When Harry wheeled into the common kitchen the next morning he was not surprised to see it deserted. He normally woke up quiet early, often being raised by leg cramps. He picked up a muffin and filled a glass of water at the tap when he heard a door open.
"Hey, you should come outside, it's beautiful"
"Draco!" Harry turned his wheelchair. Draco was peeking in from the door leading to a balcony Harry had not noticed before.
"The sun just came up and… you should really see for yourself", Draco grinned.
"Yeah, cool, let me just…" Harry shifted in his chair and reached into his pocket where he had placed a small plastic bottle earlier. He shook out the pills in his palm, put them in his mouth and washed them down with the water from his glass.
"Woah, that were not just like eight-hundred pills or so, right?" Draco laughed a little nervous.
Harry grinned back and tried to flatten his hair a bit. Why did it have to be so unruly especially after showering? "More exactly eight", he answered with a shrug.
"Still… wow. Hey, wanna come out? I get you a coffee-"
"No, thanks", Harry said. When Draco raised his eyebrows he added: "Doesn't go well with the pills, you know…"
Draco nodded. "Of course. Sorry"
Harry just grinned at him as he wheeled towards the balcony. He could see a stripe of milky blue sky outside and hear the screaming of seagulls through the open door. When he arrived in front of a beaming Draco his heart sank, however.
"Hey, that actually seems to be lovely, but… uh… I'm afraid the door is not wide enough for the chair."
He could see disappointment draining Draco's eyes of all the color but then they lightened up again.
"Yeah, hey, what about your crutches? I could get them from your room if you want"
Harry shook his head.
"I think Thomas took them back yesterday night and put them in his room. He is still asleep, I don't want to wake him."
Draco put his hands in his pockets.
"Oh… Ok. Doesn't matter, I will join you for breakfast inside-", he started, but Harry interrupted him, suddenly having an idea.
"Actually… you know what? My PT will be absolutely delighted if I actually once follow her advice. Can you hold out you arms like this?" he asked, wheeled closer to Draco until he was right in front of him and put on the brakes on the wheels.
"Er… like that?" Draco asked, brows drawn in confusion and hold out his arms, slightly bent in the elbow before him, palms facing upwards.
"Perfect", Harry said and put his feet from the foot rests, helping along the left one with his hands. He quickly bent down and folded the foot rests up.
"So… you are pretty strong, right?" he jested as he turned back to Draco, referring to the talk the other man had given him in the car the other day.
Draco blushed a little but before he could answer Harry put his hands on his forearm and he closed his mouth again, surprised. Harry grinned.
"Close your fingers around my forearms" he ordered.
Draco looked into his eyes, understanding dawning.
"You sure?" he said but nevertheless did what Harry had asked from him.
"Ok, on the count of three? One, two, three!"
Harry experimentally leaned forward and when he felt Draco tense and reinforce the grip around his arms, he pushed himself upright using what strength remained in his legs and Draco's assistance. Triumphantly he shook his hair out of his eyes when he was standing in front of the other man, swaying slightly.
"You're not gonna lessen your grip on me, Ok?" He asked, grinning but nevertheless meaning what he said.
Draco shook his head. His face seemed slightly paler than before.
"No, 'course not. I got you", he whispered, his wide grey eyes locked into Harry's.
"Great. So, standing is pretty good, right? Let's see how walking works", Harry said. He felt farely safe leaning on Draco's arms. The other man could indeed not deny the mostly physical work he did during summertime. Harry felt pretty damn defined muscles under his hands.
Draco swallowed and reinforced his grip on Harry's forearm even more. When nothing happened for some seconds and the two remained standing on the spot, Harry started to giggle.
"Er… I'm afraid you need to move first. I... uh… kind of need the momentum", he explained.
Draco nodded again then turned slightly to look at the floor behind him before making one step back. Harry followed Draco's left foot quickly with his right. Draco made another step and Harry pulled his left foot along, dragging it slightly over the floor. He had to look down and make sure it was placed right before he was ready to put weight on it. His left leg tingled and the head movement made him dizzy for a few seconds. Draco turned out to be very mindful, however, and waited for Harry to get ready and shift his weight before making another step.
"You are doing good", Harry encouraged him. In fact, Draco was moving more carefully than his physical therapist, creating less momentum for Harry and thus making it a little harder for him. Still, he felt he actually enjoyed this kind of exercise.
Draco cracked a smile at him before his face crinkled again in concentration. Small beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead.
"Mind the step", Harry warned when they had reached the small door leading to the balcony. There was a small ridge where the floors of the inside of the house and the balcony floor met.
Harry needed a few tries before he managed to lift his feet high enough to overcome the step.
"Yeah, I'm a pro at walking. Just steps are not my field of expertise", he jested. Draco chuckled.
"Can you… uh… turn a little and let me down? Slowly?" Harry asked when they had reached one of the wooden deck chairs facing the ocean.
Draco did as Harry had told him, letting him down carefully and waited until Harry signaled him that it was safe to loosen his dead grip on him.
"Sorry mate, I might have accidentally crashed your arms", Draco apologized, mopping the sweat from his face with his sleeve and plopping into a deck chair to Harry's right.
Harry grinned, scooted back into a more comfortable position and pulled his legs on the chair.
"Doesn't matter, it's not as if I need them." He laughed. Harry inhaled the salty air from the sea and took in the stunning view through the glass balustrade, leaning back in the chair. "Wow, it's great", he whispered.
The sun was already up by now but the morning light was still weak. The sky was cloudy and the sea seemed nearly black. The astonishing thing however was the mists that hang over the water and just by now started to fade out at the fringes near the shore. Dark shapes were visible behind the wavering white mass, islands and ships in the water before them. The air smelled fresh and slightly cool, lacking the heat from the days before.
The two men had relaxed on the balcony for approximately an hour, watching the mist retreat in mutual silence when a door at the other side of the balcony opened and a young woman with bushy brown hair emerged, holding a pink mat under one arm.
"Are you interested in yoga courses, guys?" she called, grinning at them broadly.
Harry shook his head amused and smiled at her whereas Draco just lifted an eyebrow.
"No, thanks"
The woman nodded and turned to go, still grinning when a man emerged behind her. He had flaming red hair and freckles on his nose and seemed in equally overwhelming good mood as the woman.
"Come on guys, you cannot be serious!" He walked around the woman to place himself in front of Harry and Draco, blocking their view on the sea and wiggling his green mat at them.
The woman's expression faltered slightly.
"Ron, it's Ok"
"No, Hermione, let me talk to them. They do not know what they miss! Let me present to you the the most talented yoga teacher in the whole U.S. if not in the world: Hermione Granger!"
Draco snorted unbelievingly. The woman, Hermione, blushed and shot an angry glance at her companion.
"Ron... I have to prepare the room. So, guys, you heard him. If you change your minds, just join us, Ok?" With that she vanished, hair whipping behind her.
Unfortunately, Ron had not finished yet and as Draco had leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, he focused on Harry.
"I promise you, you will not regret this experience. Let me tell you just this: you will never have felt as great in your life as you will after this yoga session"
Harry squirmed in his chair and said: "Yeah… that's nice but we are fine, actually"
Ron only grinned. "You know what you are? Lazy. That's it. You are too lazy to get your butts up and miss this singular opportunity. But I will not let that happen and you will thank me for that". Ron only seemed to be encouraged by Harry's answer. "There is literally no excuse to miss this course. No excuse!"
"Mate, I appreciate your effort. But, see, I can't-"
"There is no 'can't', either. Get up, grab one of the mats and prepare for letting your body and mind be blown away".
The redhead extended one hand to pull Harry from the chair. In the corner of his eyes Harry could see Draco open his eyes again and tense up.
"Come on now. Ignore this lazy friend of yours and join us. What is keeping you here? There is nothing holding you back from jumping up and following me!"
"Tell that to my PT", Harry muttered under his breath, drawing a snicker from Draco who sat now on the edge of the chair, eyes fixed on Ron, eyebrows drawn close dangerously.
"Oho, I sense some tension here", Ron walked backwards with his hands in the air dramatically. He obviously had not realized what Harry had just said. "I will not touch your boyfriend, ferret, do not be afraid" he sneered at Draco, suddenly all cheerfulness lost.
Draco jumped to his feet but before he could do anything, the door through which Draco and Harry had entered opened and Martin appeared.
"Harry, five minutes until we hit the road, Ok?"
Harry pushed himself into a sitting position. He had actually forgotten to keep an eye on the time. Martin could be rather strict if it came down to the schedule he had worked out for their holiday.
"Oh, yeah, right", he mumbled.
Martin brought forth Harry's crutches.
"I think you might need them. Thomas already loaded the wheelchair in the van along with your suitcase. He left your toothbrush, though"
"Oh… er… that's great. Thanks", Harry replied, hiding a grin at the fierce enthusiasm his friends put into this whole journey. It sometimes seemed more like a race. He still had to figure out what there was to win.
"You are already leaving?" Draco asked.
Harry turned towards him. The other man seemed genuinely disappointed and Harry felt his stomach lurch when he locked eyes with him.
"We are going south again. Boston. Cape Cod", Martin explained, braking the moment.
Draco nodded, a sparkling entering his eyes. "That's a shame. You will never have a second chance to participate in the world's best yoga class ever again"
Harry's eyes drifted back to Ron. The redhead had been standing frozen to the spot at the railing of the balcony, eyes darting from Martin and the crutches to Harry. Now his face matched the colors of his hair and his mouth opened and closed without sound.
"Never mind", Harry said. He did not want this fight to continue, especially since he had the feeling that there was more between the two men then just a yoga class and some misunderstanding regarding Harry's condition. He quickly prepared for leaving, turning his upper body and pulling his legs from the deck chair, positioning his feet on the ground.
Martin did not need any instructions after the time they had spent together. He jumped forward, pushed the crutches into Draco's arms and extended his to Harry. He knew that the other man would not be able to stand up from a point as low as the deck chair, even with the help of crutches.
"On the count of three?"
With one fluid motion Martin hoisted Harry to his feet and waited until the moment of vertigo had passed for Harry, before slowly releasing his grip so that Harry could receive the crutches from Draco.
Ron had observed everything looking as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He did not say anything as Harry painfully slowly made his way past him and struggled again with the step before entering the house.