Chapter 31

The Leaky Cauldron was crowded that day. There were packs of families and friends coming and going much faster than normal. Harry had gone there in hopes of a small crowd, but was out of luck.

"Another, please," he told Todd as he set down his now empty bottle.

"That'll be your seventh, Mister Potter," Todd said doubtfully. "Are ya sure ya want to do that?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Please."

Todd shook his head as he pulled another bottle of firewhiskey from under the bar, popped the cork out, and handed it to Harry. "That's another three knuts."

Harry choked down a large swig and set it back down on the bottle. He looked down at the paper that was sitting on the bar, and the pen sitting next to it. He nearly spit out his drink at the thought of it.

He'd been doing that for a few hours now. Every time he looked at the paper he nearly spit out his drink. It shocked him each time. He still couldn't believe that Draco had signed it. Was Draco actually going to give up that easily? That wasn't like him. He took another long drink of the firewhiskey.

He wondered what Draco was doing right then. If Draco had honestly wanted to sign this, or if he was regretting it. If he should sign it. He was always wondering if he should sign it. It was all he had thought about for the past two weeks.

It had been a week since Draco had signed it, and he hadn't seen Draco at all. Surely Draco would have come around by now if he didn't want this. Was Harry waiting for him to come and try to convince Harry not to sign it? That was all he needed, he supposed. A reason not to sign it. Or a reason to sign it.

Todd set a bottle of butterbeer down in front of Harry. Harry looked up, confused. "I didn't order this."

"I know. It's from the man at the end of the bar," the tender said, nodding toward a tall brunette man was sitting alone, reading a book.

"Thanks," Harry said quietly, eyeing the man cautiously.

The man looked up after a few minutes and locked eyes with Harry. Harry looked away and took a sip of his firewhiskey. The man closed his book, stood, and slowly made his way toward Harry.

"Hi," he smiled. He had a small hint of an American accent.

Harry took another sip of his drink before setting it down on the bar. "Hi."

"I'm Skye," the brunette said, raising his hand. Harry shook it hesitantly.

"I'm Harry."

Skye smiled and sat next to Harry, slipping the book into the pocket of his jacket.

"So let me ask," Harry said, his words ever-so-slightly slurred, nodding his head toward the untouched bottle. "Why a butterbeer?"

The brunette's smile broadened, and he pushed his thin-rimmed glasses farther up on his nose. "Well, since I've come in, you've had, what, five firewhiskeys? And you've been here longer than I have. I figured, maybe you forgot there were other drinks you could order."

"Cute," Harry snorted, rolling his eyes. "So, what, you've been watching me all this time?"

Skye nodded, looking away almost nervously. "I haven't been able to take my eyes off of you since I came in." He looked up, right into Harry's eyes. His eyes were breathtakingly blue. "It's a shame, too. I was hoping to finish my book."

Harry didn't know what to say. He just smiled, picked up the butterbeer, and took a hesitant sip.

"So what's with the drinking, anyway?" Skye asked. "If you don't mind me asking. I mean, it's not even five yet, and you've dried up the whole bar."

"It's… a long story," Harry sighed, switching back to the firewhiskey. Skye gave him a doubtful look, but said nothing. "I'm debating a divorce." It was out before he could even consider it.

"Ah." Skye nodded. "So it wouldn't do me any good to hit on you?"

Harry shook his head. "But I think it's a little too late for that. Unless you don't consider sending a stranger a drink to be hitting on them."

Skye smiled and sipped his own drink. "I know what it's like. I was married too, for about a year."

"What happened?" Harry asked, motioning to Todd to give him another drink.

"I came out. I realized I was gay, and I told my wife, and she understood, and we got a divorce. About two years ago."

"Then you have no idea what I'm going through. Coming out of the closet isn't exactly the same as being cheated on." Harry sighed and took a long sip of his firewhiskey, then stared down at the divorce papers again.

"I s'pose not," Skye smiled softly. "But divorce hurts, either way. "But you know, sitting in a bar getting drunk off your arse isn't going to help you, unless you've decided to take up the new hobby of alcoholism."

"That was exactly my plan," Harry said, raising his drink slightly in a mock toast. "I was hoping to be passed out by seven o'clock. The hangover tomorrow should take my mind off 'im for a while."

Skye shook his head with a slight, knowing smile. "It wont. It never does. So what happened, anyway?" Harry glared at him. "It always helps to talk about it."

"If I wanted to talk about it I'd be talking to my friends, not some stranger who's trying to pick me up in a bar."

"Okay, okay…." The brunette shrugged and waved for Todd to give him another butterbeer. "Well, if you really don't want to talk." He pulled his book from his pocket, picked the Harry's pen off the bar, scribbled his number on the corner of a page and ripped it off. "Give me a call, if you feel like being social," he smiled as he handed the number to Harry.

Harry smiled. Todd set the butterbeer down in front of Skye. Skye paid for it and left before Harry could say anything else.

It was a few minutes before Harry even fully realized he'd just gotten a guy's number. It shocked him. He hadn't even considered how it all would work out. If he got a divorce, he could do this every night. He could have the pick of anyone he wanted. He hadn't gotten the chance to date before.

But was that what he wanted?

Honestly, when he thought about it, he found Skye to be endearing. He wasn't sure he was ready to let Draco go yet, but Skye seemed so genuine, so real. It was an interesting prospect. And that prospect made Harry realize that he could have a life once this was all over.

He stared down at the phone number for a moment, then at the paper. Then, without hesitation, he picked the pen off the bar and signed the line next to Draco's name.

I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!

It was early the next morning, The sun just barely rising. Harry hadn't slept a wink. For half the night he'd stared at the divorce papers, and the other half he'd stared at Skye's phone number. Finally, he had woken Hedwig and sent her to take the papers to the Ministry. He stood in his boxers in front of the open window for almost an hour after Hedwig flew away, trying to figure out what would happen next.

There was a knock at the door. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, assuming it was Hermione, coming to scold him for getting in so late. He started for the door, but then changed his mind. "Go away."

For a moment there was silence; then there was another knock, louder and more persistent. Harry growled as he yanked open the door. "Hermione, I don't--"

"Did you sign the papers?"

It wasn't Hermione.

Harry blinked, surprised, then rubbed his eyes. "Draco. I--um…. Hi."

"Hi." Draco moved into the room and automatically began pacing nervously. He looked as tired as Harry felt; he had bags under his eyes and deep lines on his face, and his eyes were red and bloodshot. "Did you sign the papers?"

"Draco, I--"

"Please, just answer the question, Harry," Draco pleaded. "No, don't. Just… let me say this before you do." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I love you, Harry. So much. I know it's hard to believe right now, because of what I did to you, but I do, and I made a huge mistake, and I wish I could take it back but I can't. But we've been through so much, Harry. I honestly think we can make it through this. I know I don't deserve a second chance, but please, can we just try?"

Harry sat down on his bed and stared at the floor, suddenly ashamed of himself. He took a deep breath and spoke in a very small, soft voice. "I signed the papers, Draco."

"Oh." Draco stood there for a minute, taking it in. It finally began to sink in. "Oh. Wow. I'm divorced." He slowly turned towards the door and started to leave.

"Draco, wait," Harry said quietly. Draco stopped but didn't turn. "I have something for you."

Harry stood and went to his dresser, and pulled a key ring with two keys attached out.

"What's that?" Draco asked as Harry handed it to him.

"The keys to the house."

Draco gawked at his ex-husband for a moment. "Harry…. You…. No. You were the one that loved that house, not me. Keep it."

"I could never enjoy it now," Harry shrugged.

"I don't want it either. What use am I going to have for a house?"

Harry sighed. I don't really care, Draco. It's legally yours. It was in the papers. The papers that you signed. If you don't want it you can sell it, but I don't want it."

Draco shook his head, stunned and shaken. He didn't know what to say.

"You get to keep everything, Draco. I don't want any of it. It's all yours. Except that." He pointed to the silver band on Draco's ring finger. Draco stared at him in horror. "That was my mother's ring, Draco. And you can keep the damn necklace."

Draco's hand automatically shot up to the pendent that hung around his neck. He loved his ring, but he loved the necklace more. He slowly removed the ring from his shaking finger and placed it on Harry's upturned palm.

He turned for the door again. Just as he was about to close it behind him, Harry said, "I'm sorry, Draco. We were so stupid. It was a mistake I wish I'd never made."

And it was over. Draco was gone. Harry stood there for a long time, the ring in his hand. He wasn't even sure he wanted the ring anymore. It was too painful to even look at.

He took his ring off and set them both on the nightstand next to his bed, then gingerly picked up the phone from the desk next to his bed. He pulled the wrinkled shard of paper from his ruffled sheets and dialed the number hesitantly. He waited three rings before someone picked up.

"Hello? Is this Skye? ….Hey. It's Harry, from the Leaky cauldron. Oh, did I wake you? ….I'm sorry. But I was wondering--eh, wondering if I could um, come over….. I think I'm ready to talk now."

Author's Notes: Yup, yup, I'm getting ready for the death threats.

Not much to say right now, except I was freaking out over school. I flunked biology, might flunk math too, and no matter what other grades I get I'll be put on academic probation, and if I don't work harder next quarter, I'll get kicked out of my school. So yeah, I'm kinda going crazy over that. But I'm planning on writing at least two chapters before winter break ends! (Hopefully! I'm still working on some make-up work, so I'm still pretty busy.)

And guess what? CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SUCKS! (Complete randomness.)

Well, gonna go work on the next chapter.

Oh, and sorry about the suckiness of this one! I wrote most of it at about three in the morning while my friend was annoying me, so it's a little… bad. Hahaha.

SO MUCH LOVE AND THANKS TO MY BETA! I love you, Jordan, YOU'RE THE BEST :D

TTFN!

Deathdragon4