A/N: So this story planted itself in my head a month ago. I wrote the first two parts and was just going to leave it as is, but then I thought that I wanted to write what happened before and what happened after. So the first two parts will be the middle. The last two parts will be the beginning and the end. Hopefully it's not too confusing, but it makes sense to me.

Summary: Harry is an auror and Draco is the auror department's brilliant lab tech. Harry is constantly getting injured on the job and Draco coincidentally makes new protection gear after each of his injuries. Harry can't see what's right in front of him and Draco is in denial. And Ron knows.

One year later

"Harry, did you seriously get injured on that raid today?" Ron asked his partner in disbelief.

Harry rubbed his arm, trying to get the pain to go away. "Not quite," he grimaced.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Were you wearing your protective equipment?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Harry had the grace to look sheepish and gave a slight shrug, wincing when the pain moved through his arm, down to the tips of his fingers and back up again. Yeah, he may have been injured. "In my defense, it sounded like they needed our assistance sooner rather than later," Harry replied.

"He's going to strangle you," Ron muttered.

Harry scoffed, but cringed inwardly. Yeah, he probably would. "Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine," he assured him.

Ron gave him a drawl look. "Seriously, every time you get a new injury, he goes about making something that you can use, we can all use, so that the injury is much less likely to happen again. He is not going to like the fact that you didn't wear the equipment again," Ron reminded him.

Harry frowned. "Well, maybe he won't find out…" he trailed off as a memo fluttered in and made a beeline for Harry. He recognized the color of the parchment immediately and he glanced over at Ron who was giving him an 'I told you so' look. Harry sighed. "How did he find out so quickly?" he demanded as he opened the note.

Come to the lab.

Harry huffed and tossed the parchment onto his desk and sat up, wincing once again as his arm moved as he leaned forward onto his desk. He picked up his quill, but dropped it immediately as the parchment started hitting him in the face. He growled as Ron laughed. He shoved away from his desk with his good arm and stalked out of the office.

He wanted to take his sweet time getting to the lab, but the paper wouldn't stop hitting him in the face. Harry yelled at the offending object and batted at it with his good arm, but it wouldn't let up until he arrived at the lab, lots of people looking at him in concern as he passed.

He shoved the door open and it slammed against the wall. The person leaning over the table jumped only slightly, but didn't turn to look at him. The paper balled itself up and dropped to the ground. Harry growled at it again.

"Did you get my memo?" the person asked nonchalantly as they turned around to look at him.

Harry narrowed his gaze at the person. "No, I did not get your stupid memo," he muttered sarcastically.

The man frowned and glanced down at the crumpled up ball of parchment. He walked over, picked it up, and opened it. He smirked as he handed it to Harry. "Here you are," he said, handing the paper to Harry, aiming for his injured arm. Harry cringed inwardly as he reached out with that hand. He almost got away with not showing that he was in pain, but he winced and the person narrowed his gaze at him. "Potter, I swear…." he trailed off and moved away from him.

"What? It seemed to be more important that I get there than put my gear on," Harry replied petulantly.

"Why do I even waste my time developing the equipment to keep you…all of you aurors safe if you don't wear them?" he demanded.

Harry sighed and stepped up next to the table where the person was leaning again. He had heard his slip of tongue, but chose to ignore it. He didn't want Ron to be right about this. "Malfoy, listen, your equipment is much appreciated; I just forgot to put it on today, okay?" Harry offered, trying to soothe his annoyance with him.

Draco sighed. "Fine. Let me take a look," he offered, shrugging off Harry's sort of apology. Harry frowned, but turned so that Draco could look at his injured arm. Draco wouldn't meet his eyes, but he glanced up and gave Harry an expectant look. Harry frowned again, not understanding. "Merlin, Potter, did your brain get damaged today too? Take off your robes. I can't look at your arm if it's covered by several layers of clothes," he pointed out, annoyed again.

Harry blushed slightly and then attempted to get out of his robes, but his arm was not cooperating. He growled in frustration. Draco looked worried which caused Harry to get more frustrated. Draco took pity on him and batted Harry's hand away. Harry sighed and hung his head in resignation.

Draco carefully removed the robes from Harry's body and was thankful to see that he was wearing a t-shirt underneath instead of something he'd have to take off. It would end up being super awkward otherwise. Draco pushed Harry's shirt sleeve up and examined his arm. A deep purple bruise was already forming on his upper arm. Draco cringed at the sight of it. He followed the bruise up and saw that it went all the way up to his shoulder and onto his upper back. He sighed and stepped back, finally looking at Harry in the eyes, glare intense. He crossed his arms.

"You know, I feel like I've made something that would have protected your arm and shoulder from that injury right there. Am I mistaken?" he pondered snidely.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I already told you that I forgot to put the gear on. Geez, Malfoy, why do you care so much about what happens to me anyway? I swear, every time I get injured, you lecture me or create some new thing for me to use or wear to keep me safe. Why do you care so much?" he demanded.

Draco lifted his eyebrows and looked away, a blush creeping over his skin. Harry watched it spread in confusion. "It's my job to make sure that you and all the other aurors are protected. That's why I care so much. It's job security," he replied rudely. He turned and walked into his private office, effectively ending their conversation.

Harry growled in annoyance and stormed out of the lab. He stomped all the way back to his office and stormed in, throwing himself into his seat, wincing as pain shot through his arm once again. "Remind me again why Draco Malfoy works for the auror department?" Harry demanded angrily.

Ron sighed. He had his answer memorized by now as this happened practically every time Harry came back from visiting the lab. "Because he's the best in the business and we need him," Ron replied. The first few times he had said that he nearly choked on associating needing and Draco in the same sentence, but his inventions were brilliant and protected the aurors, if they used what he made like they were supposed to, better than they had ever been protected.

Harry snorted. He sighed and winced again. "I'm going to St. Mungo's to get this checked out. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry said as he stood up and left their office. Ron sighed.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Ron looked up and saw Draco peeking in, looking straight at Harry's desk to see if he was there. He sighed audibly and looked somewhat relieved, but also disappointed.

"He went to St. Mungo's," Ron supplied as he sat back in his seat.

Draco nodded and walked in, holding Harry's auror robes. Ron lifted one eyebrow in question. Draco blushed in response. "He left this in my lab," he said as he tossed them over onto Harry's desk. He frowned as parchment blew off his desk. He frowned at it, debating if he should clean it up or not. He sighed and bent down, picking up the parchments. He picked up Harry's robe and folded it nicely and set it on the middle of his desk. He turned around and looked at Ron who was watching him with a smirk firmly in place.

"Don't start, Weasley," Draco warned.

Ron laughed. "I didn't say a word," he replied as he looked back down at his parchment, attempting to write down the report for the day. Draco sighed, interrupting his concentration. Ron looked up expectantly. Draco was worrying his lip.

"What happened this time?" he asked.

Ron put his quill down. "We were at lunch when we were called to head over to a raid. We didn't even come back to the office and get our stuff so Harry didn't have his gear on. He was trying to get a door open, but it wouldn't respond to magic so he slammed into it with the arm he got injured and it was like the door punched him or something because the next thing I know, he's flying backwards and clutching at his arm and shoulder. I know that if he had been wearing the padding you created for him-" Ron paused as Draco looked at him sharply. Ron smirked and continued. "Sorry, I mean for us, that he would have been just fine. I'm not sure if you know this or not, but Harry is more of an act first, ask questions and worry about consequences later kind of guy," Ron finished.

Draco snorted and rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, I know that very well. Thanks for letting me know," he replied as he started to leave.

Ron stood. "Wait!" he called out. Draco stopped and looked at him. "He's never going to know how you feel unless you tell him," he pointed out.

Draco's eyes widened and he spluttered, shaking his head and blushing deeply. "I don't know what you're talking about," he responded hastily. Ron put his hands up in a placating gesture, but didn't wipe the knowing look off his face. Draco growled in annoyance, sounding very much like Harry had earlier, and left the office.

XXXX

Harry sat in the waiting room of St. Mungo's. He was there so often he wondered why they didn't have a personalized chair for him that was more comfortable than the regular plastic chairs. He smiled at his inward joke, but then frowned as Draco came to mind. Ron was always teasing him that Draco had a thing for him, but it just didn't make sense to him. Draco hated him, always had, always would. It was a miracle that they didn't hex each other every day that they had to work together which wasn't too often since he worked in the lab and was not out in the field with Harry.

Of course, Harry was starting to notice the things that Ron pointed out, but he just couldn't believe they were true so he ignored him. On the other hand, Draco was different since Hogwarts so maybe he wouldn't be so bad to get to know better. Harry's frown deepened as he contemplated that idea. He sighed loudly. Maybe he should just ask Draco how he felt about him. Of course, any time that he had made comments in that regard, Draco got defensive. Was that a sign that what he asked and what Ron insisted about Draco was true?

"Harry, again?" a familiar voice tsked.

Harry looked up sheepishly at his other best friend. Hermione was interning as a healer. It was her first year, but she was practically a healer since she studied like crazy and probably knew more than any other healer there. "Yes, I'm back again. I just miss seeing you every day so I get injured just so I can see you," Harry teased as he stood up and followed Hermione into a room.

"Ha, ha, very funny. What happened this time?" she asked as she went about preparing the bed and any tools she might need. The mediwitch or wizard usually had those out and they were today, but Hermione was Hermione so she always checked them over again just to be sure everything she might possibly need was there.

"A door wouldn't open with magic so I put a little muscle into it and it punched me, sending me right across the room," Harry explained.

Hermione looked at him and then looked down at his injured arm. She frowned deeply. "Let me guess, you weren't wearing your gear?" she asked giving Harry a knowing look.

Harry sighed loudly. "They needed us there now, not later," he pointed out.

Hermione rolled her eyes and worried her lip. "Harry, you've got great gear, just wear it. I know Malfoy works really hard to make gear that will keep you safe. Why do you constantly go against what he wants for you and what everyone else wants for you?" she questioned quietly.

"Malfoy makes the gear for all the aurors, not just me," Harry reminded her, teeth clenched. He said this to her every time.

She looked over at him and gave him a look. "Malfoy's priorities are as follows: make something that keeps Harry safe, and then maybe duplicate it for the other aurors," she replied.

Harry sighed and looked away. What was it with everyone? Why did they keep insisting that Draco made the stuff specifically for him? Harry grinned as another tactic came to mind to stop their constant pestering that Draco might have more feelings for him than just a fellow co-worker. "Fine, since I am the one who is constantly getting injured, maybe he does make them for me. Maybe I inspire him," Harry offered.

Hermione chuckled and shook her head. "Nice try, Potter. I'm not buying that at all. I know you don't want to believe it's possible, but it is. You should think about it," she responded.

Harry felt his stomach turn. Why was he so against thinking that Draco might like him? Was it because he held onto the belief that Draco hated him and always would? Was he afraid that if he did question Draco about it that he would find out that everyone was wrong, and he would be left feeling embarrassed? Did he even want to contemplate that Draco had different feelings for him? Was he attracted to him? He was more handsome than he used to be since his features softened. He was kinder to Harry and always seemed to throw himself into developing new gear every time Harry came back with a different injury. He did see worry in his eyes earlier when he looked over his injury.

Harry had discovered a few years back, after many failed attempts at dating women, that he might actually be interested in men. It had seemed appealing enough and he often found himself leaning that way, but no guy had ever really captured his attention and those that remotely did all seemed to be of a similar type; all muggles, as to not draw attention to his newfound feelings, and all blond. Granted, they were varying shades of blond and somewhat aristocratic, but that didn't mean he was attracted to Draco or that he wanted him. He simply preferred blonds. But what if Draco did like him? Would that change his perspective on things?

"Perhaps you're right," Harry muttered.

Hermione stopped her healing and looked at him in surprise. "Are you being serious right now?" she asked in disbelief.

"No…. yes…. I don't know," Harry stuttered.

Hermione smiled slightly and said no more. She continued her healing and talked about other things unrelated to Draco Malfoy. She was going to assist that afternoon on a surgery and she was looking forward to it very much. Harry laughed at her enthusiasm.

Once she was finished healing him, she handed him a case of pain potions. "Take twice a day. Be careful. I'm not signing off on you going back in the field until the end of the week. Understand me?" she explained in her best healer voice.

Harry frowned. Five whole days without being in the field? What was Harry supposed to do for that amount of time? He did have paperwork and he did have a certain blond he could talk to about certain things. He sighed. "Yes, Healer Weasley," he said in an obedient voice.

Hermione blushed and smiled slightly, but quickly placed her healer mask on. "That's Intern Weasley. I'm not a healer yet," she reminded him, but she couldn't help the smile that came back on her face. Harry grinned and hugged her tightly before he said good-bye and left to return to work.

XXXX

Harry walked into the department and stopped by the head auror's office to drop off Hermione's orders that he not be allowed back in the field for five days. The secretary was used to seeing these notes for Harry and sent them quickly on their way without bothering to know if it was actually a healer's note or not. Harry laughed as he walked away. He did get injured a lot and he knew that he should probably be a bit more careful, but it was awfully hard for what his job entailed. He couldn't help if danger and getting hurt seemed to follow him around.

He arrived in his office and saw that Ron was not in there. He glanced over at his desk and saw his robe, neatly folded. He frowned as he stepped over to his desk and looked down at it. He brushed his fingers across the material. He knew Ron wouldn't do that. He would have thrown them across his desk or chair and not given it another thought, but Draco on the other hand would do something like this. Harry smiled slightly and then turned and left their office. He headed down to the lab again.

When he arrived, he entered with much less fanfare than before. Draco was at one of his work stations again and he looked really focused on whatever he was working on. Harry took that moment to study him. He couldn't see his face full on, but he could tell that he was concentrating. Harry examined his profile and followed the lines down his robe clad body. He could see hints here and there of how he looked underneath his robes and he wasn't about to lie and say he didn't find him attractive, but somehow he just wasn't there at believing that Draco had a thing for him despite all the evidence stating otherwise.

"I see that you're back. Are you healed up?" Draco commented, not looking away from his work. Harry was unsure if he always knew it was him or if he did this for everyone.

Harry walked in and went to the other side of the workstation. He got a better look from this angle and this time he felt more of a reaction. Some of Draco's hair was falling across his eyebrows, dangling in his eyes. Draco stuck out his bottom lip, blowing a puff of air up to get it out of his way, but it just went back down. He frowned slightly, but continued his concentration. Harry watched as Draco licked his lips and then bit his bottom lip as he appeared to be doing an intricate procedure. His eyebrows furrowed and Harry felt his stomach flutter. Okay, no surprise, I like this blond too.

Draco flicked his wrist once more and made a triumphant sound and looked up with a grin firmly in place. Harry's throat went dry. Damn, Hermione and Ron. Draco looked at Harry's expression and saw something that he never thought he would from Harry. His eyes were a much darker shade of green and he seemed unable to focus, but not in the sense that he was injured, but that he was looking at something that he really liked. Draco's heart stuttered to a stop at the look Harry was giving him.

"Potter, you alright there?" he asked, his voice lower than he anticipated. He felt his cheeks warm and he had to look away from Harry.

Harry shook his head, blinking several times. Damn, damn, damn. "Um," he cleared his throat. "Yes, yes I'm fine and mostly healed up. Hermione told me I can't go back in the field for five days so…." he trailed off looking away from Draco again.

Harry heard a quiet sigh from Draco that sounded like one of relief. That didn't help him feel any better. "Well, that's good then. It will give you time to contemplate the next way you'll injure yourself," Draco responded in annoyance.

Harry frowned. "You seem to think I do it on purpose," he snapped.

"Don't you?" Draco snapped back.

Gah, why am I finding this sniping back and forth arousing? "No, of course not. I don't set out each day to get injured, it just happens."

Draco sighed. "Why won't you wear the stuff I make for everyone?" he asked again.

Harry sighed. "I do wear it, just not all the time. Look, do you have any in here? Maybe I can give you a more specific reason why I don't wear it all the time if I put it on," he suggested trying to get away from arguing with him.

Draco looked surprised by his offer and quickly went into his office. He returned a few minutes later with some of the gear they wore. It was similar to Quidditch leathers, but they had other protections that kept them safe. Harry took the gear from Draco and was about to put it on, but stopped. "It's supposed to go on underneath the clothes, right?" he asked uncertainly.

Draco nodded slowly. Harry set the gear down on the workstation and pulled his shirt off. Draco's eyes widened as his eyes settled on Harry's scarred, yet toned chest and stomach. Draco tried to look away as to not get caught gawking, but when he looked up; piercing emerald eyes looked back, a smirk giving them a playful look. Draco felt his cheeks warming again.

"Yes, under your clothes," Draco croaked out. Harry chuckled quietly as he slipped the gear on. Draco wanted to whine at the loss of being able to view Harry's chest so openly, but he refrained.

The gear was like a long sleeved shirt as it covered his front and back to his hips and went down to his wrists. They wore gloves that protected their hands and had pants that protected their lower extremities. All aurors wore boots as well. They were theoretically protected from shoulder to toe.

Harry, however, only wore the shirt part of the gear. He stood there trying to figure out what was bothering him about the shirt. It was something that caused him not to like it. "Well, what do you think?" Draco asked.

"I feel like I'm ten pounds heavier with this on," Harry replied.

Draco frowned and stepped closer. He looked down at Harry, not much since he was only a couple of inches taller, and fingered the material on his arm. Draco thought that it would be the safest place to touch. Harry seemed to agree, although Draco was pretty sure he heard a quiet gasp from Harry at their closeness.

"It does feel heavier than it probably should. Maybe I need to experiment with different materials," Draco said, seemingly stating his thoughts aloud.

"Well, maybe if it was material like my invisibility cloak. That material is very lightweight, but it's not very breathable, especially if you have more than one person underneath," Harry suggested.

Draco lifted his eyebrow. "More than one person?"

Harry laughed. "Well, when I was younger, Hermione and Ron would go under the cloak with me and we'd move about the castle…" he trailed off as he saw Draco's eyes widened slightly and then narrow. Harry frowned as Draco looked away.

Draco cleared his throat. It shouldn't still bother him that Ron and Hermione were Harry's best friends and that Harry had turned down his friendship when they were eleven, and most days it didn't, but at this moment it bothered him, immensely. "Do you happen to have your cloak handy for me to feel the material?" he asked after a moment of refocusing his feelings.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out something shiny. He tapped it with his wand and at resized into his invisibility cloak. He hesitated for just a moment before he handed it to Draco. If Draco was surprised, he didn't show it.

Draco took the cloak and ran it through his fingers. It felt like silk, but he knew that it wasn't. It was smooth and lightweight. He wasn't quite sure that he could duplicate the material, but he might be able to get close enough. "Can I try it on?" he asked curiously.

Harry wanted to say no, but he decided against it. "Yeah, um, sure," Harry replied.

Draco nodded and slipped the cloak on, disappearing completely. Harry shifted nervously and worried his lip. He sincerely hoped that Draco wouldn't walk off with it. Of course, he had no need to worry as Draco started talking about it.

"I can see how it might seem not very breathable. Do you mind testing it out with me for a moment?" he asked.

Harry gulped. "Like, you want me to go under there…with you?" he asked.

Draco snorted. "Obviously," he replied, but he was blushing deeply and glad that Harry could not see him for the moment.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to draw on his Gryffindor courage that he somehow seemed to lack when it came to Draco. He stepped forward and slipped under the cloak with Draco. They were way too close as the cloak could definitely not hold two adult men, but it was for science so it must be done.

Draco looked up and his eyes met Harry's. They stared at each other for a moment, neither one speaking and seemingly not breathing. It was unbearably hot under there, or at least it felt that way. Draco's face flushed. "Yes, I suppose it is not very breathable under here," he whispered.

Harry nodded. "I told you," he replied just as quietly.

Their eyes met and locked again. Draco seemed to be searching Harry's face for some indication of something. Harry wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he suddenly felt like he either needed to kiss him or get out from under the cloak right away. He started to lean forward involuntarily it seemed. In response, Draco's eyes widened and he leaned back slightly. Harry frowned and backtracked completely out from under the cloak, bumping into the workstation.

"Um, so I should probably go maybe head home I think. Um, I'll remember my gear and um, good luck trying to figure out how to make the gear more lightweight. So, uh, see ya'," he muttered as he started for the door, nearly tripping over his own feet. Once on the other side of the door, he leaned against the door and took several deep breaths. He nearly tried to kiss Draco and Draco clearly didn't want it. Merlin, he felt so embarrassed and he was going to kill Hermione and Ron.

Draco slipped out from under Harry's cloak. His heart was pounding and his stomach was turning violently. Potter just tried to kiss me and I leaned back? What the hell? Draco thought angrily. He had accepted a long time ago that he had a thing for Harry. He couldn't deny it to himself any longer, but that didn't mean he wanted to admit it to anyone else. Why did I lean back? Draco tossed Harry's cloak on another workstation and scowled at it. He sighed and picked it up again, folding it nicely. He considered leaving it, but knew that it was a treasured heirloom to Harry so he sighed again, shrunk it down, and put it in his pocket. He'd give Harry some time to fume and then he'd go to his office and return the cloak. He only hoped that he didn't screw up by leaning back.