A/N: Apologies for the delay. I had a manic last few days in Edinburgh, but I'm home again now, hopefully with more time to write. This chapter is pretty much pure smut. I love it.

In the living room, Harry was on the verge of a frustrated tantrum. It was silly; all he'd tried to do was make a cup of tea for them both and take it over to sit and look at the rain. But he needed one hand on his broomstick and although he was capable of balancing two mugs in one hand, one of them had slipped, and when it came to saving himself or the scalding hot liquid, he'd chosen the former.

Charlie, hadn't minded, of course. He never did.

"I don't think I can do this any more," Harry whispered, terrified of saying it out loud.

"No," Charlie contradicted him. "No, you don't give up, Harry, that's not who you are."

"I can't walk!" Harry screamed. Furious tears priced the back of his eyeballs, seizing his hands into violent spasms and his lungs into breathless incapacity. "I don't have a lover any more, I have a carer! You have no idea how this feels. You have no fucking idea."

"I don't pretend to," Charlie whispered, staying well back from Harry's tantrum even though his instincts screamed at him to go and hold him. "Tell me, baby."

"I'm not your baby any more," Harry said, half sobbing, half spitting the words. "I'm your fucking patient."

"If you think that I only love you because of who you are or what you are, then you're very, very wrong."

"I don't think that," Harry said. "You deserve better than this."

Charlie could see it, the moment the painful cramp cruelly tore through Harry's calf muscle, twisting his spine with the pain and how he twisted his face to try and hide it. With a calmness that frightened himself, Charlie knelt before the man he loved and gently rubbed the cramp out.

When it was gone, he chanced a look up. Harry had both hands under his glasses, the heels of his hands pressed into his eye sockets but not stemming the flow of tears that leaked from them. Charlie felt his heart break for the strongest man he knew.

Maybe he'd been too gentle with Harry. God knows, he didn't need to be treated with kid gloves. Charlie grabbed hold of his ankles and yanked Harry from the sofa harshly, ignoring his surprised grunt and catching him as his ass landed on Charlie's thighs.

"Mine," he whispered as he settled unresponsive legs either side of his waist, pulling Harry tightly to his body and claiming a kiss that felt long overdue. They devoured each other. Not gentle kisses that spoke of love and reassurance, but harsh, violent, passionate kisses with tongues that speared and licked and took, hands that grabbed and hips that canted for friction. Charlie ignored the wetness that transferred from Harry's cheek to his own. That didn't matter any more.

"Fuck me," Harry demanded.

Charlie laughed, the sound muffled where his lips were still pressed to Harry's skin. "No fucking chance."

"Then let me fuck you."

"Do you want to try?"

"Shit. Yes."

It was easier to let Charlie carry him through to the bedroom than to Summon his broomstick and fly there, so Harry conceded to being taken care of. When they were horizontal it no longer mattered and stripping each other of their clothes was something intimate and greedy. It didn't feel bad.

"How do you want to do this?" Charlie said in a low voice.

Fortunately, Harry had given it plenty of thought. "On your back. You're going to need to help me, but I think I can move by myself."

"Okay."

With a little bit of shuffling, the two naked men arranged themselves so one had his legs spread wide, the other lying between them with his weight on his hands. Harry looked down and smiled, then leaned in to kiss again.

They laid like that, touching and giving and taking until they just had to keep going or risk explosion. It was awkward at times, of course it was, that was to be expected. But underneath all of it there was the calm familiarity of an act they had performed together countless times before.

"I wish I could suck you off," Harry murmured, his teeth somewhat occupied as they clamped down on Charlie's earlobe.

"I'm sure we could arrange that," Charlie said breathlessly.

Harry huffed a laugh. "I need to be inside you again. I need... to know... that this hasn't changed too."

"Let me show you."

Charlie reached for the bottle of lube he liked to keep close and arched his back to prepare himself. Harry, not wanting to miss a single second of this moment, lapped first at Charlie's nipple, then scraped his teeth over it.

With his hand firmly grasping Harry's cock, Charlie guided it into himself and wrapped his legs around Harry's thighs to help him stay there.

"Oh," Harry gasped. "Oh, god."

It took time, quite a long time for them to figure out how they made this work. But it did work. They still fit together like pieces of a puzzle that were cut to sit snugly next to one another. Harry's thrusts, at first, were rough and uncoordinated, painful, at times, but craved nonetheless.

As they finally found their rhythm, Harry leaned in to kiss his partner, very slowly. Carefully.

Charlie looked up at him from under heavy eyelids; lazy, sated, smiling with the serene comfort of someone else moving inside him.

"I'm not sure if I can get you there," Harry said. The tension in his voice was evident... showing just how much effort it was costing him to make love.

"Don't think about that yet," Charlie said softly. "It feels so good... just keep going."

Harry nodded and Charlie reached up, pressing his hand to the middle of Harry's back to pull him down close.

"Like this?" Harry asked, changing his movements from thrusts to a deep, aching grind.

Charlie whimpered. "Oh god, yes."

Harry buried his face in Charlie's neck and inhaled deeply. This smell - Charlie's smell - told him more of home than anything else in the world. Charlie brought his knees up further, wrapping them tightly around Harry's waist and he couldn't thrust any more even if he wanted to.

"Sorry it's-"

"No," Charlie said, cutting him off before he could finish. "Feel..."

He took hold of Harry's hand and trailed it down his own body. Of his own accord, Harry took hold of Charlie's cock... his rock hard, swollen, aching cock. Charlie whimpered. Brushing his fingers over the soft hairs on Charlie's stomach, Harry explored the V of his hips and down to where the other man's balls were drawn up tight.

"It's good?" Harry asked, not quite believing.

In response, Charlie arched his back off the bed, affording Harry even deeper access to his body.

Harry gasped, pressed his lips to the pulse point in Charlie's neck and slammed his hand back down on the bed next to Charlie's hip for leverage. They rocked together, finding new ways to move now that Harry couldn't rise up onto his knees to push back down, or use his thighs to control his thrusts.

Still, Harry knew the body underneath him, knew it intimately. When Charlie was on the edge of coming his whole chest and neck would flush pink, his fingers would scrabble to hold on to anything and his lips, so pretty and red where he'd been biting down on them, would part to allow the low, deep moan to escape.

Harry watched this, knowing all of it in advance, not that it made the event itself any less impressive. Watching Charlie come, making Charlie come, feeling Charlie come... all of these were right up there amongst his list of favourite activities.

And the best part was, when Charlie came his ass gripped tightly to his cock, tighter than any fist ever could. The waves of the other man's orgasm rippling through his ass, the clench- and- contract of his muscles drew Harry's own orgasm out of him. He grunted through it and Charlie kissed his neck, whispering words that didn't quite reach his ears.

The sound of his own blood rushing echoed in his ears and the soft breaths on his hair suggested that Charlie had probably made it through alive, too. The smell of sex, of their own sweat and come was nearly enough to get him hard again. He'd missed this... the deep, soul confirming connection he had with one other person on the planet. This was what reminded him that he was alive. That there was something worth living for.

xXx

"I've thought of something," Charlie said over breakfast the next morning. "To help with the cramps."

"Hm?"

"It's a pressure cuff," Charlie explained. "We use it on the dragons when they're incubating their eggs. The mothers - they're very protective."

"I know," Harry said wryly. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Well. Sometimes they don't leave their nests for months at a time and then when the babies are born the mothers are too weak to go and find food. By putting these pressure cuffs on their legs, it keeps the blood circulating and the muscles working, even when they're not moving."

"How the hell do you get it on them?" Harry asked.

"It's a charm. I'd have to adapt it for you, and it'll probably be a bit painful at times, but it'll feel like someone is constantly massaging your legs. To keep the muscles working."

Harry pouted. "I like it when you massage my legs."

Charlie smirked. "I can take it off for a time. I'll still do it for you. I'm just worried about you when I'm out at work."

Sighing, Harry shifted on the sofa then wriggled under Charlie's arm. Charlie tried to hide his surprise. Harry never was much one for snuggling. He gently ran his fingers through Harry's messy hair and when he didn't immediately pull away, he did it again.

"When are you going back to work?"

"Not until you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To be on your own all day," Charlie said, repeating the soothing gesture.

Harry hummed softly and turned in to Charlie's hand. "Can I come with you?"

"No," Charlie said, laughing.

"Why? I'm a good flier. I'm a more than good flier, I'm a fucking amazing flier."

"It's not just about flying. It's about keeping you safe."

Frowning, Harry asked "Would you have taken me before the accident?"

Charlie was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah. Probably. If you'd asked."

"You've spent weeks now telling me that I shouldn't let this get in the way of the things that I want to do, and that I can still have a normal life."

"You're twisting my words, Harry."

Harry kissed up his neck slowly and angled their faces into a kiss. "I know. But you know I have a point."

"I'm worried, and I'm allowed to be worried – it runs in my family. You've met my mother. I'm worried about you falling. Or the fact that when I'm out there I need to pay such close attention to what I'm doing or someone could get hurt. And I can't do that and watch you at the same time."

Biting down hard on an earlobe, then soothing the pinch with a wet tongue, Harry gave in. "Promise me you'll think about it?"

"Yeah. Okay."