Dust on the Bottle

How cold it was inside the bedroom was all Harry could think about. Ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that told him it was simply miserable outside, he got up and crossed to the window. Outside it was dark, being a new moon and all. He frowned when he thought about poor Remus, all alone during the full moon since Sirius' tragic demise. Harry sighed and watched the window fog up where his breath had kissed the cold glass. He sighed again and turned back towards the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something out on the lawn. Turning around quickly, he surveyed the yard. Nothing but falling snow met his emerald gaze. Dismissing it as a trick of his aging eyes, he returned to bed, snuggling close to Ginny. Ginny shifted closer to him in her sleep, her red hair splayed around her head like a halo. Harry smiled gently and laid a tender kiss on her forehead.

'Three years tomorrow,' Harry thought, reminiscing of their wedding day.

The wedding had been something from a fairy tail: they'd married as soon as Voldemort had been defeated, in the Weasleys' garden with a few close friends and family. Everyone--except Harry, that is-- had been surprised when none other than Draco Malfoy had turned up to his enemy-turned-comrade's wedding. Ron had wanted to hex Draco clear into the next millennium, but Hermione's gentle pleadings and Harry's calm hand on his shoulder had been the only thing holding Ron back. The fact that Ginny had taken her brother's wand 'for safe keeping' had helped ease some of the tension the wedding party had been feeling that day.

Harry sighed. He and Draco had managed to slip off for a few minutes before the ceremony. Inside Ron's room, they had stood in silence, looking out onto the garden, Draco's arms encircling Harry's gaunt waist seemingly on their own accord.

'Draco had smelled of roses and chocolate,' Harry thought, recalling one of his most precious memories. 'And tasted of champagne.'

Somehow, Draco had wound up pushing him against the wall that day, kissing him with all the imploding passion both boys had felt. Harry unconsciously brushed a hand to his lips, remembering the feel of those warm Malfoy lips against his own. Ginny had never kissed him like that, and he knew she never would. She was too caught up in trying to be both the perfect wife and perfect Auror Harry knew she was.

He loved Ginny with all his heart, but a tiny bit of his heart broke every time the two of them made love. He missed the feel of Draco's hands caressing every inch of his skin, those tender lips waltzing their way down to the final frontier. Harry drew in a shaky breath as he again recalled those few stolen moments in Ron's room before his wedding.

He and Draco had sank to the Chudley Canon-clad bed and made feral love. Tears had spilled down Draco's pale face as he and Harry had climaxed together. Then, Draco had kissed Harry so tenderly, it left him wondering for years if he had even been kissed at all. They had dressed again in silence, trying not to look at each other. Eventually, Draco had turned to Harry and started to fix his green tie.

"You'd have done well in Slytherin," Draco had said, the ghost of a smirk gracing his features.

"And you'd have done Gryffindor proud," Harry had replied and cupped Draco's cheek. Tears threatening to fall, he had added. "I'll always love you."

Draco's hand had come to rest over Harry's heart. Without saying a word, Draco leaned forward and captured Harry's lips in a final bittersweet kiss.

"C'mon," he said with a smirk. "We can't have you late for your own wedding." A pregnant pause. "I'll still love you more, Harry."

Harry's eyes dropped to the floor and he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Draco's hand was grasped in his own; the long elegant fingers were an insult to his own calloused ones. With a heavy sigh, Harry had left the room. Draco had given Harry ample time to get outside before exiting himself. However, he did allow time to hex Ron's bed to fold up when the afore mentioned Weasley lay down on it.

"What did the bastard want?" Draco heard Ron say as he slipped unnoticed back into the garden. Draco watched as Ron took in Harry's downtrodden look. When he spoken again his voice was filled with worry. "What's the matter, mate? He didn't hurt you, did he? Because if he did, I'll make sure he doesn't reproduce."

"Forget it, Ron," Harry said with more edge in his voice than intended. "He's a nice guy once you get to know him."

Harry and Ron, the best man, walked towards the gazebo where the Justice of the Peace waited for the wedding to begin.

Unbeknownst to Harry, Hermione had pieced their complicated jigsaw puzzle together. She had patted Draco's back sympathetically as she brushed past him and failed to notice that this soft 'thank you' was free of malice or anything regarding her parentage.

As Draco had taken a seat in the back near a downtrodden Remus, the wedding march had started up. Ginny had looked like an angel on her father's arm, but the fallen angel sitting unnoticed in the back held Harry's attention. He felt a tear slide down his face and his heart tear in two as the woman he was marrying walked obliviously past the man he loved.

Harry didn't recall how he had gotten through the ceremony or the reception that followed. However, he did, distinctly remember looking for Draco as women he didn't know collected around Ginny, waiting to catch the bouquet and ask her when they would have a fifth-cousin-thrice-removed...or something to that effect. Draco had been nowhere to be found, but his great eagle owl was sitting on the garden wall with a letter clutched in its beak. Harry had read the letter immediately, but had waited until he was sure he was alone while Ginny was at the spa days later in Mexico to cry. Draco Malfoy had left him brokenhearted, saying only that when the time came, would he even dare set foot in the Wizarding world again.

Harry had searched desperately for Draco for a year, but it had all been for farce. So, with a heavy, jaded heart, he had moved on. Or almost moved. Everyday he longed for the touch he knew he would never feel again, his body aching all the while for the feel of Draco's warm skin pressed against his. Harry turned over, his back facing the window. He wanted to get some sleep in before the dawn broke, but what was that infernal noise at the window? Without waking Ginny, he climbed out of bed in a huff and crossed to the window. He threw open the window and something hit him square in the forehead. He looked down to see the blond who had haunted his dreams for the past three years poised to throw another rock at the window.

"Sorry about that," Draco called up.

There was a tense silence in the moment it took Harry's frown to turn into a goofy grin.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" he called down, not bothering to make sure he didn't wake Ginny.

"I've come to take you away!" Draco yelled back up. "What do you say? Got enough gumption to leave the old ball and chain?"

"You're fucking crazy, Draco Malfoy!" Harry called, aware that Ginny was now sitting up in the bed. "Give me a minute and I'll be right down!"

"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny said, her sad eyes betraying her.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Harry said, "but I can't lie to myself anymore. I'm in love with Draco Malfoy and I'm about to do something I should have done three years ago." Harry took both her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes. "You're a strong woman and someone whom I love very much, but I can't watch the years make you and myself bitter. I'm sorry."

With a bitter smile and a nod, she said, "I understand, To---Harry. I've heard you call his name in your sleep since our wedding night. I stopped believing I could change your mind long ago."

Harry, shell-shocked, laid a sloppy kiss on her cheek and started throwing clothes into a small knapsack. He changed into a pair of jeans and a thick flannel shirt before donning his coat and running out into the falling snow. Running home--to Draco's arms. Harry knocked Draco to the ground, kissing him and being kissed in return with three years of pent up passion. Chuckling, Draco righted himself and offered Harry a hand.

"Where should we go?" Draco said, with a raised eyebrow and trademark smirk. "Ron'll have your head for leaving his sister, you know."

Harry blushed, although it was hard to tell from the snow-induced rosiness. "I came out to Ron after you switched sides."

Draco's mouth huge agape. "You son of bitch. That was ages ago! You're a piece of work, you know that?"

Harry took that as his cue to kiss Draco. Pulling back, he said, "I hear New York's beautiful this time of year."

Draco smiled against Harry's lips.

"New York it is," he said and kissed Harry once more before grabbing his broom and apparating amidst another passionate kiss.

Once the kiss was over, Harry pulled back to see a large penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. The apartment was decorated for Christmas, a gas fire glowing in the hearth.

"You've been in New York all this time?" He asked, leaning into the embrace.

Draco smiled and kissed the top of Harry's messy head. "No... for the longest I was following you, following me."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. It was all too ironic, he thought and kissed Draco again.

"You still taste like champagne," he said, untucking Draco's black silk shirt.

Draco kissed Harry fiercely, forcing open Harry's shirt. Buttons scattered everywhere, forgotten. Draco pulled back and slowly ran a hand down Harry's side, making him shudder.

"Speaking of champagne," he said, "there's a vintage bottle waiting in the bedroom."

Harry returned Draco's wicked smile. "Then what are we waiting for?"