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Despite the beautiful Christmas tree displayed in the corner of the coffee shop and the snow falling outside, Harry was not in the Christmas spirit.
Harry sat at the table farthest away from the door, hands wrapped around the mug of hot chocolate he had ordered. His Gryffindor scarf, once wet with snow, had long since dried and lay next to the two empty cups he had already sipped as he waited for Draco to arrive. He hadn’t even bothered to take a sip of his last cup; instead, he had watched the marshmallows melt in the hot drink and the steam slowly disappear as the drink became cold.
Sighing, Harry glanced at his wristwatch. He had waited for far too long, and if it weren’t for the fact that he would miss the departure of the Hogwarts Express, Harry would have stayed even longer. He would give Draco another fifteen minutes.
Harry would not blame Draco if he decided not to come to the coffee shop today. After all, the last time they had been together had resulted in a heated argument and they had not spoken to each other since.
They had been sitting at a table in the library waiting for Hermione and Ron to join them. Draco had a book opened in front of him, but had been staring out the window while Harry talked about how much he was going to enjoy Christmas this year.
“Why are we spending Christmas at the Weasleys?” Draco had asked when Harry had paused in the middle of talking about how much he loved Mrs Weasley’s cooking.
“I-- what?” Harry’s smile had dimmed as he stared at Draco in confusion.
Draco had looked away from the window. “Why are we going with your friends? I thought we had planned to spend Christmas together.”
“We are! You were invited--“
“No, Harry,” Draco had interrupted. “You were invited and you just assumed I was going along with you. You never asked me what I wanted to do.”
Harry frowned. “What’s wrong with vising the Burrow?”
“Nothing’s wrong with Weasley’s home. Except, have you noticed that we’re always around your friends? I’m always surrounded by Gryffindors. Your friends barely even tolerate me, by the way.”
Harry had crossed his arms. “That’s not true!”
Draco had sighed and shaken his head. “Harry, I eat at the Gryffindor table. Every visit to Hogsmeade is as a group visit. Not once have you come down to the Slytherin common room with me. The only time I have you to myself is when we’re snogging in an empty classroom or a deserted hallway, like I’m some kind of shameful secret.”
Harry’s mouth had dropped open. “Draco, I’m sorry you felt that way. I never meant to make you feel ashamed.”
“Well, you have a funny way of showing it, Harry,” Draco said bitterly. “So forgive me if I wanted to celebrate Christmas by ourselves this year.”
“It’s the first Christmas after the war. Of course I would want to be with my friends and the people who love me,” Harry had said. “Draco, I’m not forcing you to do anything. If you don’t want to go to the Burrow, then don’t go! Stay here at Hogwarts by yourself! See if your friends come and visit you.”
Draco’s mouth had drawn in a thin line and he refused to look at Harry. “Right,” he said at last, standing up and bushing any imaginary dust off of his robes. “I’ll see your later, Potter.”
Potter. Draco had not called him that since before the war and before they became friends. Just from that one word, Harry knew he had made a mistake by mentioning Draco’s friends who hadn’t returned to Hogwarts and he needed to make things right. However, by the time Harry had gathered his belongings and left the library, Draco was gone.
That night, Harry had gone to bed early with an empty stomach and a troubled mind. Harry was determined to apologise to Draco the first chance he got.
Except it never happened. All of Harry’s free time had been spent in class, or with Hermione and Ron, either by revising for exams in the library or visiting the Three Broomsticks just so they wouldn’t go mad being cooped up inside for long. Meals were spent trying to catch a glimpse of Draco, but to no avail. Every night, very close to midnight, Harry would stumble into his bed and fall asleep instantly. However, exhaustion was not enough to keep Draco away from his dreams. It was the only bright spot in Harry’s day.
Harry’s wristwatch beeped, taking him out of his memories and reminding him that he had to leave soon to catch the Hogwarts Express. He sighed as he stood, reaching into his pocket to leave a few Sickles to cover the cost of his drinks.
Just as Harry was about to cast Warming charms on himself before heading outside, the door slammed opened.
Draco walked in, bringing in a few inches of snow into the coffee shop. Harry’s breath caught as he saw Draco shivering, the snow falling from his hair and shoulders and onto the ground where it melted away. Harry leapt from the table with his scarf in one hand and stood in front of Draco, unwrapping his scarf and tugging off his jacket and gloves. He used his wand to cast several Drying and Warming charms, before wrapping the Gryffindor scarf around Draco’s neck. Harry looked up at Draco and was disappointed that he couldn’t tell what the other man was thinking.
Neither said a word in greeting, but as Harry made his way back to the booth, he was pleased to see that Draco followed.
Harry sat down and used his wand to make his cup of hot chocolate hot again. He pushed it in front of Draco and watched as the blond man blew on the liquid before taking a sip. Draco closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to become warm. He wrapped Harry’s scarf around him tighter.
Once Draco had stopped shivering, he opened his eyes and said, “Thanks.”
Harry nodded, but otherwise they sat looking at each other. Harry felt guilt settle in his stomach as he looked at how much Draco had changed. Harry could blame the dark shadows under Draco’s eyes, the way he looked thinner as if he had skipped a few meals, and the sheer exhaustion that radiated off of Draco’s body, on the end of term exams, but Harry knew better. After all, Harry looked and felt the same.
Draco cleared his throat. “I am sorry if I was extremely rude with my discussion the last time we met. I know that you’ve been friends with the Weasley family and Granger for far longer than we’ve been together--“
Harry held out a hand to stop him from talking. “No, Draco, I’m the one who should be sorry.” He watched as Draco’s eyebrows rose, but he continued on before he could interrupt. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I realised that you were right. I have been spending too much time with my friends. Which means less time for us, which isn’t fair to you at all.”
“Still, it could have been handled better than just blurting it out in the middle of an argument,” Draco said.
“No, I liked that you told me that. I would rather be told what was going on and try to fix things, than to think that everything was alright and watch our relationship fall apart.”
Draco was still, became paler if that were possible, and Harry hurried to reassure him.
“I’m new at this, Draco. Cho and Ginny were the only two people I ever dated before you, and look how well that turned out.” They were still friends, despite both telling Harry the reason they broke up was his tendency to ignore them if things were turning sour. “And, despite our last argument, I want to make this work.”
“I do, too,” Draco said, finally looking at Harry. His eyes were filled with relief and he took a shaky laugh as he took a sip of coffee.
“Good,” Harry said, feeling the knots in his stomach disappear at hearing Draco’s laughter. “I’m glad you want stay together, too. I missed you too much and do you know what I regret the most?”
“What?”
“That it was my foolish words and inability to think sometimes has kept me away from you. Do you know how miserable I was these past few weeks, not being able to be near you or even see you?” Harry frowned as he remembered those nights where just the sheer need to see Draco, to make sure he was alright, had made him gather his Invisibility Cloak and Maraurder’s Map and search the entire castle for Draco. Every time Harry couldn’t find him, he could feel fear growing in his heart.
“Yes, Harry, I do,” Draco said, his eyes filled with a sadness that Harry hadn’t seen in quite a while. “I was lonely and upset, but unlike you, I had no one. I would ask Professor McGonagall if I could talk to Severus’ portrait-- thank you for that, by the way-- just to find a familiar face that wouldn’t judge me for my past.”
While Harry listened, he made a promise that he would never neglect any of his friends, both old and new. He knew how it felt to be unwanted and being away from Draco had only reinforced that idea.
“Just so you know, I would have found you before we left for Christmas hols and given you a present,” Draco said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
“Oh?”
“While debating on what to do, I owled Pansy for advice. She’s my oldest friend and she’s never let me down, despite her living in Paris now.”
This was new information to Harry, one that he was not happy to find because it only reinforced Draco’s idea that Harry didn’t know about any of the things that mattered to him. He knew that Draco was the only Slytherin in their year to return, but he never bothered to ask Draco where everyone was. “What did she say?”
“To stop acting like a lovesick Hufflepuff,” Draco said, shaking his head. “We were both wrong, but if I wanted to be happy, then I had to talk to you to sort this out. She was not going to listen to me whinge about you for the next few years.”
“She’s a smart friend,” Harry said, smiling as he broke a biscuit in half and dipped it into his hot chocolate.
“The best,” Draco said, nodding. “She’s still a Slytherin, though. She’s expecting a fabulous Christmas gift from me this year for fixing my relationship problems.”
Harry laughed. “She’s right. I should send her one myself.”
The waitress came over and took away their empty cups, before asking if they wanted anything else. After declining, she went away and both of them sat in the comfortable silence.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Draco taking out a small box wrapped in yellow paper and placing it in front of him. “I had a hard time deciding what to get you for Christmas-- you are extremely hard to shop for, Harry, because you seem to already have whatever you want-- until I asked for Mother’s help. I suppose she is part of the reason I am here today.”
Although Narcissa had been very instrumental in defeating Voldemort, Harry had not paid her a visit since he spoke at her trial. He would have to rectify immediately, and not just because she was Draco’s mother. He needed to thank her in person.
Harry was curious to see what Draco would gift him. He carefully tore off the yellow wrapping paper and opened the small box, letting out a startled gasp when a paper dove flew out. They both watched it fly around them before Harry raised his arm to allow the bird to land in his palm.
“This is lovely,” Harry said, at a loss of words to say. While he was relieved that Draco didn’t buy him an ostentatious gift, he was puzzled as to why he chose a paper dove. The expression on Harry’s face must have shown, for Draco tapped the dove with his wand to make it inanimate.
“I know we won’t be able to spend Christmas this year, but why don’t we try for New Year’s? This dove is a Portkey to a small party Mother is having with our few friends and family. Greg, Pansy, and Blaise will be the only ones you’ll know from Hogwarts, but other than that, it’s just my Aunt Andromeda and her grandson, Teddy,” Draco said.
Harry’s throat tightened. It was easy to be persuaded that Hogwarts was all that was there of the Wizarding word. After all, he had spent the majority of his life safe at Hogwarts, only going to other places with supervision. But he couldn’t stay at Hogwarts forever, and part of him wanted to explore and travel to see more of the Wizarding world before he was tied down with obligations. Perhaps this party with a small group of people who Draco cared about was a good place to start.
“Invite Granger and Weasley,” Draco continued, when Harry had taken too long to respond. “I know they don’t have good memories of my home and for good reasons. However, the party won’t be inside the Manor, but in one of Mother’s rose gardens. She uses preservation and greenhouse charms to have flowers grow all year long. You should see how beautiful it is decorated in the winter.” Draco smiled. “I would love it if you could come.”
Harry couldn’t say no. Not to this. He reached across from the table and grabbed the front of Draco’s shirt to pull him forward. He wasn’t going to let anything get in his way, not even the pesky table that separated them, of giving Draco a proper kiss.
It had only been a few weeks since Harry had last kissed Draco, but he hadn’t forgotten the way he was always consumed by the gesture. They kissed, messy at first as they tried to find the right angle with noses and Harry’s glasses in the way, but still chaste. Harry closed his eyes and threaded his fingers though Draco’s soft hair before he was startled by Draco biting Harry’s lips to let the kiss become deeper. Harry happily let him.
When they pulled apart, Harry could see how bright Draco’s eyes had become and his smile was genuine, vastly different from the Draco he had seen in class the past few weeks. Their hands remained clasped together on the table and Harry had a feeling that nothing could tear them apart.
“Yes, I’ll be there. With or without Ron and Hermione,” Harry said, watching as Draco’s shoulders relaxed. “I’ll have to buy you another Christmas gift, though. Mine is kind of useless now.”
“What do you mean?”
Harry squirmed. “Well, while not quite as useful as yours, I still hope you would enjoy it.”
“Is that so?” Draco said, watching as Harry pulled out a small, black box identical to Draco’s present except that it was unwrapped.
Harry nodded. “I was going to give this to you at the beginning, so that if you had decided to break up with me, then at least I would have had a chance of getting what I wanted.”
“A chance at what?”
Harry was staring at Draco, caught under those intense grey eyes that had haunted his dreams, that he fumbled with the box and let it fall to the floor with a clatter. Before any of them could reach down and grab it, a sprig of mistletoe rose from box until it hovered above their heads.
“A chance to be happy, too,” Harry said quietly.
Draco laughed, deep and heartfelt, before kissing Harry again.