Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this world and I make no money from the writing of this story.

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Chapter 27

Harry woke up warm, and more comfortable than he had been in a long time. His head ached like he had been crying, but he still felt muzzy and he snuggled closer to the firm warm thing beside him, rolling half on top of it.

A soft chuckle broke through his dozing haze and Harry waved away the tickling fingers that brushed his face.

Then, startled, he twisted away. "Draco? What are you doing here?"

Draco laughed, tugging the sheet wrapped around Harry a bit closer. "I've been here all night, Harry. This is my bed."

Harry looked around, blinking away the last dregs of sleep as he took in everything around him. He was in the Infirmary, sitting on the very edge of Draco's bed. As he noticed exactly how close to the edge he was he scooted in, to get to a more secure position, and not too coincidentally to get a bit closer to his blond husband.

And didn't that sound odd, even in the privacy of his own head.

Still it felt nice to share the heat rising off of the other boy's warm body, surrounding Harry in the soft scent of musk and sandalwood and reminding him of all the nights the two of them had spent together, tucked side by side on their small couch like spoons, their bodies fitting so closely together…

Harry moved a few inches away, getting closer to the edge of the mattress again but not quite ready to stand up and walk to the chair.

He turned to Draco, hoping that the heat elsewhere in his body hadn't spread to his face.

And when he saw the other boy's smirk Harry knew he had failed.

He cleared his throat roughly. It wasn't the first time he'd been aroused in front of Draco. It was the first time since the other boy had found out they were married, but that should only make things more comfortable, right?

Harry tried to stay calm, but when Draco laid a hand on his thigh Harry jumped.

Then Draco leaned in towards him, gray eyes half closed and his lips slightly parted and Harry just sighed, closed his own eyes, and pressed in for the kiss.

It wasn't until their mouths were pressed together and Harry could feel the damp caress of Draco's tongue against his own that he realized how much he wanted this, how much he had missed it in the days when he and Draco were apart.

As he sank into the kiss Harry resolved that he would never give this up. He would do whatever it took to keep Draco at his side, warm and affectionate and loving, and his.

The kiss became more passionate and hands began drifting, over the soft skin of the hip, over the harder flesh of the stomach, the chest, higher and then lower and they were approaching areas that Harry had no experience with but he wanted it. Whatever was coming, wherever they were headed, Harry fell headlong into the impulse. With a surge of strength he lifted Draco from the mattress and brought the blond, his blond, his husband, over his lap so Harry was covered by the other boy's heated flesh.

Draco ground down and their groins were pressed together, they were joined at hip and lip, pelvis and heart, and Harry was flying.

They'd never gone this far before and Harry's senses were filled with Draco. Every panting breath he took was flavored with the other boy's scent. His eyes were focused only on the blush that covered Draco's cheeks, that trailed down his neck and over his chest and wondering how much further it sent, wondering what might be covered by the Infirmary pajamas the other boy was wearing.

Draco shifted and with that tiny moment any thoughts Harry had were completely wiped away. Together the two boys thrust and rocked. Draco murmured Harry's name in a broken voice and Harry shuddered into climax, dragging Draco along with him.

In the aftermath of their passion they lay together on the bed in a sweaty but satisfied pile.

"There are benefits to being married to you," Draco mumbled, and Harry laughed before pressing a kiss to the top of the other boy's head.

Harry heard someone coughing awkwardly a few feet away and he shifted his head up on the pillow so he could see past Draco's hair. He met the gaze of a misty-eyed Madame Pomphrey and a discomfited Severus Snape.

"I hardly think the infirmary is the place for this sort of thing," the potion's professor said, his voice as dry as a desert.

Harry felt the heat of a blush race up his cheeks, but when Draco twisted as if he would move away Harry only tightened his grip on his husband.

Pomphrey slapped Snape's arm. "Now, now, Severus, young love and all that. We'll leave you alone boys, but remember Harry, you have classes to attend and Draco… don't over exert yourself."

With that the other woman flushed and turned away. When it seemed as though Severus would not be leaving with her she tugged sharply at his sleeve, dragging him along. Harry smiled as the older man's mouth twisted in a sardonic smirk.

Once the two adults were gone Draco pulled out of Harry's grip and sat up in the bed. Harry missed the warmth of another body against his own but almost felt relieved as well. They'd never gone as far as this and now that it was over things felt a bit awkward.

Draco fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, not looking Harry in the eye. "What do we do now?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure. I think you have to decide."

Draco looked up then, his eyes flashing with heat. "Oh, I get to decide now? That's a change. Lately all of my decisions have been made for me."

Harry flinched away from the accusation on the blond's face and immediately Draco's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Harry. I've been thinking and I understand why you did what you did. But you have to know that my wishes were different. Maybe if you had asked me we would still be in this position now, married and bonded, but I have no way of knowing."

Each word Draco said made Harry feel worse, for their accuracy and truth. "I'd like to believe we would still be here. Like this. Maybe not in the infirmary though." He smiled weakly at his own lame jest.

Draco shook his head. "But we can't know, can we?"

"Neville did," Harry muttered.

Draco's gaze focused in on Harry and suddenly the Gryffindor felt like he was immersed in ice. "He did know, didn't he? He knew everything all along."

Draco looked away then and even though Harry was relieved to have such cold attention turned away from him, he couldn't help but worry. Draco had his 'scheming face' on which meant something very bad was going to happen.

"You told me last night, didn't you. Neville knew everything this whole time . Knew about the Dark Lord, and the curse. And my mother." Draco's voice broke on the last word and Harry wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him, but the Draco before him was not the one Harry had grown used to. This Draco was not one Harry could reach.

"He knew about all of this. I need to speak with him." Draco's voice was flat, colored only with threatening overtones and Harry looked up to see the other boy start moving towards the edge of the bed, swinging his legs out over the side. Harry rushed to his feet and managed to catch Draco as the Slytherin tried to stand and his legs, weak from illness, collapsed beneath him.

"Draco, sit down, you can't go after him, he-"

"He what, Potter?"

Harry, stung, said, "Potter?"

Draco turned away stiffly but allowed Harry to help him back into the bed. Once he was resting against the pillows again, he turned back. "Potter. Harry. It's your name either way. And this is about Longbottom. All of this is his fault."

Harry shrugged. "He said it had to happen, that it was meant-"

"I don't care. That useless, worthless little squib started all of this and he has to pay."

Harry chuckled, uncomfortable. Surely Draco wasn't serious. "Come on, I admit I'm angry as well, but…"

"But what. I want him brought up on charges. Playing with time is a very dangerous game."

Harry held his hands up, "Wait, wait. Charges? This is a crime? How can it be a crime if he was just making sure that it happened, since it had already happened."

Draco looked at Harry and Harry's breath froze in his throat. In those eyes was every drop of disdain, every drop of bitterness, every trace of the Draco Malfoy that Harry had thought long gone.

"Mark my words, Harry. Longbottom will be punished."

And Harry was afraid.

"You can't do that, Draco. He's family."

"He isn't my family, Harry. In fact he held back vital information that got my mother killed."

"It was meant to happen, it couldn't be prevented-"

"How do you know?"

"It- We didn't know Narcissa would turn until the last minute, Snape was in contact with her, trying to help you. If you'd gone on the way you planned, to die alone here…"

"Then what? My mother would be alive, Potter. Alive and with my father."

"She was a Death Eater, Malfoy. She would have been dead eventually anyway, either at the hands of the Aurors or the Dark Lord's whims."

"Shut up. You don't know that. That squib Longbottom has you all turned around."

"Draco, Draco! Merlin, will you listen to yourself? Only a few weeks ago we were a family, the two of us and Neville, and now?"

Draco pushed Harry's hands away.

"Draco, remember what you said to him before he changed back? The Remember-All? You apologized for that. You cared."

"I remember Harry, and I meant it. I never should have thrown the Remember-All. I should have knocked Longbottom into the sky instead. Maybe then none of this would have happened."

"No. I refuse to believe that. Everything that happened had to happen. And no matter how cold you seemed, how cold you acted, you were never like that, never that cruel. Sharp words, yes, but you couldn't have hurt him. He told me about the first time he met you, really met you, when you both were children. You would have been his friend then, squib or not, Longbottom or not. And it broke his heart when you turned him away, when your father called him worthless. But he never forgot you, that you cared about him, that somewhere under the coldness was a decent, caring human being.

All of this had to happen. As terrible, as painful, as frightening as it was, it had to happen."

Harry stopped, panting harshly, his throat dry and sore as he suddenly realized he had been shouting. In the infirmary, in the middle of the night, he was shouting his defense of Neville Longbottom to a now very smug-looking Draco Malfoy.

"Are you done?" The blond's face was blank, but Harry could hear a smile in his voice.

"What?"

"You did a fine job of defending Neville, Harry, so I suppose I am forced to agree with you. Neville did what he had to do and I shan't be angry with him anymore."

Harry wasn't sure where he stood. He felt like his argument had been pulled out from under his feet. He was angry at Neville, but if he was so angry how could he have defended him?

For the second time in as many days Harry's thoughts were spinning. And he found himself sinking into Draco's embrace wordlessly, resting his head against the Slytherin's chest as they laid back against the pillows and drifting into a grey sleep, soothed by the brush of fingers through his hair.

Before he slipped off into sleep he heard Draco whisper, "Idiot Potter."

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Note: All I can do is apologize. I never forgot this story but due to several things going on in real life my stories fell a few notches lower on the priority list. I have said before that I mean to complete all of my stories and I hold to that. I cannot promise they will be completed in a timely manner, but they will be completed.

If you want to review I would appreciate it, but I'm not going to ask.