Author's Note: OK, good news I guess. I can't stick to an outline! That means that there will be 4 parts to this instead of just 3! This part was just way too long and then I decided to add more to it, so it became obvious that it would have to be split up a bit. So enjoy and I'll see you again with the 4th and final part soon.

Part 3

It was Saturday and Harry didn't have work, but did have some errands that required him to go to Diagon Alley, which happened to be where Draco lived. It didn't take him long to decide to drop in on him. But Draco wasn't home. Harry frowned as he walked away from the building and toward Ron and Hermione's flat. Draco didn't have a regular job and most of his business he took care of during the week. And his boyfriend was currently out of the country, so where could he be? It was with no small amount of surprise that Harry realized that he had no idea where Draco would be. He didn't have a clue what kinds of things he did in his spare time anymore. Although Ron and Hermione might.

He knocked on their door, hoping that he wasn't interrupting them. Usually he sent an owl ahead instead of just showing up, but he really hadn't been planning on coming here. Hermione answered. He could tell from the look on her face that this wasn't the best time.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have owled, but I was down at Flourish and Blott's and I haven't come over in a while. I can go though if you're busy."

"No, I'm not busy exactly. We just… have company."

"Ron's mum? Because I'm really not ready for her match-making tactics again."

"No, Harry." She took a deep breath and seemed genuinely apologetic. "Draco is here."

"Oh."

"He didn't just come over or anything. He and I were going to go over some of the plans for this week, but then… he wanted to talk."

Oh. Even better. They were talking about him.

"So you know."

She nodded.

"I don't suppose he told you why he snuck out this morning."

"Harry…"

"No, you're right. I should go. You can tell me when he's not right on the other side of the door."

"It's not like that."

"No?"

Someone was speaking inside and Hermione looked behind her. The next thing Harry knew, Draco himself had come to the door.

"We should talk."

Harry nodded. "Now? Or do I get a consult with Hermione first too?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"We can go to your place."

Ten minutes later they were seated uncomfortably on opposite sides of Draco's sofa. Draco cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I left."

"I figured you had a reason."

"My reputation, for one. If anyone had seen me leaving this morning it would have been all over the papers. Jacques doesn't deserve to hear about something like that in the news."

Harry nodded. "Last night was… great."

Draco looked down at his lap. "It can't happen again."

"Why not?"

"For the same reasons I told you last night. I have a boyfriend. And you and I are not compatible."

"I love you. And I…" He trailed off knowing just how sappy his next words were going to be, but found that he was unable to rephrase it. "And I fell in love with you all over again. We were going to be together forever. What happened to that?"

"Life happened to that! We fought too much. In the end there just wasn't enough there to keep us together."

"No. We liked the fighting. We liked the disagreements and the sarcastic banter."

"We liked the make-up sex. There's a difference."

"We liked the passion. I don't want anyone else. And you would be the first to point out that I've been with enough people to know what I do or don't want."

"I'm with Jacques now."

"And you really love him?"

"Yes."

"As much as you loved me?"

"This conversation is over."

"No. You dumped me, you can dump him. You don't love him enough to move to France for him! What about your mother?"

"She loves Paris. She will visit us."

Harry was getting desperate. He could not let Draco go.

"Didn't last night mean anything? We may have been drunk, but… it had to mean something."

Draco hesitated. "It made me realize that two people who are completely incompatible in every other way can have really terrific sex. But great sex isn't enough to make a relationship. I'm sorry."

Another ten minutes went by to find Harry back in front of Ron and Hermione's door.

"He's still going to France," he blurted out when she opened the door. "But then, you knew that already, didn't you?"

Hermione stepped aside to usher him in. He threw himself down on the sofa and she sat next to him, pulling him until his head rested on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," she said.

"Me too."

"I don't understand. I thought you were over Draco."

"Me too."

Ron walked in with a glass of firewhiskey, passing it off to Harry before sitting down across from the sofa.

"Well, what did you think was going to happen? One night in bed with you and he was just going to change all of his plans? Nobody is that good." He pulled away from her with a scowl and took a drink from his glass. "Maybe you should work on actually dating someone instead of sleeping around."

"I dated. It didn't work."

"Parvati's brother doesn't count."

"Sure he does. We were together for a whole month."

"And that was only two months after Draco left. You weren't ready."

"I'm not going to be ready. I'm going to get Draco back."

Hermione glanced at Ron and Harry didn't miss the significance in the look.

"What?"

She thought for a moment, obviously figuring out her story.

"He seems pretty determined. If you chase him now, he'll just run away faster."

"No," he said, sitting up straighter now. "There's something else."

Ron looked extremely guilty.

"He told you two something."

"He's our friend. It would be wrong to talk about anything that he told us in confidence."

"What did he tell you?"

Ron was the first to crack.

"He said he wants you and last night was unbelievable, but he's afraid of being stuck in a situation where he's constantly fighting with someone." He looked vaguely sick at having to admit to that, but Harry thought it probably had something to do with the mention of sex. That was one aspect of Harry's life that Ron really didn't want to hear about.

"That's it?"

"And he told me last week that Jacques is really easy to get along with and very smart, but he's ultimately boring. And the sex isn't as good."

Harry smiled. Hermione, meanwhile, was completely mortified. She buried her face in her hands.

"I'm sure Draco really wanted you blabbing all this to Harry!"

"Hey, I was Harry's friend first. There's seniority involved in my loyalty process."

"I'm going to get him back."

"Harry, Ron shouldn't have told you that. Even so, it doesn't change anything. This is Draco's decision. If he wants to go to France, then he is free to do that."

"Hermione, I don't ask much from you, but I need you to support me on this. Or if not, at least don't interfere. I need this." She seemed sympathetic, but stern. "For four years I have been trying to forget Draco. I've tried dating, I've tried being single and I've tried sleeping around. None of it worked. Sure, it's fun, but it's not meaningful. I had the one person I was meant to be with and I let him go. I get that now. As corny as it sounds, he is who I was destined to be with. Since we were eleven, standing in Madam Malkin's, we were destined to be together. I need you behind me."

"You don't need to wax poetic about it," she huffed. "You had me at the first 'I need you.'"

He grinned and pulled her into a big hug. "Thank you."

"But you can't just go around breaking up relationships. You need to make sure this is what he wants. If he still goes, you need to let it happen. No stalking him in Paris."

Harry nodded.

"He's going to know what you're up to now. And he feels guilty for cheating on Jacques, so you have to be sensitive to that."

"Maybe I should find a date and make him jealous."

"If you had a month to make the plan work it would be great, but you have a week. You can't waste time on jealousy. Be sincere and thoughtful." She must have remembered who she was talking to. "Or at least fake it."

"I can do that."

***

The week leading up to the vote was hectic. There was a lot of controversy among wizards about it still and Umbridge was doing everything she could to ensure that the law wouldn't pass. She didn't have a very solid argument for her cause, so she resorted to half-truths, lies and outright slander. No one was immune. Draco had been the first one hit because he was in charge. Flyers soon showed up around Diagon Alley and Hogsmead that revealed scandalous information about nearly everyone who was on the committee, most of it lies. Harry thought maybe she would avoid negative remarks about him. After saving the Wizarding world twice and becoming a respected Auror, most people didn't want to believe the bad parts. Attacks on his character could very easily backfire on her cause. But apparently personal retribution was a stronger motivator for her than he thought.

The nation-wide vote would take place on a Friday. On Monday of that week the Daily Prophet printed a picture of Harry stumbling out of a muggle pub with a random man, a photo taken months ago. In the article Umbridge was quoted as saying, "Poor Harry. Once a respected hero, he has clearly been corrupted by the gay lifestyle. Legalizing such a perversion will only serve to spread corruption throughout our world. This will destroy the entire notion of family, which is the building block of our great society."

"Yes, I'm sure she really cares about my corruption," Harry had scoffed when he saw it. He threw the paper in the trash next to Draco's desk.

"She's said worse about you."

"Then why have I never felt more insulted?"

"Because she attacked who and what you are. It's one thing to have someone disagree with your actions, but she just said that an entire population of people is immoral, due to something that they can't even control."

"Which I should be used to from her. She's got more prejudices than the Death Eaters I think. Werewolves, giants, half-bloods, gay people… the list goes on."

"Last week she said that gay marriage posed more of a threat to our society than the Death Eaters ever did."

Harry shook his head in disgust. "I don't get it."

"Well let's just hope that more people don't get it and vote for us."

"We should launch some sort of counterattack."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to sink to her level." He busied himself shuffling papers and then cleared his throat hesitantly. "However, if the Daily Prophet happens to get word that she had her gay cousin banned from the country on trumped up charges, by exploiting her position in the Ministry… well that couldn't really work out well for her."

Harry sat up straighter. "What? She did?"

"So say my sources. Rumor has it someone is headed to the paper right now with proof and it will be in the morning edition."

"You did this?"

He shrugged. "I am merely a concerned citizen. I wouldn't want to believe that anyone in the Ministry would abuse their power in such a way. If the revelation of this happens to coincide with the vote, then it works out nicely for everyone."

Harry grinned. "It's perfect! You sneaky little bastard! That's beautiful!"

"It's a shame I will have to take time out of my busy day to give a press conference about how horrified I am by such behavior in the Ministry."

Draco smirked back, but Harry soon found his own smile disappearing.

"This is exactly why you can't leave."

Draco's pleasant expression turned quickly to a scowl. They had been getting along well, despite their weekend fling. Draco was determined not to bring it up and Harry followed his lead, not wanting to piss Draco off. This, however, crossed the line back into unpleasant territory.

"Don't."

"You love this. You're good at it. You can't just leave it all behind."

"And why should I listen to you? You want me to stay for your own reasons."

"Forget about me!" Harry yelled. Draco raised an eyebrow at the outburst. "Really. This isn't about me. You don't belong in France any more than I would. And I just can't figure out why you would think that you do. You wouldn't leave your mum and your office here for some man you've known a few months. You worked hard for the respect that you have now. Why would you throw it away?"

"I'm not. I'm moving on to new things. And I want to be near my boyfriend."

Harry shook his head sadly. "He shouldn't be asking you to give up so much for him. And you should know better than to give it."

Draco didn't have a response to that so Harry stood and went to the door. Then something else occurred to him.

"If this is the last week you're here, then I'll wish you luck because I love you and I want you to be happy. But I really wish that you would change your mind. You belong here. I believe that. Even if you don't want to have anything to do with me, even if you never look at me again, you belong here."

And he left. He had bared his soul for Draco. There wasn't much else he could do.

The scandal unleashed the next day was the talk of Diagon Alley. Unfortunately Wednesday Umbridge had bribed someone to confirm that the charges against her cousin were legal and she accused Draco of trying to discredit her three days before the vote. Thursday and Friday the Prophet ran a two-part interview with Draco in which he talked openly about the feud with Umbridge and the work that the G.L.W.A. did. The whole thing had been Draco's idea and he happened to have a contact at the paper who was sympathetic to their cause. Since the interview ran both days, there was little time for Umbridge to reply to it and many people went to vote with Draco's words fresh in their minds.

Draco and Harry hadn't spoken much since Monday, just passing comments about the work they were doing. Harry knew from Ron and Hermione that Draco was very busy packing his things. He was going to move all of his things out of his flat by Sunday, so that didn't give much time to rest after the vote. Harry wasn't sure what more he could do, short of tying him down. Narcissa and Andromeda had both tried to talk him into staying. So had Ron, Hermione and nearly everyone at the G.L.W.A.

Friday morning was insane. Everyone was coming into the office to answer any questions that voters had on the law and also to keep track of the voting results as they came in. Harry and Draco had cast their ballots first thing in the morning and headed to the office to wait. They were the only ones there for at least an hour and no owls were arriving yet. Plenty of time for awkward silence and Harry finally got tired of it.

"Are you all packed and ready to go?"

Draco barely spared a glance at him from across the table on which his fingers were nervously drumming. "Let's not do this."

"You don't want to talk about it?"

"Not with you."

"Why? What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing. I just don't feel like fighting today."

"I wasn't going to fight. I was going to make small talk. We are capable of not fighting. We haven't fought once all week."

Draco sighed. "Yes, I am packed." He paused, frowning. "No, I am not ready to go."

Harry stared at him with wide eyes.

"I have a lot of people to say goodbye to."

"I'm sure it will be hard."

"He's not asking me to give up anything," he said quietly, a continuation of their previous conversation.

"But you're doing it because that's what you think he wants or at least because that's what it will take for your relationship to work. It would be one thing if you found some amazing job in France that you wanted and decided to make a huge change in your life and move away. This… you're talking about great opportunities and new jobs to justify making your boyfriend happy. You've been dating for just a few months and yet you're ready to turn your entire life upside down. What if you decide that you don't love him that much? What if you break up? Will your new life there still be meaningful?"

Draco shut his eyes tight as if he were trying to ignore Harry's observation entirely. After several silent minutes had passed he spoke quietly.

"I don't know how to say goodbye to you."

"I don't want you to."

"I know."

There were so many things Harry wanted to say right then that he couldn't put them into words. Why couldn't Draco just see that they should be together? Why couldn't that just be enough? They were interrupted by the arrival of Dustin and Marlene.

"We wanted to let you know that we voted!" said Dustin, smiling brightly.

Marlene shook her head at his excitement. Their relationship was one that Harry sometimes had trouble figuring out. The friendship that they formed in the Order had grown. There were times when Harry thought they could almost be a couple although he saw no real evidence of it. She had become very protective of Dustin since the night he was injured at the Leaky Cauldron. Now they were practically inseparable.

"We appreciate your support."

"Now we're going to breakfast," said Marlene with a pointed look at Dustin. "He was so bloody excited to vote and tell you, I couldn't even get some eggs before we went traipsing all around town."

"You sound bitter," Harry observed.

"Damn right I am. He showed up at my place at seven and woke me up. Seven! On a day that I don't even have to work."

"Okay, we can go now."

"Oh goody."

"We'll see you guys tonight at the party though." Harry nodded to him. "It's still happening here, right?"

"Yes. I got several cases of firewhiskey. Either we'll celebrate or we'll drown our sorrows."

"It will pass," muttered Draco. "It has to pass."

"Either way we'll get completely smashed and wake up with someone else's underwear on," Dustin laughed.

Draco snorted in amusement. "That happen to you often?"

"Not since New Year's."

Marlene huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, as wonderful as it would be to hear about your sex life, I want my breakfast."

Dustin rolled his eyes and followed her to the door. When they were gone Harry turned back to Draco.

"What's going on with those two?"

"I haven't got a clue."

Throughout the day Harry found himself staring at Draco, wondering if there was anything that he could do this late in the game to keep him in London. He wasn't ready to say goodbye and he knew he never would be.

Luckily the news coming in was mostly good. They were winning in most areas. There were still many people sending owls questioning what exactly the law was for. Umbridge had planted enough doubt that some were worried about it. And then there were the few letters that Harry threw straight into the fire. They were the ones in which less friendly citizens detailed exactly why they were voting against the law and were filled with homophobic hatred. On the whole though, more positive than negative.

The final results were supposed to be coming through between seven and eight that evening and everyone was gathered at headquarters for the news. Harry was exhausted. He knew if the news was bad he wasn't even going to have the energy to drink himself into a miserable stupor. The office was silent except for the occasional nervous tapping on a desk or sigh of impatience. Draco had gone to the Ministry to wait for official word and he would apparate back as soon as he knew anything.

The door swung open at quarter to eight and everyone jumped, only to see Ron standing there.

"Did I miss anything?"

Harry let out the breath he'd been holding. "No."

"I just got out of work."

"You could have stayed at the Ministry with Draco and found out."

"I wanted to be here with everyone. This is where the party is."

"Sit down."

Ron looked around at all the sober faces. "We're going to win though, right?"

"We don't know," Harry snapped. "That's the whole point of voting."

Hermione pulled Ron into the seat next to her. "It's going to be a close margin," she explained.

Ten minutes later the door opened again. Draco stepped inside and glanced around at everyone with a very serious expression.

"Well?"

He took a deep breath and looked straight at Harry. His lips slowly curved into a wide smile. "We won."

The cheers filled the room. Harry ran and pulled Draco into a hug. They were being congratulated and patted on the back, but Harry held tight to Draco and Draco didn't pull away.

"You did this, Draco. I'm so proud of you."

When they finally separated Harry had never seen Draco so happy before. The happiness that Harry felt was clouded by the sad knowledge that Draco was leaving in two days.

"Let's get that firewhiskey out," said Draco.

"Never too early in the evening to get piss drunk."

Draco excused himself to give a statement to his reporter contact, but was back within minutes to give a thank you speech to everyone at the G.L.W.A. Then the party really got started. George made sure they had loud music, while Mrs. Weasley brought food. Nobody had eaten much all day and Harry realized just how hungry he was.

The entire night was amazing. There were three marriage proposals in the office after the announcement was made. Now that it was legal, several couples made plans to get married right away. It made Harry feel nostalgic to see all of this happening around him and remember the plans he and Draco made in this very building when the G.L.W.A. was first founded.

Just wait. You will change the world. And when you do I promise I will get down on my knee right then, right here. I can't wait until we can get married.

That was a long time ago though. Those days were over. Now he was faced with the thought of losing Draco for good. He tried to have fun; it was a party after all, but it just wasn't working. Hermione managed to drag him to the corner of the office that passed for a dance floor for the night.

"You know I don't dance."

"I'll lead then."

He let her put his hand on her waist while she guided them to a slow song. He had seen her dancing with Draco earlier and figured she had an agenda. Finally she got to it.

"Have you talked to him?"

"No."

"He wants to stay. All you have to do is give him a reason."

"I've given him plenty of reasons."

"So what are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "Watch him leave and then spend all my time pining for him."

She stopped dancing suddenly and swatted him hard on the arm. "Harry James Potter, when did you become a quitter? The Harry Potter I know wouldn't just roll over and play dead."

"I don't know how to keep him here unless we tie him up."

"Well, you can tie him up all you want, after you convince him to stay. Just tell him how you feel."

"I have. He doesn't care."

"Sure he does. Maybe you just have to remind him why he cares." She glanced to the side of the dance floor where Draco was chatting with some of their friends. "Go get him."

She went to find Ron, leaving Harry to confront Draco.

"May I have this dance?" asked Harry.

Draco smiled in reply and took his hand. After a few moments of dancing in silence Harry finally spoke up.

"I really am proud of you, Draco. You made all of this happen."

"I had help."

"But it was your leadership."

"Stop; I'll blush," he said dryly.

"I don't know why we always fought so much. Just personality conflicts, huh? But you know that I would never hurt you intentionally."

"I know that."

"Since we were eleven all we've known how to do is fight. But I can't picture my life without you. And I don't want to."

Harry half expected Draco to pull away, but he didn't.

"If you leave this weekend then I guess I can't do anything about that, but I don't want you to go. I don't want you to belong to anyone else. Maybe it took me a while to figure that out, but I did now. Maybe we just needed to grow up. We thought just because we'd been to hell and back that qualified us to be grownups. We weren't."

"Now you're all grown up and you've seen the error of your ways?"

He sounded skeptical, but not completely disbelieving, which was all Harry could ask for.

"I'm saying that even when we're fighting I want you."

"Harry…"

"Draco," Hermione interrupted. They broke apart as she handed him an envelope. "This came for you just now."

He opened it and began walking toward his office, calling back over his shoulder that it was from Jacques. Hermione turned back to Harry.

"Any luck?"

He didn't think he had ever actually wanted to hit Hermione before, but now he did. "Yes, until you ruined it! You tell me to get him to stay and just when I'm about to make progress you step in! Whose side are you on? You couldn't have kept the letter hidden for another hour?"

"It will take more than that. You can't get him back by hiding his boyfriend's letter. It has to be his informed choice."

"Damn you and your ethics."

She smiled. "He's only leaving because he's running. This shouldn't be hard."

He knew that she was right and followed into Draco's office. Harry found him sitting behind his desk, deep in thought. Jacques' letter was unfolded in front of him. Harry didn't say anything when he entered, but waited for Draco to speak first.

"He said congratulations. And he cleaned out half of his closet for me."

"Only half? Has he seen your wardrobe?"

They shared a warm smile at the joke, but Draco quickly sobered.

"I love him," he said quietly. "I do. And you make it hard because I never got over you. I never really let go."

"Then don't go."

"But maybe then I can finally get over you. I can be happy with him." He paused and looked up at Harry with sad eyes. When he spoke he emphasized each word. "I could be happy. Do you know how important that is? Do you know how many men I have fucked trying to forget you?"

"Then why forget? I haven't moved on, you haven't. Why can't we be together? We've changed, we've grown up. We can try this again."

Draco turned away and Harry did some fast thinking.

"You remember the night I told you I was going to propose to you?"

He smiled. "I think of it almost every time I walk into this building. If I recall correctly it was supposed to be right next to the front door immediately following the passing of this law. I thought about it a lot today. It's hard not to picture that alternate reality."

"You can't move on from that. There's too much history between us; we're supposed to be together."

"Just because we always have doesn't mean that it's supposed to continue. Just because we're not fighting tonight doesn't mean that we can get along."

"When I leave my clothes lying on the bathroom floor I want to hear you nag at me to pick them up. And when I come home from work I want to come home to you. I thought for a while that I just wanted to not be alone, but that's not good enough. It has to be you."

"You're repeating yourself."

"Because it's the truth. And because it's my last shot. In a couple days you'll be gone and I'll be alone, so I'm saying it now, in case there's not later."

"Go back to the party, Harry. I need to be alone."

Harry nodded and left the room, respecting his decision. But he didn't just leave the room. He made his way through the lobby where the party was still going strong, managed to find Hermione and told her he was going home.

"I've done everything I can. He's the only one who can stop him now."

And despite the happy night and the amazing feat they accomplished, Harry felt tired and worn down and defeated. He arrived back at Grimmauld Place to find several letters waiting on the table. One from Andromeda and Teddy congratulating him, several from fans and old school friends and one from Professor McGonagall. She had retired years ago, but kept in touch with Harry now and then. Her letter was glowing in praise and she closed with her belief in how proud his parents and Dumbledore would be of him today. As much as this note meant to him, it still left him feeling hollow.

Maybe he was wrong. Perhaps he would find someone else who could fill this void in his heart. Someday Draco could be nothing more than a distant memory. He half hoped that it was the truth. He would take numbness over this aching.

He poured himself a glass of firewhiskey. And then another. And another. At some point he passed out on the sofa.

Author's Note: I have to give dubious credit to someone. My inspiration for Umbridge in this story (and particularly this chapter) came from Oklahoma politician Sally Kern. Last year she said that homosexuality is more of a threat to America than terrorism. This year she said our economic problems are a judgment from God for accepting homosexuality. Every time I see her I just think of Umbridge. It's so sad that kind of people still exist.