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Harry woke up sobbing. He'd dreamed he was back in his cupboard, alone and unloved, and that his friends were all one incredibly unfair dream, gifted to him and then wrenched away for him to remain locked under the stairs, starving and alone.
He could barely control his cries as they turned almost into wails as he clutched the blanket over him against his chest, pressing his thumb into his mouth.
It was then that Ron woke up, roused by his best friend's pained crying, and began to panic. Something was wrong.
"Harry? Harry, mate, are you alright?" Ron swung his long legs off of his bed and made his way over to Harry's. Harry looked up, his eyes glassy and damp as a new wave of sobs wracked his petite body, his thumb stuck in between his lips. "Okay, what's up, mate?" Ron knew something was off about how Harry was reacting- he'd never seen him like this, but he didn't know what to do beyond trying to comfort him. He sat down on Harry's mattress and wrapped one long, pale arm around Harry's slender shoulders, pulling him into a hug.
"I- I was back in my cupboard!" Harry's voice was muffled because he didn't remove his thumb from his mouth.
"Right, it's alright, mate, it was just a nightmare. You're at the burrow. You're alright." Ron didn't know what to do- Harry was acting way different to how he always had in the past when he woke up from nightmares, and Ron had no idea how to handle it. He cursed the fact that Hermione had to share with Ginny, she'd know what to do-
Then it hit him. He briefly let go of Harry, trying to avoid the hurt look on his best mate's face, and grabbed his wand from his nightstand before settling back onto Harry's bed and pulling him into a hug. Harry seemed to have calmed down a bit, but he was still crying quietly and sucking his thumb, so Ron quickly waved his wand. " Expecto Patronum! " Ron's silvery jack Russel terrier bounded out of the end of his wand and looked around for the dementors, then cocked its head when it realized there were none, "for Hermione Granger, something's up with Harry and I don't know what to do." The patronus disappeared, and while he waited Ron rocked Harry back and forth a little, not a difficult feat given the over a foot height difference between them and how skinny Harry still was. Harry seemed to relax more and more as Ron rocked him and Ron wondered why Harry seemed to be acting and calming down almost like a little kid. He didn't have time to wonder for long, though, before his bedroom door swung open and Hermione walked in, still in her pyjamas.
"What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Harry and Ron, taking note of the way Harry seemed to actually be allowing himself to take comfort in Ron's touch whereas he usually squirmed away from too much contact due to its foreign discomfort for him.
"I think he had a nightmare about being back at the Dursley's, and now he's acting like a little kid or something. I don't really know what's going on." Ron told her softly. Harry was looking between them, his bright green eyes wide.
"Harry? Are you feeling okay?" She asked as gently as she could.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders a bit and buried his face back into Ron's shoulder.
"Are you feeling… younger than normal, Harry?" She asked.
"'fink so." Harry's voice was childlike and confused. "'s that bad?" He turned back to look up at Hermione, his eyes scared. "'m I bad?"
"No, sweetheart, no, it's not bad. You're not bad at all, it's okay. Alright, come here." She pulled him up off of the bed, wrapping her arms around him and motioning with her head for Ron to move over against the wall. She was only an inch taller than Harry, so he didn't seem quite as small as he had against Ron's lanky frame. She waved her wand and pulled up the blankets until they were hovering a few feet above the mattress and gently guided Harry back into bed. "Okay, Harry, come on, lay back down."
Once Harry was settled in the middle of the bed she climbed onto the edge, and after making sure all three of them were comfortable she lowered the blankets to tuck themselves around them.
It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep, curled up in between his two best friends with his thumb in his mouth, and once he was asleep Hermione cast a gentle silencing charm around him so that her and Ron could talk.
"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Ron asked, still a bit confused as to what was going on.
"Nothing's wrong with him, but it's possible that he's a little." Ron just stared at her blankly. "Have you heard of age regression?"
"No? 'Mione, you know I don't, like, know stuff like you do."
"Well, sometimes people, particularly if they've been through trauma, might find themselves mentally reverting to a younger age sometimes. It's rather interesting, really, the way the mind-"
"'Mione. Not the point. So you think Harry has this age regression thing, then? Why did he never do this before?"
"It's possible he has regressed before now but no one noticed, however it's more likely that it just hasn't presented itself until now. PTSD and related things sometimes don't show up until one is out of the situation and safe, and Harry has really only just gotten out of the war, and he was essentially thrown from an abusive household into Hogwarts, where you know everything that happened there, into the war. It's not really surprising that certain trauma responses are only just beginning to present themselves." Hermione explained.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, what does that mean for him? Does he need to take a potion or…?"
"No, no, of course not! He most likely just needs someone to look after him when he regresses, and he might like to buy some things for when he is regressed, such as pacifiers or plush toys."
"Right. So, I'm guessing we're gonna be looking after him, then?" Ron didn't really mind- he'd do just about anything for Harry, just like he knew Harry would for him.
"Well, yes, as long as it's okay with him. He might one day want to find a proper caregiver, but until then I suppose, provided he doesn't mind, we will watch out for him."
"What's a caregiver?" Ron wished Hermione would remember not to just throw out terms she'd read about and assume everyone else had read the same books she had. He loved her, but it was one thing that was less endearing to him and more annoying.
"A caregiver is a person who looks after someone while they are regressed. We will be acting as his caregivers, but some littles prefer romantic relationships with their caregivers, or for their partners to be their caregivers instead of their friends, so he might decide when he gets into a relationship that he would prefer them to take over."
"When he gets over Malfoy, you mean." Ron rolled his eyes- Harry's obsession with Malfoy wasn't exactly a secret, and he'd confided in them about a week before that he was actually in love with the blond.
"Well, yes. Or if Malfoy returns his feelings and they get together, I suppose."
---
When Harry woke up that morning, Hermione was gone and he was halfway laid across Ron, who was still snoring. He remembered what had happened the night before and felt himself flush, his head dropping in shame. He'd been doing so well hiding the weird episodes he'd been having for the past month, but one stupid nightmare and both his friends had found out.
stupid, stupid, stupid
He thought to himself, curling up into a ball on the edge of the bed.
Just then, though, Hermione opened the door and walked in, three trays of bacon, eggs and tea and a stack of toast trailing behind her.
"Good morning, Harry. Are you feeling alright?"
She didn't seem to be treating him any differently to normal, so he hoped they'd just be pretending the night before had never happened. She floated his tray over to him along with the toast and he helped himself to 2 slices, grinning when as soon as the smell hit Ron he stirred and pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Mngfh, morning." Ron's voice was thick with sleep, even as Hermione levitated his food over towards him with the rest of the toast, having grabbed herself a couple of slices and sat down on the end of the bed.
They ate in silence, until Hermione turned to Harry as he took a sip of his tea and said "Had what happened last night ever happened before, Harry?" Resulting in him spraying his tea all over her, coughing and sputtering.
"Fuck, sorry, just wasn't expecting that." He choked out. Ron couldn't hold in his laugh at seeing Hermione sitting there looking like a drowned rat, Harry's tea all over her.
Hermione sighed and quickly cast cleansing and drying spells before asking "Well, has it?"
Harry felt his face flush red. He shrugged.
Ron awkwardly butted in, seeing that Harry wasn't going to elaborate without being prodded a bit. "You know it's alright if it has, right mate?"
Harry's voice was small, but not young, when he finally responded. "You don't…. Think it's weird?"
"No! Well, I mean, a bit, at first, but then 'Mione explained it to me, so not anymore." Ron finished with his food and put his empty tray besides Harry and Hermione's abandoned ones.
"It's perfectly natural, Harry. It's called age regression, or being a little."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Ye-yeah, ok. It's happened a few times, for about a month?" He mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest.
"Thank you for telling us." Hermione smiled gently. "If you want I can either explain more about it or lend you the book I read about it in." She offered.
"Uh, can you explain it please?" Harry always found he absorbed information better when things were explained to him out loud.
"Of course! So…"
---
"So, there's like, things I should buy for when I'm… little?" Harry's brows were furrowed.
"Not that you should buy, just that you could buy." Hermione corrected him gently.
"Right…. Where would I even get that kind of stuff?" Harry thought the idea actually sounded rather nice- he never got to have nice things when he was younger, so it would be really cool to have them now. And Hermione had told him that her and Ron would be willing to look after him for a while, so he would definitely be doing better than when he was a child. Plus, he had been avoiding getting new clothes, so maybe he could buy some while he was out shopping.
"Well, there's actually a shop on the outskirts of London that specifically caters to littles. They have clothing as well, although from what I could find out most of it is either bright colours or pastels." Hermione smiled.
"Could… could we go?" He knew his cheeks, usually a rich brown, would be stained red.
"Of course! If you want to get ready, we could go today, if you like."
"Y-yeah, sounds good." Harry smiled a wobbly, nervous smile and Hermione smiled kindly back at him, while Ron grinned and slapped him gently on the back.
---
"Is this it, then, 'Mione?" Ron looked up at the tall grey building in front of them. It was directly across the road from a tattoo studio and was far taller than any of the other buildings in the area, but it was otherwise entirely nondescript.
"Yes, according to their listing, they keep the outside fairly bland so that littles aren't outed if people see them going in."
"Makes sense, I guess. Ready, Harry?"
"Y-yeah…." Harry's eyes were glued firmly on the tattoo shop across the street, though.
"D'you want a tattoo or something, mate?"
"No! Just…. That guy looks a lot like Draco…." Harry's brows furrowed as he frowned, staring at the tall blond paying at the counter of the shop through the door.
"Why would Malfoy be in a Muggle….. wait a minute…. Mate, I think that is Malfoy. What's he doing in a Muggle tattoo shop? And dressed like… that?" Ron raised his eyebrows, looking far less intently at Draco than Harry was but confused all the same. He was perhaps even as tall as Ron, his usually pristine hair a mess and his stuffy pureblood-approved clothing switched out for torn up black jeans, combat boots and some kind of shirt he'd clearly cut the sleeves off of himself, and his arms were pretty much covered in Muggle tattoos. When he turned to leave, they saw that he had three separate piercings in his face, two in his bottom lip and one between his eyes.
Harry was gawking, stunned, and his knees felt weak. "Holy fuck." His voice came out breathy.
"Oh, honestly, boys, come on. Stop staring at him." Hermione rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
"But…. 'Mione…." Harry's voice was practically a whine and his eyes were glued to Draco, but just then the blond turned to open the shop door and Harry panicked. "Oh fuck, guys, we need to, we need to, he can't see, fuck…" he started mumbling, pulling them towards the shop and they both huffed out a laugh at him before following him off of the street and into the store before Draco could notice them.
The inside of the store was intense; just the first floor was packed to the brim with clothing, and Harry felt his mind start to slip into giddy excitedness. He rocked up onto the balls of his feet and craned his neck so he could see further, albeit not much further given how short he was. The clothes were split into brights and pastels, and he found himself drawn immediately to the pastel colours of the left side. Almost completely forgetting about Ron and Hermione, he headed over to the first stand and started grabbing xxs sizes in any of the trousers, shorts and dungarees he liked. Before long his arms were full, and he looked down morosely before remembering Ron and Hermione, and ran back over to them and thrust his pile into Ron's arms.
Ron and Hermione were standing talking to the sales assistant while Harry got started on picking out clothes.
"Is he your little, then?" The sales assistant asked them smilingly.
"Oh, uh, no, he's our best mate. We're looking after him till he finds a proper caregiver, though." The tips of Ron's ears were pink.
"Yes, he's been our best friend since we were eleven, so since he recently started regressing it just makes sense for us to take care of him until then, and he agrees. He did say, however, that he wanted his caregiver to be his partner."
"Ah, well that's good of you then-" just then Harry ran over and passed Ron a huge pile of clothes, all in pastel colours. He looked down at them bemusedly.
"Can we leave these with you then pay at the end when he's done?" Hermione, ever practical, asked.
"Of course! That's no problem, just bring me anything he wants and I'll leave them behind the counter and you can pay at the end."
"Uh, great…" Ron started, but just then he caught sight of Harry jumping to try and reach something from a higher shelf than he could naturally reach. "Shit. Right, I'll leave these with you then go help him, alright?" Ron barely even thought before passing the pile over to the assistant and walking over to Harry. "Harry, bud, what are you trying to reach?"
Harry looked up at him, his eyes wide. "The cloud sweaters!" Ron looked up a bit to see a selection of different coloured cloud sweaters just above his head.
"Which ones?"
"All of them!!" Harry's eyes were wide with wonder.
Ron laughed. "Alright, all of them then. What size?"
"Small."
Ron looked at the smalls and then back at his friend, realizing that they would almost definitely go all the way down to his knees. "Are you sure you wouldn't be better with a smaller size?"
"Small! Want it to be big!" Harry pouted petulantly.
"Alright, mate, if you're sure." Ron shrugged and grabbed one of each colour- pink, blue, yellow and purple with white clouds and white with blue clouds.
"Yeah!!" Once Harry saw that Ron had one of each sweater he almost immediately moved on, grabbing different shirts, sweaters and hoodies as he went.
Hermione wandered over to Harry and although he started talking to her, his attention was quickly stolen by a jacket near the back and he pushed his pile into her arms, running over to it. It was thick and soft, a warm brown only a few shades darker than his skin, and it was made to look like a teddy bear. He found a small, which was definitely too big for him, but when he tried it on he immediately wrapped his arms around himself, holding the plush fabric to him. "I need this! I need it!" Harry almost shouted excitedly to them and they both just smiled.
"Okay, Harry. Are you done with the clothes then?" He nodded, seeing the huge piles both Ron and Hermione were holding and remembering the even larger pile already behind the counter.
"Don't wanna take this off though!" He hugged it closer to himself.
"That's okay, we can just give the assistant the tag and you can keep it on, okay, Harry?" Hermione addressed him gently. He nodded vehemently. "Okay, come on, we need to go give them these things and then I'll take the tag off and they can keep hold of it for you, so we can go upstairs, okay?" Harry nodded again and raced off towards the front of the shop, Ron and Hermione following him more sedately. Once Ron and Hermione had put their piles onto the honestly immense pile behind the counter, Hermione turned to Harry. "Okay, come here and I'll take the tag off so you can keep wearing it, okay?" He stood next to her while she unhooked the tag and passed it over to the shop assistant before darting off and up the stairs.
"Harry- wait!" Ron called, heading after him while Hermione and the shop assistant shared commiserating glances.
"He doesn't want to take off the jacket, so here's the tag, do you mind keeping hold of it?" Hermione addressed them.
"Of course!" They grinned sunnily. Hermione passed the tag over and headed up to follow the boys.
The second floor was full of pyjamas and underwear, and Harry had already loaded Ron up with piles and piles of onesies and pyjama sets.
"Don't forget to get some underwear and socks, Harry." Hermione reminded him gently when he seemed to be entirely ignoring that section.
"I will, 'Mione, but look!" He held up a bear shaped onesie that looked similar to his jacket.
"Very cute." She smiled at him.
Ron was barely able to see over the pile of pyjamas once Harry deemed he had enough, and Hermione guided him over to the underwear. At first Harry only seemed interested in the socks, and grabbed so many different packs Hermione had to take them off of him because they kept falling on the floor behind him, but she made sure he grabbed plenty of boxer shorts too.
Ron and Hermione quickly left Harry waiting for them while they took the piles downstairs, but when they got back up Harry was nowhere to be seen, even though they had told him to wait. They looked at one another and rolled their eyes, making their way up to the third floor where Harry was holding a hat loosely in one hand and piling up boxes and boxes of shoes next to him.
"I like all of these!" He said excitedly to them as he saw them approaching.
"You can have as many as you want, Harry, you know that." Hermione reminded him. He had given her his Gringotts card to keep ahold of for him before they had set off.
"Yeah!" He shouted excitedly, grabbing another box, this time from the pile under a pair of pale pink vans.
"Are all these your size, Harry?" She checked.
"Yeah! I made sure and tried some on first!"
"Okay, good."
Once Harry had finished with the shoes (and Ron had grabbed himself a pair of bright red converse to replace his old sneakers, which he could afford from helping Fred and George out at Wheezes), he made his way over to the other side of the floor, which was full of things like dummies, bottles and sippy cups.
His eyes were wide and he looked more nervous than he had since they had entered the shop.
Ron, noticing, put down the pile of shoe boxes he'd been carrying and walked over to Harry, wrapping one arm around his skinny shoulders. "You can get whatever you want, mate. It's alright." He reassured him.
Harry looked up vulnerably. "You're sure?" He bit his lip.
"Absolutely, buddy. Whatever you want." He grinned crookedly.
"O-okay." Harry's voice was small and childlike as he made his way over to the case of dummies. He picked out a big box of different coloured plain ones and dropped his head, putting them on top of the pile of shoes and grabbing a couple of different sippy cups.
Hermione and Ron once again deposited Harry's piles with the assistant before making their way up to the fourth floor, where instead of the excitable state they'd found Harry in the past two times, they found him curled up into a ball on the rug next to a stand of plush toys, a soft white bear clutched against his chest as he stroked it's fur lightly.
"You okay, mate?" Ron asked quietly as they got closer.
"Mmhm." Harry confirmed. "'m sleepy." He mumbled into the plush.
"Okay, sweetheart. Do you want to finish up here or go home? There's just this floor and the next one left." Hermione asked him.
"We c'n finish." His voice was muffled.
"Alright, bud, so what do you want from this floor then?"
"Books? 'n' colouring stuff." He started to stand up and sleepily made his way to the book section. He grabbed seemingly at random, just picking any that he liked the artwork of, and handed them off to Hermione, then moved over a case to the colouring books and picked out a few different ones, some with more detailed bits and some more simple. Finally he grabbed packs of pencils, pens and crayons from the table next to it and handed them to Hermione too, all while still clutching at his bear. The only other thing he bothered grabbing from that floor was a massive variety pack of play doh, because he remembered Dudley having some when he was little but he'd only ever gotten to touch it once it was already dried out.
The fifth and final floor was mostly furniture and bedding, and Hermione and Ron both helped him pick out plenty of bedding, blankets, pillows and a few rugs and night lights. Once they were done, Harry's eyes were hooded and heavy and he clutched onto Ron's arm as they made their way downstairs, almost falling asleep while Hermione sorted out the payments with the shop assistant. He pooched out his bottom lip as she tried to take his bear away from him so it could be scanned, and she ended up instead just pulling off the tag. He vaguely noticed the label said "jellycat", but he wasn't quite sure what that meant. They had so many big bags that as soon as they got outside Hermione had to quickly shrink them down into one so that her and Ron could apparate them back to the burrow, Ron side-alonging Harry and Hermione taking the bag.
Back at the burrow, Hermione quickly used her wand to change Harry's bedding into the soft teddy bear print one he'd picked out in the store and used a switching spell to change him into his bear onesie, before tucking him into bed, his teddy bear clutched tight against him, a pacifier in his mouth and blankets surrounding him like a soft nest.
---
Going back to Hogwarts was more nerve-wracking than ever. Not only did he have to deal with knowing he was in the same place the final battle had occurred, the same place so many people had died, but he also had to make sure no one found out he was a little. He knew, thanks to Ron and Hermione's constant support, that it wasn't a bad thing, but he was also very aware that if it got out it could cause him lots of problems. On top of that, he was going to have to be in the same place as Draco bloody Malfoy, who, when he had seen him a couple of months before, had been even hotter than ever, and his new look definitely wasn't helping.
Even worse, as soon as he got onto the Hogwarts express, Hermione and Ron had to disappear off into the prefects carriage- McGonagall had decided that since there was an extra year group, an extra set of prefects would be a good idea, although he was fairly certain Draco would have lost his position.
He'd dressed in his favourite outfit, hoping to make himself feel as comfortable as possible. Dungarees, a t-shirt, his jacket and a pair of high tops, all made to look like or printed with bears. He was sure people would probably be staring at him, judging him, but he also couldn't bring himself to care- it's not like people hadn't been doing that since he'd first entered the wizarding world, after all.
He found Luna and Ginny in a compartment at the end, leaning against one another and chatting, but they both gave him bright smiles when he asked if he could join them. He'd only just sat down when the compartment door was opened again, this time by Draco. He had on the same combat boots Harry had seen at the tattoo shop, along with green plaid trousers and a distressed tank top.
"Mind if I join you?" He asked, and Harry secretly wanted to just melt into his voice and stay there forever.
Ginny looked resigned as Luna responded brightly, "Of course, Draco! Your wrackspurts are clearing up nicely, although the adora moths are still dense around your ears." Harry had never heard of adora moths, but he had long since learned to just go with what Luna said instead of questioning it. Draco, though, seemed to know exactly what she meant.
"As they will continue to be, Lu. You know exactly why." He rolled his eyes.
"I disagree." Her voice left no room for argument and Draco huffed and sat down beside Harry.
He finally seemed to catch sight of Harry's outfit and asked, "Are you attempting to turn into a bear, Potter?" But his tone was obviously more teasing than cruel.
Harry grinned crookedly. "Maybe I'll give it a go, at least bears don't have to deal with reporters."
Draco laughed. "That is certainly very true."
---
Slughorn was back teaching potions and this time Harry didn't have Snape's old book to help him not blow his cauldron up, so he was actually glad when he was paired up with Draco. Sitting with Draco in every potions class meant that not only did the blond stop and help him brew actually passable potions, but that he got to hear the near constant scathing remarks Draco always made under his breath, leading to quite a few incidents where Slughorn caught him giggling at seemingly nothing whilst Draco looked on fondly amused.
Draco seemed to have changed a lot since the war, but most of the changes were more outward- Harry had figured out years ago that most of Draco's behaviour had been to please his father or keep his family safe instead of simply because he wanted to, and now that he was free to be who he actually was, he certainly seemed a lot happier, at least to Harry, and they were getting along better than ever- a few times they even went flying together. They weren't allowed on their house teams, seeing as the eighth years were considered essentially a house of their own, but they still had lots of fun flying around and playing seekers games. Sometimes Harry caught Draco staring at him after their games in a way that made him flush all the way down to his toes, but he tried not to think about it as to not get his hopes up about something that was unlikely to ever happen.
---
It was Halloween when things got to be too much for Harry. He'd been doing so well, keeping it together, rarely having panic attacks now he felt comfortable regressing in his room, and honestly barely even thinking about the bodies he'd seen lined up in the great hall less than a year before, but when he entered for the feast on Halloween evening, it felt like all he could see. He couldn't see the tables, the food, the decorations, it was just grey and death and his heart pounded in his chest.
His breath was short and his eyes started watering, and before Hermione and Ron could even notice he had turned and fled. He found his way to Myrtle's bathroom and dropped down onto the floor in the corner, pulling his knees to his chest and sobbing brokenly. His thumb made its way into his mouth as he cried for the loss of his parents, of Sirius, of Remus and Tonks, and of everyone else who shouldn't have had to die but did.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, shivers and sobs wracking his small frame, before the door was again pushed open.
"Harry? Is that you?" Draco's voice was calm but concerned, and Harry could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. He looked up just as Draco made his way around the end stall and saw him. "Oh, Harry, come here." His voice was softer than Harry had ever heard it and it just made him sob harder as Draco leaned down and, with seemingly minimal effort, picked him up and held him close. Perched on Draco's hip, he clutched the taller boys shirt in his free hand and wept into his shoulder. Draco rocked him gently, holding him tight with both arms. "You're okay, bear, you're alright. I've got you, sweetheart."
Draco recognised what must be going on- he'd been wondering since he'd caught sight of Harry going into the shop over summer, and had been almost certain when he saw his new way of dressing, whether Harry might be a little, but he didn't want to bring it up in case he was wrong or made Harry feel uncomfortable.
Eventually Harry's sobs started to subside, but Draco kept holding him and rocking him gently. "Can I ask you something, bear?" Harry nodded hesitantly. "Are you a little?" Harry looked up, panic in his wide green eyes. "It's okay, bear, it's okay. You can tell me, if you want to."
Harry hesitated for a moment before whispering "Yes." quietly.
"Okay, darling. Do you have a caregiver?" He asked with as much delicacy as he was capable of, which was far more than people tended to think.
"N-no. Won and 'Mione have been looking afta me, but they not my caregivers." His voice was even younger than it usually was when he was in headspace, his vulnerability evident.
"Do you want me to go and get them?"
Harry shook his head violently. "Wan you." He wrapped both his arms around Draco's neck as tight as he could.
Draco felt his cheeks flush a little at that. "Okay, baby. I just need to send them a patronus so they know I've got you, okay? Then if you want I'll take you back to your room."
"Okay."
" Expecto Patronum " A small stag, much smaller than Harry's patronus, and with less points to his antlers, formed out of the end of his wand. "For Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry is with me, he's perfectly safe, I'm going to take him back to his room now."
Draco tried to put Harry down but he clung on tight. "No!"
"No? Do you want me to carry you, bear?"
"Yes pwease, daddy." Harry didn't even seem to notice what he said, but Draco felt his heart stop for a moment. He pressed a soft kiss to Harry's thick curls.
"Okay, baby."
---
Harry's room was very…. Soft, would probably be the best descriptor. Three separate rugs, each with a different soft texture, soft bedding, piles and piles of blankets, a stuffed bear, lots of soft colours, teddy bear curtains around the bed and in the window instead of the standard purple (Draco thought Granger had most likely charmed them), an oversized pillow seat in one corner with a pile of children's books, and colouring books and supplies all over the desk.
Once in his room, Harry finally let Draco put him down and ran to change into pyjamas. Before he went into his bathroom he turned and looked up at Draco, his big eyes pleading. "C"n you stay? Pwease?"
Draco felt his heart swell at how sweet the boy he'd been in love with since Madame Malkin's before first year was. "Of course I can, bear. Do you want me to stay with you tonight, too?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Yes pwease!"
Draco smiled indulgently. "While you go change, I'm going to go and change into my pyjamas too, then, is that okay?"
"O-okay. You'll come back?" Harry seemed to need the reassurance.
"Of course I will, sweetheart. I'll be back before you know it."
---
Draco rushed through changing into his pyjamas, leaving his clothes in an uncharacteristic messy pile at the end of his bed and padding back down to Harry's room as quickly as he could. As it happened, he walked back through Harry's door just as Harry came out of the bathroom. Almost immediately, Harry jumped at him, clinging to him once again and laying his head tiredly against Draco's collarbone.
"'m sleepy." He yawned widely.
"I can see that." Draco chuckled, cuddling Harry close against his chest. "Do you want me to read to you so you can go to sleep, bear?"
"Yes, daddy." Harry already sounded half asleep, and as soon as Draco put him down on the bed he grabbed his teddy bear and snuggled under the blankets. Before laying down properly, he grabbed a pacifier off of his nightstand and stuck it between his lips, hunkering over to one side so Draco would have space to get in the other side.
Draco picked out one of the books- the spine was more cracked than the others and it seemed to have been more worn, so Draco guessed it was most likely Harry's favourite. He seemed to be correct, because as he got in bed and Harry saw it, his eyes lit up excitedly.
"Bear, don't you have a clip for your pacifier?" Draco asked- surely it'd be almost impossible to find among all his blankets if it fell out during the night. Harry just looked at him blankly. "Okay, sweetheart. I'll have to get you one so you don't lose it, okay?" Harry nodded contentedly.
Once Draco was comfortable, he propped the book open on his chest and Harry rested his head against his shoulder, tilted until he could see the pictures as Draco started to read.
"A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good…"
---
Draco was barely half way through the book before Harry was asleep. He levitated the book back over onto the pile by the chair and brushed Harry's thick fringe out of his face. He was about to lay down properly and try to go to sleep himself when Harry's door opened softly.
Ron and Hermione stood in the doorway for a second, taking in the scene, before closing the door gently behind themselves and walking over to Draco.
"Is he alright?" Ron asked, worried.
"Once he calmed down, yes, he's fine. He's sleeping though, so keep your voice down!" Draco whispered.
"Right, sorry." Ron replied sheepishly, the tips of his ears turning red. As he did, Harry blinked his eyes open a bit.
"Ron? 'Mione?" His voice was muffled by the pacifier still in his mouth.
"Hello, sweetheart. Just go back to sleep, we love you." Hermione kept her voice low.
"Mm. Love you too." He pressed his face against Draco's shoulder and murmured "Night, daddy, love you." softly.
Draco smiled to himself. "Love you too, bear, goodnight." He pressed a kiss to Harry's cheek as he felt the smaller boy relax and drift off again, then quickly erected a silencing charm around him.
"He called you daddy?" Ron's eyebrows were almost touching his hairline.
"Yes. I'm not sure why, but if he wants to, I'm not going to stop him." Draco's voice was a bit defensive.
"Oh, honestly." Hermione shook her head, exasperated. "It seems he wants you to be his caregiver, Draco. Is that something that is okay with you?"
Draco's eyes strayed back to Harry, breifly just taking in how beautiful he was. "Of course."
"Good, but first- how do you actually feel about him?" She asked, her eyes penetrating in a way that made Draco want to squirm, but he didn't for risk of waking Harry.
"I love him. I have done since we met." He said honestly, not daring to lie to her.
Clearly something he said must have been correct, because her stern expression gave way for a genuine smile. "You should tell him that. Now, Ron, let's go."
Ron was staring at Draco almost as if he didn't know him. "Don't hurt him." The statement was simple, but the threat was evident. Draco nodded solemnly, showing he understood, and recieved a nod in return.
---
Harry woke up on the most comfortable, nice smelling pillow he'd ever felt. His pacifier had disappeared some point during the night, as usual, but he was still clutching his teddy bear in one hand.
It was only when his pillow shifted that he remembered exactly what he was lying on- he looked up and locked eyes with Draco Malfoy, who's silver eyes were droopy with sleep.
"S-sorry." Harry apologized, pulling away and looking down at the bed.
Draco cocked his head, a small frown on his pointed face. "What for?"
"Just…. Last night. I'm sorry."
"Harry, look at me." Draco's voice left no room for argument, so Harry looked up. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I love you, and I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to let me look after you, okay?"
"You- you love me?" Harry knew his eyes must be wider than ever.
"Since we met." Draco pulled him gently until he laid back on his chest.
Harry looked up into Draco's face. "I- I love you too. For years." He still felt stunned, even more so when Draco's face broke out into an uncharacteristic grin and his lips descended onto his in a gentle, tentative kiss.
Harry kissed back passionately, perching himself on Draco's abdomen and wrapping his arms around his neck.
They kissed for what could have been hours or minutes before breaking apart, out of breath and both blushing hard.
"I love you, bear."
"I love you too."