DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
No offence is intended to anyone who lives or comes from the Newcastle area.

A/N: So here it is, the final chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read this story, especially those who have left me such lovely reviews! But above all thank you to Meg, without whom this story never would have made it to fruition.

Chapter 11

The next morning Harry woke up with his face squashed against the floor and a blanket thrown over his back. Squinting against the light that flooded the living area of Draco's apartment in the morning, Harry pulled himself up, wrapping the blanket around his waist like a towel as he stood up to look for Draco.

Not being able to see him anywhere on the second floor he walked towards the metal staircase that led to Draco's bedroom, grabbing his glasses from the breakfast bar on the way.

Upon reaching the top step, Harry's eyes immediately fell upon Draco, who was stood with his back to the staircase, shoulders hunched, looking out of one of the white sash windows. Harry thought he looked incredibly vulnerable dressed in an oversized grey t-shirt and a pair of drawstring bottoms that hung low on his hips.

Walking up behind the blond, Harry dropped his chin onto Draco's shoulder and leant his head against Draco's cheek.

"Morning."

"Morning." Harry turned to kiss the cheek closest to him and brought his arms up to encircle the other man. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Excuse me?"

Harry rolled his eyes and pulled Draco in closer. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"A damn sight more than is going on in yours, I'm sure."

"Draco-"

"I don't know. I don't know what to do anymore. I thought I was safe here but it turns out I'm not safe anywhere anymore." Draco sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Are you going to leave?"

"And go where exactly?"

Harry shrugged, hoping Draco would be able to feel the gesture thanks to the proximity of their bodies even if he couldn't see it. "The Manor?"

"Harry, I told you. The Manor isn't safe enough. You heard what my mother wrote, the Ministry-"

"Took down the protections, I know. But I put them back."

"Excuse me?" Draco turned in Harry's arms to shoot him a questioning glance.

"That's the reason I came here the other night. Ever since we argued I felt awful and I wanted to find a way to make it up to you. So I decided to give you back the Manor."

"You decided to give me back something that was already in my possession?"

"No, you owned a normal, everyday manor with no protections and filled with horrible relics of the War. I'm giving you your old manor, minus a few of the more sinister objects that Hermione and I found."

"Hermione and you?"

"I had to ask for her help to get hold of the Ministry files on the Manor, and then to help me cast some of the more difficult warding spells. But they're all there now. We replaced them all, even the one that prevents anyone not of Malfoy ancestry from entering without permission." Harry smiled down at Draco, who was apparently speechless for perhaps the first time in his life.

"But…the rooms…"

"We restored them all, at least the ones that seemed to have been host to some of the nastier events of the War. I left your bedroom as it was; it didn't seem right to touch any of it. Well, except the box from your mother. I thought that might convince you to go back."

"Harry…"

Harry cupped the back of Draco's head and tilted it up to meet his lips, their tongues meeting and swirling languidly against one another. When they broke apart, Draco still had his eyes closed and he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"I can't believe you did this."

"It's your home, Draco. You deserve to get it back."

"But what about this place?" Draco looked around somewhat sadly, probably remembering the peace and tranquillity it held for him before Harry had shown up in his life again.

"Sell it."

"You really hate it here, don't you?" Draco laughed at him softly.

"I hardly think that recent events have endeared me to the place." Harry frowned as he thought of Nott and Rookwood, who were currently held in Ministry custody awaiting transfer to Azkaban.

"I guess not." Draco agreed as he raised a finger to trace the frown on Harry's forehead. "But it's my home. Or at least it was. And anyway, I should hope you have some fonder memories of your time here."

Harry snorted as Draco smirked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well obviously. But that's more to do with you than the city itself, isn't it?"

"True." Draco smiled smugly and turned back to look out of his window over the city coming to life before him. "I have missed the Manor…"

"Just come take a look at it. And if it's too painful then I'll drop the whole subject and respect your decision, okay?" Harry rubbed his hands soothingly up and down Draco's sides, smiling as he saw the tension ease from Draco's shoulders.

"Okay."

After less than an hour of inspecting the rooms at the Manor, Harry could tell that Draco's resistance was crumbling. He had made sure to check every single one of the rooms that had been sealed off by Narcissa, nodding to Harry after each one in (somewhat reluctant) approval. By the time he reached his former bedroom, Draco seemed to be struggling to remind himself of all the reasons he couldn't come back here.

"I have to think about the business. My staff, my customers-" he protested, even as he gazed out of the bay window of his bedroom with an expression that could only be described as 'longing'.

"You have to think about yourself, Draco." Harry spoke softly, sitting down on Draco's four poster bed and studying the blond's face.

"There are so many bad memories here…"

"And now there are bad memories in Newcastle, too."

"But they're not nearly as bad as the ones here." Draco shook his head and raised his hand to the glass pane in front of him.

"This is your home, Draco. You belong here." Harry sighed and walked over to stand with Draco at the window, the pair of them looking out over the Manor gardens which presented a vibrant display of colours in the late May sunlight. "I remember one of the first conversations we had in Newcastle, and how you told me that you couldn't think about going back to the wizarding world because you didn't have any friends there anymore, or any family, or a home."

Harry turned Draco to look at him, his hand moving to Draco's cheek, his fingers stroking back and forth gently.

"Well I'm trying to be your friend now, trying to be more than that actually." He smiled and Draco snorted as he rolled his eyes. "And this Manor is as close to your family as you can get, as well as being your ancestral home. So I don't see what there even is to think about. Isn't this everything you've wanted for so long?"

Harry rested his forehead against Draco's, his other hand coming up to cup Draco's other cheek.

"But the memories-"

"Everywhere has good and bad memories, Draco. You'll never escape that. You just have to move past the painful ones and embrace the happier ones. And if you really can't find any happy ones in some of these rooms…"

Harry captured Draco's lips in a sweet kiss and moved his arms to wrap around the other man, kissing him until he heard Draco sigh contentedly against him, his resistance finally worn down.

"We'll just have to make our own."

FIN

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