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Draco felt like he had dreamed a dream. A very, very long dream. One so real that he thought it was reality.
In the dream, he and the Savior Harry were not like what Harry had said. At the Triwizard Tournament, Harry’s treasure was Draco. After the task, they confessed their feelings and got together. Then the Malfoy family turned to the Order of the Phoenix and became double agents. In the end, they were discovered by Voldemort during the final battle and sacrificed themselves.
In the dream, he was like a bystander, watching Harry and Draco drift further and further apart, watching them clearly love each other but have to separate because of the shadow Voldemort cast over everything.
He saw fifth year Draco secretly warn Harry so he would not be caught by Umbridge.
He saw sixth year Draco take on the Dark Lord’s task for his family, trembling but still forcing himself to stand straight and strong.
He saw Draco crying helplessly in the abandoned bathroom, with only the ghost Myrtle to talk to. No one knew the pain and struggle inside him. No one could lead him out of the dark.
He saw Harry and Draco fighting in the bathroom. His spell hit him. He almost killed him.
He saw the Savior, face unrecognizable, at Malfoy Manor. And he did not tell the truth. He only asked, with pain in his heart, what had happened to his face.
He saw Draco finally take Harry’s hand in the fire in the Room of Requirement, those hands that had been six years late.
He saw Draco run to the Savior amid the chaos of war and throw his wand to Harry.
He saw the first night after the victory. Harry, the Savior, sneaked into the Slytherin dungeons under the Cloak of Invisibility like a boy in love for the first time. He stammered out his confession to Draco.
He saw Harry testify for the Malfoy family at the trial. The Ministry spared their bodies but restricted their freedom.
He saw the Ministry go back on its word and collude with the remnants of the Death Eaters. They took the Malfoys’ property and stood by coldly as the Malfoys were trampled by Death Eaters...
“No!”
Draco woke with a scream. His eyes were wide but unfocused, staring at the white ceiling of St Mungo’s. He gasped for air. The despair from the dream surrounded him like seawater. The suffocating feeling made him unable, for a moment, to tell reality from dream.
After he calmed down, Draco slowly sat up and instinctively looked for the figure that made him feel safe. But the room was empty. There was no one but him.
Harry was not here.
The realization made his heart clench. Maybe Harry had drawn the curtains after he fell asleep. The room was dim. Being in the dark made Draco even more uneasy, and it made him think of that dream again.
It was so real it was terrifying.
But in the dream he had known with perfect clarity that it was only a dream. Everything in it felt real, yet when he tried to touch it, something blocked him. It was as if a thin veil lay between him and the dream, hazy and blurred. Every time he tried to look closer, the dream grew misty and told him this was only a dream, and he was just a bystander.
It was strange. It was his dream. Shouldn’t he be the owner of the dream? Why was he only a bystander?
Draco could not help but think deeply about the reason. After all, a wizard’s dream could sometimes foretell something. Besides, the scenes in the dream made Draco absolutely certain they had really happened. But after waking, he felt again that it was only a dream.
He could not stop his thoughts from digging deeper, but suddenly his head hurt as if needles were stabbing into it. Draco held his head and cried out in pain.
Bang.
“Draco!”
Harry had just reached the door when he heard Draco’s cry of pain from inside. He hurriedly pushed the door open and came in. Seeing the person on the bed clutching his head and rolling back and forth in pain, he Apparated over at once and gathered Draco into his arms.
“Draco? Draco? Where does it hurt? Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. I’m here.”
Harry waved his wand and cast healing charms on Draco, but they did nothing to ease his pain. Harry’s heart ached terribly. He wished he could take that pain for Draco.
“Harry... Harry...”
“I’m here. I’m here, Draco. Look at me. I’m right here.”
Draco’s head felt like it was splitting. He called Harry’s name unconsciously, as if that could lessen the pain a little.
Harry truly had no other way. He lowered his head and kissed him. His magic spread around them, carefully wrapping around Draco, trying to soothe the painful, agitated nerves.
Maybe the kiss worked. Maybe Harry’s magic soothed Draco. Either way, Draco stopped struggling and gradually calmed down.
Harry kissed away the tears at the corners of his eyes with aching tenderness and gently kissed his cheeks.
Draco leaned against Harry’s chest, breathing softly, still shaken as he steadied his breath.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw those green eyes full of heartache and worry. He tried to curve his pale lips into a smile, wanting to comfort the person caught in fear and unease.
“Harry?”
“Draco, how do you feel? Better? Does it still hurt?”
Draco shook his head. His grey blue eyes were covered with a mist. He looked up at Harry and said very softly, “Harry, I had a dream. A very real dream...”
Harry held Draco quietly and listened as he described the dream. With every sentence, his heart sank a little more.
At the end, after Draco finished, he tugged at Harry’s sleeve and asked, “Harry, Harry, do you think it means something? I keep feeling like there’s something... Harry? Harry?”
As Draco spoke, he noticed Harry had no reaction. He poked Harry’s cheek and called him back.
“Hm? Oh, sorry, Draco. I was listening too intently.”
Harry smiled apologetically and stroked Draco’s head to soothe him.
“Harry, what do you think it’s trying to tell me?”
“Little dragon, it was only a dream. Forget it.”
“But...”
“All right, little dragon. It seems I still don’t love you enough. I actually let you have such a bad dream. Be good, little dragon. I’ll stay here with you tonight and go nowhere. All right?”
Harry cut Draco off and silently acted hurt and needy to coax him. Sure enough, Draco’s attention was diverted. Harry even unexpectedly got a comforting kiss from Draco.
When the night was deep and quiet, Harry opened his eyes. His dark green eyes flashed with a hidden light in the darkness. He greedily traced Draco’s face with his gaze. A faint premonition rose in his heart. If he could, he hoped Draco would never remember those terrible, painful things for the rest of his life. Call him domineering, call him selfish, he did not care. He only wanted his little prince to be happy and carefree, just like in a fairy tale. That was the ending they should have had all along. He had only removed every threat.
At that thought, a bloodthirsty red appeared in Harry’s eyes. But when his gaze fell on Draco’s peaceful sleeping face, his eyes softened again. He pulled the person closer into his arms and kissed his forehead. The person in his arms gave an unhappy little murmur and turned over in Harry’s embrace. Looking at that platinum head, Harry shook his head with a laugh. Watching Draco’s adorable appearance, his heart grew fonder.
“Little dragon? Little dragon? Wake up...”
“Mmm... Harry, let me sleep a little longer...”
Harry watched Draco bury his face in the blanket again and smiled indulgently. He straightened up and turned to give the Healer behind him an apologetic smile. The Healer quickly waved a hand to say it was fine.
As if anyone would dare have a problem in front of Harry Potter.
“Give me the potion. When Draco wakes up, I’ll watch him drink it.”
“Mm, all right. The recovery potion only needs to be taken twice a day. Before or after meals is fine. Then I’ll leave the potion here.”
The Healer put the potion on the table, explained the precautions to Harry, and then left.
Harry looked at the potion bottle glowing faint blue on the table. He took another bottle with pale blue liquid from his pocket, opened both bottles, poured the one in his hand into Draco’s recovery potion, and gently swirled the bottle so the two potions mixed fully. Then he put the stopper back, waved his wand, and the bottle in his hand vanished without a trace.
Harry looked at the recovery potion on the table, which showed no change at all, and slowly smiled in satisfaction.
Then he sat down behind another desk and began dealing with the backlog of files.
After a while, Harry heard movement from the bed. He put down his quill, got up, went to the bedside, and gently called Draco’s name.
“Mmm...”
Draco stretched and narrowed his eyes comfortably, then opened them again. Looking into Harry’s green eyes, he smiled so brightly his eyes curved. He sat up and gave Harry a kiss.
“Good morning, my dear Harry.”
“Good morning, my dear little dragon.”
Harry’s lips curved in a good mood too. He sat on the edge of the bed, pulled Draco into his arms, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Go wash up?”
Draco nodded, then threw off the blanket and got ready to get out of bed. Harry had already fished Draco’s slippers out from under the bed and put them by his feet.
Watching Draco wobble into the bathroom, Harry smiled helplessly. He snapped his fingers to call a house elf and asked for breakfast for the two of them.
By the time Draco finished and came out, Harry had already set out their breakfast.
Draco saw that the table was full of all his favorite foods. He let out a cheer and hurried over.
“Harry... I want that.”
Draco sat right on Harry’s lap and acted spoiled, deliberately making his voice soft and sweet. The word “Harry” from his mouth was like sugar frosting on a donut melting over Harry’s heart.
Harry was naturally happy to spoil and indulge Draco’s willful, demanding behavior. If he could, he would let his little rose depend on him for a lifetime. Draco was the only pure land left in his heart.
After breakfast, Harry coaxed Draco into drinking the potion. When Draco stuck out his tongue because of the bitter taste, Harry peeled a candy and put it in his own mouth, then covered Draco’s mouth with his. He pushed the candy to Draco with his tongue. The sweet honey scent filled both their mouths. Harry deepened the kiss with a smile in his eyes, plundering until his young master was red in the face. Only then did he let go and watch him go soft in his arms, breathing fast. Harry’s baser nature was satisfied. He laughed a little smugly, and in return got a weak slap from Draco. It landed on his face, but it felt like a cat retracting its claws and giving a gentle scratch. It only made Harry want to bully the limp person in his arms even more.
Harry held back again and again, pressed down again and again, and finally restrained the desire in his heart. Not yet. Although Draco’s body was grown, his memories were stuck in third year. It always gave Harry a sense of guilt when he was intimate with Draco. It was one of the few times he was willing to hold himself back. Still, he was very happy to accompany his little prince as he grew up.
He picked Draco up and put him on the bed, bent down and kissed his cheek, then said affectionately in his ear, “Little dragon, remember to take your medicine like a good boy. Try to get out of the hospital early. I’ll come pick you up and take you home.”
“My sweetheart, I have to go to work. I’m sorry I can’t stay with you longer. I’ll miss you. Be good and listen to the Healer. I’ll come tonight.”
“Just go already! If the Ministry people knew their Minister was such a clingy thing, would they still be afraid of you?”
Draco made a face at Harry, twisted around, and left Harry looking at the back of his platinum head. Harry shook his head with an indulgent smile, tucked the blanket around Draco, and left.
After Harry left, Draco turned back and stared at the door for a while.
He wanted to recall the dream again, but he only vaguely remembered some fragmented images, scattered in disorder in every corner of his mind. After thinking for a long time, he could not find the point that connected them, so Draco stopped bothering.
He could no longer remember the contents of the dream. Rather than struggle to think about an empty illusion, he might as well do something he liked.
So Draco called a house elf and had it bring the potions books from his study for him to pass the time.
＊
“Harry, you’re late today...”
As soon as Harry entered the office, he saw Hermione sitting on the sofa. She put down her teacup and teased him.
“So is my dear Head of Finance going to dock my pay?”
Harry answered along with Hermione’s words without much concern. Hermione rested her chin on her hand and thought seriously for a second, then said to Harry:
“Of course. Since you, the Minister, actually took the lead in breaking the rules, your perfect attendance is gone. And my dear little Ronnie has been working overtime for half a month straight, so...”
Hermione deliberately dragged out the sound and did not finish. How could Harry not understand what she had left unsaid? He only raised an eyebrow, did not argue, walked straight over, sat down across from Hermione, and looked through the files she had brought on the tea table.
“Oh, my silly husband finally gets overtime pay. Let me think. Maybe I should buy a new dress. Ah, I think Pansy would be very happy to go shopping with me this weekend.”
Hermione gave a small cheer. While speaking, she had already planned out her weekend.
Harry nodded while looking through the files in his hand. They were all drafts of their reform decrees. Once Harry reviewed them, they could hold a meeting to set the date for trial implementation.
“Of course, Mione. I trust the drafts you write the most. Once the meeting passes them, you and Ron will have a month of vacation.”
After reading all the files, Harry relaxed back against the sofa and promised Hermione in an easy tone.
“Mm hm. Looks like I need to plan my vacation all over again...”
Hermione stood up in a good mood. After saying goodbye to Harry, she walked lightly toward the door.
Watching Hermione’s confident, determined back, Harry slowly picked up the coffee pot from the tea table, poured himself a cup of coffee, and comfortably savored his achievement.
The new decrees were introduced.
Protection of house elf rights, friendly cooperative partnerships between werewolves, giants, and wizards, the introduction of new Muggle technology, and so on. With the Ministry’s strong promotion and the people’s support, magical Britain’s development reached an even higher level. No one dared question the Savior’s authority anymore.
After Draco recovered, Harry came to take him home. He had wanted to go back by Floo right away, but Draco shook his head and said he wanted to walk a little. He had been at St Mungo’s for several days and had hardly been outside.
Harry naturally indulged him. He held his hand, and they strolled together along Belman Street.
Looking at the busy street full of people, Draco suddenly turned to Harry and smiled sweetly.
“Harry, you are my Savior.”
Harry lifted their joined hands, kissed the back of Draco’s hand, and answered him with a smile.
“Yes, I’ve been there all along.”
The smile in Draco’s eyes deepened. His grey blue eyes were full of stars. Harry watched him without blinking, afraid to miss even a second of the beauty.
Draco moved close to Harry and gave him a tight hug. Harry was very sensitive to Draco’s emotions. He noticed a moment of sorrow and heavy pain in him. Harry did not understand why, but he still hugged Draco back tightly.
“Thank you, Harry.”
Draco murmured softly in Harry’s ear. After hearing it, Harry’s body went stiff for a moment. His green eyes, always full of wild arrogance, were now filled with panic and unease.
“Draco?”
The warm, soft feeling in his arms left. Harry’s gaze followed.
The next second, emerald green met misty blue…