tuck a cloud up under my chin
for the @drarrymicrofic prompt “lullaby”. the lullaby here is an actual song that i used to sing at summer camp- i couldn’t find a recorded version that’s sung that way i know it, but it’s a really beautiful and almost haunting melody. wc 304, rated G, no warnings. thanks to @lou-isfake for lookin over this!
“Bed is too small for my tiredness…”
“Hm?” Harry murmurs as he blinks into consciousness, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. He’s wrapped in warmth, and as he shifts a gentle hand comes up to cradle his cheek.
“Shhh,” Draco whispers, and Harry immediately settles back down into his husband's arms. “You were restless, I’m just singing. Go back to sleep.”
“‘Kay,” Harry whispers back. He tucks his nose into the crook of Draco’s neck, drifting back to a half-sleep as Draco’s hums low in his throat and pulls Harry closer. After a few moments of quiet, Harry shifts again. “Will you keep singing?”
“Oh,” Draco says softly. “Yes, alright.” He clears his throat as though embarrassed. Perhaps he is– Harry has only ever heard him sing along to the radio. Not like this, in the tender darkness of their room, his only accompaniment the hush of the winter wind outside.
“Give me a hillside of trees,” Draco sings, his voice low and wavering but true on the lilting notes. “Tuck a cloud up under my chin. Lord, blow the moon out please.”
“Where’d you learn this?” Harry asks against Draco’s skin.
“Hmm. My mother. It’s an old Muggle song, I think. She told me it was our secret.”
“‘S nice,” Harry says, heavy with sleep, and Draco exhales a soft laugh.
“There’s another verse.” Draco clears his throat again, singing along the same melody as before. “Rock me to sleep in a cradle of dreams. Sing me a lullaby of leaves. Tuck a cloud up under my chin. Lord, blow the moon out please.”
A realization coalesces in Harry’s mind, tender and lovely. “Do you always sing to me when I have nightmares?”
“I– I do,” Draco says softly, and Harry pulls him close, wrapped up in this gentle love.