What You Mean to Me (H/D, PG-13)
Title: What You Mean to Me
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 1775
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco (pre-slash), Ron, Hermione, Narcissa
Challenge: For tracy_loo_who's birthday prompt of "proposal fic with sheep." It also fits my GJ 100_prompts table #010 - "Eyes."
Summary: Harry and Draco visit an old Roman fort.
Warning: Extreme fluff
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Note: This fits in as a follow-up to my Coming Home series, but also stands alone.
"C'mon, Draco. It'll be fun!" Harry said as the local bus deposited them outside the ruins of Birdoswald Roman Fort along Hadrian's Wall, just south of the border with Scotland.
"It's a bunch of rocks!" he whined, not nearly as excited as Harry was. Harry was reminded of another pureblood's reaction to the fort.
"I know, but it's so much more than that," Harry offered, pulling him along. "Remember I told you about it at Neville and Luna's wedding?"
"Well, actually, I don't remember you telling me much of anything that night."
"Right, well, soon afterwards then. I came here with Hermione and Ron" - Draco winced at the mention of Ron who had still not accepted their relationship - "and there's a particular spot that I wanted you to see."
They spent a few hours roaming the fort and looking at the displays inside. Harry joked with Draco about the story of Remus and Romulus, just like he had with his friends that day. Every once in a while, he noticed that Draco got a wistful look on his face. Nudging him, he asked, "What's wrong? Not enjoying yourself?"
"That's not it, Harry. It's just ..." His voice trailed off and he stared at a model of a Roman warrior that stood guard near the ceiling.
"What?" Harry asked as he put his arm around Draco's waist.
"Well, you came here with Granger and the Weasel ..."
"And?"
"And you had such a great time. I'm just afraid that you won't have such a good time with me, and things are so rough with Ron right now, and I ..." He squeezed his eyes together and took a deep breath. "Are you sure I'm worth it?"
Harry was stunned as he met Draco's earnest gaze. "Not that I will ever understand why you would choose the Weasel as a friend to begin with, but --"
"Stop that right now," Harry said softly, pulling Draco in for a hug. "Of course you're worth it. Don't you understand? You're worth everything to me." Draco's look was sceptical. "Besides, the last time I was here, I spent a lot of the time thinking of you, and wishing that you were here too. So now you are."
"But Ron --"
"Is being a prat. He'll get over it." He pressed his lips to Draco's in a chaste kiss. "And if he doesn't, that's his loss. He's not my keeper. Now come outside. There's something I want to show you."
Once they exited the main display area and got through the gate, they were in sheep territory.
"Ewww ... Haaary!" Draco wailed, trying to avoid the sheep poop all over the place.
"Well I did tell you to dress accordingly. You know ... casual."
"This is casual!" he replied.
"No, Draco, casual would have been jeans and trainers or boots. What you are wearing is ... business casual."
"Aha! That's still casual!" Harry just rolled his eyes and carried on. "C'mon, Harry, just let me vanish a trail for us!"
"Draco, you know you can't surreptitiously vanish an entire path of ... well ... sheep stuff ... without anyone noticing! It's clearly a breach --"
"Oh, that's rich, Potter! You worried about breaking Ministry rules!"
"Prat."
They made their way very carefully around the property, until ... "Look at .... What the .... Why it's just a baby!" Draco called out all of a sudden. Harry turned round to see Draco - no longer caring where he stepped - shooing away a rather large sheep. "Go on! Shoo!" he said.
Harry grinned at him. When he finally turned back around, Draco was frowning and mumbling under his breath. "What?" he asked when Harry began to chuckle.
"You are such a softie!" he said, and mussed Draco's hair lovingly.
"Don't mess up my hair!" he huffed. "And I am not a softie, Potter." He had said the word with such disdain, as though it were some sort of repulsive affliction, that Harry burst out laughing.
"Then explain what just happened."
"That big sheep was nearly trampling that little one over there. It butted up against it, nearly knocking it off its feet. I watched it do so several times before it became clear to me that something had to be done."
Harry barely suppressed a giggle. "Go on," he managed to squeak out.
"Well, clearly it's a bully, and needed someone to show it that there's always someone or something bigger around. So I did."
Harry couldn't take it any more. He burst out laughing and picked Draco up, spinning him around. "Draco Malfoy to the rescue! Defending helpless lambs everywhere!"
"Put ... me ... down," Draco ordered through gritted teeth and in such a calm voice Harry knew he was in big trouble. Keeping his giggling as quiet as he could, Harry put a scowling and red-faced Draco down and quickly ran off. He knew that his trainers would carry him much faster than Draco's loafers, so he definitely had the upper hand. What he wasn't prepared for was the spell hitting him and knocking him to the ground. Thank goodness he made it far enough before Draco hexed him that not only were there no Muggle witnesses to the spell, but he fortunately didn't land in anything ...
"Not so funny now, is it Potter?" Draco asked as he hovered over Harry.
Harry's eyes were welling with tears from holding back his laughter. He closed them and took a few calming breaths before holding out his arm. "Help me up, would you? I promise I won't laugh any more."
Draco narrowed his eyes, but relented and did help Harry up. "Thanks. Come with me," Harry said, pulling Draco by the wrist to the edge of the property. "Now this" - he waved his arm over the edge of a very steep hill - "is what I wanted you to see."
He snuck a peek at Draco and watched his eyes light up. "It's ... beautiful," he said, looking out at the valley before him. Harry looked around and, noticing no Muggles in the area, conjured up a couple of folding lawn chairs. They sat there in comfortable silence for quite some time, Harry looking over at Draco every once in a while, willing himself to do what he had planned.
"You know," he started. Draco turned to him with a curious look. "You really are a softie."
Draco's eyes fixed him with a Malfoy death glare, which only broadened the smile on Harry's face. He held his hands up in defence. "Relax, relax ... I won't tell a soul," he promised. "It'll be our little secret." Draco eyed him with a mixture of bemusement and wariness. Harry chuckled. "That's a big part of why I love you so much."
"What is?"
"The fact that you can relax around me and be yourself."
"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
"Yes, really," Harry answered with confidence. "I doubt there's a soul alive - besides maybe your mother - that you would have done that in front of."
"Nonsense!" Draco scoffed. It was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"You are a strong man with a strong will, and that is never going to change. You frustrate me and drive me to distraction on a regular basis, but then ..."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment, Potter?"
"Yes. I love you - all of you. The fact is that no matter what image you project to the rest of the world, I know that deep down inside you are a loving, caring person. For those that matter to you - really matter - you would do anything. You might not be so obvious about it as you were today - you are a Slytherin, after all - but you would protect those that need protecting." He grinned at his boyfriend. "Even a little lamb."
Draco rolled his eyes, but Harry could see his lips twitch. He really was a softie. Harry got up off his chair and reached for Draco's hand. "Draco, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life discovering everything there is to know about you. I want to laugh with you, fight with you, and make love with you forever." He reached inside his pocket. "Forever, Draco."
He watched comprehension dawn, and Draco's eyes widened as Harry fell to one knee. "Draco, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?" He presented Draco with a simple platinum band, and waited for his reply.
And waited. Draco's face was unreadable, as he stared past Harry into the valley then back to the ring.
And waited. Harry started to wonder if he had been too hasty. True, they had only recently got back together again, but it's not like they hadn't known each other practically their whole lives.
And waited. Oh, God, what if he says no? What if he thinks I'll leave again? What if he doesn't want to marry me?
And waited. Harry began to stand up when Draco's hand tightened on his wrist. "Why?" The question was whispered so Harry could only just hear.
"What do you mean 'why'?"
"I mean, why are you asking me to marry you?"
Harry wasn't sure what Draco wanted to hear, so he just told him everything he had been thinking about since they had rekindled their relationship months ago. "Because I love you. Because I can't imagine living another day without you. Because we lost years together - three years that we can never get back, but that I spent thinking of you. Because I was so stupid not to want to shout from the rooftops that I loved you back then. Because I want what Neville and Luna had."
Draco furrowed his brows at that last statement, and Harry continued. "I want to be able to have our friends and families gather together to honour us, to witness our pledge to each other. I want to take you in my arms and dance the night away with you. I want to look out at the sea of faces gathered, knowing that they're all there for us. I want to let the world know what you mean to me." He smiled and took Draco's face in his hands, gazing intently into his eyes.
"But most of all, Draco, I want to let you know what you mean to me. I don't ever want you to doubt that." He looked into grey eyes that reflected love, joy, trust and hope. "I love you, Draco. I already think of you as my family. I just want to make it official. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"
Draco's eyes glistened as he gazed into Harry's. Smiling, he said, "Yes."
A/N: For those interested, you can see some photographs of Birdoswald here. The last picture shows an aerial view of the property - the path at the bottom leads to the area overlooking the valley. No sheep in that picture *frowns* - but you can see a few in the others.
.
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 1775
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco (pre-slash), Ron, Hermione, Narcissa
Challenge: For tracy_loo_who's birthday prompt of "proposal fic with sheep." It also fits my GJ 100_prompts table #010 - "Eyes."
Summary: Harry and Draco visit an old Roman fort.
Warning: Extreme fluff
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Note: This fits in as a follow-up to my Coming Home series, but also stands alone.
"C'mon, Draco. It'll be fun!" Harry said as the local bus deposited them outside the ruins of Birdoswald Roman Fort along Hadrian's Wall, just south of the border with Scotland.
"It's a bunch of rocks!" he whined, not nearly as excited as Harry was. Harry was reminded of another pureblood's reaction to the fort.
"I know, but it's so much more than that," Harry offered, pulling him along. "Remember I told you about it at Neville and Luna's wedding?"
"Well, actually, I don't remember you telling me much of anything that night."
"Right, well, soon afterwards then. I came here with Hermione and Ron" - Draco winced at the mention of Ron who had still not accepted their relationship - "and there's a particular spot that I wanted you to see."
They spent a few hours roaming the fort and looking at the displays inside. Harry joked with Draco about the story of Remus and Romulus, just like he had with his friends that day. Every once in a while, he noticed that Draco got a wistful look on his face. Nudging him, he asked, "What's wrong? Not enjoying yourself?"
"That's not it, Harry. It's just ..." His voice trailed off and he stared at a model of a Roman warrior that stood guard near the ceiling.
"What?" Harry asked as he put his arm around Draco's waist.
"Well, you came here with Granger and the Weasel ..."
"And?"
"And you had such a great time. I'm just afraid that you won't have such a good time with me, and things are so rough with Ron right now, and I ..." He squeezed his eyes together and took a deep breath. "Are you sure I'm worth it?"
Harry was stunned as he met Draco's earnest gaze. "Not that I will ever understand why you would choose the Weasel as a friend to begin with, but --"
"Stop that right now," Harry said softly, pulling Draco in for a hug. "Of course you're worth it. Don't you understand? You're worth everything to me." Draco's look was sceptical. "Besides, the last time I was here, I spent a lot of the time thinking of you, and wishing that you were here too. So now you are."
"But Ron --"
"Is being a prat. He'll get over it." He pressed his lips to Draco's in a chaste kiss. "And if he doesn't, that's his loss. He's not my keeper. Now come outside. There's something I want to show you."
Once they exited the main display area and got through the gate, they were in sheep territory.
"Ewww ... Haaary!" Draco wailed, trying to avoid the sheep poop all over the place.
"Well I did tell you to dress accordingly. You know ... casual."
"This is casual!" he replied.
"No, Draco, casual would have been jeans and trainers or boots. What you are wearing is ... business casual."
"Aha! That's still casual!" Harry just rolled his eyes and carried on. "C'mon, Harry, just let me vanish a trail for us!"
"Draco, you know you can't surreptitiously vanish an entire path of ... well ... sheep stuff ... without anyone noticing! It's clearly a breach --"
"Oh, that's rich, Potter! You worried about breaking Ministry rules!"
"Prat."
They made their way very carefully around the property, until ... "Look at .... What the .... Why it's just a baby!" Draco called out all of a sudden. Harry turned round to see Draco - no longer caring where he stepped - shooing away a rather large sheep. "Go on! Shoo!" he said.
Harry grinned at him. When he finally turned back around, Draco was frowning and mumbling under his breath. "What?" he asked when Harry began to chuckle.
"You are such a softie!" he said, and mussed Draco's hair lovingly.
"Don't mess up my hair!" he huffed. "And I am not a softie, Potter." He had said the word with such disdain, as though it were some sort of repulsive affliction, that Harry burst out laughing.
"Then explain what just happened."
"That big sheep was nearly trampling that little one over there. It butted up against it, nearly knocking it off its feet. I watched it do so several times before it became clear to me that something had to be done."
Harry barely suppressed a giggle. "Go on," he managed to squeak out.
"Well, clearly it's a bully, and needed someone to show it that there's always someone or something bigger around. So I did."
Harry couldn't take it any more. He burst out laughing and picked Draco up, spinning him around. "Draco Malfoy to the rescue! Defending helpless lambs everywhere!"
"Put ... me ... down," Draco ordered through gritted teeth and in such a calm voice Harry knew he was in big trouble. Keeping his giggling as quiet as he could, Harry put a scowling and red-faced Draco down and quickly ran off. He knew that his trainers would carry him much faster than Draco's loafers, so he definitely had the upper hand. What he wasn't prepared for was the spell hitting him and knocking him to the ground. Thank goodness he made it far enough before Draco hexed him that not only were there no Muggle witnesses to the spell, but he fortunately didn't land in anything ...
"Not so funny now, is it Potter?" Draco asked as he hovered over Harry.
Harry's eyes were welling with tears from holding back his laughter. He closed them and took a few calming breaths before holding out his arm. "Help me up, would you? I promise I won't laugh any more."
Draco narrowed his eyes, but relented and did help Harry up. "Thanks. Come with me," Harry said, pulling Draco by the wrist to the edge of the property. "Now this" - he waved his arm over the edge of a very steep hill - "is what I wanted you to see."
He snuck a peek at Draco and watched his eyes light up. "It's ... beautiful," he said, looking out at the valley before him. Harry looked around and, noticing no Muggles in the area, conjured up a couple of folding lawn chairs. They sat there in comfortable silence for quite some time, Harry looking over at Draco every once in a while, willing himself to do what he had planned.
"You know," he started. Draco turned to him with a curious look. "You really are a softie."
Draco's eyes fixed him with a Malfoy death glare, which only broadened the smile on Harry's face. He held his hands up in defence. "Relax, relax ... I won't tell a soul," he promised. "It'll be our little secret." Draco eyed him with a mixture of bemusement and wariness. Harry chuckled. "That's a big part of why I love you so much."
"What is?"
"The fact that you can relax around me and be yourself."
"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
"Yes, really," Harry answered with confidence. "I doubt there's a soul alive - besides maybe your mother - that you would have done that in front of."
"Nonsense!" Draco scoffed. It was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"You are a strong man with a strong will, and that is never going to change. You frustrate me and drive me to distraction on a regular basis, but then ..."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment, Potter?"
"Yes. I love you - all of you. The fact is that no matter what image you project to the rest of the world, I know that deep down inside you are a loving, caring person. For those that matter to you - really matter - you would do anything. You might not be so obvious about it as you were today - you are a Slytherin, after all - but you would protect those that need protecting." He grinned at his boyfriend. "Even a little lamb."
Draco rolled his eyes, but Harry could see his lips twitch. He really was a softie. Harry got up off his chair and reached for Draco's hand. "Draco, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life discovering everything there is to know about you. I want to laugh with you, fight with you, and make love with you forever." He reached inside his pocket. "Forever, Draco."
He watched comprehension dawn, and Draco's eyes widened as Harry fell to one knee. "Draco, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?" He presented Draco with a simple platinum band, and waited for his reply.
And waited. Draco's face was unreadable, as he stared past Harry into the valley then back to the ring.
And waited. Harry started to wonder if he had been too hasty. True, they had only recently got back together again, but it's not like they hadn't known each other practically their whole lives.
And waited. Oh, God, what if he says no? What if he thinks I'll leave again? What if he doesn't want to marry me?
And waited. Harry began to stand up when Draco's hand tightened on his wrist. "Why?" The question was whispered so Harry could only just hear.
"What do you mean 'why'?"
"I mean, why are you asking me to marry you?"
Harry wasn't sure what Draco wanted to hear, so he just told him everything he had been thinking about since they had rekindled their relationship months ago. "Because I love you. Because I can't imagine living another day without you. Because we lost years together - three years that we can never get back, but that I spent thinking of you. Because I was so stupid not to want to shout from the rooftops that I loved you back then. Because I want what Neville and Luna had."
Draco furrowed his brows at that last statement, and Harry continued. "I want to be able to have our friends and families gather together to honour us, to witness our pledge to each other. I want to take you in my arms and dance the night away with you. I want to look out at the sea of faces gathered, knowing that they're all there for us. I want to let the world know what you mean to me." He smiled and took Draco's face in his hands, gazing intently into his eyes.
"But most of all, Draco, I want to let you know what you mean to me. I don't ever want you to doubt that." He looked into grey eyes that reflected love, joy, trust and hope. "I love you, Draco. I already think of you as my family. I just want to make it official. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"
Draco's eyes glistened as he gazed into Harry's. Smiling, he said, "Yes."
A/N: For those interested, you can see some photographs of Birdoswald here. The last picture shows an aerial view of the property - the path at the bottom leads to the area overlooking the valley. No sheep in that picture *frowns* - but you can see a few in the others.
.