A/N: I sincerely apologies all my readers for the long wait in an update. I have been deliberating over whether or not to post this chapter… I love this chapter, but I'm still not sure if it is too much too soon. However, I like it too much to rewrite it or reorganize it and I just don't see it fitting in as well later on. So here it is.I've had this written for a while… but now I need to re acquaint myself with the plot line and recall all the detail. So don't expect an update next week… however, expect at least one before summers end. I'm going to do my best to get back into the writing game, please be patient with me.

Domino Effect

~Chapter Seventeen~

-The Misunderstanding-

Draco felt like his stomach was in knots, as it had for most of the day. Really ever since he heard the front floo flair signaling the departure of his husband and the man who'd originated their argument. Those knots only seemed to twist tighter as he walked further from the floo into the house feeling the overwhelming silence. It was impossible to tell if Harry had returned before him or not. The man's need for everything to be in its own assigned place made the observation of any change practically useless. Biting his lip he made his way over to the cloak closet almost feeling sick when he hung his cloak up next to Harry's. Even its presence wasn't very telling though. 'Had Harry taken it with him this morning?' and again, 'Did Harry have more than one?'

Only years of needing to hide any weakness kept him from squeaking while giving a violent jerk at the sudden voice behind him, "Once you're finished staring into the closet I'll be in the office." Now that Draco knew Harry was behind him he could now hear the soft footfalls as they faded down the hall and the brush of cloth as he moved. His state of dread must have blocked out there earlier presence. Even after his long talk with Blaise he had no idea what to say to Harry and now he had no more time to figure it out. Taking a fortifying breath he closed the closet door and made his way down the hall to the one room he'd only entered once before.

The door had been left open and as before Harry was sitting at his desk. The man was busy writing away at something or another and gave no indication that he knew that Draco had even entered the room except to lift his quill and indicating with the feathered end at the table to one side of the room where it looked like several folders had been absent mindedly placed. Draco felt one of his eye brows raise in question not that Harry noticed, but made his way over anyway. "Have a look at them and set aside any that you think might be suitable. The others you can just put back and I'll deal with them later." Harry's voice gave no indication to what he was feeling or even what it was he was giving Draco. Biting the inside of his lip he nodded taking the folders with him as he left the office, another knot joining the others in his discomfort.

qp

Harry let his head fall into his hands, Draco was still mad. He hated it when people were mad at him. He hoped his peace offering would be enough to soothe Draco's irritation, but apparently it wasn't. He rubbed at his eyes, feeling drained from the hours he had spent trying to figure the potion out with Snape. Honestly the man was a potions genius, didn't that mean he was supposed to be beyond explosions and haphazard brewing that ended up with the oddest results. It had taken him much too long to reverse the practically permanent and beyond frightening grin on the potion master's face. He felt traumatized from the event, after all that man was never meant to make that expression while threatening all forms of harm to Harry and whoever else who could possibly be blame for his current condition.

Shaking himself from that line of thoughts he looked back down at the pile of paperwork before him. He returned to duty in the morning, though technically he could remain out for a few more days he never took the extra time, it always seemed to be less stressful if the paperwork was already done when he went back on duty. Leafing through the remaining pages left to fill out he suppressed the need to groan, he'd be at this for some time yet. Really did the ministry think it was a brilliant game to see how many times they could ask the same question only worded differently and see if the Aurors could provide just as many similar yet different responses.

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Draco's hands were shaking as he took in exactly what information the folders held. They were listings of houses and property the Potter/Black holdings held as well as any other holdings left to Harry Potter in their wills. Each folder was a different family's holdings, some held a single house or piece or land others held two or three and some even more and placed all over the world. While each folder held a list it also held single slips about each property and whatever information about that property that was available. Was Harry even aware that he now held ownership of a palace in India or an entire island off the Mediterranean?

Frowning he closed the folders and placed them on the table. Why had Harry given these to him? Sure they had talked about this, moving into a home that would become theirs, but if he ended up being the one to make all the decisions than would it really be theirs? 'Did Harry mean that he didn't care? Was he done trying?' A chill ran down Draco's spine, had he really screwed things up that bad. Pushing his chair back, he stood up; he couldn't even look at the folders anymore, much less their contents. If he felt like he was going to be sick earlier he didn't know how he felt now.

qp

Dinner time came around, but Draco couldn't bring himself to eat. Every time he even thought about it his stomach would twist a little tighter. For several hours he sat in the living room just staring at the dining room table where he knew the folders lay despite them being blocked by one of the dining table's high backed chairs. Finally needing to look somewhere else, anywhere else he changed seats so that the dining room was no longer within view. It was getting on near eleven o'clock when he finally heard Harry leave his office. He gave the man a few minutes to prepare for bed, hearing him enter and leave the bathroom, before he made his way down the hall.

qp

Harry sighed as he signed off at the bottom of the last report before putting his quill back in its holder and starting to massage his cramping hand. One day he was going to find a way of convincing the Ministry that less paperwork made for better Aurors. He snorted, that was probably the leading factor to the quitting of most Aurors, the demoralization of tedious paperwork.

Rolling his neck on his shoulders he attempted to loosen stiff muscles from looking down for too long. It helped some but mostly just hurt. Taking a hand to the back of his neck and massaging tightly drawn tendons he cast a silent tempus charm not all that surprised to see the late hour. Rolling his shoulders for good measure he stood up, ready to call it a night. That last thought made him pause than close his eyes in weary frustration. Draco was still mad at him.

Previous experience taught him when someone was mad at you it was best just to stay out of their way. So instead of making his way into his own room he simply grabbed one of the spare blankets from the hall cabinet and made his way into the spare room. Not having had a chance to change the sheets since Draco's father's stay he cast a thorough cleaning charm on them and the pillow. Drawing a set of pajamas from the bottom drawer, where he kept them out of habit these days and he supposed luckily so, he made his way to the bathroom across the way to complete his nightly ritual.

He was just putting away his dirty clothes and slipping his wand onto the nightstand when he felt someone watching him. Knowing it could be no one but Draco, what with the new wards he'd set up earlier to let him know the moment someone else entered them, he stood straight forcing his body not to tense up as it waited for whatever new form of Draco's displeasure would come next. His body stiffened in surprise, as a pair of hesitant arms slid around his waist from behind, before he relaxed leaning back into the hold ever so slightly; enough to be accepting, but still carry his own weight incase Draco suddenly let go.

…

Bile built up in the back of his throat as he realized Harry hadn't gone to their room but to the spare one as was clear from the light coming from the open door. Stepping into the door frame not sure what to expect his chest clenched as Harry's only acknowledgement of his presence was to stand rigidly facing away from him.

He knew he should leave, Harry was clearly upset with him, so much so he didn't even want to look at him much less share a bed. He couldn't though, more than the need to avoid Harry's displeasure with him was the need to make things right. He didn't know how much more silence and disregard he could take from the man before him.

He took several hesitating steps forward and with each one his throat ached a bit more from straining against held back emotions. Taking what was left of his courage he slipped his hands around Harry's waist till they lay against his abdomen and his arms circled his waist loosely making it easy for the other to pull away if he so choose. But Harry didn't pull away, after a moment he relaxed into the hold making Draco's breath hitch and despite his best efforts he could feel wetness form in the corners of his eyes from relief.

Stepping forward and placing himself more firmly against Harry's back he tilted his head to the side placing a chaste kiss against the back of the other's neck. "I'm sorry," he inwardly winced when his voice cracked over the words he pushed through his aching throat, but couldn't bring himself to really care at the moment. He had felt Harry's wrath more times than could be counted throughout the years, but the man had never been politely passive before. Suddenly he realized that was what was bothering him so much, not the fact that he was angry or even ignoring him, but that Harry wasn't ignoring him. He was just barely acknowledging him was all, and when he did so it wasn't un-cordially. He had grown used to Harry's warmth, his presence and interaction that the physical presence but the lacking emotional presence was disturbing and dare he say it… painful. He placed another kiss, "I'm sorry baby."

He was sure his heart had stopped beating and his insides were trying to squeeze themselves into nonexistence when Harry took his hands in his, then suddenly he felt someone had released a Nunda inside his chest because Harry was forcing him to release his hold and he found he couldn't breathe.

As suddenly as the pain had arrived it was gone when instead of being pushed away he was instead pulled to face Harry and was swiftly brought into the fold of the man's arms. Before he could control it a sob of relief released itself from deep within him, taking with it any resistance Draco had to further hold back any of his pent-up emotions.

…

Harry was beyond bewildered; Draco thought he was angry with him… that he had a right to be angry with him. More than that though was because he thought Harry was angry with him he'd become so upset. He could count on his hand the number of times he'd seen Draco cry and today counted as number four, it made him hurt inside to think he, somehow without meaning to, brought the blond to this state.

He carded his hands through platinum hair placing soothing kisses against a clammy brow using his other hand to rub soothing circles up and down Draco's back all the while holding him close. With each new sob Harry felt like someone was flaying him alive. He held Draco a little closer, peppering kisses across moist cheeks and damp eyelids. Wrapping his arms around Draco's waist and shoulders while tucking his head under his chin he just held him letting Draco's pain wash through him as penitence for whatever he had done to cause this.

When the sobs died down to sniffles but the tears continued to flow Harry frowned. Making a decision he released his firm hold and pulled Draco away ever so slightly. He felt scalded when Draco immediately began to sob again and repeatedly started to apologize. Bending down and swinging Draco into his arms bridal style he left the spare room for their own shushing the man's words as gently as he could. Laying Draco on the bed and without releasing him for fear of further upsetting him he laid down next to him keeping his husband pulled firmly against his chest. Then he did something he could only remember having been done to him on one occasion.

*Flashback*

It was after the final battle. The Weasleys were all preoccupied with their family. Percy was in a coma and Hermione was helping the professors handle the chaos. He was sure no one would notice his absence or if they did that they wouldn't come find him. He felt hollow, he'd killed a man. Not much of one sure, but a man nonetheless. Honestly though, that wasn't why he was lying there in an empty unused classroom on the cold hard floor. Faces and names kept running through his mind of those that had died, been injured or were still missing, and he couldn't stop the ache of self-blame that gripped his very being. He was sure no one had seen him come in here, but he'd been wrong. It wasn't Ron or Hermione who'd found him, not even Ginny or one of the professors, but someone else entirely. They didn't say anything as they entered and closed the door behind them, and Harry couldn't bring himself to care about his current emotional state. He let out an involuntary whimper as they sat beside him and lifted him so that his head was now pillowed on their lap. It was then that he heard it, the soft wisps of a tune that slowly replaced his uneven breathes as a callused hand carded through his hair and seemed to magically take away the ache that had been consuming him. It occurred to Harry that he suddenly didn't feel so alone.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that; it could have been minutes, hours or even days. It didn't seem to matter though, not a word was spoken even after he stood up, brushed himself off and finally looked into the soft brown eyes of a man that in that moment he knew truly understood. Harry was positive, though Neville Longbottom never uttered a word, the man knew he was leaving and that in his own quiet way absolved Harry of any guilt from his decision.

*End Flashback*

He wasn't sure what it was that he was humming, but did not halt even as Draco's newfound sobs eased into sniffles once more then into hiccups. He kept his voice soft and as gentle as he could while one hand soothed up and down Draco's arm and the other trailed patterns on the exposed skin of Draco's lower back.

…

Draco had never felt so safe and secure in anyone's arms, since he was a child, as he did at this very moment. He felt safe, secure, protected and cared for. That one brief moment earlier when he thought Harry had grown tired of him and was going to send him away had been utterly terrifying. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had broken down into such an emotional state that he hadn't been in the presence of his family, Godfather or simply alone. The fact that he had allowed such vulnerability and Harry was going to push him away had caused him to act on utter instinct. When Harry had simply lifted him into his arms relief whooshed through him but the insecurity that Harry would simply take him somewhere and leave him had still overwhelmed his senses.

Now though as his nerves, still so raw and strung out, were soothed by a tune he did not recognize but he decided was his current favorite. Harry's steady heart beat beneath him further eased the weary ache inside him. He still couldn't help the question that kept flowing through his mind, was he forgiven, or was Harry simply appeasing him? After allowing the question to echo for several minute, he decided he just couldn't, not know anymore. Reluctant to leave his place, but desperately needing to see Harry's face he pushed up slightly leaning on his elbow and propping his hand on the other side of Harry's body. Harry look at him with worried and pained eyes that made Draco want to flinch.

…

"I'm sorry," Those word heard once again tore at Harry's insides. Unable to hear them anymore he placed a finger to slightly trembling lips. "Shh, don't say that anymore. You have no reason to be sorry." The blank look Draco gave him as he blinked damp eyelashes made the green eyed man's insides twist even more. "I'm not angry Draco, I was never angry." He inhaled sharply, "I never meant for you to think I was. I thought you were still upset with me about this morning and still needed some space." Draco's eyes brimmed with tears again and he was tearing Harry up. Using the pad of his thumb to brush away stray drops Draco leaned up and brushed his lips with Harry's.

Harry, after kissing the blonde's tear streaked cheek spoke softly, "Sweet, please don't cry anymore. I'm sorry about this morning. I've set up new wards so I'll know the next time someone is here, they should do till we settle on our new home, and I'm sorry I somehow made you think I was angry or upset with you. Just please don't cry anymore." he brushed away a few more escaped drops and kissed the corner of his mouth before pulling him back down to his chest.

He felt a sigh of relief leave him as Draco snuggled more firmly into his chest. He carded his fingers through the blonde's hair as he waited patiently for the slow shift in breathing to let him know that Draco had drifted off into sleep. Bending his head he placed another kiss on the crown of Draco's head before leaning back and closing his own eyes.

HELP: The first and last questions from the chapter before still apply to all those who haven't already lent their words of wisdom
Any suggestions for the new house? Special rooms? Already existing, have them build it?
Any suggestions for what happens next? It's kind of up in the air at the moment for the majority…

Allen: I'm so glad you re-found this story! I'm also thrilled you loved it so much! I'm still working of the organization of my family and school life… slowly but surely… I hope.

Autumngold: Yes I thought about making Draco drag it out, but then I didn't feel like it would work for the way I'm trying to portrayal his character… though I think I will still have a bit of fun with Severus hehehe.

To all my unnamed guest: Thank you for reading and reviewing… it is easier to respond to your reviews if you leave me some type of signature.

I am Posting this at the bottom of Every chapter from now on (if I don't forget) For those who just start reading the story and don't read old A/N's. Sorry to all my dedicated readers, I don't mean to be repetitive.

Pease Read!

This is here for YOUR benefit as much as mine.

I have a note posted on my profile, but have come to the conclusion that very few read it. I was born with a learning disability known as Dyslexia. For more information there is a detailed explanation on my profile, feel free to read, I highly recommend if you don't know what Dyslexia is. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to ask me. I don't mind answering questions, but you can also look up more information online.