"Well good bloody luck to him in that. Granger will come to you, regardless. Therefore it's not your fault."

Harry turned to him and smiled hopefully. "Do you think so?"

"Of course," Draco replied smugly, "I'm Draco Malfoy and I am always correct."

A genuine smile filled Harry's face. "I guess I should finish making lunch then." Draco nodded. He watched Harry stand up and slip out of his grasp. It was a wrench to let him go but he needed to cool off himself. And he knew just how to do it. The house wasn't big enough for the two of them and a ghost.

Looking around Draco set to work picking up pictures, photo albums and so forth. By the time Harry announced lunch was ready, Draco had rid the downstairs of any reminder of Charlie. Breathing a bit easier, he headed out toward the kitchen.

As Harry set the table, he set the tone for the meal as well. "I don’t want to talk about this anymore."

Thinking that was an excellent start, Draco readily agreed. Halfway through lunch an owl, that was rather small and must have been absolutely tiny at one time, flew through the window end over end in controlled tumble of sorts. "Look out!" Harry lifted up his bowl of vegetable soup and his roast beef sandwich. Draco quickly followed suit.

The bird rolled onto the table, coming to an abrupt halt right before the edge. It seemed inordinately pleased with itself. Draco rolled his eyes, wondering where on earth this owl had learned to fly. "Pig!" Harry beamed putting down his lunch and picking up the pint-sized owl. Draco tentatively put down his lunch too, wondering nervously what the owl's take-offs were like. With nimble fingers, Harry removed the scroll from the owl's leg before giving it a crust from his bread.

"You know this owl?" Draco's lip curled. "It's a menace!"

"Trust me, Errol was a menace. Pig just had a bad mentor. I swear that owl was a hundred years old if it was a day." Harry unrolled the scroll casting a glance at Draco who was looking horrified at the very notion, while carefully guarding his meal. "It's from Hermione!" Pig took off and did a few somersaults before zipping out the window.

"Nothing stops a determined Granger," Draco spoke wisely.

Harry started to laugh. "Listen to this!"

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry about that insufferable git that calls himself my husband. Honestly, I should have listened to my parents when they said getting married so young was a bad idea! "Date more, go out!" they said. But did I listen? Oh no. "Ron is the one for me!"

I'm such an idiot. Really. I would have been better off running after…after…Snape! Oh that would really tick him off. It would serve him right, too. I'm not sure I want any children of Ron's if he's this stupid! I'll have to see if there's a spell to turn the parentage around. Maybe I could have them for you and Draco? Hmmm.

Anyway, expect me for dinner. Oh and I might just cool my heels there for a night if you don't mind. I'm not sure how much more I can stand.

Do you know he never even reads? AT ALL?

Love always,
Hermione

Draco laughed. "She's really going up in my book by leaps and bounds. But I'd rather not have any of Ron Weasley's blood in my children. No thank you."

Harry shook his head. "Hermione loves to threaten him with running off with Snape. I'd be tempted to tell Severus some day, except I'd rather not see that reaction. I'm not sure I'd live to tell the tale."

Draco stared at Harry riveted by the thought of Harry having his children. He barely even heard Harry's comment about Snape. A slow grin slid across his features.

"Um, Draco? You're looking at me very oddly. Are you okay?"

A small leer appeared on Draco's lips. "Actually I'm a bit hungry for dessert."

"Dessert? Oh, well I suppose I can pop out and get us something," Harry began to push his chair away from the table.

"Harry, I'm not talking about that," Draco chided, grabbing Harry by the arm to still him from any further movement.

"Oh," Harry said stupidly then a slow smile appeared on his face. "Why don't we go out to the sitting room?"

Draco fairly dragged him from the room. The pace was too slow and he wanted desperately to push Harry into the wall and show him his animal side. But his training as a Malfoy kept him on a mission to the couch. As he sat down it was shattered and he pulled Harry roughly to him.

Harry didn't seem to mind giving as good as he got. They fought over position and finally wound up side by side. The kisses became deeper, passionate and Harry was making sexy little noises that were driving Draco insane. Deciding giving up some ground would give him a tactical advantage he pulled Harry on top of him.

His hands were now free to roam up Harry's shirt as they devoured each other. Neither even took notice of the magic crackling around them this time. Draco's hands cupped Harry's ass and suddenly the other man jumped. Their kiss was dramatically ended.

Draco looked up into Harry's panicked face and saw his gulp. "What's wrong?" Suddenly Harry was trying to scramble out of his arms and Draco had the impression of holding onto a squirming cat. "For crying out loud Harry, just tell me what the hell is wrong!"

Harry sighed and he dropped his head to Draco's chest. "I feel like such a girl."

Draco frowned. "Perhaps I should point out that you are on top?"

"Not like that you git, it's just that I don’t think I'm ready to…"

"You saw the box didn’t you?" Draco realized that the box where he'd put all the Charlie related items in was only just in view.

"I know I'm being stupid," Harry whispered with self-loathing.

"Lucky man," Draco mumbled.

"What? Who's a lucky man?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Charlie for having you love him so much. Look," Draco tucked an arm under his head, "we can go slow if you need to, but you need to accept he's not coming back. And it's not your fault either. Personally, I wouldn't have done it."

Harry pushed off Draco's chest. "You wouldn't fight for me?"

"It's not that. I think it was a matter of trust really. Some part of him identified you with the need to protect you at all costs. I know that you can hold your own."

"But I would have died!" Harry protested.

"May I remind you that you are the only person who has survived that curse? There's no reason that you wouldn't have survived it again. The same magic that protected you the first time would have protected you again. Or your Seeker reflexes would have made you dive to the side. I'm not saying I wouldn't have been concerned, but… "

"He didn't think I could do it," Harry whispered. Draco nodded. A pitiful look filled Harry's eyes and Draco cupped the back of his head bringing it back down to his chest. He wrapped his arms around Harry, understanding that he needed to wrap his brain around this revelation.