~ Draco And Daniel's Rooms ~
Draco glanced over at his son, sitting next to Isabella on the rug on the floor. The children were staring up at the adults in confusion. Draco hated seeing the troubled look in his son's silvery eyes.
All through Harry's explanation, Daniel had seemed to sense Draco's distress and had quietly snuggled closer to the only father he'd ever really known. Draco had taken comfort in his son's warm embrace as he'd listened to Harry's explanation.
Draco had been horrified to hear that Ron had been right. Harry really had been in trouble and he'd done nothing. Some husband he was. He couldn't even save his own husband. Harry had to save himself. He knew Harry was telling the truth, he'd always been able to tell if Harry was lying to him or wast trying to hide something from him.
Along with the guilt, Draco also felt an overwhelming sense of anger.
Anger at Harry – for not escaping sooner.
Anger at Hermione – for convincing him to forget about Harry (not that it had really worked, but that wasn't the point).
And finally, anger at himself – for not putting enough faith in his own instincts that were telling him something wasn't quite right.
He took a deep breath and with a supreme amount of self-control, he pushed the anger aside to be dealt with later.
"What do I do now?" Draco asked Ron and Hermione quietly.
They were sitting on the couch and they both glanced up at him, looking surprised by the question.
"You welcome him back with open arms," Ron said, as if this should be obvious.
Draco sighed. "It's not that simple."
"Why not?" Ron asked.
Draco glanced at Hermione. She still looked stunned by Harry's tale. For once, she'd been wrong and it appeared to have sent her into shock.
"He's been gone for two years," Draco said heavily. "We've both changed a lot in that time. I don't think we can go back to the way we were."
There was a long silence.
"Do you love him?" Ron asked finally.
Isabella chose that moment to push herself up, walk over to her father and demand to be picked up. Draco took advantage of the distraction to delve deep inside himself for the answer to Ron's question.
"Of course I love him," Draco replied finally. "I will always love him, but sometimes that isn't enough."
~ The Corridor Outside Draco and Daniel's Rooms ~
Harry was walking towards his and Draco's rooms. He wasn't sure if Draco would let him in anymore. This wasn't at all what he had expected when he'd come back. He'd fully expected to be welcomed with open arms. But it was obvious Draco was hurting inside and it hurt Harry to know that. It was the expression in his husband's eyes that really hit Harry hard. Those beautiful silver eyes revealed a deep pain inside them that made Harry long to scoop Draco into his arms and smother him with kisses as he promised Draco that everything would be alright.
Did I honestly expect things would be just the same as they were before I left? he wondered. I mean, before some house elf starting putting that numbing potion in my coffee.
He stopped outside the door. He could hear voices inside. He stepped closer to the door and listened carefully.
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?"
"He's been gone for two years. We've both changed a lot in that time. I don't think we can go back to the way we were."
There was a long silence.
Harry turned away from the door. So that was that. Draco had moved on. He probably wanted to be with George now. Harry ignored the shooting pain that shot through his heart and that thought and decided to wander around the hallways for a while. It had been a long time since he'd been here, and he'd always liked to walk while he was thinking…
What am I going to do? he wondered despondently. Well, I can tell you what I'm not going to do, and that is give up without a fight, Harry thought angrily. If Draco thinks he can just give up on us, then he's mistaken.
Harry found himself outside and walking towards Hogsmeade. He wasn't really too sure what he was going to do, but he knew he had to go and speak to George. To find out whether his relationship with Draco was serious or not.
He stood for a moment, outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, strengthening his resolve and rehearsing what he wanted to say. This was a friend of his and although he didn't want to lose George as his friend, he would rather keep his husband and lose a friend rather than lose Draco at all.
~ Weasley's Wizard Wheezes ~
He pushed the door open, and instead of a tinkling of a bell, heard the bellowing of an elephant announcing his entrance.
A Weasley twin glanced up from where he was marking paperwork.
"Hiya Harry," Fred said cheerfully. He did not seem at all surprised to see Harry. "Good to see you back, man."
"Er, hello Fred," Harry replied, taking note of the large F knitted on the twin's jumper. He just prayed that the twins hadn't switched jumpers as a joke. "Is George here?"
"I am," A voice from the back of the store said warily. Harry turned to see George, looking serious for once.
"Fred, would you go and make sure that our order from The Apothecary is correct?" George asked, glancing pointedly at his brother.
"Sure, anything you say George," Fred said, not once losing his cheerful persona. "I'll catch up with you later, Harry. Perhaps tonight, I'm have dinner at Hogwarts every night."
Harry was a little startled by this announcement. Why would Fred eat at Hogwarts? He wasn't a professor there. Perhaps he (and maybe even George) liked to spend time with Ron, Hermione and their niece, Isabella.
Once Fred had left the store, George strode to the front door and turned the open sign around so it showed that they were closed.
"What can I do for you, Harry?" George asked.
"I know you've been seeing my husband," Harry said as calmly as possible.
George glanced away from Harry and scanned the shelves. Harry stared at him intently until the redhead glanced back at him.
"I'm sorry Harry. But we didn't think you were coming back," George said quietly. "If I'd known…"
"I know this is an awkward situation, but I'm asking you to back off," Harry said equally quietly. "I love Draco and I want to make our marriage work. That can't happen if you're around."
George smiled slightly. "Alright. But I'm not going to avoid Draco. He and I have become good friends and I'm not going to stop being his friend."
"I'm not asking you to stop being his friend," Harry replied, feeling tense. "I'm asking you to not kiss my husband."
George looked startled. "It was only one time. How did you know about that? Have you been spying on us?'
"No! Look, I don't want to go through the whole story again, Ron can tell you, but I was held captive and my jailer liked to torment me with pictures of the two of you," Harry said, his face darkening as he remembered how horrifying those pictures had been. But they had been the wake up call he'd needed so perhaps they weren't so bad after all.
"I won't kiss him again, alright?" George said, looking shocked by Harry's casual announcement of being held against his will. "If it makes you feel any better, there wasn't anything between us. I was always aware that no one could compare to you. I think Draco fooled himself into thinking he could move on, but we all knew he was pining for you."
Harry did indeed feel a bit better hearing this. Perhaps there was more hope for them than he had thought.
"Thank you," Harry said quietly. "I hope you find someone else soon. I'm sorry I had to ruin your love life."
George smiled. "As I said, I knew there would never really be anything between Draco and myself, but I enjoy his company. He's a good guy. But in terms of my love life, I've had my eye on someone for a while now."
"Who?" Harry asked, curious to know who George had a crush on.
"Oliver Wood," George admitted softly.
"Oliver?" Harry asked incredulously. "Oliver as in Gryffindor Quidditch captain Oliver?"
"Yeah," George said, blushing sheepishly.
"Well, I hope things go well with you two," Harry said, meaning every word he said. If George got together with Oliver, then that would be his competition out of the way. Perhaps he should have a little word in Hermione's ear about the pair of them. After all, she got Justin and Charlie together, so surely she'd be able to get Oliver and George together.
TBC
A.N. The reason Harry only mentions Herm getting J and C together and not any other matches, is because he doesn't know about the Lav/Fred match, or that that is the reason why Fred eats dinner at Hogwarts (so he can eat with his wife). Harry doesn't know anything that has happened in the last two years, except for what Eve chose to tell him, and that was only about George and Draco (the stuff you've already read about).
I was on a roll one night and wrote ten chapters in one sitting but now I've run out of pre-written chapters, so I'm not sure what's going to happen next. I mean, I have a plan, but as for the specifics, I'm not sure. If there's anything you'd like to see happen (or want explained), let me know and I'll see if it fits in with what I have planned for the end of this story. And if you recall the end of The Whole Nine Yards, you'll remember Hermione threatening to find a spell that would allow Ron to carry children if he wanted a large family, and Draco was intrigued by that idea. I was never really one for Male Pregnancy, but I've read a few good ones (mainly Harry/Sev) and I've been toying with the idea of Draco having a baby. What do you think? (Obviously I just gave away the fact that H/D will get back together, but really, how obvious was it that that was where I was headed!! I love H/D and I love tearing them apart just to put them back together again!! *grins wickedly* It's just so much fun!!
I'm also contemplating a prequel to this trilogy, about how Harry and Draco got together at Hogwarts and the first year of their relationship. But I have a lot of stories on the go at the moment, including a few that I haven't posted any chapters for yet. But if you'd all like to read about how they got together and came out and the reaction to their relationship, then let me know.