Draco had expected to wake up with a crick in his neck from falling asleep on the couch with Harry. Instead, he woke up in his bed, safely tucked in. Resting his hand on the sheet next to him, he sighed when it was cool to the touch. He had no way of knowing if Harry had even slept next to him once he had been presumably carried upstairs.

The long mission had been hard on Draco, though he would never admit exactly how hard it was to Harry. He didn't need Harry carrying around extra guilt on Draco's account. Still, sleep had been hard to come by those past two weeks, and Draco couldn't fall asleep until he was sure Harry had responded to his goodnight. He wasn't even sure if Harry knew he was saying goodnight with two quick taps. They really needed to figure out their system of communication.

Rolling over onto his side, Draco spotted the pile of letters on the nightstand next to his bed. Knowing that Harry continued to write to him caused a funny feeling to form in Draco's chest, and he quickly pushed it down. He was reaching out to grab the first letter on the pile, when he heard the faint sound of his door closing. Waiting with baited breath, he sighed when Harry popped his head into the bedroom.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Harry greeted, smiling brightly at Draco. "Have you been up long? I didn't want to wake you."

"I thought you left without saying goodbye you tosser," Draco huffed, pulling the sheets closer to his body.

"I would never leave without saying goodbye to you," Harry said seriously. "Even if I suspect that you're a nightmare in the mornings."

"I'll be your boss's worst nightmare, mark my words," Draco muttered in reply.

"I have to leave soon, but I bought breakfast."

Draco sat up quickly.

"You didn't."

"I did," Harry replied with a grin. "It's on the table."

"Then why are we in here?! Move!"

Laughing, Harry moved to the side and let Draco sit at the table first.

"I hope you don't mind that I borrowed more clothes. I didn't think it was best to go out in pyjamas to your favorite bakery."

"Impressions are very important to Gio, you thought correctly. I can't believe how early you got up."

"Early enough to buy out all of his éclairs, in every flavor..."

"Shut the fuck up. I am so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"We don't spend nearly enough mornings together," Harry interrupted with a laugh. "I know what you meant. I also know that I made a lot of enemies today for you. No one has looked at me like that since I was undesirable number 1. All for some éclairs. Clearly they didn't want them bad enough."

Draco moaned in agreeance, half of a raspberry filled éclair in his mouth. Harry snagged a chocolate one, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth as he handed Draco his cup of tea.

"I have to leave after breakfast."

"So I need to eat my next éclair a lot slower," Draco joked, taking a seat next to Harry. "I wish you didn't have to leave already."

"I'll try to come back as soon as I can," Harry promised. "I'm tired of this. I hate going into work not knowing what I'm doing in advance or where they plan on sending me. Things would be easier if I had a partner, but there's no one that I trust."

"There has to be someone you could see as your partner."

"You are the only person I would ever trust to be my partner," Harry said seriously, his hand coming to rest on top of Draco's. "There is no one else I would quite literally trust with my life. You're better off here, it's a nightmare out there. Speaking of a nightmare, my wand is vibrating which means it's time for me to go."

"Here, take an éclair for the road. I don't have anything else for you to bring back this time."

"The memory of you in my Auror robe is more than enough," Harry replied with a wink, walking into the room and grabbing it from the chair.

"Pity you won't get to see me wearing mine."

"That's the most tempting offer I've gotten to stay yet."

"Safe travels Potter. I hope to see you soon."

"You too Malfoy."

Harry's wand vibrated again and he sighed. He opened the door, looking back at Draco over his shoulder. Shaking his head, he quickly walked back to Draco and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, for caring about me. I had a great time last night. You helped put some things into perspective for me. Good luck with your trials Draco, I can't wait to see what happens next."

Pulling away, Harry ran his fingers over the bracelet on his wrist, a soft smile on his face as he watched Draco react to the sensation.

"Stay safe," Draco replied, repeating the gesture as Harry once again walked out of his life.

Draco returned to his éclairs, grabbing another before walking back up to his room. Ideally, he should be working on his potions right now. Instead, he grabbed the pile of letters Harry had written him, and settled down at his desk to read them.

"Dear Draco,

Is it crazy that I'm missing you already? I don't know if it's the knowledge that I won't be speaking to you for days or the fact that I don't know when I'll see you next, but the tightness in my chest is worse than it usually is. I can only hope that you'll get my letter and package in a timely manner. I don't think I can rest until I know that you've received it. Just know that I'm thinking about you, and I can't wait until I'm able to hear more news about your research.

Yours,

Harry"

Draco smiled, his gaze resting on the half eaten éclair on his desk. He remembered the first time he had shown up to Harry's accommodation at 5am unannounced. They had agreed on meeting for breakfast, but a time had never been established. Harry had wanted to experience France as Draco did, and this was one of Draco's favorite parts.

"Potter," he whispered, walking over to his bed. "Potter!," he tried again, louder this time.

"Hmm?," he groaned groggily.

"Did you forget about breakfast?"

"Malfoy, is the sun even up?," Harry whined, wrapping the blanket around himself as he turned away.

"No, it's not, which is why we need to hurry. Come on!"

"Remind me why I like you again?," Harry questioned, throwing himself out of bed.

"Because I'm beautiful, witty, intelligent, I dress well. Do those answers suffice or do you need more?"

He listened to Harry grumble to himself as he went into the bathroom. Draco was kind enough to make Harry's bed for him while he waited.

"Are you good at vision spells?"

"Good enough, I can't say I've ever used them since school."

"Brilliant. Cast one on me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I can't wear my glasses and I'm too tired to put my contacts in. Would you rather place tiny pieces of plastic on my eyes?," Harry asked, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

"For Salazar's sake. Hold still. Are you blind?"

"Less blind than usual if that's what you're asking."

"I can't believe you put your vision in jeopardy like that."

"I can't believe you woke me up for breakfast before the sun is even up," Harry retorted, nudging Draco as he put on his jacket.

"Come on. It's worth it, I promise."

"And if it's not?"

"I'll let you do whatever you want."

"Now that's putting yourself in jeopardy," Harry teased. "Come on then, amaze me."

It was a chillier morning than Draco thought it would be, but he had no time to stop at his flat and grab a jacket. He was a man on a mission.

"It's so quiet, isn't it wonderful?"

"Because the greater population is still asleep Malfoy."

"Did you not sleep well last night?," Draco asked suddenly.

He himself wasn't a morning person, but he thought Harry may have been.

"No, I didn't. It's what, just a bit after 5? I reckon I got maybe 4 hours of sleep if that."

"Oh. Well now I feel bad."

"Don't. Unless it was you that kept adding more papers into my work folders. Then you should feel horrible and begin to grovel at my feet."

"I promise where I'm taking you today will make up for it. It's right up there."

"The place with the line?"

"You see why I had to wake you up early? This is my favorite place. I couldn't let you leave without bringing you here at least once."

"Okay. I forgive you for waking me up."

"You're too kind," Draco retorted sarcastically. "You'll quite literally eat your words."

They waited in line in silence, Harry slowly beginning to wake up. Draco tapped his foot in anticipation, grinning from ear to ear once they made it to the counter.

"Draco, I was wondering when you'd stop by next."

"My friend from home is visiting. I couldn't let him leave without bringing him to you Gio."

"You're too kind. Shall I make it two of each then?"

"Please. I'll also take a box of assorted pastries."

"The box is on me, thank you for spreading the word," Gio replied, smiling at Harry who returned the gesture.

"All of my favorite flavors of éclairs are gone if I don't come in first thing," Draco explained to Harry.

"The raspberry ones are quite popular and tend to go first. There you are, have a wonderful day."

"You too."

When Draco walked back outside, he held back a shiver.

"I want to take you some place else if you're up for it?"

"I'm already up, why not?"

"Side-along?"

"Even better, less walking."

Draco brought them to a park that he frequented. Leading Harry up a small path, they came to a rocky clearing. Sitting down, Draco patted the spot next to him.

"I come here when I need some space, time to think, some fresh air. I've never brought anyone here before."

"Well, I'm happy to just be here with you."

"We can watch the sunrise together," Draco offered, shivering a little bit.

Frowning, Harry shifted closer to Draco. Removing his jacket, he rested it over Draco's shoulders despite his protests.

"You're very obviously not fine. I can't have you freezing on me can I? Besides, you have breakfast."

"How are you always so warm?"

"I'm hot, what can I say?," Harry flirted with a wink. "That was awful, ignore whatever comes out of my mouth. It's worse when I'm so tired."

"At least you're aware. Let's just watch the sunrise. Then you can go back to sleep."

Draco's eyes kept flickering between Harry and the rising sun, unsure of which view he preferred to look at. Mornings like these, he always documented the sunrise with his camera. He liked having a visual reminder that another day brought new opportunities with it. Besides that, no two sunrises ever looked the same.

"More pictures?"

"Not of me, of the sunrise."

"What about one of us? This would make a nice photo."

"If you think you can get us both in frame."

That picture remained framed in Draco's bedroom, and he loved looking at it. It was the promise of something more that kept him holding out for something, he didn't know what. He knew what he had hoped, but he didn't dare say the words out loud.

They would never work anyway. That's the lie Draco kept telling himself. When it came down to it though, the only concrete reason he could provide is the fact that they lived in different countries. But even then, Harry made so much of an effort to come and visit Draco. He wasn't sure when Harry even had time to do actual work.

Draco still couldn't quite believe that Harry had traveled to see him from somewhere in South America as soon as he was able to go home. If there was anything between them to read into, that was it. He showed up bruised and bleeding to spend time with Draco after two weeks of radio silence, and that meant the world to him.

"I thought I had gotten over this years ago," Draco chastised to himself out loud, grabbing the next letter from the pile.

"Dear Draco,

I can't even begin to explain the sense of relief that I felt when you activated the bracelet. I'm sure you're rolling your eyes right now saying that you're the one who should be worried, not me. Quite frankly, I think I'll lose my mind without being able to speak to you every day. I don't have much normalcy in my life, but you're one of the only consistent things I've got.

Imagine telling our younger selves that. There's a part of me that wishes we could have been like this sooner. I feel like there's so much wasted time between us where we could have been something more. Another part of me reminds me that everything happens for a reason. A silly saying, but it's really all I've got. I honestly don't know if we could have been friends earlier on. I think we both had a lot going on, and we just weren't ready. There was too much to talk about that we were scared to say. I still think there are some things we need to talk about, I just need to figure out how to do it carefully. The only hope I have is the fact that our last conversation about this didn't turn into a screaming match.

I have to go now, we're switching camps. I hope to see you soon.

Yours,

Harry"

Draco scoffed, remembering their last conversation about this very well. They had started off talking about playing Quidditch together, which was a safe... enough topic. Not everything could be ignored however.

"I'm sorry," Harry had said randomly from where he was sprawled out on the floor.

He had convinced Draco it was more fun to lie on blankets on the floor in front of the telly than to watch from the couch. When they began sharing a pillow, Draco had to agree.

"What on earth for?," Draco replied, pausing the film to look at Harry.

"Everything. I've been thinking-"

"Well that's never good," Draco cut in sarcastically.

"Malfoy, I'm serious. I think we need to talk about some of this stuff."

"And what if I don't want to?," he asked stubbornly.

"Then you can listen," Harry insisted, reaching out to brush a strand of hair away from Draco's eyes. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when I should have been."

"Potter, I'm going to stop you right there. It was not your job to take care of me. Believe it or not, I knew what I was doing. Did I want to do it? Not in the end, no. But I knew what it meant. We were never meant to be friends back then.

On that note however, you were there for me when I needed you to be. You could have let me burn, but you didn't. You went back, and you saved my life. You testified for my mother and myself at our trials. I am not your charity case Potter. What's done is done and cannot be changed. I don't care about all of the times you think you could have done something. I care about what you actually did.

But if we're giving apologies, I'm sorry that I broke your nose. I'm sorry that I dressed up like a dementor to mock you. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren't good enough. I won't apologize for liking your attention on me though. That was the only thing I had going for me."

"I'm sorry for using that spell. I didn't know what it did, and it haunts me every day."

"The scarring was minimal to none, my father has done worse," Draco brushed off. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I was so convinced you were up to something. I should have offered help."

"You weren't wrong. I was already marked by then Potter. There was nothing you could have done for me. Other than following through and actually killing me of course. Would've saved us all some time."

"If I killed you I can almost guarantee that I myself would have been dead too."

"How do you figure that?"

"For starters, you refused to identify me at The Manor. I know you were sure, I could see it in your eyes. Then I told your mother you were still alive after I saved you, and she lied to Voldemort and told him I was dead. You were there, you know the rest. If you had been dead before then, I would have been killed in The Manor. For the record, I'm glad you're not dead."

"Me too."

Draco was surprised to find that he had actually meant it at that point in time. Harry had a different way of seeing things that Draco was slowly learning. Maybe they actually could have a civil conversation about this without Draco getting defensive.