Hey Everyone! Thank you soooooooooooooo much for the reviews. The more you review the more I want to keep things going for you. I am so happy that there is a positive reaction to this story! It's really important because I am in a wheelchair too, and parts of this story are semi-based on me. I was wondering how people would think of a disabled Harry who isn't needy or clingy. Hope this next chap doesn't disappoint.

Chapter 8: The British Are Coming!

It was little a less than a week after the banquet when I finally moved into my new home. Harry seemed please that I had made sure everything was in order for him to come over, only the stairs to the second floor posed a problem. I don't think he honestly believed me when I told him that the move was intended to build our relationship, not destroy it. When things became a little less strained, I thought that perhaps it was time I give the second half of my confession.

We were sitting in the hot tub together when I finally got up the courage. "Harry, I do have something else to tell you about." He raised an eyebrow and waited for me to finish. I told him all about Draco. How I had been friends with Lucius, and now felt somewhat sorry for his son. Lastly, I told him about Draco's disastrous coming out. "And that's why I've agreed to let him stay here until he gets some sort of bearing on what he wants from his life."

Part of me expected Harry to tell me exactly how against this whole thing he was, but instead he just smiled. "I understand. You need to help a friend. So when does he come in?"

"Two days from now," I replied, wholly relieved that he had taken it so well. "I'm planning on having a limo pick him up from the airport and bring him straight here."

He laughed. "That reminds me; are you ever going to get a license or just beg rides off of Remus and I?"

I had been toying with the idea for a while now, but the more steps I took towards permanent residency, the more I realized exactly how topsy-turvy my life was becoming. "Soon," I answered vaguely.

He nodded, and began to tell me about his new plans for the center. It was selfish, but part of me wished that he didn't put so much into the place. If he hadn't been so involved, I would have asked him to travel with me. Even as content as I was with Harry, the familiar scenery became more and more part of what I had been avoiding my whole adult life. Being stuck, being stagnant that was my greatest fear. I didn't understand how people could plunge themselves into one area and be happy with it. Traveling was freedom, and I was still afraid to give that up entirely.

The morning that Draco was set to fly in, Harry and I made plans to meet at a small café down the street from my condo. That would give Harry long enough to finish the week's planning with Ron, and Draco enough time to get settled. We'd been there many times, and I thought that Draco might appreciate the place. It was nearly eleven when the limo pulled in the drive, and I watched the young man step out. He seemed to be taking the place in from behind his shades. I could tell that he was still deciding what he thought of it.

"You made it," I called from my front porch.

He smiled. "Barely, with all that bloody airport security. Now where is he?"

I grimaced, as I hadn't told Draco anything at all about Harry. "What makes you think there is someone?"

"You bought a house, Snape, that practically screams it out," he told me dryly. The boy was no fool, which was precisely why I had been able to stand him all these years.

"You'll meet Harry soon enough."

"Harry?" he asked with eyebrows raised. "Such a common name."

I rolled my eyes. "I assure you, he is an uncommon young man."

"Young?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I motioned for him to follow me in.

I showed him around my home. Though he had been taken down a notch by his father, he was still a Malfoy through and through. This—though spacious and posh by most standards—was not the mansion that he had grown up in. His spoiled nature made him almost impossible to please. He was the proverbial unhappy, little rich boy. The contrast between him and Harry was startling, though they were the same age. Draco had never done anything for himself, nor had to work through anything. I simply hoped that he could figure things out on his own, and do it fast.

By the time we made it to the café, Ron was just leaving. He gave a nod to me as he wheeled himself out of the room. I spotted Harry seated in our usual spot with a cell phone at his ear. "A business man," Draco whispered to me teasingly. Before I had time to tell him anything, he had seated himself beside Harry without another word.

Harry hung up and offered his hand to the blonde. "You must be Draco. I've heard a lot about you from Severus," he lied with a congenial smile.

"Ah, Severus has been rather tight lipped about you." He flashed Harry a flirtatious smile. "I think he's afraid of losing you."

Harry gave me one of his gorgeous stares, and said, "He never does have to worry about that."

Lunch seemed to be going well for the most part. Draco's annoyingly outgoing personality didn't leave much room for silence. Then, he made a blunder that would mar the entire day.

Draco took a sip of his water. "I do have to say that I give you credit for doing business with that poor man."

Harry looked confused. "Poor man?"

"The cripple. I always feel so bad for people like that. They never really do seem to make it far in life," he said. I hadn't realized until then that Draco had made the same exact assumption that I had when I met Harry.

Choking on my salad, I finally managed to find my voice. "Um…Draco…."

Harry cut me off. He looked hurt that I hadn't said anything to Draco prior to this meeting, and now I knew it was far too late to save it. "You don't think disabled people are capable of living full, successful lives?"

Draco gave a disdainful little laugh. "Really. What kind of life can you have sitting a chair all day? I really pity whoever takes care of the poor sod."

There was a long silence. When Harry finally did say something, his voice was low. "I'll have you know that is a very happily married man. His wife doesn't need to take care of him. He is also one of the best men I have ever known. Ron lives his life with every bit as much dignity as anyone else. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the center."

With that, Harry wheeled himself away from the table, and met Draco's shocked eyes with an even glare. I followed Harry out, leaving the stunned man alone. "I'm sorry," I said once we were alone. "I didn't have a chance to tell him before….shit, what I mean is that I really didn't…"

"Don't make excuses. He's a pompous ass. At least, I know how he feels," he said with a sigh.

"Harry, can you forgive me for this?"

He shrugged. "I'm used to this sort of stupid assumption. If people don't say it, that doesn't mean they aren't thinking it."

"Please don't tell me that you're going to let that little prat ruin what we've got," I said rubbing my temples. I wanted nothing more than to beat the bloody moron senseless.

"You're well worth putting up with him for."

I bent down and kissed him full on the mouth. "Good. Are you coming back in now?"

He shook his head. "I really do have to get back. Why don't you two come out tomorrow night for dinner? We can cook out and have a nice evening? I'll even invite the Weasleys and we can all get to know him a little better. Maybe he won't be so bad once he realizes he was wrong?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Six o'clock," he told me.

I went back into the café with a little less anger than I had left with. In Draco's defense, he did look remotely guilty—which is the equivalent of utterly remorseful in most other people. He barely acknowledged me when I sat, and instead played with a fork full of spinach.

"Harry invited us to a cook out tomorrow evening," I told him nonchalantly. It was best to let the event go. Dwelling on it anymore would only make me want to ship him back across the Atlantic in a box.

"Oh? I'd thought he'd never want to see me again. But Gods, Severus, why didn't you tell me?" Apparently, Draco hadn't come tot the same conclusion.

I snorted. "It's stopped mattering to me. I didn't think to warn you about it until you were already hitting on him!"

"Well, I thought he was bloody gorgeous until I saw that…" Draco's voice trailed off, and I think he knew that he'd crossed over into my bad graces.

"Listen here, you little snot, he IS gorgeous! If you can't see him for who he is and not the chair, then I will buy you a ticket back to your Daddy. If you stay, you will treat him with respect and stop being such an ass. That young man has done something with his life and managed to make a positive change in the lives of others. What have you done besides live off Lucius and fuck pathetic fairies who only want your money? Harry is twice the man you will ever be," I said giving him my most smoldering glare.

Something I said must have connected, because he didn't say another word the entire evening. Perhaps I had been to harsh, but it didn't matter. If he would continue to make backhanded comments like that about the man that I was falling for, I wouldn't hold back any punches.