Malfoy Child

Epilogue

"You do realize that Draco is seventeen now and quite old enough to go off on his own, don't you?" Blaise asked Harry in obvious amusement.

"Of course I do," Harry declared. "I simply thought you were my friends, too, and I decided to come see you as well this evening."

"He's lying. I actually forced him to come because I knew I would need a comfortable pillow," Draco drawled from his position of lying on the couch, his head in Harry's lap.

Harry grinned, carding his fingers through Draco's hair, as Pansy and Blaise outright laughed at them. Crabbe and Goyle were watching all of them, and judging by their grins, they were amused as well.

They were currently camped out in the Slytherin common room, visiting with some of their friends on a Saturday evening. The teasing had become a regular thing because Draco and Harry were almost as inseparable now as they had been when Draco was only a four-year-old.

It had been several months already since Harry had woken up in the hospital wing, and the year was almost over. Harry and Draco still had their moments, but they were both happy and weren't ashamed of that fact.

Draco, the cunning Slytherin raised with a political background, helped Harry get through the trying times of all the press and publicity surrounding his defeat of Voldemort. Generally, either Draco would make the statements himself or else he would write Harry's speeches for him. On the few occasions that Harry had been forced to go out in public, Draco handled everything.

Given the circumstances of Voldemort's defeat, with Harry's love for Draco essentially ending the war, not too many people questioned their relationship.

Everyone in Hogwarts was especially supportive. Over the first half of the year, everyone had become used to Harry defending Draco and they'd become comfortable with Draco Malfoy. That, surprisingly, hadn't changed when Draco was back to his sixteen-year-old self.

Maybe it had something to do with Harry defeating Voldemort. Maybe it had to do with people being afraid of what Harry would do to them if they dared to cross him, because certainly there were more than a few that were afraid of Harry.

Maybe it had something to do with Draco Malfoy's changed attitudes. He didn't spout off about Mudbloods anymore and he didn't go around terrorizing the Hufflepuffs—well, not as often anyway. He could still be snooty when he chose to be and he was definitely still the vainest person in Hogwarts, but overall, he was a lot friendlier than he'd ever been in the past.

Then again, maybe everyone was supportive of Harry and Draco's relationship because they were so obviously happy together. They were practically inseparable and they were always affectionate with each other. Not everyone knew that they'd both been starved for attention when they were little and they were doing their best to make up for lost time. But it was clear to everyone that they were happy, and to most people that was all that mattered.

When things got to be too much for either, or both of them, to handle, they would retreat to their room in Severus' quarters. Severus had given them the option to keep the room for their own privacy and they had accepted it gladly.

They still made regular visits to both the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms to meet up with their friends, though. Exactly as they were currently doing.

"So, do you two have any idea of where you go from here?" Pansy asked them curiously.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, frowning at her.

Pansy shrugged. "I guess I'm just wondering what will happen this summer. Malfoy Manor is yours now, but I know you don't want to live there again."