The air was already moist and growing hotter with every minute. Although Harry had tried his best, taking a shower, changing and coming here by metro had taken longer than they had anticipated. The first rays of sunlight danced on the waters of the Charles River as Draco sat down on a bench under a tree that provided at least some shelter. Harry stopped the wheelchair close to the bench and transferred easily. His left leg still felt wobbly after Draco's treatment, but the pain was gone completely.

Draco passed him a cup of tea and a muffin they had bought on their way. "How are you feeling?"

"Better", Harry said, taking a bite, suddenly feeling awfully hungry. "Actually, not bad at all."

They watched a small sailing boat cross the river.

"Are you looking forward to going home again?" Draco asked, stirring his hot coffee.

"It's kind of good that I'm going back tomorrow", Harry replied. "I think I need some days of real rest. The last two weeks were great but… definitely stressful. I… normally don't have to rely on this-", Harry gave the wheelchair next to him a kick. "I only use it at home and for longer distances. It's kind of growing into a habit here, though, and that is a little disturbing."

Draco nodded. "Hm… I just wish, you could stay longer", he mumbled into his muffin.

"It's not the only reason I'm going back. There is a lot of work waiting for me, too."

Draco did not reply to that. They ate in silence.

"How often do you get these cramps?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged and crushed the empty wrapping of his muffin in his palm. "Every other night, roughly."

"Can't you do anything against it?"

"Well, warmth usually helps me. I have heat packs at home. Taking a hot bath before sleeping, regular exercises, massages of course. Normally cramps last a few minutes before I go to sleep again or I give up and get up early."

The small sailing ship tried to turn towards the wind and tilted dangerously in the process.

"This one was unusually intense. It's not always like that," Harry added.

Draco snickered as the people on the boat hastily scrambled to one side to keep it from turning over. "So… this was not a relapse then," he said, taking a sip of his plastic coffee cup, trying to sound casual.

Harry nearly spilled the rest of his tea on his shirt. "Are you crazy? No! Trust me, we would both know if it had been an attack or a relapse or anything. For once, it would be long from over now. A relapse takes days, sometimes weeks. Plus it's much, much more severe, at least in my case. I usually spend part of it at the hospital."

Draco did not respond. Instead, he took Harry's and his wrappings and empty cups to the trash can nearby. Harry watched how a motorboat caught up with the little sailing boat. Ropes were thrown to the sailing boat and the people on it hurried to fix them somewhere at the rail.

When Draco returned he looked upset. His hair had dried within minutes in the warm wind on their way to the park and was flying wild around his head now. His eyes seemed darker. Harry felt guilty at once. He should not have laughed about his idea of a relapse. Although it did not feel like that, they had only met a few days ago. He could not expect him to know everything. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, however, Draco had stormed past him.

"Draco?" Harry quickly transferred back into the wheelchair and followed the blonde. He cursed as the small patch of grass between the bench and the walkway slowed him down. When he had pavement under the wheels again, Draco had already disappeared around the next bend. A little later, Harry found him a few hundred meters further down the walkway, sitting at the water's edge and throwing stones into the water.

Harry wheeled as close to the edge as he dared. "Draco?" When the other man did not react he let himself slide off the seat and onto the ground next to him. Draco only paused shortly in throwing stones to give him a quick side glance. He looked as if he might have been crying but the vigor with which he tossed the stones into the water suggested that he was also still angry.

"I am sorry, Draco", Harry said when he had settled down next to Draco, legs dangling from the edge as well.

Draco continued throwing stones into the water. "There – is – nothing – to – apologize – for", he grunted, throwing a stone at every word until there were no more left in his lap. Then he stared at the water ripples forming and intersecting.

"It's… I don't know. It just feels so unfair!" he whispered. "When I think that the… thing last night happens every other night… even if you say it's not always as bad… that just makes me so… unbelievably angry!" He kicked with the heels of his shoes against the stone wall they were sitting on. "And to think it might be even worse during a relapse… I could not even imagine how that would be. It's just…"

He turned to Harry, his eyes were dry but his lower lip quivered. "I felt so helpless last night."

Harry shook his head, dazed. "But you were not helpless at all."

Draco dug his fingernails into the dirt. "I wished so much I could do something… anything. Seeing you… I wanted to take all that pain from you and put it on me. I wished I could be you just to give you some rest." His voice was barely audible anymore.

Harry did not know what to reply. He had not anticipated this outburst. As the motorboat from before came around the river bend, sailing ship in tow, Harry's fingers somehow met Draco's on the ground. He squeezed his hand. "I know how you feel. I am very glad that you were there for me last night."

Draco squeezed back. "I am a light sleeper. And I only did what I could."

Harry hoped he heard the hint of a smile in Draco's voice. "You worked magic."

The corners of Draco's mouth finally turned up a little. "I wish I could."

They continued holding hands while the small sailing boat was pulled around the next river bend and did not let go for a long time.