Very good! It was a good idea executed brilliantly, a real pleasure to read :)

this.
oh my god sam this.
i don't even have enough words to comment on the fabulousness of it all.

the way you start out, with draco's quiet desperation and the fact that he /knows/ he's not the perfect pureblood he's striven so long to be anymore.
and the way that harry just wants to /help/
oh god this is perfection.

and the underlying narcissa dying of a broken heart theme is just tragically gorgeous.
because draco /needs/ his mother, and to watch her die and not be able to do anything about has got to hurt him so bad. and yet he just keeps going and pretending to be fine, and no one but harry notices.
no one but harry cares.

the way harry constantly kept coming to the manor, even when he didn't need to be there as protection any more, just so he could check up on draco was just /so/ harry
because there's no way he's about to let anyone suffer alone if he can help it - he knows how that feels, and he wouldn't wish it upon his worst enemy.

and the fact that draco misses harry when he's not around just because harry and his concern about his well-being has become the only constant thing in his life is just heartbreaking.

and then they finally get together, and everything's all okay.
the way you counted their year together backwards was just amazing, because it seems to signify that no amount of time together will ever be enough...

this was the most gorgeous piece of work even sam.

Wow, thank you so much for writing this! I really enjoyed it, especially the numbers counting off the days throughout the story. There are so many emotions... I'm a little speechless. I loved it! Thank you!

For the general first impressions, I'm going to paste my previous review. But then I'm going to make it awesomer :D
There are a lot of things about this that are just little things that feel very… clever. The numbers, for example. I like the numbers. A lot :D
I really, really love that Harry asks Draco how he is until he gets an honest answer – that seems to me a very great representation of both of their characters.
The… gradual slide into a relationship was utterly lovely. As was the way Draco kind of just slipped into calling him Harry without even thinking about it or even realizing it.
Overall, this is a great fic, and I can tell you put a lot of effort into it. Great job!

One:

Okay, the first line. Already a yes. That's so very /Draco/. And then you follow it with "Emotions are dangerous things to play with." and the way you phrased that makes me think of playing with fire (which, given it's Draco, makes me think of Charlie, but that's irrelevant in this case), and that's lovely.

I love that Draco can't even identified what emotions are running through him – he just knows he doesn't like it :D

And the way he just ignores the raging emotions and pretends that he's fine is also wonderfully Draco and I love it.

I /really/ adore the fact that you address the fact that that's why he had no problem joining the Dark Lord, because that can be a difficult thing to address involving a character we love so much (or maybe that's just me that has a hard time?), and you just mention it in passing so lovelily.

AND DRACO WITH A CONSCIENCE :D That just makes me smile – because he /does/ but sometimes people forget that.

"(mostly) clean" YESYESYES. I don't normally like parentheses, but this? This is a perfect, perfect place for them. Absolutely wonderful – it totally enhances the words

I love that Harry calls him out on his lie – because he so would :D And then he just goes on to be frank and upfront about things because he's Harry and that's what he does, and that just highlights their differences so well. I love that Draco continues to lie and finally, Harry just lets him, because he knows how stubborn Draco is :D

And the way you've put Harry and Draco together is so lovely :D It's actually /believable/ and not at all contrived (even though we all know it's a plot device, but it doesn't /feel/ like that).

And the end of one, with Draco's abrupt departure, that's lovely as well :D

Four:

I love that neither time have you actually typed "How are you?" or "Are you okay?" We just /know/.

And I am totally convinced that Draco continues to call Harry "Potter" Despite the fact that Harry tells him to call him Harry :D

Twenty-six.

""Why do you care so much, Potter?" he finally asks. / Harry shrugs. "It just seems like you need someone.""
THAT. THAT RIGHT THERE. That is totally Drarry in a nutshell. Perfect. Absolutely, positively perfect.

"The one person he needs most in his life is slowly killing herself with grief and he can't do a thing about it."
This incidence just reminds me of how much of our headcanons we derive from each other by now :D

Thirty.

I love the bit about Draco pretending a lot these days :D Draco's always been that way, though, I feel like. When in doubt, bluff!

Fifty-five.

And we have the first incidence of Harry actually asking the question! How lovely!
Draco slipping and calling him Harry makes me smile :D And the fact that Draco doesn't even realise it just makes it that much better – I applaud you for sticking to your third limited POV there, because those are the place it gets tricky, where there's something your narrator doesn't know. Nicely done!

Eighty-two.

I love how relentlessly stubborn they both are! Lovely and completely keeping in character.

One hundred and eight.

""I'm not okay," he whispers finally. He doesn't look at Harry when he says this, though. That would be harder than admitting defeat."
OHMYGOSH YES. JUST. THAT. Right there.

And I love that Harry doesn't try to rub it in his face that he finally told the truth – he doesn't make a big deal out of it. It just /is/.

One hundred and seventeen.

I adore the fact that the moment Harry gets the true answer, he stops asking.
And Draco, you should listen to Harry. Bottling isn't healthy!

One hundred and thirty-one.

"It's almost like he wants to fix Draco, though Draco's not even sure there's anything to fix." This line is love. Mhmm. It is.

One hundred and fifty-nine.

D'awwwwwwwwwwwww. Draco misses him :D That's adorable.

One hundred and sixty.

"He still thinks it's because Harry's been there every day, but his heart's not so sure."
That line. It speaks for itself. Oh, Draco. Just listen to your heart, darling.

One hundred and seventy-nine.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HE CAN'T LEAVE.

Two hundred and ten.

Sadsadsadsadsadsadsad. So much sadness!

"I would tell you it gets easier, but it doesn't," Oh, that. Harry. And now I just feel sad for all of them! But I /love/ that Harry doesn't lie to make Draco feel better.

""Why do you care anyway?" Draco demands, his grey eyes meeting green ones. / Harry refuses to look away from Draco's stare. "Because somebody has to,""
This might be even more fantastic the second time 'round. I love it.

Two hundred and twenty-four.

I love how much it bothers Draco that he cannot read the secret meaning in Harry's words. :D

Two hundred and thirty-nine.

Oh, Draco. It's okay to be scared of love, darling :D

Two hundred and fifty-seven.

"Harry told him once he doesn't listen to his heart enough. He's listening now; he may not like it what's saying, but he listening."
*dies*
The fantasticness of that line has killed me. I'm dead now.

Two hundred and seventy-eight.

I feel like they're in one of those one we-all-know-it-but-no-one-will-say-it types of situation. It's lovely.

Two hundred and ninety-nine.

Draco listens to his heart. It's thumping and pounding like crazy.
OH THIS. The way you twisted the title so that instead of being metaphorically relevant it's literal! LOVE.

And they are so, /so/ close!

Three hundred and twelve.

"Why does it have to be you?" The funny thing is that I didn't even consider this question. But it's a good point :D And I love Harry's reply!

Three hundred and twenty-one.

I find "strut" is a word I have difficulty associating with Harry in my head. All I get is the image of him going, "My dad did not strut! And nor do I!" to Snape.

Three hundred and forty-four.

"The underlying question, however, is still there, still hidden under false pretenses." I love your endless ability to come up with new iterations of this question. It's really quite impressive.

Three hundred and fifty-three.

I absolutely adore the fact that it saddens Draco when Harry stops asking.

Three hundred and sixty-five.

The similarity to the beginning is absolutely wonderful. And this!
"because, in that moment, Draco's heart is speaking and Draco is just following its demands." Eeeeeeeeee! That just made me really, really happy. I love the way you pull in the title. Again and again. Love it.

AND IT'S REALLY ABOUT TIME, BOYS!

Three hundred and forty-eight.

And finally, finally, Draco asks the question! Yay!

Two hundred and sixty-four.

This one just makes me happy with it's fluffiness :D

Two hundred and two.

D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I love that neither of them cares about the media attention :D

One hundred and seventy-six.

I love that they don't need to talk – that's a wonderful aspect of their relationship. It's a wonderful little detail.

One hundred and thirty-seven.

Oh, lovely bickering! Fantastic! They wouldn't be Draco and Harry without some bickering!

Ninety-three.

Things that don't need to be said :D

Fifty.

Okay, this totally made me giggle :D The fact that he moves in without either one of them trying just makes me giggle. Lovely, darling. Lovely.

Eighteen.

Oh, the classic "Why me?" question. Typical Draco insecurity. No matter who he's with, he's always going to doubt himself.

"It may not have been perfect, but it's completely them." This line is just plain gorgeous.

One.

The ending is quite lovely :D

You might have to explain the numbers to me, though, darling. I notice you start counting down when Draco finally gives and honest answer, and that they're counting days, but what, precisely, is the reason they start counting down? (I feel like I knew when I first reviewed based on what I said, but I can't figure it out again...)

I still love that you wrote Drarry, and you captured the essence of them so very, very well! I really, really, really love this fic. Gorgeous. Just plain gorgeous.

I loved the way you structured this story, showing the gradual progression by how Draco's reaction changes to the same question. Harry and Draco, because of their history of animosity in canon definitely needs a careful buildup to make their relationship come across as believable, and I think for me to really buy it, I would've liked to see in more detail how Harry got to the point of caring enough to ask after Malfoy. But once he got to that point, I can see their relationship building in this manner that you have portrayed. I especially liked the way you portrayed Draco in this piece. There was a haunting sadness to it but ended with hope. I'm curious though: what was the significance of the number spacing that you chose to separate the sections?

It is so sweet:) i like your style!

So, I told you what I thought about this story when I beta-read it for you, like, a thousand years ago, but I just want to tell you that I thought you did a really great job with this, especially in terms of developing the relationship between your characters. It's so nice to not have this "hidden attraction" that had supposedly been there since the beginning, because it just wasn't. I loved this story the first time I read it, and I loved it the second and third times. Beautiful story, and congrats on your award ;).