A/N: Final chapter! Thanks for all the awesome reviews and faves! If you guys want to see the movie this story is based on, it's name is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (a bollywood classic). The film is much more sentimental and has loads more tears and laughs :P Thanks for reading!
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Harry."
Draco blanked. "Uh…"
"Sorry for the late call."
"N-no, it's fine," he stammered. "What's up?"
"Well, I… was going to be in the area tomorrow afternoon and I was wondering if we could grab a cup of coffee."
"Of course," Draco agreed without wasting a moment. It was a Saturday and it wasn't as though he had any plans. "In fact, why don't you just come over to my house? James would like the surprise."
"Oh…"
Draco waited for a moment but heard no further response. "Harry?"
"Yeah, sorry. Um, sure. What's your address?"
So the following day, Draco had James help him clean up the house but he refused to say why. By the time two o'clock rolled around, James was groveling to know who was coming over. "Please, Daddy," he groaned. "Just tell me!"
"Why don't you just guess, then?"
He didn't have to. The doorbell rang and James was the first one to get there. He threw the door open excitedly.
Harry smiled down at the boy in surprise. "Oh, hello."
"Harry!" James squealed as he jumped forward and hugged the man. "You're here! We made tea for you! Come in!"
Harry was tugged forward even before he could remove his gloves and scarf. "Whoa, wait up," he chuckled, pulling James back. "Gosh, you've grown so tall!"
"I know," James grinned, puffing out his chest. "I'll keep growing."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry said with amusement while pulling his shoes off.
"Hey," Draco greeted from the archway leading into the drawing room.
Harry glanced up at him with a half-smile. "Hello."
"Ginny's not with you"
"No. She had some errands to run."
"Chilly out?"
"Yeah."
"Boring," James announced before grabbing Harry's hand. "Let's go!" He pulled Harry further into the warm home.
The three spent the next hour exchanging pleasantries and drinking their tea. James nearly talked Harry's ear off, telling him all about school and attempting to speak to him in French. Harry was pleasant, so unlike how Draco had last seen him. He didn't look uncomfortable or hurt or angry. It was all very strange.
"So," Harry sighed while he leaned in towards James. "I need to speak with your father for a minute. Think you can scurry upstairs and try ever so hard not to eavesdrop?"
James giggled wickedly but nodded nonetheless. "Okay. I'll go get my books. I'll be down in five minutes. I won't eavesdrop." He hopped off of the sofa and ran out of the room, leaving the men alone.
Draco suddenly realized how stuffy the room became, especially when Harry looked up at him. He fidgeted in his seat uncharacteristically. "So… something the matter?" he asked.
"No. Not really," Harry smiled. "I just…" He broke off, shaking his head so he could start over. "It felt like a really pathetic goodbye back then, so…"
"You came here to say bye?" Draco deadpanned.
"Yes, Draco." Harry rolled his eyes. "That's why I came all the way here." He scoffed once and was about to say more, but his eyes caught on a collage of pictures hanging by the fireplace. He got up and walked over to it. He realized that they were pictures of Astoria and Draco and James, all at different stages of their lives. They were so young then.
He felt Draco come up behind him.
"You didn't have to apologize for anything."
Draco frowned in confusion.
Harry turned to look at him. "I had no right to be angry with you. There really wasn't anything to be angry about," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Oh…"
"And I'm sorry I was petty and didn't call you for all those years. That was uncalled for."
"Yeah… It was," Draco said absently. "So you really aren't angry about anything?"
"No," Harry reassured him. "I was having a bad time and I took it all out on you. I guess I was too embarrassed to talk to you after that. But I'm glad I got to see you at camp. I really am."
"Me too."
"Friends?" Harry asked for old time's sake.
"Yeah," Draco sighed with relief as he wrapped his arms around Harry and hugged him tight without thinking. He felt Harry stiffen against him.
With a silent swear, he was about to let go, when-
"Wait, wait," Harry rushed, pressing himself stubbornly close to Draco. "Shit, I didn't practice this part," Draco heard him mutter.
"What's wrong?" he stammered.
"Okay," Harry exhaled slowly. "So… the reason I was angry was…" Now his voice was shaking from nervousness. "I… I liked you."
Draco blinked at the wall once. "Wait, what?" he asked, trying to push Harry back.
Harry held on. "Don't look at me," he grumbled.
Draco stopped with his hands to his sides. "Y-you liked me?"
"And I was jealous of you and Astoria."
"But-"
"I'm sorry."
Draco's mind was running a mile a minute. He hadn't even thought of the possibility. Why hadn't he ever… Why hadn't he seen it?
But now it fell into place.
"Harry…"
"I know," Harry groaned. "I know I'm dumb and I should have just told you or gotten over it or whatever, but I was still a kid and I was scared and-"
Draco forced Harry back, keeping a hold on him at the shoulders. "Do you like me, Potter?" he asked.
"No," Harry muttered, turning his eyes down to his socked feet.
Draco exhaled loudly and staggered back with a hand to his forehead.
"I'm… not with Ginny anymore."
Draco stilled for a breathless moment.
"We aren't engaged," Harry explained while blushing. "It… well, she… We called it off a few months ago. A-after Paris."
"Damn it."
Harry mumbled incoherent words. He supposed he could leave out the parts where he had bawled his eyes out for a whole day while Ginny tried to calm him down and get proper words out of him. He supposed he could leave out the parts where she had hit him a couple dozen times before throwing her engagement ring at him. And he supposed he could leave out the parts where she had forced him to phone Draco and practically wrote that apologetic speech for him.
No… He was going to leave all of those parts out of it.
So he just watched Draco turn away with his head bowed and his arms crossed against his chest.
"I just came here to apologize." Harry wanted to make that part clear. He didn't want Draco to get the wrong idea. "I wasn't going to…" He trailed off with a defeated wince. He always made a mess of things when he talked.
"You weren't going to tell me?" Draco asked quietly. "Is that it?"
Harry let out an exasperated breath. "Of course I wasn't going to tell you," he said under his breath.
When he had told Ginny about Draco, she had been livid. She had wailed on him, cried with him and thrown books at him. Then they had calmed down considerably to have an adult conversation.
"You know my brothers are going to maim you, right?" she had said tiredly.
"I know..."
"I told you I'd drag you down to the altar, didn't I?"
He smiled in defeat as his head found purchase against her shoulder. "You did," he murmured.
"You suck balls, Harry."
"I know I'm pathetic, Gin," he whined. "Could we please just get over that fact and figure this out?"
"Figure what out?" she scoffed. "There's nothing to figure out, is there? You love him and I'm just a bloody third wheel, right?"
"You know that's not true..."
"Oh yeah?"
"I never expected to see him again. I never wanted this to happen."
"Well, it did happen," she grumbled. "What are you going to do about it?"
So that was how he had ended up phoning Draco after many months of coaxing from his ex-girlfriend and a much too involved mother.
And now Draco looked as though he wanted to murder Harry in cold blood. Before Harry could get another word in edgewise, however, he mumbled, "I'll go check on James."
Harry waited until he heard Draco's footsteps moving up the stairs before wrenching his hair and hissing insults at himself. He was such an idiot! He fumbled to get the phone out of his pocket. It took his shaking hands several tries to finally find the right number.
Ginny picked up on the first ring. "Well?" she asked.
"I-I told him," Harry stammered.
There was stunned silence.
"I know," he rushed. "I didn't mean to. It just came out and I think he hates me or maybe he's just mad because I didn't tell him earlier and I'm messing everything up and I don't know what to do!"
She let out a slow and controlled breath. "Listen to me very carefully, Harry."
"Mhm, I am."
"If I ever see that bastard again, I swear to God I will shove his balls up his arse and make you watch."
Harry's jaw dropped open.
"Understand?"
"Uh... I... Uh... Y-yeah. Sure. Yeah."
"Good," she muttered. "I'm done playing stupid matchmaker for you. So if you bother me again with your love life, I'll punch your teeth in."
"O-okay."
"Still need that ride home?"
Harry cringed before saying a pathetic, "Yes."
She huffed indignantly. "Well, I'm not done shopping yet so you can make out with him all you want for another hour," she growled before hanging up on him.
Harry pressed a hand to his stomach after sliding the phone back into his pocket. It took him a few moments to calm down with deep breaths and Draco walked in with James by then. The boy was juggling an armload of schoolbooks and he grinned toothily at Harry, oblivious to what had gone on in his absence. "I get really good marks in class, Harry," he bragged. "I'll show you. Sit here!" He jumped up on the sofa and motioned for Harry to sit beside him.
Harry complied hesitantly and Draco sat on the other side of his son. James was hurriedly showing off all his assignments and grades, wanting to impress the guest.
And the said guest couldn't concentrate on anything but his proximity to Draco. He shouldn't have said anything. Now things were just plain awkward and-
"So you liked me when you kissed me?" Draco asked abruptly, shocking everyone into silence.
James whipped his head around to gawk at Harry. "You kissed him?" he whispered in shock. "Wh-when?"
"You kissed me," Harry corrected hesitantly. "Don't talk about this now."
James whipped his head back at his father. "You kissed him? When?"
Draco exhaled in exasperation and raked his hand through his hair. His knee was jiggling up and down nervously and his teeth worried his lip. It was all simply too much to take in. The thought that Harry felt this way about him was too much to take in. "Fine," he muttered. "We're going out tomorrow afternoon and you're telling me everything, understand?"
Harry was slack jawed and silent.
"Understand, Potter?"
"Mhm," he gulped, nodding quickly.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" James shouted finally while jumping off the sofa and throwing his arms up in defeat.
Draco grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back onto the couch while training a furious scowl at Harry. "We'll be seeing a lot more of Potter, that's all," he muttered.
Harry blushed and squirmed under Draco's glare.
No more of the incident was mentioned until it was time for Harry to leave. He got off the phone with Ginny and then shrugged at Draco with a half-hearted smile. "She's here."
"Hmm."
"Who?" James asked. "Ginny?"
"Yeah," Harry told him.
"Oh, cool! Is she coming in?" the boy grinned.
"No. We should get going."
"Oh," James sighed.
Harry glanced at Draco again before saying, "I'm sure she would be happy to see you, James. You can go say hi to her. She's in the car."
"Really?" James didn't need to be told twice. He quickly shoved on his shoes and pulled on his coat. "Wait 'til I tell her that you two kissed!" He was out the door before Draco could yell at.
"Shit! Damn it!" the man swore as he stomped around the foyer in defeat.
Harry bent down to do up his shoes, not daring to look at Draco as he said, "She already knows about that."
Draco froze.
There was silence while Harry finished getting ready for the snow outside. He wrapped himself up in his scarf before meeting Draco's horrified expression. "Well... Bye," he said lamely. "I'll be back tomorrow. We can talk then."
Draco jerked him forward by the scarf and kissed him soundly.
Harry pushed him away in fright and staggered back, bumping against the wall as he did so. Draco's jaw was clenched with determination. "Do not tell her about that one," he hissed.
Harry couldn't help his mortified smile.
Draco grabbed Harry's scarf and tugged him forward again. This time Harry didn't push him away. He rested his head against Draco's shoulder and hugged him tight. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier," he whispered.
"Yeah. You can just go to hell."
Harry chuckled lightly. "These things happen, you know? It happens."
"Sure, it does," Draco drawled.
The men jumped as the car horn blasted three times impatiently. Harry pulled away with a wince. "Gotta go," he said. "You're the best, okay?"
"I know."
Harry pulled the door open, letting in frigid air. But before he stepped out, he looked back with a sly smile. "Draco Malfoy? Check."
"For God's sake, get out of my house," Draco groaned. "You're embarrassing me."
James came bounding up the driveway with a huge grin. "I honked the horn! Did you get scared?" he asked.
"Sure did," Harry winked. "I'll see you tomorrow, buddy."
"Awesome!" James crowed.
Harry waved goodbye before trudging towards the car in the snow. He paused for a moment to gather his wits before getting in. Ginny had a mean glare ready for him, of course. He expected nothing less. He simply slunk into the passenger seat and kept his head down in an attempt to appear apologetic.
"Wipe that stupid smile off your face," she huffed.
The stupid smile just grew wider, so Harry turned away and looked out the window. Draco and James were standing at the doorway of the house. Harry pressed his forehead against the fogging glass as Ginny pulled out of park and rolled away. He sighed quietly when Draco waved.
She glanced at Harry after stopping her sharp words from exiting her mouth. She noted his flushed cheeks and nervous expression that was married with a euphoric smile. She had never seen him look like that before. She clicked her tongue in frustration. "Are you going to spout crap like 'we were made for each other' and all that?" she asked.
"That's what you're here for," Harry laughed. "Next we'll find you a killer guy, okay?"
"Whatever, Potter."
Harry hummed in acknowledgment and kept his mouth shut after, merely watching the road while thinking about how amazing his life was turning out to be now that Draco had finally kissed him. Things only went uphill from here, he just knew it. He pressed a hand to his stomach to stop the butterflies.
James glanced up at his father as they cleaned up the living room. "You like him, don't you?" he asked cheekily.
"James..."
"You kissed him, didn't you?"
"That's enough," Draco sighed.
"I like him too, Daddy," James said with an important nod. "And Mum likes him. So it's okay if you kissed him."
Draco hid his smile from his son by moving to the kitchen to put away the dishes. More like Astoria would kick his arse for kissing Harry... He grimaced behind his chuckle when he heard Harry's last words in his mind.
Things were bound to get interesting now that he would have Harry kicking about his life. He couldn't wait.