Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, of course. Just puttering about in her world.

Marking essays had to be the worst part of being a professor, Harry reasoned. He missed the quick multiple-choice or true-false tests of his science classes in the Muggle world. He chuckled as that thought gave him an idea for the Muggle Studies side of things. Some of those students might go on to seek Muggle uni degrees on top of wizarding apprenticeships, and Merlin knew there were a variety of homework types at a uni beyond essays.

Other than that, he truly enjoyed the Cultural Studies position. With Draco at hand, he was able to fill in gaps in his own knowledge on the wizarding side, and it was a joy to see wizarding-raised children finally grasp concepts such as computer use and the purpose of mobiles. If the spells necessary to use electronics within a heavily magical place like Hogwarts weren't so complex, he suspected the castle would be plagued with mobile-carrying teenagers like any other school. As it was, he had to take the time at the end of the day to renew the protective spells, and once a week he went over the solar panels mounted outside each of his classroom windows to ensure they fed into the classroom's electrical system properly.

Putting aside the fifth-year assignment on the Muggle educational system, Harry stretched and checked the time. Draco should be back from rounds soon, and that made the dark-haired wizard smile. It had been two weeks since that first heady night of kisses on the sofa, and he'd set a sedate pace that was driving him slowly crazy. But he didn't want to rush the other man into his bed, so instead he'd held himself to lingering kisses and gentle massages. It had taken him months to work up the courage to sleep with his college boyfriend, and while the relationship had ended amicably as post-college life took them in different directions, Harry had often wished he'd waited for such intimacy and had that first experience with Jessie.

Too restless to stay seated, he checked on the children and smiled gently as he saw the two sleeping. With Draco's Head of House duties, Allie had fallen asleep sharing Richard's small bed several times before Harry had simply requested the house-elves to add another bed to his son's room. Most nine-year-olds would have hated to essentially share a room with an infant, but she seemed to delight in being around the baby. He wondered if Allie saw Richard's deafness as making him the odd one out, much like herself, due to her lack of magical ability. If things went badly with Draco, it would break his heart not to be around the little girl daily as he was now.

Nodding to Sadie where she half-dozed in a little chair in the room, Harry made his way back to the living room just as Draco entered. He cupped the other man's face in his hands and kissed him in greeting, delighting that the kiss was returned with enthusiasm.

"Catch any miscreants tonight?" he asked when they finally came up for air.

Draco laughed. "Four couples being less than prudent about where they carried on with each other. At least they were all fifth-years and up tonight."

Leading the blond to the sofa and helping him shrug out of his teaching robes, Harry grinned. "I'm still disturbed about the third-years I came across snogging the life out of each other. At that age, I was too petrified to hold a girl's hand, much less snog her."

"Don't tell me you were shy? I always figured you and Hermione had practiced with each other, as close as you seemed."

Drawing the blond close, Harry shook his head. "The only girls I ever kissed at Hogwarts were Cho Chang fifth year and Ginny sixth year. That year we spent on the run, looking for Horcruxes, Hermione and I were together in really close quarters almost constantly. Even when Ron was gone, there just wasn't that sort of attraction between us."

"Maybe because you're gay? You said you didn't realize it truly until you were attending uni."

"Possibly. Although I suspect I'd never have been attracted to Hermione even if I found women arousing. We were so close so young that she's always been my sister in all but name."

"Makes sense, I suppose. I was rather relieved when my father didn't try to make a marriage alliance with any of the girls I grew up with. It would have felt a bit unsavory to bed a woman I'd once played with while we were in nappies."

Harry stroked Draco's arm, fingers exploring the bare skin. He liked it when the other man wore Muggle clothing under his robes, since it left skin bare to explore without pressing the issue. "He told me at dinner after the school tour that he worried any British witch might be too closely related to you."

"Purebloods never advertised the number of miscarriages and stillbirths they had, not to mention the Squibs. It would have been admitting something was wrong with all the intermarriages," Draco said. "He thought himself very lucky to find a woman who had a Scandinavian father and Spanish mother. Plenty of fresh genetics, he thought. He blames himself for Allie being a Squib, you know."

"I'd noticed. He loves her though. I don't think I've seen a more devoted grandfather." After Lucius had turned traitor at the end of the war to save his family, it didn't surprise Harry that the Malfoy patriarch was utterly dedicated to finding the best future for his only grandchild.

"Honestly, you'd have thought she was his, when she was first born. There hasn't been a girl born alive into the Malfoy family in five generations. And Mother still buys out half the dress shops in Diagon Alley."

"What about her mother? No one ever seems to mention her." Harry had tried to question Severus discreetly about Draco's late wife, but the older wizard's negative reaction had convinced him quickly to wait for the information to come from Draco himself.

It took so long for Draco to answer that Harry began to think he'd offended him. "Tilda was disappointed Allie was a girl and wanted very little to do with her. Ironic, as she could have asked for the moon from my father and gotten it. She miscarried once about three years after making him a grandfather, and it seemed to make her extremely resentful of Allie. She accused me of not having a proper interest in a wife to give her children. We were never close, so I let her leave and was looking for a way to break the marriage contract when she died."

Harry pressed a kiss to the top of Draco's head, feeling horrible for bringing up obviously bad memories. "She missed out on something amazing, leaving you and Allie."

Draco turned in his arms to claim a kiss, so obviously seeking reassurance of being wanted that Harry wished his wife were still alive so he could hex the woman silly. Pushing aside the thought of the snobby witch, he slipped his hands underneath the thin material of Draco's shirt, feeling a stab of guilt as his fingers found the scars that caused gaps in the soft hair that trailed down the center of the blond's chest. He'd caused those scars with his curse sixth year, and he promised himself now that he'd kiss every last inch of them.

He was surprised when Draco pulled away from the kiss, not to speak again, but to reach for the hem of Harry's own t-shirt, tugging it up. Green eyes questioning, he let the other man tug the garment off. They'd thus far kept clothing on, removing temptation.

"Tonight I'm staying," Draco said softly, grey eyes darkened to near-black with need as his fingers sought the soft, dark hair on Harry's chest.

Nodding because he'd suddenly lost the capability to speak, Harry rose from the sofa, tugging Draco up and leading him to the bedroom.

Harry woke to the very welcome feeling of being a pillow to his lover. He smiled, playing with the strands of blond hair that made such a contrast to his own tanned skin. He'd never been the more experienced lover in a relationship, not even with Jessie, and last night had rewarded his patience in waiting for Draco to signal when he was ready. He'd fulfilled his promise to himself to kiss the length of every scar he'd left on the other man with his curse sixth year, which had driven any shyness far from Draco's mind about bedding him.

"I could get used to waking up like this."

The drowsy comment made Harry smile. "I hope you intend to. I'm not sure I can go back to letting you go back to your quarters every night."

"I'm not sure I could manage walking back either." Draco raised his head and studied Harry before smiling slowly. "If it weren't for the children, I'd wish we figured out how this would be back in school."

Harry agreed, other than the joy he'd had in his marriage to Jessie. So many of the wounds he'd carried from his neglectful, abusive childhood and then the chaos of his years at Hogwarts had been healed by the unconditional love he'd had from his husband. "We both needed to grow up a lot for this to be possible between us."

"True." Draco claimed a kiss, nipping lightly at Harry's bottom lip. "We'll have to talk to Severus, if I'm to move in. Or it might be better for you to move in to my quarters. Less confusion for the students in my House."

"I don't mind moving over, if you're sure you want to go that far," Harry said. "Are you sure you're ready to go public? It's going to raise media interest, you know."

Draco shrugged. "I could care less what the newspapers say. Our families will accept it and be happy for us."

"Even your father? I know he likes me now, but there's a world of difference in accepting me as your friend and Allie's 'uncle' and knowing we're a couple."

The blush that Harry found so endearing appeared to color Draco's face. "I spoke to him last week, actually, when Allie and I had dinner with him and Mother." He dropped his head and nuzzled at Harry's bare chest. "He told me he'd already meddled with my life enough, and he didn't intend to ever do so again."

Harry couldn't help feeling a little shocked. Even knowing how diligently Lucius had searched for a way for his granddaughter to be the Malfoy heir, he was surprised he'd easily accept his only son being in a same-sex relationship that would seemingly complicate the possibility of more children. "And what did your mother think?"

"She stated that if we remained serious about the relationship, she expects you to allow her to spoil Richard as endlessly as she does Allie."

"Why do I have a feeling we should ask Severus to just link the two quarters together so the children can have an entire room just for their wardrobes?" Harry asked in amusement, feeling rather relieved at what appeared to be a very easy acceptance from his lover's parents.

"Because you've seen Allie's wardrobe and you're a clever man?" Draco laughed, sitting up in bed and running a hand through his hair. "I think they figured it was headed this way between us, after we went on the school tour with them."

As Draco appropriated Harry's dressing gown for a trip to the loo, Harry lay in bed staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. He knew some might see them as moving their relationship too swiftly, considering they'd moved beyond friendship only recently. But there were few secrets between them since they'd straightened out a few misunderstandings after he'd returned to Britain. The near-stalker behavior they'd had in their rivalry had ensured they'd know more about each other than the average couple did starting out.

Allie would be overjoyed if they shared quarters. Richard seemed content around Draco and adored Allie. With his concern about the elder Malfoys set to rest, the only potential objection that meant anything was Severus, and Harry had begun to suspect the older wizard had seen the possibility this would come to pass. He'd certainly made plenty of opportunities for them to spend time together, including a suspicious lack of scheduled times to supervise dinner in the Great Hall the last month or so.

Harry was distracted from that train of thought by Draco's return. The blond checked the monitoring charm on the children's room, and Harry's gaze followed. Both offspring were sleeping contentedly, and the sound of his dressing gown hitting the floor drew Harry's attention back to Draco. They had an hour or two before the children or the outside world would intrude, and with a welcoming grin, he tugged his lover back into bed.