Waking Moments (A Drarry FanFiction)

Chapter Six

   Harry wakes.

He's in a large sitting room, a Christmas tree twinkling in the corner and the sound of carols drifting gentling in from another room. He remembers with a jolt; he's at Malfoy Manor, it's December 25th, he and Draco have just had lunch with his mother Narcissa.

"Oh good," says Draco, dropping the book in his hands unceremoniously to the floor. "I was getting bored. He bounds over from his armchair to the sofa Harry must have nodded off on and clambers over him, forcing his way between Harry and the couch to be the big spoon, snuggling under the blanket that had come from somewhere.

"Sorry," Harry mumbles, rubbing his eyes. As well as putting a blanket over him, Draco had taken off his glasses. He can make them out on the carpet below them. "Your mum'll think I'm rude."

"She adores you," he says into his hair, rubbing his nose against the back of his head. "She'll soon work out you're a total dork, don't worry."

"Hey," Harry cries, swatting haphazardly behind him and getting a satisfying yelp in response from Draco.

Draco continues to hug Harry while he wakes up. "Mmm dinner was too good, I ate too much, my body shut down," Harry says dramatically, but still feeling guilty about passing out on his first official visit to Draco's home.

Draco had made a point of emphasising that this was Harry's first visit, the unspoken agreement that they would forget the terrible event that had occurred in spring. Harry hadn't forgotten though, the moment where Draco had denied knowing him and saved his life, but he understood if he didn't want to hash over it any more.

Besides, Harry had been so blind-sided when he'd introduced him to Narcissa as his boyfriend. "What?" Draco had said when Harry shot him a look the minute she turned her back. "You are aren't you?"

It was so typical of him to just announce something like that, rather than ask, but Harry couldn't deny he'd felt such pride that he was sure was still glowing through his skin hours later. Boyfriend. He rolls the word around on his tongue as Draco carries on cuddling him, playing with his hair and the collar of his shirt. He was dressed a little too formally to have comfortably fallen asleep in, yet somehow he had managed it. Even if his belt was now digging into his hip.

They'd had a lovely day the three of them. No mention was made of Draco's father Lucius, and that seems like the best way to deal with the whole thing. They had drank champagne and eaten an enormous turkey with all the trimmings, before playing a string of board games. Harry would never have pinned the Malfoys as a family who could let lose, but watching Draco and Narcissa get more and more competitive at charades, their mimes becoming wilder and wilder in a desperate bid to win had not only left Harry in stitches, but also with a new found respect for them both.

They would stay the night in Draco's bedroom, something that makes Harry a little nervous for some reason. They've been sharing a bed for over three months now, but the fact that this is where Draco has spent his whole life falling asleep in, it resonates with Harry. He imagines all the thoughts that must have passed through his head over the years as he stared at the ceiling, falling asleep.

Draco brings him back to the present though by poking him in the ribs. "What time do you want to leave tomorrow?" he asks.

Harry feels a flutter of nerves. "Um," he says. "Well I with thinking we could Floo over at about tenish, but, I was thinking, if you don't want to, we can just stay here-"

Draco sighs and hefts himself up so he can look down at Harry. "They're your family. We did today here, and we'll do tomorrow there, and then after that we can find somewhere quiet to run away to and recover."

Harry tries not to look at him. He loves the Weasleys dearly, but Harry was almost dating Ginny not so long ago, and the clan of red-heads aren't always best known for their tact. He's worried what they might subject Draco to, and, if he's really honest, after seeing the splendour of Malfoy Manor at its finest, he's ashamed to say he's worried Draco will judge the Burrow, the place he considers his home as much as Hogwarts.

"We can do it next year," he begs, pulling at Draco's shirt button.

Draco rolls his eyes. "You're worried I'm going to insult the people you love?" he states brazenly, and Harry feels himself redden.

"I just," he stammers, eyes firmly on the button. "I know how different you all are, I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable."

"Oh I'm sure it'll be as awkward as arse," scoffs Draco. "But I swear I won't say anything to hurt your or their feelings, and as much as they baffle me I know Ron and Hermione will protect you until the ends of the Earth as, even if it is from the rest of their own kind." He grins and rubs the back of Harry's neck. "Plus, once the drink kicks in everyone will get over themselves, that's how Christmas works."

Harry smiles in the smallest amount of relief. "I really appreciate this," he says. "But you really don't have to."

"Yes, I do," Draco sighs.

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

Harry freezes, staring up at him in disbelief. "You...what?"

"Love you," Draco says again, biting his lip and caressing the back of Harry's neck with light fingertips. "So yes, I will suffer anything your crazy adoptive family wants to throw at me, so long as I can hold your hand and know you're mine."

Harry can't seem to find a single word to say, he feels dizzy, like he's floating. "Oh," he says, then feels very stupid. "I mean, that's lovely – I mean..." He takes a deep breath to steady himself. "I love you too."

Draco's face breaks into such a beaming grin it's almost blinding. He drops down to smother Harry with a hug, kissing his neck between laughs, which has Harry laughing too. "You really mean that?" he asks quietly, lifting his head just enough to look Harry in the eye.

He thinks about it, about the boy that used to vex him, the horrors he's been through and the man he's become. "Yes," he says with affirmation. "Yes I do."