Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for Meet Cute, Day 18.

Beta'd by the fabulous Gus-Gus

Warning for talk of child death.

Word Count - 1231

More Than Worthy

The sun was shining brightly overhead as Harry walked down the street towards the cemetery. He was cursing himself in his mind, having forgotten to call into the local florist before he got on the bus.

Rolling his eyes at his own idiocy, he suddenly wondered why there wasn't a florist by the graveyard. Someone had missed a trick there, he thought idly.

A garden caught his eye, the bright flowers taunting him. Well… he could just… take a few? That wouldn't be too bad, right? And he could leave money by the door or something, so then it wouldn't be stealing really, would it?

Crossing the road, he looked down at the flowers closest to the low wall. Beautiful yellow flowers that swayed gently in the soft breeze. Swallowing hard, Harry bent down and picked three of them, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he also knew that he'd feel worse if he sat down in front of the grave with nothing to offer,

"What are you doing?"

He looked up quickly, finding a handsome man standing by the door, watching him with a raised eyebrow, swinging a leash between his hands.

"I, uh, I'm sorry, mate. I forgot to go to the florist before I caught the bus, and didn't want to turn up empty handed, you know? And then I saw your garden, and it's just so pretty and I was going to leave money by your door, I swear -"

The man's eyes softened as he listened to Harry's rambling and called his dog to him. He clipped the leash that Harry had noticed in his hand onto the dogs collar.

"Come along then. Show me the pretty girl that you've deemed worthy of my flowers."

The blonde man walked up beside him, the dog at his ankles, yipping excitedly for his walk.

Harry blinked. "Sorry?"

"I'd like to see the lady that you've deemed worthy of my flowers," the man repeated, an amused twinkle in his eye. "Be warned that if she's not pretty, I'll charge you double for them."

Harry grinned, looking at the flowers in his hands. "I, uh… okay."

Not quite sure how to tell the man that he was taking the flowers to the cemetery, Harry fell into step beside him, laughing softly when the dog jumped around in front of them.

"This is Max," the man said, nodding his head at the dog. "And I'm Draco."

"Harry."

"So, this girl," Draco started, turning to smirk at Harry, "what's her name?"

Harry hesitated. "Lily."

"A pretty name," Draco approved. "What's she like?"

"Perfect," Harry replied immediately, a wistful smile on his face. "The light of my life."

Harry caught a sad smile on Draco's face, but he didn't ask about it. He'd only just met the man, it didn't feel right to ask why such an emotion would be on such a lovely face. The two of them made small talk for awhile, and Harry felt oddly comfortable.

He usually avoided strangers whenever possible, and he never spoke about his Lily with anyone.

He led Draco into the cemetery, watching the look of dawning understanding on the mans face. He wasn't surprised to find shame follow it quickly when Draco caught his eye.

"You should have said," Draco murmured quietly. "I wouldn't have teased."

Smiling softly, Harry shook his head. "We're here now. You might as well as come and meet my Lily."

Harry made his way down a familiar path, stopping in front of a small stone. He sat down, cross legged on the grass, and patted the space beside him for Draco to join him.

Draco did so, Max happily flopping down in front of him, his head resting in Draco's lap.

"Lily, meet Draco. Draco, Lily." Harry paused to place the flowers carefully in front of the marble. "Draco was kind enough to donate these flowers, Lil," Harry said, a small smile on his face. "Daddy forgot to go to the florist."

He turned to Draco, seeing him staring at where the birth date, and the death date, only six months apart, were etched into the marble.

"I'm sorry," Draco whispered.

"She was so small, you know? She was born premature, but she fought, and for a while, we hoped that she'd be okay. Ginny, her mum, and I, we spent so much time at the hospital with her, and she was getting stronger. She was doing so well."

"You don't have to -"

"I don't mind," Harry assured him. "Unless you don't want to hear it. I know it makes some people uncomfortable."

"I'd like to hear about her," Draco replied.

"We got to hold her when she was four months old. I had a bit of a melt down about the whole process," Harry admitted with a small chuckle. "She was so small, I thought I might break her. Ginny laughed about it for days."

When she was five and a half months, she caught an infection, and her immune system was already hampered. She died in my arms."

Harry wiped the single tear that had dropped onto his cheek away.

"I wouldn't change any of it though. Obviously, I'd give anything for her to still be here, but… I wouldn't change her. She was the cutest, most beautiful child I've ever seen, and she loved us. When she was still in her incubator, she'd wrap her tiny hands around our fingers, and you'd never believe how strong she was unless you felt her grip."

"What about her mum? Is she okay?"

Harry nodded. "Ginny's great. When she first came to me about us having a baby together, I thought she was insane. I'll always love her for suggesting it though, she gave me the greatest gift by giving me Lily. It was tough, but the time we had with her was worth every moment of heartache, every tear we shed."

"You weren't together?"

"Is your gaydar faulty?" he asked, a teasing lilt to the question.

Draco snorted. "I wondered, but when you started talking about your Lily, I thought perhaps I'd been mistaken."

"Ginny isn't interested in dating. She's aromantic, but she always wanted children. I've been best friends with her brother since we were both eleven, so when she came to me about having a child, there was only one answer I could give her."

Draco nodded.

"She wants to try again," Harry murmured, his smile faltering. "It's been three years. I'm so scared that the same thing will happen again."

"Have you spoken to professionals?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. There's no reason that Ginny can't get pregnant and have a completely normal pregnancy to term. I just… I don't know if I could handle it again."

Draco smiled softly, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "For what it's worth, I think you'll be a brilliant dad."

Harry grinned. "Thanks. Come on, let me take you for coffee in apology for stealing your flowers."

"You don't have to do that. Lily is more than worthy of them."

"I know I don't have to. Let me take you for coffee anyway. Or is my gaydar faulty rather than yours?"

Draco blushed as the two stood up, Max running around his feet. "No. It's spot on. But I don't drink coffee. You'll have to buy me an iced tea instead."

"Deal."