue here," Molly said gently.
"She never tells me to watch my tongue like that," Ron complained again. "Ow!" And apparently Hermione had elbowed him in the ribs yet again, though Draco hadn't seen it happen. He was too distracted by the fact that Molly had just suggested that he was her son in some other way than blood.
In the space of maybe two minutes Draco had gone from swiveling his head back in forth to catch everyone's quips and questions and outburst to withdrawing from the conversation entirely in order to focus on the incredible honour Molly had just given him with such simple words. It was bad enough that he was not-missing his actual mother at that moment, but now he felt even guiltier because he felt as though he yearned to replace her with Molly's good-natured, accepting motherly self.
"Hey," Harry said as he sat down beside Draco, successfully pulling him out of his miserable thoughts. "You alright?" Draco nodded, but couldn't meet Harry's eyes. "No, you're not. What's wrong?"
"Draco, Harry," Mr. Weasley interrupted, saving Draco from answering Harry's uncomfortable question. "Thank you so much for the de-gnomer! Those things are always a pest in the spring and summer, and it'll save Molly and I loads of yard work."
"It's no problem at all, sir," Draco said respectfully.
"Arthur. Call me Arthur," he said with a large smile and a pat on Draco's shoulder. He nodded to Harry just as kindly before wandering off.
"Oi! Thanks, you two!" George called.
"Thanks Harry, Malfoy," Percy said stiffly.
"Really appreciate your thoughtful gift," Charlie said.
"Sank you very much, boys," Fleur said as she placed the silver flower hairpin they'd chosen for her near her left ear.
"Yeah, thanks." Bill winked at Harry, which caused Harry to blush a bit, yet again, and smile weirdly before mumbling something and looking away. Draco couldn't help but narrow his eyes at Harry's reaction to Bill's appreciation. Harry didn't blush when anyone else had said thank you, but perhaps it was Bill's wink that had caused that. Draco decided to test his theory subtly.
"So Bill," he began, turning away from Harry to regard the rugged looking man. "How long did you and Fleur wait before getting married?"
"Oh, not very long. With the war so close at hand we sort of rushed things a bit," Bill explained. "We got engaged the first year we were together."
"That's understandable. And you had the wedding here?"
"We did," Fleur replied with a smile. "It was eizer zat or get married in France, and we didn't exactly have much of a choice, financially. It was a very beautiful wedding." Draco admired her French accent and tried very hard not to think of his mother attempting to teach him the language as he listened to Fleur speak.
"It's a lovely property," Draco replied with a smile. "Did Harry go?"
"He did, but it was probably a bad idea, even in disguise," Bill said with a grimace, then leaned past Draco to look at Harry. "Don't know if I ever really apologised for that. I should've listened to Fleur and not let you come. If I'd known you'd be put at risk like that…" Draco turned to watch Harry's expression, which had replicated the one he'd worn just before when Bill thanked him: slightly pink cheeks, weird smile, sort of raised eyebrows.
"It wasn't, er, your fault," Harry said slowly, tripping over his words a bit. "It's not like you knew the… they were coming."
"You can say 'Death Eaters,' Harry," Draco said gently, patting Harry's thigh sympathetically. "What happened? I was kept pretty much in the dark around that time. Nobody told me what raids they were doing. Did you make it out alright?"
"No, I died," Harry said jokingly, then shook his head. "We made it out alright, thanks to Hermione's quick thinking. The Death Eaters showed up right after the dancing had started. It was strange, one minute everyone was dancing and the next we were listening to Kingsley's Patronus message telling us the Ministry had fallen into Voldemort's hands and the Minister was dead. Then we were running for our lives. What an intense night."
"You don't say," Fleur sighed. "So much for a honeymoon."
"We had our honeymoon eventually," Bill said half-defensively. "Just… after the war ended."
"Hmm, and what a nice honeymoon we had. I've never been to ze Bahamas before."
"I'm glad I went, though. It may have been intense, but it was worth seeing you two get married. I'd never been to a wedding before that, muggle or magical, so I'm glad for the experience."
"We're glad you went too, Harry, but I still wish we'd known what would happen later," Bill said with a grimace. "I'm just glad nothing happened to you."
Again Draco looked at Harry's reaction to Bill's words and his suspicions were confirmed. Harry had a crush on Bill. For whatever reason, it didn't make Draco jealous, however. More so it just made him want to tease Harry about it, which was weird because he did feel jealous about the fact that Ginny still seemed to harbor feelings for Harry. Shouldn't it be the opposite?
Harry, Bill, and Fleur continued chatting about the wedding night and what they'd each gone through respectively as Draco contemplated his lack of jealousy. Maybe it was healthy that he felt that way, in the end. After all, jealousy was only bound to create more tension between them. But why be jealous of Ginny, then? He had Harry, and he'd given him this ring. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Bill was married, or that he was older. In any sense, he was less attainable, so perhaps that explained it. The fear of Harry retreating to his relationship with Ginny was an insecurity he didn't want to admit he had, and something he planned to eradicate before it grew into something ridiculous.
As Draco continued to watch Harry watching Bill animatedly describe his honeymoon to the Bahamas, he wondered if Harry even realised the secret attraction he was fostering. It would be all too easy to use this as bait to tease Harry with, and Draco couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought. He'd probably wait until they were home to do anything like that, though, in case he actually did embarrass Harry accidentally. Never let it be said that Draco wasn't considerate, even if he still had a bit of a rough edge from time to time.
The night went on pretty well from there, and Draco had even had a friendly-ish conversation with Ron about Quidditch. They'd not agreed on which team was best to support; Ron was dead set on supporting the Cannons, though they hadn't done well in a rather long time, and Draco was more of a Montrose Magpies man, as they'd actually proven their worth by being rated the most successful team. They'd won the League cup over thirty times. This didn't sway Ron, though, and he continued to prattle on about how the Cannons were bound to turn around their losing streak eventually.
"You only like them because they've got black as their team colour," Ron had accused of him. "And anyway, you should wear some colour from time to time; you don't want to come off as drab."
"As if this—" he gestured up and down the length of himself, "—could be considered drab. Ask Harry if he thinks I'm drab, why don't you?"
"Oh, for the love of Godric Gryffindor's bollocks! I don't want to know. And anyway, at least the Cannons are in it for more than just winning."
"And what are they in it for? Are they attempting to earn a trophy for Least Wins in History? Because if there's a trophy for that, I'm sure they'll win it eventually." Draco smirked at Ron's outraged gasp. "No worries, mate, you'll grow up eventually and figure out that other teams exist outside of that horrid orange monstrosity."
"Take that back!" Ron shouted, but then faltered. "Did… did you just call me mate?" Draco had to think back on what he'd just said before responding.
"I suppose I did," he said slowly. He hadn't really meant to, but there it was.
"Never thought I'd hear that coming out of your mouth in a bajillion years," Ron muttered.
"Bajillion is not a number, Ronald," Hermione corrected absently before turning back around to resume talking with Molly. Ron pulled a face at the back of her head and then looked back at Draco with a strange expression in his face that could only mean something awful was about to take place between them.
"Listen, Mal— er, I mean Draco," Ron started off as he glanced at the uneven floorboards, and if that wasn't the harbinger of doom Draco had expected, he didn't know what was. "I know we haven't gotten along, really… like, ever. I sort of hated your face for the longest time. Well, not just your face, but the rest of you, too. The way you talk like a posh wanker, the way you sneered, the way you walked like you'd had this stick shoved so far up your arse—"
"Is this meant to be some form of apology?" Draco asked, bewildered and yet amused all the same. "Because I'm feeling oh so sentimental right now, thanks to you."
"Anyway, we didn't get along at all." Draco waited for more, but it seemed as though Ron had finished.
"Well, this has been enlightening," he muttered as he got ready to stand and retrieve Teddy from Hermione again in the hopes he could provide a decent distraction from the awkwardness taking place.
"Sorry! Was just trying to figure out what I was trying to say," Ron said, waving his hands in a way that suggested Draco sit back down a moment. "I think I can put the past behind me… for Harry, mind. Not for you. I'm still not convinced you're much different, but you've been really… Well… Not bad tonight. So maybe Harry's right about you. Maybe."
"You sound so convinced." Draco sighed and decided it might not be so bad to offer the same sort of peace treaty to Ron as well. "You haven't been nearly as irritating, piggish, loud, and uneducated tonight as I'd always assumed you were," he admitted uncomfortably.
"You didn't see him put away his first helping of dinner, so leave out 'piggish' for now," Hermione threw over her shoulder, and it was clear that, though she'd been appearing to pay close attention to Molly, she was also paying just as much attention to Draco and Ron as well.
"I suppose I can put the past behind me, too. But I don't think we'll ever agree when it comes to Quidditch. Or fashion, or appropriate bed attire, or a multitude of other things, probably, that would take me far too long to list in one evening."
"So… what are we now?" Ron asked as he fidgeted with a loose thread on his trousers. "Buddies? Friends? Mates?"
"All of the above, Ron," Draco laughed. "So long as you never, ever, comment on things being up my arse again. Those words coming out of your mouth is just… it's not something I think I'll ever recover from, and I'm probably going to have nightmares for weeks, now."
"Both of you! Language!" Molly shouted, and Draco actually felt like a Weasley kid for once. While, once upon a not-very-long time ago, Draco would've shot himself straight in the head with the Killing Curse for feeling that way, now he felt his heart swell painfully against his ribcage at the thought.
"That's more what I'm used to," Ron chuckled. "And that's a fair request. After I'd said it I sort of regretted it instantly, so I'll probably be right there with you on the nightmares thing. You know, mental image and all that."
"Okay, subject change," Hermione cut in, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't listening anymore. "You'll both be having nightmares of me boxing your ears if I have to listen to this talk of bums and penetration any longer. Except they won't be nightmares, they'll be memories."
"Hermione! Did you just say penetration?" George boomed, squeezing himself in between her and Ron. "My word, you've become quite the potty-talker."
"You obviously didn't hear the majority of Ron and Draco's conversation, then," she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "You'd have had a field day commenting on that."
"Oh? And what did they discuss? Penetrating each other's bums? I thought Harry had claimed that territory as his." Draco felt his entire neck and face heat at George's quip. He obviously couldn't know that he and Harry had only had sex once, and it'd been Harry bottoming rather than him, but it was still something he'd never thought he'd be discussing with anyone other than Harry. And, in fact, he didn't plan to discuss it with anyone other than Harry.
"I'm going to have to agree with Hermione," Draco said, before George could come up with anything else to set his skin aflame. "It's time for a subject change."
"Yes, please," Harry said, sounding incredibly pained. Glancing over at him, Draco saw that he wasn't the only one suffering from emotional sunburn over the topic of conversation.
"Actually, I'm probably going to head to bed for the night," Hermione said, and promptly yawned, causing the word 'night' to sound more like the sound a horse makes. Standing up and handing Harry Teddy, she regarded them all. "It was lovely visiting with everyone, and it was incredibly nice to see you smiling, Draco. It's a nice change from the last time we met."
"You two met up?" Ron asked, immediately sounding begrudging.
"Oh, please, Ron. I went to visit Harry, and you know Draco lives with him." She rolled her eyes again and placed a chaste kiss on Ron's creased forehead before offering goodnight farewells to the others and heading up the stairs.
"We're going to head out now as well," Bill said as he and Fleur returned from the kitchen. Draco hadn't noticed them disappear, but now that they'd returned he noticed Harry's eyes swiftly fly over to the eldest Weasley. "Thanks for everything mum and dad."
"Yes, it was a very lovely Christmas," Fleur said as she followed Bill's lead in embracing her in-laws and kissing their cheeks. "We will 'ave to come and visit soon. Or you could come to see our 'ome, too. It's been a long time since you saw ze 'ouse."
"That would be perfect, Fleur," Arthur said as he smiled fondly at her. "You two travel safely, alright? Let us know when you've got time for a visit and I'll try to take time off work."
"Look at all these old people going to bed early," George teased as he watched Percy stand and brush his robes off. "It's only midnight."
"It is?" Harry asked, slightly alarmed. "It's way past Teddy's bed time. We'd better get him home, too, actually."
"Old people," George repeated with a disappointed shake of his head.
"I'm younger than you, you know," Harry said with a laugh.
"Maybe physically. Up here," he said as he tapped his head, "I'm as spry as Teddy. I bet he and I could pull an all-nighter if we tried hard enough."
"You're a bad influence, George," Molly said as she wrapped Harry in a hug and then proceeded to do the same to Draco. "Thank you so, so much for coming, Draco," she whispered in his ear. "I hope you've had a good night, dear."
"I did, actually," he said honestly. "This has been one of the best Christmases I've ever had, I think. It's definitely the first one I've had where I've been able to relax this much. But then, there wasn't much relaxing around my house on a normal day."
Molly looked at Draco with a sad smile curving her aging face and patted his cheek lovingly. He didn't think his mother had ever done that, but he also wasn't thinking about his mother right then, or in the future. His expression must've given him away, though, because Molly was soon pulling him into a second embrace and he swore he could hear Ron muttering something in a dejected tone about her "never hugging me twice in a row."
"You boys have a good night, now," Arthur said from his chair near the fireplace as the three of them approached. "And thanks to both of you for helping make another Weasley Christmas for the records."
"Night, Arthur," Harry replied with a smile as he leaned down to awkwardly hug the man while also holding Teddy. Draco attempted to pass Arthur by, but was stopped by the man's arm blocking his path.
"You're wearing a Weasley jumper," Arthur stated obviously. "And that implies that you're part of the family now, weather you like it or not. In this family we hug each other before we leave. Of course, if that makes you uncomfortable no one will force you, but—"
Draco swallowed any feelings of unease about hugging anyone but Molly and leaned down to wrap his arms around Arthur for a brief moment, averting his gaze as he righted himself.
"Thank you," Draco said quietly, trying to ignore the proud smile he was being offered.
He and Harry took the Floo home and immediately Draco felt as though he could breathe more easily. It wasn't that he'd been overly uncomfortable at the Burrow, but he felt immensely better now that he was back at Grimmauld Place, where he and Harry could discuss bums and penetration all they wanted without any red-headed interruptions or teasing.
"Could you get Teddy ready for bed?" Harry asked as he rubbed his eyes in a very sleepy manner.
"I can, if you warm up a bit of formula for him." Draco took Teddy from Harry's arms after he'd kissed the lad's head affectionately and climbed up the stairs toward the nursery.
After changing Teddy's nappy one final time and changing him into some warm, soft pyjamas, Harry came in with the bottle and Draco took Teddy over to the rocking chair to feed him as they snuggled. It was getting closer to the time when Teddy would have to stop drinking bottles altogether, if the infant development books he'd read were anything close to accurate. He'd miss these times, he'd miss cradling Teddy in his arms and watching him suckle away at the milk-like contents of his bottle as he gazed curiously up at Draco and kept strangely intense eye contact with him. He'd cherish these moments as much as possible while he could still have them, because if there was anything Draco had learned thoroughly in life, it was that nothing lasted for nearly as long as he wished it could.
Once the bottle was finished, Draco rested Teddy in his swing and set it to the lowest rocking pattern, then crept to the sitting room to retrieve his cello, checking on the way to make sure Harry wasn't lurking somewhere. He lay the cello case on the floor of Teddy's nursery and carefully pulled it out, tuning it by ear before coating his bow in the right amount of rosin.
"My mother changed the lyrics a bit for me, so I'm going to start a tradition and change the lyrics up a bit for you. Don't speak a word of this to Harry, I'll be mortified."
Teddy simply sighed in reply, too sleepy to even muster his usual bedtime giggles. Supposing that was as much as an agreement as he was bound to get, Draco began playing the intro to the traditional Irish lullaby his mother had sung to him every night when he was a child.
"Rest tired eyes a while, sweet is thy Teddy's smile. Unicorns are guarding and they watch o'er thee. Sleep, sleep, grah mo chree, here on your cousin's knee. Unicorns are guarding and they watch o'er thee. The birdeens sing a fluting song, they sing to thee the whole day long. Wee fairies dance o'er hill and dale, for very love of thee…"
As Draco continued to sing and play he had to try very hard not to let his throat close up with the tears that threatened to fall. Christmas was officially over and he no longer had a mother to visit over the holiday— not a real one, anyway. Singing this particular lullaby may have been a bad idea, but now that he'd started he wasn't going to stop mid-way through. Narcissa had sung "...here on your mama's knee," but those lyrics had been more fitting for when he was a young boy sitting on his mother's lap as she rocked him and sang this very song. Now he was improvising, though the lyrics didn't flow as well as they had when she'd sung it.
Once finished with the song, Draco smiled as he looked up at Teddy's now-sleeping form in the swing. His head was tilted to the side and a small trail of drool spilled from his pink lips down his tiny chin. As quietly as possible, Draco loosened his bow and returned his cello to its case before transitioning Teddy from his swing to his crib and covering him with a thick blanket.
"I love you, Teddy, and I'll always do so unconditionally," he whispered against Teddy's temple. Leaving a kiss behind there, Draco picked up his cello case and retreated from the room, closing the door gently behind him.
"I heard you singing," Harry whispered, startling Draco so that he banged his hard case against the wall.
"Warn someone when you're about to cause them to break their very expensive christmas gift, you twat!" Harry only laughed quietly and came to wrap Draco in his arms, his nose pressing into the crook of Draco's neck. "Oh, and I suppose you'll think this means you're forgiven, should I hug you back?"
"No, just trying to lessen the repercussions of my horrid behaviour," Harry mumbled into Draco's skin. "You have a really nice voice. Why didn't you tell me you could sing?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't sing," Draco said, only half-defensively. "I need to put this away before you cause me to smash it properly." Harry untangled himself from Draco and smirked, though he was trying very hard not to, if the twitching of the corners of his lips was any intimation.
"I'll just be in the bedroom, then. Thanks for putting Teddy to sleep with your not-singing."
Draco watched Harry go down the hall, his embarrassment coming back to the forefront of his mind. Harry had heard him singing, and not only that, but he'd heard him singing a lullaby his mother had sung for him as a child. Not that he knew that, but it still felt like a very personal moment had been intruded upon. Sighing at himself for not casting some sort of silencing charm on the nursery, Draco put his cello away in the drawing room and then went to the loo to do his before bed routine.
Teeth cleaned and pyjamas donned, Draco went to his and Harry's room, fully expecting his bed mate to confront the lullaby situation yet again. He wasn't wrong; the moment his head hit the pillow Harry wrapped his arms around him yet again and began stroking Draco's collar bone through his T-shirt.
"So… Where did you learn that song?" Harry asked, feigning poorly at his mild curiosity and coming off as just desperately curious.
"My mother," Draco replied shortly, though he did wrap his arms around Harry as well, just in case he got the idea that Draco was angry with him for asking. It wasn't that he was angry, he just felt that it was a touchy subject and with the holidays not yet passed he was not-missing his mother more fiercely than he had all day.
"Did she sing it to you, ever?"
"All the time, when I was younger. It was my favourite lullaby that she sang." And that was all Draco really wanted to say on the matter, but Harry adjusted himself in their snuggle so that he was at eye level with Draco and he knew the interrogation wasn't finished yet.
"You're missing her, aren't you?" Draco looked up at the ceiling and began paying close attention to the new paint they'd put up and how it affected the atmosphere of their bedroom. "Draco." But it looked as though they'd missed a spot painting, in one of the corners near the trim of the window closest to them. "Draco, it's okay if you miss her. She's your mum." Not that it was all that noticeable, but Draco thought that he might touch it up tomorrow, since they had extra paint. "Draco arsing Malfoy."
"That's not my middle name, but I congratulate you on your originality."
"I know your middle name, and I know you don't like it, so I'm replacing it. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I need you to know that you can talk to me about it." He paused as though he were waiting for a confessional from Draco, and when he got none he said, "If you want to."
"What am I meant to say about it?" Draco finally burst out, louder than he'd intended. "What will it fix if I were to admit that I miss her? Nothing would change. It's not like she'd come waltzing in, apologising for what she's done and asking me to please be her son again. It's fucking Christmas, Harry, of course I fucking miss her. She's the person I've spent every single Christmas, and every other holiday, with since I was born. Yes, Molly has become more of a mother to me than I'd ever imagined she would be, but that doesn't replace the fact that my own mother doesn't want a thing to do with me, doesn't even want me as her son anymore." Draco was made to stop in the midst of his release of pent up thoughts as his throat constricted. He hadn't quite realised just how strongly he still felt about his mother's actions, but his words were proof and he was forced to admit that he wasn't over what had happened, not in the slightest.
"I would sincerely hope she wouldn't come waltzing in here, since I'm in my pants and it would be a really awkward situation, her finding us in bed together," Harry said, in a bad attempt at comic relief. Draco wanted to chuckle despite himself, but his throat was still tightly closed off from anything but the shallow breaths he was taking. "It's okay to miss her, Draco. It's alright to be upset over this whole thing. She pulled something petty and awful with disowning you and removing you from the vaults and inheritance. But she's still your mum, and you're still her son, so it's only natural you'd feel this way.
"Nobody expects you to just put this all behind you. If Molly disowned me over all this I'd feel pretty similarly to you... except I wouldn't be out any money," he added thoughtfully, then shook his head, his chin wobbling back and forth on the ridge of Draco's shoulder. "But that's beside the point. You're allowed to feel any which way about about what happened. And I'm here to support you in whatever way you need me to."
Rolling over, Draco tugged Harry closer to him and mushed his face into Harry's chest, just needing the comfort that their closeness gave him. He didn't have many things left in this world, but when Harry squeezed Draco tightly, his fingers digging into the shirt fabric and muscles of Draco's back, he felt as though it might not matter how much he had. He had Harry, he had the Weasleys, as strangely as that still felt, and he had Teddy. Really, he was fortunate, and he wished he could feel that way. His shoulders heaved as a fresh round of tears shocked his system. He hated that he couldn't control himself better than this. There was no reason to feel so angst-ridden and maudlin over this; it wasn't helping anything.
"It's okay," Harry whispered as he stroked gently, grounding circles into Draco's back. "I'm here."
Draco had the feeling that quite a lot of time passed as he snotted and cried all over Harry's night shirt, but he couldn't bring himself to stop mid way. It was as though he'd been harboring all of this emotion in his sinuses and tear ducts and because he'd denied their release, now he was forced to let it all out at once. On Harry's shirt. Which, by the time he was able to breathe more normally and the snot had stopped running, he realised was probably ruined.
"Sorry I fucked up your shirt," Draco apologised as he grabbed his wand and used a light drying and cleansing charm combination on his face. He tried to use the same charm on Harry's shirt, but it only resulted in his snot crusting in a large patch on Harry's shoulder.
"It's alright," Harry chuckled as he lifted said ruined shirt over his head and tossed it somewhere in the room. "Feel any better now?" There was a tentative quality to Harry's question, as though he was afraid of setting Draco off again.
"I actually feel a lot better now," Draco admitted, surprising himself at the truth behind his statement. "I think I needed a good cry, as pathetic as that makes me feel."
"You poor, wretched human, experiencing emotions and what not," Harry joked as he pressed a kiss to Draco's temple.
"I'm a disgrace, aren't I?"
"Yes, but you're my disgrace, so I'll excuse your display of psychological rubbish. So long as it never happens again," he added in jest. Or at least Draco was pretty sure he was joking, but he'd been interrupted by a yawn, so it was hard to tell.
"Believe me, I'd like it to never happen again," Draco said with a soft, self-degrading laugh. "Though, I can't make any promises. Seems the mask my father instilled in me is slipping."
"It's about damn time, then, isn't it?"
Draco didn't have much of a response for that, but was glad that he and Harry could tease each other with their usual repartee again. He was still sorting through the slight shame of his emotional outburst, the fact that he felt the need to have one in the first place, and the lingering jumble of feelings regarding his mother. Harry didn't force him to continue the conversation, much to Draco's appreciation. All he wanted was sleep at that point, and as his eyelids grew heavier and his breathing levelled out, he thanked whatever kind deities watching for the reprieve from his brain's machinations.