Welcome Home.

Harry woke the next morning before Draco, which was a rarity in itself. He smiled at the slumbering man next to him and made sure to pull the covers up and around him before he left the room and made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He had to catch himself before he only pulled out one mug for himself, going back into the cupboard to get the second that had stayed there far too long for his liking.

He pottered around the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as he could, knowing from experience that the walls were incredibly thin in the house and that the noises travelled easily around it, and that Draco did not react well to being woken up before he was ready. He popped some bread in the toaster while he waited for the kettle to boil on the stove, and went over to the window to collect the prophet from the owl that waited there patiently on him.

He had managed to sit down at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee and his toast, and flicked to the third page of the paper before, shuffling feet joined him in the room. He looked up from the paper and smiled at the bleary eyed Draco that stood in the doorway.

“Kettle’s not long boiled, should still be hot enough,” he said softly, turning back to the paper in front of him. He watched in his peripheral vision as Draco followed in his footsteps, pottering around the kitchen, pouring boiling water into the mug that was set out for him, and slotting bread into the toaster. He finally joined him at the table and Harry pushed the sports section in his direction. Draco mumbled a thanks and the house was silent except from the slurps from mugs, rustles of the newspaper and crunches of the toast. It felt as if it was back to the way it was before Draco left.

It wasn’t long before Harry had finished his bit of the paper and he set it aside and sat sipping his coffee. He knew that they would have to talk about what happened the night before, no matter what he said, it needed to be addressed out loud, but he was prepared to wait until Draco was ready to do so, whenever that would be.

Draco had also finished his section of the paper and they sat in a stretched out silence together, small sips of coffee and the occasional car going by on the road outside the only sounds that penetrated it. They didn’t look at each other, just at certain bits on the kitchen wall or in Harry’s case, out of the window. Harry wondered if Draco was waiting on him saying something, but guessed that he was actually probably just trying to form the right words and string a couple of sentences together. He was prepared to sit there for as long as it took, he needed to hear the words as much as Draco needed to say them, no matter how much he pretended he didn’t.

“I was scared,” Draco finally said, his voice reasonably steady and just loud enough to be heard. Harry looked over at him and sat forward in his seat, leaning his elbows on the table, hands wrapped around his half empty mug of coffee. He didn’t want to say anything in case he put Draco off so he stayed quiet.

“I was scared of what was happening between us. I was scared of hurting anyone. I was scared of what people would think. I was scared of you- of myself, of what could happen, that’s why I left” Draco said. Harry smiled softly, but Draco didn’t see him because he wasn’t looking at Harry, he was peering into his mug as if there was something other than his coffee dregs in there.

“And then, as soon as I walked back into the Manor, back to Astoria and Scorpius, I realised I didn’t belong there. Not anymore. I should have realised that as soon as I fell into bed with you that I would never call the Manor my home again. It took me longer than it should have to be able to get enough courage to finally admit that to Astoria, only to find that she already knew. Figures,” Draco said. He sighed and put his mug on the table and turned to look at Harry. Harry nodded, knowing anything he said would just make things awkward.

“She offered to keep as we were. She said the Manor was big enough for us both to carry on and do our own thing, with the facade for everyone else. I couldn’t do that though. Not to her, and most importantly not to you,” Draco said. Harry reached across the table and took his hand that had been circling around the rim of his mug. He laced their fingers but still didn’t risk saying anything, he knew Draco wasn’t finished yet.

“I told her to stay at the Manor with Scorpius and I thought-I thought I’d stay here with you, if you’d let me,” Draco said watching their hands tangled together frowning at the difference in skin tone.

“Of course,” Harry said softly, smiling. “This was your home the minute you stepped back through the door, and I don’t want you to ever think other wise,” he said. Draco nodded, but still wasn’t looking at him, only thoughtfully at their hands instead.

They sat in silence again and Harry slowly stroked the back of Draco’s hand with his thumb. Draco was frowning and Harry was watching him, trying to figure out what he was thinking about, he thought he might have a fair idea.

“What about Scorpius?” Harry asked at last and the flicker of Draco’s eyes as he looked up from their hands at Harry told him he had been correct in guessing what was going through his head.

“Astoria agreed to joint custody. Month about, so it’s fair, i-I didn’t think about-“ Draco said, stopping half way through his sentence, swallowing hard and casting a look around the kitchen, wondering about space and whether Harry would even be okay with that, having a kid around the house for once.

“We’ll turn the spare bedroom into his, he can make it is own when he’s old enough to decide on colours and what furnishings he wants,” Harry said, smiling again. Draco blinked rapidly and Harry noticed a little moisture there, welling in the corners of his eyes. “Draco, I love you. Every single part of you and that includes Scorpius too. Stop thinking I’m going to turn you away. You’re home again, that’s all that matters to me,”

“I just- I’m just angry at myself for being such a coward, for being so scared before,” Draco said.

“If you were a coward you wouldn’t have come back. It takes as much courage, if not more, to admit you made a mistake than to do anything heroic,” Harry said. He squeezed his hand and Draco gave him a water smile, before cursing himself under his breath for looking like such a pansy.

Harry shook his head, kissed the hand he had been holding before letting go and standing up, collecting their plates and mugs. Draco watched him take them over to the sink and took the opportunity to pull himself together. He felt more comfortable sitting on the hard wooden kitchen chair than he ever did on the soft satin ones at the Manor. He was home and he had his Harry back, and he couldn’t think of even one more thing he would wish for, he didn’t need to when he had everything in the man across from him.

“I love you too,” he whispered and even though he could only see Harry’s profile he knew he heard him, for he started grinning while he charmed the dishes to clean themselves.