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Of Early Morning Shouting Matches and Snogs

A tiny ray of light shone in through the slightly ajar door. Charlie fumbled blindly in the darkness for the clock. Twenty minutes past two in the morning.

He groaned and sat up in bed, eyes trying to get accustomed to the semi-darkness. He sighed and ran his fingers through his already tousled hair, making it even messier. This wasn't the first occurrence – far from it, in fact. A quick glance at the vacant bed beside him told Charlie all he needed to know. He didn't even need the tell-tale signs of messed-up sheets, or the fact that the pillow was lying on the floor instead of on the bed, to tell him that Draco had had another nightmare. Again.

Poor pillow, sympathised Charlie, always taking the brunt of his nightmare-induced angst but never being able to retaliate.

He swung his legs over the edge of his four-poster and padded out of the room to the toilet.

Charlie emerged from the bathroom minutes later, his hair barely tamed. With a heavy sigh, he started down the stairs. Merlin knows I hate doing this, he grumbled in manly tones. But still, it had to be done and Charlie was not one to shirk his duties – especially when Draco's wellbeing was in question.

Ah, there he is! Charlie found Draco sitting in the living room, staring at a mug of hot chocolate unblinkingly.

"You might want to drink it soon, you know. Doesn't taste half as good when it's cold," said Charlie as he took a seat beside Draco.

Draco had jumped a foot in the air when he'd first heard Charlie, but other than that, the only indication he gave that he had heard Draco was a non-committal grunt, not even looking up at him.

Charlie resisted letting out a frustrated groan – he knew that Draco was prone to long periods of unresponsiveness after his nightly terrors. Instead, he settled for a quiet, "Are you okay?" Mentally, he winced at how corny that sounded, but it seemed to have done the trick. Grey met blue for a few moments before Draco dropped his gaze and went back to staring at the cup.

"Oh come on, surely I'm far better looking than that mug!" Charlie sounded affronted. In softer, gentler tones, he continued, "Was it about the war?"

Stiffly, Draco nodded, unwilling to look up from the mug of hot chocolate he was nursing to make eye contact.

"Same one?" prodded Charlie as he scooted closer to Draco and put his head on Draco's.

Another silent nod.

Charlie sighed, his arms coming from behind to envelop Draco in a back hug. "You can't keep beating yourself up over what happened, Dragon. You and I both know that it's in the past. Look at yourself! When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep? This is no way to live, heart."

"I'm okay," mumbled Draco, eyes still staring at the mug.

"Are you sure?" Charlie left his position and stood in front of Draco, his hands coming up to tilt the blonde's face towards him, taking in every minor detail of the pale, thin face that was slightly creased in annoyance. Every curve and line was scrutinised by passionate blue eyes while grey ones glared at him, albeit placidly. It appeared that Draco was going to let Charlie have his way for the time being, and the redhead was not complaining.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"No, I already told you I'm fine. I'm perfectly all right."

Charlie groaned as he recognised the warning signs of an impending argument; his Dragon was already exhibiting signs of touchiness. Well, when Charlie had said he would love and take care of Draco regardless of the circumstances, he had meant it, and now the time had come for him to take the rap for his words.

"Why do you insist on pushing yourself so hard? Take a day off work, catch a break, do something fun for once!" Charlie was determined to make his Dragon see sense.

"I can't catch a break! Not until I am done with my duties and responsibilities, Charlie!" Draco's frustration was evident in his silent glower, his annoyance on the brink of morphing into a deadly fury.

"The war left its mark on everybody, Draco. Throwing yourself into re-building the Malfoy name isn't helping. In fact, it's making things worse! You're so tense and tired all the time. In case you didn't notice, you fell asleep standing last night! Does that sound like okay to you, Draco?" Charlie ran a calloused hand through his fiery locks, the tension in the room mounting.

"I'm entirely fine now, Charlie! I'm the last Malfoy and I have duties and responsibilities unlike you!"

Something snapped inside Charlie at that moment. What little remained of his patience was gone, replaced by ferocious whirlwinds of fire in those narrowed eyes that had Draco paralysed.

"You're right. I'm only a Weasley who has absolutely no troubles of his own. But regardless of anything you say, I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you alive and healthy, because you, Draco, are too damn stubborn to do so yourself!"

Before Draco could even open his mouth to retort, months of weariness and fear that Charlie had been keeping to himself came pouring out in frustrated proclamations.

"Fuck, Draco. Do you know how it feels like, sitting here helpless as you crumble? I can't afford to ever lose you! When, or are you ever, going to spare a moment to think about me? About us? Or am I not the one you love?"

Silence descended upon the couple, Charlie panting as though he had completed a marathon, his head looking down.

Draco stared, grey eyes wide in shock, at his lover who simply could not hold back his worries any longer. He placed a trembling hand on Charlie's upper arm, struggling to come up with suitable words.

"Charlie – I-" He stuttered uncharacteristically.

"I'm the last Malfoy and I have duties and responsibilities unlike you!" He shuddered at the memory – He, of all people, had degraded the Weasley's status to utterly unbefitting nothingness.

"I'm sorry," the two of them said simultaneously. Charlie ran a hand through his already tousled hair. Draco began to speak.

"Earlier, I should never have – I was wrong, I -" Draco had never been one to shy away from owning up to his faults, and somehow he could always do so without losing the grace he always possessed. This time, however, he could not bring himself to look into those blue irises.

"I know," Charlie cut in, his fingers entangling themselves in Draco's blonde, silky tresses, "You don't have to say anything." He hadn't intended to say those things aloud, but he had lost it back then and his mouth had taken over, the words rolling off his tongue like water before he even had the opportunity to register what he was shouting at his lover.

The tamer and his dragon shared a moment of quiet then, thankful that this time the silence was lighter and more companionable.

This was by no means their first quarrel; the obstinacy of both men was easier to kindle than volatile alcohol and their temperaments only served to worsen matters. However, they always made up in the end, whether it took minutes, hours, days or weeks. After they had had ample time to cool off and calm down, it was hard for either to remember why they had fought in the first place. One bashful chuckle later, everything would be back to normal.

"So, are we okay?" asked Charlie cautiously a minute later.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're fine," replied Draco with a small but genuine smile.

"Wonderful, because now I get to do this," was all the warning Draco got before Charlie's lips were on his, their tongues battling for dominance as Charlie's hand came up to cup the nape of Draco's neck.

When they finally broke apart for air, Draco breathed, "Love you, Charlie."

"Love you too, my darling Dragon," grinned Charlie as he captured the blonde's lips with his once more.

"I guess it's true then, what they say about the best thing to hold on to in life is each other," thought Draco.

A/N: Please leave a review! Flames are a waste of my time and yours, so don't bother. Constructive criticism is much appreciated as I'm constantly seeking ways to better my writing!

Written for the Camp Potter II Challenge on the HPFC forum.

Activity: Fireworks Show (Romance)

Mandatory prompt used: Charlie/Draco

Optional prompts used: "best thing to hold on to in life is each other" - Audrey Hepburn