The Nose On Your Face

----------------------

-------------------------

The Nose On Your Face

-------------------------

----------------------

"But just look at it, Harry - it's huge." Draco frowned into the dressing table mirror for the seventh time that morning and rested his chin on his hands.

Harry snorted. More like the seven hundredth time. He settled deeper into the bedclothes and adopted a soothing tone, in an attempt to reassure the dejected Slytherin. "For the last time, Draco, there's nothing wrong with it."

"You don't have to be polite, Harry." The Slytherin threw a disbelieving look over his shoulder.

"I've never been polite to you in my entire life and I'm not about to start now."

"Don't change the subject."

Harry groaned loudly and turned over so that his face was now buried in the pillow. He couldn't believe that Draco was still going on about this. "For the last time," he moaned, the pillow muffling his voice, "your nose is the most distinctly and boringly average one I have ever seen."

There were a few moments of silence.

"That's not what my uncle said," Draco replied in a tiny voice. He turned back to the mirror.

Harry lifted his head off the pillow in surprise. "What did your uncle say?" All joking aside, if anyone had hurt Draco's feelings he would personally -

"Well maybe it's not what he said so much as the way he said it."

Harry raised a dubious eyebrow. "Ok, how did he say it?"

"Well - it's not how he said it either."

Draco gestured towards his nose. "It's the way he looked at it."

Harry sighed. He didn't know if he had the patience for this.

Draco could see that his boyfriend hadn't quite grasped the seriousness of the situation so he repeated himself. "He just looked at my nose."

"Draco, I look at your nose everyday."

"It's the way he looked at it." Draco frowned for a second. "Well - he may have been looking past it -"

Harry shot Draco an incredulous look. He held up his hands to signal to his boyfriend to stop talking. "Wait a minute. Let me get this straight...you're telling me that you're upset because of the way in which your uncle may or may not have been looking past your nose?"

Draco huffed and turned back to the mirror. He knew Harry wouldn't understand.

The Gryffindor closed his eyes and silently counted.

One,

two,

three,

four,

fi -

"Well I'm sorry I'm not perfect," Draco suddenly remarked icily. "Like Seamus."

Harry snorted. Five seconds. He had wondered how long it would be before Draco entered Seamus into the equation. He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"I can see you in the mirror you know," Draco huffed. "And you can say what you like. But I've seen the way you look at him." Draco folded his arms defiantly.

"What, with both eyes you mean?"

Draco ignored that last comment. "And you hugged him."

"Draco, for the love of -" How many times did Harry need to explain this? "I fell on him! I tripped over Ron's foot remember?"

"Well he held you too long."

"Seamus is happily married, Draco."

He wishes he was, Draco added silently. To you.

Harry continued. "He's my work colleague for goodness sake. Our relationship is strictly a professional one -"

"Oh, of course it is," Draco hissed sarcastically. "And I'm sure he'll remember the professional nature of your relationship when he comes looking to you for comfort, telling you that his wife doesn't understand him anymore or something, and then you'll conveniently fall on him -"

Harry exhaled angrily. He had had enough of this. He sat upright, suddenly serious.

"Draco, what is all this about?"

Draco looked away.

Harry slowly pulled back the covers and got out of the bed. He tentatively walked towards his boyfriend and knelt before him silently. Draco still refused to meet Harry's gaze. The dark-haired man took both of Draco's hands in his own and noticed that the Slytherin was trembling.

His expression softened when he looked into Draco's reflection and saw the sadness in his eyes.

"What's got into you?" he murmured. "Are you going to get jealous everytime I - so much as look at someone? Or fall on someone? What's going on?" He was genuinely concerned.

Draco mumbled something unintelligible. A tear ran down the end of his nose and dropped onto Harry's lap.

"Speak up, Malfoy," Harry teased lovingly.

"You're so perfect." Draco said in a tiny voice.

"What?" Harry didn't understand.

"You're so perfect." Draco's gaze was fixed on their entwined hands. He still couldn't meet Harry's eyes. He exhaled shakily. "And I suppose I'm just scared that you won't want to be with me anymore when you realise that I'm not."

Harry's heart nearly broke at the words. It had taken a lot for Draco to say this, and they both knew it.

Harry also knew that Draco's confession that he 'supposed he was scared' meant that he actually was scared. Terrified, maybe.

Harry took his boyfriend in his arms. He was still trembling.

"Draco -"

The Slytherin still avoided his gaze.

"Draco, look at me." Harry gently tilted his chin upwards so that their gazes locked. Draco's eyes were red.

"Do you see my chin?"

"What?" Draco smiled in spite of himself.

"Do you see that cleft on my chin?"

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Just look at it will you."

Draco blinked. "What am I looking at?"

"The cleft on my chin."

Draco squinted and tilted his head a little. "What, that? Oh, you're right. I've never really noticed it before." He waited.

"Well? What do you think?"

"About what?"

"The cleft on my chin," Harry repeated impatiently. "What do you think about it?" Draco could be hard work sometimes.

"Who cares about your chin?"

"I care." Harry said. "A lot, in fact."

"What's that got to do with any - "

Harry realised he would have to spell it out or they'd be here for the rest of the week. "Remember when we first got together I used to hide my chin a lot? I always covered it with my hand when I was talking to you?"

Draco frowned, trying to recall any memories that might help him identify this strange avenue that their conversation had taken a sudden turn down. "Not really...."

"Well I used to think that you'd stop liking me because of my chin."

"What? I just said I've never even noticed it before."

"Well, I thought you might break up with me."

Draco stared at Harry incredulously. He spoke with the manner of someone addressing a small child. "Harry, did you seriously think that I'd break up with you because of your chin? I don't care what it looks like! What kind of ridicul - oh."

Suddenly Draco realised what his boyfriend was getting at. He gave him a small sheepish smile.

Harry kissed the tip of the Slytherin's nose. "I like your nose exactly the way it is. And if for whatever reason it changes in the future, I'll still like it. And you know why?" He tilted Draco's face up towards his. "Because it's a part of you."

Draco sniffled and accepted the embrace. He smiled into Harry's shoulder. He always knew how to make things better. Bloody Gryffindor.

Harry grinned to himself. He inhaled the musky scent of Draco's aftershave and held him tightly, knowing that from now on, things between them would be alright.

And although Harry had never in his life even given a second thought to the cleft in his chin, he would forgive himself if it didn't weigh too heavily on his conscience.

--------------------------

--------------------------