Rating: M

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter.

Disclaimer: France, 1852. Harry Potter is the apprentice to Head Healer Snape in Calais, and is taken on a weekend to Paris to attract potential clients. During that weekend he meets aristocrat Draco Malfoy, suffering from consumption. Ten years later Harry suffers his worst nightmare of a very ill Draco disappearing over the side of boat. Should he listen to his heart and go in and rescue his lover? Or should he simply let his suffering end at the bottom of the river? Either way he may have to go into the deep to find the answers. This tale faces the hardships of Stockholm Syndrome, severe depression, and a battered tormented love buried deep inside.

I do not own Harry Potter.

Into the Deep

FUTURE

Part 2

Draco glared up at the dark-haired man from over his shoulder before guiding his gaze back to the swirling amber liquid in his glass. "Don't taunt me with your jibes, I want to know what the bloody hell you think you're doing, just wondering in here at this time of night and thinking you own the goddamn place!"

"Well if we're going to get technical about this sort of thing, I do own at least half of it, maybe even a little more," stated the other man as he ruffled his hair.

"Oh would you just shut up for one moment, Potter, and not be a total arsehole for once this year!" Draco sneered, suddenly not in the mood to be joked at. His fingers clutched his glass tighter as he sighed and dropped his head into his free hand. "Where have you been 'till this hour? It's far too late."

The man raked a hand through his hair and responded with a slightly panting voice, "I didn't think I would be so late," he breathed out, his cheeks blotchy and cool from rushing about in the frigid air. His dark hair was plastered down and water dripped from the end of his nose, "I missed the train and had to run to get a coach. I'm sorry," he added soberly, "I honestly didn't expect it to upset you this much. Clearly I had misjudged how well you were handling things."

"A likely story," Draco muttered to himself, before sighing. It was too cold to argue. It had been such a long, distressing day and his nerves were shot. He rubbed at his chest and drew in a couple of long breaths, "I can only handle a small number of things at a time. You know this. It would seem that father's death just pushed me out a little too far and I wasn't ready for all of it yet."

"Did you decide on what would become of the manor?" Harry asked as he hung his drenched cloak on the coat rack and cast a drying spell on it.

Draco waved his hand dismissively, "For now mother is going to live in it but it's entirely up to her as to whether it will become her permanent residence, or if she decides to sell it and let it go to another pureblood family. Or even be converted into a hotel. At this point I think she is still a little too numb with grief to think properly."

"And what of you?" the brunette man asked softly not wanting to upset his companion any more than he already appeared to be.

Draco's shoulders slumped in a defeated manner, "I'm upset, naturally. He was my father after all and I loved him a great deal."

"I know you did," Harry soothed as he reached out and gave Draco's shoulder a squeeze, "Try not to dwell on it too greatly, alright? Not on your own at least. Severus will be more than happy to help you or even listen to you if you feel you need someone to speak to."

Draco followed his vision of Harry's fingers to his wrist and then up the dampened curve of his forearm until his eyes drank in the squared jaw and the stubbled chin and the tired yet bright green eyes, "Perhaps sometimes I wish to have a quiet conversation with my husband, instead of worrying about whether or not Severus is asleep at this hour." Harry gave a fleeting smile before his eyes drifted to the fireplace, a hairline frown appearing on his features. The man came around the edge of the armchair. Draco pried an eyelid open to look up at the sodden man before him and sighed, "Go and get changed. You look a fright."

A cold, damp hand rested on Draco's, sending frosty spikes shooting up his arm. "I didn't stop off for a drink, Draco," he stated matter-of-factly, referring to Draco's earlier accusation, "You know that I didn't. I haven't for years so why would I suddenly go back there now?" he asked, his words getting harsher as he wore on.

Draco shrugged a shoulder not making any move to dislodge the hand from on top of his own, "I know you didn't. I didn't mean to snap. It's just been a long hard day and it just doesn't seem to end." He looked up at the green-eyed man beside him and turned his palm around and linked their fingers together. "I wish you could have stayed though. I thought Slughorn was in charge of the ward today anyway?"

Harry nodded his head, "He was but apparently there was an accident with one of the auror missions and several of the men had serious wounds. All of the staff was needed. It couldn't have happened on a worse day I know. I tried to tell him that I needed to get back to be with you, but he insisted that since I was not legally bound to you like I would be to a wife, it wasn't too great an emergency, funeral or no. I had wanted to yell at him there and then and show him the ring but I didn't want that sort of damage to be done to either of us. I tried to finish as fast as I could but they just kept sending more emergencies my way. I truly am sorry I couldn't have stayed. Your father was a great man. I had and still have a great deal of respect for him."

Draco waited for a moment, watching as Harry disappeared into their adjoining bedroom and made short work of stripping out of his soaked clothes and hanging them about the dry around the fireplace before coming back to seat himself in the armchair across from Draco. "I found your letters this afternoon whilst I was clearing out fathers study. All the documents had been put in there. I'd almost forgotten about them completely until I found them today."

He glanced up to see Harry's face increasingly pensieve as his eyes glimmered in the gold light of the fire. "You kept those?" he breathed, his voice barely audible over the crackling of the flames, "After all these years you still have them?"

Draco nodded his head and couldn't help a small smile grace his lips as he fingered his glass and sipped at it, "Despite everything back then I kept them, mainly to track your progress and see how things were doing, what topics I should avoid until you were a little stronger and new and interesting things that I'd need or want to ask about at a later date."

"May I see them?" the brunette asked tentatively, not wanting to cross any lines with Draco and his possessions. He didn't want to upset him.

Draco reached underneath his chair and pulled his satchel out and handed Harry the small wad of already opened letters. "I was reading a bunch of them on the train home. You know how that journey can be. I needed a distraction. It did remind me of that summer a year after it had happened –You'd looked like a changed man. Almost happy, almost at peace with yourself," he commented with a twinkle in his silver eyes.

Harry smirked knowingly, "Don't let my appearances fool you. I was so excited that day I'd been awake long before dawn. I was pacing back and forth everywhere until Severus told me to go out into the garden and he would call me in when you had arrived, but then you and your parents went to take a nap and I didn't see you until later that day. You had honestly looked so handsome," he stated as he looked over at Draco who, although travel-weary with bloodshot eyes, still sent the blood pumping through his veins. He let his mind wander momentarily back to that summer when Draco had followed his parents into the conservatory; he had looked immaculate as ever, like the night they had first met in the hotel function room in Paris, and although he looked a little thinner than beforehand, Harry couldn't help but smile as wide as he had.

He hadn't meant to take things so fast that summer, but on one of the nights when they had taken an early evening picnic in the gardens underneath the cherry blossom tree as they had the previous year, he couldn't have helped how romantic the sunset shining in Draco's eyes had made him feel. That night he had thrown all caution to the wind and had leaned over to press his lips gently against Draco's. Mentally, he had been bracing himself for an almighty slap to strike his cheek, but it hadn't come. Instead, he had felt the feather light pressure of Draco's soft full lips responding underneath his own. The tender little touch had thrilled him and forced the air out of his lungs as they'd pulled away from one another and stared into one another's eyes.

He had wanted it. Of course he had wanted it! He would have been a fool if he hadn't, but he should have showed some restrained in the matter and let Draco lead things the way he wanted to. He had ended up apologising profusely, backing away from their blanket in the shaded grass and turned from the blonde and hurried back across the lawn to the house. Draco wouldn't have appreciated being left behind in the growing darkness but he had needed some time to distance himself and gather his thoughts before letting himself run rampant again. He didn't have to wait long to know how Draco felt about it all, as that night the blonde aristocrat had snuck up to Harry's bedchamber –the one with the balcony looking out over the gardens and the lake –and had demanded to be let in.

They had spent the entire night sitting in their nightshirts in separate armchairs by the fireplace and spoke in hushed voices, having to lean closer together to hear the other over the soft crackling of the fire. It had been a relatively calm evening, even as the dawn had tickled at the edges of the earth and teased the sky lighter and lighter. They must have drifted off at some point because when the first twitters of the birds sung out across the sky; Draco had removed himself from the armchair, stretched his aching muscles and then grasped the head of his cane before heading for the door. Harry had followed and before he left to get a few hours of proper sleep, Draco had lowered himself against Harry and pressed their mouths together in a much stronger kiss than the evening before.

Harry had stayed awake for another hour, tracing the contours of his lips as though Draco's own were imprinted upon his skin, before drifting off with a smile hiding behind his hand.

Harry's lower lip wobbled a little at the memories dancing in the flames of the fire before he wiped at his dampening lashes and cast a shy eye around the room, "To this day I'm still surprised we're back here again. I was sure Severus was going to sell this place to Slughorn."

Draco hummed, "I wouldn't have let him. We put so much time and work into this place; I couldn't just let it go to someone else."

"Like our relationship you mean?" Harry muttered, a dark shadow passing over his face as he turned his face away from Draco's.

"Don't do that," Draco pleaded softly, the gentle tone in his voice making Harry's heart twist in his chest.

"Don't do what?"

"Act as though you doubt that I wanted to repair this relationship because of how I felt for you instead of not wanting it to be for naught." He shot an exasperated look at the brunette across from him, his thick dark hair tinged with greying threads at the temples gleaming in the firelight. He leaned forward in his chair, "I decided that I saw the man I fell in love with once again. I saw the man I love coming back to me where he belongs. I saw you getting better and getting the best possible care in the world and that made me think just how serious you were about everything we discussed in those letters. How almost losing me must have scared you that much to catapult you out of your insufferable denial. I'm not making excuses for you and we both know that, but I'm not dead, and that is the most important part. You almost let me die but you didn't, and that counts for more than you let yourself acknowledge. So please, please, stop trying to make me admit that I am only here because of how inconvenient it would be for me to be elsewhere, because that is never going to happen, Harry."

Harry huffed a small smile and wiped at his dampening eyes before looking up with a timid smile at Draco, "I kept all of your letters as well. I had them under my pillow whilst I slept. I think they helped me push on with the treatment and the therapy."

"I actually remember the day I realised I was looking forward to your letters," Draco mused as he leaned over and placed his glass on the small table beside his armchair, "It was the morning that the post was unusually late and I had a small moment of panic and then suddenly, I was handed your letter and I felt so much joy in that moment," he sighed with a wistful smile, "It really was the brightest morning in May."

Harry felt the corners of his mouth turn downwards at the corners. "It took you that long to want to hear from me?"

Draco nodded with a small smile, "I was being incredibly stubborn at not wanting anything more than a basic correspondence, but that morning shifted everything into perspective for me."

Harry smiled softly and then looked over into the fire without really seeing it, "I know what you mean. The tone of your letters was more open after that letter I sent to you. It was like you were opening up to me again. It made me feel so much happier for the first time in months."

"I did miss you, you know?" Draco finally muttered softly, as he looked up to find Harry watching him intently, "I just didn't know if I was allowed to after … everything."

Harry's lips quirked a little before he ran a hand through his damp hair, "Is it wrong for me to admit that I'm glad you have a different healer?" he asked, sounding half-ashamed at the admission.

Draco rolled his eyes with a soft smirk, "I don't think so. Severus did explain about how the boundaries could easily be blurred to either one of us and we needed to take precautions to keep them in place. Although I don't mind when you do take care of me for silly little things like a fever or something. I like that you're attentive when I'm ill."

Harry reached out and rested a hand on Draco's knee, smoothing his thumb over the strong, lean muscles under the cloth, "I do like taking care of you, even now. It's just –easier to do out of love and of my desperate need to not see you ill, than to feel I'm obliged to do so because I'm technically your physician." He smiled over at the blonde who had a vague smirk on his face, "I'm glad that Severus explained it all to you, though. I just know I would have mucked it up and make it sound like a personal insult to you."

The blonde man slipped his hand over Harry's and squeezed, "Oh, I know." He drew in a deep breath and flexed his shoulder muscles, "So are you going in tomorrow?" he asked quietly.

Harry shook his damp black hair, "No, I took the next week off. I want to spend some time with you for a little while. I have missed you and I want to be there for you. I know losing your father was difficult on you even though it was predated. It's never easy to watch someone you love … slip away from you."

Draco didn't miss the latch in Harry's voice. Even after all these years the guilt could still assault him in raw, hungry waves and it made his heart ache to watch his companion suffer.

He snatched his lovers hand in his own and drew it to his lips, "Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm here okay? I'm not going anywhere just yet. I know you tried. I'm glad that you tried." He leaned over and cupped Harry's face in his hand and stroked his thumb over the bristled cheek, "I'm here, Harry."

Harry's eyes were downcast as he nodded his damp cheek against Draco's palms. He blinked up and looked anywhere but at the blonde man leaning so close to him, his head was starting to feel hot and he wanted to let the tears out but why did they have to come now? He drew in long shuddering breaths and tried to calm himself, despite the flushing of his body and the way his hands became clammy. He reached up and stroked his hand over Draco's own and inhaled the soft scent of the blonde man's skin. "I'm sorry about what was said in those letters. I know they were a long time ago and we were going the roughest patch known to all of wizarding kind, but –I still feel bad about how some of those things you said affected me."

"It's alright Harry; we all said a lot of things in the heat of the moment."

"Are you sure?" Harry sniffled into his shirt cuff as he tried to dry his face off.

Draco nodded, his eyes heavily lidded and his lips parted as he breathed roughly and leaned in to press their mouths together, hot, wet and arousing. Harry let the warm mouth kiss him, fighting through the fog in his mind that was numbing his senses. He let out a soft hum of pleasure and let his eyes fluttered closed completely when he felt a sharp tooth graze across his bottom lip and tug gently. Draco pressed another kiss to his lips, and then another and another until he pulled Harry closed towards him with such hungry urgency that it ignited something within the younger man as fingers threaded through his thick, dark hair. "Take me to bed, Harry," he growled low in his throat despite the constrictions in his chest brought on by the weather, "Make love to me. I want you to make love to me all night and long."

Harry felt a shiver run through him as he looked up at Draco with wide clear eyes for the first time all evening. He licked his lips nervously, not trusting himself to speak. It was very rare in their relationship, before and definitely after that summer, for Draco to relinquish any form of control in their love-making. So rare, Harry almost never anticipated it. And every time Draco asked for it, it made Harry's heart flutter anxiously in his chest. He swallowed thickly, "Are –are you sure, Draco?" his voice wavered awkwardly as he peered into the silvery grey eyes of his lover.

Draco nodded, "Yes, I need to feel you inside me. I need you to dominate me. I need you to make me scream and beg and lose myself underneath you." He pressed his hot, hungry mouth onto Harry's and moaned low in his throat as he clutched Harry tighter, "I want to greet the sun tomorrow morning still screaming your name over and over into the pillows with you buried deep inside me."

Every grunted word made Harry shiver as he felt himself harden a little through his trousers. He could distinctly see Draco's own arousal highlighted by the flickering flames dancing in the grate. He reached down with his quaking fingers, and –feeling brave –traced a line up the length of Draco's cock through his trousers and suppressed a smile as Draco hissed through his teeth and tilted his head back, exposing his beautiful white throat. "Do you like it when I touch you?" he murmured as he splayed his fingers around the thick length, feeling his stomach knot when he felt the hot, thick heat twitch under his palm.

Draco growled and nodded as he clutched Harry's hair tightly in his hand. "I said for you to take me to bed and make love to me!" he snarled low in his throat, the sound running straight down to his own growing arousal and making him tremble as he stood up and snatched Draco's hand and leaned up towards him.

"Come on."

He dragged the blonde backwards into their bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them. Feeling a new rush of adrenaline surge through him, he forced the blonde man down onto the edge of the bed and straightened up between his long, lean legs. He kept his eyes locked on Draco's and started to work the buttons of his shirt open and let it slip down around his arms and fell to the floor. Draco watched hungry and swallowing thickly as he looked up at Harry's slightly more defined body. Exercise had been something to distract Harry from having nothing to do all day whilst he was at Severus' house. Ever since those six months had ended, he still kept up the routine, insisting that it kept his worries at ease and would let him think a little clearer. Draco didn't mind, it meant he had something firm to lean down on when he pounded into Harry's tight tanned body all night long. He had spent many a long night thrusting into Harry as he forced the younger man down over the length of their breakfast table, slipping in and out with his tight heat with ease. His cock twitched at the visage before him and he wanted to reach out and touch his lover. He looked so handsome –almost Adonis-like –as he stood in the glow of the flickering candles. He watched as the dark, damp trousers were unfastened the pushed down to reveal caramel thighs and firm muscles that made Draco's stomach knot.

Harry took a step forward and Draco reached out to smooth his hands over the firm thighs, tracing the muscles with his palms. He shifted to the edge of the bed and pressed warm kisses down along the firm muscles. "Let me taste you, Harry," he growled low in his throat as he grazed his teeth along the snail trail running down between his lover's legs.

"Taste me then," came the hushed reply as fingers threaded through his blonde hair. He tilted his head back and groaned out loud as he felt the velvety wet warmth of Draco's mouth enveloping his erection. A shiver ran through him as he thrust his hips lightly.

Draco dipped his head up and down between Harry's legs over and over, taking his lover in as deep as he could without gagging too much. He squeezed Harry's buttocks as he sucked on his head and made the younger man moan and arch into his touch. As much as he didn't mind letting Harry lead on rare occasions, he still needed to have a little control to savour. He felt himself growing harder at the mere thought of what Harry had yet to do to him.

He felt shivers running through him as he watched Harry lower himself down onto his knees and spread his pale thighs open even wider. He let out a shuddering sound when he felt the hot wetness of Harry's tongue sliding over his nether regions and slipping between his buttocks. He tried to relax his muscles and keep his breathing in time to the gentle licks that danced over his cock, scrotum and then his puckered entrance. He could feel himself started to sweat already and grimaced at himself. He had done this to Harry countless times, had the younger man ever been this tense?

Harry smirked as he peppered gentle kisses up Draco's body, smoothing his free hand up and down the blonde man's pale muscles, "It's alright, my love, just relax and you'll enjoy it."

"Easy for you to say," Draco grumbled as he forced his fists to unfurl at his sides, focusing instead of the way the candlelight danced in Harry's eyes as he watched him before he trailed his wet tongue down Draco's stomach, over the length of his cock and then back down between his buttocks. Another smirk from Harry as he teased Draco's entrance with his tongue, slipping it in and out slowly and making the blonde man squirm. He let out soft panting breaths as Harry slicked a finger and slowly pressed it inside the ring of hot, tight muscle. "Ahhh …" he whimpered out as he felt the digit slowly ease in and out of him at an agonizingly slow pace.

Harry took Draco in his mouth again to try and ease some of the tension from his pale body. He needed to make tonight as special for the blonde man beneath him as he could. He needed to remember not to rush anything, despite the burning ache growing inside him to just dominate the blonde over and over again until he was a quivering mess beneath him. As soon as he felt that Draco had relaxed enough he leaned up and increased the rhythm of which his finger slipped in and out of the blonde man's tight body. He bent down and twisted his fingers at an awkward angle as he slicked his middle finger and then pressed that into Draco's entrance too, stopping only when the muscles tightened dramatically around his digits. "Relax," he breathed out gently as he sucked on Draco's balls.

He don't know how long he was crouched down on his knees and working Draco wider and wider, but as soon as his lover was ready and waiting for his throbbing member, he stood up and straightened the sore muscles in his knees before slicking his own cock up and positioning himself up between Draco's quivering thighs. "H-Harry … Please … Need more," Draco panted, his chest rising up and down rapidly.

"I'm going to slide inside you, alright?" Harry panted as he slowly stroked his own cock with firm fingers and continuing to coax Draco's entrance to relax a little looked up as Draco bit down on his bottom lip, his eyes averted and shining with unshed tears. He felt his heart convulse, "Am I –hurting you?" he asked softly, stopping his administrations to run a soothing hand up the blonde's stomach. He watched as the older man trembled beneath him and brought a quaking hand to cover the hushed sobs creaking out of his mouth. "Draco?" he breathed, not wanting to draw attention to the pain in his heart and no doubt the pain Draco was in at that moment. "Come on, Draco, what's wrong? Let me help you."

"I'm sorry –I'm just –happy," the blonde managed to choke as he threw an arm to hide his weeping eyes.

Harry froze as he leaned over his lover, "Happy?" he repeated, as though not believing the emotion that had so eluded him for the majority of his life, "What do you mean happy?"

Draco nodded as he shifted further off the bed, "Please don't stop. I need to feel you inside me. Make this feeling last, I don't want to ever let it go!"

Harry it down on his lip as he shifted himself between Draco's thighs and positioned his head against the blonde's stretched entrance, "Are you sure?" he asked one final time. As Draco's firm not, he slowly breached his lover's body, gasping as the ring of muscle tightened around him and waited for the blonde man to adjust. Soon Draco was shifting around him and thrusting ever so slightly, silently pleading for Harry to fill him up more and more until he could no longer stand it. Harry complied as slowly as he could without exploding inside his lover and before he knew it he was sheathed up to the hilt in Draco's delicious, sweating body.

Draco threw his head back and let out a strangled cry as Harry started to slowly move inside him, drawing up a rhythm that made him sweat out and clutch the bed sheets into a tangled mess until his knuckles were gleaming white. He panted erratically as he tried to cam his frantic heart but the adrenaline was rushing through him at such an alarming rate that he couldn't keep his moans from escaping and filling the air between them. Harry's grunts as he thrust inside him, deep and hot and tight, made his own erection ache as it bobbed on his stomach. He raised his legs until his toes were curled over the edge of the mattress and raised his hips in time to Harry's thrusting, and he cried out over and over until everything became lost in the translation of the heavy lust that gripped him. "Harry!" he gasped out through his strangled cries, as he pulled himself up to grip at Harry's sweating shoulders as he gripped Draco's legs and pounded into him.

Dropping the pale legs unceremoniously, Harry leaned right over Draco so that his pale legs were pushed up against his chest. They were nose-to-nose as Harry dipped his head to capture his mouth in a hot, passionate kiss with chapped lips nipping and sucking at one another before his teeth drew Draco's bottom lip out and suckled once again. Their bodies were hot and salty with sweat, plastered together as Harry –after a few more deep thrusts –came hot and heavy inside his husband, his face contorted into that of both pleasure and pain as he collapsed on top of Draco at a somewhat awkward angle, just in time for the older man's cum to spurt out and hit his chin.

"Oh, Draco!" Harry panted out harshly into the blonde's ear as he buried his nose into the mattress, "I've missed making love to you."

Draco squirmed a little underneath him, feeling both crushed and a little gross as the cum dribbled out of his arsehole and down onto the bed and around his buttocks. He felt so sticky and grimy but as soon as Harry rolled off of him and he straightened his legs down he winced at the fierce burn spreading up from his rectum. "Merlin, Harry! You've ripped me in two!" he wailed as he rolled onto his front and tried to clench his cheeks together.

"Hold still," Harry murmured drowsily as he placed a placating hand on Draco's tense butt cheek. He eased himself off of the bed and padded clumsily over to the small cupboard across the room. He grabbed a small pot with a salve inside and came back over to kneel beside Draco's legs. "You're going to need to unclench," he advised softly as he stroked Draco's hot skin with one hand and with his free one, he dabbed it into the salve.

Draco did his best to unclench his muscles and then hissed in pain as Harry's cold, slick finger swathed his insides with the cooling salve that would also heal any abrasions caused during the rough passionate sex.

"Better?" Harry's soft soothing voice asked. Wincing slightly, Draco nodded in response. "Good," with a final lingering kiss on Draco's buttocks, he retreated back to place the salve back in the cabinet before reaching for his wand and removing the filthy, sweaty sheet on the bed. He couldn't help but chuckle as Draco was rolled over onto one side because of it. He didn't bother putting fresh sheets on the bed. He merely went around tucking the smooth blankets in underneath and then grabbed a thick, duck feather stuffed duvet from inside the wardrobe. Once down he collapsed into the feathery softness beside his husband and peered up at him. "Feeling any better?"

Draco nodded with a lazy smile playing on his lips as his head lulled against the headboard, "I always seem to forget how amazing it feels to have you inside me."

Harry turned onto his side and propped his head up with his arm, "Why did you decide to be on the bottom tonight? Usually you just take charge."

Draco shrugged a stiff shoulder, "Those letters, I think. I read them and realised just how one-sided our relationship had been before that summer and I just –felt –like I needed to let you take the lead once in a while. More often than before at the very least."

"My abysmal letters make you worked up enough to want to bottom with me?" Harry asked disbelievingly, his face set into a dead-pan expression.

Draco glared down at him and then softened his gaze, "Don't be idiotic, Harry, it doesn't become you. And no, what I meant was that those letters reminded me that I needed to give once in a while and you needed to take. I love you more than I could ever love anyone or anything. Now please," he reached over and ran his fingertips down Harry's face, "Stop punishing yourself."

Harry shook his head and let out a watery sigh as he buried his face into the goose-down, "How can you ask me to do such a thing after everything I have done to you?"

Draco stretched himself out on the bed beside his lover and played with the damp strands of hair curling up from his temples, "By remembering all of the things that you have done for me." Harry tried to shake his head but Draco wouldn't let him. Instead he leaned over and pressed tender kisses over Harry's neck and face, "If you think that I'm going to let you walk out of my life at this point then I am afraid I will just have to follow you wherever you go until you come back to me again."

Harry peeked up through the duvet, "It's really that easy for you? To forgive what I did?"

Draco stared down at him with steady grey eyes, "Harry, it isn't up to me to judge you for what you did or why you did it. You cannot go back and stop yourself from committing said actions. All that you need to know is that ten years later I am here with you now, letting you make love to me, and loving you as much as I can, and telling you that it is okay to let go of the guilt. You don't need it anymore. I'm here and I'm not leaving you. I am nearly in my fifties, Harry, do not make me beg for you to keep loving me."

"Surely that just means that you're madder than I am?" the brunette man asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Perhaps," he conceded with a graceful smile, "But at the very least that means that the both of us can live out the rest of our lives together, being mad as one another?"

Harry let a small smile grace his lips as he reached out and traced a line down the blonde man's features. When had he stopped noticing the slight crow's feet around his eyes, or the way his slender neck had gotten a little thinner, the shadow of his beard already starting to grow back out again? He still looked handsome but he also looked a great deal more distinguished than he had when they were younger, or even when they'd gone to spend the summer at Severus'. He had no doubt filled a little around the neck and cheeks but his muscles were a little leaner than they had been a few years ago. It was to be expected as he was now forty-three years old. He let out a soft sigh and relaxed as Draco's fingertips caressed his scalp. "That feels nice," he murmured as he closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

Draco smiled and pressed a tender kiss to Harry's temples, "Now come on. Get up and get dressed and then we can relax in bed, alright? I know we already are relaxing before you get sarcastic with me, Mister Potter," he quipped with a slick to the brunette's ear, "But I mean relax enough so that we are able to drift off to sleep peacefully without having to get up and change and all that tedious rubbish."

"We could always sleep naked if you prefer," Harry replied slyly as he turned over onto his back and smoothed his hands down his front and watched as Draco's molten grey eyes followed their trail.

Draco smirked down at him, "We haven't done that in years, Harry. Do you suddenly feel the urge to rub up against me all night long?" he purred silkily as he leaned over Harry and pressed their mouths together. "I do love you, you know?" he murmured gently.

"What do you get scared of, Harry?" the blonde man breathed gently as he splayed his hand over the naked, tan chest beneath him. A small part of him at the back of his mind told him that he didn't want to know and that he should be afraid of the answer, but he berated himself and told him that he was nearly fifty for goodness sake, if he kept running from things all his life he wouldn't get anywhere.

"I'm scared that one day I'm going to wake up and not have you beside me –and –and that it'll be all my fault," he blinked away at the tears brimming on his lashes before inhaling deeply, "And it's not even that the same thing would have happened. What if –what if I drive you away again? Without physical consequences? What if I am so unbearably horrid that regardless of our age, you decide that you can no longer stand to be around me?"

With a breathy laugh and pressing their foreheads together, "I don't care about any of that Harry. I am going to spend every last breath in my body loving you as much as possible. Those letters today, they reminded me of what we had and how long and hard it took to get us back to somewhere a lot better. I love you, there is nothing more to it, do you understand me?"

Harry nodded and sat up along the mattress and stole a chaste kiss, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to spoil tonight," he wiped hastily as his eyes, "Let me go and light the fire. I don't want either of us getting a chill in the middle of the night." As he stood up and went to stoke the fire and tug a nightshirt on over his head, he tried to calm his racing mind. He didn't want to feel the guilt forever but how could he let it go? He couldn't just do it simply because that's what Draco wanted. As soon as the fire started to flicker in the grate he wiped at his eyes, drew in a few deep breaths and straightened up, his back muscles protesting a little. He swallowed thickly and then turned back around to trail back to the bed, when he stopped.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked as he gazed down with wide eyes at Draco kneeling down on the hardwood floors, basking in the glow of the candlelight and resting there in all his naked glory that had matured over the last two decades. He was breath-taking, and it reminded Harry of the night that he had asked Draco a very important question.

Draco smiled gently up at him, "After father's will was read out and his belongings divided between the benefactors, it turns out that I got this ring. It is a family heirloom passed from generation to generation. This is my way of promising you that you are not alone in any of this anymore. I will be here by your side no matter what happens. I have seen you at your worst and, even though it took some time, I am still here ten years on and I still love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Harry James Potter, and by accepting this ring, you are declaring that you will love me for the rest of your life and will stay by my side for as long as we both shall live. You are my husband and with this ring, I am declaring that you are officially part of my family. Forever more."

He didn't realise that the tears were running down his cheeks until they dripped off his chin and soaked through the collar of his nightshirt. He sniffed loudly and wiped his cheeks roughly. "Do …" he hiccoughed, "Do you really mean that? Are you sure?" his breath was coming out in rapid huffs, "I mean you can still walk out. I know it's been ten years but you're still young –in spirit –you don't really need me dogging you the res –"

"Harry!" Draco barked though his mouth was smiling, "I'm asking you because I am sure. I just need to know whether or not you are sure," he paused for a moment before raising both eyebrows, "Well are you?"

Harry dropped down to his knees and grasped Draco's face between his hands and pressed their mouths together in passionate, salty damp kisses before he broke away and gave a watery laugh, "Merlin, I've gotten you all wet." He wiped at Draco's cheeks with his sleeve and only stopped when the blonde man grasped his wrist and pulled it away.

"Do you accept this ring, Harry?" he breathed as he hugged the brunette man on top of him around the waist.

"Yes!" he smacked a hand over his mouth and gave another shaky laugh, "I mean, yes of course I will." He held out his hand and let Draco slip the signet ring onto his left ring finger, "Are you sure you want to give me this ring, Draco?" he breathed as he traced the snake and large 'M' engraved into the antique silver.

The blonde man nodded from his position beneath Harry, "More than I was that night in the function room over twenty years ago and I thought to myself 'that young apprentice has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen –I wonder if he has a beautiful voice to match'."

Harry had the good grace to blush as he stroked the ring and then stood up, offering Draco his hand to be led back to the bed, "So do you think you can survive another ten years with me Draco?" he breathed. Both men knew it was more than just an innocent question and even though Harry knew what Draco's answer would be, he needed to hear it said out loud. He needed it to be said out loud so that the whole universe would know that it was true.

"Of course Harry. I plan on spending as many years with you as possible. Till death do us part, remember?" he grinned down as he landed on top of the brunette, the mattress springs groaning underneath their combined weight.

Harry nodded and felt his heart skip in his chest, "Till death do us part, my love."

THE END.

A/N: Well there you go everybody. I reckon that after all they have been through and suffered, they deserved a good old bit of love as a send-off. Please R&R and thank FanofBellaandEdward for inspiring me at unholy hours of the morning.

Belle x