Flowers

~16-Harry~

Leaving Hogwarts for the last time was one of the easiest things I've ever done. I'd imagined graduating with Ron and Hermione by my side, leaving the same way we came, together. I'd imagined cheers and laughter, and if I'm being honest, more than a few tears.

I could never have imagined leaving halfway through the year, after fighting with one of my favorite professors, and with a boyfriend to go live in the muggle world. And we were both eager to leave, to move on and start again.

We apperate the minute we are able, our last sight of the place that had been our home, a blurred picture as we disappeared.

For a minute, all I can see is the suffocating dark and the only thing keeping me from panic is my death grip on Draco's hand.

We reemerge with a loud crack. I reorient myself, blinking and swaying. When I've refocused, I glance around. A long gravel driveway twists through some skeletal trees. Rotting fences run up and down the sides and a thick blanket of snow covers everything.

Draco smiles. His thumb brushes against my hand, shocking me out of my daze. He turns and leads me down the path. We reach the house after a minute or so.

It's two stories of crumbling brick with scraggly dead vines climbing all over it. The shingles on the roof are moss covered and missing in large patches. Flower beds of rotting wood hold mountains of snow and dead weeds. It's falling apart at the seams, a shadow of what must have been a charming home.

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Draco is frowning. "It's worse than I thought." He mutters.

"It's perfect" I whisper.

"Harry, it's a mess. Nobodies lived here in years" Draco argues, leading me up to the front door.

"And it's completely ours" I rest my free hand on the worn wood of the door. The door know is rusted, along with the iron railings on the stone steps. The porch floor is uneven and paint peels on the columns and the door frame.

The door is crusted shut and it takes a little bit to force it open. It finally creaks open and we step into our house for the first time. It's dark. The only light comes from the dying sun filtering through the grimy windows. Dust hangs in the air and on the furniture covered in yellowing canvas sheets. Two empty door frames leading into the kitchen and dining room. The dining room is in a similar state to the living room and the kitchen-

A round wooden table sits beside a window. I imagine a young Draco eating and playing there as a child before his father officially turned to the wrong side and his entire world fell apart. Counters line two walls. A fridge door stands open and I wrinkle my nose as I realize that it has what was once food in it.

Draco gags in disgust. "We left rather quickly the last time we were here. I was ten maybe. I think Father forgot we owned this place.

"It just needs a little work," I say turning away from the kitchen and towards Draco.

"Where will we sleep while we fix this place up?" he cries. "This place is hardly habitable. We didn't plan enough."

"Where is the master bedroom," I ask, turning to the stairs.

"Up there and to the left, why?" his forehead creases in confusion.

I rush up the stairs and into the bedroom. It's fairly large with a king sized bed and a dresser that's falling apart. Moth-eaten curtains over the windows and there's a pile of cloth in the corner by the dresser that might once have been sheets and blankets for the bed.

I sit with a thump on the bed. A cloud of dust rises into the air but it seems sturdy enough. I stand up and flick my wand at the bed. The dust rises into the air once more and disappears. I eye the rags by the dresser and wave my wand at them. They rise up and mend themselves. With a flick from my wand, they move towards the bed and cover it quickly.

"You're incredible!" Draco laughs, coming behind me. "When did you learn all that?"

"When we first started talking about this place" I blush. "All we need is a warming charm and we can stay here while we fix up the rest of the house."

"When did you get so amazing?" Draco wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against him.

"I'm not that great" I mumble, burying my head in his shoulder and inhaling deeply. He smells like green apples and cinnamon. He smells like home.

"Yes, you are" Draco's arms tighten around me. "Don't let anybody tell you, you aren't. Especially yourself."

"I love you" I murmur into his shoulder.

"I love you too" he dips his head down and captures my lips.

I lean into the kiss, wondering how I could have almost left this.

I pull away and stare into his eyes. The irises are gray with big inky pupils and, with the light flowing through the window and hitting them at this angle, they glow like silver. His hair falls in his eyes and his lips twitch into that half smirk that used to drive me crazy.

"I'm sorry I tried to leave you." A lump grows in my throat.

"Hey, it's okay." Draco leans down and kisses my nose. "You didn't. You're still here. You're still alive"

"I still wish I wasn't sometimes." I blurt out. "I still wonder why I get to cheat death, why everyone else had to die but me."

"Harry-"

"I died Draco. I've died and almost died and tried to die so many times. Why can't I die? Why does everyone else get that luxury." Hot tears burn my eyes and I retreat from the safety of his arms, curling in on myself and fighting back the tears that threaten to fall.

"Harry, death isn't a luxury. It's something everyone will face, even you. You haven't died yet because it's not time. There are still things you're meant to do and lives you're meant to change." Draco pulls me back against him. "There are people that love you, Harry Potter."

"So many people have died for me, because of me." I start to cry. "Teddy is never going to know his parents. George tried to kill himself because of Fred's death."

"And you think killing yourself is going to fix that? You'd be adding to the deaths and letting Voldemort win." Draco's arms tighten around me.

I let out a shuddering sigh and my sobs lessen. I turn in Draco's arms and bury my head in his chest.

"Why do you love me?" I whisper. "I'm a mess."

"Oh darling, we're all a mess. But that shouldn't stop us from living. It shouldn't stop us from loving." He brushes a hand down my cheek and wipes away my tears. "Don't hide from your pain but don't let it hold you back from happiness, from living."

I smile back. It stretches unnaturally across my face. "How did I get so lucky finding you?." My knees dig painfully into the floor. At some point, we'd slid onto the ground and now sat facing each other with our arms on each other's shoulders. Our breath puffs at out in clouds of steam. Neither of us are dressed appropriately for the weather. We both wear jeans and he has a navy blue t-shirt and I have a dark gray hoodie.

"Do you want to go to bed?" I ask, stifling a yawn.

Draco nods, pulling away and stretching sleepily. He stands up and casts a quick heating charm and soon the room is warm and cozy.

We undress quickly and slide between the sheets on the bed.

"G'night Harry" He mumbles into my hair, pulling me against him.

"Night, I love you." I murmur, pressing against him and breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo. I drift off to sleep happily because whether in a room at Hogwarts or a crumbling house in the middle of nowhere, if we are in each other's arms, I am home.