Dedicated to @moldsmall
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Draco lounged on the soft armchair, lazily skimming over a book that he didn't even know that he owned. To be honest, he was just waiting for Harry to come home from work. Draco sighed and put the book down. Harry had been acting strange lately and Draco didn't know why.
Maybe I should just ask him. Draco thought. It would be better than letting his problem ruin our relationship.
Just as Draco had finished his thought, the fireplace lit up green and a broad figure stepped out of it. It was Harry, looking pale and worn. There were large bags under his eyes that have been there for the past few weeks.
"Harry, can we talk?" Draco asked, standing up to give his boyfriend a kiss.
"Yeah, sure." Harry accepted the kiss without responding as he reached up to hang his robes on a hook. His sleeve rolled down his arm to reveal something Draco never wanted to see on any person.
"Harry!" Draco exclaimed, rushing to lift up his arm and look at the red lines that marred the beautifully tanned skin. Harry pulled away with a wince. Draco's heart ached. "Harry, what's wrong? Is it something I did?"
Harry looked away from him. "I'm fine."
"Harry, no you're not fine," Draco said, voice trembling. "Why are you doing this? Is there something wrong at work?"
"I said I'm fine!" Harry shouted, roughly pulling his arm away from Draco. "I don't want to talk to you!"
And with a twist and a pop, Harry was gone. Draco sniffled and rubbed his nose. He tried to stop tears falling from his eyes, but failed. Never once in their relationship had Harry raised his voice at him. Draco was tempted to lie down in their bed and cry but he knew that he had to find his boyfriend. Wiping tears away from his face, he made his way to the kitchen and picked up his wand from the counter. He apparated to the first place he thought Harry might've gone to.
Draco appeared in the Granger-Weasley household in a panic. Hermione and Ron ran down the stairs, wands at the ready.
"Draco?" Hermione asked as she lowered her wand. "What's wrong? You look like a mess."
It was probably true. He had just been crying so his face was probably all red and blotchy, as it always was when he cried. He might've looked a bit mad too, searching for Harry in every corner of their house. It was probably why Ron hadn't put down his wand yet.
"Have you seen Harry?" Draco asked, voice scratchy and desperate.
"Harry? What's wrong with Harry?" Ron asked, now panicking.
"I don't know! He's been acting really strange lately and when he came home from work, there were cuts on his arm and he shouted at me and he never shouts at me-" Draco babbled, hoping that he made sense.
"He shouted at you?" Hermione said in disbelief. The whole time Harry and Draco had dated, Hermione had never seen Harry mistreat the blond, or anyone at all.
Draco nodded desperately. "And now he's gone!"
"He's gone? Where?" Ron asked.
"I don't know! That's why I came here, to see if he would be here. But he's clearly not. Just, if you see or even hear of him, tell me immediately," Draco pleaded.
"We will. Maybe you could go to Grimmauld Place or Godric's Hollow," Hermione said, offering suggestions as to where Harry would be.
"Don't bother going to any busy towns, like Hogsmeade. If he left you, then he wouldn't go somewhere as crowded as that," Ron advised.
Draco nodded and apparated to Grimmauld Place. He and Harry had planned to move there when they had a family, as their apartment was more than big enough for the two of them. But Draco didn't know if he would have that with Harry anymore, not if he didn't find him.
He thundered up the stairs, ignoring the screeching portrait. He opened door after door, hoping that he would be able to find Harry. In his panicked state, he managed to remember that Sirius, Harry's godfather, had lived here and if there was any room Harry would be in, it would be Sirius'. He found the door that led to Sirius' room and slammed it open. Draco's heart dropped. Nothing.
"Master Draco?" A croaky voice came from the hallway. Draco back in surprise to see Kreacher, who had been coming back every once in a while to clean up.
"Kreacher! Have you seen Harry? Has he been here at all today?" Draco asked quickly.
"Terribly sorry Master Draco. Master Harry hasn't been here since he came to show you the house," Kreacher replied. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah, just keep an eye out for Harry, I don't know where he's gone," Draco said, repeating the same thing he had said to Ron and Hermione before apparating to Godric's Hollow.
Godric's Hollow was a quiet town, with only a few people out on the streets. Draco paused, wondering where Harry would be. The sound of church bells rung and Draco dashed towards it, moving past the people who had just come out of it. He pushed open the gates to the cemetery, which squeaked and groaned.
He hadn't remembered the exact position of Harry's parents' graves, but after a few minutes of searching, he found the white headstones but no Harry. He looked around desperately for a head of messy black hair, however the cemetery was isolated.
Draco trudged out of the cemetery, trying to think of somewhere else that Harry would be. A tall statue caught Draco's eye and he walked towards it. As he got closer, it changed shape to reveal a statue of the Potters. Draco's eyes stung at the sight of the happy family that was no longer. The longer he stared at the statue, he began to remember Harry talking about Godric's Hollow.
"The house! They had a house here!" Draco exclaimed in triumph, ignoring the worried look sent his way by an elderly woman.
Draco walked to the nearest street and looked down it to see if he could see the ruins of a house. He did this to every street until he found it on the fifth street. He ran towards it and stood outside to catch his breath. As he did, he thought he heard the faint sound of sobbing. Maybe that was just him hoping that Harry was there.
He carefully slipped past the gate and walked into the house. As he got further in, the sobbing became louder. He was now able to identify that it was a man that was crying. Draco almost started sprinting towards the sound, and would've if he wasn't worried about the house collapsing on him. When he entered the room furthest from the front door, Draco saw his boyfriend curled up in a ball and crying into his arms.
"Harry," Draco whispered as he fell to his knees next to Harry. "Baby, what's wrong?"
The endearment only made Harry sob harder. Draco didn't hold back any longer and wrapped his arms around Harry's quivering body. He didn't know how long they sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, only knowing that it felt like hours until Harry stopped sobbing.
"Harry?" Draco asked cautiously.
"Why do you love me?" Harry sniffled. He looked up at Draco with red, puffy eyes and sniffled. Draco's heart broke. The only time he had seen Harry look close to this was after the war when he had to speak for the dead.
"Harry, why wouldn't I love you?" Draco asked. "You're beautiful, smart, charming and honestly, a much better man than I'll ever be. You always care for people, even people you don't even know. Hell, you spoke for me and my parents at our trial after the war."
"The war wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me," Harry muttered, voice laced with self-hatred.
"If it weren't for you, people would be living in fear as Voldemort killed their family and friends," Draco corrected. "You put an end to it all, even if it wasn't your choice."
"But don't you ever feel like I'm holding you back? You could be with anyone else," Harry mumbled, sniffling.
"Sweetheart, you aren't holding me back, you showed me a new world. And besides, no one would want to date an ex-Death Eater. You're the only one that looked past that and saw me," Draco said. "And I love you because of that. I don't care how many times I have to tell you that. I have no problem saying I love you every minute of the day."
Harry finally stopped shaking and the two of them sat on the floor for a moment. Draco slid his hand under Harry's chin and lifted his head so they were eye level.
"You ready to go home, darling?" Draco asked sweetly.
Harry nodded and they both struggled up. Sensing that Harry was too weak to move, Draco apparated to their apartment. When they arrived, Draco sent a patronus to Hermione and Ron, saying that he had found Harry.
Leaving Harry on the couch, Draco went to make him a cup of tea. When it was done and Harry had his hands wrapped around the mug, Draco sat opposite him.
"Harry, we need to talk about this," he said, not unkindly
"Okay," Harry mumbled quietly.
"Can you tell me if you feel loved or not? And why if no?" Draco asked gently. It was silent for a few minutes before Harry spoke again.
"Sometimes I don't feel loved. I first started cutting during the war, I felt like no one would miss me if I died. But Dumbledore left me a job to do so I finished it. Then it was bad until I met you. I stopped cutting because you were the only one that would pay attention, seeing as Ron and Hermione were too busy being couple-y and everyone else was trying to get over the war. But recently you've been quiet and it just made me think you were tired of me and you didn't know how to tell me. I tried to make your job easier and just kill myself," Harry said, pausing at several moments.
"Oh Harry," Draco said, his eyes stinging with tears. "I'm sorry I've been so quiet, it's just that Mother's ill and I've been carrying this around for weeks trying to figure out how to ask you."
When he finished his sentence, he pulled out a small black box from his pocket. Harry looked up at him with question in his eyes.
"I was going to ask you to marry me but I didn't know if now was the right time because Hermione's pregnant with Rose and Mother is a bit sick," Draco explained.
Harry was quiet for a moment. Draco then realised that tears were falling from his eyes. He immediately sat down next to him and held him in a hug.
"What's wrong darling?" Draco cooed.
"You-you were going to propose and I ruined everything," Harry hiccupped. Draco frowned.
"Sweetheart, you didn't ruin anything," he reassured. "How about this, anytime you feel bad about something, you come to me and we can talk about it."
Harry nodded and they sat there for a long time, holding each other and rocking back and forth. Eventually, Harry did get better. It did take a long time, but Draco and his friends helped him get past his depression.
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"Good morning love," Harry smiled, kissing the tip of Draco's nose. Draco blinked his eyes opened to the beautiful sight that was his husband.
"Morning," Draco yawned, burying his head in Harry's chest. They laid in bed, in a moment of peaceful bliss, before their morning was interrupted.
"Daddy! Papa!" The bedroom door flew open and a small body clambered onto the bed. The boy had dark hair and hazel eyes that shone brightly.
"Good morning James," Draco said, capturing his son in between his arms and Harry's chest.
"Daddy wake up!" James said, slapping Draco's face. "It's pancake day!"
"We're coming, we're coming!" Harry laughed and followed his husband out of bed. As he looked as his small family, he smiled. He couldn't be any happier.
"Papa! Come flip the pancakes!"
"Coming!" Harry laughed and gave his James and husband a kiss each before flipping the pancakes just as his beautiful son asked.
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Hello! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Updates might be slower than usual at the moment, I've got piles of homework waiting for me. I only managed to finish this while I watched the Philosopher's Stone.