Endings

Harry sat at the table that his friends had dragged him to. He was not even remotely interested in attending the Graduation Ball, but as a senior and graduating member, he was required to attend. So he had dragged out his formal ball robes, the black ones, with the silver trim, and had allowed his two best friends to drag him downstairs to the Great Hall. He figured he only had to make an appearance, and then he could go off to sulk in his tower for one last time.

Tomorrow was going to be the first day of the rest of his life, and he had no clue as to what he was going to be doing after the summer was over. He had a few options, but none really appealed to him because all of them meant that the love of his life would not be by his side. He looked out across the ballroom floor and saw his best friends dancing together closely. He was jealous that his friends could show their affection so easily to one another, especially when his love could never be shared in public. As he watched Ron lean down to kiss Hermione, he felt the tears that had been welling up in his eyes threaten to fall, so he took a quick swig from his punch glass. He was looking at his feet when he noticed a pair of female shoes come into his view.

He glanced up and found himself looking at his friend Luna. She stuck her hand out and said, "If you don't hurry up and dance you are going to be pounced on by a few Hufflepuffs who are determined to break through your ice-wall and become the 'girlfriend-of-the-boy-who-lived.' I thought I should rescue you from that."

He smiled at Luna. She was quirky and strange, yes, but she always knew when to come and save him from the fawning females that seemed to trail after him wherever he went. Harry had noticed that all of his close female friends had been doing that same thing throughout the night.

He took Luna's hand and they slow-danced through the next two dances. She explained that while she was taking notes on the graduation ball for her father's paper, she had overheard the girls talking near the punchbowl. Knowing how Harry had been trying to avoid the opposite sex since the unfortunate Cho Chang disaster, she thought that she had better put her notes aside and rescue her friend from unwanted advances. She knew how hard it had been to get him to the dance; she didn't want to see him bolt from the room before the wizard witch line up.

Near the end of the second song, Harry felt someone staring at him, and as he scanned the room, he prayed that it was not another female fan. As his wandering eyes reached the Slytherin table, he saw the blond staring back at him. He nervously smiled, and was rewarded with a wink before the blonde turned to talk with the other Slytherins that were sitting at the table. Harry asked Luna if she would be interested in a drink, and at her agreement, he lead her over to the punchbowl and got them each a glass full of a mysterious blue liquid. A sixth year Hufflepuff started to come towards Harry, but was quickly intercepted by Seamus. Seamus grinned and winked at Harry and mouthed, "You owe me one."

Harry smiled for one of the few times that night. His friends knew and understood his revulsion of dealing with females that were not his friends. They knew that he preferred boys to girls, and they had kept his secret for the past two years, even when he had chosen to love the enemy. He was grateful that his friends loved him enough to help him, no matter what the problem was. He sighed, because the one thing he really wanted was not something any of his friends could solve.

Luna and Harry went over to the table that he had been sitting at previously, and sat down. He scanned the room but did not see the one person that he could never dance with in public. His heart constricted when he thought that he wouldn't get to at least see the one person he desired above all else. A flash of blond hair, belonging to a young man dressed in black robes with green trim, caught his eye on the dance floor, and Harry was filled with relief. The love of his life was dancing with several other Slytherins, and the moves he was making made things in the lower portion of Harry's body react. Harry had to admire the way the blond boy's body just flowed gracefully over the floor, and his mind wandered to the first time the blond had danced for him privately. It was completely erotic, and even now, Harry's body was reacting. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and prayed that no more girls would attempt to dance with him now. He wanted to enjoy looking at the lithe blond as he danced. The blond looked over to where Harry was sitting, and turned so that Harry had a full view of the moves the blond was making. Harry was finding it harder and harder to not jump up and grab the blond and drag him off to their secret room in the castle. The other boy recognized that look and was suddenly fighting the same urge that his lover was. He winked at Harry again and disappeared into the crowd of dancers to give them both a bit of time to cool off.

Harry shifted in his chair, a little disappointed, but relieved in a sense. They had successfully hidden their romance for an entire year, and to destroy that now would have been stupid beyond belief, not to mention unsafe for his lover. It would not do for him to reveal his secret lover to everyone in the ballroom, especially since his lover's future depended on his past and future relationships. No, Harry would only bring about his lover's death, if anyone outside of the few friends Harry trusted were to find out his secret. Harry could feel the tears starting again, and his heart had clenched when he remembered the words they had spoken to each other just last night. "I will love you forever My Dragon, but-" and his love interrupted him to finish, "I cannot go against my destiny, I don't want to bring harm to you so I must let you go." And after that, there had been no words. Only tears, kisses, and the final lovemaking of the two star-crossed men.

Harry's fist slammed down on the table and was surprised when he felt a hand cover his fist. He looked up into his best friend's eyes and said, "I didn't think leaving would hurt this bad."

Ron said, "Oi mate, love's a rose garden, there's got to be a thorn in there sometime or another," which brought about a smile from the forlorn Harry. Ron, his best friend in the whole world, had accepted him being gay without giving it another thought. He had helped to keep hidden his relationship with a certain Slytherin, whom Ron personally could not stand, and was with him now to help him deal with the heartache of never seeing his lover again. Harry gripped his friend's hand in thanks, and stood up.

"Oi mate, I think I am heading off to the tower. I just can't-" But he was interrupted mid-sentence, by Professor Dumbledore's voice requesting that all Graduates please come to the dance floor and line up with their house. Harry sighed. He had hoped to be well on his way to his tower, and be spared from this one tradition, but it looked as if his friends had been successful in keeping him there. He sighed once again, because he seriously doubted that he could get away with not dancing with an adoring female fan, and he didn't know if he would be able to hide his revulsion it if it turned out that he had to dance with someone he didn't know. He didn't notice the sly glances and conspirator smiles darting towards him from the other seniors in his house.

He lined up with his class, and as Dumbledore started calling names out onto the dance floor to begin the traditional "Senior dance," he noticed that he was directly across from the sly Slytherin that had awoken so much passion in him at the beginning of this school year. His eyes bulged when he realized that Dumbledore had somehow finagled the list so that those who preferred boys would be dancing with boys - unlike other years where all the partners were male/female. Harry was even more surprised when he heard Draco Malfoy's name called in conjunction with his. He panicked because he knew that if he touched the one person he desired more than life itself, that he would lose the tenuous hold he currently held over his emotions. Draco must have sensed this because he did not give the Gryffindor a chance to escape, but rather grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the dance floor.

"What's the matter Potter, afraid to touch the son of a Death Eater?" Harry felt that this night could get no stranger. He allowed the Slytherin to drag him onto the floor, and he slowly started to slow-dance with him. Harry was apprehensive at first, until Draco whispered in his ear, "Relax, there are other gay couples on the floor - no one suspects that we really were a couple. Besides, everyone already knew that I was...." Harry allowed himself to be drawn into the blond's arms more solidly, and he slowly began to relax. He closed his eyes and listened to Draco murmuring in his ear, not caring what he said, only that he was talking. Harry was savoring the fact that he was finally holding his lover in public, and because of the way Dumbledore had arranged things, no one could possibly imagine that the two of them were lovers. No one would think of that, and therefore, the love of his life was safe from his Father and the Death Eaters of Voldemort.

"Harry, Harry love, the song is almost over, and there is something that I have to say.... Please don't run when it's done.... Do you promise me?" Harry heard Draco begging in his ear.

"All right, Draco, I will listen and not run," Harry promised, now curious as to what Draco could want to discuss with him. They had said their "I love you's" and goodbyes last night. What in the world could he possibly want to or have to say to him?

Harry glanced over at Ron and Hermione and realized that somehow, Draco had managed to lead them into the middle of a lot of Gryffindors on the dance floor. Harry noticed that all of his friends had surrounded him, and that they were all looking at him with smiles on their faces. Harry was starting to get paranoid as the song ended, but before he could pull himself out of Draco's arms, Draco tightened his arms on Harry, and as Harry glanced up in confusion, the blond Slytherin boldly winked at him and lowered his mouth to kiss Harry. At first, Harry could do nothing but stand there in surprise, but his passion for Draco soon outweighed any other emotion he had, and he found that he was kissing the blond back as boldly as Draco had begun the kiss. In the back of his mind, he heard clapping, catcalls, and wolf-whistles, and when Draco pulled back from the kiss, Harry could only gaze at his former lover in amazement.

Draco traced Harry's lips with his left hand and grabbed Harry's right hand with the other. Draco winked again, and before Harry could react, Draco had dropped to one knee, Harry's hand still in his, and said loudly, "Harry James Potter, would you do me the honor of becoming my husband?" Harry had noticed that the entire ballroom gasped in unison, had fallen silent, and that all eyes were now on the couple that were in the middle of the dance floor.

Harry glanced around, saw his friends' faces smiling with joy, and then he glanced back at Draco. Draco's eyes were full of love and need, and Harry, who had never been able to resist those glowing gray orbs, found himself stuttering a question, "W-w-what?" And Draco repeated his request just as loudly as the first time, and patiently awaited Harry's reply. Harry stared at Draco and was going to say no, but found himself saying, "Yes," instead. Draco stood up and gathered the Gryffindor boy to him and kissed him with twice the passion of the first kiss. As he pulled back from his fiancée, he whispered, "I love you, Harry."

Draco then took his hand and led him from the dance floor and out into the courtyard where the gardens were located. A place where he and Draco had always desired to go, but never ventured, for fear that they would be discovered. Draco led him to one of the private seats and sitting down, pulled Harry down next to him, wrapping his arms around Harry. "I couldn't live without you in my world, so I decided to become part of yours. I spoke to Professor Snape after I left you last night, and he agreed to help me get out of becoming a Death Eater. I owed my father before coming to the dance so you realize of course that I will be a poor teacher's assistant and will not be able to afford much in the way of homes-"

To which Harry interrupted him and said, "I don't care if you were so broke that we had to sleep outside, as long as we can be together... Besides, I am pretty well-off since my parents left me a small fortune - not as much as the Malfoys', of course, but-" and he was stopped by Draco's passionate kiss.

After a few moments, they came up for air, and Draco said, "You have some wonderful friends, Harry. After I spoke to Professor Snape, I owled Hermione, and they helped pull off the dance partners, and they even dragged Dumbledore into the plans. The hardest part was keeping the girls away from you, so you wouldn't bolt before the dance. That is why so many of your female friends were watching over you tonight. Ron even helped me to acquire this -" Draco said, as he produced a small box. "I had planned on giving you this a few months ago, for when we had to stop seeing each other, but the time was never right. So this morning," and he popped the top open on the box, so Harry could see the ring, "Ron owled his brothers and had them go to the jewelers to get this..." and then Draco showed him his left hand.

Harry glanced at Draco's hand and saw a ring, not just any ordinary ring, either. It was two-toned, with a dragon of silver and a lion of gold facing one another with their tails entwined. The dragon had an emerald for an eye and the Lion a ruby, and their upper bodies were curled around a diamond. Harry glanced over to the box that Draco still held open, and nestled in the box was an exact replica. Harry gasped at the meaning, and then Draco was putting the ring on his left hand. Draco held Harry's hand so that both rings were showing as he leaned in to kiss Harry one more time.

Draco pulled Harry close and murmured in his ear, "I love you," and Harry raised his head from Draco's shoulder and replied, "I love you too."

Three weeks after graduation, Hogwarts was once again filled with people. Draco and Harry were getting married. The Main Hall was decorated in Slytherin Green and Gryffindor Red. At the altar was Dumbledore, who was officiating the ceremony, Ron Weasley, who was standing up for Harry, and Blaise Zabini who was, surprising enough, standing up for Draco. Hermione, who had planned the whole celebration, sat with the rest of the Weasleys as Harry's Family. On the other side, there were only a handful of people; the most outstanding was a beautiful blonde woman and an obviously punk, pink-haired girl. Harry was still amazed that Narcissa Malfoy was not only okay with the whole wedding, but was also related to his good friend Tonks.

Dumbledore motioned for the couple at the back of the room to advance to the front. Holding hands, Draco and Harry made their way to the spot where Dumbledore stood, waiting to hand fast them into their union. The rings they exchanged were simple silver and gold bands. Draco's was engraved with: "You're mine ~ love your Lion," and on Harry's was: "You're Mine ~ love your Dragon." They had selected the bands together, each agreeing to wear the engagement rings on their right hands, and the wedding bands on their lefts, to show a solid union. As they said their vows, and finally kissed as a couple, Dumbledore announced them. "Draco and Harry Malfoy-Potter." And the Great Hall burst into thunderous applause.

Later that night, the newly-wedded couple lie in their bed in their new quarters at Hogwarts, and showed each other how much they both loved the other. Their new life was starting out much better than their romance originally had, and they both relished their time together.

The beginning of a new school year found Harry no longer wondering what he would be doing with his life. Voldemort had been defeated, and, surprisingly enough, with the help of Draco's father, Dumbledore had retired immediately after the victory. McGonagall took over as head mistress and Professor Snape took over as Assistant Head. Snape would only be taking the most advanced students in Potions and while McGonagall was able to procure a transfiguration teacher, the bad-luck position of DADA was still open. McGonagall hired Harry as the new DADA teacher (and broke the bad-luck associated with that position) and hired Draco to teach beginning and intermediate Potions. In the years that followed, no graduation ball was complete until the story of how a brave Gryffindor Lion captured a sly Slytherin Dragon Prince (or the other way around depending on which house you were listening to) with love, was told. If the graduates were lucky, the Professors who caused such a legend would make an appearance, and dance one slow-dance together, always escaping to the Gardens before anyone could stop them to chat.