Love Knows No Bounds Ch 7: The End of the Downward Spirals
The next day, Draco awoke to find that his back and legs were very sore but he couldn't for the life of him, remember why. He looked around the small hospital room to find elephants and multi-colored balloons wallpaper. His eyes rested to the left side table where a vase of flowers sat. They were lilacs and daffodils which were Draco's favorite. He wondered who had brought them for him but as he leaned over to reach for them a nurse with blonde hair and a dress that was little too short on her, walked in the room.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. Malfoy. You sustained quite a bit of injuries."
"What happened?" Draco asked, momentarily distracted by the hotness of the nurse.
"You don't remember?" the nurse, who Draco read from her name tag was named Drichelle, seemed really sweet and down-to-earth.
Draco merely shook his head in response as he was in awe at how beautiful the nurse was. She must be a veela, Draco thought to himself, and he couldn't help but to smile at the fact.
"I'll just let Mr. Potter fill you in. He's right outside."
"Harry? Harry's here?" Draco asked full of surprise. At the same time, Draco felt a bit uneasy at the fact he called Harry by his first name, which never happened. He still didn't understand quite yet what he felt for the Gryffindor. It was somewhere between dislike and tenderness and Draco realized that something wasn't right.
"Yes, sir. He hasn't left your side one bit. He even slept here last night right next to your bed," nurse Drichelle winked at Draco as if insinuating that they were lovers or something.
"Wha-Harry and I we-we-reā¦not together," Draco stammered.
The nurse merely hummed "mm-hmm" in response, and walked out of the hospital room apparently to fetch Harry because a few seconds later the man who saved his life entered the room.
"You're awake. Thank goodness. You scared the crap out of me, Malfoy," Harry said with a smile on his face that could only mean that Harry was amused by something.
"What are you doing here, Potter? And what happened to me?" Draco raised his voice to Harry, only to be silenced with a finger put to Harry's lips.
"You outdid yourself this time, Draco. You tried to show off your flying skills to the class but apparently you haven't flown in many years because you broke off one of the gargoyles and slammed into the pavement," Harry was thrilled as he told Draco what had happened.
So that's how it happened. Draco remembered now and could see it clear as day. He also seemed to remember Harry trying to awaken him when he was unconscious on the burning hot asphalt. He felt a sensation in his heart, one that he hadn't felt before and he couldn't put his finger on it. Harry sat down on the edge of Draco's bed and he didn't notice himself moving slightly over to the left as he did so.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Those bright green eyes went right through Draco and he almost melted away. Harry reached out to touch Draco's hand but Draco pulled away suddenly as if Harry's flesh burned him.
"Sorry," Harry blushed. "Listen, Malfoy, there's something weird going on with us."
"What ever do you mean?" Draco knew what Harry was talking about because he felt it too, but didn't want it to seem like he was dwelling on it so he pretended not to have a clue what Harry was referring to.
"I don't know, it's just-well-I just feel this connection with you that I haven't felt with anyone in a long time and I'm just confused by it," Harry revealed with a little bit of hesitance.
"You mean you are considering me to be a friend to you, now?" Draco asked with a touch of intrigue.
"No, not a friend, but this feels different than that somehow," Harry said with a definite air of question in his voice.
"I'm not gay if that's what you're wondering, Potter," Draco blurted out with fury.
"I know. Me neither. That's not what I meant. Anyways, how are you feeling?"
"Like I fell off my broom, smashed into a gargoyle and landed flat on my back," Draco said sarcastically as he realized how much pain he was in. He wondered if he was being given medication for his injuries.
Harry chuckled and Draco couldn't help but join in. Laughter is just what they both needed. They stopped and just stared at each other. Both men's eyes were captivating the others. Not realizing it at the time, both of them were moving slowly towards each other and before they knew it, while still not breaking their gazes, Draco kissed Harry's lips that looked just so appealing to him. At first both were so shocked at what was occurring to make any advancements or rejections, that it took a few seconds for Harry to pull away.
"Draco, I-I don't know what happened," Harry told Draco with an ounce of fear in his eyes. "What was that?"
"It was a kiss. I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me," Draco deliberated quickly and finally realized what he had been dreading was true. Draco, none other than a pureblood, Malfoy, was attracted to Harry Potter. But how could this be, Draco questioned his innermost being but came up empty. Maybe he just shouldn't even try to rationalize it. But that didn't mean he should act on it either. "Maybe you should leave, Harry. I need my rest is all."
Harry got up to leave but instead turned around to face Draco before walking back into the hallway.
Draco, two weeks later and now fully recovered, hadn't seen Harry since they day they kissed in the hospital. He chalked up the kiss to him not being right in the head after sustaining such heavy injuries and that it was just a fluke. Only, it meant more to Draco then he would realize until much later. He was set to be released that day and later on had to apparate into the apartment that he and Harry shared together. Deep down, he couldn't wait to be back home. He wasn't sure if it was that, or if he just couldn't wait to be back bunking up with Harry. When he apparated into Harry's bedroom, however, he realized that all of Harry's belongings were gone. Harry had left. As much as this pained him he decided that it was for the best.
Draco had decided to drop out of the Auror program. It wasn't for him after all, and he would try to go back to being a physician's attendant. If not back at St. Mungo's then at Sicily's, another wizarding hospital, located in Diagon Alley. On the day Draco was supposed to return to class after his hospitalization, Harry received an owl that Mr. Malfoy had dropped out of the training program. Harry knew it was best to stay away from the blonde, but something in his gut told him to go to him and try to get him to join the program again.
After everyone left the session, Harry disapparated from the Ministry and landed outside of the former apartment the two shared together. Harry, gathering up all the courage he could muster, knocked on the door, and waited until what seemed like hours when Draco Malfoy finally opened the door. Just as he had remembered, Draco was again shirtless but this time he was wearing a towel around his waist and his hair was dripping wet.
"What do you want?" Draco asked while looking Harry up and down. It wasn't until this moment that Harry realized he honestly didn't know what he wanted. But he thought he had a clue. Draco stepped aside realizing that Harry wasn't going to reply to him out in the hallway so he motioned for Harry to come inside. Harry walked in through the open door and Draco closed it behind him.
