Chapter Eight

The Discovery

"I believe in you,
I'd give up anything just to find you.
I have to be with you,
To live, to breathe, you're taking over me…"
--Taking Over Me (Evanescence)

Harry looked up at Hermione curiously, even though his eyes yearned to go back to the book. "Are you okay, 'Mione?"

Hermione sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, nodding furiously, though her eyes continued to skim over the page she was reading. She said nothing, and didn't even bother to look up at Harry. Harry's brow furrowed in concern for her, but he decided he should probably do the same in order to figure out the cause of her tears.

Hermione's tears were soon forgotten as Harry became immersed in the book, soaking up each and every word that he read, nearly memorising everything that was printed. Harry could clearly feel Draco's pain, and compared it to his own, only to realize that they were both equally as hurt.

At first, Harry was angry with Draco. If only Draco had stayed long enough for them to talk things through, perhaps neither of them would be in the situations they were in right now. Draco was a coward that couldn't confront his fears, and had deluded himself into thinking that leaving Harry would be best for him, in order to cover for his cowardice. Harry couldn't believe it.

This was why his anger was quickly followed by denial. Draco Malfoy could not possibly mean a single word of anything he said in that wretched book. He just wanted to hurt Harry more, to make Harry realize how lonely his life was without Draco in it. Harry threw the book angrily across the room, and ignored it for all of three minutes.

In less than an hour, Harry was entering the stage of depression, and when he realized this, he immediately slammed the book down once more, stalking out of the room and leaving Hermione staring after him in confusion. He had to find Malfoy, and talk to him in person about this bloody nonsense, or he would always be unsettled about it.

Harry's mood was dour as he trudged to the kitchen to pour himself some very strong tea, in order to settle his now roiling stomach. As he leaned against the counter, sipping slowly from the teacup, he heard the Floo roar to life, and Ron calling his name.

Curiously, Harry hurried to greet Ron. When he got close enough to see Ron's excited face in the now green fire, Ron burst into words.

"I've found him, Harry!"

Harry felt his blood run cold. In slow motion, he saw the teacup he held in his hands crash to the floor, yet he could do nothing to stop it.

He could hear Hermione's voice, but he couldn't understand the words that were being said. Eventually, he overcame the shock enough to force words out of his mouth. "You…you found him?" he asked, breathless.

Hermione immediately shut her mouth, her eyes glimmering at Harry. Harry had to look away when the pity and sympathy shining in her eyes became too strong.

"How? Where?"

Ron grimaced, and Harry watched as he shifted his position in the uncomfortable grate of the fireplace. "It's a long story, Harry; can I come through?"

Harry nodded his head furiously; he was surprised that Ron felt he even had to ask. He watched as Ron pulled himself from the flames, which immediately died down. They flamed to life once again, however, when Ron came through entirely, pounding his clothing in order to make the soot fall off. Harry frowned at him slightly and flicked his wand, clearing the mess away before it could be smeared into the carpet.

Hermione embraced Ron, but quickly focused her attention on Harry; he was shaking. She frowned when she realized that he had yet to clean up the mess of his shattered teacup, although he had cleared Ron's pile of soot; perhaps he hadn't noticed that it had fallen from his grasp? With a quick flick of her wand, the mess soon disappeared, leaving Harry looking confused and heartbroken.

It was like watching Harry realize that Draco had left him all over again. His bottom lip quivered as he waited for Ron to explain, and his eyes filled with tears that he refused to let fall. She could tell that the shaky foundation he had begun to build for himself was already beginning to crumble, and she felt helpless to stop it.

Releasing Ron, Hermione grasped Harry by the shoulders and pulled him in for a tight hug to which his shaking body did not respond. When she pulled away, Ron gave her a desperate look, but she shook her head, urging him to resume his explanation.

"Well…" Ron began, stuttering slightly. "I saw Malfoy going into a Muggle café a few days ago, but I wasn't positive that it was him, so I decided to investigate. I've been going to the same place for a few days now, sitting in the place where I saw him sitting that day, but he didn't come back until today. He saw me sitting there, and made to ignore me, but he must have known that I was watching him; he was acting shifty the whole time he was waiting for the server to bring him his order.

"Then, some old bint started squawking at him about slouching. I figured I'd let him have his meal before I interrupted him, but I could tell he was uncomfortable, and I didn't want him running before I could have a word with him, so I decided to hurry our confrontation along a bit." Ron paused to draw a breath, and by his flushed expression and reddening ears, Hermione guessed that he had probably gained Draco's attention in a less than agreeable way.

"I…I think I surprised him, a bit; he fell over, and he didn't seem too keen on having a chat, to tell you the truth. He sure was in a hurry to get out of there, and after he gave some Muggle girl his money, he hurried out as if demons were on his heels.

"I followed him into an unfamiliar alley a fair bit away from the café, and I told him to explain himself; explain why he'd left Harry, and where he's been for the past two years, that kind of stuff. He didn't feel much need to explain anything, though; told me that I wouldn't understand the circumstances, and said he didn't deserve the chance to explain himself.

"I was a bit…stunned, at his confession. He walked away, and I just…let him. It was a while before I realized that I should probably find out where he's living. When I finally came to my senses, he was already gone. That was okay, though; I could still recognize a magical signature, and I could only assume that it was his. I cast a spell to locate him, and now I know where he's at!" Ron looked rather proud of himself, and Hermione gave him a small, encouraging grin.

Harry, however, fell to the ground, sobbing words that neither Ron nor Hermione could recognise or understand. They shared a concerned glance before hurrying to Harry's side.

Hermione held Harry tight as he sobbed into her shoulder, muttering nonsensical words of comfort that he seemed to ignore completely. Ron patted Harry's back awkwardly; in the many years that they had been out of Hogwarts, Ron still had not come to terms with emotion, and though he had a hard time comforting Harry, he wanted to show that he cared in any way that he could.

At long last, Harry's tears seemed to be subsiding, and finally, Ron and Hermione could understand some of the words that were being muffled by Hermione's shoulder.

"He does deserve a chance…love him so much…die for him…doesn't understand!"

Suddenly, Harry pulled away from Hermione, shocking both of his friends by the determination they could see etched deeply in his eyes. "Where is he, Ron?"

Ron blinked at Harry, hesitant and dubious, but Harry's resolve was quickly causing his face to flush, his previous tear tracks nearly imperceptible.

"Tell me, Ron! I need to know, now!"

Ron flinched at Harry's desperate tone, but stuttered out the address of Draco's home nonetheless. No sooner had the words left Ron's lips than, with a crack, Harry was gone.

Hermione sent her husband a wide-eyed, desperate warning glance before she drew her wand, indicating he should do the same. "We have to follow him, Ron; we can't let him hurt Draco without getting a proper explanation out of him first! He doesn't understand the situation fully right now, I don't think." With a nod towards Ron, she apparated after Harry, and Ron quickly followed suit.

They appeared with muted pops, far enough away that Harry wouldn't be able to notice them unless he was specifically looking for them; judging by the thorough pounding the door in front of him was receiving, he wasn't going to be looking for them any time soon.

Ducking behind a couple of overturned trash bins, Hermione and Ron stared at Harry as he attempted to break down Draco's front door.

---XXX---

Draco had known he shouldn't have gone directly home right after his encounter with Weasley. But he had just been so exhausted; his limbs ached, and his eyes burned, as if he had been crying for hours and run out of tears. He just wanted to collapse in his bed, but obviously, that wasn't going to be possible.

Now, someone was pounding on his front door, and it didn't seem like they would be going away, no matter how much he ignored them.

With a scowl, Draco made his way towards the door to his flat, trying not to make any noises that might indicate that he was home. Perhaps if he left the person knocking for long enough, they would go away and leave him in peace. Besides, as of yet, there had been no indication of the visitor being Weasley, and because of his newly published book, he could never be too wary about opening the door to unexpected visitors that may wish to cause him harm. Even though he had wards placed around his home, there was no doubt that a powerful wizard could break them, and Draco didn't want to be subject to more pain than he was already in.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the pounding on the door stopped. Sighing in relief, Draco made to turn towards his bedroom; he stiffened at the voice coming from the other side of the door.

"We need to talk, Malfoy. I know you're there. Please, open the door." Harry's voice broke in the middle of his plead, but he ploughed on. Draco felt his heart twinge in his chest, and he flinched at the hurt tone of Harry's voice.

Heart throbbing in his throat, Draco made his way back towards the door, slowly bringing his eye up to the peephole in order to assure himself that it truly was Harry at the door.

He should have known this was going to happen. Honestly, he had expected this in some form or another; he had been looking forward to it being in the form of another letter, though. A letter that, perhaps, he wouldn't be able to ignore, but a letter nonetheless; he hadn't been expecting an actual encounter with Harry himself!

He had half a mind to slam his head into the door until he was unconscious; at least then, he wouldn't have to face his broken-hearted love. However, Draco steeled himself by taking a deep, gasping breath, and slowly reached for the doorknob...