The Boy Who Lived

I'd Like to Stay...

It became quickly apparent that the House-Elves were expecting them to stay the night and when Harry questioned Draco about whether it was alright with him, the blond man just shrugged nonchalantly and took another sip of his champagne.

After a delicious though oddly domestic dinner with the three of them and Hercules by Harry's feet, Harry took Teddy upstairs to see his bedroom and then for a bath. Draco followed along and it was welcome that they maintained something of the same habits that they'd established at Grimmauld Place. It turned out that Teddy's new room still contained some of Remus's teenage belongings. The room was tatty and desperately needed redecorating, to the extent that it set Harry's teeth on edge, but Teddy loved it. Harry was happy at the discovery and wanted to spend time exploring the room with Teddy, getting to know Remus through the objects and books and pictures in the room. And it seemed Draco was equally as intrigued to learn about the professor he'd openly sneered at when at school. Harry's grandparents had obviously opened their arms to James's friends, welcoming them in as their own. That gave Harry a warm glow and he resolutely decided that he would also make Beaumont the same welcoming home to his friends and extended family.

Later, Harry sat hunched on the sofa with Hercules sitting all goofy beside him, half on and half off the sofa. He was sat forward, clearly not relaxed, studying the empty hearth with his elbows on his knees. Draco watched him, he looked exhausted and seemed to have retracted into himself. He understood, there appeared to be a crushing amount to sort out; Harry had suddenly acquired an incredible responsibility and the whole place was an absolute mess. Even the rooms that were kept clear desperately needed updating.

Draco felt tired too. It felt a life time ago that he'd Floo-ed to Scotland, then the midlands, London, Wales, back to London, and now Wiltshire. He felt like his feet had barely touched the ground between patients. Plus, there was all the business with Pansy, and now here with all this sumptuous food and good wine and the overwhelming size of it all.

'What do you make of all this?' Draco asked quietly as he lounged in a comfortable-looking armchair that was so deep it was like a bed.

'I hope it's not always this formal. I couldn't bear it. And it's too big for just the four...' he stumbled on his words; it was clear he was going to say 'four of us' but tried to stop himself from blurting out the assumption. His automatic inclusion made Draco feel warm inside and he turned his head away to hide his contented smile.

Harry had hunched over further, scrubbing a hand through his hair and then playing with the seam of his dark jeans. His cheeks burned with embarrassment at his unspoken presumption, more so when Draco eased off the chair and sat of the floor, settling in between his legs, so he could rest an arm on Harry's thigh and lean into the sofa. 'What were you going to say?'

'For me, Teddy, and Hercules,' Harry lied.

Draco reached over and took his hand, stopping him from playing with his trouser seam, and he felt Harry freeze. It seemed so much more intimate a gesture than when they'd been pulling each other around the house and grounds. But then, Draco had purposely initiated a more intimate interaction by nestling into Harry's personal space.

'Harry,' he said quietly. 'We need to talk.'

He carefully pulled Harry's hand towards him so their fingers easily interlinked. Draco began to idly draw invisible patterns on the back of his hand and tracing over the scars of the letters, as if unaware of what he was doing. Merlin! Harry felt like his chest might explode with the tension he was holding. 'Talk about what?' he stumbled out.

'You were going to say for the four of us, you were including me...' he said softly as he lounged against Harry's inside thigh, his head lifted towards him as he watched Harry's reactions.