Thank you to ALL my reviewers and to ALL my readers!

Disclaimer: see previous chapter.

Thank you to Merlin, GoldenSunnyGrl, and Malombra for being such great BETA'S.

AU.

ENJOY!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Harry couldn't stop the flinch at the sound of that very unwelcome voice. He had known he was coming he had just hoped he could have had a little bit more time to prepare-mentally and physically. Gods! Draco was going to kill him. This man, this leech, was not going to be able to keep his hands off of Harry. And though he thought that Draco was not going to pursue the bond any further than he already had, seeing Gault touching him in an intimate way was going to infuriate the ex-Slytherin.

"Now that I am here, tell me what is really going on." Gault said as he slowly walked over to stand in front of Harry.

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Draco was in the infirmary storage room when he felt a flash of fear down the bond. Well, not really fear, more Harry's disquiet about something, extreme disquiet. He dropped the box he was emptying and hurried out of the room. He was stopped by Pom a few steps from Harry's door.

"Don't go in there." She said as she stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm.

"Why? Something is off with him." Draco didn't even try to cover the worry in his voice.

"Gault is here."

"Who the bloody hell is Gault?" He growled at the Medi-witch. There was another MAN in there with Harry that was making the bond go all…funky.

"Gault is another Medi-wizard and he is here to help Harry."

Draco sighed in relief it was another Medi-wizard but that didn't explain why Harry was feeling like he was. "Okay, so why is the bond all weird then?"

"Weird? How weird?" Now Pom was worried and Draco could tell it.

"Like he is…uncomfortable." Draco said with a scowl.

"Oh, dear." Pom said as she got a really worried look on her face.

"What?" Draco demanded.

"Gault is the reason he left the school."

Draco's head snapped up as another wave of disquiet came down the bond. "Look something is going on in there and I do not like it."

"I will go check. You," she pointedly said, "stay here."

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Harry stiffened and then made himself relax. Gault was muggle-born, of course he would know something was off.

"I know its not DHMO, so what is it?" Gault said in the voice that he thought would send shivers down Harry's spine, it did, just not the kind he was hoping for.

Harry sighed, "I needed something to tell them and it was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Water! You picked water! Harry, my dear, the human body is made up of 90 water. What could be so bad that you started this farce."

"It's MFT." Harry said dully.

"What!" Gault said loudly. He was obviously shocked. "You have to be mistaken. There hasn't been a case of that in over twenty years."

"Twenty-two to be exact. Voldemort contaminated the water supply at the Ministry. Three people died."

"There are kids here, Harry. Who would do such a thing?"

"I do not know. The Headmaster found the container that Hagrid had the chemical stored in. When I asked him he said it was the regular stuff that he always used to treat for bugs." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, completely missing the other man's intense look.

"Muggles, they use it to kill wild animals. Exactly how dangerous is it to us Wizards?"

"To us, it eats away at our magical core. We die slowly and without the right kinds of tests, it is hard to catch." Harry could feel a part of his chest grow cold at the thought of what could have happened if he hadn't come back to fix Hagrid's leg. 'How many more kids would be sick if he had been stubborn and stayed away?'

"How did you catch it?" Gault stepped closer to the seated man and Harry, with a jerk, stood up and walked around his desk to look out the small window. He missed the other mans look of lust that was quickly covered up by concern.

"Something was not right about Hagrid's leg. I had healed it before, it should have been better but it was getting worse. I tested him this time for poison." Harry sighed and ran a hand up and down his arm.

"The all-mighty Potter had already healed the half-giants leg so OF COURSE it would have to be something else." Gault's voice was mocking but there was something underlying it that made Harry very nervous.

Harry scowled but didn't say anything in return as at that moment the door swung open and Pom walked briskly in. She sent the other man a glare and turned to Harry.

"I was sent in to see if you needed anything." She raised an eyebrow inquiringly and Harry just knew that Draco had sent her.

Harry felt his face flush, "nothing, Pom. Thank you."

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Draco sighed and leaned against the wall by the door. He could feel Harry in there. The bond was doing something. He could feel his distress but he had not the first clue of what to do to make things better for the other man. How do you make amends for something you hadn't known you had done in the first place? You can't. You go blindly through life, living day after day, as blind as the day before. What does it take for the blinders to drop?

Is it a glance? A soft word? A hard fist? Is it the realization of being ignored? Wanted? Loved...or hated? What one instance in a life takes the blinders that you have always lived with away? Would it be your fault? An accident? Fate?

This was Draco's moment.

It wasn't refusing the Dark Mark and having his life turned upside down. It wasn't losing his son, though he still felt the pang of that loss. It wasn't almost dying on the battlefield. It wasn't the accident. It wasn't even waking up bonded to someone whom he had thought hated him.

It was standing outside of a closed door when all he really wanted to do was kick the door down and rush in- to Harry. Go belting hells mell into the room and hex the one hurting him. Then hold him in his arms and never leave him while he whispered sweet nothings in his ear as he pounded into him over and over again. It took every ounce of his considerable willpower not to do exactly that.

Hence, Draco's moment. Since he had woken he had, in some small part, blamed Harry. He didn't anymore. He blamed himself for letting him walk away. Now wasn't the time for placing blame, now was the time to decide if ownership was going to happen. Did Draco love Harry enough to forgive him for what he had done? Was the bond between the strong enough to overcome what was sure to come?

Harry had bound himself to Draco. That meant that Draco was the recipient of all of Harry's feelings. From the second he had woken up he had been unable to distinguish his feelings from those coming down the bond from Harry. Now that Harry was here, it was even harder to do that. Draco found he didn't want to. He loved Harry. And he had for so long that knowing the feelings were returned was one of the happiest moments of his life. Knowing that Harry wasn't going to do anything about those feelings of his was one of the worst moments of his life.

So here he stood, on the cusp of blindness. Was it time to take off the blinders and grab at what he was being offered? Or was it time to play a little Slytherin, and wait for Harry to come to him? Draco knew that it would mean more if Harry came to him.

He could feel Harry's relief that Pom had come in the room. He knew that Pom had told him to stay there but the urge to go in there was completely overwhelming. Draco straightened and with a firm 'You are a Slytherin' stepped to the door and opened it quickly. Maybe, he could play Slytherin and still grab at what he wanted. Blinders or no.

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Everything was not going how Harry had planned. He had wanted to get Hagrid healed and then he wanted to go back to his apartment in Alabama and mope for a few weeks before stepping back into the life he had made for himself there. He couldn't do that now, he was stuck here. Not that he would have left this situation in the first place but the small want that had him missing his apartment vanished the second Draco stepped through the door.

'Oh God! He is beautiful.' Harry thought before a grunt from the man standing too close to him made him start. How had Gault gotten that close? Harry made to step away but was stopped by a tight hand on his arm. He caught a brief flash of fury on Draco's face and something down the bond before he turned his attention to the other man.

"Harry, we have much work to do. Shouldn't they," and here Harry heard the disdain that Gault always showed to anyone else, "leave so that we can get to it?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at him and with a smirk jerked his arm from Gault's grasp. "No I don't think they should leave. Pom is the resident Madam of Medicine and Draco," he saw Gault's eyes narrow at the blonde, "is the Potion's Master of Hogwarts. They will be involved in ALL of the work."

Gault tried to back peddle and make up for his previous snobbery. He held out his hand to the woman and was pleased when she took it. "Ah, Madam Pomfrey, it is a pleasure to meet you. Harry has told me so much about you."

"Really?" Pom just raised an eyebrow at Harry and gave a small grin when all he did was roll his eyes.

"And, Mr..." Gault said as he turned to Draco. He took a second to look over the other man and if he hadn't been so obsessed with Harry he would give this nice piece of male specimen a go.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Draco smirked at the obvious interest from the other man. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Harry stiffen and decided that maybe having this other man here would do some good. At the flash of despair that he felt from Harry through their bond he decided that no, no matter how tempting it would be to tease the Gryffindor with another man, Draco would not stoop to that level.

"Malfoy? Not THE Draco Malfoy from Harry's school days?" Gault asked in exaggerated surprise. He knew who this other man was now and he felt the hatred for him rise slowly in his gut. This was the man that kept Harry away from him.

"One and the same, eh, Harry?" Draco smirked as he quite deliberately dropped Gault's hand and walked over to stand beside Harry.

Harry was too stunned to say anything. What was going on? They looked like two wolves fighting over a piece of meat. Harry felt his heart begin to race at that thought and hope bloomed in his chest. Did that mean that Draco felt something for him?

Pom spoke into the silence that had dragged on when he had not spoken and Harry had never loved her more than in that moment. "Well, now that we are all introduced. Harry, what do you need us to do."

Harry was still lost in thought and didn't hear her question. "First off, tell me why he is here?" Draco said in a low voice that was like a caress and made Harry shiver. Draco felt Harry shiver and couldn't keep the thoughts away of how hard that was making him.

"I am a blood specialist. Harry and I," here Gault walked to stand on the other side of Harry and placed an arm around his back, just barely managing to not hit Draco in the face. Draco could feel Harry stiffen and lean slightly away from the other man and into Draco's side, "have worked together before."

Pom could not suppress her snort at what she was seeing. Two grown men fighting over another. It was actually quite funny. She could see Harry's discomfort and the way he leaned away from the other Medi-wizard and into Draco's side. She could tell, from the scowl on Draco's face, that a fight was about to break out. Though she wanted Harry to break out of his self-imposed loneliness, this was not the way to go about it. Besides, they had work to do.

"Gentlemen," the Medi-witch snapped in her 'you have seriously pissed me off and now you are going to drink as many nasty potions as I can shove down your throat' tone and then ignored Harry's sheepish look, Draco's smirk, and Gault's fury, "we have work to do."

Harry stepped quickly away from both men. He didn't see the look they sent each other but Pom did. Oh yes, this was going to be interesting.

"Pom," Harry said in his usual quiet way, "its not DHMO."

Pom snorted and crossed her arms as she levelled a long look at him. "It's not is it?"

Harry shook his head. He hadn't wanted to tell them what was really going on. They might have figured out later but right now he had wanted to keep the information to himself, well and Gault, but Harry had only told him because he had known Harry was lying.

Draco walked to stand beside him and asked just as softly, "Harry, what is it?"

Harry's insides melted when he heard Draco say his name. He turned to look at him and everything else seemed to fade away. He got lost in the soft blue eyes that for once were not showing their regular disdain and hate. It was something he had only dreamed of seeing directed towards him.

"Harry?" Draco asked again. Draco could tell that Harry was feeling something because of the bond but it was confusing as to what he was feeling.

Harry sighed and shook his head before saying softly, "it's MFT."

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Harry sat in his office, finally alone after forcing Gault to leave. His head was propped up by his hand and his head was pounding. The resulting conversation after he had dropped his bomb had left his mind pure mush.

Their horror at finding out what was going on was genuine so Harry knew neither of them had any information about it before hand. Gault had not been as understanding. He had practically grilled Draco, asking questions that had no bearing on what was happening at all. But, surprisingly, Draco had answered all the questions asked of him. Harry had been proud of his control. It was very sexy.

When the questions had gotten personal, Harry had made him stop. Gault had not been happy but Harry didn't care. Draco had left soon after with only a small look at Harry that if he had seen it would have made his heart soar. Draco's look had been filled with hunger. Unfortunately Gault had seen it where Harry had not.

He was tired. And he felt Draco's absence so strongly that he could barely breathe. He had been in his presence for hours and Harry's willpower was now non-existent. One more minute and Harry would have jumped him. In front of Gault.

Gault knew who Draco was. Harry had told him, while they had been students together at the University, that he was in love with someone else. Over and over he had said no when Gault had asked for a date. Gault had paid it no mind and pursued Harry relentlessly until the day that he found out that Harry had put in for a transfer. He had confronted Harry and angrily demanded to know why he was leaving. Harry remembered looking at him sadly and saying 'because you are no Draco'. He hadn't seen Gault again until today. Oh, yes, Gault knew who Draco was and that made Harry very, very afraid.

Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair until he was stretched out fully. His tea was getting cold on his desk but he didn't care. He wasn't thirsty and he wasn't hungry. Well, he was hungry but not for food.

What the bloody hell was he going to do now?

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I was wondering if anyone was going to catch it! Kudos to you that did. No, my friend is on dialysis because he drank contaminated water and it shut his kidneys down. He should be coming off of dialysis soon and if he is careful may never have to have it again.

MFT is something I made up, it does not exist, however, DHMO is commonly known as water. It is used for all the things I listed and it does cause all the damage I listed as well. Weird how something we need everyday to survive can do that.

Please, check out my new story entitled 'Fool'. I hope that you like it.

Thank you to ALL who read and I apologize for the long delay. I had a lot of trouble getting this out. I didn't realize how discouraged I had become until I would sit down to write. And couldn't.

To everyone who encouraged me to continue you do not know how great that made me feel.

Thank you,

Leah

ENJOY!

LMG