A Promise
Harry grabbed Draco’s hand and pulled him through the front door of the Burrow. The minute he steps into the house, Draco can smell something sweet baking enveloping him. Harry toed his boots off and started pulling off his coat while shouting “‘Mione! Ron!” Draco followed suit and shrugged off his own coat, folding it over his arm and fidgeting with a loose thread, only now realizing the enormity of what was getting himself into: an entire week of ‘family time’ while the closest thing he’s ever experienced to that being stuffy, silent dinners with his parents at the Manor, how was he supposed to fit in?
Mrs. Weasley got to them first and she pulled both of them into a hug, “Glad to see you made it, Harry why don’t you go help Ron in the kitchen and Draco, dear, why don’t you follow me I can take you up to your room to let you get settled.” Draco nods awestruck, he hadn’t expected hostility but he certainly wasn’t expecting to get treated the same as Harry and it tugged on his heart in a funny way that he just pushed away and grabbed Harry’s bag before following Mrs. Weasley. Harry shot an encouraging glance at Draco as he turned the corner in the opposite direction.
Draco thanked Mrs. Weasley and politely agreed to tell her if there was anything he needed before she left him alone in a cozy little room with a large bed in the center, a dresser, a mirror, and a door to what he assumed was the en suite. He set his and Harry’s bags side by side on the dresser, before staring at them too long and moving his to the floor by the mirror and pivoting around to go back downstairs.
As Draco entered the kitchen he felt like he was watching one of those muggle Christmas films where everyone is happy and everything is perfect as he saw Potter mixing something in a bowl while Weasley chased Granger around with a piping bag. Granger almost ran straight into Draco, he caught her fall and smiled politely, “Oh Draco! Glad you made it! I know Harry had been meaning to invite you as a friend all year anyways, but I’m glad you two are here together instead, took him long enough didn’t it?” Draco smiled and nodded before looking at Potter curiously, but Harry was clearly avoiding looking at him.
Ron then caught up and clapped Draco on the shoulder, “Glad to see you made it Malfoy,” Draco nodded awkwardly and smiled, grateful that the two of them were being so pleasant.
“Thank you both for having me,” Draco said, truly meaning it as he looked at the two of them. “What are you making?” he asked as he walked over to the counter where Harry was still mixing away at a batter that looked thoroughly mixed.
“Oh mum’s making us prove we have the capability to feed ourselves and the whole lot that’ll be here before her and dad leave for my nan’s” Ron filled in as he went back to icing some cookies.
“By whole lot, how many people do you mean?” Draco asked, crossing his arms as he leaned on the counter next to Harry.
“Honestly, Harry, did you not tell him anything?” Hermione chastised throwing the flour at him from where she was rolling out some dough before turning to Draco, “Well it’ll be all of Ron’s siblings and their partners, along with Dean, Seamus, Padma, Parvati, Luna, Neville, Cho, and -”
“Woah woah, slow down that’s already,” Draco tried to calculate in his head, “that’s already more than twenty people!”
“Well yes, it’s always like that, what did you think it was going to be?”
“Po- er Harry told me it was going to be just a small family Christmas?”
“Oi, I did not use the word small,” Harry retorted, giving Draco a nudge with his hip as walked around him to grab a tray.
“Well, for future reference, don’t expect anything at the burrow to ever be small,” Hermione nods sympathetically at Draco, “I let go of my definition of a ‘family holiday’ years ago.”
Draco nods slowly trying to grasp that Harry’s friends think he’ll be around long enough to be invited back, when there’s a loud knock on the door. Ron sets down the piping bag to get the door and Hermione wipes her hands off on a towel before following. Draco looks down at his hands, feeling entirely too nervous to see all his old schoolmates again, he isn’t exactly proud of the reputation he had with them. Harry tugs one of Draco’s arms until he’s intertwining their fingers and giving him a squeeze before pulling him along to the front door.
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“Harry! You sly git, how come you never told us you finally bagged Malfoy?” Seamus had pulled Harry down into a headlock. Draco stopped listening to whatever Bill was rambling on about, Seamus was the second person that made it seem like everyone was just waiting for him and Harry to get together.
“Seamus shut it, or I’ll make Dean tell the story of how you two finally got together,” Harry threatened which led to Seamus immediately letting go and hiding behind Dean.
“You wouldn’t”
“Try me, Finnigan.”
Dean laughed, “Alright, alright we’re all stupidly in love, it’s nice to see you Malfoy,” he nodded at him before pulling Seamus along with him further into the house.
Draco gave Harry a questioning look, which Harry just shrugged off before Ginny was pulling him into a hug, “The only reason you’re getting a hug is because it looks like Seamus beat me to the headlock, I can’t believe you didn’t tell any of us.”
She turned to Draco, “Malfoy you better treat him right,” before giving him a punch on the arm and pushing past him into the kitchen with Luna not far behind.
The rest of the Weasleys seemed welcoming, Fleur even pulled Draco in for bisous before asking after his mum - all in French. He didn’t think she would remember him being part of the welcoming committee for the Beaubatons at Hogwarts all those years ago but he was beginning to think ‘pleasantly surprised’ was becoming the general theme of this entire trip. He caught Harry watching the two of them speaking before he was pulled away by one of the Patil twins. The rest of the guests didn’t comment on Harry and him being together and Draco couldn’t tell if they were just being polite, or if they just weren’t part of this conspiracy that they should’ve been together a long time ago. Based on the look that Neville had given the two of them, Draco was willing to bet on the former.
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After lunch and saying their goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, all the guests scrambled to claim their rooms leaving Harry and Draco the only two still in the living room. Ron and Hermione were cleaning up in the kitchen, when suddenly the two of them rushed for the stairs giggling, “We’ll be right back,” Hermione called over her shoulder. Harry groaned as he let his head fall back against the couch.
“Are they always this sickeningly sweet?” Draco asked, as he sat down next to him. Harry opened one eye to stare at him.
He glanced around the room to make sure they were alone, “Yea it’s cute I guess, but I always just feel so single during the holidays, I’m sure you can now see why.”
“Hmm,” Draco said, leaning close to Harry’s ear, he could have fun with this too, “But we can be cuter.”
Harry fully sat up, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’ve spent all this time feeling left out, now’s your chance to rub our perfect relationship in everyone’s faces,” Draco explained, “I mean I know you’re probably not capable of playing the endearing boyfriend type but –”
And Draco knew what was coming before Harry even said it, using that challenging tone always sparked something in Harry, and Draco was starting to realize that he probably knew Harry a lot better than he thought.
“I can so play the endearing boyfriend,” Harry cut in, Draco arched an eyebrow at him prompting Harry to lean in closer, “I can make you forget about all you past boyfriends by the end of the week.”
“Is that a bet?” Draco whispered, honestly surprised he was managing to hold his gaze.
“It’s a promise,” Harry responded after a beat.
“Well don’t you two look cozy?”
Draco jumped and pulled away from Harry to turn and see George leaning in the doorway with a knowing smirk on his face. Harry slid his arms around Draco and rested his chin on his shoulder to see who had joined them, causing Draco to tense for a second before relaxing against him.
“I was just telling Harry, I’m glad he invited me.” Draco explained to Hermione and Ron who had now joined George in the doorway.
Hermione beamed, “We’re glad you’re here too, I didn’t think we’d ever see Harry as happy as he seems with you.”
“Alright everyone to the living room!” Ron called, “I’ll bring out the cookies and cocoa.” Immediately they could hear the thunder of footsteps on the stairs.
Draco glanced over at Ron who was walking towards the kitchen, and he turned to Harry, “I’ll help Weasley with the cookies,” and stood up pulling himself out of Harry’s arms before he heard his response. It just felt too real, Harry loving him, a family loving him, he needed to get out of there.
Ron was balancing two trays of cookies and was attempting to pick up a third full with mugs of cocoa when Draco hurried over to grab it, “I can bring this one,”
“Oh, thanks Malfoy,” Ron offered him a smile while he balanced the cookies much easier, “You know I never saw you and Harry coming, like Hermione did, but it’s true, I don’t think we’ve seen Harry this happy since before the war.”
Draco looked up at Ron, only to be met with a genuine expression, “He makes me happy too,” he said quietly.
“I can tell that much,” Ron agreed before he started towards the living room, and Draco followed him in a daze, he felt his gut tightening, he felt like he had been lying all day, but why did that feel like the truth?