Harry had left a couple of lamps on, so the flat wasn't totally dark when they apparated back into his living room. Even before they had fully finished turning, Draco was throwing his arms all the way around Harry's body, burying his head into the crook of his neck, shaking and gripping him tightly.

They stumbled and bashed knees into the coffee table as Harry hugged him back, steadying them, rubbing his hands against Draco's back and making soothing noises. "Shh," he whispered as Draco cried, running his hand up his neck and stroking his soft hair. He had him back, he couldn't quite believe it, Draco was in his arms again. "Shh it's okay."

"Harry I'm so sorry," he gasped into his skin. "I fucked everything up, please forgive me, please."

"Hey," said Harry, drawing back and cupping Draco's chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Hey, stop it, everything's fine."

Draco was one of those infuriating people who looked beautiful when they cried. It was like he just blinked and single tears appeared on his long lashes, only to fall gracefully in a single trail down pale cheeks. Harry had closely resembled a red-faced snotty gargoyle the night he had learned of Draco's engagement.

Draco took firm hold either side of Harry's face, anger and pain clear in his expression. "It is so not fine," he insisted. "I put my family name before everything, again, and now I've made it all ten times worse! I just saw you walking away and I lost it and I realised I couldn't bear to let you go and I understand if you hate me but-"

Harry needed to stop him talking, so he did the first thing that came to mind and nipped in for a slow, long kiss. He traced his fingertips over Draco's features, re-learning them all again, every line, every curve, pouring all his love and heartache into this one reassuring act.

Draco began to relax under his touch, letting himself be moulded by Harry. His hands skimmed down Harry's shoulders, up his back, running through coarse black hair. "Draco," said Harry after a while, when he felt less tension in his body. "Do you want to be with me?"

"Yes," Draco replied immediately, emphatically. "But-"

"But nothing," insisted Harry. "I want to be with you, I have done since Scotland, I don't want anyone else."

Draco tried to still his shuddering chest, taking slow breaths in and out. "But the way I treated you?" he said, his grey eyes wet and fearful. "How can you trust me? I was scared and I just fell back into old defensive behaviours, I thought I was doing the right thing, saving us trouble down the line."

"I know," Harry assured him, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know, and I'm not going to tell you the last few months haven't been hard, that you didn't break my fucking heart." Draco grimaced, clamping his jaw as he tried to turn away, but Harry pulled him back. "But I get it, I get you were scared."

He waited until Draco opened his eyes again, making sure he had his full attention. "But what you just did," he carried on. "Was one of the bravest things I've ever seen you do. It was certainly the most romantic, most dramatic." He grinned, and was delighted to urge a hint of a smile from Draco's lips too. "It was incredible."

"It was stupid," breathed Draco, running a hand through his own hair, giving himself a blond halo.

Harry nudged him with a shoulder. "Maybe there's a little Gryffindor in you after all," he said.

"There's been a lot of Gryffindor in me, if I remember correctly," he shot back, giving Harry a wet and shaky smile that just about melted his heart. Harry barked out a laugh and yanked him in for another cuddle, kissing his way up his throat, along his jaw until he found his mouth, claiming it again for himself.

"Fuck I missed you," he murmured when they came up for air.

"Are you sure you don't hate me?" Draco's voice was small.

Harry sighed, and decided they'd been standing long enough. He took both Draco's hands and lead him over to the sofa, flopping his body into the crevice and pulling Draco down so they were lying together, Harry wrapping his limbs around Draco's slightly taller form, nuzzling his nose into his hair and along the side of his face. "I never hated you Draco," he said in hushed tones. "Not really. I was hurt when you cut me off dead though," he sighed honestly. "You never replied to any of my letters."

Draco was shaking his head, screwing up his eyes as fresh tears leaked out. "I was such a coward," he said, voice wavering slightly. "I thought I could just forget the whole thing, behave like the good son I was supposed to be. If I had replied to any of your notes, even just to tell you it was over, I knew I wouldn't be able to carry on."

"Maybe," said Harry gently, easing his fingers through Draco's hair. "That should have been a sign you were doing something really fucking stupid."

Draco laughed, grabbing Harry's hand to bring it to his lips to kiss his knuckles. "Turns out I'm stubborn too. Maybe I really am a bit Gryffindor after all?"

"Outrageous," Harry admonished him. "You're my sneaky little Slytherin, you keep life interesting."

Draco sighed against him. "I guess tonight definitely qualifies as interesting."

Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. "For someone shy about coming out of the closet," he said, hoping he wouldn't upset him. "I'm pretty sure there's going to be a picture of you snogging The Boy Who Lived on the front cover of every newspaper in Europe tomorrow morning."

Draco groaned, and shifted his weight so he was facing Harry. "Are you mad?" he asked, biting his lip.

"Are you kidding?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think it's bloody marvellous. I told you I was proud to be with you, that I wanted everyone to know we were a couple." He brushed a lock of hair back from his face, exactly the way he had done on that night in Scotland when he'd tested the waters to see what Draco really wanted.

It turned out, he really wanted Harry.

Draco's face dropped though as something occurred to him. "Astoria," he said, dismayed. "Oh Merlin, she's going to hate me, breaking her heart in front of all those people."

Harry didn't answer right away, he just frowned and replayed his memories, making sure of what he was about to say. "You know," he said after a moment or two. "I'm not sure she was all that heartbroken."

Draco blinked at him. "I just humiliated her," he said flatly.

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek. "How did you feel when she asked me to be an usher at your wedding?"

The fact that their faces were only inches apart made it easier for Harry to understand the depth of Draco's reaction. Once again he looked physically sick, and his hands clenched around Harry's body. "It felt cruel and awful," Draco said quietly, eyes downcast. "Even though she didn't know what she was doing, it was seeing your face that finally made me realise I was making the biggest mistake of my life."

"I think," said Harry carefully. "She knew exactly what she was doing."

Draco's eyes snapped back up. "What?" he said sharply.

Harry shrugged awkwardly from his position on the couch. "You're right, that was it for me, the idea of having to not only watch you marry someone else, but be a part of it, I couldn't escape fast enough. And it pushed you too, made you act."

"But she was just being nice," Draco insisted. "She is nice, and I just dragged her through a false engagement for no good reason."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not denying that," he said. "Obviously you know her better than me, but I saw something, right after we kissed, and it just made me think." Draco raised his eyebrows expectantly. "She winked at me. She looked sort of happy, and she winked."

Draco pulled a face. "She winked, and that makes you think she purposefully pushed us into making complete tossers of ourselves."

"Why, you think she was any less forced into this marriage than you?" Harry questioned. "Maybe the fact that you talked about me 'all the time' made her twig that perhaps your heart wasn't in it, and she decided to take matters into her own hands."

Draco had the good grace to look sheepish, and Harry guessed maybe he was more than a little aware of how much he had talked about him to Astoria. "Because she winked?"

Harry nodded. "Because she winked."

Draco looked stunned, then frowned for a moment as he considered. "Well I'll be damned," he said. "Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right," Harry teased.

Draco blew out an exaggerated breath. "That is a theory I would definitely like to contest," he said.

"You'll have plenty of time for that," said Harry, giving him a little kiss. "So. How are you feeling now, really?"

"Shocked," Draco admitted. "This is not how I saw the evening ending."

"That's sort of our style now," Harry told him with a grin. It slipped though. He wasn't going to jump the gun, he wanted to make sure before getting his heart broken once again. "But – in a good way I hope? I mean, if you're having second thoughts, we can talk about it? Just because people know doesn't mean-"

"Shut up," said Draco, launching in for a fierce kiss, attacking Harry with his tongue, trapping his bottom lip with his teeth. "Don't be stupid. I just threw us both under the train, there's no getting out of this now Potter, you're mine."

Those words lit Harry's skin on fire like electricity. "I'm yours," he agreed between breaths and kisses.