A/N: This was done is conjunction with the fabulous SnoggleSnitch as a roleplay. I'm Draco, and most other characters. She's Harry. Please review and let us know what you think. ^-^ I know my track record for fics isn't the best, but this one will definitely be completed and updated regularly.

Potter,

I'm writing to offer an apology, and condolences on your divorce. I've been there, and I'm an outside ear if you have the need.

Secondly, or most importantly, I'd like to make amends for the war, and our schoolyard rivalry. I'd prefer to do such in person, and was hoping you'd agree to meet.

Coffee tomorrow? Over lunch is alright with me. I know a café that's excellent, if you're willing.

Cordially, Draco.

The last thing Harry was expecting on that Friday morning was an owl from Draco Malfoy. James had decided to pitch a fit about almost everything and Teddy was no better. While he was older than James sometimes the younger boy still managed to rub off his emotions on him. When the owl tapped at the window Harry was trying, and failing, to feed James breakfast. When he turned to let the owl in James took off and he simply sighed as he untied the letter from the Owls leg. "Teddy!" He called as he opened the letter and sent the owl off. "Make sure James doesn't get into the candy!" He leaned back against the sink and quirked an eyebrow as he read through the letter. Once he was done he simply stared at it. Malfoy wanted to make amends? That was something Harry never thought would happen. Biting his lip and dragging a hand through his hair he hesitated for a moment before pushing off of the sink and walking over to the table to pen out a reply. Once he had done so he called his own owl, tied it to her leg, and sent her off.

Malfoy,

I'll take you up on lunch but you're buying. Tell me when and where and we'll be there.

Harry

Draco scrunches his brows while he reads the letter. 'We'? He might mean his son. That certainly changes the destination a bit. He thinks a moment before responding.

Potter,

Muggle bookstore: Barnes and Noble. They have coffee and you can bring the children. Corner of west and 42nd. 1pm work for you?

D.M.

Harry smiled a bit when he got the letter back at the changed destination. It takes only a few moments for him to respond.

Works for me. Suppose we'll see you then.

Harry

Draco walks in to the bookstore unsure of what to expect. The café part is deserted. Must Potter lack punctuality? He sighs, and turns to watch the store.

A small child with turquoise hair is running around the kid's section, being chased by a smaller boy with unruly black hair. He's a miniature of the adult chasing them, and a grin pops up without his permission at the scene.

Draco quickly figures out where the lead boy is heading, and takes a shortcut. He's kneeling when the boys barrel around the aisle and straight in to his arms. Potter follows shortly after.

"Are both of them yours?" Draco looks down at the turquoise haired one, and doesn't see much resemblance to either Potter or the Weaslette. His vibrant hair quickly shifts to the same blond hair he sees in the mirror. He looks up in confusion and Potter laughs.

Harry laughs and grins, nodding. "Yup. Malfoy, meet Teddy and James. James and Teddy meet Malfoy."

"Hello James and Teddy." Draco shuffles awkwardly, and gestures towards the cafe vaguely. "Coffee, Potter?"

Harry nods as the two boys waved up at Malfoy and then looked up at him in a silent question of whether they could go play or not. He nodded again and they ran off with a whoop. Looking back to Draco, he nods for the third time. "Coffee sounds brilliant."

"Indeed. They seem like a handful." Draco leads the way to the counter, and orders a cappuccino with two extra shots, and a scone.

Harry shrugs and follows after him, ordering a straight black coffee with just a dash of cream. He looked over his shoulder to the children's area, checking to make sure that both boys were behaving.

Draco chooses a table where the boys are in sight, and clears his throat after sitting.

"I figured you were the best place to start, when it came to redeeming the Malfoy name. If Saint Potter can forgive all that I've done, then maybe I can move on with my life. Its been years, but nobody will let me forget my part in the war." His voice turns bitter. "Yeah, I was on the losing side, but it's not like I had a choice! Nobody /asked/ me to join the Death Eaters. It just happened!" He takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down. "I'm trying to put all that I've done, all the bullying and the war, behind me. No one else can accept that I've changed, but I'm hoping you'll take that chance. You've always had an extraordinary amount of faith in the goodness of people, after all."

Draco looks down into his coffee, avoiding the green eyes picking him apart. He's not sure he could hold back from baring his soul under that gaze.

This is the turning point. Either he goes on to become friends, or he buries his heart in whatever it takes to pass away the years and forget such a monumental rejection.

Harry sits down across from him and sets his cup on the table before bringing his arms up to set his elbows on the table as he listened to Malfoy speak. When he was done, Harry was quiet as he looked at the top of Malfoys head because apparently the man couldn't look at him. After a moment, he speaks. "I certainly can't forgive you if you keep calling me Saint Potter," he says with a lopsided grin. Truthfully, the war had changed Harry for the worst but Teddy and James had changed him for the better. Being with Ginny had been a terrible, terrible marriage to begin with and now...he almost felt more relived than anything that it was over.

After a few more moments he shakes his head. "Malfoy, the war is over. It has been for years. Hanging onto any lingering feelings about all of that is nothing short of madness and I get driven mad on a fairly daily basis by those two." He points over his shoulder at the children. "But since your asking...you're forgiven."

Draco grins, and takes a sip of his coffee. "Thanks, Potter. Teddy seems a bit old to be yours. The papers never mention him." Not that I stalk you or anything. Nope. It's definitely a coincidence that all the prophet articles mentioning your divorce are in a desk drawer. Draco looks up into his eyes, and fights the blush that rises. He does /not/ think Potter's eyes are beautiful. No way. Especially not with the sunlight reflecting in his irises, bringing out lighter, forest undertones.

Harry nods, also taking a sip of his coffee before answering. "He's not. I mean, not technically. He is Remus and Tonks son. They died in the battle and turned any and all responsibility for Teddy over to me. I was 17 but...I've had him since he was a few months old." He looked down, then, frowning a bit. "Ginny hated that. She wanted a...honeymoon period but we had a baby. Or, I had a baby. She hated that I took him in and wouldn't give him up."

"That's selfish of her. I thought she would've wanted kids, with such a huge family. Is that why you divorced?" Draco looks over at Teddy, with his hair back to turquoise, and frowns. He's so small, and he's lost so much. War is Tragedy.

"One of the many, many reasons," he said softly, leaning back in his chair and bringing his hands up to rub at his face tiredly. There were /so/ many reasons as to why he'd ultimately ended up divorcing Ginny Weasley.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco's voice is soft, and surprisingly gentle. He'd wondered for ages, but he wouldn't let his eagerness get in the way of tact. He was raised better.

Harry dropped his hands from his face and quirked an eye brow at the other man. He had never heard Draco Malfoy sound so...gentle. "Talk about it? Haven't the papers told the entire world what happened?" They had, he knew they had. The entire thing had been a bit public, at least after Ginny got to the reporters. Harry had thought they could mostly keep it under wraps but he should have known Ginny would never allow that. She enjoyed fame and attention far too much. He bit his lip and looked back at the children, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so and then turning back to look at Draco. "We never should have married in the first place. I let pressure and...the feeling that I had to please everyone rope me into it."

Draco follows his eyes to the children, and a small smile slips on his face. It drops before Harry can see it, and he turns his attention to his scone.

"They did. I thought you might need to share your side. The papers were all over my divorce too, and sometimes I just needed someone to listen. I know how that feels, to have the pressure on every side and only one option to appease them." He pauses a moment, and bites his lip. "Did you want to marry her?"

Draco looks away, to his scone, and nibbles on it casually, trying not to show how much he wanted the answer to be no.

Harry watches him silently again before answering. "No," he said truthfully, shaking his head a bit. "She...doesn't exactly have the parts that get me going in the bedroom."

Draco looks at his scone to hide his grin. He's sure his eyes are dancing with delight, but he can't bring himself to care.

"I never pegged you as the type, Potter, but I suppose your obsession with me sixth year was pretty telling." He smirks, but his voice is light and teasing.

Harry laughs, he can't help it. "That obvious, huh?" He asks, leaning back in his chair again and folding his arms. He'd always found Malfoy attractive, there was no denying that.

"Well, no one can blame you. I /am/ devilishly handsome." Draco grins and smooths his hair, chuckling along with him. "Who can resist this?"

He grinned. "No one, obviously. Not even Saint Potter."

Draco's voice lowers, and he chuckles. "You don't sound like such a saint now." Its almost a purr, dark and seductive.

Harry isn't quite sure why but he flushes at Draco's words and bites his lip, looking down. "I've never been much of a saint," he finally replies, looking back up. The flush is still coloring his cheeks and his green eyes have turned just a shade darker than normal.

Draco's eyes flash to his lip, held between his teeth, and he sucks in a sharp breath. All feeling shoots to his groin when he meets his eyes. The dark green pins him in place, and his eyes smoulder with barely concealed lust.

"Is that so?" He challenges with a smirk.

Harry can easily pick up on the lust smoldering in Draco's eyes and for some reason it causes a rather pleasant flush to go through him, which he feels in a tug right behind his belly button. Nodding, he leaned over the table a bit. "Thats so."

"I might need proof of that, Potter. I can't come to an accurate conclusion without data." Draco licks his lips, entirely focused on Harry, and the way his face flushes and his pupils dilate at his words. He deeply enjoys that he's not the only one affected by this turn in the conversation.

"Proof?" He asks, clearing his throat in hopes that it doesn't come out stupidly breathy. Malfoy was affecting him more than anyone had in a very, very long time and part of him wondered if he should be concerned because it was, after all, Draco Malfoy. The other part, however, didnt care at all. "What sort of proof would you require?"

"I- I think a practical demonstration would be best." Draco clears his throat, because damn it all if /that/ thought doesn't get his blood racing. Potter bent over for him- he cuts the thought off before he loses his cool, and cums in his pants like a teenager.

Harry tilts his head at that, his eyes darting down to Malfoy's lips before moving back up to his eyes. "A practical demonstration, you say? Hm. Well, I'll have you know that Im not a cheap date." Date? Why had he said that? He internally groaned and had to fight the urge to beat himself over the head with something. Sometimes his mouth said things before his brain had fully processed them to decide that whatever it was was probably a bad idea to say.

Draco grins, and doesn't bother to hide it. "I think I can afford to take you out, Potter. When are you free?"

Harry looking flustered is probably his favorite expression so far, but the lust is a close second.

Harry hadn't exactly been expecting that sort of response but he couldnt say he was disappointed. "What works best for you? I'll have to see if 'Mione can babysit...so give me a time and a day."

"Eleven on Saturday Morning. We can get brunch." Draco doesn't stop the soft smile that appears on his lips at Harry's acceptance. Flirting is all well and good, but he'd definitely prefer more from him. This is the perfect place to start.

Harry reached up and drug a hand through his hair as he nodded. "Sure. Saturday morning at 11. I'll...get a hold of Hermione. Brunch where?"

Draco's eyes follow the movement, picturing his hand doing the exact same thing. Maybe Saturday.

"I'll . . . I'll owl you with the details." He nervously takes a sip of his forgotten coffee, and winces. It's long cold.

What time is it?

A glance at his watch confirms he should be headed back, and he nods.

"I should be going. I've got to get back to the Academy."

Harry once again bites his lip and nods. "Yeah, alright. Sounds good." He pushes himself away from the table and stands up just as Teddy and James race over to him. "He pinched me!" Teddy exclaims, pointing accusingly down at James, who makes a face back at him. Harry laughs and looks over at Draco. "That right there should tell you that they're both mine."

Draco smiles, and nods. "I can see that. They had to get that attitude from somewhere. You were quite sassy." He stands, and nonverbally casts a warming charm on his coffee, and Potters.

"Hasn't changed much, Im afraid," he says, taking his once more warm coffee and tilting his head at Draco. "Thanks for the coffee. Ill be looking forward to your owl."

"The pleasure is mine." Draco waves, and turns to leave.

Don't make a fool of yourself.

DON'T make a fool of yourself.

DO NOT- He trips over a tile edge walking to the door, but doesn't fall.

Damn it.

Harry watches him go and snorts just a little when he trips, though not loud enough for anyone else to hear. Once Draco has disappeared completely he looks down at the kids and debates for a second before speaking. "You two hungry?" When they nodded eagerly at him he smiled and reached out with his free hand to ruffle Teddy's hair and then James's. "Right. Lets go get lunch and maybe head to the park after that, yeah?" Both boys whooped at that and Harry grinned before turning and leading the way out.

"You've got a date?" Hermione raises one eyebrow skeptically, setting down her fork.

"Congratulations, mate. Who's the lucky girl?" Ron grins at him across the table, continuing to eat.

Harry nods at Hermione and then sets his own utensils down with a quiet sigh. He'd been debating for months on what the best way to tell Hermione and Ron (mostly Ron) that he was gay was. After a few more beats of silence in which Harry just fidgeted, he sighed. "It's...not. A girl, I mean. I'm not exactly...straight."

Hermione nods, and shoots Ron a glare that makes it clear he needs to be quiet. "I'm not exactly surprised. Sixth year you were quite . . . obsessed . . . with Malfoy. And when your marriage with Ginny failed- well she did a lot of complaining. Mainly about your . . . bedroom patterns. It was obvious she wasn't what you wanted. I connected the dots on my own."

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?" Ron explodes. "You didn't tell me that you thought my best mate, and my sister's husband, was GAY?" He spits the word out like it's dirt, throwing down his fork.

"It wasn't our business. It's up to Harry to decide who he wants to tell, and when. I knew you'd interfere." Her voice is calm but she's tearing her napkin to pieces in her lap.

"HE MARRIED MY SISTER!" Ron sputters, turning red in the face and standing up.

Harry flushes at Hermione's words. Had it really been that obvious. He swallows hard when Ron breaks in and his words make him flush darker, hurt blossoming in his stomach. Hermione spoke up for him, as he knew she would, but Ron wasn't done...though Harry had heard enough. "Stop it!" He said firmly, glaring at Ron. "Stop it right now! I didn't want to marry Ginny in the first place and its my fault that I let myself be roped into it. I didn't want to hurt any of you so I went along with it. I wasnt happy. I haven't been happy. And as for why I didn't tell you I was gay, this is exactly fucking why. The way you're acting. The things you've said. This is exactly why."

Hermione's face immediately falls in sympathy, but Ron's turns even redder. He opens his mouth to retaliate, but Hermione gets there first.

"Ronald!" Her voice is high, and he immediately falls silent. "Shut up. It doesn't matter now. It doesn't matter that he likes guys, and it doesn't matter why he left Ginny. Fighting about it won't change it. All it does is leave you angry and bitter. Ginny is trying to accept that Harry is gay, and you do not need to be indignant and angry on her behalf."

She glares at him until he sits down. Then she turns to Harry.

"We'd love to babysit. Are you sure you're ready to date though? The divorce isn't even finalized yet." Her voice holds nothing but good natured worry for his well being.

Harry was never so grateful for the way Hermione could shut Ron up as he was just then. At her question, however, he flushes all over again and bites his lip. "Uh...I...I mean...this isn't exactly a...new person. I...know him."

Hermione looks so serious figuring it out that Ron nearly laughs, until she speaks.

"Hogwarts, then. But . . . there was only one person you showed any interest in at school." She raises one eyebrow, silently asking if she's mistaken. Ron looks like he's about to implode, he's thinking so hard.

Harry flushes even darker, if that's at all possible, and shakes his head at her raised eyebrow. "Malfoy," he says after a moment, chewing on his bottom lip rather hard as he looks at them.

Hermione's eyes widen and she silences Ron without a second thought.

"Can you discuss this rationally, and not let prejudice get in the way of your best friend's happiness?"

Ron mouths something that looks like 'but it's Malfoy!'

"Then leave. I won't have you damaging Harry's chances at happiness over a schoolyard rivalry. We're better than that."

Hermione glares at him, but he nods, and doesn't leave the room.

"Can you wait until we've heard everything and try to be fair when you speak?"

Ron nods, and she removes the silencing charm. Hermione gestures for Harry to explain.

Harry waits until Ron is silent by himself and then tilts his head down a bit and bites his lip again. "It was a bit out of the blue, honestly," he says after a few moments, still not looking up. "He owled me...asked if we could meet for coffee or something. Said he wanted to apologize." He shrugged and finally looked up. "You know me, I wasn't about to deny him of that. We all lost too much in the War to keep on with petty school yard rivalries. I went and I took the boys with me and it...it was nice. He's much different now than he was then and so when our talking took a turn to the flirtatious, I didn't stop it. I was actually the one who suggested the date, though I may have been more kidding than anything. Still, when he ran with the idea I didn't turn him down. I said yes. And no, I don't regret it in the slightest." He turned his eyes to Ron, then. "I made a mistake by agreeing to marry your sister in the first place. I won't say it was all a mistake, though, because I got James out of it. I'm not divorcing her to hurt her, I'm divorcing her because staying with her isn't fair to either of us."

Ron swallows, and nods. "Just- just be careful, mate."

Hermione beams at both of them. "What's he like with the children? You can't date someone who dislikes kids you know." Her voice is matter-of-fact.

Harry is surprised by Ron's response but his attention is quickly pulled to Hermione when she speaks and he smiles softly. "He's...from what I saw, good with them. He warmed right up to Teddy and James. It was actually surprising.

Hermione smiles at him. "You look like you like him a lot."

Harry once again flushes and he hates that talking about Draco can already make him feel so fucking flustered. "Yes, well," he mumbles, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. "As you pointed out before, its not exactly a new development."

"Good." Hermione promptly turns back to her food, and Ron brings up quidditch, wary of topics that could bring about Hermione's ire later. The talk stays casual for the rest of dinner.