First Place - Action/Adventure

"You do realize that Draco is seventeen now and quite old enough to go off on his own, don't you?" Blaise asked Harry in obvious amusement.

"Of course I do," Harry declared. "I simply thought you were my friends, too, and I decided to come see you as well this evening."

"He's lying. I actually forced him to come because I knew I would need a comfortable pillow," Draco drawled from his position of lying on the couch, his head in Harry's lap.

Harry grinned, carding his fingers through Draco's hair, as Pansy and Blaise outright laughed at them. Crabbe and Goyle were watching all of them, and judging by their grins, they were amused as well.

They were currently camped out in the Slytherin common room, visiting with some of their friends on a Saturday evening. The teasing had become a regular thing because Draco and Harry were almost as inseparable now as they had been when Draco was only a four-year-old.

It had been several months already since Harry had woken up in the hospital wing, and the year was almost over. Harry and Draco still had their moments, but they were both happy and weren't ashamed of that fact.

Draco, the cunning Slytherin raised with a political background, helped Harry get through the trying times of all the press and publicity surrounding his defeat of Voldemort. Generally, either Draco would make the statements himself or else he would write Harry's speeches for him. On the few occasions that Harry had actually been forced to go out in public, Draco handled everything.

Given the circumstances of Voldemort's defeat, with Harry's love for Draco essentially ending the war, not too many people questioned their relationship.

Everyone in Hogwarts was especially supportive. Over the first half of the year, everyone had become used to Harry defending Draco and they'd become comfortable with Draco Malfoy. That, surprisingly, hadn't changed when Draco was back to his sixteen-year-old self.

Maybe it had something to do with Harry defeating Voldemort. Maybe it had to do with people being afraid of what Harry would do to them if they dared to cross him, because certainly there were more than a few that were afraid of Harry.

Maybe it had something to do with Draco Malfoy's changed attitudes. He didn't spout off about Mudbloods anymore and he didn't go around terrorizing the Hufflepuffs - well, not as often anyway. He could still be snooty when he chose to be and he was definitely still the vainest person in Hogwarts, but overall he was a whole lot friendlier than he'd ever been in the past.

Then again, maybe everyone was supportive of Harry and Draco's relationship because they were so obviously happy together. They were practically inseparable and they were always affectionate with each other. Not everyone knew that they'd both been starved for attention when they were little and they were doing their best to make up for lost time. But it was clear to everyone that they were happy and to most people that was all that mattered.

When things got to be too much for either, or both of them, to handle, they would retreat to their room in Severus' quarters. Severus had given them the option to keep the room for their own privacy and they had accepted it gladly.

They still made regular visits to both the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms to meet up with their friends, though. Exactly as they were currently doing.

"So, do you two have any idea of where you go from here?" Pansy asked them curiously.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, frowning at her.

Pansy shrugged. "I guess I'm just wondering what will happen this summer. Malfoy Manor is yours now, but I know you don't want to live there again."

Draco and Harry both shuddered at that thought. Neither one of them wanted to live there, especially not Draco.

"No, I'm definitely not going to live there ever again," Draco declared.

"So where are you going to live?" Blaise asked curiously. "I know Harry has no intentions of going back to live with his relatives, either."

"Nope, never going to live there again," Harry agreed.

"Well, then, where are you two going to live?" Pansy asked impatiently.

Harry looked down at Draco. "Should we tell them?" he asked.

"I don't see why not," Draco said in agreement.

Harry looked back up at their friends. "Over Easter holidays, we went through our families' vaults and all the paperwork and stuff."

"'Paperwork and stuff' he says," Draco grumbled. "Doesn't have a financial bone in his entire Gryffindor body."

Harry grinned. "Nope, I leave all that up to you, angel," he said agreeably.

Pansy and Blaise were shaking their heads at them again.

"As I was saying, we were going through all that stuff over break," Harry said, still smiling. "Well, we came across several property deeds that we own, and we ... well, we agreed on the one where we're going to make our home," he finished quietly.

Draco smiled up at him softly with that sweet smile that he reserved just for Harry and made half the girls swoon whenever they saw him smiling at Harry that way.

"We made the arrangements to rebuild in Godric's Hollow where Harry's parents lived," Draco said to their Slytherin friends, even while he was still looking at Harry.

"Really?" Pansy breathed.

Draco glanced over at her. "Yes, really," he smirked. "Everything should be finished there and ready to move in by the time school gets out."

"But Harry won't even be of age yet," Blaise protested. "Are you two saying you're going to be moving in together by yourselves?"

"Neither one of us have parents anymore, in case you didn't notice," Draco said snidely.

"Draco," Harry chided. "Play nice."

Draco looked up at him and sneered. "What if I don't want to?"

A wicked smirk spread across Harry's features. "Then you know I'll punish you later."

Draco's eyes took on a sinful gleam. "I'll hold you to that promise."

"Enough already!" Blaise protested. "And I didn't mean to upset you. Or irritate you," Blaise said quickly, noticing Draco's glare. "I just meant that you've barely turned seventeen which is the age of majority, but Harry still won't even be turning seventeen until the end of July. I just didn't think that anyone would allow it."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not really giving them any choice."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, we're still discovering some of his advantages to saving the entire Wizarding world."

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Well, you keep telling me I should take advantage of my fame sometimes, and this time I'm choosing to. Besides, Severus is already threatening to move in with us for this summer anyway," he added.

Draco snorted. "Yes. Says he has to so that he can keep an eye on us and keep us out of trouble, at least until after we finish school next year."

"See, I knew they wouldn't all just let you two live alone," Blaise said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah," Draco said dismissively. "It's still our house."

"I don't really mind him living there with us anyway," Harry said quietly. Then he furrowed his brow. "Although, if someone had told me a year ago that I would ever say that, I would've laughed in their face before I hexed them."

The others started laughing. "Things have really changed a lot this year, haven't they?" Pansy said, still laughing.

Harry stared at her for a moment, and his eyes went unfocused as he thought back to their Christmas celebration that had taken place in January, right after he'd been released from the hospital. Pansy was right that a lot of things had changed, but somehow, that day in particular signified a lot of the changes for Harry.

* * Begin Flashback * *

"You two are really going to stay in this room together then?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry said, looking at Ron a bit nervously. He didn't want Ron upset that he wasn't going to move back to Gryffindor tower as Ron had assumed was the original plan.

Ron shrugged. "I reckon I don't really blame you. Still miss you in the tower, but not sure I'd want you back if you'd just be pining anyway," he said wryly.

"I wouldn't be pining," Harry protested around everyone's laughter.

Draco stepped up behind Harry, wrapping his arms around him. "Wouldn't you?" he asked, whispering in Harry's ear.

Harry swallowed hard. "Um, well, it wouldn't exactly be easy there without you," he admitted.

Draco was chuckling softly in his ear, Ron was shaking his head ruefully, and the others were still laughing. Harry blushed a bright red.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione said, taking pity on him. "Let's do Christmas."

Harry shot her a grateful glance before casting his eyes around the room again. He wasn't sure who had talked Severus into letting them in the rooms, but he was fairly certain that Pansy and Hermione were behind all of the Christmas decorations. The centerpiece was a large, beautifully decorated tree with a huge pile of presents under it.

He wasn't quite sure what to think as he stood there and stared at the tree. This wasn't exactly the Christmas he'd had planned, and it did feel a little odd to be celebrating Christmas in January. Harry had expected to be spending Christmas with a hyper four-year-old. There was something surreal about this situation.

Harry watched as his friends settled themselves on the furniture. He'd spent a few Christmas' with Ron and Hermione before, but this was different. This was really different. Blaise, Pansy, Vince and Greg were there, too, and everyone was laughing and joking. They were all getting along famously.

Was Draco really going to be all right with all this? They'd done a lot of talking over the course of the three days that Madam Pomfrey kept Harry in the hospital wing, but now Harry and Draco had to face the rest of the world. Well, their room wasn't exactly the "rest of the world", but it felt like a huge dose of reality, despite the circumstances.

Harry suddenly felt a little overwhelmed again, and if he was honest, he was feeling a little panicked. His eyes darted around the room, seeing all of Draco's things. There was such a mixture of both Draco's older and younger possessions. It felt a little odd now to see all of the toys on the shelves. Harry knew that under the tree was a lot more toys that had been meant for Draco before he was re-aged. It made him feel a little nauseous when he thought about how much he had been looking forward to doing those new puzzles and the block party he'd planned to instigate with all their friends after Christmas.

"Hey," Draco said softly, commanding Harry's attention as he moved to stand in front of him.

Harry turned wild eyes on Draco. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, having no real idea of what he should say.

"It's all right," Draco whispered. "This is still unsettling to me, too. It's just going to take a bit of time to adjust to everything."

"Are you really sure about this, Draco?" Harry asked. "Are you really sure about us?"

"Yes," Draco answered firmly.

Harry gestured a little crazily at the room around them. "But Draco, I don't think this is exactly how a normal relationship is supposed to start."

Draco started laughing even as he reached out to pull Harry close. Harry stared at him like he'd gone mental. "Draco," Harry whinged. "Most of your Christmas presents are toys for Merlin's sake! What the bloody hell does that say about us as a real couple?"

"Harry, whatever gave you the idea that either of our lives was normal?" Draco asked, still chuckling a little.

Harry stared at Draco, unblinking for several long moments before he slowly started to smile. "We're not normal, are we?"

"No, we aren't," Draco said, smirking now. "And that's okay. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else."

Harry laughed lightly, his frazzled nerves soothed by Draco's words. "I think we must both be a bit mad."

"We probably are," Draco agreed with a wry smile. "I know that being with you, I'll never be bored."

Harry shook his head bemusedly. After that, they settled on the rug in front of the fireplace. Harry was a little astonished that Draco willingly sat on the floor with him, but Draco simply quirked an eyebrow at him as he settled next to Harry. Maybe the older Draco wasn't really so different from the younger Draco after all.

Somehow Ron and Blaise elected themselves to pass out the presents, as Draco wasn't willing to go that far. They spent a couple hours slowly opening up presents. There was a fairly typical assortment of gifts for most of them, books, Honeydukes candy, and clothing.

Everyone found it most amusing to watch Draco. He easily had at least twice as many gifts as anyone else, partly because they'd all wanted to spoil the little four-year-old. They'd all gotten Draco presents appropriate for his older self, too, because he'd been so close to being back to his normal age. For the most part, they separated Draco's presents into two distinct piles.

Draco picked up one of his "older" presents. "Granger got me a present?" he asked, sounding confused. "You had no idea if ...," he trailed off, glancing up at the girl in question.

"It's actually from both me and Ron. He helped me pick them out, but he refused to let me add his name to the package," Hermione said, flushing lightly.

"Well, how was I to know if he'd turn back into an obnoxious prat or not?" Ron asked, grinning somewhat sheepishly. "I didn't want my name on the thing if he was going to turn back into the old Malfoy."

"He was still four at Christmas," Harry interjected wryly.

"Well, yeah, but if he knew it was partly from me when he was back to normal, then he'd probably just chuck them," Ron said.

"Ron, my name was still on it," Hermione snapped. "If he was going to be a bastard, don't you think he'd chuck them with my name on them?"

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, but at least it wouldn't be me."

Hermione stared at him incredulously. "I can't believe you! You are utterly clueless, Ron!"

"What?!" Ron exclaimed. "I didn't do anything!"

Harry, Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering at their bickering, while Draco was staring at them, seeming to be a little unsure of what to make of the pair. Harry was very happy to see that Draco was trying to adjust instead of slipping automatically back into old habits.

"Just ignore them and open it, Draco," Harry said dryly.

Draco slowly started peeling the paper away from the rather large package, getting everyone's attention again. "They're puzzles," he said blankly.

"Well, I thought you might find these challenging since you liked puzzles so much when you were younger," Hermione said earnestly. "We got you a wide variety of the ones meant for adults."

"Yeah, there's a really wicked one of a dragon in there somewhere," Ron said, coming over and rifling through the pile of puzzles. "Thought you'd like the picture, but it's also supposed to have this extra challenge because it's actually got another picture on the other side, too."

Draco appeared a little startled by Ron's enthusiasm, but Ron didn't notice, too caught up in his search. Soon the right puzzle was found, and Draco and Ron were both pouring over the box, discussing how best to go about putting it together.

Harry watched with a slight smile as the blond and the redhead began sifting through the other puzzles, seeing what other challenges they could find in the pile. He sent Hermione a grateful smile which she returned with a somewhat smug smile of her own. With a stack of puzzles, she'd managed to give Draco a tangible connection to his childhood that he could still relate to at his older age. It was also a link between Draco and Ron that was clearly going to help get Ron and Draco adjusted to these new friendly relations.

Harry wasn't going to be one bit surprised when Draco's small play table was turned into a large puzzle table. Watching Draco, he felt like the puzzle pieces of his life were finally all falling into place. They could make things work, despite the challenges. Perhaps even because of the challenges.

Eventually Draco and Ron were brought back to reality, and all of the presents were opened. Dobby served them a sumptuous Christmas feast in Harry and Draco's room. With all the talk, laughter and teasing, everyone was in high spirits.

Harry collapsed back on the rug in front of the fireplace after eating, feeling happy and content. Draco came and sat beside him, laying the scrapbook album Harry had given him on his lap. Slowly, he began flipping through the pages.

Having looked through the pages many, many times already, Harry elected to look at Draco instead. He enjoyed watching the play of emotions cross Draco's features as he looked through all the pictures.

"Merlin, Harry! I was filthy!" Draco exclaimed suddenly after flipping to the next page.

Harry snickered, glancing at the scrapbook, but already pretty sure which pictures Draco was referring to.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Draco asked.

"Hey, he found the mud pie pictures then?" Ron asked conversationally as he flopped unceremoniously into one of the chairs.

Harry nodded in answer to Ron's question, still snickering at Draco's expression of horror. "I thought you remembered everything, Draco?" Harry asked.

"I do," Draco said, looking a little queasy. "It's not quite the same seeing it as a sixteen-year-old."

"Ah, we had fun that afternoon," Ron said, clearly in fond reminisce.

"I remember having fun," Draco said, swallowing heavily before he could continue. "I just don't remember getting quite that dirty."

Harry shrugged. "You seemed like you needed it at the time." One extra warm Saturday afternoon, all of the Gryffindor boys had trooped out to Hagrid's garden with Draco and proceeded to get as dirty as possible. Hagrid had greeted Harry's request with an odd look, but he'd cleared an area for them that had already been harvested.

The primary goal had simply been to get dirty. Dean had instructed Draco in the proper technique for making mud pies. Harry had thought it a little sad but sweet to watch Neville listening almost as raptly as little Draco had before helping to make some pretty elaborate mud pies. It had gradually turned into a squishy, nasty mud fight that had left them all coated in mud from head to toe.

Draco now looked at Harry. "You've tried to give me everything I could possibly need these last few months, haven't you?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Harry answered, sounding a little uncomfortable. "But it's not like I didn't get anything out of it."

Draco smirked wryly. "Spoken like a true Slytherin."

Harry grinned, knowing what a compliment it was coming from Draco. "Thank you," he said smugly.

Draco shook his head ruefully, before he smiled softly. "This has been an amazing Christmas, Harry."

"It has," Harry said, sounding happy and satisfied. "It's not quite what I had been planning, but this has been wonderful. Even better than I had hoped."

He glanced over to where Ron was now involved in what appeared to be a serious discussion with Crabbe and Goyle about their favorite foods for various holiday meals. Hermione was browsing through the new books everyone had received as gifts and Pansy was inspecting any new clothing items, even as they talked with each other about who-knew-what. Blaise was sprawled beside a stack of toys that had been meant for the four-year-old Draco, rifling through them with interest.

Draco had glanced around at the others, too, before turning back to meet Harry's broad smile. "We've got an odd bunch of friends," he said with a wry smirk.

"True," Harry said, unable to disagree, and not even wanting to. He sobered as he continued to gaze at Draco. "I'm glad you're here," he whispered.

"Me, too," Draco said softly.

* * End Flashback * *

Harry startled when Draco slapped him lightly on the cheek. He blinked dazedly and looked down at Draco. "What'd you do that for?" he asked in bemusement, still slightly lost in his thoughts about Christmas.

Draco rolled his eyes and Harry glanced over at their friends who were laughing hysterically. "You've been out of it for awhile now," Draco drawled wryly. "Had to get your attention somehow."

Blaise snorted loudly. "What he's not telling you is that he's just been lying there watching you, smiling sappily all the while. In fact, both of you have been looking pretty sappy for at least the last five minutes."

Harry blinked, looking down at Draco, who shot Blaise a glare.

"What were you thinking about, Harry?" Pansy asked curiously.

Unknowingly, Harry's expression took on the same sweet smile, effectively capturing Draco's attention again along with the others. "You said something about how much things have changed, and I just got to thinking about Christmas."

"It was a really good day for all of us," Pansy agreed softly. "The first day we were really all together as friends - even Draco."

"Hey, are we all going to get together at all this summer?" Blaise asked suddenly. "It's going to be weird not seeing everyone all the time."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Draco and I will have our own house so everyone could certainly come visit, but I don't know that everyone could necessarily make it at the same time."

Draco snorted in wry amusement. "You think Severus would be happy with that?"

"Uh, probably not," Harry admitted, grimacing a little. "But he'd get over it."

"I thought it was your house," Blaise said, snickering at them.

Harry and Draco shot glares in his direction. "Do you want to argue with Severus?" Draco asked pointedly.

Blaise shook his head vehemently. "No, not really."

"I thought not," Draco declared haughtily.

"We've got to all do something together this summer, though," Pansy said. "I'm going to miss everyone terribly."

"Me, too," Harry said quietly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Bloody sentimental saps," he muttered.

"A bit hypocritical of you, don't you think?" Blaise asked in amusement.

Draco sneered at him. "Blaise, if you wish to keep any of your self-respect, I suggest you shut up now."

Blaise simply grinned at him, ignoring Draco's threat.

Harry smiled, stroking the back of his fingers lightly across Draco's cheek. "Maybe we could all take a vacation somewhere this summer."

Draco eyed him suspiciously. "What do you have in mind, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, but his smile didn't falter. "I don't know. I've just never been on any kind of vacation before so it sounds kinda nice." He paused, his expression turning thoughtful and his tone sounding a bit wistful when he spoke again. "At least we've got one more year left still at Hogwarts."

Draco frowned. "This is a good thing because ...?" he said leadingly.

"Because amongst all the other things I'd like to have in life, I'm hoping to have a halfway normal year of school," Harry explained.

"This last year wasn't normal for you?" Draco asked innocently.

Harry snorted. "Not even close to normal," he retorted. "Although, I do have to say it's been my best year here at Hogwarts, by far."

Draco pulled himself into a sitting position so he could kiss Harry. The languid, gentle kiss held promise for their future.

"It's been my best year, too," Draco said. "And next year is sure to be even better."

"Really?" Harry asked, grinning brightly.

"Really," Draco answered, smiling in return.