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"What do you mean, you're leaving?" Lucius asked, his eyes stormy gray from the anger he'd built up listening to his son.

"Just what I've said, father," Draco said defiantly. "You always made it seem as though I was never welcome here, anyway. What difference would it make if I'm not here?"

Draco turned to walk out of his father's study. He'd almost made it to the door before Lucius yelled at him, "You're no son of mine if you walk out that door!"

Instantly, the younger Malfoy turned on his heel and glared at his father. "I'm no son of yours whether I walk out that door or not! You never gave a damn about me until it came time to train me in the Arts! Even then, you only stuck around for those three hours a day before you left again! When I look back, I remember more about my servants than I could ever remember about you! You were never here!"

"I was never here because I was helping my Lord!" Lucius boomed. "I was helping him better this world for the purebloods! I was trying to make your life better!"

"No," Draco shouted. "If you wanted to make my life better, you would've been there for me, instead of pushing me into impossible situations. You would've told me you were proud of me; you would've been there when I needed you most!"

"Like when, Draco? When did you need me? You were always an independent man, just like your father," the man growled.

Draco read off his litany from memory. "When I was growing up; when mom died; wh-when I realized exactly who it was I loved!"

"If you were a true Malfoy, you wouldn't have needed me in those events," Lucius informed him in an icy drawl.

"See, father, that's exactly what I mean," Draco sneered in retort. "You were never satisfied with whatever I did: I was never a proper Slytherin, I was never a proper Malfoy, and I was never a proper son. Everything I did to try to get your attention, you always saw something that could've been better; some flaw in the perfect form. And you wonder why I'm leaving this house and never coming back."

With that, Draco whirled around and stormed out of the study; his robes were billowing behind him dramatically.

Lucius watched as he son walked through those doors and out of his life.

--

"How did it go?" Harry asked when Draco finally arrived at their shared flat. He'd been anxious since the blonde man had left early that afternoon; he knew that Draco had gone to finally rid himself of the burden that was his father. It worried him that the other man insisted on going by himself. Moreover, it worried him what Lucius would do in reaction. However, his lover was back in one piece and under no recognizable spell; everything was fine.

"I feel so much better," Draco confided as he rubbed his neck. He was surly going to get a headache from the events of this evening.

Harry obediently stepped forward and took over for Draco; he began to massage the tight and knotted muscles at the base of the blonde's neck. Draco moaned in appreciation as Harry dug at a particularly stubborn knot.

Without pausing in his ministrations, Harry leaned forward until his lips were right next to Draco's ear and whispered, "Welcome home, love."

End.

A/N: Okay, so I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow, so don't really expect me to update anything for, say, about eighteen days. Ciao.