True to his word, Draco helped Harry with his scheduling.

"Good luck with tutoring, I'll pick up the groceries. We have a late practice tomorrow. I can leave you the car after class so you can drive to work? Then you can just pick me up after?"

"Is that alright? It's your car and I don't want to leave you stranded."

"If it wasn't fine I wouldn't offer."

"Okay. I'll make sure I'm back to get you when practice is over."

"I'll be back with the groceries when you're done with tutoring. Have a good session."

Draco thought nothing of his usual grocery run, not even when he saw Dobby leaving the store as Draco entered. It was when Draco had checked out and he was packing the car that he was ambushed.

"Draco."

"Mother?"

"I miss you, when will you come home?"

"I don't know."

"Your father would like to speak with you."

"I don't want a meaningless apology. You also could have called me instead of enlisting Dobby to find me. It's obvious that he told you I was here," Draco responded, continuing his packing.

"I haven't spent any time with you in over a week."

"I'm not going to apologize for leaving. I needed some distance to get some perspective."

"And?"

"Things have become much clearer."

"Are you together then?," she asked curiously.

"No, we aren't."

"What's stopping you?"

"The fear of being alone. Harry means everything to me, and I refuse to lose him. He's the one good thing I have and I would never forgive myself if I ruined it."

"I think you both have something special. Isn't it selfish of you to hide your feelings instead of exploring what could be?"

"I have to get the groceries home."

"Come for dinner please. Let's fix this. Bring Harry if you wish. Please Draco."

"Fine. I'll be there."

As soon as Draco walked into the room, Harry knew something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"My parents requested I join them for dinner."

"I'll go with you."

"I don't know if I want you to," Draco admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I don't want them using you as leverage because you're important to me. This is one of those things that I have to do alone. Thank you for offering though, that means a lot to me."

"Just know that you're free to stay here as long as you want to. I really do love having you here Draco. But if you want to go home, I understand."

"I just want to be happy you know? I miss being home, but I'm so much happier here."

"You're always welcome love. I expect to see you at least twice a week if you move back. I'll get lonely during the night," Harry teased, walking towards Draco and wrapping him in his arms.

"You won't miss me that much. I'm sure you'd like having your space back."

"I'll throw all of my blankets onto the floor to mimic you stealing them."

"I get cold!," Draco retorted defensively, leaning into Harry.

"And I don't mind keeping you warm."

"If I do move back at some point, you're always welcome to stay with me you know."

"We do have to start our experiment next week anyway."

"Let's start with lunch instead shall we?," Draco asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Of course love. Then I'm going to film. Do you want to help?"

"Help?"

"I told you that I'd like to make a video with you."

"What kind of video?"

"Whatever you want."

"Well, I may have a few ideas," Draco admitted after a few moments of silence. "I still don't think I'd be very good at it."

"I do. I love hearing you talk."

"I don't know if I want to talk. At least not in the first video."

"Think on it over lunch, it's completely up to you."

Once they got into Harry's recording studio, Draco was tapping anxiously on the table.

"Save the tapping for the video yeah?," Harry teased, lightening the mood. "There's nothing that you can do wrong, and if you do? I'll edit it out. There's no pressure here. Just a simple tapping and microphone brushing video."

"That's easy for you to say, you've been making videos for years."

"Which I started doing because I was lonely and had no friends. What's your point?"

"Touché."

"Hello loves, and welcome to my channel. I hope that you have a wonderful day, and if not? I hope that things begin looking up for you soon because you deserve it, you deserve it, you deserve it.

So, I have a friend making a video with me today. It's their first time making an ASMR video, so show them some love in the comments. Let's get started."

Draco had more fun than he thought he was going to. All of the smiles Harry shared with him seemed very intimate as they were never in frame. He was such a comforting presence to be around that Draco was almost immediately relaxed.

"I'll edit while you're at dinner. I'm going to need something to do while I'm worrying about you."

"I'll be okay, but thank you Harry."

"You're sure you don't want me to come? I'll wait outside in the car for you."

"You're incredibly sweet, and you're making it very hard for me to say no. If anything happens, I'll call you immediately."

"You'll let me know when you're there?"

"I'll check in every hour I promise. And if I don't, you can storm over there and rescue me."

"It'll be a very dramatic rescue."

"I don't doubt that for a minute. My knight in shining armor."

"You're damn right I am. My bike is my noble steed."

Draco laughed, resting his head on Harry's shoulder.

"I don't know how I survived without you," Draco spoke fondly, taking in the sight of Harry with a slightly reddened face from laughing. 

"I don't know how I survived without you either. I didn't realize how lonely I was. Ron was always there, but we weren't close. This is nice," Harry admitted.

"You're making it harder to leave."

"Leave so you can come back here quicker."

"I'll see you soon," Draco promised.

Dinner was... unexpected. Draco never thought his father would ever apologize to him, and he was almost certain it was his mother's doing. Or, maybe it was Harry's? His father seemed like he couldn't stop talking about him. 

"I thought you didn't like Harry," Draco deadpanned.

"On the contrary, I have much respect for Mr. Potter. I think he could be a fine business man you know. The way he handled all of my comments was perfect. Just the right amount of passive aggressiveness."

"What did you mean when you told him that he has your blessing with whatever his intentions are?"

"I didn't know if you were... together... or not. He has proven to be a good partner, is all I'm saying."

"And you're okay with that?"

"If he treats you well. Better than I have treated you. I'm sorry my son. Mr. Potter made me realize that I'm just continuing on the Malfoy cycle of generational harm. I saw nothing wrong with my actions as they've become normalized to me. That's no excuse, so I took some time to think over my words.

Just because my father treated me in such a cold and callous manner, does not mean that I have to do the same to you. It took me far too long to realize that, and I mourn the time that we've lost together. I'd like to have you move back in, but I understand if you feel more comfortable where you currently are. Take time to think it over, there is no rush."

"Okay."

Draco spent the rest of dinner wondering what his next move should be. He missed being home, but about Harry? Did he really want to leave him all alone?

"I'll think about," Draco promised, collecting the leftovers from dinner.

"That's all we ask."

Harry immediately met Draco outside once he pulled up.

"How did it go?," he asked, pulling Draco in for a hug.

"I may... have led my father to believe we're dating."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"How did he take that?"

"We're practically married at this rate," Draco replied with a snort.

"I do," Harry teased, his lips brushing against Draco's cheek. "Tell me about it before I go to sleep."