Banana Pancakes

The Extended Version

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.

24.

The night air is crisp, cool and clear; the type of night sky that only happens after a perfectly cloudless day, stars twinkling merrily in their own eternal sort of way. Back in the house, there is a cacophony of noise from the kitchen – the younger children running around screaming and playing downstairs; the teenagers upstairs on the Playstation 3; Hermione and Ron bickering in the kitchen, in a way that was simply them. Someone left the radio on, and right now, the lazy strumming of Banana Pancakes thrummed in the background.

Harry Potter, no longer young (when had he ever?), but really just in the prime of his life, was curled up on the comfy swinging seat in the Grangers' garden. It was spacious, and always smelled sweet whenever he came by for a visit. After the war, Hermione and Ron had made a mutual decision to move, wanting to raise their children away from the prying eyes of the Wizarding public. So, after tracking down Hermione's parents in Sydney, Australia, the couple decided that they would settle there. At the time, Harry had just married his childhood sweetheart, Ginny Weasley, and they spent the next ten years or so, in wedded bliss.

He had three, beautiful children from his last relationship with Ginny – who was once a wife, but always a friend. The fact that they still kept in touch was a testament to how well the divorce had settled. After Lily had been born in 2008, however, the two had somehow just... fallen out of love. It had been a hard time for their small family, and the Weasley family hadn't taken it too well, but Ginny herself had vouched for the divorce, claiming they would be better off if they were just friends.

Harry had gained full custody of the children, since Ginny had moved on (and wanted to start her own family) finding herself back in the arms of Dean Thomas, who had become a successful Wizarding and Muggle artist in the years between graduation and the present. But Harry's life seemed to have come to a standstill. For six months, he was living, but never alive.

This all changed when Draco Malfoy accidentally came across him at a local park. Harry had been struggling to heft Lily in her carrier, and simultaneously carry a picnic lunch (he was never quite good at shrinking charms, and he refused to shrink his baby), whilst James and Albus had run off in opposite directions, leaving their poor father to hurriedly find a spot under a tree and then try to catch them. James was easy enough, having gone straight for the playground. Albus had returned after a few minutes of Harry fretting, sheepish and covered in mud, alongside a brightly grinning blond boy, approximately the same age (also covered in mud).

Behind them, a disgruntled and familiar man stood (Harry would recognise that scowl anywhere), dressed impeccably in casual slacks and a button-up shirt. Or rather, he would have been impeccable, if it weren't for the fact that he was sporting an Albus-shaped mud-stain down his front. For the first time in over a decade, Harry blurted out the first words that came to mind after running into his childhood nemesis: "I didn't know there was a pond here."

Awkward, yes, but it was the start of something beautiful.

It had been a year and a half of bliss – or really, a year, since the first six months of their friendship had been spent bantering back and forth, until the kids (including young Scorpius Malfoy) had gotten fed up and performed some "accidental" magic that resulted in the two adults being magically stuck (as in, when Harry went to the toilet, so did Draco). It had been a mortifying experience (although, secretly, the two men wouldn't mind repeating it).

Eventually, all their friends had caught on, including Astoria (Draco's ex). It seemed that everyone was all for a relationship between them. Eventually, Harry caved in and asked the other man out to dinner. He was rejected because "we have dinner together all the time, Potter. Can't you be a little more original?" Of course, nothing was ever done in half-measures with Draco. Hermione took the kids for the night, under the pretence of a 'slumber party'.

Draco and Harry spent the day in bed, and the latter woke up the next morning, satisfactory sore and aching in places he didn't know existed. Just like that, the two had slipped into domestic mode, and what had once been two families joined together eventually became one. Harry adopted Scorpius, just as Draco had adopted Harry's brood as his own, and the Malfoy-Potter household was complete – but more importantly, happy.

17.

"I haven't seen that look on your face in a while. What are you thinking of?" a voice came from somewhere to Harry's right, and the man glanced up into the face of his lover. Draco was levitating two mugs of hot chocolate, a habit they hadn't gotten rid of, despite Australia's warm Christmas season. A snugly, cornflower blue blanket was folded over one arm. Harry made space for him on the swing set, immediately fitting against Draco's side as the blond wrapped the blanket around the both of them. Good thing too, because the mosquitoes were starting to attack Harry's legs.

"Nothing. Everything," Harry answered softly after a few moments of silence. He sipped at his hot chocolate and breathed out in contentedness. He was staring up at the Southern Cross constellation in the sky, which twinkled down at them, clear and merry. Thus, he missed the look of absolute fondness that crossed Draco's face in that instant.

"Dork," the blond murmured fondly, as he buried his nose into Harry's soft hair and simply breathed in. The people in the house were still chattering loudly, the kids still playing and someone (Harry suspected Ron), had left Banana Pancakes to play on repeat.

"Creep," Harry shot back, not even glancing at his lover as he finished off his mug, which Draco absently banished to the kitchen alongside his own. They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, Harry's hand curled around the front of Draco's button-up shirt.

9.

Draco had started to push his feet against the paved ground beneath them, allowing the swing set to rock back and forth gently. Harry was starting to fall asleep to the soothing, lulling rhythm, but desperately tried to stay awake for the countdown, which would be happening soon. No one seemed to have noticed that the two lovebirds had disappeared. Or if they had, they merely left them to their own devices, not wanting to disrupt what was clearly a 'loving moment' (one of plenty, in the Malfoy-Potter household, and it was a rule made up by the children that these were not to be interrupted when they happened).

"'msleepy..." Harry mumbled against Draco's shoulder, followed by a yawn. It didn't help that Draco's hand was gently carding through his hair. "Don't wanna miss the- the- countdown," Harry slurred, the last word drawn out mid-yawn. Draco said nothing, except to hold his love and light a little tighter.

3.

"Draco," Harry said suddenly, suddenly awake after a few minutes of more silence. Somewhere in the distance, they could hear fireworks starting to pop and crackle, and the sky in the distance flashed briefly with an aura of colour before fading back to black. Draco grunted to show that he was listening. "This is our first New Year's celebration as a couple."

"We spent last New Year's together," Draco pointed out, his voice husky, as if he too were falling asleep in their lazy cocoon of warmth. His feet had, at some point, stopped moving, so now they were perfectly stationary.

"But we weren't a proper couple."

"Hnn..."

"Dracoooo."

"Yes?"

"If you laugh at me, I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day," Harry pouted, although Draco had his head tilted backwards, so he didn't see it. Sensing that there was more to come, Draco's eyes opened and he stared down at Harry blearily. Realising that Draco was now paying proper attention, Harry suddenly felt embarrassed by whatever he was thinking.

"I promise I won't laugh."

2.

It took Draco nearly a full minute to coerce Harry into telling him what was plaguing his thoughts.

1.

"I was on Facebook the other day. And there was a group..." Harry trailed off, as if suddenly realising how silly that sentence had sounded in the context of their conversation. Draco merely stared at him expectantly. Sucking in a breath, Harry continued, "Kissing the one you love on New Years, so you can start and end the year perfectly."

Draco blinked. Then he laughed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for laughing," Draco flinched away as Harry huffed and smacked him across his bicep. "That hardly hurt." Harry sat, and merely stared up at him petulantly, his lower lip jutting out in a way that was just ridiculous(ly cute). Draco felt one of those moments coming along. Those sweetest, intimate instances where the world would suddenly fade, quiet, and they'd stare into one another's eyes. These moments always made his hair stand on end, his skin tingle, his heart race and it always ended in perfect, chaste kisses.

"10! 9! 8!"

"Countdown," Harry intoned softly, his hand curling around Draco's shoulder, whilst the other went to the back of Draco's neck.

"7! 6! 5!"

"Romantic sod," Draco mumbled, his hands automatically framing Harry's face, thumbs stroking across a lightly stubbled jaw, the soft curve of Harry's bottom lip. He pulled Harry forward until their foreheads rested against each other.

"4! 3! 2! 1!"

"Happy-"

Honestly, Draco didn't know why Harry bothered wishing him a 'Happy New Year' in that moment, if they were supposed to be doing something more important. Like snogging.

James, Albus, Scorpius and Lily embraced as soon as the clock hit midnight. Everyone was screaming and cheering, welcoming 2011 with open arms. Even the teenagers had come down for the countdown. Little Lily Luna, soon to be three, didn't really understand what all the fun and yelling was for. She glanced outside, seeing the silhouette of her daddy and papa, having a 'smoochie' in the garden. Behind them, the night sky was exploding with bright and pretty colours, all bleeding into each other with loud WHIZZs and CRACKLEs and POPpopPOPs! She didn't fully comprehend the meaning of kisses between her fathers, but the sight was something she would cherish for years, because even at a young age, she knew they were both irrevocably in love.

HAPPYNEWYEAR!

And here's to hoping that 2011 will be happy and successful year for you all, filled with health, wealth and more importantly, SLASH! Ahh, if only I had a time-turner... so many fics to be written, so little time...