The moment Draco’s hand brushed Harry’s cheek, it was as if it all bubbled over. Choking out a startled, relieved, joyful laugh, Harry’s eyes filled with tears once again, the weight of everything Draco had said and done hitting him all at once.
Easing the hold Harry had of Draco’s wrist, he instead allowed both hands to find Draco’s bare collarbones, a restless caress. He desperately tried to maintain the smile though the tears, but in that moment they felt infinite.
The monumental effort and sacrifice Draco had undergone to arrive unannounced at Harry’s doorstep was unlike anything anyone had ever done for him. Draco had only moments ago admitted to the uncertainty he had felt, and still he had gone through with it; Harry didn’t think he’d ever experienced being loved like this since his mother passed.
“You’re really staying,” he repeated, trying to smile though his voice shook with a sob. “I thought -”
In that moment, Harry realised that he hadn’t expected anything to have changed, when he had first invited Draco in, to stay. It felt like forever was just expanded from a few, uncertain months, and into eternity.
Brushing his hands up the nape of Draco’s neck, desperate to assure himself that this was real, he once again rose onto his knees. He couldn’t stop smiling. “You lunatic, why would you do that?”

When that beautiful smile finally broke on Harry’s face Draco couldn’t help but laugh, feeling so much joy that he was surprised that his body could contain it. For how much he had dreamt of reuniting with Harry, he would never have been able to come up with this.
He stretched up to kiss Harry’s cheek, wanting to kiss the tears away and make sure that Harry knew just what a joyous occasion this was.
“Because I love you, you oaf,” he said with a bright grin, feeling like nothing would ever be able to hurt him ever again. He knew that what he had done had been absolute lunacy, but there wasn’t even a small twinge of regret within him, knowing that no job or career would ever compare to this.
Unable to help himself, Draco finally leant in to kiss Harry’s lips.

_________________

Harry couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, his heart so full. It made it hard to reciprocate the kiss properly, but Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Draco’s neck, undeterred.
“I love you, too,” he said when the kiss faltered, needing to say it, too, though no words, no thoughtless tattoo would ever come close to comparing.
Harry kissed him again, the surprise finally giving way for complete adoration and devotion. The warm expanse of Draco’s skin beneath Harry’s hands was dizzying, however, for how much Harry wanted to stay close to Draco, he desperately needed to see him first.
“Let me see you,” he all but begged, hands circling back to Draco’s shoulders to gently urge him backwards.

Despite the rather heavy reveals the both of them had just shared with the other, Draco felt lighter than he had ever felt in his life. He genuinely couldn’t remember a time where he had been as happy as he was right in that moment and he wanted to stay in it forever.
When Harry requested to see him it took Draco a moment to realise exactly what he was talking about, having all but forgotten about the more physical side effects to him removing his magic. After all, no one had seen him like that ever since Harry left and a part of Draco knew that this part of him was always going to be reserved for Harry, even if they had never found each other again.
Eager to please, Draco gingerly loosened his hold on Harry and laid back down on his elbows, already missing their close proximity but unable to deny the thrill that ran through him at finally getting a moment to properly see Harry as well.

_________________

Mirroring the distance, Harry eased his own posture. Moving to properly straddle Draco’s hips, he sat back against his thighs, wanting to properly indulge when given the opportunity to. Harry’s eyes roamed Draco’s bare chest with an unabashed interest, gaze heavy with a deep sense of appreciation that pooled in the pit of Harry’s stomach.
Leaning back and relaxed, Draco looked out of a daydream from Harry’s youth, his hair short and tousled and his chest so, so bare. Their entire relationship had been built with this ugly thing between them, and Harry couldn’t deny the resolution he felt in seeing it gone, relieved of a twenty year old burden. It almost made him cry again.
Harry had never considered neither Draco nor the scars ugly, but the guilt of it had lived and festered somewhere in the back of Harry’s consciousness. Draco hadn’t ever wanted to discuss it, but part of Harry had always thought it was incredible he could even look Harry in the eye after what he had done to him.
Shifting his weight slightly forward, Harry brushed his palms up Draco’s torso, from the waistband of his trousers and up his stomach in two slow, but uneven moves, each hand tracing the path of once-there scars.
“I’m so glad you’re rid of these,” he said, eyes still to Draco’s chest, finally feeling able to pick up a conversation Draco had stopped them from having. “I’m so sorry.”

Even back when they were intimate, before Draco had ever ended things between the two of them the first time, Draco would have shied away from the heavy gaze that he was currently under. It felt strange to Draco that he had no desire to hide away, wanting Harry to see him for all of him and wanting to see Harry the same way.
While he had never enjoyed the scars, he had found that while being with Harry he had never hated them either. It had been a chapter in the very long and confusing story between the two of them and this was a fresh start for them.
“Hey, none of that,” he said in a soft voice, reaching out and running his hands up Harry’s arms, needing to feel him at all times, barely able to believe that this was real.
“I didn’t need your apology back when they were still there and I don’t need it now.”

_________________

It took Draco reaching for him for Harry to properly look up at him. Harry smiled at that, a complicated little expression, feeling Draco’s words wash over him like a balm, like forgiveness. While it might have been all the same to Draco to carry those scars into their relationship, and even whether or not Harry even apologised, Harry himself felt a tremendous sense of relief seeing them gone.
Almost as though melting into Draco’s caress, Harry ducked down far enough to press a kiss to Draco’s sternum, excited at the prospect of showering Draco’s chest with adoration instead.

The wave of relief that Draco saw rolling over Harry’s face was yet again confirmation that all of his hard work had been so completely and entirely worth it. Every single point where they were touching felt like it was on fire, making Draco’s head spin and wanting to soak it all up.
Reaching down, Draco ran a hand through Harry’s hair, getting to properly see how his pale fingers disappeared into the dark curls and feel how it made his stomach swoop. Everything about Harry was so much softer and it thrilled Draco to know that this was the version of Harry he got to have.
“Christ, I love you,” he said feeling suddenly hit by the feeling again.

_________________

Harry hadn’t grown his hair out with any clear intention, and yet it suddenly became obvious that it had all been for this exact moment. The feeling of Draco’s hand raking through Harry’s hair sent a shiver down his spine, wanting them to stay there forever; for Draco to tell him he loved him in that exact way, in that exact tone.
Hesitant to do anything that might discourage Draco’s hold of his hair, but also finding it increasingly difficult to keep still, Harry leaned forward to press another few kisses full of devotion to Draco’s chest, his collarbone, his throat.
“I love you, too,” he muttered into Draco’s skin, before finally straightening his posture far enough to once again get Draco into his sight.
Running his hands all the way up Draco’s chest they eventually curled around Draco’s jaw. It offered a long beat where Harry was just staring at Draco, feeling the thrum of desire in his hammering pulse.
Draco was so incredibly beautiful, and despite having every intention of showering Draco with that praise, Harry wasn’t actually sure he had. Before he fully registered it, he had crossed the last little distance between them, kissing Draco with desperation.

___

Midnight was fast approaching by the time a balance tipped and a gnawing hunger finally became enough of an issue to justify getting out of bed. The cabin was enveloped in darkness, and having genuinely not expected guests, the most readily available dinner was a homemade steak and ale pie a dear neighbour had dropped off for him yesterday.
Harry had tossed it into the oven cold while they had taken a shower.
Between the shower, the heat of the stove radiating into the small kitchen, and the seemingly prevailing flush to his skin, Harry was only wearing a fresh pair of pyjama bottoms as he leaned against his kitchen counter, picking forkfuls directly out of the pie dish.
In another reality, Draco deserved a set table and a home cooked meal, but with the late hour and Harry’s growing sense of exhaustion, it felt so silly to try to make this something it wasn’t. Harry had served the dish directly onto a dishcloth on the stone counter, and boyishly offered Draco a fork. A part of Harry couldn’t get himself to mind, his heart aching knowing this was exactly how he usually ate his dinners when they spoke on the phone.
“Lorna brought this over,” he stated after another bite, vaguely gesturing towards the pie with his fork as he looked over at Draco. A grin pulled at his lips, further relaxing his posture in order to rest his elbows on the counter.
Harry was almost giddy at the prospect of getting to include Draco in all the most mundane details of his life; who specifically made him what dish had felt so irrelevant to share over the phone, but now Draco was here eating it with him and Harry’s heart was so full.

As much as Draco had enjoyed being physically close to Harry again, he found that this had been exactly what he had been dreaming about when he imagined his future with Harry.
It was such a simple thing, literally the least effort they could put into their dinner, which was sorely needed, but Draco still felt like his heart was about to burst. The many times he and Harry had eaten dinner together, connected only by the phone, Draco’s heart had ached to get to be a part of it, no matter how simple.
It still seemed utterly impossible to him that he actually got to have it.
“It’s really good,” he stated, knowing full well that anything would have tasted heavenly right in that moment, but he genuinely thought that it was one of the best things he had ever eaten.
“I can see why you are getting chubby,” he said with a grin as he pumped his shoulder with Harry’s, still so taken with every single change he saw in him.

_________________

Harry smiled at that, unable to believe that Draco was really here. He wondered if he’d like Lorna, too; if Lorna, or any of his other neighbours, would start bringing two pies when they would figure out Draco was staying, or if they were expected to share. For how much he never wanted today to end, Harry was struck with the first real sense of excitement for the future since he had moved.
“I know, right,” Harry said with a content grin, a joint reply to both statements like both were equally a compliment, fully at ease both in his body and the moment. “It’s such a treat.”
Hooking his right arm around the crook of Draco’s elbow, Harry tugged him close enough to press a kiss to his bare shoulder, finding him endlessly more interesting than their dinner.

Despite the many caresses and kisses they had already shared, Draco couldn’t help but smile at the soft kiss to his bare shoulder; senses heightened as he almost just waited to wake up from the dream that was being back together with Harry.
“They’re spoiling you,” he said with a warm smile, genuinely happy that the neighbours had been so welcoming of Harry and willing to take care of him this way.
“How can you move away from your house elf and somehow eat better?”

_________________

Keeping close, Harry rested his temple against Draco’s shoulder. His arm still wrapped around Draco’s, Harry’s hand settled against Draco’s bare forearm, an appreciative caress.
“How?” he asked, his attention divided and a little surprised Draco even had to ask. With some delay, a grin pulled at his lips. “You’ve met Kreacher.”
For how familiar Harry had gotten with Draco’s body over the course of the past year, his left forearm was arguably not something Harry hadn’t dwelled too much on; now that the Mark was gone, and with it the pain Harry had inadvertently caused Draco, he couldn’t stop running his fingers across it.
“Who helped you with this?” Harry said, a little incoherent from the conversation. His eyes were still downturned to his hand against Draco’s pale skin. “You said ‘we’, earlier.”

It took Draco a moment to place the origin of the question, having all but forgotten the conversations they had had to have earlier. It was only because the question came accompanied with a sweet caress to his forearm that Draco was actually able to place what the question was about.
“Hermione,” he said, still finding the name strange on the tongue, but with all the time he had been spending with her it seemed even stranger to still be calling her by her last name.
He turned his head to look at Harry, trying to gather where that question had even come from, but figuring that it was likely just another step in them getting reacquainted.
“I needed someone immensely skilled to be able to pull this off without killing me and she was the first one who came to mind,” he stated in lieu of an explanation.

_________________

Harry’s fingers stalled at that, another moment of genuine surprise. When Draco had first made reference to it, Harry had assumed it might have been a coworker, or perhaps a Healer. The fact that Draco hadn’t gone about it through official ways made a shiver run down Harry’s spine, in that moment seeming to grasp just what a precarious a thing Draco had really done.
Rather than brush gentle caresses against Draco’s forearm, Harry covered it all with the palm of his hand.
“Did she really?” he asked, straightening his posture to look at Draco. There were probably more relevant follow up questions he could have asked, but as his eyes skimmed over Draco’s expression, Harry was first and foremost overcome with a sense of gratitude, unsure if Hermione realised just what she was helping Draco accomplish.

Draco gently turned to look properly at Harry, dropping his fork on the kitchen counter in the process. A gentle smile stayed on his lips, simply so happy that he finally got to tell Harry everything he had had to do to get here, and how he would do it all again if he had to.
“At first she said no” he explained, having longed to share this information with Harry during their many phone calls together, and now that he was finally allowed it just came spilling out like a flood.
“I begged her to reconsider and she said that she would but I didn’t actually think that she meant that,” he said, happy that he would now get to look at this as just a small part of their story and their way back to each other.
“I don’t know exactly changed her mind, but a couple of weeks later she came back and told me that she would do it.”

_________________

Harry all but stared at Draco, soaking up the way he spoke of Hermione. Harry could so easily recognize her in the retelling of her reaction to the point that it was a little jarring, almost wishing he had been around to watch that relationship develop, his heart swelling with a pride that was hard to place.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he said, properly turning towards Draco, hip leaning against the counter. Harry had spent a year thinking about how it would be to properly be with Draco, how he would integrate in his life; his voice was full of tenderness at the thought. “Either of you.”
Looking at Draco, the fact that he had worried this would kill him resurfaced in Harry’s mind, making his stomach flip. Inevitably, his eyes dipped to Draco’s bare chest, still expecting to see scars there.
“When was this?” he rephrased, realising he probably knew the answer to the first question, and unsure whether he wanted to dwell on the risk Draco had taken.

As much as Draco had been stressing for the past year, it seemed so endlessly surreal that he now got to just discuss it so openly with Harry. He had been keeping his work from his for so long that he couldn’t stop himself from feeling a little giddy from it.
“You would’ve told me not to,” he said, knowing that Harry already knew that answer but he still felt the need to say it out loud.
“I might even have believed you,” he added with a grin, unable to stop himself from leaning in and pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead.
“It was shortly after you had told me that you loved me.”

_________________

Draco was probably right in suggesting it was better that Harry hadn’t known, but now that Draco was here, Harry was starting to think he was more selfish than either of them wanted to acknowledge. It was so difficult to imagine any way he would have passed up on any opportunity to be with Draco again.
When Draco gave context to the timing of his decision, it only confirmed it, sending a shiver down Harry’s spine.
“That’s a while ago,” he said, a little dazed. He reached out for Draco’s hips, welcoming the proximity in a mindless attempt to prolong the affection of the kiss. “She and Ron visited probably not long after that. She didn’t say anything.”

Suddenly Hermione’s change of heart made sense to Draco. While he doubted that Harry would have said something directly about his feelings for Draco, he knew Hermione to be smart in more ways than one and didn’t doubt for a second that she would be able to read between the lines. It made his heart soften, both for the man in front of him, but also for Hermione who had risked so much in helping him accomplish his impossible mission.
“I guess you managed to convince her who help me without even knowing it,” he said with a warm smile, running his hands up Harry’s arms to cup his face. No matter how much time they had spent together, Draco still felt the need to soak him in, finding that he had missed him so much that the ache was still in his chest.
Still feeling giddy with the fact that this was now allowed him, that this was something he could do now, he used his hold on Harry’s face to pull him close and kiss him.

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