"Do you think they've been hexed?" the sound of voices and the feeling of people nearby dragged Harry back from whatever corner of the universe his brain had decided to visit this time.

"I don't think it's normal to smile like that if you've been hexed," Harry recognised Hermione's voice, but he couldn't quite drag his eyes open yet.

"We should tell Professor McGonagall," Neville put in his thoughts on the matter, "they're out cold."

"Maybe you're right," Ron agreed.

That struck Harry as a very bad idea and as he heard the sound of movement towards the door he reacted rather than thought anything through. There was a slam from the direction of the door and a squeak from Neville.

"Who did that?" Longbottom asked rapidly.

"I did," Harry said, or at least that's what he tried to say as his brain realigned with his body. It came out rather garbled.

"Harry?" Hermione asked and as he opened his eyes he found his friend leaning over him.

"Hmm," he said knowing that anything more complicated was liable to come out as gibberish, or at the least in the wrong order.

"Are you okay?" Hermione continued her questioning.

Harry blinked up at her for a few moments while deciding on an answer. When his friend's face came into focus and stayed that way he nodded and pushed himself off the floor.

"Fine," he managed to say and was glad to find that the word was understandable.

"Have you two been sniffing something?" Ron asked dubiously. "You look stoned."

Draco was still lying on the floor, but Harry could tell that his soulmate was awake, he was just not moving yet. Ignoring Ron's enquiry he reached out to his lover's hand. Draco reluctantly opened his eyes and sat up as his limb was pulled. He looked somewhat nonplussed and Harry couldn't help worrying.

"We're not stoned, Weasley," Draco said evenly, "Harry just forgot to read the small print on a spell."

"There wasn't any small print," he defended himself, but ran out of steam quickly, "at least I don't think there was."

"You probably forgot to turn the page," his soulmate responded pointedly, but there was amusement coming from Draco's direction which waylaid most of the anxiety.

"What spell?" Hermione asked curiously.

Much to Harry's delight Draco stuck out his hand for the young woman to see, proudly showing her the ring.

"Oh my," Hermione said with just a touch of awe in her voice, "that is beautiful. Harry did you make this?"

He nodded, not sure what to say. Draco was brimming over with pleasure as he let the three standing Gryffindors see the ring, but Harry was not sure if he'd been forgiven for the unforeseen side effects yet.

"He has some talent behind those round glasses," Draco said in a neutral tone, "although he hides it well sometimes."

Harry had the sense to look sheepish and apologetic. Draco grabbed his hand and held it up next to his own so everyone could see.

"So this is what you've been hiding," it was Ron who made the observation. "What do they do?"

To a Muggle it would have been a strange question; to a wizard it made perfect sense: very few things in the Wizarding world were only what they appeared to be.

"They're protection against the Dissaepius curse," Draco said with a mixture of pride and love in his voice. "Harry didn't realise the magic would have to align properly after we put them on. It was rather an overwhelming experience."

Now Harry knew he'd been forgiven.

"I had no idea there was a shield spell for Dissaepio Iugum," Hermione said with interest.

"It was designed by Martha Claypole a little over four hundred years ago," Harry provided helpfully. "She and her bond mate were hit with the curse during the Hereford Revolt of 1581 and she designed a counter measure when they recovered. It can only be done using raw magic and silver and they have to be combined without a wand."

As he finished he found that everyone in the room was looking at him.

"What?" he asked, not sure why everyone was staring at him.

"Who are you and where's the real Harry Potter?" Ron said with a grin.

[I think you were channelling Hermione,] Draco told him silently.

"I do know where the library is," Harry said, blushing. "Just because I refuse to read 'Hogwarts: A History' does not mean I only read Quidditch Weekly."

"Could have fooled me," Draco said sarcastically.

[Thank you for the support,] Harry replied in kind.

[You're welcome,] his lover said unrepentantly.

"I hate to break this up," Hermione said with a grin, "but we have half an hour before we have to be in the great hall and you two look like you're been wrestling with a dust bunny."

The thing about stone floors was that they didn't always show up the dirt that was on them. The house elves polished and cleaned once a week, but there had been a friendly Quidditch match earlier in the week that had ended in a summer rainstorm and mud so the floor was not exactly spotless. Harry pulled himself to his feet using the edge of the bed and then offered Draco his hand.

"We'll be down in ten minutes," he promised faithfully.

"He'll be down in ten minutes," Draco corrected ruefully, "I'll be down in twenty."

Harry just grinned and did not disagree.

* * *

As had become their habit over the year, the whole of the Gryffindor seventh year arrived at the Great Hall at the same time and took their places on their house table. Draco glanced over at the Slytherin table for what he supposed was the last time and wistfully wished he could actually sit there again once more before he left.

It would have been nice to believe that since Blaise had been removed as a threat he could return to his house, but he knew in reality that, although Zabini might have been the only active Death Eater, there were still others who looked on him as a traitor and would hex him at any opportunity. Harry squeezed his hand having picked up on what was going through his head and Draco gave him a quick smirk to show he was not really worried.

The hall was decorated in Gryffindor colours, somehow the house had held on to the house cup. In Draco's view this was probably because Harry had been so distracted all year he had not had time to end up in trouble and he said as much, which caused those around him to laugh. It was strange to think that at the beginning of the year he had come to school believing that his only future lay alone, along the path of the traitor, and yet now, here he sat, beside the young man who had once been his sworn enemy with friends he had once ridiculed. It was quite a humbling thought and he looked at the lion ring on his finger knowing he had been given a future he had never dreamed possible.

[Sometimes I can't believe it either,] Harry's voice sounded in his mind and Draco was not sure if he had voiced his thoughts accidentally, or his lover was just reading his body language.

It didn't matter and he smiled fondly at his soulmate.

[I could not wish for more,] Draco replied and felt the warmth of love envelope him.

They had been running slightly late and before Harry could continue the conversation, almost as soon as the seventh years were settled, Dumbledore climbed to his feet. It was the last speech of their last year and, with one accord, all the final year students at the Gryffindor table turned to look at their headmaster. Dumbledore spared each house a smile and Draco found himself smiling back for the first time in all his years at Hogwarts. It was a liberating experience.

"We are here again," the headmaster said slowly as the hall hushed, "the end of another year, and a better year than I had hoped. We have had our share of drama," Dumbledore paused, "and romance," he continued with a twinkle in his eye.

"Don't we know it," it was Seamus' voice.

That caused a ripple of laughter to flow round the hall and Harry turned a lovely shade of pink. Draco was not prone to embarrassment and he grinned broadly at the reference, sharing a look with Dumbledore and partaking of the old man's delight.

"Firstly I would like to extend my congratulations to Gryffindor who have retained the house cup this year," the headmaster continued in his usual manner. "It was a close run competition this year and they only beat Slytherin by twelve points."

A cheer went up from the Gryffindor table and took a good few minutes to settle. Draco did not shout his approval with those he was sitting with, but he did give the other seventh years a genuine smile. He was still a Slytherin and cheering for those he sat with would have been inappropriate, but Draco could appreciate their delight, especially since Harry shared in it.

"And secondly," Dumbledore continued when the noise finally stopped, "I would like to end this year with a message of hope. There is a growing darkness in our world," he said gravely, "and it has touched this school twice this year: once with the kidnapping of Mr Malfoy and once with the suspension and subsequent hospitalisation of Mr Zabini."

The headmaster let his words sink in as his old eyes moved around the room.

"However, Hogwarts has also been blessed with a union that has crossed established boundaries," Dumbledore told the school in a warm tone. "A rare bond has been seen amongst us, which had bound two souls together who were once the most bitter enemies. Let this be a lesson to us all that no certainties are ever written in stone and that light may banish darkness wherever it may find it."

Draco felt himself hanging off the headmaster's words, but he spared a glance at the Slytherin table for old times' sake. What he saw gave him hope that his house was not completely lost. There was derision and boredom on many faces, but just a few seemed to have forgotten their masks and had their eyes fixed on Dumbledore.

"Voldemort continues his campaign of subterfuge and dark magic," the headmaster told then all evenly, "and he seeks to make us fear him, but never forget that darkness is only the absence of light and while Hogwarts stands there will always be that. United we will remain and together we shall weather the coming storm."

Total silence greeted Professor Dumbledore's affirmation, but every face that was turned to him seemed to agree. Draco could almost feel the energy in the room and he suddenly knew that the old man's words were not rhetoric, as he had been taught by Lucius; Dumbledore spoke the truth and while Hogwarts existed the darkness could have no victory. At that moment Draco realised what a gift this place of safety was to their world.

"That is all I wished to say," Dumbledore said suddenly with a smile, breaking the mood with cheerful warmth, "and I only have one more notice. When you return to your houses tonight would all fifth, sixth and seventh years please check the lists posted over the fireplaces. If your name is on the list report to your head of house in their office before you retire to bed. That is all, now let us eat."

The tables were instantly groaning will food and a cheer went round the room. Draco was curious as to Dumbledore's last message as he could tell was Harry, but the food smelt wonderful and there was no way either of them was going to let curiosity get in the way of celebrating their final year end. With a grin to his soulmate, Draco reached out and joined the feast.