Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Taylor Swift so I own nothing but the plot :)

A/N: Second to last chapter! Thanks to everyone who's stuck around this long!

Chapter 8

And I know it's long gone, and that magic's not here no more, and I might be okay, but I'm not fine at all.

When Harry woke up the next morning he was momentarily confused as to where he was. He knew immediately that he wasn't at home, and he realized soon after that he wasn't alone. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that when he opened them he would be where he was supposed to be, but unfortunately that was not the case. He reached over to the bedside table and felt around for his glasses. Once they were on and he could see better, he turned slowly to face his bedmate. He didn't need to look further than the shock of white, blond hair on the pillow next to him to realize that he was at Draco's. He groaned inwardly as flashes of the night before came back to him. What the bloody hell had he been thinking? They were broken up, and Draco didn't want him. He shouldn't be here, but he also felt strange leaving before Draco woke up. He chewed his bottom lip before deciding that it was the best for everyone to just get out before he had to face Draco. He was sure the other man had been just as intoxicated as Harry the night before and wouldn't want to deal with the consequences.

Harry glanced at the sleeping man one more time before summoning his clothes and Apparating directly to his flat, not even bothering to get dressed first. He didn't want to risk Draco waking up before he could leave. Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione was waiting for him in his living room and squeaked in embarrassment when he appeared. Harry felt his eyes widen in shock as he quickly scurried into the other room to get dressed. He emerged a moment later, sure his face was just as red as Hermione's was.

"Erm, hey, 'Mione. Sorry about that," he mumbled awkwardly, wrapping his arms around himself.

"No, no. My fault. Sorry," she squeaked back.

After a minute of incredibly tense silence, Harry cleared his throat. "So what can I do for you, Hermione?" he asked as cheerfully as he could muster. All he wanted to do was take a hangover potion and go back to bed. Now that he had been awake for awhile and was out of Draco's flat, he was conscious of the constant throbbing headache he had as result from his excessive drinking the night before.

"I was just coming to make sure you were okay. You just disappeared last night," Hermione explained cautiously. "I wasn't here long. When I realized that you weren't here, I wasn't sure what to do."

"Well, I'm fine. Thanks for checking on me," Harry responded with a weak smile.

Hermione nodded but didn't look convinced. "I know this really isn't any of my business, but where were you last night?"

Harry gave her a look that he hoped conveyed that it was most certainly none of her business, but she didn't back down. Harry sighed in defeat. "I went home with Draco," he whispered, knowing he was in for a lecture.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione moaned sympathetically.

"I know! I don't know how it happened. I was just so pissed, and he looked so good. I went outside to get some air, and he was out there smoking a cigarette. I think he had been crying. He was definitely jealous of Ginny, and I don't know it just happened," Harry rambled.

"Did you shag?" she inquired.

Harry gave her an incredulous look. "No, 'Mione. I went over to his flat completely pissed and we just cuddled all night," Harry snapped sarcastically. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Hermione gave him a reprimanding look but didn't comment. "I can tell that you would like to be alone right now. I'll be over later to talk when you're in a better mood," she suggested.

Harry nodded in agreement and gave her a hug. "Sorry I snapped. I just need some sleep," he apologized, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

Hermione gave him a small smile before turning and making her way to the Floo.

When Harry woke up a few hours later, he felt much better. His headache had completely gone away, and he was starving which was a good sign. That all changed when he saw the owl sitting on his windowsill, pecking on the window. Harry tensed and his stomach flipped when he realized it was Draco's owl. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He should have anticipated Draco reaching out to him.

Harry let the owl in, took his letter, and gave the owl a treat, sending it on its way. He thought about just burning the letter, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to Draco. He may be hurt, but he still cared about him. And he could admit that last night was completely Harry's fault. He had made the first move and continued to press even when Draco tried to stop it.

Harry, (Harry winced at the lack of salutation)

Can we talk about what happened last night? I thought we'd have a chance this morning. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I woke up alone. Your place tomorrow at 7?

Draco

Harry sighed once again. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Draco wasn't happy with him, and he couldn't really blame him. Last night had been a mistake, and he knew he should agree to talk to Draco about it. He just really didn't want to. He set the letter on his bedside table to deal with at a later time and made his way downstairs to make some food.

Harry was just finishing up his meal when Hermione came through the Floo once again. "Feeling better?" she greeted cheerfully with a suspicious grin on her face.

Harry nodded, narrowing his eyes in question. She was up to something. "What are you so happy about?" he asked, keeping his voice light.

Hermione blushed slightly before answering, "Well, I was going to lead up to this more slowly, but I'm just too excited. I've found you a date for tomorrow night!"

Harry felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh, erm, that's um...really thoughtful of you, Hermione, but I don't think I'm ready to date just yet," Harry muttered as coherently as he could manage in his shock.

"Well that's just too bad. It's all set up. You are meeting him at a restaurant in Muggle London at 7 o'clock tomorrow evening," Hermione informed him matter-of-factly.

"I'm actually supposed to meet Draco tomorrow at 7 to discuss last night," Harry began cautiously.

"Well tell him you have to reschedule. Honestly, Harry, hasn't he hurt you enough?" she demanded.

Harry gave her a pleading look to drop it. "I get where you're coming from, but he deserves an explanation if he wants one. Last night was completely on me," he responded.

"I don't care. It takes two to fuck, Harry," she reminded him.

Harry's eyes went wide as a result of how vulgar she was being. He sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get out of this. "Who's the bloke?" he asked in defeat.

"His name is Liam; he works in my department. He's gorgeous, has the prettiest blue eyes, and he's been single for a couple months now. He's looking for a real relationship. He's really excited to meet you!" Hermione gushed.

Harry grimaced. "Aren't they all?" he said bitterly.

"That's the best part, Harry! I told him it was a blind date so he doesn't even know it's you!" she exclaimed.

Harry relaxed slightly at this but not completely. "It's not as if no one knows that we're friends. It doesn't take a genius to figure out I'm a pretty likely candidate. How many gay wizards could you possible know?" he pointed out.

Hermione sighed. "Don't be so cynical! I think you'll really like him. Just please meet him, and if you have a horrible time I'll leave it alone for awhile," she promised.

"Fine, fine. I should probably owl Draco and let him know I'm not free tomorrow," Harry said as he made his way upstairs to do just that. He heard Hermione's footsteps following him up the stairs.

"You should tell him you can't come because you have a date," Hermione suggested, a tinge of bitterness entering her voice.

Harry turned to gape at her. "That seems a little cruel, don't you think?"

Hermione shrugged. "After seeing the state you were in last time you talked to him I think he deserves it," she informed him, referring to the night Draco had showed up and got Harry's hopes up just to tell him that their relationship wasn't worth risking a negative reaction from the public.

Harry felt a pang in his heart at the memory. "You know what? Maybe you're right," he agreed fiercely, sitting down at his desk to pen a quick note to Draco.

Draco,

Can't make it tomorrow, I have a date.

Harry

There, that would show him how much he didn't need the self-centered bastard. Hermione beamed at him as he sent the owl. She filled him in on the rest of the details for the next night before heading home once again.

Awhile after Hermione left, the regret began to creep in. He shouldn't have sent that owl to Draco. He knew if Draco had done something similar to him it would hurt, especially the day after they slept together. Sure, Draco had hurt him, but Harry still cared for him, loved him even if he was being honest. Harry decided that after everything that had happened today, he deserved a drink.

After he had downed his first two shots of firewhisky, Harry began to feel a little better, until he heard the telltale tap of an owl at the window. He didn't need to look to know it was from Draco. He opened the window to get the letter and was promptly pecked sharply on the hand by the owl. Harry squawked in surprise and pain, grabbing the letter quickly and sending the owl on his way. He unrolled the letter and felt his heart constrict.

Just leave me alone. Please.

It wasn't signed, but it didn't need to be. Harry knew exactly who it was from, and it was worse than he expected. Anger he could deal with, but a polite request to leave him alone wasn't what Harry anticipated. The obvious hurt in his words broke Harry's heart all over again. He closed his eyes, inwardly beating himself up all over again for what happened the night before. When he opened his eyes once again, there were wet spots on the letter that he still held in his hands and tears rolling slowly down his cheeks.

Just as Harry had suspected, his date had gone terribly. Hermione had been right about one thing: Liam had had no idea that it was Harry with whom he had been set up. Unfortunately, the minute he realized that he was on a date with a celebrity, the man had fallen to pieces. He had turned red and stuttered every time that Harry had asked him a question. Even after a couple glasses of wine, Liam couldn't form a coherent sentence, and Harry had ended the date as soon as humanly possible without sneaking out the bathroom window. He had immediately Apparated to Ron and Hermione's to inform his friend that he would not be going on any blind dates in the near future. She had attempted to talk to him about what had gone wrong, but he hadn't been in the mood.

Instead, Harry made his way home and started drinking. It wasn't the healthiest response that he could have had, but he figured he deserved it. After the other night with Draco and his disastrous date, Harry just wanted a way to forget about it all. It was a shame that his date had gone so poorly. Even though he hadn't really wanted to go on the date, a part of him was hoping it would go well. There was still a large part of him that wasn't ready to move on and wanted Draco back, but he was pretty sure that was out of the question at this point. He had fucked it up irreparably, and it was time he faced his bleak future of terrible, awkward dates and shagging Muggles when he needed company for the night. If that was the future that he had to face, then he was damn sure going to face it with several shots of firewhisky.