"If you insist."

Admiring Harry's perseverance, Draco allowed himself to be carried. For his part, Harry carried Draco like a champ and was rewarded with encouraging words and lots of soft kisses to his head and face. Harry would do it again in a heartbeat.

"We, well you, made it! The view is breathtaking from up here wow."

"Yeah it is", Harry replied softly.

"Potter, I swear to Merlin if you said that while looking at me I'm going to push you down. That's disgustingly cliche."

"Oh but you love it anyways. I know you do."

"I love other cliches, but not that one."

"Well then, I'm excited to find out which ones you do love."

"You're so annoying", Draco replied with an eye roll.

"So I've been told."

They teased each other some more and continued to take pictures. Harry was very much looking forward to creating a scrapbook of all of their adventures.

"Where to next?", Draco asked.

"Why back down the monument of course!"

"Potter, do not make me hex you", Draco warned.

"I might be into that. What do you have in mind?"

Draco turned red and started sputtering. With a laugh, Harry grabbed Draco's hand and apparated them back home, out of sight from the security cameras.

"I cannot stand you", Draco declared once they got back home.

"What a shame", Harry lamented sarcastically, peeling off his shirt.

"What are you doing now?", Draco asked with a gulp, eyes trailing over Harry.

"Cooling off in the ocean before we have lunch. I'm sweaty and gross."

Draco watched wide eyed as Harry continued to remove clothing, until he was only clad in his boxers. Knowing Draco was watching him walk into the water, Harry added an extra swing in his step as Draco often did.

"Are you going to join me?", Harry called.

It wasn't a hard decision really. Draco knew this could go a few different ways, and he was really hoping for a snogging session. He deserved one, honestly.

Harry had other plans though, and was going to make him work for it. Laughing, he ran through the waves, making Draco chase him. Finally, Draco caught up and launched himself onto Harry's back. Harry hadn't thought of the fact that since they were only wearing boxers, he would feel everything.

"How did you know I would catch you?", Harry asked breathlessly.

"I know that you'll never let me fall. Even if you're a prat who has made me exercise multiple times today."

Looking up at Draco, he smiled down at Harry, and leaned down for a kiss. The salty ocean mist reminded them of where they were, and they begrudgingly released each other and swam around for a bit. Swam is a strong word however, as the hour they spent resulted in mostly splashing and throwing wet sand at each other.

"I'm absolutely starving now."

"What's for lunch?", Harry asked, shaking his hair out like a wet dog.

"Oh I have some ideas", Draco replied, looking over at Harry appreciatively.

"Like what?", Harry asked using his shirt to dry off his face, oblivious to Draco's lustful stare.

Shaking his head and lightly clearing his throat, Draco accepted the fact that he would not be getting snogged today.

"I was thinking that I could help you make lunch, and then take you out somewhere for dinner? Nowhere really fancy because I know that isn't your type of thing. I did some research into places I thought you would like before we came here", Draco admitted sheepishly.

With a grin, Harry pulled Draco in for a hug.

"Thank you for putting so much effort into my birthday Draco. It honestly means a lot to me. This is the first real celebration I've ever really had, and I've enjoyed spending all of my time with you. I'm going to be sad when it's over, but that just means we get to plan more adventures together."

"You'd want to do this again?"

"Of course I would! You're my... person, and even when you were just my best friend I still would have gone anywhere you asked me too."

Draco grabbed Harry's chin and tilted his face up to kiss him. Maybe he would get a bit of snogging in afterall. Harry certainly wasn't refusing, and he had similar thoughts going through his head. This was when the connection truly came in handy. There were some awkward moments, but it was nice to know what the other person was thinking, just by the touch of a hand.

Ghosts  ✔️Where stories live. Discover now