Draco reached for Harry's hand and squeezed it lightly. Harry smiled a wry smile and they sat in silence for a while, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sights and smells of the garden around them. Neither of them said anything. Draco absently stroked Harry's hand with his thumb while thinking that this man had had a lot more than his fair share of unhappiness and disappointment in his life. It didn't seem fair, considering how much he'd done for everyone, how much he'd been willing to sacrifice. Draco was overwhelmed by the urge to hold Harry close and to protect him, to do what he could to make him happy.

"So this is your happy place," he said finally.

"That's a nice way to put it," Harry said.

"It means a lot that you wanted to share it with me," Draco said, surprising Harry with his honesty.

"It means a lot that you're here," Harry replied. "The loneliness was getting to be painful."

That led to another silence, broken only by Scorpius' babbling which made Harry smile every bit as fondly as Draco. Harry couldn't help but notice how comfortable the silence felt. He felt as if he could just be and that Draco would understand him without his having to articulate everything. He hadn't felt this comfortable with anyone in a long time. There was welcome a sense of ease and the best thing was that there were no expectations here. They were both who they were and that was that.

...

It was late afternoon. They'd finished lunch and put Scorpius down for his nap in Harry's bedroom. They were sitting out on the balcony, looking at the sea and talking. Draco had just told Harry about his conversation with his mother the previous day. Narcissa had been very happy. She had been blaming herself for forcing Draco into marrying a woman just so she could have a grandchild. She was grateful for Scorpius every day, particularly when she saw how much Draco enjoyed being a father, but she hated the fact that her son was so lonely. It had made her very happy indeed to know that Draco was finally with someone. That the someone in question was Harry Potter was a bonus.

"Mother's hoping you'll come over for tea this weekend," Draco said.

"Of course. I'd love to meet her."

"I hope you won't be uncomfortable. I mean the last time you were there it was..." Draco broke off looking acutely uncomfortable.

Harry reached for his hand. "Terrible, but that's in the past. I know you blame yourself, but I don't want you thinking about all of that. It's long over and it really doesn't matter anymore."

Draco sighed. "You're being nicer to me than I deserve," he said ruefully.

Harry squeezed his hand. "That's not true. There's plenty that you could hold against me if you wanted," he said.

Draco looked over to the waves crashing against the store and sighed. He still hadn't forgiven himself for the things he'd done during the war and he wondered if he ever would.

"Let it go," Harry whispered. "Everything that happened was Voldermort's doing. We were all forced into situations where we had no choice. Dwelling on it just lets him win."

Draco turned to Harry and looked at him, wondering when and how he'd got so mature.

"You're right," he said. "So...how did your friends take it?"

Harry frowned, but he didn't reply.

"Not very well huh?" Draco said gently.

Harry shook his head.

"It's okay. I can understand. Neither of them has any reason to think well of me and I'm sure they're just trying to look out for you."

"I don't need them to look out for me, Draco. I need them to be my friends and to trust me. I understand their concern, I really do, but I wish I could just do what I wanted and not have them question me and force me to explain and justify myself. I am not a child...I try not to let it bother me, but it hurts because they're the only family I have and I just want them to accept the choices I make. Sure I make mistakes sometimes, but then who doesn't?"

"I just want them to be there for me and they're not. Whether it was me quitting the Aurors or breaking up with Ginny, they never understood or supported me the way I wanted. I don't see what the point of all their concern is, if all it's going to do is make me feel bad about myself."

Draco had nothing to say to that. He knew very well what it was like to have your own family not understand you. So he stood up and pulled Harry to his feet and then he hugged him tight. Harry relaxed into the embrace, feeling a bit surprised by how comforting it was.

"Let's not talk about them, shall we?" Draco said gently.

Harry pulled away so he could look at Draco's face. 'What do you suggest we do instead?" he said with a smirk.

Draco didn't answer. He leaned forward and kissed Harry lightly on his mouth. Then he pulled back just a bit...they looked at each other for a couple of moments and then they kissed again. It was light and tentative. They were still feeling their way around each other. Draco tightened his hold on Harry's waist. Harry caressed the back of Draco's neck. He ran his fingers through that silky blond hair and found it to be every bit as soft as he had imagined.

They pressed their lips against each other and tentative as they were, it felt right and familiar. Harry licked Draco's lips and Draco sighed softly. Draco nipped Harry's lower lip and Harry moaned. They continued like that for a while just holding each other close and kissing softly. It was so delicate and soft, nowhere near a snog and yet it felt so completely wonderful. They sensed instinctively that this thing that they had between them, it was too young and too recent to call it a relationship yet, but whatever it was, it was precious and it had the potential to be something quite wonderful. So they took it slow, just letting their feelings build and grow before rushing into anything.

They pulled away from each other after a bit, but they stayed close. Neither of them said anything for a while. They looked at each other with shy little smiles, both trying to absorb the absolute perfection of the moment.

Which was broken by a loud wail from Scorpius who had just woken up, feeling rather hungry and messy. Draco and Harry went back into the room. Harry called his house-elf and asked him to get some food and milk for Scorpius while Draco got the spare diapers out of the bag and went about cleaning Scorpius and getting him changed. He kept up a low stream of words all through. Scorpius stopped fretting after a while and then he lay there with face all scrunched up while his father cleaned him up.

Harry stood by, watching the two of them and he felt his heart turn to mush as he heard the tenderness in Draco's voice and he saw the way he handled his son. It was obvious that he adored the little boy. This is the sort of person I want to spend my life with, he thought. Someone who is capable of loving and caring that much. It can't be easy for him, being a single dad. And yet it's obvious that there's nothing else he's rather be. I can truly see myself having a family with him, Harry thought as he went over to the bed and knelt beside Draco.

Scorpius turned his beautiful gray eyes on Harry and he smiled, showing all of his pretty white teeth. Harry leaned forward and kissed him on his forehead.

"I think I'm in love with you, little man," he said as he tickled Scorpius under his chin.

Draco smiled. "He tends to have that effect on people. You should see Pansy. She's besotted with him. Can't wait to have one of her own, she says."

"I'm not surprised. This little man is the most adorable kid I've ever seen," Harry said.

Scorpius was all cleaned and changed and Benny had come back with the egg, the fruit and the milk. Draco was reaching for Scorpius when Harry stopped him.

"May I?" he said.

Draco was surprised. "You want to feed him?" he said.

"Yeah."

"He's...very messy."

"I know. I feed Rosie all the time."

"Okay," Draco said and he sat on the bed and watched as Harry sat Scorpius in his lap and proceeded to feed him.

It was a sight that filed him with warmth. So this is what it feels like to have a partner to share all this with, Draco thought as he watched Scorpius eat less than half of his food, dribble the rest all over himself and Harry and generally make a royal mess of everything while he blabbered nonstop. Harry blabbered right back and he seemed quite unfazed by the mess. Once he was done with the feeding, Draco went over to help Harry and between them they got Scorpius cleaned up and Draco settled him into his lap with the bottle of milk.

There was nothing remarkable about any of this. It was all very mundane and it should have felt that way, but it didn't. There was a cosy domesticity about it all that appealed immensely to Harry and Draco was overcome by how wonderful it felt to share these everyday things with a partner. They looked at each other over the top of Scorpius' head and smiled. Harry leaned over, put his arm around Draco and kissed him. They knew in that moment that this thing they had between them was strong and that it would last a good long while. Things would not always be easy. They would probably fight and hurt each other along the way, but one day, they would be a family.

...

Fin.

A/N: That's the end of this story folks. I want to thank everyone who read and commented. There will be a sequel to this someday and then I hope to see you again. Until then...