As the Petals Fall

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…wah…

Thanks to everyone who continues to review this story! You have no idea how much it makes me want to keep writing.

Note: If you guys haven't been understanding my chapter titles so far, here's an explanation:

Shop Around the Corner: A movie featuring Jimmy Stewart where he works at the shop around the corner. He and one of his co-workers are actually pen pals, but don't know it until he realizes it was her all along. It is also where they came up with the idea for You've Got Mail. Notice her bookstore was called Shop Around the Corner. I figured since Harry works at a bookstore, I would name the chapter that.

The Philadelphia Story: As briefly mentioned last chapter, The Philadelphia story is a movie featuring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart etc. I don't think I can explain the whole thing here, but it's a great movie so go see it! The idea is that Cary and Katharine are divorced, but when she's engaged again, he wants her back.

An Affair to Remember: A movie featuring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Cary is an artist and he and Deborah meet on a cruise. Of course, they fall helplessly in love and when they get home, they agree to meet on top of the empire state building for valentines day. But on her way, she gets hit by a car and is paralyzed from the waist down. At the end, he finds her because she buys one of his paintings. This is the inspiration of the movie Sleepless in Seattle. (Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks…they couldn't think up their own plots right?)

Chapter 3 – An Affair to Remember

Maneuvering around a bookstore with a very large, pregnant belly could be rather difficult, as Hermione found out early that day. She was used to having Harry around, mostly because he'd always been sure to be there at all times. But he called her to tell her he wasn't feeling so well that particular morning. Thus, she would have to manage on her own until her hubby made his way there. But really, it was quite troublesome for her, waddling about, trying to get on a ladder.

But she didn't complain. And she didn't worry about herself. All she could think about was Harry. Lately it seemed that he never really felt good. Either there was some sort of injury or he would call out sick like this morning. And something about him always seemed…different from the Harry she knew in school. It was like something inside of him had been broken. Never did she think anything like this would happen…not after defeating Voldemort anyway. Anyone would think that if you could beat the Dark Lord…who couldn't you beat?

And the sudden reappearance of Draco Malfoy into their lives. Sure, Kendrick was absolutely adorable and would be welcome in the shop at any time. But Draco? She wasn't ready to forgive him and she definitely wasn't about to let him anywhere near Harry. It was quite a problem, considering Kendrick and the twins had become rather good friends. It wouldn't be fair of her to split them up because of Harry's old heart break…would it?

These thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a little red-headed girl ran up to Hermione. "Mum, where's Uncle Harry?" Angela asked. She had inherited her father's hair, no doubt, but she was quite inquisitive. The big brown eyes beamed up at Hermione, who wasn't sure exactly how to answer the question. Really, she wasn't sure what the true answer really was at this point.

"He's at home, Angie. He called this morning to say he wasn't feeling too well. Perhaps, we'll drop by later to visit him," she replied with a soft smile on her face. Though remembering the fears of being a mother she had during her first pregnancy, Hermione couldn't imagine her life without Angela and the baby that would be on its way quite soon. And while she had feared that the passion between her and Ron would be gone, she felt quite silly about it now. Never had there been more passion between them than when they had their first child and conceived their second.

When Draco came into the bookstore, Hermione was less than pleased. "Angie dear, go into the backroom," she said. The red-head pouted and looked as though she was going to protest, but upon seeing the glint in her mother's eyes, exited the room, glad to be free of the tension. "Malfoy, I thought I made myself clear. Kendrick is always welcome here. You, on the other hand, are not."

Draco smirked. "That's bad business, Granger. Regardless, that's not what I'm here to talk about. There's something we're equally worried about and I know you can help me," he said.

"And what makes you think I will help you?"

"I know because it's about Harry," he said. Hermione was going to say something but closed her mouth, thinking about it. "I know something is wrong. But I can't put my finger on it. It's something to do with Malakai. Don't pretend you haven't been having the same thoughts as I have," he explained, looking at the way Hermione flinched. "Have you noticed anything strange about Harry lately?"

Hermione hesitated, not sure if she should trust Draco, but that fact of the matter was that they'd both noticed something was amiss in Harry's life. He was her ally…for now. "As a matter of fact, I have. There's always some new injury whenever he comes to the store. And he's been calling out sick a lot lately, which is something he never does, thanks to my pregnant state. As always, he's looking out for everyone else but not himself." She stopped to think again. "But I'd like to think that if something was bothering Harry, he would tell me or Ron…"

Draco shook his head. "You know he isn't like that. Now, I've a plan to make sure everything in that house is as it should be," he said. He hoped that Hermione would help him. Otherwise, it would be hard to get close enough to Harry to do what he needed.

It was a few minutes before Hermione made her decision. There was a fear deep within her, because she willed with all of her might that nothing was wrong. She couldn't bear it if Harry was hiding something as dreadful as they suspected. But she wanted to make sure that he was going to be okay. That was the most important thing now. "Okay, I'll help you."

Harry was glad for the fact that the twins could keep each other occupied for hours upon end. He definitely didn't want them to see him like this. He wore only a pair of jeans, as he was bandaging all of the cuts that Malakai caused in his morning rage. He'd come home early in the morning, drunk of course, and decided he wanted a punching bag. Harry had gotten quite used to it and everything was quite numb now. Still, having to heal himself like this was never fun.

When the doorbell rang, Harry was quite startled. Forgetting to put a shirt over his bare, bandaged chest, he went to see who it was. Opening the door, his green eyes widened to find both Hermione, and Draco standing on his front porch, along with Kendrick and Angela. "Uncle Harry!" Angela said, hugging him tightly.

Hermione looked at him with a concerned expression. "Harry, what happened? When you said you didn't feel well, I assumed you were sick or something," she said, immediately letting herself into the house. She planned on helping Harry with the bandages, but Harry stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Hermione…really. The twins and I were just playing around and they got a little rough. You know how little boys can be," he said, but judging by the look on his face, Draco and Hermione could both tell he was lying. It was easy to see that there was something lying beneath the weak smile on his face. There was something lurking deep within his mind…his heart even.

"Angela, Kendrick…why don't you go play with the twins in the other room?" Hermione said. Both of the children nodded before exiting the room to go find the twins. Harry was definitely glad for this, for he didn't want the children to see him in this condition.

"Harry, I'd love a tour of your house," Draco suddenly said.

"Oh, let me, Malfoy. Harry, you keep on taking care of yourself. I'll just give him the quick tour," Hermione said, hurrying out of the room with Draco before Harry could deny them access to his house. With a heavy sigh, he continued to apply Neosporin and bandages.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Draco were taking care of their plan. "Okay, put one on that shelf," Hermione said as they came into the bedroom. Nothing seemed amiss. The bed was made and everything was nice and clean. Draco obeyed and put one of the little cameras on the shelf, pointing towards the bed. They'd been planting these cameras all over the house.

Even though she wanted to help, Hermione half hoped that they didn't find anything. Despite the dreading feeling that something was wrong, she hoped that it was just an unnecessary worry. She hoped that everything was great in Harry's life. Seeing him all injured and broken downstairs almost made her want to cry, or hide somewhere that she could see it. But she had to do what she could to help her best friend. He needed them.

Once all of the cameras were placed, Hermione returned to Harry with Draco. "Harry, I really need to go. I hope you don't mind us stopping by. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. But the bookstore calls to me," she said before gathering Angela and leaving. "Goodbye Harry. Oh, and goodbye, Malfoy."

And now they were alone: Draco and Harry. There was a horribly awkward silence that came over them. "So, what really happened? I'm pretty sure a pair of five-year-olds couldn't cause that much damage," Draco said, obviously unhappy about the weak lie that Harry had told them.

"I don't have to explain myself to you in my own house. I told the truth," Harry lied.

"Well if this is really the way you like to be treated, than I severely misjudged you. At least I treated you with some respect," Draco replied, crossing his arms.

Harry almost froze again. He didn't want his ex-lover to know what he was letting Malakai do to him. "He treats me fine. You guys act like I'm some battered wife or something." Essentially that was quite what he was…but he wasn't about to show this weakness to anyone, much less Draco Malfoy. "I don't know why you care so much now anyway. You had your chance to be part of my life. You think you can just show up and everything between us will be okay? Well, it's not."

Just as Draco was about to answer, Malakai barged in, having heard the voice of Mr. Malfoy. "I didn't welcome you into my house, Malfoy. I suggest you leave," he said with a gruff voice.

Harry placed his hand on Malakai's arm. "It's okay, Kai. He's my guest," he said, not wanting his lover to take out any of his anger on Draco. He knew this was going to mean a beating for him later, but he didn't want Malakai to show that side to Draco. He couldn't bear to have the Slytherin pity him.

Draco shook his head. "It's okay. I'll go," Draco said, calling for Kendrick. "Good day to you." With that, he left the house, holding Kendrick by the hand.

Malakai quickly turned on Harry, who was trying to get somewhere that his boyfriend wouldn't get to him. In vain of course, because Malakai quickly caught up, slamming the thin man against the wall. "You like that fuck, don't you?" he asked, continuing to slam Harry's body against the wall. With one punch in the face, Harry slid down the wall and onto the ground.

"No, I only love you," Harry said, earning a kick in the stomach.

"Fuckin' liar!" Malakai screamed. He kicked Harry again, then turning to leave the house, slamming the door behind him. The raven-haired man continued to slump against the wall, tears running down his face.

The Burrow was just as Hermione remembered it as a child. Sure, she'd been there every Sunday when Mrs. Weasley made them dinner. But really, it hadn't changed at all. Even just sitting at that dinner table brought back such memories. "You know," Ron said, as he ate, "Harry hasn't eaten with us in a long time."

Hermione nodded. "He and Malakai are always busy with something. Harry barely ever answers the phone anymore. It's always Malakai instead," she said. The thought of all of the cameras in the house came back into her mind.

Molly agreed with both of them. "I haven't seen Harry since the twin's birthday party a few months ago. But I'll say there's something different about that boy. Barely looks you in the eye anymore! It's like he's ashamed of something. I'm telling you, something's the matter," she said, only making Hermione worry more.

The dread was building within the pregnant woman. She couldn't believe the possibility that Malakai could be mistreating Harry all of these years without them realizing it. Not only that, but Draco seemed to pick up on it rather quickly. That irked her a bit. Why could this man understand Harry so much better than his best friends?

"Love? Something the matter?" Ron asked, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder. "You know, you shouldn't worry. S'not good for the baby." He had that normal lopsided grin on his face.

"I just worry about Harry sometimes…"

It was past midnight when Malakai stumbled into the house. If one were to stand in that room, they would be able to smell the alcohol on his breath and see the drunken anger written all over his face. The man ripped his way through the house, going up the stairs and into the bedroom.

His deep brown eyes lay on the thin man in his bed, sleeping away. "Whore," he said, shaking Harry awake. The green eyes opened and looked up at the drunken man. "Come on, slut."

Harry shook his head. "Please, not tonight, Kai," he said, but Malakai had other ideas. He pulled the covers off the bed, and began ripping at Harry's nightclothes. The thinner of the two tried to pull away, desperately wanting Malakai to leave him alone that night. The man punched him in the face, rendering him rather dizzy for a moment which gave Malakai enough time to get Harry completely naked. "Please, Kai. I don't want to…"

Malakai replied by taking a pocket knife out of his pocket. "You'll let me do what I want, bitch," he said and proceeded with the raping of Harry Potter.

Even as the man took him, Harry cried out desperately. "Please, Kai! Please don't! I'm sorry!" he cried, tears running down his face. But there was nothing he could do. Never had he seen Malakai this angry…this violent…

The light was just starting to filter through the window when the phone rang. Hermione hated whenever she woke up to a phone ringing. Ron, of course, still slept next to her, not even perturbed by the loud ringing. "Hello?" she asked into the receiver.

"Aunt Hermione?" James asked through the phone.

"What is it, James?" she asked softly. It sounded like something was wrong. She could hear Sirius crying in the background noise. "Is something wrong?"

"D-Daddy…D-Daddy won't wake up…and P-Papa isn't here," the boy sobbed. "There's b-blood everywhere…"

Hermione jumped right into action. "Okay, I'll be there, soon. Just don't panic, okay sweetie?" She knew that she couldn't really ask that of the twins. What else would they do after finding their father bloodied up and unconscious? "Ron! Call an ambulance!"

When Hermione caught sight of Harry, she fought the urge to wretch right there. The thin man was covered in cuts, bruises and it even seemed like some of his skin had been sliced off. Not only was there blood but other…sexual fluids…

Luckily, the ambulance arrived quite soon and took Harry with them. Hermione took the twins and followed the ambulance to the hospital in her car.

Have you ever been in a hospital waiting room? If you haven't been, you're not missing out on anything. It's basically a sterile room full of either sick people or their families. There's always one depressed family, waiting to hear for news about a loved one. There's usually a snack machine and a coffee machine that doesn't work. And at the desk might be either a very nice nurse, or a very snooty nurse.

Luckily, it was a very nice nurse.

Hermione sat in one of the chairs and the twins clung to her, both sobbing. "Auntie, is Daddy going to be okay?" Sirius asked, a pout on his face and tears coming from his big green eyes. "He wasn't moving."

Hermione smiled softly, wanting to be reassuring for the twins, though it was hard. She wasn't sure what was going to happen to her best friend. "Of course, he's going to be okay. He would never leave you two," she said, making them feel a little better. It was so hard waiting. This is why waiting rooms were the worse. You could always feel the tension, whether it was your own or someone else's. Now, it was Hermione's.

She was slightly relieved when Ron arrived with Angela. "Any news yet?" he asked, just as worried about his friend. Harry had always been his best mate and he never imagined anything like this happening to him, especially after defeating…'he who must not be named'.

When Draco came in carrying Kendrick, Ron almost exploded. "What are you doing here?" Ron yelled, startling all of the people in the waiting room. He couldn't bear the sight of the man who had betrayed Harry. Of course, he'd told his mate that it was a bad idea to date a Slytherin. He wasn't about to rub it in his face now…mostly because for a while he'd believed in Draco too. But now…that was all over.

"For your information, your wife informed me of the situation," Draco said, a scowl on his face. He'd been very worried once hearing of what happened to Harry. He wondered all morning if it was his fault for being there in the first place. Had he made Malakai angry? If he did, was it Harry who the man took his anger out on?

"Ron, he's right. I told him because…well, he had a feeling that Malakai wasn't treating Harry too well. And we put these cameras in his house…the cameras!! Draco, we need to see what's on those cameras," Hermione said, suddenly realizing that they could figure out exactly what had happened.

"We'll wait, Granger. The most important thing now is making sure that Harry is okay," Draco replied. Ron immediately calmed. He wasn't going to start anything in the hospital, but at least Draco had his priorities in the right order. Harry was the most important thing right now.

When the doctor came through the swinging doors, everyone gathered around him immediately. "Harry's going to be okay…but it's going to take a lot of work," the doctor explained. "There are signs of both multiple beatings and rapes. He's got a lot of older scars that would attest to that. All of the cuts and bruises will be gone in a week or two. We've got him all bandaged up. He's even awake now, if you'd like to see him. Don't startle him, or he might hurt himself." The doctor smiled at them. "I suggest having him go to a therapist."

Hermione nodded, taking in all of the information before everyone else. Tears flowed down her face. "Rape…" she said, devastated. Ron wrapped his arms around his wife. "Let's go see him." She pulled away from Ron, walking down the hall. Everyone followed her of course.

As soon as she entered, Hermione flung herself at Harry, wrapping her arms around him. The twins followed her, their tiny arms grabbing at his waist. All three of them sobbed. "It's okay, you guys, really. Boys, I'm so sorry I scared you. But I'm okay now," he said with a soft smile on his face.

"Why didn't you tell us this was happening?" Hermione asked.

"And have you worry about me all the time?" Harry replied. "Not that it kept you from worrying anyway. I'm sorry."

"What happened? What did he do to you?" Hermione questioned almost angrily, as the tears continued to fall.

"Mione…I really don't want to talk about it."

Just then, Draco's cell phone rang. Knowing that phones weren't allowed in the hospital, he left the room to go talk outside. It was a few minutes before he came back. "The police just found Malakai. He's going to be tried for rape and battery."

Hearing this, Harry gasped and began to hyperventilate. "Don't! You don't understand! He'll get away and…!" he exclaimed, beginning to thrash. The twins and Hermione moved back. Draco on the other hand, moved forward, grabbing the thin man's arms, trying not to hurt him.

"Harry, calm down. You're hurting yourself," he said, continuing to pin him down. "It's going to be okay. I'm not going to let him get you." He wrapped his arms around Harry, who continued to sob and squirm. "Shhh…it's going to be okay…he's going to be locked up." He held Harry in his arms, rubbing his back soothingly. "He's not going to hurt you again."

Harry's breathing became regular again and he almost melted into the embrace he was sharing with Draco. While he was angry at the blond yesterday, he couldn't imagine being in anyone else's arms at the moment. Ron held his tongue, even though the sight of Draco still made him angry. Hermione, on the other hand…she was starting to like having Draco around again. He really did seem to love Harry.

They stayed there with him the rest of the day. "Harry, the twins will stay with us at our house. Draco, are you leaving?" Hermione asked.

"Would you mind taking Kendrick with you? I'd like to stay, really. It's been a while since he's had a sleepover anyway," he said, winking over at Kendrick.

Hermione nodded and smiled. "Alright, Kendrick would you mind staying with us for a night or two?" she asked kindly. The boy shook his head, giving his father a kiss before holding Hermione's hand. "Okay, good night, Harry. We'll be back to see you tomorrow." They left the room after each gave Harry a kiss.

When Harry woke up the next morning, the sun was shining in the hospital room. He really couldn't believe he was still alive. Everything hurt…but he was alive. He remembered laying in the bed, all bloody and messy, and wondering what the boys were going to do without their Daddy. But here he was…

He then heard a snore, and to his right, Draco was sitting in a chair, fast asleep. 'He stayed here all night?' Harry asked himself. As he thought about this, the gray eyes opened, looking straight back into the green ones. They were silent for a few minutes before Harry decided to say something. "I'm sorry."

Draco came closer to Harry, sitting next to him on the bed. "Don't apologize," he said, leaning in to bring his lips to Harry's. It'd been so hard for him to sit there watching the man all night. This was the man that had driven them crazy throughout school…the man who plagued his mind even as he was married to Pansy…the man who made him ache for him once again…

With the kiss, Harry flinched, something that Draco definitely noticed. But besides that, he accepted the kiss, even kissed back. But when he realized what he was doing, he pulled back a little. "I'm sorry," he said again, his eyes avoiding Draco's. "I can't be with you now, you know. But it seems whenever you show up, I can't help it. I forget. And…it's just too soon…"

"I told you. Don't apologize," Draco said, smiling. Harry smiled too, but there was so much pain behind it, hidden right in his bright green eyes.

Draco couldn't help but worry about the future. The police had found Malakai, but the trouble was that Harry and the twins would most likely have to testify against him. If nothing else, Harry would have to.

There was one thing that he didn't have to worry about: Malakai. Because either Malakai was going to jail after the trial…or Draco was going to kill him.