Chapter 17
Harry's POV
I followed Ron and Hermione to our Transfiguration lesson, reluctantly stepping into the classroom on such a beautiful day. It was the beginning of May, and the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and there was a slight breeze, just enough to freshen the air.
I took my usual seat next to Dean towards the middle of the classroom, and put my textbook and a fresh roll of parchment on the table. I listened to Professor McGonagall explain how to transfigure ourselves into another creature, and jotted down a few essential notes. It was an extremely tricky manoeuvre, and I didn't suspect I would ever really get the hang of it. The professor told us at the end of the lesson that we would attempt practical work next time, which I was already dreading.
Lunch couldn't have rolled around any sooner, and I took a seat on the bench next to Ron, with Ginny opposite me. She gave me a friendly smile, which I returned. I was glad that her and I had managed to put our past aside and become real friends. She was a rather incredible person, and a magnificent Quidditch player.
Only a couple of minutes later, Draco sat down beside me and gave me a soft peck on the cheek. I smiled at him and helped myself to a plateful of food. We all chatted happily while eating, and then went our separate ways to our classes. Hermione and Draco trotted off to Ancient Runes while Ron and I dragged ourselves up the stairs to Divination.
At the end of the day, I went to the library to meet Draco, just like we had been doing for the past few weeks. We sat in silence, doing our assigned homework, Draco clearly succeeding much faster than me. He looked over at me every now and again, and when he noticed my disgruntled expression, turned my parchment to face him and wrote down the answer. It was sometimes intimidating to be with such a clever person, and I soon realised how Ron must have felt every day.
In fact, Ron and Hermione were sitting at their own desk not too far away from us, bickering about our Potions assignment. I chuckled to myself, knowing it wasn't a serious argument; they often quarrelled over nothing. To be honest, Draco and I had our fair share of disagreements over subjects that, looking back on them, were pretty ridiculous.
Ever since Draco had been released from the Ministry, we had decided to be more public about our relationship. It was so near the end of the school year anyway, and we couldn't be bothered to keep the efforts up to hide ourselves from everyone. I had eased Ginny into it early on, when he had left. She had very obviously noticed something was wrong, as had most people, and I decided to let her know. She actually took it much better than I had expected, and appeared very graceful about it. I was glad that we could be good friends again; she was such a great person. And I could only imagine my visits to The Burrow with that kind of tension between us.
That afternoon, Draco and I were strolling around the grounds. The Seventh Years were sitting their O.W.L. exams, so we had the afternoon off. We wandered along the bank of the Black Lake, running into Ron and Hermione halfway down. We smiled at each other politely, not stopping to chat. A bit further down, we ran into Seamus and Dean, sitting on the bank, and appearing to be in deep conversation. Seamus was chucking pebbles into the water and picking blades of grass, seeming somewhat grumpy. I worried about what was going on between the two. They barely noticed us walk past, and none of us attempted to make contact. So we left them to it and continued on our promenade.
Draco's POV
A couple of weeks from the end of the school year, Harry and I were in the Room of Requirement, as per usual, lounging on an armchair each. In the last month or so, the Room had altered itself to fit the weather changes. We no longer had a fireplace, but there were large windows on one wall, that had a glorious view of the grounds. We would often sit on the plush armchairs in front of them, feeling the fresh breeze come through, blowing the long sheer curtains around. It was such a peaceful, delightful, feeling and I often felt as though I could stay right there for days on end.
One day, Harry and I were seated in front of the windows, on a lovely spring day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the breeze was soothing. He moved to join me on my armchair and began kissing me all down my neck. He planted soft pecks across my collarbone and before I could register what was happening, he had completely unbuttoned my shirt, dropping it onto the wooden floor. He began leaving a trail of kisses on my shoulders, and across my chest, making his way downwards. I let out a soft moan and entwined my fingers in his soft dark hair, making him gasp ever so slightly.
We heard a small 'pop' and immediately twisted our heads round to find the source of the noise, worried that somebody had managed to get inside. But as we looked round, we both noticed that the Room had made a new addition, while we were still inside. This was very unusual, but when we saw what it had done, knew it was necessary to add in the moment.
A queen-size bed had appeared, right in the centre of the room. It was a normal white bed, with an iron frame, and spirals in the head of it. We looked at each other, as if we were each asking the other whether we should go or not. After a moment of thought, I brought my lips to Harry's, as if to say we were ready.
Harry's POV
So we moved towards the glowing soft white bed. As soon as we were both seated on the soft sheets, I began to unbutton Draco's crisp white shirt as we kissed passionately. I leaned back for a moment to pull my own t-shirt over my head and I immediately noticed harsh red scars all across his stomach. His faded Dark Mark was still prominent on his left forearm. Draco flushed and quickly tried to cover his stomach with his hands and reached for his shirt. I placed a reassuring hand on his arm and began to place soft kisses all across his stomach and along his forearm. I knew how ashamed he was to be branded with such an evil symbol, but I didn't care. He was still my Draco.
Thankfully, we didn't have any classes that afternoon, so we remained lying in that bed for what felt like hours afterwards. It was strange, but I felt almost relieved, like I had been anticipating this for ages, but also dreading it. I had to admit that I was a bit worried that it wouldn't go as well as it had, that something would happen, or simply that I wouldn't enjoy it. But honestly, I thought it was possibly the most wonderful feeling I had ever experienced in my life until now. I would've never taken a single step out of that bed if it weren't for my friends who I had promised to spend time with that evening.
Nevertheless, Draco and I watched the sun set through the floor-length windows, taking in the light draught and basking in the natural glow it was giving both of us. I finally cast a Tempus charm and told him we had to get dressed if we wanted to make dinner. He protested, claiming it wasn't necessary, but the noise his stomach made disagreed. So we both heavily dropped to the floor and put our clothes back on, stealing a final kiss before leaving the Room of Requirement for the last time. We had decided we wouldn't go back there for the rest of the year. We had, in fact, discussed it at length and come to the decision that I would stay in Draco's home for the time being, until we could find ourselves a place to stay together, that had nothing to do with the Malfoy name.
******
At dinner, Draco told me he was going to sit with Theodore, since he hadn't in a while and I nodded, before giving him a peck on the cheek and taking my own seat next to Hermione. He blushed ever so lightly and moved towards the opposite end of the Great Hall.
Ron had barely waited for me to sit down before commenting on my appearance.
"Mate, you alright? You look exhausted, but like, happy," he had a befuddled expression glued to his features, making me giggle. It appeared I was euphoric and unable to contain my reactions.
"I'm fine, just happy, I suppose. You know, it's almost the end of term, and it's lovely weather," I did realise how loopy I sounded, but I didn't care. Nothing could sway my mood in that moment.
He simply shrugged and offered to serve me some pork chops and mashed potatoes, one of my favourite meals Hogwarts served. I graciously accepted and asked Hermione and Ginny how they had been doing, to which they sceptically replied that they were fine.
The rest of the evening flew by. The four of us sat in the Common Room, listening to the rain crash against the windows, and gasping every time one of us saw lightning strike. It had been so hot recently that it was necessary for a storm to come along and calm things down again. We gossiped about the students in our years, laughing uncontrollably. It was one of the nicest evenings I had ever spent at Hogwarts. I was surrounded by my closest friends and had spent the day with my wonderful boyfriend, I wished I could freeze this moment in time and live in it forever. But, all good things must come to an end, and this one did as we all bid each other goodnight somewhere between two and three o'clock in the morning and crawled up to our respected dorms.
******
The last day of school. I couldn't wait to start my new life all on my own, and to enter the working world. Almost none of the classes were actual lessons; we all just hung around and chatted with the teachers, reviewing some of the year's spells nonetheless. At the end of the day, it was time to pack our trunks and head for Hogsmeade station. We would be taking an overnight train to London.
I did in fact shed a tear as I bid farewell to the room that had been mine for the past eight years. I looked out of the small window one final time and headed down into the Common Room to say goodbye to all of the other students.
Ron, Hermione and I walked out of the Common Room together and made our way to the Courtyard. Hermione was in tears as we walked out of the large doors and she ran back to give Professor McGonagall a hug. I would definitely miss the castle that had been my home throughout part of my childhood. So many memories that I would not soon forget were attached to this wonderful place.
I caught Draco's eye across the Courtyard and walked over to him, grabbing his hand. I could tell that he was holding back a few tears. I knew that this had been a comforting home to him too, away from his family's expectations and where his real friends were. Ron and Hermione joined us and we walked over to the train station together.
We walked onto the train and found a compartment together. Ginny and Luna joined us for about half an hour, but when they realised they were the only two talking, got up and searched for some more active companions. As the girls got up, Draco whispered to me, "Remind me to talk to Theo when we get back to London," I nodded, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead as he laid his head back on my left shoulder. It felt oddly comforting to have his warm body pressed up against mine as I slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
******
When we pulled into King's Cross Station, it was very early in the morning and there weren't many people around. We sleepily dragged our trunks off of the train and shoved them onto trolleys. Just minutes later, Arthur and Molly Weasley came up to us, waving; Molly was crying tears of joy. She gave a big motherly hug to the four of us and looked over at Draco, who didn't know what to do with himself. I explained to Molly that I was seeing him, and she immediately asked if he wanted to come back to the Burrow with us. I asked Draco what he thought and he hesitated for a moment, but agreed to join us for tea.
Once at the Burrow, we all earned warm hugs from Fred, George, Charlie, Bill and Fleur. They had all come back to greet us at the end of the school year. Everyone went quiet when they noticed Draco walk into the house, and Fleur was the only one who without hesitation gave him a kiss on each cheek. Fred and George shared a look and went up to shake his hand, welcoming him into the house. Ron, Hermione and Ginny went to put their things away upstairs and I moved into the kitchen, looking over at Draco, signalling for him to join me. As I put the kettle on, I heard Molly explain in a few words why the Malfoy boy was with us and internally thanked her for not making a scene.
"Harry, I'm not sure about this," he whispered over my shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry. You don't even have to stay long, we can leave in the morning, or even after dinner if you're really uncomfortable, but give them a chance, I'm sure they will," I smiled at him reassuringly. I understood how he was feeling but I really wanted the Weasleys to accept him and for Draco to get along with them. After all, they were the closest thing to a family I had left.
All of us helped Molly prepare dinner in the kitchen, Draco even offered his services, but was quickly shooed away, because "you just relax, dear, you're a guest in this house,".
When we sat down to eat, the first five minutes were quite awkward, and a few glances were shared, but once we had full plates and everyone had had a drink or two, people were practically shouting across the table, asking multiple questions, most of which made us both blush. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly they had warmed up to him, but I never doubted their kindness in the first place.
At the end of dinner, everyone insisted that Draco and I stay the night, we'd had a few drinks anyway, and Draco grinned sheepishly, but I could tell he really felt happy.
As we were putting ourselves to bed, he mentioned to me how surprised he was that these people were all nice and funny and sometimes loud. We had had a lot of fun that night, but I couldn't wait to get out into the world and look for opportunity.
******
Arthur usually used Floo Powder to get to work, but he told us he would drive us to the train station and then to the Ministry, seeing as we had so much luggage. We thanked him and got on a train to the seaside, where Draco had stayed last year.
It was a long journey, and we would arrive in the middle of the afternoon, having eaten lunch on the train. Draco insisted on paying for our tickets, so we would have the comfort of First Class, claiming he wouldn't want anything less for me, but I could tell he just wanted to be up there, away from the general population. Old habits died hard, but I didn't mind this one so much. I had to admit I felt very luxurious in my plush seat with a 'Reserved' sign on it. I had never been treated to anything so it felt very out of place, but it also made me feel special, and that was a feeling I welcomed.
Within the first ten minutes of the journey, a trolley rolled past, offering free drinks and snacks, and I was so overwhelmed with choice that I ended up with a glass of water, a cup of tea and a packet of shortbread biscuits, despite the fact that I had packed enough food for the day.
Throughout the journey, we were offered various food and drinks, but I didn't accept many more as I was beginning to make quite a few trips to the toilets, which wasn't the greatest experience, even in First Class. Draco and I both fell asleep after a couple of hours, and when I woke up, we were only two train stops away from our destination. I let Draco sleep for a bit longer, but gently nudged him awake half an hour later.
We stepped off the train onto the platform, and I already heard seagulls overhead. Draco began to walk towards the exit and I followed. He grabbed a trolley and I put both of our trunks on it, before he could even make an attempt. He insisted on pushing it and headed towards a car park outdoors.
"Should I hail us a taxi?" I asked.
"Merlin, no, certainly not!" he exclaimed. I was surprised, but I knew by now to just follow Draco where he went. After all, he had been living here and I hadn't.
He stopped in front of a very swish black car, and I noticed the Mercedes-Benz logo on the back. My eyes opened so wide I thought they would pop out of their sockets. Draco seemed to be rummaging around in his coat pocket, and after swearing a couple of times, pulled out a set of key with the matching logo. He popped open the boot and I hurried to put our trunks into the boot. The first one took up all of the space, so I cast a Reducto spell and we would enlarge them once we had arrived back at his house.
The drive was just over an hour long, and I took in every inch of passing scenery. We drove along the coast for a small while, and through country lanes. It was all so beautiful; I couldn't wait to spend the next few months here.
We drove through a rich-looking neighbourhood, with very large houses and well-kept gardens, and I wondered which house would be ours, but Draco just kept driving.
Ten minutes later, we pulled into a large courtyard, after buzzing large gates open, and I saw the largest house I had seen in my entire life. My jaw dropped and almost hit the gravel we were standing on. There was so much of it; I didn't even know where to look. While I was gaping at the mansion in front of me, Draco was struggling to pull our stuff out of the boot. A loud thud pulled me from my daze and I was snapped back into reality. I quickly went to help, and grabbed my own trunk, helping Draco with his at the same time. We carried them indoors and placed them on the oak floor.
Barely a second later, I heard a small 'pop' and a tiny House Elf appeared.
"Welcome back, Master Draco. How was your school year?" and then she noticed that he wasn't alone, "oh, I must apologise, sir, welcome to the Malfoy Holiday Home." I stuck my hand out for her to shake, which confused her, but she took it nonetheless.
I couldn't exactly say I was surprised that Draco had a House Elf, but I wasn't exactly expecting it. I was thinking more along Muggle lines, and envisioned a very smart butler.
"It was very nice, Ditty, thank you for asking. Could you please put both of these trunks in the master bedroom? I'd like to give Harry here a tour." Ditty nodded and disappeared with our luggage.
"I can't believe you live in a place like this," I said, my wide eyes looking around the room, taking everything in. to my left, a large mahogany dining table with a dozen suede seats neatly tucked around it. Behind it were two large cabinets containing some very nice silver. To my right, a wonderfully luxurious living room featuring a large black leather sofa and a matching armchair adjacent to it on either side, all surrounding a glass coffee table with a vase of white roses on it. A large marble fireplace was opposite the sofa, and next to it, floor-length windows that worked as sliding doors, with only sheer white curtains to the sides of them, allowing the evening sun to glow into the room. They reminded me of the ones in the Room of Requirement. In fact, I wondered if they weren't exactly the same, and the Room had taken Draco's personal memories into account.
"So, as you've clearly noticed, to your left is the dining room and to the right, the living room. Shall we see the rest?" Draco looked over at me. I slowly nodded, almost afraid to see what the rest of the house would look like. I had never seen anything even remotely similar to the extravagance of this house.
Draco moved towards the room behind the sofa and I followed, trying to take in as many details as I could along the way. He showed me the kitchen, which was to the left, and it was enormous. The surfaces were all glistening black marble, with an island in the middle surrounded by four barstools. I could only imagine the kind of dishes one could cook in such a glorious space. Then we moved along and even further behind the kitchen, was a magnificent library. Books lined the shelves from floor to ceiling, and in between them was a lovely little window seat covered in cushions and blankets, with the evening sun streaming in through the glass panes and bathing the wooden floor in a warm glow.
Then we moved back out of the library and through the kitchen, up the staircase, which was adjacent to the kitchen, and just behind the living room. On the first floor were multiple rooms. Directly opposite the stairs, was a door leading to one of the bathrooms. It was larger than any room I had ever seen before. And if this was the size of the bathroom, I could only imagine what the bedrooms would be like. It contained two black marble sinks and a modern looking bathtub as well as a walk-in shower with an overhead showerhead and a gorgeous view at the back of it.
Then, Draco showed me the various bedrooms. There were three guest rooms and one master bedroom. All of the guest rooms looked exactly the same. Large white bed, large white wardrobe, and not much else. As soon as Draco pushed open the door to the master bedroom, I gasped. I couldn't believe my eyes. This one bedroom was possibly as large as an apartment. To the right, a beautiful queen size bed lined with black silk sheets and a large trunk at the foot of it. Opposite the bed was an enormous stone fireplace that still looked modern, with a couple of ornaments on top of it. Covering the entire back wall was in fact a window. Outside was a gorgeous view of the seaside. I could see the tide rolling in back and forth, and a few stragglers lying on the golden sand. The sea glistened in the sunlight, so much so it was almost blinding, and I could see seagulls in the sky. I could imagine myself lying for hours on the warm sand, Draco by my side, periodically bathing in the chilly water.
Draco pulled me from my daydream and showed me to the en suite bathroom. The floor was made of matte black tiles, and the walls were smaller white ones. On the back wall was a wide black marble counter containing two deep sinks with silver taps. The one on the left had a small hand towel hanging off of the small railing beneath it, with a small "M" embroidered in green in the bottom right-hand corner. To the right was another walk-in shower and on the left was a lovely large white porcelain bathtub with silver claws. Behind it, a mirror that covered the entire wall.
Then we left the master bedroom and headed downstairs. On our way out, I noticed that our trunks had already been brought up to the master bedroom.
I followed Draco to the living room, and when he dropped heavily onto the larger sofa, I did the same. It was surprisingly soft leather and it cradled my body nicely.
"I had assumed you'd live in a grand house, but I never expected anything quite so luxurious," I said, still taking in all the different areas we had just seen.
"This is actually one of the smaller holiday homes. Because it's on the seaside, we thought that it would be used less during the day, and the rest of the year," he replied.
At that, my eyes widened further. "Well I must say, I could definitely get used to living here," I chuckled.
"Mm, but I don't want to live in my parents' house forever, and I just can't wait to be living in our own little place in town, coming home to you every evening," he said, grinning. He moved to give me a kiss on the cheek but I turned to meet his lips.
I was tired from the journey so I lay back on Draco's chest and he draped his arm across my chest, his other hand idly playing with my hair. Within minutes, we were both asleep.
At around eight o'clock, Ditty woke us to ask if we would be having any dinner. After eating, Draco and I headed upstairs and once again fell asleep just minutes after getting into bed. That night, I dreamt of Draco and I spending the day on the beach, laughing, sunbathing, swimming, and taking photos. This was the happiest I had ever felt in my life.
i just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has been reading my story! i know the updates were few and far between towards the end, and i'm sorry about that, but i am in my last year of school and i'm focusing on my work most of the time. so this is the last chapter of this story, but as i said previously, i wanted to write about harry and draco in adult life, potentially even in the muggle world, i'll see. so i'm going to start a new story, basically like a sequel to this one, so if you're interested in harry and draco living together and all that follows, you could follow me or something, or search my username, elizabethlotte. anyway, thanks to everyone and i'll see you in the next one! xx