October came and went in a blur. Things had been going very well, but Harry quickly found himself looking forward to his nights alone with Draco, just lazing about. He loved his friends, but his social battery was often very low.

It was nearing Halloween, and this always put Harry in more of a somber, reflective mood, that was noticeable to those who knew him.

"We don't have to go to the dance if you don't want to", Draco insisted.

"But you want to go. I know you've helped a lot in planning it. I'll be okay, really."

"The minute you're uncomfortable we'll leave."

"Really sweetheart I'll be fine. If you don't see me, don't worry. Stay and enjoy yourself."

"You're sure?"

"If I need you, I promise that I'll come and get you."

"Okay. I trust you my darling. You know yourself and what you need best. Let's get you into your costume now."

"Now this is something I'm looking forward to. Everyone else gets to see my angel like I do every single day."

"And everyone gets to see you as the devil I know you are", Draco flirted back.

"If you stay good there may be a surprise for you later."

"Hmm, a devil in between the sheets", Draco whispered, pulling Harry in for a kiss.

"Only for you", was Harry's whispered reply.

"Happy anniversary my Harry."

"Happy anniversary my Draco."

"I'm sorry we couldn't make it home this time since it's a weekday, but we're still on for this weekend yeah?"

"Of course we are. 3 months with my whole world", Harry cooed, kissing Draco again,

"If you start that we'll never make it to the party", Draco chastised, but tilted his head so Harry could have more access while kissing his neck.

"Okay, you caught me... red handed."

"Merlin that was bad."

"Alright, alright, I'm going to change now."

They changed in silence with lingering glances being shared across the room.

"You look so precious covered in glitter, did you know that?"

"I don't think even magic could remove this glitter", Draco said with a sigh.

"I'm always willing to lend a hand in the shower. Sometimes two."

"Sometimes a mouth", Draco purred, wrapping his arms around Harry's neck.

"If you get glitter on my face it will be blatantly obvious."

"You're corrupting me."

"You should've been a drama queen for Halloween", Harry scoffed.

"And steal Pansy's costume? Never."

Harry carefully kissed Draco, then checked his face for glitter and any of Draco's makeup.

"Let me do your makeup now my darling."

"No funny business now", Harry warned.

"Me? I'm an angel."

"An angel", Harry muttered some time later, wiping off his face carefully. "Maybe we should have switched costumes."

"It's too late for that. Look at how nice this picture is! Besides, I don't think feathers would suit you as well as they suit me."

A knock on the door interrupted any further banter, so Draco walked away looking smug.

"Aren't you two adorable!", Pansy squealed. "We need to take pictures immediately. Sit."

Harry knew better than to argue.

"Shouldn't you have switched costumes though?", she mused.

"That's the point", Harry replied with a grin.

"It was Harry's idea of continuing to break stereotypes. I also refused to wear so much red. Feathers suit me more, and Harry is far too clumsy to wear this much white."

"True."

"Everyone is going to adore our Savior in Gryffindor red", Pansy said with a snort.

"Kiss him on the cheek Harry", she instructed after a few moments.

"The makeup-"

"It wasn't a question."

Rolling his eyes, Harry complied.

"Group pictures in the common room now. Let's go. We need to be quick before the other years arrive before us to the Great Hall."

"No grand entrance?", Draco asked.

"Feel free, but loverboy doesn't seem up to it."

"Absolutely not, but I won't stop you from flying in", Harry teased.

"Only if you come up from the floor."

"Be happy I'm going at all."

Draco frowned, and Pansy watched as his whole demeanor changed.

"Hey. I told you that we didn't have to go."

"It's fine."

Draco's frown deepened, but he dropped it.

"If you keep frowning you'll crease your makeup."

"Prat", Draco mumbled, elbowing Harry as he stood up.

He offered Harry a hand to help him up. Pansy mouthed "whipped" at Draco behind Harry's back, and he promptly flipped her off.

"That wasn't very angelic of you Draco."

"Harry's rubbing off on me clearly."

"I bet you wish he was", she whispered in his ear as they walked out.

"Oh if only you knew", Draco thought, concealing a smile.

PIcture taking went as well as it could with so many people. Seamus thought it would be great to dress up as a pirate, and poor Dean had been wrangled into that. There were many impromptu sword fights that only ended at the threat of separating the boyfriends.

Hermione had dressed up as the detective Nancy Drew, wrangling Ron into dressing up as her boyfriend Ned. He had absolutely no issue with that as he got to wear normal clothing.

Pansy had dressed up in all black with bright purple lipstick. She wore a floor length black dress and seemed to float while she walked. When asked what she was, she said she was a "sexy bat", whatever that meant.

Blaise was dressed in all black, accompanied by leather accessories. Neville was dressed in all black as well, accompanied with a camera around his neck.

"I'm the model, Neville is my gorgeous photographer", Blaise announced, throwing his arm around Neville's waist.

"Poor soul", Draco commented, shaking his head.

"As if you didn't rope Harry into your matching costume", Pansy interrupted with a snort.

Neville just grinned, the only one in the room who actually knew what was going on, and that these were, in fact, couples costumes.

Luna, Rolf, and Ginny then arrived, and a few more photos were taken of the group. Ginny was a vampire to go with Pansy's bat, and they were a very striking pair. Luna and Rolf were both dressed as obscure mythical creatures, and they truly were a perfect match.

Harry and Draco danced together for a little bit before all of the other years began to arrive. Once they started shuffling in, Harry took a seat in the far corner of the room. Soon enough, he found himself in his own head, losing track of time.

"May I have this dance?"

Harry's head jolted up in surprise.

"Really? You want to dance?"

"Why not?"

"Sure Ron."

Ron led Harry to the edge of the dance floor, and it truly was a ridiculous sight to see.

"This is what we should've done for the Yule Ball", he remarked.

"Merlin, that would've been so much better."

Ron expertly spun Harry around.

"Well, look at you."

"Practice for Hermione", he replied with a grin. "Are you doing alright though? I don't know if you should be alone for so long."

"I don't know either", Harry admitted.

"If you need someone, I am here for you Harry. I know I wasn't before, but I swear to you that I am now."

"Thank you Ron. Really."

For all of his past mistakes, Ron really was trying. He made sure that if Harry was alone, it wasn't for long. Whenever Harry would get away for a few minutes, someone would rope him back in. He was just about ready to go when Ginny approached him.

"Spare a dance?"

"Of course."

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

Harry's reply was cut off by the start of a slow song, and he visibly winced.

"We can sit-"

"It's fine Gin, we're friends."

Both were unaware of all of the stares as all eyes seemed to find them. Draco frowned slightly, Pansy's was a lot more prominent.

"You don't think...", she started to ask.

"Absolutely not Pansy. We need to relax."

"So you admit you're whipped."

"It's hard not to be", Draco said softly.

He noticed that Harry's expression was quite serious, but when he looked up and their eyes met as Draco spun Pansy, Harry smiled softly at Draco. That relieved any slight insecurities that he had. He was comfortable enough to know that he and Harry were okay and he had nothing to worry about.

"What do you think about Pansy?"

"She's great honestly. Not my type, but good for you", Harry confirmed.

"How did you know?"

"You looked at me like that once", Harry responded with a shrug.

"I'm sorry-"

Harry laughed, almost stepping on Ginny's toes in the process.

"What on earth are you sorry for? This works better now."

"So you think I should go for it?"

"When have I ever held you back from what you want?"

"Thanks Harry!", she said cheerfully, kissing him on the cheek.

She left mid-dance to cut in with Draco and Pansy. Taking a deep breath he approached Draco, who was watching Pansy and Ginny.

"May I have this dance?"

"You want to dance with me?"

The unspoken "in front of everyone?" was implied.

"Only if you lead."

"Obviously."

Harry was a little awkward, now feeling all of the eyes on them, but Draco was absolutely preening.

"If you were an animal, you'd be a peacock."

"I assure you my c-"

"I know!", Harry hissed. "Merlin you have to ruin everything."

"I make your life more interesting."

Harry just rolled his eyes and let Draco spin him around. That was it for Harry. He went to get a drink and then slipped away soon after. Deciding on taking a quiet stroll outside, he slipped on his invisibility cloak.

He found himself walking the edge of the Forbidden Forest, dodging couples on his way down. He needed some time to be alone and reflect. Tomorrow would be the longest, most tiring day of them all.

After walking around outside for an hour, he slipped back inside, making his way up to McGonagall's office.

"Mr. Potter. I was expecting your visit. That's why I left the dance early."

Harry took the seat that was offered to him, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Here. A biscuit and some parchment. Take your time."

And so Harry did, writing out a lot of his thoughts, feelings, and guilt. He slid a good amount of parchment towards her, and sat with his head down while she read it.

"Do you think you'd like to see someone to talk through all of this Harry?", she asked kindly.

"I- I don't know. It's hard to talk, don't trust anyone else."

"That's understandable. Go take a long weekend. Your professors will understand. Take time to grieve, process your feelings. Take Mr. Malfoy with you if you'd like, or go alone. The choice is up to you Harry. I worry about you, you know."

"I worry about me too", he said quietly.

"Go home tonight Harry. The least I can do is give you some privacy out of the castle."

"Thank you Headmistress."

"Take care Harry. If you need longer than Monday morning, send me a patronus."

Harry nodded and got up, hesitating at the door.

"Is there something else?"

"Can I..."

"Anything you need, Harry", she said softly.

With no more hesitation, he walked back and hugged McGonagall.

"Thank you", he whispered.

His tight hug much reminded her of the way James Potter used to ambush her in the halls in a similar fashion. When he left, she had to wipe a few tears away of her own.

The halls were empty, but Harry still held his invisibility cloak tightly to his body, like a security blanket. He padded silently up to the common room, then down the hall to his bedroom. He and Draco both jumped in surprise.

"Harry! Are you okay? I was worried."

"I'm going home."

"Oh."

Draco sat on his bed, watching Harry pack some things.

"Did you want me to come with you?", Draco asked gently.

"I don't know anymore", Harry said with a sigh, tossing the devil horn headband onto the dresser so he could run a hand through his hair.

"Come here my darling."

Draco held Harry closely, whispering sweet things to him softly.

"How's this? I'll go home with you, make sure you're settled in okay. I'll run you a bath, and then make sure you eat something. After that, if you want me to leave then I will. You won't hurt my feelings if you don't want me there okay? This is your time."

"I love you."

"Let's finish packing up some of your things yeah? I'll toss in a few of mine in case."

"Okay."

Harry let a very preoccupied Draco finish packing for him.

"Do you want me to tell someone you're going?"

"Ron. He'll-", Harry waved his hand around in explanation.

"Tell everyone else. Got it."

Harry made sure his gift for Draco was tucked into his bag, before collecting all of their things.

"It would probably be good to have Draco stay", he reasoned.

If he needed space, he knew Draco would give it to him. Nodding to himself he was sure of his decision.

"All taken care of my darling. You ready/"

It took all of Harry's concentration to send a patronus to McGonagall, letting her know that Draco would be with him.

As soon as they got back to Grimmauld Place, Draco was doting on Harry. Draco helped Harry remove his makeup and he ran him a bath. While Harry was in the bath, Draco popped out to pick up some dinner, and then some flowers.

Putting everything under a stasis charm, Draco took probably the fastest shower of his life to be able to get Harry out of the bath. He brought him the softest clothing either of them owned and helped him dry off.

"I love you."

"I know", Draco replied with a small smile, brushing the hair off Harry's forehead. Kissing his scar, he whispered "And I love you."

"Your hair is still wet."

"I wanted to check on you."

"Let me fix it."

"I'll fix it later. I'm taking care of you."

"Please?"

"You're too sweet for your own good Scarhead."

Harry just smiled, trying to return some of the energy Draco was giving him. He also liked any excuse he had to run his fingers through Draco's hair. When he was done, he kissed Draco softly.

"What was that for?"

"That was for the best boyfriend in the whole world."

"I'm not-"

"You are to me. You're my everything Draco. I don't want you going one day without me telling you how much I love and cherish you."

"I know Harry. I'm here for you. I'm staying with you. I can't promise that everything will be okay, but I do promise you that I'll do my best to give you all of my support."

Draco hugged his Harry as tightly as he dared to.

"Come on, I got dinner for us."

Holding hands, he led Harry into the dining room.

"We can eat on the couch if you want? Your choice."

"You got me my favorite flowers", Harry whispered.

"I did."

Harry was frozen to the spot. Sometimes it would just hit him that Draco loved him as much as he loved Draco.

"Oh Harry, don't cry, my darling. Come here."

Draco held Harry close as he started to sob.

"You'll be okay. I love you so much Harry. I've got you. Things will be better soon."

Draco continued to whisper sweet things to Harry as he completely broke down. When his knees gave out, Draco was there to catch him. Harry cried for what felt like hours, and when he was done he felt better. Embarrassed but better.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry dropped Draco's hand and walked back into the bathroom where his pants were. He dug into the pockets, pulling out the parchment he had written to McGonagall. He allowed Draco to read it as he went to wash his face.

"If you ever need time alone, tell me. If there's something you need to say, talk to me. If I ever do something that hurts you, even accidentally, tell me. Your feelings are valid Harry, you can't let them bottle up like this.

Trust me, I know how easy it is to shut everyone out and push the world away. How you think that no one cares, or that they don't understand. I may not understand everything completely, but I will listen no matter what. I love you, and I am here for you. Don't shut me out if you can help it."

"I promise to try."

"That is all I will ever ask of you. Let's eat, cuddle, watch some horrible telly, and get some sleep. How does that sound?"

"Perfect."