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The first weeks after the final battle had been hell. An endless succession of funerals he was expected to speak at and meetings he was expected to nod at. Everyone suddenly wanted, expected, demanded something from him and it was just too much. When Harry started to feel more like a community property than his own person he had left.
At one of those meetings when he had contradicted an old bureaucrat someone told him his job wasn’t to have an opinion but to validate the decisions wiser men would make. He hadn’t bothered to ask where those men had been when he had to die for all of them, he had just stood up and left. Not only the meeting but the country.
He had thrown some random stuff in his old school trunk at Grimmauld Place and apparated to Hermione’s flat. Well, more Hermione’s and Ron’s flat but he was still officially living at the Burrow to give them some time to learn living on their own. But in reality, Ron spent every night at the flat, so Harry wasn’t the least bit surprised when he stumbled into the two of them shagging on the couch. The price of him being keyed into the wards was walking in on them so often, that he had stopped flinching or feeling bad at this point.
One look at Harry’s trunk was enough for the two of them to know what was up. They had watched him draw back further and further after all and though their only advice was to leave for somewhere where he had family.
That was why he was standing in his own little wooden hut only five months later decorating for Christmas. He had signed up for the Christmas shift at the dragon reserve he had gone to visit Charlie once he had left England. He hadn’t left yet.
When he had written Mrs Weasley that he wasn’t ready to come back to England for Christmas she had sent him a package with Christmas cookies and the assurance that they would wait for him to be ready to come back one day, as well as a letter to Charlie telling him very clearly that if he would dare to leave Harry alone to come home for Christmas she would send him right back.
So now Harry was decorating his little hut for his private little Christmas celebration with Charlie and if that wasn’t a thought. He had learned a lot about himself during his time at the dragon reserve and one of the most and least surprising things at the same time was that Charlie Weasley was freaking hot! Not the fun and playful hot Ginny had been for him, but the singing hot of someone that could burn you to ashes with a single look while you’d enjoy every second of it.
One night after he had been out to the pub with the other dragon tamers he had written a very illegible letter to Ginny starting exactly that. To his own surprise he hadn’t gotten a howler back, but a three-page letter stating “haha” over and over and over again, finishing with “So, you finally noticed?” and “Love you too, Harry”. It had been one of the most awkward and freeing moments in his entire life and that was saying something.
All of that had brought him to this day. Where he had decided to give Charlie his Christmas present early since the weather was beautiful today and no one could know how long it would hold in this part of the world.
Wrapped in as many layers of clothes and warming charms as he could handle, Harry started his way to Flore. Somehow the dragon Hermione, Ron and him had saved from Gringotts had ended up in this reserve as well and the French healer that had patched her back together had given her the name since she blossomed so much under just a little care.
The first day Charlie had introduced him to the dragons, she had scared the shit out of Harry by landing right in front of him and trying to place her head in his lab. Problem was her head was about twice the size of all of Harry. The fact, that dragons always remembered people, and never would miss someone riding them, was about the first thing he had learned at camp, right after the necessity of burning resistant clothes when one was around snuggling dragons.
Till this day, Harry was the only person around the reserve that had ever ridden a dragon, and since Flore had found him, it had become a repeating occurrence, that not only Charlie watched with both awe and jealousy.
“Hey Charlie, I spoke with Eftimie and you are off for today, so I can give you your present early. It’s kind of weather dependent.” He had trained that line so often to sound sure and cool, it hadn’t helped, it still came out unsure and to his shoes. He actually had spoken with Eftimie, the head of the reserve, even though he had left out any specifics.
When he finally lifted his eyes from his shoes, he was confronted with Charlie's warm smile, the one that had him always a bit weak in his knees.
“Sure Harry, do I need something specific or can we leave directly.”
Taking complete advantage of the question Harry took his time to look Charlie up and down, but couldn’t think of much, since his thoughts were filled with the unfairness of Charlie Weasly still looking that good, even though he was wrapped in too many layers as well.
“No, you should be fine, maybe refresh your warming charms though.”
Charlie just nodded and did as Harry suggested while following him without another word. It was one of the great things about Charlie, even though he had grown up in the Burrow he enjoyed the silence, as much as Harry did.
When they arrived at Flores prefered resting place Harry turned around. “Do you trust me?”
It was an innocent enough question, but so much was depending on his answer that Harry was actually shaking with anticipation.
“Of course.” were only two words, but right now those words out of Charlie's mouth meant the world to him.
“Ok, so take my hand please.” Charlie actually looked quite amused but did as Harry asked. Flore was watching the two of them very carefully, she was still quite suspicious about everything and everyone but Harry. Still, when Harry stretched out their clasped hands for her to smell, she only snorted and nudged them, which Harry took as a go for him to go on with his plan.
When Charlie realised that Harry was about to climb on Flores back, with their hand still clasped, he hesitated for a second.
“Are you sure, Harry?”
“I'm sure.” and this time he sounded as confident, as he had hoped to be earlier.
“Ah well, shit.” was the only reaction, before Charlie straightened his shoulders and climbed on the back of a dragon for the first time in his life.
Harry manoeuvred him to sit right behind him and put his hands around his waist.
“Just hold on.”
Without any further notion, Flore raised to the sky with the two men on her back. The view over the valley was breathtaking, Harry had to admit, and it never lost his magic for him. He couldn’t wrap his head around, that he was finally able to show it to someone.
When he turned around to see how Charlie was taking everything in he had to laugh. Charlie was sitting behind him, beaming like a little child and his eyes closed shut.
“You know, it’s even better if you open your eyes.” Harry had to giggle.
“I'm affright, that I will wake up when I do.”
“I promise you, you are awake.” That was enough prompting for Charlie to finally open his eyes, but instead of losing himself in the view over the mountains, as Harry had expected, his eyes focused on him and he leaned in.
And while they flew over the mountains and their lips finally met for the first time, Harry wondered, whos Christmas present this really was.