Chapter Text
Draco awoke wrapped in warmth and contentment. The duvet was plump and heavy over his body, and he squirmed under it, nestling against the many pillows.
The flames in the fireplace of his new bedroom were still crackling merrily away, charmed to go on through the night, and through the curtains he could see a sliver of bright sunshine illuminating the falling snow.
After everything he and his family had suffered last year, he had been eager to choose himself a new room at Malfoy Manor to distance himself from all the bad memories. And he had never been gladder of the move from his childhood single bed to the double he was now sprawled in, as he had been the previous night, when he and Harry had tipsily tumbled into it in a mess of tangled limbs and never ceasing kisses.
They had shared a room at school for some weeks now, but there was nothing quite like making love when you knew for absolute certain that you were the only ones on the entire floor, and had absolutely no risk of being interrupted. Draco rolled over now, slipping his arms around his boyfriend’s naked, sleeping form, and easing them gently together in an affectionate embrace.
Harry mumbled and shifted against him, and Draco smiled, closing his eyes and listening to him breath as he rested his head on his warm chest. He had moved slowly and tenderly inside him last night, their bodies as unified as their hearts as they had come to completion together. Draco knew it was still only early days, but he was pretty certain he was totally, head-over-heels in love.
He traced his fingertips up and down Harry’s side, wondering if he should wake him in a more intimate fashion, or let him sleep after the rigorous workout he had put him through last night. But his touch must have alerted Harry through his slumber, and his green eyes fluttered open sleepily.
“Hi,” Draco said quietly, sweeping his thumb across Harry’s cheek. “Good morning.”
Harry rubbed his face and snuggled closer into Draco’s side. “Not just any morning though,” he said through a yawn, then kissed the hollow of Draco’s throat.
The truth was, no morning was just ‘any morning’ anymore. Ever since their adventure at Halloween, Harry had bought his very own copy of the book Hermione had unearthed from the library, the one listing every single holiday celebrated throughout the world.
Each morning, the boys would turn the page and find out what day they were waking up to, and make sure to celebrate a little of each holiday in some way, even if it was only tiny. There were an extraordinary amount of days that celebrated different foods, so the kitchen house elves had become used to the two of them popping up on their door with strange requests which they were only too happy to help them fulfil. Harry had introduced Draco to square dancing, crosswords, and the ways of the ninja and the daleks. They had worn brown shoes and faux leather and even spent one day the previous week trying to communicate only in Arabic.
That day had ended with a lot more kissing than talking.
But today they didn’t need to look at the book (which was a good job, as it was currently somewhere under the bed after Draco had rather enthusiastically tipped his case upside down in pursuit of certain items last night). Today was extra special.
“Merry Christmas,” Draco said, kissing Harry softly on the lips.
It turned out, they had both kept their imposed memories from their time down in the Holiday Lands, and therefore Harry was now the experienced expert when it came to anything Christmas related. He’d used his new skills to wrap most of their friends presents twice as prettily in half the time, become the champion of snowball fights and could now sing every carol ever written in perfect key. He had been looking forward to this day ever since they had returned to the Living Land, and Draco was pretty certain he knew why.
He felt the same way when he thought about next Halloween. He guessed that it made Harry feel connected to the friends they had had to leave behind, to the life he’d never really lived, but lost all the same.
Draco hoped they could make their first Christmas together especially good in order to combat any melancholy. They were staying with his mother, but would also be visiting the Weasleys, and Pansy had insisted on joining in too, much to Draco’s amusement. But for now, it was just them, and Draco wanted to make the most of it.
“Merry Christmas,” Harry told him back, and they spent several minutes kissing, hands roaming leisurely, touches gentle and full of promise. Before Draco could get too distracted though (which was all too easy when he was faced with a naked Harry) he pulled away and brushed Harry’s hair out of his eyes.
“I’ve been thinking about your present,” he began tentatively.
Harry pretended to pout. “I’ve only got the one?” he asked, with puppy dog eyes that looked ever bigger without his glasses on.
Draco swatted his arm. “Oh shove off, you know you’ve got dozens,” he teased, unable to stop himself smiling as he thought about Harry unwrapping them all later. “But, this is something different, more of an idea I wanted to talk to you about.”
Despite all their good intentions, their relationship hadn’t been entirely smooth going, which really was only to be expected considering their troublesome history. They’d been seeing a counsellor in Hogsmeade though, something they planned to carry on doing, and the best advice they had learned from her by far was that communication was key. If they didn’t talk, they couldn’t know what the other was thinking, and as hard as Draco found that, he had to begrudgingly admit it worked.
So he had toyed with the idea of working on this idea himself, but when it came down to it, he knew he wanted to do it with Harry by his side. His gift, he hoped, would be in the suggestion itself.
“Sure,” said Harry as he stroked his fingers through his hair. It was one of his favourite little habits, and Draco loved it. It gave him confidence then as he took a breath, and considered what he wanted to say.
“I’d like to organise something for you, for us,” he said, chewing his lip. He’d already done a lot of research, however he knew there would be a lot more work ahead. If so, he was fully intending on utilising Granger’s brains, the unequivocal highlight of their new friendship, for sure. “But I need help. And, well, I wanted to know if you thought it was a good idea first?”
Harry nodded. “You can tell me anything Draco,” he said, knowing he needed that little bit of extra encouragement. It worked.
Draco traced his fingers along Harry’s collarbone, then stopped procrastinating and looked him in the eye. “I was thinking about our anniversary land,” he said. “The one we created.” They had been back to check; the icon of the snake and the lion was still etched into the tree bark in the forest. “How we were able to control it when we were there.”
Harry’s eyes widened in a way he couldn’t quite read. “Yeah?” he prompted.
“Well, seeing as the doors open on the date of the holiday, I was thinking for your Christmas present we could work out how we could maybe go safely back through, so we could spend our anniversary visiting our friends?”
Harry stared at him for a second, then squealed and buried his face into Draco’s neck in what he hoped was a happy reaction.
“Um,” he said nervously. “Is that a good thing?”
Harry re-emerged grinning broadly. “I was maybe thinking about the same thing,” he admitted, and Draco’s heart leapt.
“Really?” Harry nodded and bit his lip. “Wow. So, that’s a yes?”
“That’s a hell yes,” Harry promised.
“But it’s still my idea,” Draco warned him, holding a finger up. “I suggested it first, so it’s still my present, technically?”
“Shut up and kiss me, you idiot,” Harry chuckled, dragging him back in for another kiss.
It was going to take some time, Draco knew that. He never wanted to be in the same position as they had been before; losing their memories and almost being stuck down there forever. But he missed Bones a lot, and had thought almost every day about Blackbeard and his crew, and Tommy and his bar. Harry talked enough about Fan and Rocky, and especially Bobby and Joe, for Draco to have guessed he’d like to see them again, and after hearing all about it he was pretty desperate to go see Star Wars Land.
But they had nine whole months until November 1st, which would give them plenty of time to work up to a visit they could return from. And in the meantime, they would continue celebrating every day for the holiday it was, taking joy and delight in the smallest of traditions, and being grateful for the opportunity they had been given.
But most of all, they would do it together, just how Draco had always dreamed they might, but never really dared hope they would. They had their whole future ahead of them, and enough holidays to last a lifetime.
The End