He stayed until Draco dressed again and left the changing room. Harry was incapable of walking and he sat on a bench, rubbed himself over his clothing, and instantly came.

Harry reddened at the memory. That was the first of many trips he had made to the Quidditch changing rooms to spy on Draco Malfoy beginning in their fourth year. He had only recently told Draco about these excursions he'd taken while they were both students at Hogwarts but he had never gone into that much detail. And did he need to when all those fantasies were now fulfilled each day? He and Draco were a couple in every sense of the word, and not only that, but all of Hogwarts now knew it.

They had only been teachers for three months. Didn't they have enough trouble in the beginning with Death Eaters invading Hogwarts and vile Ministry officials trying to ruin Draco?

Harry shook his head at Draco's brashness. After all he'd been through, it was a little hard to believe the Slytherin would risk more by asking Harry to dance with him at the Yule Ball only two nights ago. Harry shook his head in disbelief that he had ever agreed to it. They had danced-a wonderful experience. Draco was so good at it. He held Harry's fingers so lightly and the hand pressed to his back directed him on the floor with such skill, it was easy. It even made Harry look good. And of course, Draco looked so handsome in those dress robes. If there had been any rumors about them before, they were confirmed once and for all. And Dumbledore wasn't angry about it. And he didn't even say anything when he and Draco found themselves standing under the mistletoe. Draco had completely lost his mind that night, though the kiss he gave Harry was at least chaste, even though it was on the lips.

Harry reddened again at the thought. Reddened still further watching Draco parade across his room naked as sin.

"Potter, what's with you? You're blushing. What are you thinking of?" He cast himself upon the bed on his belly and looked up at Harry with a devilish grin.

Harry flicked his eyes to that enticing white bum. "Oh…just thinking how good you look. How much I love you. How sore you made me last night."

Draco smiled. "I was just thinking how much I adore you, as well. And about how sore I made you last night. By the way, Happy Christmas." He crawled up the bed and leaned over Harry. Still smiling, he pressed his lips gently to Harry's and ran his tongue over his mouth. Harry angled his head and took Draco in for a deeper kiss, entangling his fingers in Draco's silky hair and drawing him in.

When he pulled away at last he sighed his own, "Happy Christmas" to Draco.

A small box appeared in Draco's palm and he handed it to Harry. "I have a gift for you. I hope you like it."

"Oh! Of course I will!" Harry took it happily and began to unwrap. Draco sat up (which was very distracting) but Harry managed with the box and pulled out the brass object. It was a pocket watch with a long chain and fob, but when he opened the watch's cover, he discovered it wasn't a watch at all. It was a small version of the same wall clock the Weasleys had at home, depicting a picture of each member of the household with labels like "Mortal Peril", "traveling", "at home" along the top part of the arc. On this version, the labels said "Hogwarts", "London Flat", "Mortal Peril", "Ministry", "Prison", and "Traveling", and there was a little hand with a picture of a smirking Draco. The hand pointed to "Hogwarts".

"There's an inscription," said Draco, pointing to the inside of the case.

Harry read: "To Harry, so he will always know what sort of trouble I'm in. My love, Draco." Harry laughed. "I love it!" He reached over and gave Draco a very loud kiss.

"Well?" said Draco. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Didn't you get me a present?"

Harry thought to tease him but gave up. "It's too large to have in the bed."

"Oh come now, Harry. There's nothing too large to be in this bed," and he made a grab over the covers for Harry's crotch.

Harry squirmed half-heartedly out of the way. "Likewise. Shall I get it? I didn't wrap it very well. Once you see it you'll know what it is."

"Stop jabbering, Potter, and cough it up."

Harry climbed out of bed and did his own naked strutting to his wardrobe. He reached far into the back and withdrew the haphazardly wrapped package and presented it to Draco. "Ta da!"

Draco took it with a huge grin and unwrapped the Firebolt II. He laid it across his lap and stroked the broom. "A broom. I haven't owned a broom since…I don't know when. Haven't been on one in longer."

"Well it's time you did. I hope I can keep up with you with my old broom."

Draco looked up at Harry with glossy eyes. Harry knew how much Draco had missed living in the Wizarding world when he was exiled to the Muggle world two years ago after Voldemort was defeated. "Thanks, Harry Love."

Harry sank to the bed. "What did you call me?"

It was Draco's turn to blush. "I called you 'Harry Love'. I needed some sort of endearment for you. You're so adorable, after all."

"Shall I call you Draky-poo?"

"Don't you dare!"

"How about just 'my love'?"

Draco made a show of thinking about it before he grabbed Harry and rolled with him along the bed.

A tapping at the window made them both turn. An owl pecked persistently at the tall arched window.

"Just leave it," said Draco into the skin of Harry's neck. Harry was tempted to but the strange owl was bothering him and it was cold outside.

"It'll only take a second," he said and jumped up. He unlatched the window and opened it wide enough for the owl. He expected it to be for him as most of them were (fan mail, usually), but this time the owl swooped in and dropped an envelope on Draco's lap, swooped back to the sill, and flapped away. Harry closed the window with a shiver. "Cold," he said, rubbing his arms, and hurried back to bed.

Draco used his finger to open the flap, took out the parchment and read, and then wadded it up.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Where were we?"

"It doesn't look like nothing." Harry leaned down to pick up the crumpled parchment.

"Just leave it alone, Potter! It's not important."

Harry unfolded it and read. There were a lot of nasty and derogatory words for homosexuals sprinkled in the angry letter, but it was the last line that concerned him the most: "Your kind are like filthy Mudbloods-you don't deserve to live."

"Draco! How many of these have you gotten?"

"A few...A day… Since the Yule Ball."

"A few a day? Have you told Dumbledore?"

"NO! And neither are you. It's just some sick bastard who gets his jollies from harassing me."

"Have you spelled it to see where it came from?"

"Of course I did. But the bastard's too good. He's charmed it so you can't find out, and uses different owls each time."

"Have you tried giving it to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? I hear he's supposed to be good with this sort of thing."

Draco sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Knock yourself out."

Harry got his wand and sat down with the parchment, scooting back to sit along side Draco. He tried a few different charms, almost cracked it but couldn't, and then it ignited in his hand and turned to ash.

Draco snorted. "They always do that."

He looked at Draco angrily. "Could have told me. Didn't want to burn anything important."

Draco looked at Harry's lap. "It looks intact to me." He smiled. "Want to test it out just to make sure?"

"This isn't funny. Someone is sending you death threats."

"That wasn't much of a death threat. I've had worse, believe me."

"What do you mean?"

Draco crossed his arms over his white chest. "Just because you lost track of me when I was living the life of a Muggle after my trial doesn't mean others did. I was always getting owls or Muggle post with threats. Took them in stride."

Harry stared at his lover's face. "I didn't know," he said quietly, though he should have suspected. "Really? All these years?"

"Sure. Some people have more free time than brains." He shrugged. "So what? Nothing ever came of it."

"But-"

"But nothing, Potter. Are we going to waste this morning talking about this or are we going to shag?"

"Well, I-" Harry wasn't really in the mood knowing that his boyfriend was getting death threats, but when Draco leaned over and began kissing his neck, lapping at it with his tongue and nipping with his teeth, he got a sudden change of heart. It wasn't any one thing Draco was particularly good at, but the combination of his gentle touch (when it needed to be gentle), his firm stroking (just at the moment it needed to be firm), his talented tongue that flicked or lapped as needed, the way his cock eased into Harry and then slammed in with abandon, always did Harry in, making him come far harder than he ever had in his life before Draco. It was all that which made him so desire making love to Draco or have Draco make love to him. How could one man be so needy and so erotic at the same time?

* * *

Later that morning, Harry and Draco finally made it to the Great Hall where they were nearly the only two teachers left for the holidays, being the lowest in tenure. Only a very few students remained, five from Slytherin, three from Hufflepuff, one from Ravenclaw, and two from Gryffindor. They were a quiet crowd sitting at their respective tables in the hall.

Harry stood up. "This is ridiculous. Everyone, come up to the head table! There's no reason to sit at your house tables, especially Ravenclaw. You're all by yourself."

Most of the students wore relief except the ones from Slytherin. It looked as if they would prefer to be anywhere but with the others, but Draco put a stop to that. "Slytherins-get up here!"

They moved quickly to comply. Harry glanced at Draco with a smirk. "Yes, sir!" he said under his breath to him.

"Well at least they know a commanding voice when they hear one," he whispered.

"Don't I always follow your commands?"

Draco smiled back until he noticed the students approach and look at them nervously. Some even whispered to one another before they settled down.

Harry tried not to blush. He knew why they whispered. They all knew that he and Draco were lovers. How could they not? Whenever the students looked at them now there would always be that undercurrent.

"This is better, isn't it?" Harry said brightly to the students. Surely his charm as Harry Potter, Hero of the Wizarding world, would smooth the way. At least with all but the Slytherins.

"What are your plans today?" he asked, turning to the Hufflepuff next to him.

The second year girl shrugged. "Homework, I guess."

"Nonsense! You don't have to give me those kinds of answers. This isn't a test. This is a holiday. I know! Why don't we all go outside and have a snowball fight?"

They stared at him wide-eyed, including Draco.

"Are you mad? It's freezing out there."

He glared back at the blond. "It's fresh air. It's good for them. Exercise. I'm sure the Headmaster would want them to." He dug into his eggs, ignoring Draco fuming at him, and finished his breakfast.

After more cajoling, Harry convinced them all to get into their warmest cloaks and venture outside.

Harry blew out a foggy breath, his Gryffindor scarf trailing down his back. "See? Isn't this great?"

The students stomped the snowy ground, staring at their feet. Draco stood off to the side with his arms crossed firmly over his chest. His Slytherin scarf nearly covered his mouth. "This idea is ridiculous," he muttered.

Harry shot him a scathing look. "Come on, everyone. How about a snowball fight? Or we can build snowmen."

No one moved.

"Having a snowball fight will warm you up."

"Look, Professor," said Treeloft, one of the sulkier fifth year Slytherins. "We Slytherins don't do snowball fights."

Harry wondered why Treeloft was so sullen. After all, it wasn't that long before the dance that Malcolm Treeloft had also come out of the closet, telling Harry about his feelings for the tall Hufflepuff Rupert Fenwick who returned his feelings. In fact, after Harry and Draco's brave show on the dance floor they, too, stepped out and danced together. Harry wasn't certain the kind of reaction the two would get from the student body because everyone had left for the holiday, including Fenwick. Maybe that's why he's in such a bad mood, thought Harry. He knew he would be too if he were without Draco for that length of time.

Harry looked toward Draco for help. This wasn't going as he had planned.

Draco looked at Harry and the rebellious students and stomped forward. "All right, all right. Professor Potter obviously doesn't know enough about Slytherins. You'd think he would by now," he added under his breath.

Draco waved his wand at a snow bank and it molded and formed into a perfect miniature of Hogwarts. He waved his wand again and the castle walls were instantly patrolled by small creatures.

"What are those, Draco?" whispered Harry.

"Brownies, nasty little pixies. It won't harm them. But they'll put up a good fight." To the students he said, "All right. You'll all have to work together. No separate houses here. You see that castle? I want you to take it…by any means necessary. Do you understand?" The Slytherins all broke into smiles. This they understood. Though at first they didn't seem happy to work with the other houses, they gathered under the leadership of Treeloft to scheme how they were to take the snow castle. Treeloft immediately set the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors to making snowballs.

Harry took Draco aside. "That was brilliant."

"I have my moments. You just have to put it in terms they understand."

Snowballs flew and the small brownies were no match for the sly Slytherins. Harry and Draco watched the students at their war for a few minutes before Harry began to laugh with a fond memory. "Do you remember when you were pelted by snowballs outside the Shrieking Shack the year Professor Lupin taught Defense?"****

Draco thought a moment and suddenly his eyes widened. "Yeah! That was bloody scary. Some spook attacking me, Crabbe and Goyle. What the hell was that?"

Harry laughed, snorted, and took a breath before he could spit out, "Me!"

Draco's expression suddenly chilled. "You? You and that damned invisibility cloak! What a menace you were, Potter! And just why were they keeping an eye on me all the time? You were the one causing all the trouble."

"I was only trying to stop you from causing any."

"Ha! I wasn't the one all Polyjuiced up or creeping around under a cloak wreaking havoc. Honestly, Potter. I should belt you one."

Harry squeezed Draco's shoulder congenially. He knew Draco wasn't really mad anymore, but these revelations certainly gave him a turn and Harry enjoyed his reactions too much to stop.

Phoenix song burst in the air, and they all looked up. Fawkes flew overhead but didn't stop. He swooped low over them, dropped a parchment, and flew back up to Dumbledore's tower.

Harry caught it and looked at Draco. This didn't seem good. A message from Dumbledore delivered by phoenix?

Harry tore open the parchment and read:

Professor Potter, Professor Malfoy:

Please come to my office immediately.

Headmaster Dumbledore

****A/N: I know this scene is more movie than book, but it is such a delicious moment I couldn't resist.


On to Chapter Two
"The Quibbler"

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