the war had been long over, but the dark would always taint a part of harry, as it did draco. draco still had reoccuring nightmares of the day he was taken to voldemort to take the dark mark, and the fury in his abusive father's face when he refused and apparated out of there. he had run to the first person who had come to mind; the only person who could protect him, or anyone else for that matter, from the dark lord. harry potter.
some people say love blossoms from the most primitive emotions. damn right, draco had been feeling perhaps the earliest of all emotions - pure, unadulterated fear. he had blabbered at harry's feet, told the whole story; from the day that his father had started to abuse him, all up to that day when they tried to make him a death eater.
and to everyone's surprise, even the surprise of harry's best friends, harry took draco into his arms. he let the most likely disowned malfoy heir stay with him over breaks, with sirius - who warmed up to the idea - and eventually, affection bloomed from desperation.
even during the war, harry had supported him. draco had as well; he was a good source of information, even if it became slightly outdated as time went on.
although it had been won, the savior of the wizarding world still had these nightmares he couldn't control; nightmares that tortured him, drove his mind to the edge. the only one who could ever calm him down was draco, who had been placed under the cruciatus curse so many times that he had the closest idea to what harry was feeling as he writhed in pain on the bed.
"harry, love, calm down." draco murmured as he saw the other's eyelids flutter a bit, as if he were ready to wake. the blond showered the boy's faces with kisses, blowing gently on harry's ears to tickle him, perhaps cause him to wake a little more. it worked, and startling, teary emerald eyes flickered open to stare up at draco.
harry's arms drew draco down into an embrace, needing the positive warmth and simple feel of human comfort. draco continued to cover harry with comforting kisses, licking and pecking the tears that had started to stream down harry's face. he drew harry into his lap and propped the other against him, waiting for the raven-haired male's breathing to calm down.
"better?" he asked carefully, running his hand through the messy, hedgehog-like hair he had grown to love so much. draco kissed the top of the boy-who-lived's head. by now, harry had noticeably calmed down, enough so that he could nod his head and concentrate.
draco heard his lover whisper softly, and the lights in the room flickered on. he had long since grown used to the male's ability to use wandless magic on simple spells, and occasionally on even harder spells. sometimes, harry could even use wordless magic - but he was a very powerful wizard.
it was around one in the morning; draco was exhausted. both of the males worked as aurors, searching out the last of the death eaters and obtaining information before ridding them of their life. it was tiring work, but fulfilling to know you were doing something right, more so with the one you loved.
breaking the silence that had crept up on the two, draco leaned in and murmured, "same nightmare, harry?" he recieved a nod in return, and the malfoy male sighed as harry began to soundlessly cry again.
"it's alright, harry. i'll always be with you, no matter what, love."