All Seasons Shall Be Sweet to Thee

Winter's Here to Stay

Draco opened his eyes when the earth stopped shaking and saw red blood on the white snow. Crawling out from the ditch he was hiding in, Draco slowly approached the two bodies. The remains of the Dark Lord were barely recognizable, but Potter looked strangely untouched, except for the unnatural pallor of his skin. His wand lay next to him in the mud, broken and charred.

Colossal bad timing had brought Draco there - delivering a message to the Dark Lord on Macnair's orders. He arrived to find the final battle in full swing and dove into a ditch, pressing his face into the mud.

"Dead yet, Potter?" he murmured, kneeling down. He pressed his fingers to Potter's neck. There was a pulse, although it was weak and erratic. Green eyes fluttered open and focused on him.

"Who are you?" Potter whispered, and then slipped back into unconsciousness.

A black crow flew into a nearby thicket, his caws harsh in the still air. Draco felt a smile creep across his face. He gathered Potter in his arms, stumbling a little on his bad leg. They disappeared, leaving the snow and blood behind.

"Who is the strange man, daddy?" Isolde asked him in a whisper.

Draco picked her up in his arms, kissing her soft curls. "His name is...Harry," Draco told her. Harry. He would have to get used to saying that.

"Why is he sleeping in your bed like mommy used to?"

"Remember how I loved mommy?" Isolde nodded. "Well since she's gone, this is who I love now."

"Oh." Isolde thought for a moment. "Will Harry love me?"

"How could he not?" Isolde smiled happily, and Draco lit the candles. Night came so early in the winter.

v.v.v.v.v.v.

Draco stood quietly in the doorway. Harry was sitting up in bed, and Isolde was proudly showing Harry a drawing she had done. A warm spring breeze blew through the open window and ruffled Isolde's curls into her face. Harry tentatively reached out and brushed them back. Isolde giggled.

"How are you feeling, love?" Draco asked, stepping into the room. Harry started, a blush transfusing his pale cheeks.

"Better," he mumbled.

Draco sent Isolde off to play and sat down next to Harry. Reaching out, he tilted Harry's face toward his and captured his lips in a kiss. At first, Harry didn't respond, but then his lips melted against Draco's, and he rested his hand on the back of Draco's neck. After a few seconds, Draco gently broke away.

"Sorry," Draco murmured. "I know you're still not feeling too well. It's just hard to wait - I keep thinking of how it was before your accident, and I get a little...impatient."

"That's all right," Harry said and slowly reached out to take Draco's hand.

v.v.v.v.v.v.

"She's so beautiful," Harry whispered. He gently brushed Isolde's cheek with his fingers. Harry had felt well enough to go outside today, and they had celebrated by having a picnic. Isolde had been tremendously excited and had only just fallen asleep in the warm summer twilight.

Draco remembered when Pansy told him about the pregnancy. He had told her he would kill her if she so much as looked at a bottle of Firewhiskey. Pansy obeyed him until after Isolde was born, and then got herself killed in a car accident. Draco thought of the cold Muggle morgue and the dispassionate voice of the Muggle healer, explaining how both Pansy and the young Muggle driver of the car had been intoxicated. Draco was sure Pansy had been fucking the Muggle on the side.

"Harry, you should come indoors," Narcissa said, hurrying across the lawn. She was carrying a lantern, and moths fluttered against the glass. "You've only just gotten up for the first time today."

"Okay," Harry replied, smiling. "It's been a lovely day, though." He gathered Isolde up in his arms, and they walked back to the Manor. Draco's leg pained him after sitting for so long on the ground, and he limped along by Harry's side.

v.v.v.v.v.v.

Harry screamed for three nights straight when Halloween came. Draco was there with potions and soothing words. The wind rattled the bare branches of the tree against the window, and the moon rode low in the sky.

He listened to Harry cry out the names of his godfather, and his parents, and his friends. Draco knew that some part of Harry remembered. He went and got his wand, aiming it at Harry's head. The silent minutes crawled by, and then he threw the wand across the room. Harry's gaze was blank and trusting in the morning.

v.v.v.v.v.v.

Harry rushed out with Isolde when the first snow fell, as excited as she was. The snowflakes collected in Harry's dark lashes, and he blinked them away, laughing. Draco made sure there was hot cocoa for them when they came back inside, breathless and chilled.

Before going to bed that night, Draco put on his robe and stepped out onto the balcony. The snow burned his bare feet with an icy fire. The stars glittered with a fire of their own in the skies above him.

Harry stepped outside and stood next to him. "I want you," Harry whispered.

Draco allowed himself to be drawn back inside. Chilled fingers fumbled against each other, and the feel of Harry's skin under his hands was like an old memory.