Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine.

Warnings: Contains SLASH. Rated M for a reason

The Come and Go Room

Chapter 6 – Draco's POV

The following morning, Draco received a note with only a single line of text.

'Meet me after lunch - Top of the seventh floor staircase. HP x '

It was the first time Potter had suggested a change from their normal routine, and though Draco pretended to be irritated that the Gryffindor was changing what had been a perfectly good arrangement, he was secretly rather pleased.

He spent the morning lounging around in the common room, making notes for his Arithmancy essay. By the time lunch rolled around however, his parchment was little more than a collection of love hearts and hastily scribbled out doodles including 'DM 4 HP' and other such nonsense.

As soon as Draco had finished eating, he rushed up the stairs to the seventh floor. He was only about two minutes behind Potter, having only just managed to prevent himself from rushing out of the hall the second he'd seen the Gryffindor leaving the table.

"You wanted to see me?"

At the sound of his voice, slightly out of breath from running up seven flights of stairs, Potter turned towards him, a smile lighting up his face.

Glancing quickly along the corridor to check that they were alone, Potter grabbed Draco, planting a short but passionate kiss on his waiting lips.

"I missed you."

Draco rolled his eyes at the soppy grin on Potter's face, trying to stop an echoing smile from spreading across his own features.

"You saw me last night, idiot."

"And will I see you again tonight?" Potter wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Draco laugh.

"You know you will."

"Good." Potter kissed him again, before slipping his fingers through Draco's and tugging him along the corridor.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

All traces of amusement left Draco the second Potter came to a halt in front of the all too familiar expanse of blank wall.

"Why are we here?" Draco's tone was flat as he pulled his hand from Potter's grasp.

"I need to know." There was a pleading note in Potter's voice, but Draco ignored it.

"Well I don't, Potter, so I'll see you around."

Draco turned to walk away, but before he could move, he felt Potter's fingers loop through his again.

"Stay with me."

Draco's jaw clenched. He wanted to say no. Wanted to run screaming in the other direction. But when Potter looked at him like that. It gave him that safe feeling again. Cursing under his breath, Draco turned back to face the wall, leaving his hand joined with Potter's.

He allowed the Gryffindor to pull him along as Potter walked back and forth in front of the wall, face screwed up in concentration. Draco didn't want to think about what might be waiting for them, should the door decide to appear. And he had no idea what Potter was asking for.

Too scared to ask, and too ashamed to tell Potter how he was feeling, Draco clenched his jaw tight as he added his own mental request for the room.

"I need somewhere I can feel safe."

His heart lurched when the door appeared and he bit his lip hard to stop a whimper from escaping him. He couldn't do it.

"Potter, please."

His voice was so rough he barely recognised it as his own. He didn't dare look at the Gryffindor, keeping his eyes fixed on the door.

He flinched as Potter lifted a hand to cup his cheek, turning his face away from the sight of the all too familiar portal.

"Draco… It's ok. We don't have to. I'm sorry… I should never have asked you to."

As he spoke Potter let his fingers stroke over Draco's jaw and through his hair. His words were soft, as though he were using them as another way of caressing Draco. Taking hold of his hand, Potter led him away from the sight of the door and into their classroom. Draco did not look back.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Potter's arms were around him, his lips on Draco's. They kissed for a long time, neither of them attempting to take things any further.

Finally, Draco pulled back, though he wasn't quite ready to let Potter go.

"Why?" Draco was pleased to hear his voice had returned to something resembling his normal tone.

Potter didn't pretend to misunderstand. "I just wanted to exorcise your demons."

"No one can do that, Potter, not even you."

"I can try."

"I don't need saving, Potter."

Draco kissed him then, cutting the Gryffindor off before he could say anything else. His fingers stroked lightly over Potter's shoulder blades and down his back before coming to rest on Potter's arse, leaving the Gryffindor in no doubt as to what Draco was after.

He knew that distracting Potter with sex would only work for so long, but right now it was what he needed. He needed to feel Potter wrapped around him, moaning his name and holding Draco close. He needed to feel safe again, the way he only felt in Potter's arms.

^v^

A few days before Christmas, Draco met Potter in their classroom as usual. Though they were now far more than just fuck-buddies, they hadn't quite reached the point of telling the world that they were a couple. The room on the seventh floor had seemed like as good a place as any for their nightly trysts and so they had continued to meet there.

When Potter didn't immediately pounce on him the second he entered the room, Draco knew something was up. Letting the door shut behind him, he met the Gryffindor's eyes, trying to interpret the swirl of emotions that he saw there.

"What's wrong?" Draco's voice was flat as he tried not to read into the guilt on Potter's face.

"I came back by myself. I don't know why I needed to know so badly, I just..."

Potter burst out before trailing off, his gaze locked on Draco's as if begging him to understand.

Draco nodded tightly, motioning for the Gryffindor to continue. It was better than hearing that Potter had cheated on him, but not by much.

"The room of hidden things is gone. I asked the room for it, but the door just didn't appear. The DA room is gone too, and the one with the passage to the Hog's Head."

Draco nodded again, relieved. "So that's it then?"

Potter shook his head and Draco tensed.

"I want to show you something."

"Potter..." Draco's voice was strangled.

He couldn't go back there. It didn't matter that the one particular facet of the room was gone. It was still the same room. But Potter was looking at him again and somehow Draco found himself taking the other boy's hand. All too soon they were stood before the all too familiar expanse of stone.

When Potter let go of his hand to pace up and down in front of the wall, Draco almost bolted, but a minute later, Potter's hand was back in his leading him slowly towards the door.

Draco was shaking as Potter pushed open the door, gently pulling Draco into the room. His fingers crushed the Gryffindor's hand in a death grip and for a second he actually thought he might faint. And then he caught sight of what lay beyond.

Draco gasped, staring wildly around the room. "But this is... it's..."

"The one place that you feel safe."

Draco's eyes locked on Potter's. "That's what you asked for?"

Potter nodded.

"It's not true, you know."

"What isn't?"

"This isn't the only place I feel safe." Draco stepped closer to Potter, who automatically wrapped his arms around Draco's waist.

"I feel safe when I'm with you." He whispered, his gaze darting around the room, looking everywhere but at the Gryffindor in front of him.

Gently, Potter cupped Draco's jaw, lifting his face until he was finally forced to look the Gryffindor in the eye.

Draco swallowed thickly, for a long time unable to tear his gaze from Potter's. Finally, he made himself look around. He could hardly believe that this was the same room that had haunted his nightmares.

If Draco hadn't walked through the door from Hogwarts not five minutes earlier, he would have been convinced he was, not in the room of requirement, but in southern France. The room was an almost exact replica of the walled rose garden at his family's villa there.

As a child it had been his favourite place to play and now it was the one place he held dear that had not been tarnished by the war. This past year, living with his mother in France, he had spent hours in that garden, soothed by the peaceful beauty of the place. Then, throughout the summer after the anniversary party, he had spent every spare minute lying on the grass, staring up at the cloudless blue sky, thinking of Potter.

Looking up, Draco wondered how the room could possibly be mimicking the midday sky. He quickly realised that the ceiling was imitating the one in the great hall, only instead of showing the actual weather, the sky was blue, the bright sun shining down and filling the room with natural seeming light.

When Draco had looked his fill, Potter lead him over to a picnic blanket, spread out in the shade beneath one of the trees. Lying down, Potter beckoned.

"I still don't understand." Draco murmured, as he sank gracefully down onto the blanket beside the Gryffindor. "If the room was so badly damaged, how can it create all of this?"

Potter thought for a moment before answering. "I'm just guessing here, but I think maybe it's to do with what the room has done in the past. The places we used before are all gone..."

"But that doesn't stop the room from creating new facets." Draco finished, nodding.

It made sense. The fiendfyre could destroy everything. By rights, it should have burned the whole castle to the ground, but it had been contained by that one room. In the same way, perhaps it had been able to feed on the room's memories while still remaining unable to touch its fundamental structure and therefore its future.

They lay in a companionable silence for a long time, both wrapped up in their thoughts. Draco found himself thinking back on the dreams that had haunted him, of Potter and the all-consuming fiendfyre... He hadn't had a dream like it since that first night in their classroom.

"I wish I could do something like this for you." Draco said eventually.

"I don't need you to do anything for me." Potter grinned. "I just need you."

Draco smirked, unable to help himself as he leaned over Potter's prone form.

"You're such a sap, Potter."

Potter frowned, gnawing on his lip before finally blurting out. "Do you really want to do something for me?"

Draco nodded cautiously, wondering what he'd just inadvertently offered.

"Will you call me Harry?" Potter's voice was so low, Draco wasn't entirely certain he'd heard right.

"You want me to call you Harry?" He confirmed, his eyes widening in surprise when the Gryffindor shuddered underneath him at the sound.

Draco rolled the name around on his tongue, deciding it was something he could definitely get used to, as the Gryffindor nodded shyly.

"Ok, Harry."

Draco smirked as he felt the other boy shiver again. If Pott...Harry was going to react so deliciously well every time Draco so much as spoke his name, he had a feeling he could get used to it rather quickly.

"You like that, don't you, Harry?"

Draco grinned as the Gryffindor suddenly lunged forward, shoving Draco onto his back and straddling him.

"You're evil." Harry's eyes were dancing as he leaned down to suck lightly on Draco's neck.

"And you love it." Draco responded, tipping his head back to give the other boy better access.

"I wouldn't have you any other way." Harry agreed, before claiming Draco's mouth with his own.

FIN