Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

19 Years and 5 Minutes Later	By : TheMightyFlynn Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 58417 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any characters related to that series; they are JK Rowling's. I make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 1-19 Years and 5 Minutes Later
- 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
- 41-Ch. 41
- 42-Ch. 42
- 43-Ch. 43
- 44-Ch. 44
- 45-Ch. 45
- 46-Ch. 46
- 47-Ch. 47
- 48-Ch. 48
- 49-Ch. 49
- 50-Ch. 50
- 51-Epilogue
- 50
- 51
A/N: Alrighty, so the idea of a wedding to finish was polarising when I asked, so here's what I'll do. This chapter will serve as an epilogue to this story. In a few weeks, possibly up to two months away, I'll start a sequel. It will start from either the start of June or July the next year and will cover the wedding, how they all interact as a blended family and the summer before Lily goes off to Hogwarts.
I'll also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has commented on and liked this story. The response has been amazing, so thank you all! :D
The steam huffing out of the Hogwarts Express combined with the press of bodies to counter the freezing December weather on Platform 9 ¾. It wasn’t the train or the people that had captured Draco's attention, however. Standing back against the wall at one end of the platform, his eyes were pinned to the door of the bathroom. Images of his time spent in there back in September flicked through his mind and he had to suppress a smile. Those few minutes had been a pivotal point in his life and he never could have imagined at the time that he could now have what he did because of it.
“You know, if you looked at me like you’re looking at that door, we’d never have gotten out of the house this morning.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Potter; there’s children present.”
Harry’s responding laugh had Draco turning to face him to catch the sparkle his eyes gained. After a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being watched too closely, Draco reached to brush his fingers through the streak of silver that now adorned Harry’s right temple and trailed back towards his ear. They both assumed that it was the stress Harry had been under during the trial that had caused the grey streak to appear so suddenly and Draco was quite thankful that this was the only real physical damage Harry had suffered. He had known beforehand that Harry was quite strong-willed and the fact that he hadn’t crumbled after the trial and its consequences was a testament to that. Draco couldn’t help smirking when Harry ducked away from his touch.
“Leave it alone, would you?” Harry shot him a glare and scrubbed a hand through the rest of his hair. “It’s annoying enough knowing it’s there.”
Stepping up behind him, Draco traced a finger lightly through Harry’s hair again. “It gives you a distinguished look.”
“It does not.”
“It’s also quite sexy.”
“It is not; you’re insane.”
The amusement on Harry’s face sent adrenalin thrilling through Draco's veins, spurring him on when he usually would have let it go. “My apologies. I’ll endeavour to never tell you how attractive I find you ever again.”
Harry snorted with laughter just as a familiar shriek drew both of their attention. Stepping away from him a few steps gave Draco a good line of sight through the crowd so he could make out Lily jumping with excitement as her cousins and brothers exited the train. Glancing around the platform, Draco found Astoria grinning at him a little distance from where Lily stood with her Aunts and Uncles. Placing a hand lightly on the small of Harry’s back, Draco followed him through the crowd, using the short amount of time to compose himself again.
He was looking forward to seeing all three of the boys again, not just Scorpius. In the days following the trial, Draco had gone to Hogwarts to check on Scorpius and was pleased to discover that the press hadn’t been able to make their way into the school. Scorpius had been happy to see him but confused as to why he had been pulled away from his friends.
It was Harry’s boys who had really suffered. He and Harry had known that the days and weeks following the trial were going to be hell, but what James overheard had made it so much worse. Draco had never seen a child with such a hollow, broken look in his eyes as what he had seen with James over the week Harry kept him back from school after the trial. He had lost a lot of his liveliness, spending his time at Grimmauld and the Manor in his room and only speaking when asked a direct question. Having gone through what they had after the War, both Harry and Draco had contacts with Healers and therapists who could help with emotional trauma and Harry hadn’t hesitated in contacting them. They both knew that it would take a while for James to come back to his normal self, but the therapist he was now in regular contact with was definitely helping him to sort through everything that had happened. It was a form of Healing that Draco was now certain that Harry should have had when he was a teenager, considering the kinds of things he had gone through.
“Mum!” Scorpius’ voice broke Draco out of his thoughts and he glanced down to see Astoria hugging Scorpius close to her chest. “Mum, everyone’s watching!”
Scorpius broke away from Astoria, a slight blush staining his cheeks as he glanced furtively around. Draco offered up a small smile when he met his eyes.
“How has everything been, Scorp? No problems?”
“No, people seem to ignore me and go straight to Al and James if they want gossip.” He turned to look over his shoulder, a worried look in his eyes. “Dad, is James alright? There’s been a lot of rumours about what happened and why he’s so quiet now.”
Draco closed his eyes briefly as a familiar dull ache spread through his chest. Truth be told, he had no idea how James was right at that moment, because he simply couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be rejected so thoroughly by one of his parents. He glanced out over the sea of red hair he was now surrounded by to find Harry, resisting the urge to wince as the Weasley clan crowded around each other. Kneeling down at the edge of the crowd, Harry was speaking to James who was, thankfully, responding.
“We hope he will be alright, Scorp,” he responded after a few seconds. “He’s been through a lot; more than he should have, really.”
“Are he and Al coming back to the Manor with us for Christmas?”
Draco finally dragged his eyes away from Harry. “They are.”
“Good.” Draco could feel his eyes widening, but before he could ask, Scorpius continued. “That means I’ll have someone good to play against in chess.”
With that, he spun on his heel and headed over to speak to a group of students that included Carmel Zabini. Draco stood still for a few seconds, unsure if he should be happy that Scorpius was happy, or insulted over the chess jab.
“He gets that competitiveness from you, you know.”
“Me?” Draco raised an eyebrow as he guided Astoria out and around the gathered Weasleys, weaving their way over to Harry. “Out of the two of us, who was it who joined the chess club in school?”
Astoria grinned at him. “Me. But I never played Quidditch.”
Draco leant close as they came up behind Harry. “I had an extremely good reason for wanting to play Quidditch against him.”
An elbow to his ribs was Astoria’s only response. Draco grunted and rubbed his side as Harry stood and looked between them with a questioning look.
“Your boyfriend is sick,” Astoria explained before Draco could even open his mouth.
Harry snorted. “You married him.”
Draco shook his head slowly. Introducing the two of them was probably a bad decision, he figured as they both grinned at him. Choosing to ignore them, he glanced around Harry to where James stood watching them.
“How are you, James?”
“Good.” James stepped up and pressed himself close to Harry’s side, a slightly wary look in his eyes. “Looking forward to going home.”
Seeing a child who had been so outgoing now so quiet caused Draco's chest to ache again, but he was determined to not give James any further reason to retreat into himself. He met Harry’s eyes and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“We’ll stop off at Grimmauld first?”
“The Manor’s less draughty.” Draco saw Harry’s head snap down so he could stare at James with what Draco assumed was the same level of astonishment as he was at that moment. James stared at the two of them for a few seconds before looking awkwardly over his shoulder. “I’m going to go say goodbye to everyone, alright?”
“Did he just..?” Draco trailed off, a strange sensation trying to break through in his chest.
“I think ‘home’ in this case is the Manor.”
The feeling in Draco's chest finally broke through the slight shock at James’ words, causing a smile to spread across his face. With what felt like a mix of joy, gratitude and relief washing through him, he knew it was impossible for him to prevent the smile and he ducked his head instead of trying. He felt more than saw Harry move up in front of him.
“Looks like we’re making progress there.”
Draco raised his head the second he got the smile back under control. The happiness he saw in Harry’s eyes almost ruined that control again and he glanced away, needing to be able to regain control properly again. Unfortunately, this brought Astoria back into his line of sight. She shook her head, a small smile on her face.
“I’m going to collect Scorpius before Carmel decides that he’s going to spend the holiday with her.”
“Mmm, I should find Al and Lily as well.”
The two of them drifted off, leaving Draco watching over James as he spoke with some of his cousins. He was so focussed on watching the nuances of James’ interactions with the other children that he didn’t notice Hermione sidling up beside him until she spoke.
“How is he? He seems better.”
Only just managing to control the shock at her sudden appearance, Draco glanced over to see that she wasn’t looking at him. He had put in a great effort to be nice to both her and her husband since the trial – as well as any other Weasley he had come across – and was quite proud that he had managed to not snap at any of them. Changing nearly thirty years of behaviour was proving difficult, but he was managing. He cleared his throat as he looked back to James.
“He’s talking a lot more freely than he was, but is still very clingy. I would assume that in cases such as this, though, that is to be expected. The therapist he has been seeing is sending back favourable reports as well.”
He saw her shake her head out of the corner of his eye. He waited for her to speak, however, as he knew that if she had something to say, then she would say it.
“I can’t imagine having to deal with what he has had to over the past two months.”
“No, neither can I.”
It took a few seconds before Draco realised that he had just completely agreed with something Hermione Granger had said. He didn’t get long to examine the feeling, though, before Ronald moved up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Malfoy.”
“Ronald.” Draco had to suppress the smirk that threatened at the Weasel’s surprised look when he used his given name. From across the sea of orange, Harry met his eyes and Draco gave a soft sigh. Be the bigger man. “How was Rose’s first semester?”
This sent Hermione off on a long-winded account of their daughter’s first year at Hogwarts. It seemed that she had inherited her Mother’s brains and that she was near the top of the year with Scorpius. That little piece of information sent a competitiveness through Draco that he had trouble suppressing; one that he had felt towards Hermione himself during school. With the exception of his sixth year and every Defence Against the Dark Arts class, he had been right there with her at the top of the year and it had annoyed him no end when he was unable to beat her.
Mixed in with her raving about Rose were little morsels of information on Albus that Draco had been unaware of, causing him to pay close attention to what she was saying. Little things like his favourite classes, or the fact that he and Rose were quite close were interspersed with information on Rose, Hugo and various cousins. It was all a bit much to take in at once, but Draco paid attention to it all, just in case. She didn’t stop speaking until Harry moved over to them with Al and Lily in tow.
“So, I was talking to Percy about Christmas,” he began before pausing for a few seconds to meet Draco's eyes questioningly.
“I have no relations other than my parents. They will expect to see us, as will Astoria’s parents, but besides that, Christmas is always on the small-ish side for us.”
He knew that Harry already knew this, but figured it was good for Ronald and Hermione to hear it from him as well. Harry nodded slowly, obviously unsure about how to broach the subject of the Weasley Christmas.
“Are your parents at the Manor for Christmas?”
Draco blinked in surprise as Hermione turned to face him. “They are, as are Astoria’s.”
“Then it should be easy enough. They can all see you in the morning and you can all come to the Burrow in the afternoon.”
Ronald’s eyes widened a little at the suggestion, letting Draco know that this was not a plan they had discussed beforehand. He glanced back to see a hopefulness dawning in Harry’s eyes that he couldn’t crush, no matter the prospect he was facing. Christmas with the Weasley clan. The idea was more than a little daunting, but it was obviously what Harry wanted.
“Oh, well, I’ll have to speak to Molly, obviously, but that would be brilliant.”
Draco could hear the anticipation in Harry’s voice and he couldn’t help a small smile. It was good to know that, no matter what had passed between them, Harry would have the hope of keeping the family he had built around himself. After an exchange of promises to stay in touch over the next few days as well as further goodbyes to various relations, it appeared Harry and the kids were finally ready to leave.
“Alright, do we have everything and everyone?”
“I think I’d know if I was missing, Dad.”
Harry rolled his eyes at Al’s sarcasm, but kept quiet. The trip through King’s Cross station was a little noisier than Draco was used to and he spent a lot of time simply counting the children around him, hoping that they wouldn’t accidentally lose one of them. Scorpius and Albus paired off, talking and laughing as they pushed their trolleys. Astoria had grabbed Lily’s hand and was guiding her slowly through the crowds behind Al and Scorp. A mild worry touched Draco's chest when he couldn’t find Harry and James, but it was alleviated the second he felt a small hand grab the back of his coat. He looked over his shoulder to find James holding tightly to him. Harry was just behind him, pushing his trolley with a strange glint in his eyes as he watched them. Draco offered a small smile as he reached back to place a hand between James’ shoulder blades, guiding him through the crowd before him. James stepped away and back to Harry the second they made it outside the station, but Draco figured anything that indicated that James wasn’t pushing him away was positive progress.
Standing and counting heads, Harry grinned when he saw that they still had everyone. He had driven them all there that morning in the luxury car the Malfoy family had owned for years. Draco had never bothered learning to drive, as he had always been driven by the family drivers, but Harry insisted on driving himself. It had left Draco's regular driver looking a little miffed, but he was professional enough to not say anything about it.
“Alright, it looks like we still have everyone.” He met Draco's eyes over the children’s heads, a knowing smile tilting his lips. “Let’s head back home, then.”
*~*
The two days before Christmas day were filled with games to keep the children distracted and more food than Harry knew he should have eaten. It was strange, having so many new people around him during the holidays, but he knew it was something he would get used to, just as he had with the Weasleys all those years ago.
Christmas morning itself dawned cold and dark. Frowning as he shivered a little, Harry rolled over and flung an arm in Draco's direction, only for it to hit nothing but cold sheets. He squinted at the alarm clock, hoping it wasn’t too early. 5:47. He groaned. It was too early for the children to be awake on their own, but he would place any amount of money on Draco having rose at his usual early hour to tend to his greenhouse.
He slipped out of bed, visited the bathroom and wrapped himself in warm pyjamas and a fluffy dressing gown that Draco had purchased for him at the start of winter. Making his way down through the Manor as quietly as he could, he took the opportunity to check on each of the kids on the way. Lily was sprawled across her bed, her arms and legs flung in all directions. Harry smiled and closed the door again quietly before he accidentally woke her. Al was curled in a tiny ball, so Harry grabbed another blanket and carefully placed it over him. It took a few minutes, but Al slowly uncurled as he warmed up. Scorpius’ room was next. All Harry could see of him was a shock of white-blond hair over the top of the blankets. A soft snore sounded just as he closed the door. James’ bed was empty.
Panic shot through Harry before he realised that James was standing at the window. He moved slowly into the room, making sure his slipper-clad feet shuffled a little on the thick rug so James would know he was there.
“Draco's in the greenhouse.”
Harry smiled. “I figured; he’s weird like that.” His smile widened when James huffed out a small laugh. “I just wanted to check on all of you first before I joined him.”
James turned to face him. Framed by the window behind him, it was impossible for Harry to make out his expression, but his body language didn’t set off any alarm bells. The past two days had given Harry the hope that maybe James would pull through this without any permanent damage and his next words proved that hope to not be in vain.
“I’m going to be alright, Dad. Healer Kendall is really nice and knows what I’m going through. She says… She says it might take a while before I can think of Mum without hurting, but eventually everything will be dulled and not feel like it does now. You don’t have to worry about me so much.”
Unable to help it, Harry let out a shaky-sounding laugh. “Jamie, it’s my job to worry about you.” Prompted by a pressing feeling in his chest, he stepped forward to scoop James up into his arms. He took a few steps back so they were sitting on the bed together, with James next to him. “And I will worry about you – all of you – until I’m old and grey and wrinkled and you all have kids of your own. Even then, I’ll probably still be trailing behind you, telling you to not stand at windows in the middle of winter wearing only your pyjamas.”
James’ laugh sent a feeling of pure happiness straight through Harry. “You already are grey, Dad.”
Despite a huge attempt at keeping a straight face, Harry grinned. “I believe Draco may have had a bit of a bad influence on you, young man.”
James’ responding laugh sent more joy through Harry, warming him much more than the dressing gown. Taking into consideration how dire things had been looking only seven weeks before, Harry thought it a small miracle to be able to hear James sounding so free again. He made a mental note to send an extra-large bunch of flowers to Healer Kendall as he joined in James’ laughter. He ruffled his son’s hair as he climbed back beneath the covers.
“Merry Christmas, Jamie.”
“Merry Christmas, Dad. I’ll stay in here and pretend to sleep until at least 6:30?”
Harry grinned. “Thank you. You know how grumpy your sister gets if she’s woken up too early.”
James’ responding groan had Harry laughing again. Having satisfied himself that all four kids were alright, he continued on his way through the Manor. Snow had been falling all night, it seemed, as everything was blanketed in white as he pushed open the backdoor. The Manor was beautiful in the winter, but Harry didn’t spare the time to take it in as the cold began to seep through him again. Melting the snow with his wand, he followed the path that Draco had obviously forged earlier in the morning. The door of the greenhouse shut quietly behind him and Harry stood still, taking in the sight before him.
Draco was working at one of the middle tables, his head bent and hands flying over whatever he was working on. A building desire made itself known in Harry’s chest as he watched him working quietly. In the dim light, Draco's hair shone like the snow outside, giving him an ethereal look that simply took Harry’s breath away. It was odd to think that a mere four months ago, Draco had been Malfoy, the annoying git that Harry had still held a grudge against from their school days.
Harry stepped closer, keeping as quiet as he could so as not to disturb Draco. He figured a trip to St. Mungo’s because Draco had accidentally chopped a finger off wasn’t the best way to start Christmas morning.
“Are you going to wish me a happy Christmas, or are you just here to watch?”
Harry grinned. “Both. Although, with a knife in your hand, you could probably convince me to say anything you wanted.”
Casting a stasis charm over his work, Draco turned to face Harry, knife in hand and a wicked grin on his face. “Anything?”
The desire that had been building in Harry’s chest kicked up a few notches at the sight and he moved forward a few steps. “What did you have in mind?”
Draco's eyes roamed Harry’s body, but he stayed where he was. “Evidentially not what you thought.” Turning back to the table, he placed the knife down and let out a small breath. “I have something for you.”
A mild confusion running through him at the change in direction the conversation had taken, Harry frowned. “Presents are for when everyone is, well, present.”
“How incredibly eloquent of you, Potter.” Draco's hands moved to grasp the edge of the table, causing Harry’s frown to deepen. “This, however, is not a Christmas present.”
Unwilling to leave Draco just standing there when he was obviously so nervous about something, Harry stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his middle. He was thankful when Draco immediately relaxed back into the embrace. Rubbing his stubbly cheek against the soft skin of Draco's throat earned him a shaky laugh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Draco.”
“Nothing is wrong.”
He took a deep breath before grabbing something from the table and spinning around. Harry took a few steps back when Draco raised his hand, showing him a small silver box engraved with the fancy and elegant ‘M’ some of the Malfoy heirlooms held.
“This belonged to Grandfather Abraxas. He and Grandmother Onora were married for eighty seven years.”
Harry could feel his eyes widening. He honestly hadn’t been expecting an actual proposal; or a ring, for that matter. It occurred to him that he had just assumed that at some point in the near future, they would marry without any fuss. A confusing mix of emotions crowded through his chest, each trying to be felt first.
“Dray…”
Draco held up his free hand and Harry shut his mouth. Getting down on one knee, Draco took a deep breath.
“You know, sometimes it feels as though, in one way or another, I have loved you for most of my life. My Grandfather believed that this ring brought him and my Grandmother an entire lifetime of happiness in an arranged marriage. I’d like to think, though, that we won’t need luck or a charmed ring; that what we have is much stronger than that.” He flipped the box open to reveal a white gold band, engraved with vines twining around the centre and topped with what looked to be an emerald. “With that in mind, Harry James Potter, would you do me the great honour of agreeing to marry me?”
The feelings overwhelming him seemed to peak, with one of the purest feelings of love that Harry had ever experienced beginning to dominate. He was absolutely certain that there was some kind of formal way to accept such a proposal, but he followed his instincts. Falling to his knees, he placed both hands on the sides of Draco's face and drew him into a deep kiss. Draco's response of huffing out a surprised sound had Harry laughing into the kiss, but he didn’t break it. He slid his tongue into Draco's mouth the second he began reacting to him. Enjoying the feeling of having Draco all to himself for the time being, Harry shuffled as close as he could on his knees, earning himself a small chuckle.
“Are you going to answer me?”
Draco's voice was completely breathless, causing Harry to let out what he thought sounded like a delirious laugh. “Yes. Of course, yes!”
The laughter in his voice seemed to cause a true smile to break on Draco's face. Pleasure rushed through Harry’s chest as he watched the glint in Draco's eyes: it was rare for him to score a real smile from Draco, not just a smirk or the grin that he showed so often. Brushing his fingers across Draco's cheekbones caused the smile to widen, showing everything that Draco was feeling at that moment. His eyes dropped to the box as Draco removed the ring.
“Hold out your hand.”
The ring seemed to fit itself to Harry’s finger as Draco slid it on. Harry stared down at it for long enough that Draco let out a frustrated-sounding sigh, grabbed his hand and raised it until Harry’s eyes met his.
“I love you.”
The ache in his cheeks told Harry that his own smile matched Draco's in intensity. “I love you, too.”
Draco drew him into another, softer kiss, one that held so much promise that Harry’s head began to swim. Sliding down so that he was sitting on the floor of the greenhouse – and dragging Draco with him – Harry sighed softly. It was such a rare occurrence for the two of them to have time alone like this when the kids were around that Harry lost track of the time. Sitting together there in the silence and keeping each other warm from the chill air was so peaceful that Harry jumped when the door banged open.
“You two had better be hiding in here,” Astoria’s voice interrupted the silence. “We have four very excited children inside looking for you.”
She paused when she rounded the corner of the tables and caught sight of the two of them. Her eyes widened and she took a step closer, seeming to hesitate a little before speaking again.
“Did… Did he do it?”
Harry couldn’t help laughing at the blush that spread over Draco's cheeks at her words, but he rose to his feet and held out his hand anyway. “He did.”
He was certain that the squeal Astoria let out could have been heard over in the next county. She rushed up to him and threw her arms around his neck, almost bouncing in her excitement.
“Finally.”
The rest of the household, thankfully, had a much more tempered reaction to the news than Astoria had. Both Astoria’s parents – Caroline and Terrance – as well as Draco's had spent the night at the Manor so they could see their Grandson on Christmas morning. It was a sharp reminder for Harry that, sometime in the near future, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were going to be his in-laws. It was a slightly nerve-wracking thought, but he pushed it aside for the time being. There was no point in scaring himself needlessly so early on.
The morning went quite well, with all of the kids unwrapping the biggest presents first and throwing the paper all over the formal living room of the Manor. Draco and Harry had brought Lily a chemistry set that she had been looking at in one of the Muggle stores in London for a while. James scored a full collection of Chudley Cannons Quidditch gear, which he immediately started putting on. Albus seemed slightly overwhelmed with his new special edition wizard chess set, despite the fact that Harry could see no real difference between it and the regular ones. Al did try to explain, but gave up when Harry just shook his head. Lastly, Scorpius sat staring down into the box he opened, a look of complete shock on his face. Harry watched curiously as he pulled a miniature dragon from the box. It roared and stamped its feet as it followed him around the living room. Draco nudged him in the ribs and he leant in.
“The charm will have to be refreshed every two weeks if he wants it to continue working, so he can either leave it here to wind down, or take it to Hogwarts with him and practice himself.”
It was one of the most fascinating children’s toys Harry had ever seen and kind of made him wish that it had been around when he was a child. Following lunch, Harry, Draco and all four kids moved on to the Burrow. Harry was a little worried about how the day would go, but it seemed that the presence of the children softened many of the negative reactions. He and Draco spent most of their time outside with Arthur, Ron and Hermione, watching the kids fly around the orchard.
The presents were nowhere near as lavish here as they were at the Manor, but this was a different kind of celebration. Whereas the one in the Manor had been slightly more formal, this was all about the children. Molly had even thought to make Scorpius a Weasley jumper, which he stared at with wide eyes before Al informed him, rather helpfully, that it was supposed to be worn, not looked at. Harry knew that he shouldn’t find Al’s developing talent for sarcasm amusing, but he couldn’t help chuckling every time. Seeing Scorpius Malfoy kitted out in a green jumper with a gold S knitted on the front sent warmth spreading through Harry and he couldn’t even bring himself to care that Draco hadn’t scored a jumper himself. In fact, Draco seemed quite surprised and thankful for the homemade shortbread package he did receive and it seemed to relax him a little towards Molly and Arthur.
Harry considered the fact that they made it through the entire ordeal without one single real fight a true wonder. He had had no idea what to expect from Christmas day at the Burrow with his blended family, but they had all managed to surprise him. The three younger kids all crashed early, with Harry putting Al to bed at only nine o’clock. He was beginning to feel the day close in on him as well, but knew that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to kick James out and send him to bed when he didn’t want to. It seemed, however, that he needn’t have worried.
He smiled as he walked into the living room of the Manor to find Draco sitting in the middle of the lounge with James next to him, both of them sound asleep. Al’s new chess set was sitting on a table in front of them, impatiently calling out for them to awake and finish the game. Moving slowly into the room, Harry cleared the game up with a swipe of his wand, then turned to face them.
He knew that the change in James’ attitude towards Draco had been brought about through some of the worst circumstances, but the sight before him was so relieving that Harry couldn’t bring himself to wake them. He stepped back and folded himself up into one of the spare chairs. The glint of his new ring in the firelight had him smiling even wider.
“Harry?” Draco's voice was thick with sleep.
“Right here.”
Draco blinked his eyes open and smiled when he saw that James was asleep next to him. “How long?”
“I’ve just come back down from putting Al to bed. I think it might be about time I took you up as well.”
The tilt of Draco's lips told Harry that he was waking up rapidly. “Don’t take too long.”
Harry grinned as he scooped James into his arms and carried him up to his room. He didn’t wake as Harry tucked him beneath the covers. Harry placed a kiss on his forehead before returning to the living room to find that, while Draco hadn’t moved from the position on the lounge, there was something very different about him. The leer that Draco shot him probably had something to do with it, Harry figured as he moved to settle himself on the lounge.
“Happy Christmas, Dray.”
- 50
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19 Years and 5 Minutes Later