THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

Disclaimer - I do not own the setting of Harry Potter or any of the characters; those are the property of J.K. Rowling. I have however added a few new names, given that this story is centered on the time after Harry and Draco have graduated. The plot is entirely mine.

This story is a male x male slash so please don't read it if you don't like to read these types of fanfics.

Key:

"Thoughts"/"Telepathy"

"Speech"

~Parseltongue~

-"flashback"-

Chapter 27: Epilogue - 2 years later

Harry wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn't decided to help Draco 2 years ago as he stood teaching Defence in front of the NEWT year class. He would probably still be sitting alone in his house with only Snow and two eggs to keep him company and that would have been enough. He would also probably have dwelled on the feelings he had for Draco in more ways than he could count. And it would have been peaceful.

A ringing surged through his ears and Harry glared at the hovering tempus next to him. His class gathered their books and left and Harry gratefully sank back into his chair. It felt strange to be sitting Remus' place, but now both Remus and Severus were gone and he was feeling lonely.

He knew that Draco still had a double class of potions to teach and so he decided to turn to Salazar. The man's portrait was now hanging behind him in class and he had to stifle his laughter numerous times when the Slytherin founder fixed a student with that glare of his.

A lot of students had wondered why the Slytherin founder had wanted to be placed in a Gryffindor teacher's class, but Harry soon taught them to learn from their elders' mistakes. Not that Harry and Draco were that old, to begin with, but it got the point across. Salazar Slytherin had surprised everyone when he chewed out a student for being rude to another student no matter what colors they wore and one could say that he was even stricter on both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins since the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were more concerned about making friends and reading books...well most of them at least.

Harry cringed as he thought about the time when he and Draco had to infiltrate that corrupted family. He could be very glad that he didn't lose everything that day. He sighed again then felt a phantom hand club him over the head as Peeves took off with a skid and he glared at Salazar Slytherin. The man glared right back.

"What? Do you think I am going to let you sulk here all day? It's the last day of school for the year and I have already talked to McGonagall now go grab your man and go pack! If you are not out of here in an hour's time, I might tell certain people that you don't want to see them."

Harry gaped at the man then hurried out of the door to the rooms that he and Draco shared. He didn't know how the founder did it, but the man always somehow got Peeves to club him over the head without a moment's notice when he wasn't pleased.

He was very surprised to see Draco in the room but by the looks of things he had been chased out of his class too. Harry looked at Draco and the blonde caught his glance and shook his head. "I promise you that I will murder our Godfathers when I get my hands on them one day."

Harry laughed then smiled. When the fight was over, a few of their friends took up the Potions and Defence positions while Harry and Draco recovered. Poppy had refused to let both of them out of her sight for about a week, after which Draco decided to kidnap him and they hid out within The Room of Requirement as they'd made plans. They then sent Severus and Remus away on a surprise vacation to Paris and the two just never came back.

Severus was now making potions from his own shop for a living and Remus had been roped in to do an investigation for an acquaintance of his and now had his own detective firm. Both of them had admitted that they were very happy with their occupations and that's when Harry and Draco permanently took over their classes.

Harry knew that it didn't make sense for him to feel like Remus and Severus were gone since they could just floo over, but he kind of missed seeing the two of them around Hogwarts. Tonks let them know after the incident that they had filtered out all of the corrupt officials in the Ministry and that they had captured the entire group of people that wanted to kill them.

Harry grimaced. If Leah hadn't saved the group then he would probably have turned them all into coal. It was fortunate that she had helped otherwise he might have been sitting in Azkaban right now. He hadn't been an Auror at the time and as a civilian, killing another person was against the law no matter who you were (unless you were Voldie of course).

He frowned again but a hand on his back brought his thoughts back to the present. Draco was looking at him and Harry smiled at the man who dragged him close and sealed their lips with a kiss. Harry could barely concentrate on breathing as their tongues danced together and they kissed until they were both feeling lightheaded. Draco slowly let him go before speaking. "I can tell that you are thinking about what happened two years ago. Don't. We have a cruise to get to." Harry laughed and nodded, placing his bag next to the door with Draco's.

Three hours later they were on the cruise ship. They finished unpacking and then made their way to the room next door, where Severus and Remus were. The three of them had practically threatened the Potions Master with leaving him behind if he didn't join them and he had refused to let Remus go off alone.

The door opened and both Harry and Draco's jaws hit the floor as they realized that Severus was standing in front of them in jeans and a white shirt. Harry mock fainted. "The dreaded Potions Master in a white shirt? The apocalypse must be coming." Severus glared at both of them as they grinned and Remus stepped out of the room and threw his arms around Severus from behind.

"I think he looks sexy." Remus kissed the potions master on the lips by turning the dark-haired man to face him and then he turned to Draco. "I have a reservation for dinner at the restaurant tonight, but Sev and I decided to stay in. You're welcome to it if you want it." Both Harry and Draco nodded and they grinned as Remus shut the cabin door and dragged Severus away.

They knew that they should probably feel sorry for the dark-haired Slytherin, but Severus needed to get out once in a while. Harry turned to Draco and caught the other man looking at him with a grin that could only spell trouble for Harry.

"What have you got planned, Draco?" The man held up his hands. "I don't really have anything planned. I'm just glad to be here with you." Harry grinned and shook his head. He knew that Draco definitely had something planned. The man was nervous, hopeful, and excited all at once.

They walked throughout the giant cruise ship until late evening before Draco claimed that he was famished. Harry just raised an eyebrow and followed him to a restaurant, but the closer they got to the restaurant the jitterier Draco seemed to become. Harry started to worry whether there was something that Draco wanted to tell him, but that he probably didn't know how to say it.

They entered the restaurant and Harry was surprised to see it empty. He looked at Draco and the blonde just shrugged and led them to a table overlooking the activities area. A waiter came to take their order and then quickly left. Harry felt like they were being left with complete privacy on purpose.

He decided to shrug it off; it wasn't the first time he let his mind run away with a few scenarios after all and he wasn't about to let it ruin a good date. They ate while talking about numerous things that they didn't know about each other and there was a lot. Harry almost felt like he didn't completely know Draco, but he was determined to learn more each day.

It was late when they started heading back to their cabin and they took a long way around. It was nice having a break from getting up early and facing a bunch of troublemaking students so early. They walked across one of the decks where soft music was still playing and Draco suddenly tugged on his arm.

Harry found himself in Draco's arms and they were slowly shifting from side to side. Harry felt like he wanted to bolt, but Draco didn't allow it. "Draco! I can't dance!" The blonde man looked at him and smiled. "I know, but we're not dancing, we are only swaying in each other's arms."

The brunet had to admit that his partner was right so he allowed Draco to lead him. They 'danced' for a while before Draco tugged on his hand and instead of heading back to their quarters; Harry discovered that they were taking a different route. They finally made it to what seemed like the highest part of the ship and Harry gaped at the sight of a full moon coming up over the water.

He ran to the railing to watch the moon rising, but he turned when he didn't feel Draco next to him. The sight of Draco on one knee behind him nearly floored him and they both froze for what seemed like forever. Draco visibly swallowed nervously before he spoke. "Harry, I know I was a git to you during most of the time that you have known me and I know that I act strange when things don't go my way and this should be enough of a reason for you to run the other way, but I hope that you will do me the honor of marrying me."

Silence descended between them for a few long moments until Draco made a move to stand up. He looked extremely uncomfortable and withdrawn and Harry realized that the blonde thought that he was rejecting his proposal.

His whole being screamed at him to not let the blonde go and he almost tackled Draco to the ground before kissing him senseless.

Draco laughed once they finally came up for air. "I take that as a yes." Harry nodded and Draco shook his head in amusement. "I'm going to need an answer you know, just to be sure." Harry laughed and kissed the blonde again before giving in. "It is a definite yes."

Draco's shoulders sagged in relief and he picked Harry up before walking towards their room. Harry flailed to try and get Draco to put him down, but it was no use so he gave up and cuddled with the blonde's warm body instead, which earned him a chuckle from Draco.

The blonde opened their cabin door and closed it before carrying Harry to bed. Harry swore that he heard quite a few silence and locking spells, but he didn't care, Draco was finally going to be his. They slowly undressed each other and Harry tried to map every part of Draco as the blonde tried to do the same to him. Their lovemaking was hot and passionate and Harry found that he couldn't even string one comprehensible thought together, not to mention a sentence. In the end, they came together and both Harry and Draco could only describe it as magic.

THE END

Yeah I know that was really a cliché ending but hey, it has to work if it has been used so many times. Thank you to everyone who followed this story.