desire .

About Time

   “Yes,” drawled Draco good humouredly.  “You’ve managed to get us to one of the largest parks in London.  Well done.”

   Harry just poked his tongue between his teeth and swung their hands back and forth a few times.  “Come on, let’s go to the observatory at the top.”  He steered them along one of the many paths that snaked up the hills that formed the central focus of the park; the age old observatory. 

   “Paddy would have loved this,” Draco mused, noting the dozens and dozens of dogs frolicking around with their owners.  Padfoot was their seven month old wolfhound that Harry had insisted on buying despite Draco’s protests.  And Draco had kept up those protests, loudly, no matter how many times Harry caught the two of them wrestling on the carpet, or Draco sneaking Paddy food from the table, or Paddy on Draco’s belly falling asleep on the sofa. 

   Harry laughed.  “You know he’d be an utter hooligan and would most likely be beating up all the little terriers by now.”  He switched paths again and kept them going towards the top of the hill.  “Today’s about you.  We can bring him next time to pick up his ASBO.”

   The climb was a bit more demanding than Draco would have initially thought, and by the time they reached the peak some twenty minutes later they were hot but happy in the sunshine, wiping their foreheads and looking out at the spectacular view before them.

   “Wow,” said Draco.

   “I feel like I can see half of London,” Harry agreed, then turned to look back at the observatory behind them.  “No wonder they stuck a big telescope up here.”

   “Where’s our house then?” Draco said, squinting as he took in Canary Wharf, the O2  and even the Shard glinting in the distance. 

   He’d been joking, but Harry pulled out the A-Z again and turned on the spot.  “Hmm,” he said after a minute of flicking pages.  Battersea’s…that way,” he said, pointing behind the redbrick domed observatory.  “I think.”

   He was such a dork sometimes, and Draco felt his heart ache a little.  He was his dork though, so that was okay.  He risked pulling Harry towards him and planting a kiss on the side of his head, taking in the tangy apple smell of his shampoo still lingering on his hair. 

   Harry looked up at him bashfully, and slipped the book back into his jeans.  Silently, he lead them a small way away from the gaggles of tourists taking photos, over to a large oak tree to their right.  In the shade of the branches it suddenly felt a little quieter, and Draco relaxed again.

   “You know why they call it Greenwich Mean Time?” he asked, his interest on Draco’s hand in his. 

   Draco thought it was a bit of an odd question, but he looked back over at the old building and considered.  “Well, this is where they measure time isn’t it?  All the other time zones are based on how they record it here.”

   He turned back to see Harry was obviously quite thrilled with his answer.  “Exactly,” he said.  “This is where they make time, this is where time starts.”

   Draco chuckled at him.  “I’m not sure that’s exactly how it works,” he said.  “But yeah, I get what you’re saying.”

   Harry wasn’t deterred though, he bit his lip and carried on.  “It just seemed a good spot to talk about new beginnings.  Fresh starts.”