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The Optimal Balance	By : TheMightyFlynn Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 17125 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and characters belong to JK Rowling and associates. This was written for fun. I make no money from it.

Chapter List
- 1-The Optimal Balance
- 2-Ch. 2
- 3-Ch. 3
- 4-Ch. 4
- 5-Ch. 5
- 6-Ch. 6
- 7-Ch. 7
- 8-Ch. 8
- 9-Ch. 9
- 10-Ch. 10
- 11-Ch. 11
- 12-Ch. 12
- 13-Ch. 13
- 14-Ch. 14
- 15-Ch. 15
- 16-Ch. 16
- 17-Ch. 17
- 18-Ch. 18
- 19-Ch. 19
- 20-Ch. 20
- 21-Ch. 21
- 22-Ch. 22
- 23-Ch. 23
- 24-Ch. 24
- 25-Ch. 25
- 26-Ch. 26
- 27-Ch. 27
- 28-Ch. 28
- 29-Ch. 29
- 30-Ch. 30
- 31-Ch. 31
- 32-Ch. 32
- 33-Ch. 33
- 34-Ch. 34
- 35-Ch. 35
- 36-Ch. 36
- 37-Ch. 37
- 38-Ch. 38
- 39-Ch. 39
- 40-Ch. 40: Epilogue
- 39
- 40
The arrival of September signified several things to Harry. Firstly, that Lily was finally beginning her first year at Hogwarts. It almost felt as though she had been preparing for this moment since the second she had been born. Her trunk had been packed since the start of August – which Hermione had helped her with since Harry and Draco had been on their honeymoon – and she had groomed Bastet to within an inch of the poor cat’s life. Harry didn’t think he had seen anyone so ready to start school since Hermione. In fact, he found himself quite surprised that Lily hadn’t come bouncing into their bedroom at 6am to inform them that they only had five hours to get up, dressed and to the station.
The second thing September signified to Harry was that it had been both six whole weeks since his and Draco’s wedding day, and an entire year since they had first gotten together. Well, he re-considered, technically they had gotten together on September first. If you counted a quick round of hate sex while exchanging insults as the start of a relationship, that is. A wide smile spread across his face as the memory flashed through his mind of just how angry Draco had been with him for seemingly ignoring him while standing at a public urinal together. The revelation that had followed not long after was the biggest – and best – that Harry had ever had and had resulted in his current state of happiness–
“Are you just going to lie in bed all day?”
Stretching his arms above his head, Harry grinned at the canopy above him. “No.”
“Well then, move your arse, you lazy sod!”
Harry’s grin widened into a proper smile when the curtains surrounding the bed were flung open and several articles of clothing were tossed at him through the gap. The pale light coming in through the windows caught on Draco's hair, causing it to flash white for a second before he moved out of Harry’s line-of-sight again. Following the sudden urge that rushed through him to brush his hands through said hair, Harry hopped up out of the bed, leaving the offered clothing in a messy pile on the covers. Draco gasped when Harry wrapped his arms around his waist, drawing him into a tight embrace.
“Good morning to you, too.”
Nuzzling into the nape of Draco’s neck, Harry smiled again when he caught a glimpse of the last thing that the start of September signified to him: the return of Draco's autumn wardrobe. He would readily admit that not much changed when it came to the way Draco dressed, with the exception of one particular thing. Harry ran his fingers slowly up Draco's ribs, tracing them along the light grey pattern that had been sown into the waistcoat Draco wore over his regular white button-up shirt. He had absolutely no idea what it was about seeing Draco in a waistcoat, but it did things to Harry’s mind – and body – that were difficult to ignore. He sighed quietly when Draco leant back into his arms.
“Harry?”
Running one hand up through Draco's hair, Harry watched as his fringe flopped down into his eyes. “You need a haircut.”
Draco scoffed. “Bite me.”
“That wasn’t very nice.” Harry chuckled when Draco shrugged. “You’re grumpy this morning.”
“I’m not a nice person, Potter.”
“You’re full of it, Malfoy.”
“I’m going to miss them.”
Draco's voice was so low that Harry almost didn’t hear him. It was definitely a sentiment that Harry shared, though. One of Draco's hands came up to clench on Harry’s wrist as his arm moved to circle around Draco's waist. Slipping the hand that was in Draco's hair down to wrap around his shoulders, Harry held him close.
“I know, Dray. It’s only until December, though.” It was true: none of their children wanted to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break. That didn’t make their absence during the school term any better, however. “You dealt with Scorp’s absence quite well last year.”
“Mmm, there was a new development I was working on that was causing quite the distraction this time last year.”
“Oh, so now the truth comes out! This was a planned seduction, was it?”
Harry grinned when Draco let out a slightly embarrassed-sounding laugh and leant back further into his arms. When he turned his head to run his lips along the shell of Draco’s ear, it was to find that Draco had turned as well, causing their lips to meet briefly.
“No, I didn’t actually go out that day with the intention of ending up on the tiles of a public loo with you.” Draco paused so he could turn around properly in Harry’s arms, bringing them face-to-face. “I will admit that once you entered the restroom, my intention was to beat the shit out of you. I even had the door locked after you had only taken a few steps into the room. Seemingly being rejected yet again just tipped me over the edge that day, apparently.”
Wrapping his arms up around Draco's shoulders, Harry smiled. “So you’re saying that I should ignore you more often? It might actually improve the sex?”
Harry’s smile widened again when one of Draco's hands slipped down to grasp his arse. Memories of that first day a year previously flashed through his mind: the contempt on Draco's face, the shock of realising just how much he had wanted what Draco was offering, and the lust that had deepened Draco's voice almost beyond recognition. All of them flicked by quickly before Harry’s mind settled on their second encounter and the lust on Draco's face he had seen for the first time with his own eyes. Of course, he hadn’t known it was lust he was seeing; Draco had still been completely shut off to him at that stage. How much Draco had wanted him back then – and just how much those encounters had meant to him – had been clear, now that Harry knew what to look for, though. The white-hot need they shared didn’t seem to have dimmed in the least for either of them over the past year, despite the changes in their relationship.
“Are you complaining?” Draco let out a small chuckle when Harry put a bit of pressure on the back of his head and drew him into a soft kiss. “Because if you are…”
“You’ll keep me in here until I’m satisfied?”
“No, Harry, I’ll keep you in here until I’m satisfied that you’ll stop complaining.”
Harry’s responding laugh was swallowed as Draco pulled him into another kiss. This one was much deeper and slower than what Harry had been expecting out of him the morning they had to be up and moving early enough to meet the eleven o’clock deadline for the train. He was just settling into the warm sensations running through him when the sound of the outer door of their suite being flung open dragged him back to reality.
“Dad! Are you awake yet?”
Instead of jerking away from Harry as had been his automatic reaction to being interrupted at first, Draco let out a long-suffering sigh as the sound of Lily’s voice drifted through the door. “This I won’t miss.”
Harry’s first instinct was to respond verbally, but he resisted the urge and merely reached up to brush his fingers across Draco's cheekbone instead. Draco's reaction was instant: his eyes fluttered closed and he leant into the touch briefly before seeming to come back to himself with a shake of his head. When Draco reopened his eyes, they held a warmth that had been a rare sight before the wedding, but which Draco hadn’t been bothering to try to hide recently.
“Don’t try and distract me.”
“I think we both know I don’t need to try.”
The laugh Draco responded with before shoving Harry off towards the bathroom was low and filled Harry with yet more warmth. Because the truth was, they both did know just how easy it was for Harry to distract Draco that way. That part of their relationship had always come easy for them; it was the rest of it that they had had issues with.
The few weeks following their wedding had been… interesting, to say the least. The little bumps in the road that Harry knew all blended families experience had seemed, at times, insurmountable to him. Of course, most blended families didn’t have to deal with having to punish three boys who had stolen from and lied to their Fathers, then led various cousins and friends astray in order to break into an old chamber using a potion made from potions they had stolen and altered. All in the name of giving the Fathers they had lied to and stolen from a good wedding present, of course. Harry rolled his eyes as he stepped into the spray of the shower. Watching his kids growing up, he had never thought that out of all of them, Lily would be the easiest to deal with when it came to their teenage years.
Everything seemed to have settled down over the past six weeks, however. Or, it had as much as possible when it came to them: Lily still ran riot through either the Manor or Grimmauld, chasing after Bastet, James was still the model of teenage moodiness, and Al and Scorp still delighted in annoying the other two as often as possible. Hell, even Harry and Draco themselves were still learning to adjust to their living situation and the different set of rules that they had had to come up with out of necessity just before the wedding. But adjusting they were. Nothing was ever going to come easily for them, Harry knew that, but they were working on it and Harry believed that everything would work out. It would just take time.
Still, Harry was quite thankful that he hadn’t gone into this marriage thinking that nothing would ever go wrong, because he was certain that everything that had happened would have knocked him so off-balance that he wasn’t sure he could have recovered in time to salvage whatever he and Draco would have had left. Not that he thought that Draco wouldn’t have fought for him. In fact, Draco's loyalty to him was one of things in his life that Harry was absolutely certain of. It was just… Harry shook his head as he scrubbed the conditioner out of his hair.
He had been in a relationship – a real, proper relationship – with Draco Malfoy for an entire year. Draco Malfoy. And he was actually happy about it. Deliriously happy, if he was to be completely honest. If his teenage self could see him now, he would probably have a bloody heart attack. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror when he stepped out of the shower and what he saw caused him to pause and lean in over the sink.
The grey streak that ran along his right temple was the first thing that always caught his attention, but that wasn’t what he focussed on this time. Leaning close to the glass, Harry took in the lines that had formed in the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. Slowly and deliberately, he smiled, watching as the lines around his mouth deepened and the ones at his eyes fanned outwards. Laugh lines. The idea had him smiling properly before he pushed back off the sink and cast a quick drying charm. Despite everything that had happened – including the revelation that he and Draco had been too focussed on whether the children would get along to see that they had actually skipped over some of the more important parts of their relationship – Harry was truly happy.
The smile didn’t leave his face as he pulled on the clothing that Draco had thrown at him. Nor did it leave him as he ran his hands through his hair in a failed attempt at tidying it, or as he shoved his glasses on his face and his wand into the holster on his jeans. It even widened a bit when he grabbed two coins and thrust them into his pocket in preparation for a little something he had planned for later that morning. And he didn’t want it to leave, either. He was finally happy, secure, and married to a man he loved more than he had thought it possible to love someone. This was so much more than he could have ever asked for in his life after the end of the War and he would be absolutely damned if he was going to let it go.
*~*
“You will look after the peacocks, won’t you?”
Lily’s hand tightened in Draco's as he helped guide her trolley through King’s Cross station. Bastet yowled loudly in the cage in Lily’s other hand, which she thankfully had a death grip on, as Draco really was not in the mood to be chasing a pissed off cat through the station.
“The peacocks will be fine, Lily.”
Draco paused to watch first Al, then Scorp push their trolleys through the barrier. Astoria followed shortly behind them, with James close on her heels. Glancing down when Lily tightened her grip on him yet again, Draco bit down on the inside of his lip to prevent himself from smiling. He waved Harry through the barrier before kneeling in front of Lily.
“It’s alright to be a little nervous, you know. I was on my first trip to Hogwarts as well.”
Lily turned to face him, her brown eyes wide. “You were?”
Draco found himself unable to prevent the smile any longer. “I was, but you know what helped?” He paused just long enough for Lily to shake her head, her eyes still wide. “My friends. I had two very good friends back then who were both starting Hogwarts at the same time I was. Having them by my side helped me to overcome the nerves I was feeling.”
It was partially true. Greg and Vince had helped to boost Draco's confidence when they were young, although probably not in the same way Lily’s friends were going to be able to help her.
“So…” Lily frowned when Bastet tried reaching out of the cage and swiping at her. She swatted back absentmindedly. “So what you’re saying is that if I go off and find Hugo and the others, then maybe I’ll feel a bit better? But what if that doesn’t work? What if I want to change my mind and go to Muggle school instead? Maybe Grandma can teach me magic? Or Dad? Or you?”
“Lily, Lily, slow down,” Draco chuckled as her voice increased in pitch with every suggestion. “You don’t have to resort to going to Muggle school.”
“But what if I want to? Come on, Draco. You’re really smart; you could teach me what I need to know to keep my magic under control!”
Draco automatically drew Lily into his arms as her voice took on a slightly panicked tone. He ran a hand along her shoulders in an attempt to soothe her before she accidentally managed to allow a Muggle to hear what she was saying. Attracting the attention of the Ministry for violations of the Secrecy Act was something Draco had so far managed to avoid and he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of beginning now.
“Lily?
“I don’t want to leave, Draco.” The whispered words were slightly wobbly, causing Draco to tighten his grip around Lily’s shoulders. “What if… What if something happens while I’m not there? What if something happens and I don’t know and Dad’s just… alone?”
Draco's chest tightened with a sharp shot of pain at the desperate tone to Lily’s voice. “Lils, I would never just leave your Dad all alone.” Reaching up to untangle Lily’s hands from around his neck, Draco offered her a small smile. “I love him more than anything else in this world and I swear to you that, no matter what happens, he won’t ever just be left all on his own.”
Lily sniffed. “You’re sure?”
“I’m absolutely positive.”
The wide smile that spread across Lily’s face just before she threw herself back into Draco's arms had him smiling properly in return. “I love you, Draco.”
The tight sensation in Draco's chest melted completely at that, to be replaced with a warmth that he had only ever felt around Scorpius before. Giving Lily one last squeeze before she pulled back, Draco let out a slightly shaky breath.
“I love you, too, my Princess.” The warmth in his chest was spreading quickly through the rest of Draco’s body when Lily laughed in response. “Are we ready?”
After Lily nodded, Draco helped her to guide her trolley – with Bastet still yowling in her cage on the top of the trunk – through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. They found Harry waiting patiently for them on the other side.
“You alright?”
Draco took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding. “She just had a little bit of a meltdown. She’s fine now.”
“Draco, I can see that Lily is fine. I asked how you are.”
One of Harry’s arms slipped around Draco's waist, holding him securely to Harry’s side. Instead of pulling away – breaking that habit was obviously still going to take a bit more effort on Draco's part – Draco watched Lily rush over to where the rest of the Weasley clan stood in a clump before turning to face Harry.
“I’m good.”
“You’re sure?”
The concern in Harry’s eyes only increased the warmth that had been spreading through Draco's body. He nodded. “I’m certain.”
“You know, just a few months ago, the two of you would have been at least a foot apart for fear of attracting bad press.”
Draco didn’t even bother to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the sound of Ronald’s voice behind him. “Weasley. Such a pleasure.”
The hand on Draco's hip tightened for a few seconds before Harry sighed and stepped away. “After watching the two of you actually getting along these past few months, do you really think you’re fooling anyone?”
“Old habits die hard.”
“I have to keep up appearances, mate, don’t I?”
Draco couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face when Harry merely shook his head at the two of them. The truth was that he and Ronald had formed an extremely cautious… Well, Draco wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘friendship’. It was more of an acquaintanceship, if he really had to give it a name. The point was, he had made the effort, just as he had promised Harry he would, and now he and Ronald weren’t sniping at each other every chance they got. Draco definitely counted that as a win for him.
“Right.” The disbelieving tone to Harry’s voice caused an involuntary smile to spread across Draco's face. “Well, if the two of you don’t mind, I’m going to say goodbye to the kids.”
Draco followed slowly behind Harry, watching as groups of small families gathered together, the parents fussing over the children and the children either fidgeting to get away, or clinging to the parents. A loud shriek drew his attention and he focussed ahead of him. Scorpius’ Malfoy-blond hair was bobbing in amongst the sea of red caused by the Weasley offspring, right beside Albus and James’ shock of jet-black hair. They were the only contrasts to the red, now that Victoire and Teddy had left school. Draco had to smile as he came up beside Astoria, who stood alone, right at the edge of the crowd.
“Roger didn’t follow you to the station?”
“We aren’t joined at the hip, you know.”
“Could have fooled me.”
Draco grinned when she elbowed him in the ribs. The truth was that Tori had been spending more time at Roger’s flat than she had at the Manor for the past month. Draco had, of course, been wary of what this would mean for Scorpius, but things had been running fairly smoothly; at least when it came to this part of their lives. It seemed to Draco that Scorpius was just beginning to enter what appeared to be a rather rebellious stage, but he knew that Tori would be right there with him to weather whatever Scorp could throw at them. A quick glance up to the clock told him they only had five minutes to get Scorpius and his trunk loaded onto the train. Thankfully, he only had to call out once to grab his son’s attention.
“I’m going to miss you, Scorp!”
“Mum,” Scorpius whined the second Astoria drew back from the embrace she had drawn him into. “Everyone can see us!” Scorpius’ cheeks were stained a dull pink when he tuned to face Draco.
“She’s right, Scorp.” Draco had kept his voice low, but he knew Scorpius had heard him when his head snapped up to meet Draco's eyes. The surprise he saw there caused Draco to kneel down in front of Scorpius so he could look him directly in the eye. “We will both miss you greatly.”
It took a few seconds for Scorp to seemingly get over the shock of Draco's words, but when he did, a wide smile broke over his face that had Draco smiling in response. With the blush deepening on his cheeks, Scorp ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’ll miss you too, Dad.”
The words were said so low and fast that Draco thought he may have misheard them, but when he chanced a glance up to Astoria, it was to see happiness shining brightly on her face. Placing a hand on Scorp’s shoulder, Draco rose to his feet again.
“Have a terrific time, Scorp.”
The bright smile on Scorp’s face almost matched that of the one on Astoria’s as she and Draco manoeuvred his trunk onto the train. Just as they had managed to get Scorp’s luggage settled into a carriage, James, Al and Lily appeared at Draco’s elbow. To Draco's shock, James held a hand out to him.
“Draco.”
He caught a glimpse of Harry grinning wide just off to James’ right, but Draco ignored him. Clasping James’ hand, he smiled.
“Have a good time, Jamie.”
Al treated Draco to the same, almost formal, goodbye, but Lily apparently didn’t have any qualms about showing exactly how she felt. Throwing herself forward, she wrapped her arms around Draco's shoulders, causing him to stagger back a step.
“I’ll miss you, Draco! Look after Dad for me!”
“You’ll do wonderfully, Lily. Write as often as you need.”
Once Lily released him, Draco automatically turned to Harry. Seeing Scorpius standing before Harry, their hands clasped together, sent yet another shot of warmth through Draco. Stepping over, he caught the end of the conversation Scorp and Harry were having.
“–and we’ll be seeing you all at Christmas.” Harry paused to grin at Draco over Scorpius’ shoulder. “I think it’s about time for you to be boarding, however.”
When Scorpius turned, it was with a brilliant smile on his face. Draco watched as his son made his way over to the train, almost bouncing as he called out to various friends. Harry’s hand landed softly in the small of Draco's back as they watched the train fill. Each of their kids ended up in one of two carriages, both of them full with Weasleys all talking and joking loudly. Without even thinking about it, Draco slipped an arm around Harry’s waist, holding him close.
Draco found that they didn’t need to speak as they watched the train; Harry seemed just as happy as he was to simply wave to the kids. He smiled at the various children who called out to him – there were many more this year than the previous one – until the whistle blew, signalling the train’s eminent departure. Draco stepped forward, his hand raised in farewell as the train began to move. The sound of the engine drowned out any words the children were calling out to various family members, but the messages were clear anyway. A sense of pride settled over him as the train pulled away from the station, carrying their children off to school.
“We did it.” Turning, Draco saw Harry grinning at him from back against the wall of the station. The second Draco moved up to join him, Harry’s arms stole around his waist. “Harry?”
“I’m proud of you, Draco.”
Draco smiled. “Us. Be proud of us for managing to make it through this summer.”
With a quick glance around – which he immediately cursed himself for, for falling back into his old habits – Draco drew Harry into a soft kiss. The warmth that had been pooling in him all morning returned when Harry let out a soft sigh into the kiss.
“Are you coming home with me, or are you off to work?”
“Actually, there’s someone here I owe a debt to.”
Draco blinked in surprise when Harry pulled out of the embrace. Watching as Harry made his way over towards the public toilets, a sense of realisation began to dawn slowly in the back of Draco's mind. Surely Harry couldn’t be speaking of… His thoughts were cut off abruptly when Harry reached into his pocket and threw something over towards him. Reacting instinctually, Draco reached out to catch the gold coin Harry had thrown. He stood and stared at it for a few seconds, expectation and excitement building inside him. His head jerked up when Harry spoke again.
“You’ll get the other half back once I’m satisfied.”
Grinning wickedly, Harry held up a second gold coin: the ‘payment’ Draco had made him a year previously after their first encounter in this very same bathroom. Shaking his head in disbelief, Draco stepped forward just far enough for Harry to be able to grasp a handful of his shirt.
“Happy anniversary, Dray.”
The whispered words sent a delightful shiver straight through Draco. He was unable to stop smiling as he followed his husband into the bathroom. It was looking to be a very happy anniversary indeed.

A/N: Well, here we are. Sorry for no warning thaat the last chater was technically the last one, but this feels like a good time to end it.
A huge thank you to everyone who liked, read and commented on both this and 19 Years! It has been an amazing journey and it wouldn't have hapened if it hadn't been for people requesting me to continue the one-shot that 19 Years was originally supposed to be. I will say that I have had requests to continue the series with some mpreg, but I cannot guarantee that that will happen. I do have another one-shot in mind to finish it all off, though, so that will be posted some time in the New Year. I won't close the series off until I have decided what I want to do with it.
Thank you all again and I hope that you all liked this final chapter! <3
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The Optimal Balance