"He just left?" asked Hermione. "He didn't say a word?"

Harry shook his head. He couldn't believe what had happened and Draco refused to talk to him. Hermione and Ron had flooed over the moment Harry told them and they sat in his study, Hermione worrying at the thin gold chain around her neck, and Ron fidgeting with a broken Remembral that had been sitting on Harry's desk.

"He obviously got spooked," said Ron. "I felt a little like that on my wedding day."

"You didn't!" said Hermione, staring at him.

He turned a sheepish face to her. "Well, yeah, I did. It wasn't that I didn't love you, it was just a scary thing, you know. Getting up in front of all those people. I just started blowing the whole event way out of proportion in my head until it felt a little like an execution. No offense," he said quickly.

"Oh none taken," she said in a sharp tone.

Ron winced and sat back, squeezing the Remembral.

Harry sat with his fist at his temple. "Do you think Draco just got cold feet?"

"Well, think of all that's happened this year with you two coming out," offered Hermione. "It hasn't quite been a walk in the park. He probably knows about the wizard marrying rule, too. Maybe he thought you wouldn't get permission. You never did get far enough in telling him."

Harry shook his head miserably. "I don't think that's it."

"Well he simply must talk to you! Nothing can be resolved until he does."

"But I can't get him to."

Hermione stomped her foot. "Well this is just unconscionable! I'm going."

"Hermione!"

She pushed open the painting and stomped through. "Forget it, mate," said Ron, stopping Harry from following her. "You might as well try to tame a basilisk than try to stop Hermione when she's made up her mind. I only hope when the smoke clears they'll be enough left of the both of them for each of us."

Harry stared after her, wondering just what would happen.

* * *

Draco hadn't moved from his chair since last night. He felt the beard stubble when he leaned his chin on his hand, but he didn't care. He didn't even care that he was still wearing the same soiled clothes for two days, and for a Malfoy not to care, that was saying something.

The only thing that kept going through his mind was, "Why would Harry ask that?"

He had to say no. It was the only solution. Harry didn't know what he was getting into. It was alright to snog, to shag, to even live together. But it would be the height of idiocy to take it much further than that. Harry would be worn down by Draco's baggage and one day he'd come to regret his choice. He didn't think he could stand to see that look on Harry's face. Didn't he see that? Was he that bloody na?ve? And the Ministry. Didn't Harry know that two gay wizards just couldn't run off and marry? Didn't anyone teach him anything?"

Someone was pounding on Draco's door but he ignored it.

"Draco! Open up!"

Oh God. It was Granger. "Sod off!"

"I won't. Open this door or I'll blast it open."

"You and what army?"

"Dumbledore's army."

Draco looked at his door. Suddenly he didn't think his wards would hold after all, and he muttered, "Alohomora!" at them. "Say your peace and then get the hell out."

She stalked up to him, fists at her hips. "Why in Merlin's name would you turn down Harry? Don't you know what you've done to him?"

Draco did wonder, and it made him sick. "He's better off, believe me."

"What do you mean? He's devastated."

He thought as much but it wasn't until she actually said it that he imagined Harry in his room, crying. His heart lurched. "Well…I didn't mean to do that."

"Don't you love him anymore?"

He shot to his feet. "Of course I do! Why do you think I had to say 'no'?"

Hermione pulled up short. She suddenly sat hard in the chair Draco had just vacated. "You love him, so you refuse to marry him?"

"He'd never get permission anyway-"

"But he's already got it. The Wizengamot gave their permission."

Draco's head whipped toward her. "They did? But they haven't given permission in fifty years."

"I know. But they did give it to Harry."

"But Harry…and me…why? They'd be fools to give permission. We might be three times as powerful-"

"And yet they trust Harry enough," she persisted.

Draco slumped against his bedpost. "I've been a daft sod, haven't I?"

"Maybe. Why don't you tell me why you said 'no'. You said it was because you love him. Usually one says 'yes' on those occasions."

He turned a miserable expression on her. "Look at the year we just had. People trying to kill me, trying to kill him. Parents hating us because we're gay. It's not going to get better. It may even get worse. One day he'll look at me and wonder why he ever did it, wonder what he ever saw in me. But by then it will be too late. We'll be joined. He'll be stuck. I don't want him to be trapped like that. He doesn't deserve it."

"Don't you think you should let Harry make that choice? After all, he loved you while we were at school and you did some pretty despicable and decidedly unlovable things. But it never stopped him from his certainty that under that foul exterior, there was a Draco Malfoy worth his time. And you have proved it since."

"But Hermione. That's not nearly enough. After more years of poison pens and wizards shunning him, he'll see things in a different light."

"Don't you think he knows all that? He loves you, Draco. And I've never seen him so happy. No one knows what the passage of time will bring to a relationship. But sometimes you have to go with your heart. And Harry has the biggest heart I've ever known. How do you think he was capable of defeating Voldemort? It was love. And Harry was denied love for so long. Now it's his turn to love someone and to have that love returned, passion for passion. Don't take that away from him, Draco. You haven't the right."

"I do love him, Hermione." A lump in his throat was making it hard to talk. "But I still can't marry him. Can he understand that? Will he just let us go on as we have done?"

"I don't know. Why don't we go talk to him and see?"

Draco looked down at himself. "Do you think I should clean up first?"

"I think it will make you feel better. I'll just wait in your study."

He watched her flounce out and he turned toward his bathroom. After half an hour (Draco realized he must really have hurried. He always took at least an hour and a half) he was clean, shaved, and dressed. He let Hermione lead him back to Harry's rooms and she took Ron's hand and pulled him away leaving the two men alone, closing the door behind her.

Draco stared shyly at Harry. Harry had a haunted look about him, almost the same expression he wore right after killing Voldemort. That made Draco feel even worse.

"Um…hi, Harry."

"Hi, Draco. You all right?"

"Yeah. You?"

He shrugged. "A little lost."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about that. You just…well, you took me by surprise." Anger flared within him and he fisted his hands. "I told you I hate surprises!"

"I thought you'd like this one. I mean…do you still love me?"

Draco rushed to Harry and took him in his arms. Harry did not return the embrace as Draco thought he might. He still seemed a little shell-shocked. "Yes, of course I love you," he whispered to his cheek. "I haven't stopped loving you since that first night we spent together." He drew back and released Harry putting a little distance between them. "But…I rather think you really don't know what you're letting yourself in for."

"What do you mean? We already lived together last summer and we've been sleeping together ever since. For all intents and purposes, we live together here, too."

"It's not just living together." He threw up his hands and began to pace. "Crikey, Potter! Haven't you been paying attention for the last year? Look at all that's happened! We've been brought up against a board or trial three times! That has to be some sort of record. We've had death threats, attempts on our lives, plots. What next? You don't need that! As soon as the rest of the Wizarding world finds out we're to be married, what do you think they'll make of that? They'll bring back witch burning. We'll be strung up. How can they afford to let Draco Malfoy get that powerful?"

Harry shook his head and even smiled. It warmed the pale look of his cheek. "Is that what this is about? Draco-"

"You don't take it seriously but everyone else does." He drew himself up. "You know what I would have thought if I was still Draco Malfoy, Prince of Slytherin with a manor and riches and all the Death Eater friends I could muster? I'd think, 'how can we turn this to our advantage? Voldemort is gone, but these fellows will be three times the wizard he was. Maybe we can turn them to the Dark side.'"

"But we won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because we won't!"

Draco slid forward and stood almost nose to nose with Harry. He spoke quietly. "Have you ever performed Dark Magic, Harry?"

Harry swallowed. He flicked his gaze away from Draco for only a second but it was enough.

"How did it feel, Harry? I remember the feeling." His voice dropped to a low, silky timbre. "Wasn't it different from ordinary magic, from charms and hexes and transfigurations? Wasn't it the most thrilling sensation you've ever experienced next to sex? Wasn't it a bit like sex multiplied?"

Harry wouldn't look at Draco.

"That's right. Live in denial, little Potter. But you know and I know how easy it would be to simply fall into it. Just a couple of times for kicks. No one would know. But with so much power at our disposal, think of the things we could try. And you, who couldn't even perform the Avada Kedavra on an insect, couldn't do it to Voldemort though you loathed him, you might end up hurting something, a living creature. Might end up killing it. The first time would be bad. But the second time not so much. And then the next, and the next…"

"Stop it! We're not going to go Dark. That's not it at all. You're just scared. This time it's a real commitment. We'd be joined for life. And I think that scares you."

"Damn right it scares me! It scares me that one day you will wake up and see what a mistake you made. And then you'd hate me. And I couldn't bear that. Couldn't bear the thought of you with someone else." His voice cracked on the last and he lowered his eyes, swallowing back the tears.

Harry's face relaxed from its red ire to something softer. He stepped forward and took Draco's face in his hands and Draco was forced to look at him. "Do you honestly think after all this time of loving you, pining for you, hoping, wishing, and finally getting, that I would ever give you up? That I would ever hate you?"

Tears brimmed in those green eyes. But it was hard to see them through Draco's own clouded vision. "Everything and everyone I've ever loved is gone, Harry. Why would you be any different?"

"Because I'm the sodding Hero of the Wizarding world, you idiot. Wizards, witches, even werewolves and giants are at my beck and call. I have powers even beyond Voldemort. I have love." He smiled. "And I'm going to use that power to conquer you, my little Slytherin. And you can't block it or hex it away. So will you marry me?"

Face still encased in Harry's warm hands, Draco looked into those green eyes. "It's a huge mistake."

Harry drew closer, his warm breath puffing on Draco's lips. "Will you marry me?"

"You'd regret it. I know you will."

Harry's lips were so close to Draco's he could almost taste them. "Will you marry me?"

The hard shell that Draco had tried to build over his heart shattered. He wanted so badly to be Harry's, to belong to him. He didn't even care if he lost his magic, just so he could be with this amazing man. He tried a smile but couldn't muster one. He nodded instead. "Yes, Harry. I still think it's a mistake, but if you want it that badly then I will marry you. You stupid, stubborn, Gryffindor!"

Harry stopped any further rant by planting his mouth firmly on Draco's and they fell into so deep a kiss they never realized that someone was knocking on their door. Harry muttered, "Coloportus" at the door, locking it for good, and they maneuvered toward the bed and took up where they left off a day ago.

* * *

It was much later when Harry and Draco were lying side by side, hands clasped, that they finally had a chance to breathe and take a moment. Harry noticed it was dark outside. How long had they been in bed? It must have been at least six hours.

He turned to look at Draco who wore a lazy and sated grin. "Feeling better?"

"Mmmmm," answered Draco.

"Since you interrupted your birthday yesterday, can we finish it now?"

"I thought we just had," he drawled.

"No. There's one more thing." Harry got up and went to his wardrobe. He had left the little velvet box in his dress robes, not knowing what else to do with it and wondered if he'd ever get the chance to give it to Draco. He took it out of the box, padded back to bed, and sat next to him. "Here. Give me your hand. No, your left hand, you git." He took Draco's hand and slipped the ring on his left ring finger, tapping it with his wand so that it fit properly. "There. Now it's official."

Draco's face had suddenly turned solemn. He drew back his hand to look at the ring, and his expression changed again. He smiled. "This is very clever, Harry. The Slytherin snake can be very sensual, can't it?"

"Don't I know it. I'm a big admirer of the Slytherin snake."

"Well, you are a Parseltongue, after all."

"Yes. I rather like talking to…erm, snakes."

He moved into Harry's arms. "And they understand you very well."

"Well one in particular does." They kissed. Draco drew back and looked at the ring again. "Thank you for this. You did plan well, didn't you?"

"Don't like to leave things to chance. How was I to know you'd say 'no'? That certainly wasn't in the plan."

"And I spoiled a perfectly wonderful evening. It was one of the best birthdays I ever had, too. Up to that point."

"You've only yourself to blame."

"I know." Draco was enthralled by the ring until he looked up, wide-eyed. "What about you! I haven't got you a ring!"

"I don't need one."

"You certainly do. I may belong to you but you also belong to me." He leaned across to the side table and grabbed his wand. He tapped it to his ring and said, "Gemini!" Instantly, an identical ring fell into Draco's hand.

"Grolick's won't like that," said Harry.

"Grolick's? Probably overcharged you anyway. Let's have your hand." Harry reddened as he proffered his left hand. He wasn't used to wearing jewelry. The only thing remotely of any value that he ever wore was his Quidditch captain's badge. Draco slipped it on, charmed it to fit, and Harry brought it forward to look at it. He knew he had a dopey expression on his face, but Draco was smiling at him. "There. You'll make the perfect little wife."

"I'm not going to be the wife."

"Well I'm certainly not the wife."

"We'll both be husbands, then."

"You sure, Harry? I can think of a lot of little games-"

"I'm sure you can," said Harry, face warming. How was Draco able to do that to him even after all this time? He didn't mind, really. He snuggled down with him and took him in his arms. Draco sighed against his chest. This is the way it was supposed to be. He looked at the ring on his finger. "Draco, I was thinking of having the wedding in August."

"This August? Can't wait to get me into bed, eh?"

"Er…aren't we already in bed together?"

"Oh yes. And I'm not a virgin. But seriously. Why so soon?"

"Why not? We'd be married before the next term begins. Give everyone a chance to get used to it."

"Before they start sending owls again, you mean."

"Now Draco. You promised to calm down about that."

"All right. But it will be a small simple affair, right?"

"That's what I'm hoping for. All of the Weasleys and the teachers. Hmm. You know I should invite the Longbottoms, although I'm still a little peeved at Luna about that article in the Quibbler. Oh damn. I just thought of Seamus and his girlfriend. And Oliver Wood and his wife. "

"Why don't you just invite all the bloody Gryffindors. For that matter, why not all the houses from our year?"

"There's also the Order. I forgot about them."

"Crikey! It will be a bloody circus."

"Not if we do it right." He suddenly remembered what Hermione said and cautiously asked, "Um…Draco. Who would you invite?"

Draco was silent for a long time. Harry felt him stiffen in his embrace. He sighed again but it was different from the one before. "Well there you have me. I don't think there's a blessed soul in all Great Britain that would come to my wedding, let alone to one with you."

"Don't you have any relatives or something? Someone from Slytherin?"

"Someone from Slytherin who doesn't want me dead, you mean? That's a short list. And there aren't any relatives distant or otherwise who would deign to see me married to a Halfblood. No offense."

"None taken."

"I can't think of a soul-"

"What about Pansy?"

"Parkinson? Maybe. If she could see an advantage to it."

"Are you kidding? If we wanted this to be, it would be the social event of the year. Harry Potter, Hero of the Wizarding world, Slayer of Voldemort is getting married. And to whom? Why his worst enemy from school, the notorious Draco Malfoy. Both media darlings, both rich, and both powerful wizards. First time the Wizengamot gave permission for a gay wedding in fifty years. Isn't that the sort of thing Purebloods love?"

"Maybe. She might at that. You wouldn't mind, would you? Old girlfriend and all."

"Didn't I suggest it?"

"Oh yeah. That might bring other Slytherins out of the woodwork, friendly ones. There are a few. Maybe even a relative or two that I can stand to see… But wait. What's that about both of us being rich? As you know, I'm as poor as a house elf."

"Well you won't be. You'd be welcomed to half my assets and I'm pretty wealthy on my own."

Draco sat up. "How did you get so much money? I thought those Muggles never spent a knut on you."

"My parents left me money and it was accumulating for eleven years in Gringott's. I've also made some smart investments." He leaned over and whispered, "I'm the silent partner in Weasleys Wizard Wheezes."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. I'm as rich as a Malfoy. Or at least as rich as they used to be."

Draco stared, his mouth agape.

"Something wrong, Draco?"

"No. No. Not at all. Here I was thinking…well. I don't know what to think."

"There's probably papers for you to sign-"

"Hang on. You weren't serious. Why would you cut me in for half?"

"Because you'd be my husband, you git. I'm not a Slytherin. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well…I…I don't know."

Harry pulled Draco down again against his body and let him ponder it. Draco fell silent. So now Harry knew how to shut Draco up: just talk about how much money he had.

Once they got comfortable, Harry's mind lit on many things, including what Draco said before about Dark Magic, and it worried him. Harry knew all too well what Draco was talking about. When he made the Dark Mark on the rat it had frightened him. But at the same time, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about the feeling. Might he be in danger of becoming another Voldemort? Maybe he should talk to Dumbledore. Then again, maybe not. He didn't like to think what Dumbledore would say. Best to quickly find a way to get rid of the Mark, then all the other details would soon be forgotten.

He glanced down at Draco's arm lying in the shadow of the bedclothes. The Dark Mark was clearly visible. Wouldn't that be the greatest gift of all-the greatest wedding gift-if Harry could get that off of Draco's arm for good?


On to Chapter Six
"Groomsmen"

Back to Chapter Four
"Proposal"

Chapter Index

Mystwriter's Story Page