AUTHOR'S NOTE: the lyrics in the beginning of this chapter are from a Jack Johnson song called "Banana Pancakes". It's a good song and I'm happy that I found a place for it in my story. Yay!
The morning dawned bright and beautiful and to all those who were awake, they were treated to a stunning array of deep reds, transparent pinks, dusky oranges, and soft yellows. This visual feast was lost however on one young blonde wizard who simply murmured in his sleep and turned over, keeping a tight hold on the slowly wakening black haired man who was laying next to him.
Sleepy green eyes slowly opened and squinted to see in the murky half light of dawn. Although the young savior marveled at the beauty of a new day, he was even more struck by the beauty of the man lying next to him. Soft blonde hair spread out on the pillow, forming a sort of halo around Draco's face. Harry tucked an errant strand behind the other man's ear and smiled softly as the sleeping man gave a slight shiver and scooted closer to him. His tanned hand traced the pale neck of his lover and ran his fingers lightly across his chest, slowly circling the pink nipples that were hardened by the cold morning air.
Despite his almost desperate urge to wake the other wizard just to earn a quick peek at the man's soft gray eyes, Harry settle himself back down into Draco's arms and was about to drift off to sleep when the sudden need to vomit overwhelmed him. Slipping out of his boyfriend's hold as gently as he could, Harry left the warm bed and fast walked into the bathroom, locking the door and throwing out a silence barrier before letting loose last night's dinner into the white porcelain toilet.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco woke up a few hours later to a fully risen sun and an empty bed. He opened his eyes but shut them again quickly when the bright sunlight burned into his eyes. Opening them for a second time, more cautiously, the blonde man looked around the room, searching for his missing lover. He felt the space on the bed next to him and noticed that it was slightly warm. 'He couldn't have gotten up too long ago.'
Draco dragged himself out of bed and stretched, his mouth opening up in a wide yawn. For the first time in a while, he felt like he had gotten a full night's rest. Things had been kind of hectic at the Ministry lately and Draco had practically been forced to work late into the night and go back early in the morning.
Hopefully, now that things had been slowing down, he'd be able to spend more time at home with Harry; something that he knew that the ex-Gryffindor would appreciate greatly. Draco smiled; he was lucky that Harry was a very patient and understanding person. He glanced at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand and his fingers paused mid-scratch, hand frozen in his nether regions. No wonder he felt like he had a full night's rest! It was 11 o'clock in the morning!
"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!!" Draco yelled and was instantly moving. He ran to the bathroom, barely taking time to notice the faintly acidic smell hanging in the air. "HARRY! HARRY POTTER! WHY IN MERLIN'S NAME DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!?!" Draco flew out of the bathroom, his hair wet and a drop of tooth paste in the corner of his mouth. He threw open the closet door and was about to bellow out to Harry again when he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his chest, pining his arms to his side, and effectively stilling their motion. He heard a soft chuckle in his ear and felt Harry's warm lips pressing against the spot just behind his ear.
"Relax, love. Calm down. You'll give yourself a panic attack if you keep going on like this."
Draco frowned and fought his way out of Harry's arms. With narrowed eyes, he turned around and pinned his boyfriend down with a glare. "Why didn't you wake me up, Harry? Now I'm going to be really late for work!" Shooting another glare at his amused lover, he turned back to the closet and started pushing hangers around.
"Draco, I did try waking you up, but you weren't having any of it." Harry slipped his arms around his boyfriend again and gently pulled him away from the closet. "So when I realized that you weren't going to be waking up for another few hours I owled the Ministry and said you were sick." Harry said with a shrug and started straightening up the bed.
"What possessed you to do that!?! What were you thinking!?!?! I'm a senior officer! I can't just skip a day of work!" Draco knew that he should be grateful for this day off, but he had responsibilities he had to uphold. It wasn't like with Harry's Quidditch team, where there were alternates to take your place if you were gone!
"I was thinking," Harry said quietly, but with an edge to it that made Draco stop mentally ranting and look sharply at him, watching as he continued to make up the bed. "I was thinking that my boyfriend has been working himself to an early grave. I was thinking that my boyfriend has been spending more time at work than at home. I was thinking that maybe my boyfriend and I would be able to spend a nice quiet day together since we haven't been able to do that for quite some time!" Harry finally finished with the bed and straightened, looking Draco straight in the eye. "How does all of that sound to you, eh?"
Draco swallowed and nodded his head, "Yeah that sounds good to me, love."
Harry smiled suddenly and gave Draco a quick kiss on the lips. "Good. Come down to the kitchen as soon as you freshen up, k? I'm making pancakes!" After giving Draco another quick kiss, Harry left the room, humming a small tune under his breath.
The blonde man was left standing in the middle of the room, a dress shirt hanging limply in his hand and his mouth slack with shock. 'What in the world was THAT about?' Draco dropped his shirt and pinched his arm. Wincing from the pain, he slowly rubbed his arm and shook his head. So, that had actually happened; he hadn't just been having a weird dream. What had triggered Harry like that? One second he was pissed beyond belief, the next he was as happy as he had been when his team had won the Cup last year. Picking up his shirt and hanging it back up, Draco wondered about his apparently mental boyfriend. 'Just when you think you know a guy…' he thought randomly, entering the bathroom, the acid smell once again barely registering in his mind.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Face washed, hair combed, legs clad in a fresh pair of pajama pants, Draco Malfoy made his way downstairs, breathing in deeply the smell of fresh pancakes and brewing coffee. Stopping just inside of the kitchen doorway, Draco smiled; crazy or not, he loved his boyfriend. Inside the kitchen, dressed in only a pair of bright blue boxer briefs and an unbuttoned black shirt, hair still mussed up from sleep, stood Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, happily flipping pancakes and singing along to the radio.
"You hardly even notice when I try to show you this song's meant to keep you from doing what supposed to," Harry slid a pancake onto a stack on the counter and poured some more batter into the pan, all the while swaying his hips to the music and tapping out the beat with his foot. "Like waking up too early, maybe we could sleep; I'll make you banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend now."
Harry gave a little spin and dropped the pitcher into the sink and turned the tap on, letting the water rinse off some of the excess batter. Turning off the water, he turned back towards the stove but stopped when he heard Draco's soft clapping. He looked over at Draco and smiled sweetly at him. He sauntered over to the blonde, while softly crooning along with the song. "Telephone singing, ringing, it's too early, don't pick it up, we don't need to. We got everything we need right here and everything we need is enough," Harry leaned in and gave Draco a soft kiss on the lips, wrapping his arms loosely around the taller man's waist, "It's just so easy when the whole world fits inside of your arms." The amateur singer lightly squeezed the other's hips and Draco rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's obvious meaning. Gryffindor's were known for their occasional sentimentality, even the ones that were almost sorted into Slytherin!
Harry smirked and swatted Draco's bum. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, Malfoy! I know you secretly enjoy my sappiness." He made his way back to the stove and quickly flipped the pancake.
Draco clicked off the radio then plopped himself down on one of the kitchen chairs and studied his boyfriend. He was definitely still in the cheery mood from earlier, but how much longer would that last? He was pulled away from his musing when Harry started placing the food on the table. He pushed back his chair and walked over to the coffee pot, taking their favorite mugs from the dish strainer along the way. Within a few minutes, both men had breakfast laid out on the table, their mouths watering at the smell.
"This smells fantastic, Harry! I'm suddenly very hungry," Draco said, sitting down in his chair and pouring syrup all over his stack of pancakes. He looked over at Harry, who was looking warily at the syrup waterfall now cascading down onto the blonde's plate. Draco set the bottle down and looked closely at the man opposite him. Was it just him, or did Harry look a bit pale?
"Harry?" Draco asked, still watching his boyfriend closely. Harry Potter was well known for sugarcoating his own ailments in an attempt to not trouble anyone. The man could have half of his leg torn off and he'd still insist that everything was 'fine, perfectly fine, nothing to worry about.'
Harry shook himself lightly and returned Draco's gaze with a small reassuring smile. "I'm fine, love. Eat your pancakes. Don't they smell good?"
Draco snorted. "Somehow your reassurances aren't soothing my nerves, Harry love. What's wrong?"
Harry eyed Draco's syrup-soaked pancakes again, took a deep breath, and tried to answer. "Seriously, Draco, I'm perfectly…" Harry trailed off and suddenly slapped his hand over his mouth. He jumped up, his chair clattering to the floor, and rushed to the downstairs bathroom. Draco looked after his retreating boyfriend, and then he looked down at his plate and took a deep breath. Nothing smelled that bad to him…
Thoroughly puzzled, Draco stood and made his way to the bathroom. Once he got there he was assaulted with the smell of regurgitated stomach acid which made his own stomach roll. Harry looked so pathetic kneeling on the floor, clinging to the toilet, helplessly trying to throw up his own stomach. He ran a washcloth through cool water and wrung it out just as Harry pushed away from the gleaming white bowl and propped himself against the wall. Draco gently wiped the sweat from his boyfriend's forehead and folded the cloth so the coldest part was resting against his tanned neck. He carefully reached around the sick man and flushed the toilet, letting the lid slam as he settled himself next to Harry.
"Care to explain that little performance, 'Ry?" Draco asked, looking around the room with a thoughtful expression on his face. Something was tugging at the back of his mind. Something in this room was familiar, but what? His attention was drawn back to the situation on hand when Harry laid his head on Draco's shoulder and heaved a big sigh.
"That was nothing, 'Co. Something just didn't agree with me, I guess."
Draco rolled his eyes again. "Harry, you didn't even get the chance to eat anything. How could something disagree with you?"
"Well, there you have it, then! I just need to eat something, and then I'll feel better." Harry straightened and pulled himself up. Leaning heavily on the counter, he turned the taps on and splashed some water on his face. Draco watched him absently, trying to remember some lost fact. Suddenly it him. The smell! This acidic smell! It had been in the master bathroom this morning when he was rushing around! He stared hard at Harry, who was drying his face off on a hand towel.
Standing up, Draco turned his boyfriend to face him. "That's bullshit, Harry. You threw up earlier this morning! I know you did. I smelt it when I got up, but I didn't make the connection till now!"
"Okay, Draco, you got me," Harry admitted, gripping the towel tightly in his hands. His face was losing color as the seconds passed, and Draco was growing increasingly more worried. What was going on? "I threw up this morning. I've got a little stomach flu. I'll just grab a potion off Severus and I'll be as healthy as a hippogryph." Harry turned towards the towel rack, but stopped suddenly when the bathroom tilted sharply to the left. He felt strong arms wrap around him and Draco's anxious voice sounded in his ear.
"Harry, something is not right with you. This can't just be some little stomach flu." Draco laid a pale hand on the other man's forehead and gasped. "You're running a fever, 'Ry. You're so dizzy you can barely stand and now you're throwing up!" He wrapped an arm around Harry's waist and another around his shoulder and supported him as they walked out into the hallway. "I'm taking you to St. Mungo's. I don't care what you say," he said firmly, leading Harry towards the living room.
Ignoring Harry's weak protests, he lowered him to a couch and went quickly upstairs for some clothes. Running down the stairs, he slipped his shirt on and helped Harry into a pair of track pants. Pulling Harry up off the couch, Draco slipped a pair of shoes on the shorter man's feet and then toed his own into a pair of beat up trainers. He threw a pinch of green powder into the fireplace, stepped in, and yelled out, "St. Mungo's!" A whirl of flames, and then they were gone.