Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by J.K. Rowling. I also do not share her homophobic views.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

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Harry should have known the peace wouldn't last.

The following day he was awoken by the hustle and bustle of people coming in and out of the infirmary, from eight o'clock onwards, even though school was out for the summer. Apparently people had been coming to visit him on and off while he was in his magically-induced coma. Now, though, he was awake and apparently no one had heard of boundaries or understood that, just because he was awake now didn't mean he didn't need to rest. It had been nice, though, waking up spooning with Draco on the much-too-narrow bed. However, that was soon cut short as Pomphrey had been alerted to his state of consciousness and had proceeded to run more diagnostics with her wand.

Then within the hour, Sirius had stumbled in, unshaven and ragged, with Remus' arm slung over his shoulder as he limped alongside, leaning heavily on the shorter man for support. Harry didn't even need to ask what was wrong as he saw a deep red line of blood seeping through the ragged remnants of Remus' trouser leg. He'd watched, relieved for a short while, as Pomphrey had raced to apply dittany to both Remus and Sirius as the former had sprawled out on the hospital bed with an agonised groan.

That's when Draco had finally woken up.

Breakfast came to the them as soon as Remus was as patched up as possible, with the stern reminder that he needed to recuperate before even thinking of walking around. Sirius had a rather ugly gash along his forearm, but swore that it wasn't from a werewolf bite. Pomphrey had to confirm that, before either Harry or Draco relaxed.

Healer Rodrick didn't stop by until eleven o'clock.

Harry bristled somewhat when the man appeared in the doorway in his lime green robes. However, as soon as he came to a stop at the foot of Harry's bed, his easy-going smile seemed to put the young man at ease.

"Well, you've certainly grown since I lost saw you," Healer Rodrik joked with a broad grin. "How was it?"

Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure I remember much of it, but I still ache everywhere. Like all the growing pains came at once."

"I can imagine how hellish that must have been," Rodrik sympathised. "Now, I know I'm only your optometrist, but I can do a few more diagnostics just to be crystal clear that everything is as it should be. Are you okay with that, Harry?"

"I guess? What exactly do I have to do?"

"I can do most of them with you lying down on the bed, or sitting on the end of it. But I will need to take measurements so that we can compare to your previous records."

"Oh good, we can add them to the doorframe at home," Harry beamed. At the bemused frowns he got from the others, he shrugged, "What? I remember you guys checking my height. I already know I'm taller than I was before."

Rodrik chuckled, "Well, this way we'll get a definitive number."

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay, are you okay if I draw the curtains around the bed?"

"Sure thing."

Draco shifted off the bed and awkwardly stood up, accutely aware of still being in his flannel pyjamas. "I'll go wait outside. Might as well ready myself for the day while you do this."

"You don't have to!" Harry reached out for his arm, but Draco side-stepped a little.

"It's fine. I wouldn't mind brushing my teeth," with a final smile, Draco ducked out behind the curtain.

Harry watched him go with a heavy tightness in his chest. He hoped Draco wasn't having second thoughts. He was aware that neither Draco or himself were the best when it came to feelings, or expressing themselves, but he felt as though they'd turned a corner last night Maybe everything looked different in the cold light of day? Harry really hoped that wasn't the case.

Yes, his head still ached from the trauma and the memories all flooding into place in one final rush, but not all of them were crystal clear. Some had already faded before the potion incident, as memories were wont to do. The nightmares would always be there, they were too deeply ingrained, although they seemed to be peppered with other things. Not necessarily things that had happened, but things he feared to lose. That was rather a new one for him.

As the thoughts whirled in his mind, Harry obeyed all of Healer Rodriks requests to test his eyesight, flexibility, measure his arms, legs, head, height and weight. He had to lie down and face the ceiling as Rodrik moved his wand from head to toe and back again, murmuring more spells, various patterns of shimmering yellow and green light dancing above Harry as he tried to stay focused on his breathing. At least his heart was beating at a normal pace now.

Finally, Healer Rodrik popped some eyedrops into his eyes, handed him an adult set of glasses and stepped back to survey him.

"Now you may not want to hear this Harry," he started forlornly, "But I'm afraid I'll have to give you a clean bill of health."

Harry snorted, "Don't sound too upset about it."

Rodrik grinned. "Oh, I'm thrilled! Considering the shrinking solution can be quite volatile, as well as the accelerant crafted for it, the trauma to your internal organs could have been catastrophic. However, everything seems to be in perfect working order. I'd still recommend wearing the glasses for whenever you get headaches, or read, especially in low lighting, but if you keep applying the eyedrops daily, I don't see that you'll need them for everyday life."

"What about if I keep getting regular headaches?"

"Then I would suggest you make an appointment to see me as soon as possible."

"Fair enough." He shifted to the end of the bed and planted his feet on the floor. As he stood, he cracked his spine and sighed heavily as he heard something 'pop!' "What is my current height now, Healer Rodrik?"

"You are a good five foot, nine inches now."

"That's better than being five foot, six," Harry grinned as the Healer drew the curtains back.

"Well, I'm going to write up these findings and leave a copy with Madame Pomphrey. I expect you to keep close by for the rest of the week, just in case of any delayed reactions of side-effects."

"Okay, I will do. Considering both my dad's states at the moment, I don't think we'll be moving much."

Healer Rodrik cast a sympathetic eye at Remus' sitting propped up on a mountain of pillows, surgical tape keeping some scars on his face from bursting open. He let out a heavy sigh, "One day we will have an answer to lycanthropy."

"And I look forward to it with anticipation!" Remus grinned widely from his bed.

Rodrik smiled at them all, base them a good day and warned them to rest properly, before turning on his heel and heaving to Madame Pomphrey's office at the back of the wing. As soon as the door closed, everyone seemed to sag with relief at not having to stand on ceremony. Harry dropped heavily back onto the edge of his bed, his legs still not used to supporting his weight. Draco hesitantly came to sit next to him, not close enough to touch, but the action alone was somewhat calming.

"What did he say about your health, pup?" Sirius asked, easing himself upright in the chair beside Remus' bed.

"That so far, nothing seems amiss, I don't need to wear my glasses all day everyday, and that I should rest and take it easy. Oh, and to report to him or Madame Pomphrey is something feels amiss."

"That means you actually have to be honest if you feel weird," Draco stated matter-of-factly.

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes. He picked at the cuff of his shirt, "Yeah I know."

Tentatively, Draco placed his hand on top of Harry's and gave a gentle squeeze. "I know you hate bed-rest, but this will be good for you. Besides, I don't know how long Ron and Hermione will be able to go before they break the door down to see you."

Harry frowned, "They haven't been to see me?"

"No, they haven't," Sirius cut across from the other side of the wing. "Everyone has been under strict instructions to wait for information from Pomphrey, lest the Prophet be alerted."

Harry scrunched his nose. That had never been an issue before. Although, he supposed, now they didn't live under the blanket-ban issued by Hogwart's towards its students. Still, it would be nice to see his friends as a fully-grown man again. "Do you think they would be able to come today?"

Sirius shrugged, "It's not like they have school or jobs to go to just yet. Ask Pomphrey to send for them, she might think you need another day of rest before having visitors."

"How come you guys don't count?"

"Well, we were here already."

"And Draco?"

"Again, here already and as interconnected to all of this as Remus and I."

Harry felt relieved. "Good," he squeezed Draco's hand. "The last thing I want is for someone to throw him out because they don't like the look of him."

"In fairness, that could be said about a lot of your friends," Draco murmured under his breath.

Harry bit back a smile and nudged the blonde weakly in the side. "Fine, so what am I supposed to do until then?"

"I have some books in our rooms," Remus offered drowsily. "Maybe Sirius and Draco can get a few?"

"Hey, why do I have to go?" Sirius whimpered. "I've been up all night."

"Because Draco looks about as rested as you do, and I'm not about to let someone take advantage of that," came the waspish reply. Remus groaned and rubbed a hand down his face, wincing as his palm caught on a cut on his nose. "Fuck! Sorry. Ignore me, I'm just shattered, physically and mentally. Maybe I need to sleep it off for a few hours."

Sirius gave a sympathetic smile, "Of course, love." He stood up and pressed a tender kiss to Remus' forehead.

The amber eyes drifted closed at the contact and didn't open again. All too soon, his breathing deepened and he was sound asleep.

"Damn, I wish I could do that," Draco groused.

"Don't we all?"

"Hush, you two," Sirius sighed as he got to his feet. He still walked with a slight limp and his shoulders were hunched as though carrying a heavy burden. "Draco come with me, Harry try a little more. You're still weakened from the ordeal. We'll be back shortly, okay?"

Harry nodded, watching forlornly as Draco stood up, hesitated before pressing a chaste kiss to his forehead. The blonde hurried after Sirius, their footsteps echoing as they walked the length of the infirmary and ducked out through the doors. As though as he was to admit it, he was extremely tired. He'd fallen asleep long before Draco had, if the bags under his eyes were any indication, but that didn't mean it had been a particularly restless or soothing sleep. Maybe a few hours sleep would help to break the day up.

Shuffling up to the head of the bed, Harry rearranged the pillows into a more comfortable position, using one to to cuddle in Draco's absence. It still smelled faintly of the blonde. Inhaling deeply, Harry let himself relax into the soft, narrow bed and close his eyes to the daylight pouring in through the windows. He focused on the slow, steady rhythm of Remus' breathing and soon felt exhaustion wash over him.

~0~

Hermione and Ron didn't come and visit him until Tuesday afternoon, just after lunch. They'd come with a plate of Molly's assorted cookies and cakes under a stasis charm. Harry had wondered why the rest of the Weasley's didn't come, but Ron told him that it would be easier to visit when he returned to Grimmauld place. Not to mention George, Bill, Percy and Arthur all had work, and Molly was busy cleaning up after everyone and trying to organise a baby shower. Apparently Fleur had just found out she was pregnant. Even though it was a little early to celebrate, Molly wanted to begin preparations right away. No one could dissuade her.

Harry sat back and listened, trying not to show too many emotions on his face. It felt as though his life was slipping away through his fingers. Everyone was moving on without him. He supposed that's what happened when he spent a year and a half as an infant.

Hermione and Ron sat at the edge of his bed, like they had done so many other times before.

Draco sat at Harry's bedside, their hands entwined as they listened to Hermione recount what had been going on since the graduation ceremony. Apparently it had been a total of six days, most of which Harry had been in his coma. Summer was almost over. In a matter of days the students would return to Hogwarts. He listened as attentively as he could, about how Hermione's parents were settling into their new cottage in Kent -they thought a change of scenery would help this new chapter in their lives -and the aggravating fun it had been setting the house up with the floo network and all the legal documents that had gone along with it.

Ron had talked about how things were settling down at home. It helped that a lot of them had their own jobs and their own lives to steal away to. It had come to a shock to all of them when, just two days ago, George had asked if he could bring someone along to family dinner on Sunday. Now everyone was speculating as to who the lucky girl was.

It all sounded rather soft at the edges, calming and gentle and easy.

And Harry wasn't a part of it.

When they went to leave after a two hour visit, Ron clapped him on the shoulder and gave a hard squeeze, saying to let them know when they have returned home so that he and Hermione can come by for dinner. Harry promised that he would. Hermione threw her arms around his neck and pressed a big kiss to Harry's cheek.

"You know where either of us are if you need anything," she whispered, before turning and pressing a kiss to Draco's cheek, along with a hug. "That goes for both of you."

"I promise to keep an eye on him," Draco smirked.

"Should I be the one saying that to you?" Harry asked.

Draco scoffed, earning an eyeroll and fond smile from Hermione as she straightened up and walked back towards Ron. She slipped her arm through his and together they waved goodbye before walking out of the infirmary. Once the doors had closed behind them, Draco turned to Harry and smirked.

"So, do you think you're ready to go home?"

Harry's smile faltered a little. "Well ... about that. I was thinking that ... I might ... stay?"

"Stay where? In the infirmary?" Draco frowned incredulously.

"Well, no ... not here necessarily. B-but maybe ... to a private ward at St. Mungos?"

Draco sat up a little straighter and frowned. "What's brought all this on?"

"It was just something that I've been thinking about. Everyone keeps talking to me about trauma and ... this whole thing came about because I wanted to run away from my problems ..." Harry trailed off as he dropped his head over his hands.

Draco reached out and took Harry's hands in both his own. He didn't understand why Harry thought that this course of action was what was going to help him, but even he couldn't deny that Harry had been running from his issues. The fact that he was admitting to needing help was surely a good thing. Pressing his lips together, he scooted his chair closer.

"I think that perhaps talking to a psychiatrist is good first step, but are you sure you want to be cooped up in the hospital?"

"I've spent ... the last year and a h-half cooped up ... is another month really going ... t-to be that big a dif-difference?" he rasped bitterly.

"Harry," Draco sighed, squeezing the younger man's hands gently. "You don't need to jump into anything."

"I know! I ... I kn-know ..."

"Are you concerned about the press?"

Harry clenched his jaw, but gave a little nod.

"So your solution to having hidden away ... is to keep hiding away?" Draco asked slowly.

Harry turned his head slowly, to glower at the blonde perched beside him. "Very funny. P-Prick."

Draco deflated, struggling to find the proper words to soothe the situation. "I just mean that ... the press will always be there, always wanting a story. And, like it or not, you will always be the hero, the saviour, the Golden Trio -"

"Draco!"

"-BUT you will always be amazing to me. You'll always be Harry; who has messy hair, who sleeps like a starfish, who snores when he's ill and who loves chocolate as much as Remus does."

Harry slumped back, though his brow was smoothing out as he listened.

"Regardless of when you face them, you will have to face them. I will support you however you need me to, love, but you won't be rid of them completely."

"Just ... d-don't want to deal with ... th-them ..."

Jutting out his jaw, Draco shrugged. "Then don't. You don't owe the press anything. The charity gala's and public speaking will always be there if and when you find a cause you are passionate about."

Shifting onto his side, Harry raised Draco's hands to his lips and let them linger against the pale knuckles for a few beats. "H-how do ... you al-always know ... what to say?"

"I've spent too many afternoons reading with Remus," Draco chuckled, the tension between them ebbing away slightly.

"N-not a ba-bad thing ..." Harry leaned over the rest of the way to press a kiss to Draco's mouth. He was about to lean away when Draco pressed back, deepening the kiss just that little bit more. Not that Harry was complaining. He smiled against Draco's lips, gasping a little as opened his mouth and sucked gently on Draco's bottom lip.

"Ahem."

They sprang apart, cheeks aflame at being caught as they turned to look at the end of the bed. Ginny stood there, hands clasped before her, her jaw rigid and her eyes hard as she looked from Harry to Draco and back again.

Swallowing thickly, Draco forced his muscles to unfreeze. He cleared his throat and turned to Harry, leaning close to murmur in his ear, "I'll leave you two to talk, okay? I'll pop up and see Sirius and Remus. If you need me ... send a patronus."

Harry nodded, his body ramrod straight as Draco gave his hand a single squeeze before getting to his feet. Side-stepping Ginny, sneering as the girl shot him a dirty look, he edged away from the bed. Harry listened to his footsteps clacking away against the flagstones as he retreated to the door. Ginny turned to stare down at Harry until the door slammed closed behind Draco. The echo resonated around the infirmary.

"So, it's true then? This is actually a thing, is it?"

Harry bristled instantly at her sneer. He sat up even straighter, the blanket knotting in his fists as he narrowed his up at her. "Yes. It is. Do you have a pr-problem with that?"

She exhaled loudly, "I didn't come here to fight with you, Harry. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Yet the f-first words ... out of your m-mouth ... are an insults. Gr-great start."

"I'm sorry!" she snapped, exasperation written all over her face. "I'm sorry, okay? Can I sit down?"

Harry looked the other way, his jaw and fists clenched but didn't argue with her. Taking that as a green light, Ginny hesitantly moved over to the chair beside the one Draco had vacated moments prior. They sat there in silence for a while, Harry trying to calm his temper down, his magic crackling freely across his skin, while Ginny sat with her back pressed into the chair as she looked on.

"You know even now I struggle to fully understand why you went about this nonsense," she said, keeping her voice level. "For a long while, I struggled to wrap my head around it. I couldn't understand why you got to run away from it all, when the rest of us were dealing with things that shouldn't have happened; Fred's death, Mad-Eye's death, the Carrow's torturing us -not that you were there for that."

Harry resolutely did not rise to the bait.

Still, Ginny pushed on. "However, since seeing Dr. Lisa and talking all of this through ... I can sort of understand to a degree why you ... did what you did."

Silence.

"I -I guess I realised that, if you had gone through all the trouble to avoid your trauma then ... um ... despite what I thought, you did go through a lot of horror. Most of which I couldn't even believe ..." her breath hitched a little. Harry refused to look at her. Ginny sniffed and blinked away hot tears from her eyes. "It hurts that you never came back to me. Did you even care about me?"

That break through Harry's defences. "Of course ... I d-did," he croaked. "B-but we're k-kids ... We d-don't know wh-what we want ..."

"I knew what I wanted!" she leaned forward, braced against the bed. Harry looked at her, finally, with alarm in his green eyes. "I still do. But even now I can see that's not the case."

Harry pursed his lips.

Ginny frantically searched his eyes, desperate for a flicker of that adoration she used to see. How often had she truly seen it, though? After their first kiss at Gryffindor's victory in Quidditch. At Fleur and Bill's brought-forward wedding in the midst of Death Eater attacks. In the middle of a battle, right before he went off to ... to ...

She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled, hot tears dripping from her lashes.

"I'm sorry! I -I came here with so many things I wanted to say and ..."

"Ginny ... st-stop ..."

Ginny pressed her lips together and sniffed a little, swiping at her eyes. Her lashes were glued together in the corners and her freckled clashed with the blotchy pink of her cheeks.

"You have to st-stop ... being so ha-hard ... on yo-self ..."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a ... gr-great girl ..." he rasped, swallowing thickly. "Truth-truthfully ... I wo-wouldn't ... want to force fe-feelings for yo-you ... It wouldn't b-be fair ... t-to either of us ..."

Ginny blinked up at him, catching her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I am so-sorry though ... F-for n-not keeping ... my pr-promise ..."

"Harry you didn't promise me anything!" Ginny said, her voice a little shrill, making Harry wince. "I know that! I just ... after that kiss I thought ... I thought you wanted to come back to me ..."

"I d-did. F-for a little bit ..." he admitted. "I'm sorry ... No-not knowing ... is a cr-cruel punishment ... Shouldn't h-have do-done that ... to you. Sh-should have writ-written to you ... before I did anything."

Another tear dripped down Ginny's cheek. Her lips twitched. "That would have been nice," she admitted, weakly. "At least then I might have had something clearer to direct my anger at."

Harry offered a weak smile and offered her his hand, palm up. Ginny glanced at it before hesitantly clasping his palm. It was the way friends held hands, not lovers. It was probably a subconscious gesture, but it was plain as day. Actions spoke louder than words, after all. He didn't love her. A small part of her thought that maybe he was right; they were kids, he probably hadn't known exactly what he'd wanted.

"And you're sure that this is what you want?" she asked, still staring down at their hands. She couldn't bring herself to say his name, not yet. That would require more therapy, to wrap her head around. It made her feel a little queasy. "You're sure it's got nothing to do with being in close quarters with him for the last year and a half?"

To her surprise, she watched as Harry shrugged, his arms shifting with the movement. "C-can't say it -it'll last forever ... Or for h-how long ..." he fixed his gaze on Ginny and tipped his head to the side. "Rega-gardless of h-how ... I have f-fallen for him. I o-owe it ... to my-self ... to st-stop denying ... the things I want ..."

Ginny swallowed against the lump in her throat. The words were gentle, yet they hurt her all the same. It was like the final nail in the coffin, blocking out all remnants of hope she hasn't realised she'd harbored deep inside her.

"I'm so-sorry ..."

Ginny sniffed sharply and shook her head, forcing a watery smile to hide the pain. Snagging a tissue from the bedside cabinet, she roughly wiped at her eyes and blew her nose. "No, no, don't apologise," she waved his words away. "It's appreciated, really, but ... don't."

Harry gave her a sympathetic look, but didn't press the issue.

Once her face was dry, or as dry as flimsy tissues could manage, Ginny decided that it was probably best that she left. She needed to get back home and try to enjoy what was left of her summer holidays. She had graduated now and she had those unopened letters just sitting on the kitchen table with some very promising wax seals on the back. It was time she did something solely for herself. Drawing in a deep breath, she slowly got to her feet, slipping her hand from Harry's hand with an awkward smile. He didn't try to stop her, she noted, but he wouldn't. Not now, not ever.

"Before I go, can you just promise me something?" she asked, hesitating at the end of his bed. Harry nodded, a curious frown taking place on his face. Ginny shifted somewhat awkwardly, gripping and releasing the bedrail nervously. "I guess ... I just want to ask that you don't rush into anything, okay? I know this is all new and ... whatever. But just be careful. None of us wants to see you hurt."

Harry tried to take the words at face value, he truly did, but there was still a flicker of irritation running through him at her warning. "Pe-people get hu-hurt all the t-time. Just w-want to ... see wh-where this goes."

Ginny gave a tight lipped smile and a curt nod of her head. "Okay. I'll -leave you to rest, then. I think it might be best if we don't see each other a lot? I just ... I just need some time. Is that okay?"

Harry gave her a softer look. "Ho-ever you need. I'll le-leave the ball in your c-court."

"Ball?" she frowned. "What ball?"

"Sorry -" he wheezed a little laugh. "Muggle th-thing. I'll le-leave the ... de-cision to yo-you."

Frowning, Ginny nodded. "Okay. I hope you get to go home soon."

"Yeah ... me too ..."

With a tentative wave, Ginny backed away from the bed and turned to leave. "Goodbye Harry."

"Yeah ..." he rasped, watching her flash of red hair disappear on the other side of the pale green curtain. "Good-b-bye Gin."

A/N: I hope you like the quick update! Fleur's baby referenced will eventually be Victoire Weasley X