Prompter: khalulu
Prompt Number: 55
Title: Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise)
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Summary: The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Blooms-bury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s) (Highlight to view): * Possible post-war related depression and PTSD triggers.*
Epilogue compliant? Probably not.
Word Count: ~38,000
Author's Notes: As we all know, the theme of this fest is “Bound to You.” More specifically, the prompt I chose asked for “freedom from bondage,” based on the lovely poem “Eternity,” by William Blake. As it is quite short, I’ll reprint it here:

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.

When I read this poem, an entire world opened before my eyes—or rather, the Room of Requirement did. It seemed the natural setting for this prompt and I’ve done my best to capture the magic of this place for you in the story below. This fic is one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever written and many times along the way I doubted I could do it justice, but in the end, I’m pleased with how it came together, and I very much hope you enjoy reading it.

And with that, Dear Prompter, I would like to thank you for submitting such a gorgeous, inspiring prompt. I do hope you enjoy the resulting story.

To my phenomenal prereaders, Brit-picker, and beta, sapphirescribe, tuesdaymidnight, twilightmundi, omi_ohmy, and arcadianmaggie: Thank you. Truly, I cannot say it enough. From your insight and encouragement to your careful relocation of every misplaced comma, you’ve made this story stronger every step of the way. I thank you for it. <3

Thanks also to the lovely and gracious mods for the fest. You do an amazing job every time and I thank you for the chance to participate…and for the deadline extension. *sheepish smile*

One final note: I was reminded during the final editing stages of this story that there was another post-war Room of Requirement story that was written for the last hols fest. Our stories are vastly different in so many ways, but if the topic interests you, you may want to take a look at To Be Back Again in the Rest of the Room by lamerezouille If any of this author’s story unconsciously informed my own interpretation, I would like to acknowledge and thank lamerezouille for paving the way.

Thank you for reading.

Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on AO3)
Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on Gdocs)
Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on FFn)