never let me go

epilogue

TW: self harm and PTSD (both mentioned).

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M83 – Outro

"I'll fight until the end

Now and forever."

"Draco?" Harry called out as he made his way up the stairs to the second floor of 12 Grimmauld Place. He was about to call out again when he caught sight of a platinum blond head in a room off the landing.

Draco was staring at the mural of the Black family tree that decorated the walls of the room, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans. Harry paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame and following Draco's gaze to where there was a small scorch mark at the end of the branch leading down from Lucius and Narcissa, the name Draco Malfoy in elegant cursive underneath.

Harry knew that Draco still had his bad days sometimes, though he hadn't cut in months. On those bad days, he always took extra care to be what Draco needed in that moment, whether it was comfort, someone to share his pain with, or to be left alone. He only asked for the same on the rare occasions that he was affected by his PTSD.

He stepped into the room and gently touched Draco's wrist. "You okay?"

Draco linked his fingers with Harry's, keeping his eyes on the mural.

"We can stay somewhere else if you like."

"No," Draco said softly. "Sirius handed this place down to you, and..." he gestured widely at the mural, "my family's here."

"If it makes you uncomfortable -"

"Harry," Draco interrupted, turning and taking Harry's other hand. He held them between their chests, locking eyes, grey with green. "I want to be here. With you. That's all that matters to me."

The concerned crease remained stubbornly between Harry's eyebrows, and so Draco closed the distance between them and placed a gentle kiss on the spot. Harry sighed, leaning into it and relaxing, before drawing Draco's mouth down for a proper kiss. It was slow and unhurried, like they had all the time in the world. And they did.

Draco eventually broke away with a contented sigh. "What am I going to do if you're at Hogwarts all year?"

This was a concern of Draco's that they'd been over several times, but Harry was happy to reassure him every time until he no longer needed to. "Trust me, if I ask McGonagall if I can apparate in every day instead of have a room in the castle, she'll let me. The woman loves me," he added with a cheeky grin.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Okay, because if you can't, we're sticking together, even if that means I move into Hogwarts for the school year with you."

"Draco Malfoy," Harry said with feigned shock, "choosing to be at Hogwarts when he doesn't have to? Outrageous."

Draco gave him a playful slap on the arm. "Shut up, I mean it."

Harry gave him another quick kiss. "Everything will work out perfectly," he murmured. And he was sure that it would. As per Aberforth Dumbledore's recommendation, Headmistress McGonagall had hired Harry for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position without so much as an interview. He had spent the second semester helping Dumbledore more and more in classes, and the over the summer had more received a crash course in being a professor, though Harry had flown through the training. He was a natural at teaching, as he had been in his fifth year, and he was beyond excited to begin working. Draco, on the other hand, had rather fallen into the work he was doing now.

"Besides," he said, "if you're at Hogwarts, George can't show up on our doorstep at all hours of the night with a new potion idea that he must absolutely work on with you at this instant."

Draco snorted. "True." He and George Weasley had hit it off more than anyone could have ever predicted over Christmas, and Draco's love for potions combined with George's endless ideas for new products for the joke shop had led to an unexpected partnership. Draco helped George develop new products - which Draco was sometimes the victim of and would end up with consequences like hair that wouldn't stop changing colours, much to Draco's dismay and Harry's amusement - and occasionally even helped out with running the shop, though he preferred to be behind the scenes.

"I think McGonagall would have a fit if you two started doing potions experiments at the school. Slughorn would probably love it though."

"Also true."

Draco chuckled, and Harry felt his own grin spreading, until he was laughing too. He threw his head back, and Draco laughed harder as well. It was contagious.

When it finally died down, Draco captured Harry's mouth in another kiss, this one a little more passionate. Harry felt all the emotion behind it, all the words left unsaid because they understood each other right down to their cores. This was all they needed.

Harry tugged on the Weasley sweater that Draco was wearing, made for him by Molly at Christmas and embroidered with a large 'D,' pulling them towards the door. "Come on, I've got dinner ready downstairs."

"Can't we stay like this for a little longer?"

"Only if you want the steak to go cold. There's also wine."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine, you've convinced me."

Hand in hand they exited the room, not sparing another glance for the mural. If they had, they would have seen flecks of ash falling from the wall and swirling in the air, as Draco's image was restored by the magic of the house, whole once more.

All was well.

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As promised, here is the epilogue, I hope you enjoyed! I'm still working on the rewrite of plummet from Draco's perspective, so I'm not sure when that will be up, but thank you for sticking around for these bonus chapters! x