Summary: Draco is a Healer, Harry is an Auror. When an accident sends Harry to St Mungo's and into Draco's care, they begin to wonder if things can ever go back to the way they were.
Warnings: The only warning for this chapter is implied sexual feelings towards someone of the same sex. Don't, like it? Don't read it!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings, they belong to all respective owners, including but not limited to JK Rowling, Warner Bros., Scholastic and Bloomsbury. I am making no profit from this story.
Chapter One: Five Years Later
Draco Malfoy had it all. He was rich, good looking and one of the most influential Healers that St. Mungo's had to offer. After the war had ended the Malfoy name was dirt to the entire wizarding community but Draco had soon discovered that gold went a long way in helping people to forget certain events, hence the new wing of the hospital that he was currently standing in that was home to the recently relocated Potion and Plant Poisoning department. Being the godson of the old potions master had some advantages - he had passed every exam that they had thrown at him here since deciding that he wanted to go into medicine. He shook his head slightly at the memory of his first day in the hospital; he had run into Neville Longbottom, who, while on his way to visit his parents, had wasted no time in telling him that he should be ashamed to work with vulnerable people and that nobody would ever want him anywhere near them. The outraged look on the ex-Gryffindor's boyish face had made him cringe and, for a long time, he had had serious doubts about whether or not this was the right path to take. A door to his right swung open violently, snapping Draco out of his reverie and bringing him back down to Earth with a thud.
"Male, twenty-two, suspected poisoning," a mediwitch was saying as a gurney was wheeled past him, "he works in the Auror office, he was brought in by his partner."
"How long has he been like this?" Draco strode alongside the moving crowd, frowning down at the petite nurse.
"He was brought in as soon as it happened, training mishap apparently," she replied
"Great, another mess for us to clean up," he muttered as they manoeuvred their way into an empty room, "one, two three!" They grabbed the sheets around the patient and lifted him swiftly onto the bed.
"Someone get me a chart for this guy, I want him analysed as quickly as possible and an antidote administered. Nurse Stevens, if you wouldn't mind running to the supply cupboard and bringing a few phials of all the most common potions?"
"Of course, Healer Malfoy," the mediwitch hurried from the room and Draco approached the unconscious man before him, removing his stethoscope from around his neck and popping one side in each ear.
"Heartbeat's a little irregular, can we speed things up a bit?" He said loudly, looking down at the patient's pale face, starkly contrasted by his messy black hair. Comprehension dawned on Draco's face as his eyes raked his hairline for the lightning scar that he knew only too well. Shit, he thought to himself, there is no way I'm going to be the guy that killed Harry Potter.
"Sir, i-it could be one of... one of three things that has caused this reaction," a trainee Healer stammered, looking at his notes.
"Well? Which is it?" Draco snapped, "we don't have all day to decide, Parker."
"I think..." The young doctor faltered, "I... it's most likely this, sir," he finished, thrusting the clipboard into Draco's hands, who skimmed the notes and nodded briskly.
"I agree. So how do we proceed?"
The young man looked terrified and his eyes darted from the door back to Draco. "I would suggest a mixture of Doxy antidote and the potion used for Venomous Tentacula bites as a way of initially fighting the poison, a phial of Dreamless Sleep to help him sleep off the nausea and I would carry out further tests when he wakes up tomorrow to make sure that there is nothing we've missed," he held his breath as he looked up at his mentor, cowering slightly. There was a pause.
"Exactly right, Parker," his student exhaled shakily and grinned from ear to ear. "What are you waiting for, a medal? Follow Nurse Stevens and bring back the supplies you need. Now!"
Draco watched as Parker scurried from the room and he sighed as he approached Harry's lifeless form. A few moments passed before he heard hurried footfalls approaching the room and he turned to see the young doctor carrying a tray with three small phials balanced on top, one full of shocking pink liquid, another dark green and the third a shimmering, pearlescent blue.
"I have the potions, sir" he panted, reaching Harry's bedside
"I can see that," Draco drawled, "pass me the Doxy antidote, please."
The bottle was pressed into his outstretched hand and he pulled out the stopper as a mediwitch propped Potter up with pillows. Tipping his head back, Draco poured the potion down the exposed throat in front of him and he felt his patient go rigid. Taking the second bottle from the tray, he opened it and poured the steaming green liquid into Harry's mouth. Instantly, the dark haired man's shoulders sagged and magnificent green eyes fluttered open, darting around the room blearily.
"Wha-" he coughed violently, wrenching himself into an upright position. "Where am I?"
"You're in St Mungos, Potter. You were poisoned," Draco explained, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing back against his pillows. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"
"Wait... Malfoy? What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, glaring up at him
"I'm the head Healer of this department, but that is neither here nor there. I asked you whether or not you remembered anything about today."
Harry looked down at his hands, his face screwed up in concentration. He nodded slowly. "We were at the office, practising brewing a potion as part of our training. I tried Ron's and then I just remember being on the floor. Did Ron's potion do this to me?"
"I believe so," Draco concurred, "There doesn't appear to be anything else in your system that could cause as adverse a reaction. We did find a high level of Calming Draught in your bloodstream, however, could you explain that to me, please?"
Harry shifted awkwardly in his seat. "I have a stressful job, that's all. Auror training is pretty full-on and I work long hours," he replied, not making eye contact. "I'm not some sort of addict."
"I didn't say anything of the sort, Potter; it's simply my job to notice things like this and to worry about my patients' wellbeing," the blonde explained, "all I meant was -"
"Harry? Oh, Harry, thank God you're alright!"
Draco turned to see a harassed-looking Ginny Weasley standing in the doorway, broomstick in tow. What the hell is the she-weasel doing here? he thought to himself, looking her up and down. And why has she brought a broomstick into a hospital?!
"Can I help you?"
Ginny looked up at him, her expression full of loathing. "I'm his wife."
Looking back at Harry, he saw the dark-haired man slump further back against his pillows, looking drained. "Ginny, I'm fine, it was an accident. I'll be out of here in a few minutes," he said wearily.
"I don't care if it was an accident, this is just another example of my brother's carelessness," the redhead fumed, folding her arms across her chest. "Were you not paying the blindest bit of attention to what he was doing? This is so bloody typical of you two, it's like the blind leading the sodding blind!"
"Ginny," Harry sighed. "Please just wait outside. I'll be out there in a few minutes and we can go home, okay?"
"I can't go home! I've just left Quidditch practice and if I don't get back there soon to work on our new tactics then we won't have a hope in hell of winning the cup this year," Ginny huffed
"Fine," Harry said, gritting his teeth. "You go back to practice and I'll finish up here."
"Actually," Draco cut in as Ginny opened her mouth to retort, "I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere until we've run further tests."
"More tests?" Harry looked up, puzzled. "But I feel fine."
"Even so, I'd feel far more comfortable keeping you in overnight for inspection. The list of side-effects of incorrectly mixed potions is extensive and I just want to be sure that there is nothing I've missed," Draco gave him a meaningful look before turning to face Ginny. "I'm sorry, Mrs Potter, but there is really no point in you being here. I am going to give your husband some Dreamless Sleep, and the chances are he will be out until tomorrow morning. I suggest that you back to your training."
Ginny looked taken-aback at this, and looked from Draco to Harry and back again. When it became apparent that her husband was not going to argue, she picked up her broomstick, turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
"Thanks," said Harry gratefully, "I'm really not in the mood today."
"No, I can't imagine anyone would be after being poisoned," Draco smirked. "But I'm beginning to understand why you might find solace in a good Calming Draught."
He pulled a small phial from the pocket of his robes and pressed it into Harry's hand, ignoring the blank look that he was giving him. "Drink this, it'll help you sleep through the night. I'll check on you later to see how you're feeling and we'll decide how to proceed in the morning. I doubt that you'll suffer anything long-term, we can most likely put this down to extreme stupidity on Weasley's part."
Harry chuckled appreciatively and downed the bottle of potion in his hand. Taking the now empty phial from him, Draco placed it on the cabinet at the side of the bed and wondered briefly why Potter allowed his wife to talk to him like she did. The Potter he'd known at school was always to self-righteous and stubborn, now he seemed to be completely worn down. Is that what life with a woman does to you? he wondered as the brunette's eyes fluttered closed. If so, he thought, then I'm definitely not missing out.
-x-
It took Harry a few moments to realise that he was not in his bedroom when he woke up, with bright lights pressing in against his eyelids and the dampened sound of movement outside his door. Opening his eyes slowly, he felt for his glasses on the bedside cabinet and squinted against the morning sun pouring in through the window. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled on the dressing gown that he found in a bag full of his things on the chair. No doubt Hermione had brought them in last night while he was asleep. He looked around the room as he poured a glass of water from the jug on the nightstand. He hated hospitals. The way they smelled, the way they looked - why did everything have to be so white and sterile looking? It reminded him horribly of his Aunt Petunia's gleaming kitchen and he gave an involuntary shudder. The door opened behind him and he turned to see Malfoy, in his pristine Healers' robes, cross the threshold and pick up the clipboard at the end of his bed. He examined it quickly and nodded.
"Feeling better today?" he enquired, looking up from the chart.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Harry replied with a noncommittal shrug.
"Excellent. Well, I expect that you'll be wanting to get home to your wife soon and everything is looking normal here so I see no reason for you to stay."
Harry nodded fervently. He was desperate to leave: all this white was giving him a headache. "Yes please, if there's nothing else you need from me."
"There's a form that you will need to fill out at the reception but that's all," said Malfoy, "please don't let me see you in here again, Potter."
"I promise," Harry replied, smiling, "I've definitely learned my lesson."
Harry turned and walked towards the chair where his bag lay. He could hear the scratching of a quill behind him and took this to mean that Malfoy was suitably occupied not to notice him getting dressed. Stuffing his dressing gown in the already over-filled holdall and pulling on his jeans quickly, he began tugging at the knot in the back of his hospital gown. Looking up from his note-taking, Malfoy noticed that Harry was undressing and hastily pocketed his quill.
"I'm sorry, Potter, I didn't realise you were changing. I'll get one of the nurses to look out that form for you."
"Wait, before you go, could you please un-do this knot for me? I can't quite reach it," he replied, looking embarrassed. Draco hesitated.
"Sure. Hold still then," he said, his slender fingers pulling at the ties of the gown.
"Cold hands!" Harry yelped as the blonde's fingers brushed against his exposed back.
"Sorry," Draco smirked, "I probably should have warned you about that." He freed the second knot and the flimsy robe fell forward, revealing an expanse of tanned back and the white waistband of the other man's boxers, just above his jeans. Allowing his eyes to wander for no more than a second, Draco mentally scolded himself. This was a patient! And not just any patient, this was Harry Potter. A very straight, very married, Harry Potter! Clearing his throat and taking a step backwards, Draco placed a hand on the doorframe to steady himself. "I'm going to let one of the nurses know that you'll be out in a second. They will have the form ready for you. If you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to before rounds."
Harry opened his mouth to ask which way he went to get to the reception but Malfoy was already gone. Pulling his T-shirt over his head, he rubbed the goosebumps which had appeared on his arms, feeling that they had nothing to do with the cold.
-x-
A/N: Not the longest chapter but I promise, they do get better! I'm going to take my time in developing Harry and Draco's relationship so I apologise to everyone who, like me, hates Ginny...