What a wonderful re-telling of Draco and Harry's story up to the Epilogue. I love how you made it work plausibly, leaving the Epilogue scene intact, down to the dialogue and that curt nod, but changing the entire emotional background. And yes, it makes so much more sense like this :-). The quick bonding when Harry can read Draco's thought just before that nod is awesome. I adore your Draco in this, his snark and cynicism, and the utterly gorgeous imagery of the marble statue and the furnaces, the summer heat, which you use so poignantly for who he has become. The moment that perhaps touched me most was at Narcissa's coffin. The contrast to the similar moment at Lucius' funeral could not have been sharper. I love how Harry understands Draco's unspoken plea for help, how he can feel Draco's unstable magic and how they together do the spell. And I admire so much the perfect, unforced structure of this story, woven around the burials of Lucius and of Narcissa (the "dust"), both times triggering a new "level" in Harry and Draco's relationship (the "eros"). And of course the "corner stones" of your story: that touching of hands - such a symbolic gesture in all of H/D -, the lacing of their fingers and finding their natural fit. I simply adore that you chose to go back to that image for the ending.

Your story was rec'ed by frantic_mice and I am so glad I finally found the time to read it. Thank you som much for sharing it with us.