Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter :-P
A bit of a fluffy chapter, just Harry getting better and Draco comforting him.
WARNING: gayness approacheth, just kissing and cuddling though.
Harry woke up the next morning and he felt a little better. He tried to remember if Draco being in his room was just a feverish dream or if it was real. He recognized the taste of a fever potion still on his lips and started to look around the room. His vision was blurry as always, but he saw a figure sitting next to the fire. The figure was wearing all black and had long blond hair that was held back in a pony tail. He knew only one person who was allowed in the manor by apparition and only one person who Dobby would allow in the manor. Harry pulled the blankets he had around him off and put his feet on the cold floor and attempted to stand. He instantly felt dizzy and fell back in the bed.
"You're awake," said a surprised voice from the fire. The figure walked over to the side of the bed and began to come into focus. "You should lie back down. You're still really sick." Harry reached up to touch the face he was trying to see. "What is it?"
"I can't see you," Harry whispered. Draco's face gently led Harry's hand to his face and sat down next to him on the bed. "I thought it was a dream. I thought it was all just a dream that you came here. I..."
"It's all right. I'm here."
"How... how did you know to come here?"
"Dobby came a got me. He may be an annoying little bugger, but he was worried about you. And in truth, so was I."
"Dobby has ways of causing people to worry."
"No, I was worried before Dobby came to get me. I saw the pictures of you in the Daily Prophet. You used to be fast enough that they couldn't get pictures of you. It made me wonder whether you were sick or had stopped caring. Either way, I was concerned about you. I wanted to know if you were all right."
"And then Dobby..."
"Yes, and then Dobby came and filled in the blanks. I hoped that I could still apparate into the house, and was happy to find that I could."
"I never did have the heart to change the guards. I kept thinking that maybe one day you'd want to come back and plus you're the only one who knows how to even get past the guards."
"What about Ron and Hermione?"
"I just got tired of their happy lives. They kept trying to get me out and get me to do something, but it just felt like pity. Then I go out to Diagon Ally one day to get a few herbs and I get sneezed and coughed all over by a person with the flu. Next day, I wake up with the flu. I just didn't have the energy to even leave the house."
"And just now you didn't even have the energy to stand. Maybe you should lie back down." Draco put an arm around Harry's back and eased him down to the bed again and pulled the covers back over him. When Draco tried to pull away, Harry caught his wrist in his hand. "I'm not leaving," said Draco gently and stroking Harry's forehead. "I'm just going over to the fireplace. I'm making you some medicine to make you feel better. It's almost done, and then I'll be right back, ok?" Harry nodded and slowly let go of Draco's wrist. Draco gently kissed Harry on the forehead and gave his temple one last touch before returning to the cauldron. Draco checked the color of the potion and stirred it a couple of times before he was satisfied with the result. He gently spooned it into a few vials and put them in a vial holder to cool. After putting a cork on each he picked up the vial holder and sat it on the bed side table. Then he sat down on the bed next to Harry.
"See? Told you I'd be back soon." Harry didn't react. Draco reached out and touched Harry's forehead and found that it was very hot again. "Damn," he whispered to himself and scolded himself for not giving Harry another fever reducing potion. He quickly pulled a vial from his bag and proceeded to pull Harry up to a sitting position again. "Harry, Harry you have to wake up and drink this." Harry's eyes didn't even flutter like they did when Draco had done this before. "Harry. C'mon, Harry. You have to wake up enough to drink this." Draco put an arm around Harry's back and shook him slightly. He pulled the cork out of the vial with his teeth and leaned back Harry's head. He poured the potion into Harry's mouth and waited while he sputtered slightly. "That's it Harry. Drink the rest of this down." Harry then swallowed the rest of the potion. Draco reached over and uncorked one of the bottles he had just filled. "Now drink this one. You'll be really sleepy after this one." Harry quickly drank down the potion and rested his head on Draco's shoulder. Draco put the vial down on the table and then laid Harry down on the bed. Draco pulled the covers up around him and gently stroked Harry's cheek.
As much as he had tried to ignore it, Draco knew that he was still in love with Harry. He pulled back the covers and settled in beside Harry's shivering and pale body. He gathered up the man he loved in his arms and rested his chin on the top of Harry's head. Harry had been restless while sleeping. But now with Draco's arms around him, Harry seemed to settle down and finally sleep.
Harry woke a few hours later and wondered for a moment at who was holding him. Then he looked up and saw Draco sleeping peacefully with his arms still around Harry. Harry smiled and nuzzled Draco's chest. Draco moved slightly and cuddled a little closer to Harry. Harry smiled at his old lover's habit of sleep cuddling. He also realized that for the first time in two weeks he was feeling half-way human. He didn't feel completely well, but he definitely felt better. He shut his eyes and wished for the world to go away so that he could stay with Draco forever.
"You feeling any better this morning love?" asked Draco as he stroked Harry's shaggy hair. Harry smiled.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Ummm... about ten minutes. I didn't want to get up. You looked so peaceful."
"I'm feeling better today. Not completely well, but I feel better."
"That's good. You worried me."
"Me? Little old me?"
"Yeah, you. The one and only love of my life. The only one I can never forget." Harry felt dizzy again, but it wasn't from fever. Draco was so close to him he felt like the world was spinning. "I close my eyes and I see you. I don't feel complete unless you're with me. I can still taste your kiss on my lips some nights. My whole world has been empty without you. I don't know how to live without you." Draco decided he didn't care that Harry had the flu. He kissed the lips he had been craving for months. He felt the old fire pouring from Harry's lips as he kissed back. It surprised him almost since the last time he had kissed Harry he couldn't detect any of the fire that Harry had deep inside him. Draco ran his hands up Harry's shirt and felt as Harry stretched his back in that effortlessly sexual way that he always had. Draco kissed Harry deeper and then ran his lips down to Harry's neck. He plundered the skin that he knew was so sensitive. Harry let his head fall back and let his neck be completely exposed to his lover's attentions. Draco pulled off the shirt that Harry wore and then pulled off his own. The feeling of skin on skin for both of them only fed the fire that was boiling their blood.
"Gods Draco, please... please save me." Harry realized what he said a second after he said it. Draco's gray eyes came into focus. Harry didn't know what to say now. The silence kept growing and Harry was desperate to end it somehow. Harry searched his brain for words to explain what his words meant. He found himself searching through his usual lies, and he stopped himself. "No.." he said out loud.
"If you don't want to-"
"No, that's not what I'm saying no to." Harry could see some confusion on Draco's face. "I'm trying to tell you why I just said that... and I found myself mentally flipping through the lies I usually give." He touched Draco's cheek gently. "But I don't want to lie anymore. I don't want to lie to you." Draco's face changed from confusion to sympathy. "I've been lying to so many people to keep them out. I've been keeping everyone out, even you. I'm sorry."
"Harry it's all right."
"No it's not. I love you. I've loved you for so long. I should have talked to you... said something." Harry stopped and bit his lip. "I just don't know what to say." Draco stroked Harry's cheek gently.
"Harry, I love you. You don't have to say everything right now. Take your time. I'll stay here as long as you want me to."
"I want you to stay. I really want you to stay. I love you Draco. I've never loved anyone like I've loved you. I want you to stay with me always, I just... I have to figure out... who I am... or what I'm going to do... or... something. I have no idea what I'm trying to say."
"It's all right. Take your time love. Take hours, days, weeks, months if you have to. Even years if that's how long it takes."
"I'm not expecting you to stay that long."
"I will."
"Draco... please don't make me promises that-"
"I will stay. Harry, I would have stayed eight months ago if you had told me you wanted me to stay. All you had to say to me was that you wanted me to stay. I would have stayed."
"I want you to stay."
"Then I will. I'll stay as long as you want me here." Harry felt tears sting his eyes. It was all too simple to keep the man he loved with him. So simple that he was kicking himself for not doing it earlier. Draco's arms tightened around him and his hand gently threaded through Harry's black hair. "That's all you ever had to say love. It broke my heart to leave you, but I had to. You had shut me out. You'd stopped talking to me. I wasn't sure of anything that I had with you anymore and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be with you anymore. But I still loved you. I've always loved you. You're the love of my life." Harry buried his tears in his lover's shoulder and shuddered. Draco didn't say a word. He pulled the covers up around them a little more and held his lover a little tighter.
"I'm tired of people wanting something from me," Harry murmured through the sobs. "I'm tired of people chasing after me to ask me questions. I'm tired of people wanting to know how I killed Voldemort. I'm tired of people asking what's wrong with me. I don't know what's wrong with me. All I know is that I feel… like I don't belong anywhere. I don't know what to do now that I've killed Voldemort. I don't want to be Harry Potter anymore. I don't want to be everyone's savior. I don't want to be the one who did what had to be done. I don't want it. And I hate that I was the one who had to do all of that. I want to be normal. I want to be like everyone else."
Draco threaded his fingers through Harry's hair and let him cry and ramble. He didn't know what to say in reply to all of Harry's words. He hoped that just being there with his arms around Harry would be at least some kind of comfort. In the back of his mind he thought, At least he's saying all of this to me instead of letting it boil inside him like he did before. Soon the both of them were asleep again.