Potter!

What does it matter?

"Because I love you, Draco." His voice was shaky and cracked. "I love you with all my heart. And I honestly couldn't give a damn if you murdered me on this spot right now, my heart would be yours till the end..."

The words echoed in the darkness, reverberating around Draco's mind, trying to find a place to rest.
He hadn't been sure if he'd heard that correctly. Despite being intimate with Harry for quite a few months now, neither of them had yet expressed anything that resembled true love, or anything equally as strong.

Draco loved Harry and he was sure if it. As sure as he'd been that he was a Malfoy. But his fear that the ravenette didn't feel the same and was only using him to mend his war wounds ate at him constantly.

The idea of Harry Potter loving him, truly loving him, saying it, and meaning it, was preposterous. It seemed like a made up fantasy in his mind. He hadn't slept for a while, perhaps this whole thing was a hallucination. Perhaps Harry was lying dead on the floor, perhaps he'd killed him, or perhaps he wasn't even here, he was back up at the castle enjoying his life, without Draco.

Desperately, he shut his eyes tight, counting to five and then opened them back up, staring at the spot where Harry was. He was still there, bathed in the white moonlight which lit up his eyes like green torches which seemed to impale his soul, and his hair ruffled slightly in the spring breeze. It was still like a dream, but he now had reason to believe that his lover was real.

"You love me..?" His lips trembled. "Why do you love... me...?"

To his surprise, Harry chuckled, his emerald eyes flashing. "You're so stupid, Draco. How could you think after all these months of kissing you, cuddling you, caring for you, spending every spare second with you, sleeping with you... That I don't love you? "

Draco pursed his lips, staring at Harry anxiously, his mind clinging to every word.

"You're asking me why I love you?" Harry raised his eyebrows, a smirk appearing on his face as he eyed him up and down. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?"

Draco rolled his eyes, looking away something 'interesting' in the trees, his face heating up.

"And its not just that. You're a caring person, despire your reputation, you care about me. But you also see me in a different way to everyone else. You don't see me as a saviour, like I'm flipping Jesus." Draco looked at him confused, and Harry laughed again, "Muggle religion, son of God.. You know."

"And sometimes I think we're similar, in a way."

Draco raised his eyebrows sarcastically.

Harry shook his head and continued. "Well, more similar that I am to Ron or Hermione. They had loving parents, and good childhoods. And they've managed to move on from the war, mostly, without nightmares and guilt and blaming themselves. They're sane despite their losses."

Draco still stared at him, not understanding his meaning.

"We both bear the guilt of our pasts, the blame for the premature deaths, the widows, the orphans. We didn't have happy, care-free childhoods. We've been living inside a dream, a façade, our whole lives, attempting to fit in somewhere, with people who just don't understand us."

"Don't get me wrong, I love Ron and Hermione. They've been there since the start, they helped me defeat him. But the way you understand me, no one's ever made me feel this way before. The way you make me feel grounded, the guilt seeping out of me, it doesn't compare. I can't describe it other than you're all I need, you keep me sane and I love you. Even if you are an ex-Death Eater and probably about to kill me, what does it matter? I'd be willing to die if it meant you could be safe and happy, as stupid as that sounds."

"Harry I-" Draco eyes filled with tears, that spilled over, and flooded his face.

And before he could say anything more, he was being cradled in Harry's arms, and shushed like a small baby, "Draco it's okay, it's okay." He repeated softly.

He was calmed almost instantly and his lovers voice drifted through his mind, soothing ever ache and worry that had nestled itself up there. Flowing over his dread, and drowning his demons. He felt completely at ease within minutes.

When he came to his senses again, Harry was gently stroking his hair, having lowered him onto his lap and held him there. "I love you, Draco. I don't know how many times I need to stay it to get it through your thick skull, but I'll be saying it until the day I die."

Draco swallowed, momentarily being reminded of the horrific task he had been set. He closed his eyes and threw the thought out of the window of a 20 story building. Harry was all that mattered.

"It's getting cold, we should go back to the castle." Harry whispered after a few minutes of silent cuddling.

Draco shook his head, "I'm staying with you."

Harry smirked, a twinkle in his eye, "I'm sure if we required a bed, the castle would oblige." He implied that the room of requirement would be their uninterrupted destination, if they wanted.

Draco had been reluctant to see the damage caused by the fiendfyre for a while. But Harry had assured him that slowly, the room was repairing itself and he had no reason to fear it. After all, he hadn't started the fire, it wasn't his fault.

The halls of Hogwarts were completely deserted, as expected. Harry didn't even catch a glimpse of Mrs Norris's tail disappearing around a cobwebbed corner. There was something that was always going to disturb him about the emptiness of these corridors. Perhaps it reminded him of eerie silence that fell over the castle after the dead were buried following the battle of Hogwarts. There was no end of year bustle as students scurried around to get off to their summer holidays, hurrying back because they'd forgotten a book or to say goodbye to teachers for the summer. Though Harry was not particularly fond of leaving Hogwarts because it meant going back to his old life at Privet Drive, he enjoyed the joyful looks in others faces. And it wouldn't be so bad when he could head off to The Burrow, which the almost as much his home as Hogwarts was.

Perhaps Harry was just afraid of the dark. There was no light seeping in through the foggy glass panes, not even a sliver of moonlight, despite the full moon outside. And that unsettled him. Though Hogwarts always seemed like a bright and happy place, there was always some darkness to be found within the walls. However, Draco didn't seem bothered by it, so he supposed it was just him. But then again, he thought, the slytherin had always lived in darkness, so probably didn't fear it anymore; Harry should be the same after all he'd seen.

The room requirement, as required, opened out into a room, not dissimilar to the room they had come together as Dumbledore's army in, but it was lit warmly and a king sized bed with slytherin green bedsheets was in the centre. A fire roared in the the fireplace, causing a homely yellow glow to fall over the surroundings. Harry's nerves resided and he instantly felt calm again, despite the past events that took place in the room tugging at the back of his mind silently.

Draco flopped onto the bed, thoroughly exhausted from his lack of sleep. He couldn't wait to be in Harry's arms again.

"Draco." Harry spoke firmly, causing the blondes eyes to flicker open and stare wide. "Just because you need to sleep, doesn't mean we won't be talking about this tomorrow."

Draco just nodded and pulled him onto the soft mattress. He didn't want to think about that. He wanted to think about Harry. And only Harry. Not the past. Not his father.  Not the horrible task he had been set. For a while he could just think about Harry.