Cupid Wings

19. The Hunter

Harry's bed felt empty and cold without Draco in it. They'd agreed that on a 'school night' they needed to enact a bit of decorum because, as Draco put it, 'Harry was a randy bastard and he'd never get any sleep'. Harry objected. He thought that perhaps Draco was the worse of the two of them after they'd got back from the Ministry and Draco had practically wrestled him to the sitting room floor, muttering something about finishing what they'd started earlier as he straddled Harry in front of the fire and deftly undressed him. Not that it helped that Harry'd transformed a number of times during the afternoon so he was feeling slightly restless.

It had been a long day, Harry thought with a sigh as he pulled his duvet around him. Pads looked at him balefully and Harry rolled his eyes. The huge dog took that as an invitation and leapt up onto the bed and curled up at Harry's feet.

'You'll have to get used to the floor when Draco stays over,' Harry muttered.

He was sure the dog sighed heavily.

Lunch had turned into a spectacle because there had been a bit of a student meltdown when the Golden Trio walked into the Great Hall together. First silence fell. Then a rush of whispers and exclamations filled the air. Then someone started clapping and that was it, the Great Hall was filled with cheers and wolf-whistles as the student body clapped their heroes.

'Blimey,' said Ron. 'I feel dead important.'

'That's because, against all odds, you are, Mr Weasley,' enunciated Severus slowly. 'A veritable national treasure, for some...'

'Bloody hell, I've just realised I can answer back without getting a detention,' Ron grinned.

'Indeed,' but Severus still up-slapped the back of Ron's head, even though Ron was taller than him by some two inches. 'That's for not realising four years ago.'

When the furore died down, Nev greeted Ron and Hermione with welcoming bear hugs and Ron ended up sitting between Nev and Luna, smirking at Harry when he said 'too many Snakes on your side of the table!'

Hermione sat between Severus and Minerva and their conversation about molecules and transfiguration and potion making continued.

'I hate this,' Harry muttered to Draco as he passed him the plate of cold meats. 'They're off again like it's the next big adventure, Hermione's already regurgitating every encyclopaedia she's ever read, look at her, she's in her element...'

'What did Ron add to the party, apart from behaving like an enthusiastic Crup-puppy and humping Hermione's leg?'

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Draco seriously. 'Humour when things got difficult, sheer brute force and bravery, loyalty, a big heart, cunning strategy, mean duelling skills, and surprising astuteness and tactical thinking... is that enough?' He put a hunk of brown bread on Draco's plate.

'It's quite an admirable list. Chutney?'

'Thank you. He's quite an admirable man when you get past the surface bluster...'

'...are you sure you wouldn't rather be sleeping with him?'

Harry wrinkled his nose as he took the large piece of cheddar cheese that Draco had just cut him. 'I have no desire to make my way through the entirety of the Weasley siblings. The point is we couldn't have done our adventures without him. He's amazingly level-headed, more so than me or Hermione. Well, you've just witnessed what she's like when her brain goes off ahead of her mouth and you know about my temper and stubbornness. Stop giving him a hard time.'

Draco smiled, 'I will. Especially after what he said earlier. He's right, isn't he? I don't want to come between you and your bestfriends. I want to be a part of your life, not your life, if you know what I mean. When you say make your way through all the Weasley siblings, how many...?'