Harry

Anthony must be dazed from Draco punching him.

He didn't say a word or struggle against me as I pulled him through the hospital.

We did get several dark looks from my colleagues though. None of them like Anthony because of how disruptive he is.

Elliot glared stonily at Anthony as I dragged him to the stairwell. I should have probably explained what I was doing, but I didn't want Anthony to fight back.

This will be a whole lot easier with his presence and if he finds out what I'm about to do, he won't come with me.

When I saw Anthony's fist raise, I knew he was going to hit me. My immediate reaction was worry; not for myself, but for Draco. I was worried what the stress would do to his heart.

Draco, apparently, did not have the same fears I did. I still can't believe he broke Anthony's nose. Thank magic Ron's spell went over Draco's head. It hit a vase of daffodils and shattered it.

We reach the front doors to the hospital. I pull Anthony outside and disapparate.

"Why did you bring us to the ministry?" Anthony demands thickly.

He tried to heal his nose himself, but Anthony has never been very skilled at healing magic. He managed to stop the blood, but the bone is still broken.

"We're going to see an old friend of mine," I answer shortly.

I'm still pulling him along. He's very reluctant to follow me going by the way he's dragging his feet.

Thankfully, he waited until we were almost to our destination before talking. I knock on Kingsley's door. The door opens by itself.

I pull Anthony inside. Kingsley is writing something on a piece of parchment. When he finishes, he places it in a tray on his desk. It disappears.

"Harry." Kingsley conjures two rigid chairs across from him. "And you are?"

"Anthony Goldstein." Anthony schools his face into one of polite interest and sits down.

"What is this about?" Kingsley asks me as I take a seat as well.

Anthony answers the question before I can even open my mouth.

"I have no idea what we are doing here, sir. This is clearly between me and Harry and we should leave it that way... right, Harry?" Anthony says with just a touch of malice.

"I'm going to have to disagree," I reply firmly. "Kingsley, I need DAISIES."

I see Kingsley's jaw clench. He knows as well as I do that DAISIES isn't something to be taken lightly.

"What do you need with a bunch of flowers?" Anthony demands. "We're leaving, Harry. This is our relationship and this man has nothing to do with that."

Just as Anthony tries to stand up, Kingsley waves his wand. Ropes tie Anthony to the chair. He's fuming now. He almost reminds me of Uncle Vernon with the way his face is turning purple with anger.

"What the hell are you doing?! You can't just tie people up like this! You can't hold me against my will!" Anthony spits.

"On the contrary, Harry has leveled a very serious accusation against you. I am allowed to hold you both here until it is sorted out." Kingsley flicks his wand again and a piece of parchment appears on his desk.

"What accusation?! He just wants some flowers!"

"Domestic Abuse & Invasive Stalking, Immediate Enforced Separation. By asking me to give him DAISIES, Harry is essentially accusing you of abuse and or stalking. He's requesting that I separate you."

Anthony stills for a second. Then, his head whips around to face me. "Tell him I'm not abusing you, Harry."

"No."

"If you do, I'll forgive this. I'll let you come home right now and we can pretend none of this happened."

I feel sick because as much I never want to see him again, a small part of me wants to do as he says.

"Enough. Goldstein, you will remain silent until Harry is finished talking or I will silence you myself." Kingsley's face is neutral, but I can see a flash of anger in his eyes.

"I will not be silenced! This is ridiculous! I haven't done anything wrong!" Anthony's face is turning purple again. "Harry is overreacti-"

Kingsley flicks his wand and Anthony is cut off. His mouth opens and closes furiously, but he can't make a sound.

I feel a rush of gratitude towards Kingsley for silencing him. Now, I'll be able to tell him my side without interruptions. I'm also a little grateful that Anthony needed to be charmed quiet. It strengthens my case against him.

"Harry, tell me what you have to say. Then, I will listen to Goldstein."

"Anthony and I were in relationship up until a couple weeks ago. I left him because my family had an intervention with me. They showed me something that was blindingly obvious to them. Anthony has been abusing me." I take a breath.

"What has he done?" Kingsley prompts.

"A number of things. He's tried to hit me, but mostly it was controlling me. I couldn't see my family or friends. I had to be home from work right away or he would show up at the hospital and be disruptive. He would pressure me to sleep with him when I was tired from work. He treated... he treated me like an object." I fold my arms and stare down at my knees.

"Anything else?"

"He made me think it was my fault he acted the way he did." I sigh. "Today, he used my invisibility cloak to sneak into the hospital. I was spending my off time with a patient who has been cursed. We were researching the curse when Anthony came into my patient's private room. He proceeded to accuse me of cheating on him and turning away his mail."

Actually, that part is mildly confusing. I haven't received any mail from Anthony.

"Are there any witnesses to your claim or proof?"

"Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley-Lovegood have all witnessed his abusive behavior. I'm also willing to give you my memories or take veritaserum."

"Your memories will suffice."

Kingsley produces a clear glass vial and hands it to me. I touch my wand to my temple and focus on drawing out the memories of my relationship with Anthony.

The silvery thread is long and takes a few minutes to get it all out. It's weird taking out a memory like that. I still know what happened, but I can't recall the images anymore. I gently place it in the vial. Kingsley takes it.

"Goldstein, I'm going to lift the silencing charm. This is your only chance to offer a defense for yourself. If you act disrespectfully, I will not listen to what you have to say. Do you understand?" Kingsley says, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Anthony looks furious, but he nods. Kingsley flicks his wand.

"I only did things like that because Harry is bi. That means there's twice the chance he'll cheat on me. I was right by the way. He's cheating with that scrawny ferret Draco Malfoy. Who punched me in the nose, I might add! He's not sick. He's faking it for attention. Everyone knows he's wanted to fuck Harry since third year."

Kingsley looks faintly startled. His eyes flick to mine, but only for a second. "Goldstein, are you aware that what you've been doing is a crime?"

"It is not. Harry's my boyfriend. That means I have a right to know where he is and who he's trying to shag. I have a right to sleep with him if I want to." Anthony shoots me a nasty look.

Kingsley looks flabbergasted. I've never seen Kingsley at a loss. I didn't think it was possible even.

"I'm authorizing DAISIES. I'll look at the memories as a formality, but Goldstein has clearly admitted to the crime. Do you want the memories back after I have viewed them?"

I shake my head. I don't want anything to do with Anthony, including memories of him. "Keep them. Bin them. I don't care. I have more important things I need to take care of."

Anthony growls. Literally growls. I ignore him. Kingsley taps the parchment with his wand. It glows faintly as words appear on it.

DAISIES is a unique form of magical protection. Once our magical signatures are recognized on the parchment, we won't be able to communicate with each other. We won't notice each other in public. Anthony won't even be able to talk about me if it's done with the intent of stalking or harming me.

Any items of mine left in his house will end up at my place and vice versa. If we had kids, the magic would be a lot more complicated, but we don't.

Anthony and I will be completely separated magically. I know because Hermione developed this magic years ago. She talked about it at length... and she mentioned it last week.

Now that I think about it, I'm certain she planted the idea in my head on purpose. Thank magic. She's clever. I'm buying her that magical encyclopedia set she's been eyeing. I owe her a thank you present.

"Harry, tap your wand on the parchment."

I follow the instruction quickly. I want to get back to Draco soon and clear this all up. He must be confused. The parchment shimmers green.

"Goldstein, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can either willingly place your magical signature on the parchment or I can call another auror in here to babysit you until you do."

"You can't keep me here," Anthony says defiantly. "You can't force me to sign it."

The words fall flat considering he's still stuck in the chair.

"Just sign it. I never want to see you again, Anthony. Nothing will ever make me love you again." I roll my eyes.

"I could just give you a love potion. You would love me then."

I feel sick at the thought.

Kingsley narrows his eyes. "Let's put it this way, you can sign this, or I'll send you to Azkaban for three months."

Anthony turns pale. He hates the idea of Azkaban just as much as every other witch and wizard.

I'm still expecting him to protest, but he just nods jerkily. Kingsley releases him from the ropes.

Anthony pulls out his wand. He looks at me. It looks like he's almost sorry for what he's done. I recognize it for what it is though. He's only sorry that he's lost a toy.

He reluctantly taps the paper with his wand. The shimmering turns orange. Kingsley waves his wand over it and it returns to looking like a normal piece of parchment.

Anthony stands up. It's hard to focus on him. My eyes want to slide over him.

"Can I go now?" Anthony snaps, looking like a kid about to have a tantrum.

"Please do." Kingsley gestures for him to leave.

Once he is gone, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I feel free.

"Thank you, Kingsley."

Ron

I have overheard loads of things about Draco Malfoy over the years. Ginny and Luna talk about him often enough. I know he keeps bees. I know he donates money to the orphanage Neville set up for kids who lost their families in the war. I know he does yoga with Luna. I even know he has something wrong with his mind that causes panic attacks.

The thing is, I've never cared. I don't know this Draco. I just know Malfoy: the git who bullied us, called Hermione a slur, and let Death Eaters into our school.

I didn't want to know him either. I didn't give a damn if he had changed. I just wanted to forget him and be done with it.

Then, Harry came to me last week. He told me how much he's starting to like the ferret. He asked me to support him.

Obviously I am going to. Harry is my best friend. So long as he's not in a bad situation, it's my job to support him and love him. That doesn't mean I have to like his boyfriend though.

That was what I thought. Today changed that. I can't remember the last time I saw Harry looking so relaxed and happy.

Of course, Anthony had to barge in and try ruining Harry's happiness.

Last month, George and I developed a spell. We wanted to use it on Anthony, but never had the chance. The spell relocates the victim's cock and balls to their forehead. We call it the dickhead curse.

I decided to use it the second I saw Anthony's fist raise, but Draco beat me to the punch. Literally.

I felt the sense of comradery with Draco as soon as I heard Anthony's nose break - it was so satisfying, I couldn't help it. I actually like him enough to consider him a friend now.

All it took was seeing him defend Harry from his bitch of an ex.

I can't wait to tell Mione, George, and Gin about this.

Draco's hand is bleeding. I give him the potion Harry threw on his bed and heal his hand. I'm just about to tell him that he did a good job rearranging Anthony's face, when he speaks.

"I can't believe Harry didn't tell me he was seeing someone."

I blink. Harry never told Draco about Anthony?

"He's not seeing Anthony," I say firmly. "Anthony is his psychotic ex boyfriend."

"But... why would he say that Harry is cheating?" Draco is staring at the floor, his hands clenched in front of him.

"Like I said, he's insane. Harry broke it off with him and he doesn't want to accept it."

I sit down in front of him. I actually feel a little sorry for him. Draco looks devastated. I suppose I can tell him a bit about Anthony. Harry will have to do most of it later.

"This is something Harry should tell you himself, but I'm going to explain a bit first." I lean back in the chair and look at the ceiling. "Anthony has been abusing Harry for months. Mostly, from what I gather, it's emotional abuse. That's what Hermione says anyways. He justified controlling him by claiming Harry was more likely to cheat on him because he's bisexual."

"How does being bi make you more likely to cheat?"

"More people to choose from I guess." I shrug. "It doesn't make sense to me either."

"That is ludicrous. Your morality doesn't have anything to do with your sexuality," Draco fumes, folding his arms.

"I agree, but Anthony still used it against him. It was really frustrating to watch."

"Why did Harry stay with him then?"

"Well... Harry is famous, you know? He's tried dating and Skeeter always finds out and publishes some idiotic article about his partner. Usually, the articles are horrible. Then, his partners get howlers and hate mail. It's a huge mess." I slump in the chair, remembering when Hermione was sent hate mail in our fourth year. "Either people tell his partners that they're not good enough or Skeeter suggests they used a love potion... and you can guess how that goes."

"Okay... but what does that have to do with Goldstein?" Draco runs his fingers through his hair.

"Anthony is the only person who wasn't scared off. Harry was lonely and he thought no one else would stick around. I bet Anthony made sure to drag his self esteem through the mud too. If he kept Harry beaten down, Harry wouldn't want to leave." I'm quoting Hermione, but she's usually right about these things.

Draco continues to stare at his lap for a long time without speaking. When he finally does open his mouth, I'm surprised at the question.

"Is there anything I can do to help him?"

"Uh... well, I'm not sure. I think he just needs love and support. Hermione usually says that." I rub the back of my neck.

Draco finally meets my eyes. He looks sad. "I can do that, but he needs to be honest with me first. I need to understand the situation."

I open my mouth to defend Harry, but Draco holds up his hand.

"I recognize that look on your face. I'm not trying to attack Harry or anything of the kind. I'm not calling him a liar. I... really care about him, but Goldstein just burst into my room. I need to know that we're both safe. I wouldn't put it passed Goldstein to curse Harry or me right now... and I need to hear what you just told me from Harry himself." He looks down again.

I hesitate. I suppose I can see where Draco is coming from. His heart is in a fragile state. Anthony could have caused him to go into cardiac arrest or something.

It's also fair that Draco wants to hear all of this from Harry. Really, this Harry's personal life. He should be here to explain the situation himself.

I hope he's okay. I think Anthony might actually try to hurt him if he gets the chance, but Harry can handle himself. I wish I knew where they went. Harry only told me to give Draco that potion before he left. He also mentioned flowers? I feel like that was significant, but I don't know why.

"Well... he should be back soon enough."

I wish Hermione was here. She would probably understand why Harry was talking about daisies of all things. She would probably know how to handle this whole situation.

I could go wake her up. She's sleeping in the break room before her next shift. It's right down the hall. I won't though. She works so hard and is juggling too many things right now. She needs her rest.

"He better be okay. If Goldstein has harmed a hair on his head, I'm going to curse him so hard, his ancestors will feel it." Draco falls back in his bed, sulking.

Okay, I definitely like this Draco better than the one I went to school with.

"Do you want me to teach you the dickhead curse?" I offer, a grin making its way onto my face.