Title: Happiness Reborn
Pairing: Harry and Draco
Story: Harry and Draco are married, but something has happened between the two. Are they going to be able to overcome?
I do not own any Harry Potter characters or make any money in regards to this story.
He loved his husband so much, more than he ever thought possible. So when he started seeing someone else, a woman, he said nothing. He couldn't. he would not be the one to deny his husband anything, even if it caused his more pain than he ever thought imaginable.
How his husband thought he would get away with cheating on him, he would never know. He was, after all, a Potions Master of the highest caliber. He was trained by some of the best Masters that were out there, including his godfather. So really, detecting a woman's scent on his husband was not a hard thing to do.
When he first realized his husband was seeing someone else he was upset set. He couldn't figure out what was missing from their marriage. He didn't think there was anything missing, but the seed of doubt was already planted in his mind.
Does he not love me anymore?
Does he love her?
Is she prettier than me?
Is he going to leave me for her?
Do they have more fun together?
Is she pregnant?
That last one was the one that caused the most pain in his heart. He hoped that it wasn't the one keeping his husband away from him, because if it was then he had already lost him with no hope of gaining him back.
They had been trying to have a child since they got married six years ago, but nothing was coming of it. All the Medi-wizards they had been to all said the same thing, "There is nothing wrong, with either of you. It will happen when it is supposed to happen."
But nothing ever did.
So, when their five year anniversary rolled around and they still hadn't gotten pregnant his husband stopped trying. That hurt more than he would ever know, especially since they didn't talk about it first. He just started using contraceptive charms whenever they had sex, and he knew then that something had changed between them. And about a month later is when he smelt the perfume.
So now, after over six years of marriage, everything was starting to weigh him down. All the pain and doubt and the feeling of being unwanted. Everything was starting to press into him, and he just couldn't deal with it anymore. He couldn't be the one to make his husband happy anymore, and that broke his heart.
When things clicked into place in his mind, and he figured out that he was basically just a bed warmer for his husband he stopped caring. He stopped caring about everything because nothing mattered anymore. Not to him, not since his husband stopped caring.
He stopped eating, and in doing that became skinner than he was before. Stopped caring about his hair, letting the potions and whatever else turn it stringy and greasy. He couldn't sleep anymore because of the nightmares, but now instead of being about the Final Battle they were of his husband laughing at him.
All that combined lead him to where he was now, sitting on the floor of his home lab with one of his daggers pressed to his wrist. Now, with the glamours dropped, he could see the other scars that littered his arms. He could also make out the bones jutting out from not eating. But he didn't care anymore, because the one he had loved since he was eleven wasn't there.
Instead he was out at a 'meeting' that mysteriously popped up that morning. But they didn't bother him anymore, since they had become more frequent in the last six months. His husband was always running off and leaving him in their home the first moment he could.
So, here he was. Sitting on his dirty lab floor, and he didn't care. With a dagger to his wrist, and he wasn't scared anymore. He was ready for the pain, actually anticipating it.
Then the front door opened.
Harry stepped into his and Draco's house and he wondered for a second if his husband was home. Normally there would be music playing from somewhere in their house. Or there was yummy smells coming from the kitchen. Or Draco could be heard puttering around his lab down in the basement.
But then he remembered that all that had been in the past. Now whenever he came home it was to silence. The music ceased to play about a year ago, since it was charmed to go off of Draco's emotions. The kitchen wasn't used for food experiments by him anymore either. Now when he was working in the lab he kept silencing wards up, so Harry didn't know if he was working or not.
He still couldn't figure out what caused the dramatic shift in his husband's personality. At first he thought it was due to them not getting pregnant, but when he didn't come out of the funk he was in Harry started to get worried.
He never put two and two together and realized that seeing that muggle woman was the cause of all of his husband's problems. Never stopped to think that even taking a shower before coming home would wipe away the subtle scents of another person.
Then one day he walked in on Draco when he was in the shower and he caught a glimpse of him without the glamours on. What he saw shocked and scared him. He didn't know what could be hurting Draco like this, but he was going to find out.
That was why he was home early that day. After having a long discussion with Hermione and Ron he finally realized that his husband wasn't stupid after all.
~Flashback to lunch~
"I don't know what is going on with him anymore. I know that there is something that I am missing, but I cannot put my finger on it."
He was sitting in Hermione and Ron's living room talking with his best friend, hoping that her unlimited knowledge would help him out yet again.
"Well, when did you first start seeing changes in him?"
Harry sat back and thought about it. When things started to click together in his mind his face paled and he almost fainted.
"Figured it out, have you?"
Ron was home and by his tone he was pissed at his best friend for hurting Draco and taking this long to notice.
It had shocked them all when Ron and Draco became friends, but after a while no one noticed anymore. But he had become one of Draco's closest friends and his confidant. He had seen the downfall of his friend and wondered when Harry would realize how much he was hurting his husband by cheating on him.
Harry looked at Ron and saw nothing but disgust on his face and in that instant knew that Draco knew and all of his problems were caused by him.
"What? Figured what out? What the hell is going on here?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked at her with a sad expression, "Well, it seems that our friend has just figured out that his husband knows about him cheating on him," she gasped and shot a horrified look at Harry, "and now he cares. So my question is, why now?"
Harry looked mystified so Ron clarified.
"Why do you care now? You didn't care a year ago when you started seeing her. You didn't care when he started changing, and even I noticed the changes. You didn't care when he stopped leaving the house. You obviously didn't care when you returned home smelling like her."
That is when Hermione jumped in.
"You actually came home smelling like her?" he tried to jump in, but was silenced by a look. "Do. Not. There is nothing you could say to even begin to defend yourself. You cheat on him after everything that y'all have been through. Then you go home smelling of her. Let me ask you this, Harry…"
He looked back up at his friend, waiting.
"What is his job? What does he do at home all day long?"
Without thinking he answered "Potions Master."
"Exactly" Ron said, stepping back into the conversation. "How long do you think it took him to notice? A couple months? Weeks? How long did you think you could hide it from him?"
He couldn't' answer those questions because he didn't know what to say to his two best friends. They were standing there, defending his husband. They were protecting the man who caused them pain during their school years, and that's when he realized he broke something that might not be fixable.
Resigned he said "I don't know."
This pissed Ron off, knowing that Draco had been in pain since finding our right after their fifth anniversary.
"He has known since the beginning, you jackass! He has always known, but hasn't said a word. No matter how much pain it is causing him, he isn't going to try to stop you. As much as he hates you for cheating, he loves you more."
"Why are you worried about him now?" Hermione asked. "What is making you talk about this? What did you see or hear or whatever? Because for you to willingly talk about this you must have seen something."
Leaning back and covering his eyes with his hands he tried to erase the picture of his beautiful husband covered in scars and painfully thin.
"I saw him in the shower this morning."
Ron caught on "So, you saw what he really looks like. You have bared witness to the pain that you have caused him. You only care now because he isn't what he used to be! What he looks like now is being caused by you! And it took you this long to realize that something is wrong with your husband? You finally see that he doesn't care about himself anymore. That you cheating on him has driven him to this. He loves you so much, more than you will ever know. But you really should know by now, because he isn't saying anything about you cheating on him. He didn't say a word to me about it, until one day six months ago when his glamour dropped and I caught sight of his arms. He cares so much about you that he swore me to a Wizards Oath not to tell you. He didn't want you to hurt because of him. Even when you are the one causing him pain, he didn't want you to know that you were the cause of it."
Ron and Hermione sat there in front of him for another minute, just staring at him. Then, as one, they both stood up and walked out of the room without glancing back at him. He realized then that if he ignored Draco any more than he already was he would lose the three people he loved most in the world.
After he left their house he made his way into muggle London and down the street that had become so familiar to him. He didn't know what he was going to say to her, but he knew that nothing would help ease any pain that she had.
Thirty minutes later when he left her apartment he felt a little lighter. He didn't have this big secret hanging over his head anymore. He didn't have to worry about someone finding out and going to Draco. But then he remembered that his husband already knew, and an ice chip slid across his heart.
~Flashback Ended~
After closing the door behind him he walked further into his and Draco's house. He knew that he was there because Harry could sense his magical signature, even with as weak as it was. He started getting worried when he didn't find him anywhere.
When he made his way down into the lab the sight that great him broke his heart.
There were broken vials littering the floor. Ingredients had been thrown all over the room. The tables and stools that once stood against the walls were scattered about the room. There were rolls of parchment that had been torn up and scattered about too.
But what hurt him the most was his broken husband sitting in the midst of all of it. Glamours dropped with a dagger pressed to his wrist. A look of utter defeat on his face.
Harry slowly made his way over to Draco and dropped down in front of him. He wanted to reach out and pull his husband to him, protect him from everything, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to first show his husband that he still loved him. He had to show him that he still cared and that he felt like a complete and utter fool for cheating.
Reaching out he grasped the dagger with his left hand and gently pulled it out of Draco's grasp. He was surprised when Draco didn't up a fight, but soon realized that his husband didn't have any fight left in him. After almost a year of dealing with the pain and heartache he had no fight left in him.
After he threw the dagger across the room he reached his hands forward and gently touched the shrunken cheeks. He slowly lifted Draco's head, needing to see his gorgeous husbands face. Even with the weight loss and stringy hair he was still the most beautiful person.
As worried jade eyes met frightened silver he was struck with how scared his husband was, and that hurt him more than the outward appearance of his husband did. Draco was actually scared of him, either because he thought that Harry was going to hit him or thought that Harry was going to leave him.
"Draco…baby…please don't be sad. Please. I am so sorry. I never meant for any of it to happen. Please baby. Please believe me."
He saw Draco moving his mouth but couldn't hear what was coming out of it. He moved closer and was shocked when he was finally able to understand what was being said.
"Please don't leave me. I can't live if you do. Please don't leave. Please. I love you. I will not say anything about her I you stay. You can see her. You can do whatever you want. But don't leave me. Please, I couldn't survive it. I can't be without you. Please. Don't leave. Don't leave."
At hearing his once strong and self confident husband reduced to this he felt his heart breaking all over again. He never should have let things go this far. Never should have let that woman distract him from the one he loved more than himself. He should have seen that his husband was hurting and hiding things from him.
He slid his arms around Draco and pulled him into his lap, shocked at how much his husband didn't weigh. He tightened his arms around the slim body when he felt the front of his shirt become wet with tears. Slowly he started rocking his body back and forth wanting to calm his hysterical husband down.
They sat there for over two hours, Harry wrapped around Draco. The entire time Harry kept his arms wrapped around his husband, needing to show him that he wasn't going anywhere. He had to show him that he wasn't going to turn his back on him again. Needed to make Draco believe that he still loved him.
Harry heard a quiet voice ask "can we go to bed, please?"
Without answering he stood up, still holding his husband to his chest. He wasn't going to let Draco out of his sight, he couldn't do it. In the past day or so he realized how close he was to losing this extraordinary person. He couldn't' let that happen, or he would cease to live.
Bypassing their bed as he walked into their room he walked into their bathroom. Without letting go of the man in his arms he turned on the hot water and started filling up the tub. As it filled he also added different salts and potions to help with healing, knowing that Draco would need it.
Gently setting his husband on the vanity he began pulling off the dirty clothing that he had worn that day. Standing naked in front of Draco he slowly began undressing him, not wanting to scare him.
When Draco tried to fight back Harry said "Baby, its okay. I just want to get these clothes off of you. You are beautiful, never forget that."
He kept whispering this as he divested his husband of his clothing. After seeing Draco in the shower this morning he wasn't too shocked at the sight that sat before him, but it still hurt him to see his husband in so much physical and emotional pain.
Picking him up he turned and made his way to the waiting bath. He stepped into it and slowly sat down with Draco in his lap. With his back to the side of the tub he laid Draco in between his legs with his back to his chest. After a few seconds Draco laid his head back on his husbands shoulder.
They sat like that, unspeaking, for almost thirty minutes. All the while Harry was rubbing his hands up and down Draco's chest and sides in a calming motion.
He had to show his husband that he still loved him…still cared for him no matter what he looked like. Draco deserved to be loved and cared for and treated like the Slytherin Prince he was, not like someone who wasn't worth it. He deserved the world and Harry was going to be the one to give it to him, if he wasn't turned away first.
After calming him down, Harry began to slowly wash the filth off of Draco's body. He carefully ran soaped up hands down the scared arms and across his chest. Without moving him from his lap he was able to wash his back and legs too. He knew that washing anything else might bother his husband, but did it anyways.
He slowly started in on Draco's hair, knowing that it was prized by his husband. He leaned Draco back in his lap and pulled the shower sprayer down to their level. After charming the water to the right temperature he tipped his head back and let the water run through the messy hair.
He watched as the hair went from oily to wet, and when thoroughly wet he rubbed some shampoo into it. He gently massaged it into the messy hair and wasn't surprised when he had to repeat the process two more times. After conditioning the pale blond hair he rinsed it out once more, making sure to wash away any remaining dirt in the process.
With the bath finished Harry picked the dozing blond up and magically wrapped him in a bathrobe. As he left the bathroom he then changed their robes into pajama bottoms and carefully set his newly cleaned love on their bed.
Standing back he watched as the blond laid back on the pillows and watched him. He knew that Draco was probably scared by all the attention he was paying to him. Draco probably thought that he was being nice to him, just waiting to yank it all away from him.
Draco watched as Harry stepped back from the bed. He was worried Harry would leave him now that he knew how weak he was. How he let some other person, some woman, drag him down this far.
He wasn't raised to be like this. Wasn't raised by Lucius Malfoy to become weak when faced with a cheating spouse. But, neither one of his parents really loved the other; it was a marriage of convenience.
How much he wanted to tell his Harry how much what he was doing was hurting him, but he could never bring himself to do that. He wanted his husband to be happy, and if it was with this other person…well then he wished him all the happiness in the world.
Drawing back into the present, he began to wonder how his husband knew that he knew. He had been so careful when Harry was at home, so it couldn't have been then. Maybe someone else that they knew told him, but no one else knew.
Then it hit him.
Maybe Harry had talked to Ron and Hermione. But that couldn't be true either, because both of them promised that they wouldn't tell him. He trusted them more than he trusted his own husband at this point. He knew that they cared about his feelings, no matter what happened when they were in school together.
He knew that Ron counted him as a closer friend than he did Harry these days, and was proud to call the red head the same. It had taken a long time, but they made their friendship work. And the fact that Ron's wife with good friends with him helped things too.
He flinched when he felt the bed dip down beside him, knowing that this was what he was waiting for. Waiting to be told that their marriage was over.
He felt calloused finger tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear and turned towards his husband.
"Draco, baby, why didn't you say anything?"
He didn't know how to answer that. Didn't know what Harry wanted to hear. What could he say about the fact that he had become a weak man; someone that Harry would be ashamed of.
He felt tears come into his eyes as all he could do was shrug his shoulders. He wanted to tell Harry that he still loved him, and that he could be a better man for him. He needed to tell him all of that, but didn't know how to.
"I am so sorry. I know that I can never make it up to you, never take away all the hurt that you have felt, but I want to try. I want to make you happy, because you make me happy. I love you so much, and I can't believe that this happened. How did this happen? How did I let this happen?"
Shocked by what Harry said he began stammering "It wasn't your fault. It was mine. All mine. You wanted a family and we didn't have one. You turned to someone who could give you a family. I was mad but now I realize that she has to make you happy. If that is what it takes to make you happy then who am I to deny you that happiness? Even if I love you more than anything, I can't stop you from being happy and I won't do it."
He had closed his eyes halfway through talking so he missed the incredulous look that passed over Harry's face.
"DRACO MALFOY! YOU LOOK AT ME NOW!" he jumped at the raised voice and tearfully looked at his irate husband. "None of this is your fault. It is mine in its entirety. You are not to blame for my stupidity, do you hear me? You make me happier than any other person has ever been able to. Everything in my world revolves around you. I am so sorry that I allowed that woman, that muggle, to come between us."
Draco couldn't help but start crying again. He didn't think that his Harry cared about him anymore, but judging by his proclamation just now was wrong.
The house-elves that worked in their house didn't hear anything from either of their masters for the next three days, but they weren't surprised. They knew how passionate both of them were about each other, and they were actually surprised to hear about that muggle woman.
Actually, the elder house-elf took it upon himself to go to that woman's house. He didn't tell any of the others what he did, but they soon heard Harry tell Draco about the woman moving because her house was haunted.
A year later
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this, Potter! Why the hell did I think we needed a child? And when was it decided that I was going to be the one to carry said child?"
Draco was tired and cranky after being in labor for over 18 hours, but Harry knew that his husband never looked better than he did right at that moment.
It had come as a shock to both of them and their friends when they found out that they were, in fact, expecting a child so soon after the cheating fiasco. But both Ron and Hermione knew that this was what both men needed, and knew that they would come back stronger afterwards.
It became even more of a shock, when at five months the Medi-witch told them that Draco was expecting twins. The blond then turned to his husband and proceeded to hit him over the head with his robes.
Harry leaned over his husbands shoulder and kissed his cheek. He was told to sit behind Draco after the labor got too intense and the blond started losing strength in his back.
"Baby, I promise this is almost over. When it is then you can see our beautiful babies. I promise."
Draco leaned his head back against Harry's chest and gave him a weak smile. He knew that his husband was worried about him, and that made him fall in love all over again.
"Promise?"
"Promise. One more push…for me?"
Ten minutes later
Harry slipped out of their room and down the hall to where their friends were waiting for the news. When he came in front of the crowd of Weasley's, Severus Snape and Remus Lupin he stopped to smile.
"Trinity Rose Potter-Malfoy, Genesis Faith Potter-Malfoy and Dominick Orion Potter-Malfoy have now joined our world, and are at this moment resting with their daddy."
The facial expression of those gathered ranged from shocked to happy to anger.
This last one was housed by one, Severus Snape.
"If you knew he was carrying triplets why didn't you say anything? You know, as well as I that twins was risky enough as it was. Why risk his health along with the other babies just to have three children?"
Harry regarded him and his friends who had stopped to hear Snape voice his opinion.
"Well, for one no one knew that he was pregnant with three. The two little girls are identical and of course the little boy is fraternal. You asked why I let it go on; do you think that if we knew about the third one that we would have changed anything? Do you think that Draco would have let you kill one of his children, just because carrying him or her might hurt him? You must not know my husband that well, because I had to fight him when we found out that it was twins. It was hard enough getting him out of the house, because he was scared that something was going to happen to him. If he would have found out about the third one, he would have protected it with his life. He wouldn't have allowed anyone to come near him until it was time to give birth to them." He could see their friends stepping back, all aware that there was normally a magical backlash when he got too angry. "So do not begin to lecture me about my husband and risking his or my children's health, Severus Snape."
With that, like everyone expected, a strong whip of magic rushed through St. Mungos. After the windows and doors quit shaking the group made their way to Draco's room so everyone could see the newest additions.
They were greeted with a smiling Draco. He shared a smile with Ron and Hermione before looking at his husband.
"So who pissed you off this time?"