A/N: Why hello again :D Yeah, this story and "Mommy Dearest" are my main concerns at the moment. I love both of these stories. It might seem like I abandon my stories, but the truth is, I don't. I'm just lazy lol.
Thank you for the reviews!! :D
Start where I left off last time. They're in the shower. ;D Am I going too fast? I hope not… Harry and Draco both have feelings for each other… They just don't know and won't tell the other person. Stubborn arses. Then, there's Draco with his insecurities…
Warnings: Meh… Fluff. :) Also with me messing with potion ingredients and their properties. I'm not Snape so I have no idea what I'm doing :P
Chapter 7
Not Yours to Blame
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The sound of dripping water from the spigot.
Harry didn't know how long they had sat there in the tub. Maybe it was minutes or hours. He didn't know. All Harry knew was that Draco was pained and he was there for him. He didn't care that his jeans and sweater were soaked through; Harry hardly noticed the wet, clingy clothes. Frowning, Potter wrapped his arms tighter around Draco's skinny frame; the blond was now trembling from the cold and from crying.
"… I'm sorry…"
"Whatever for, Draco?"
Draco took Harry's wrists and pried them away from his bare chest, but did not let them go.
"For seeing me being this way. And for getting you wet," Draco muttered. Unconsciously, he started playing with Harry's fingers.
"You did nothing wrong," Harry said; he curled his fingers around Draco's, locking their hands together.
It seemed neither of them noticed the small gestures. They were just… doing it.
Silence followed and it was becoming uncomfortable. Draco wiggled his upper torso within Harry's embrace. Potter took the hint and released his hold on the blond.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled and moved back bit, making room to tuck his legs under him. It was a good thing his bathtub was on the big side.
"S'alright…" Draco reached out and took Harry's bottle of shampoo, the apple scented one, and placed it into the spell-kept warm water. "Since you're already in here, you want to help me a bit?"
"Uh…" Oh my god… I'm going to touch him! Fuck! Move away, Harry… Just keep your distance. "Erm… Sure…" He shifted a bit, sloshing water around the tub.
"Oh, don't sound so uncertain," Draco chided, all previous uneasiness were forgotten. "I'm going to keep my back facing you. Don't even think you're going to get a free show, Potter."
Harry couldn't help but snort at what Draco had said. "I guess I'll be washing your hair then? You take care of your body and I'll just pay close attention to your shiny blond hair."
"Don't be cheeky with me, Harry," Draco huffed. "But yes, please wash my hair. I even said please so you can't refuse."
"Even if you didn't say 'please', I wouldn't have refused," Harry retorted. "Just hold on for a second; I'm going to take off my sweater and jeans. They're getting uncomfortable."
"I'm not going anywhere," Draco mumbled. Not like I can anyway.
"Draco, you know that's not what I meant," Harry said exasperatedly. Draco did a one-shoulder shrug.
Harry carefully moved Draco forward, telling the blond to hold on to the sides of the tub.
"Harry, even if my legs are useless, my upper torso is strong enough to hold myself up," Draco drawled; he smiled when he heard Harry huffed behind him; the brunet had stood up to take off his clothes.
"Well… I… I don't want you to fall against my shins and blame me for feeling you with my legs," Harry retorted. It was lame and Harry knew it.
Draco rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face. Harry could come up with the lousiest excuses. Was Harry really the top Healer at St. Mungo's? By the way the brunet acted, it surely didn't seem so. Harry's intelligence needed questioning. Draco's smile got wider and a small giggle burst forth.
"Are you laughing at me?"
Draco snorted and shook his head, his hand covering his mouth to smother his chuckles.
"Oh, Merlin… No, I'm not." It was pretty obvious to Harry that Draco's shoulders were slightly shaking.
"Yes, you are! You're laughing at me, Malfoy!" Harry sat down behind Draco with a huff. "Hand me my bottle of shampoo." He held out his hand, waiting for Draco to give him what he asked for. Malfoy scoffed and took the bottle, giving it to Harry's waiting hand.
"Don't massage my scalp too hard," Draco said. "I really don't want a bald spot."
"Stop complaining and telling me what to do," Harry grumbled. "I know how to wash hair. Just look at mine; it's perfectly shiny and soft." With that said, Draco turned his head around and was just in time to see Harry run his hand through his thick, black hair.
"That nest of hair? It's actually soft? I'm surprised I didn't find a bird living inside." Draco smirked when Harry scowled at him.
"Just because your hair is nice and shiny doesn't mean other people can't have nice hair," Harry grouched; he popped open the lid of the shampoo bottle with too much force. "Turn around and let me start washing your hair." Harry then squeezed a copious amount of the green liquid into his palm.
Malfoy sniffed and turned around; he tipped his head back, almost touching Harry's bare chest (Harry was only wearing his boxers now… no need to get totally naked). The blond man hummed low in his throat and closed his eyes as Harry pour some warm water into his hair and started lathering.
"Mm…" The pads of Potter's fingers felt extremely good on his scalp. The brunet wasn't massaging too hard or too lightly.
It was perfect.
"Am I imagining things or are you really enjoying this?" Harry asked; he smiled and watched as Draco's eyelids fluttered open.
"Less talking and more massaging, Potter," Draco said, although there was a smile on his face. "You know, I should have you do this for me everyday. After all, you are here to serve me." Draco waggled his eyebrows at Harry, who rolled his eyes.
"Serving you?" Harry grinned evilly and yanked Draco's hair. "How's that?"
"OW! Watch it, you bastard!"
Harry grinned and continued to wash Draco's hair.
"Like I said, I didn't put your whole closet into these luggage bags," Harry said. "But I can always take you back to your house later on." He held up black silk pajamas for Draco to see. "How about this one?"
"They're fine," Draco said; he had disagreed with Harry's previous choice of pajamas, the ones he brought into the bathroom before the bath.
Draco was sitting on his bed, drying his hair and watching Harry's backside the entire time Potter was rummaging through the bags. After his bath, which resulted in Harry almost falling out of the bathtub when he accidentally touched Draco's ticklish spot, Harry had carried Draco to the bed and placed him down. He didn't even bother to put the blond into the chair. But at least Harry had the decency to help him put on his boxers before carrying him outside.
Harry came over and tossed the pajama top onto the mattress; he knelt down and slipped the sleeping pants on Draco's legs.
"Tomorrow, I'll begin my experiments," Harry started, "I already have two potions planned out, but I am hoping I can get another result."
"Do I need to be there?" Draco blushed slightly when Harry's warm hands brushed his shins. He couldn't feel anything though, but he saw that Harry had touched him.
"If you want to watch me brew stuff, then sure," Harry said, chuckling. "I have to warn you, though. There will be lots of smoke. Every time I brew new potions, something will start smoking. It never fails. But I never had a cauldron blow up, so don't worry."
"That is very reassuring, Harry," Draco drawled, "but I want to watch you work. Maybe I can help you in some areas… I was the top pupil in Snape's class, after all."
"I remember. How can I not? I was probably the worst one in his class." Harry stood up; the sleep pants were now all the way up to Draco's thighs. "I have to lift you up again."
Draco wordlessly held out his arms and wrapped them around Harry's shoulder. The green-eyed man put one arm around Draco's waist and hefted the slim man up a few inches, just enough to pull the pants the rest of the way up.
"Harry… do you actually have a laboratory in your flat?"
"Yeah… the very, very last room, down the hall. It has everything I need; I even made the walls sturdier, just in case I did have an explosion." Harry grunted as he tried to pull the waistband over the curve of Draco's arse. It was so tempting… but he didn't want to freak Draco out.
Stop thinking about it!
"Are you alright? You're… You seem to be having some troubles…" Draco looked down, seeing Harry struggling with his pants.
"No, I got it…" With a hard tug, the waistband went up and was secure around Draco's hips. "AHA! Told you I got it." Harry then gently put Draco back onto the bed; Malfoy reluctantly untangled his arms from Harry's body.
"You should sleep, Draco. It's your first night here; it's going to take you awhile to fall asleep on a new bed."
Draco looked away from the brunet; his eyes landed on a small digital clock on a bedside cabinet. It read ten thirty-seven.
"… I am feeling a bit tired," Draco murmured; he glanced up at the standing man. "Can you help me move back to the pillows?"
"Of course."
Harry lifted Draco bridal style and walked around the perimeter of the bed. With a brush of wandless magic, Harry made the blanket flip to the side. He placed Draco down onto the mattress, made sure the pillows were fluffed, and then covered the blond with the blanket. After seeing that Draco was settled, Harry straightened his back and waved his hand near the bedside cabinet. A small, glowing blue orb appeared. It materialized and turned into something that closely resembled a crystal ball. Draco frowned and looked up at Harry, waiting for the dark-haired man to explain what it was.
"This is how you're going to call me." Harry touched the glass ball gingerly. "It's an alarm I sometimes put in one of my patients' room, usually for those that required lots of attention. All they had to do was touch it."
"So… If I wake up in the middle of the night and need to use the loo, I just have to touch the blue ball and you'll know?" Draco asked. Inwardly he was thinking that Potter always came up with the weirdest ideas. He never knew there was such a spell…
"Yeah, just touch it and I'll be alerted. I have a similar ball in my room. It would glow red and make sounds," Harry answered. "If you accidentally knock it down, it's alright. It won't break."
"How come you didn't use this spell when I was at St. Mungo's?"
Harry bit his lip and looked slightly uncomfortable. "You were unconscious… and… and I was there with you most of the time when you were awake… You were my top priority."
Draco could detect a very light blush tinting Harry's cheeks.
"I see. Well, I won't abuse it," Draco said, trying to go back to their topic. Harry looked relieved. "I probably won't use it much, but thank you."
Harry smiled. "No problem. Goodnight, Draco."
"For Merlin's sake, Potter… Have you ever cleaned out your lab before?" Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust. He was floating around Harry's potions lab in his wheelchair. "This vial is crusted with potion residue!" Draco held up a small glass vial he found on the worktable.
Harry was leaning against the door frame, watching with amusement as Draco puttered around in his chair. He rolled his green eyes when Draco held up the crusty vial.
"That was from a month ago… I think." Harry grinned when Malfoy let out a scoff.
"And here I thought Healers would put cleanliness on top of their list."
"Well, I'm no ordinary healer then," Harry replied; he walked over to Draco and stood next to the floating chair. "I'll do some cleaning now before I start working." He looked down at the sitting man; Draco was putting the dirty vial back onto the table. "Are you sure you want to stay here?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Draco asked challengingly. Harry held up his hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright… I'm not going to ask again. You don't need to get offensive."
Draco sneered and made his chair float to one of the many shelves in the lab. "I can help you clean, Potter."
"Are you actually offering?"
Draco hummed and looked at the dark-haired man lazily. "Do you have any rags or washcloths? Seeing how my wand was lost during the accident, I cannot perform cleaning charms."
Harry stopped breathing. He totally forgot about Draco's wand. Oh how the man must've felt without being able to do magic. A wizard without a wand… that's almost like being naked.
"I have some old rags… But can't you do wandless magic?"
Draco sighed and shrugged. "I can, but I was never any good at it. Ever since I've been living amongst Muggles, I ceased to use magic much. I have friends that are Muggles and I guess their influence affected me.
"I live alone, as you know, and I gradually began doing things with my own hands instead of pointing my wand at everything. However, I cleaned my clothes with magic. I had never taken the liking to hand wash or using some Muggle machine to wash them. They'll get wrinkly if I did.
"Sometimes a day goes by without me ever taking out my wand." Draco smirked at Harry, who was listening with his mouth slightly opened. "Did all that answer your question?"
"Uh… Yes. I just… Don't you have this tingling feeling at the tip of your fingers? Don't you feel your magic just itching to come forth from your body?" Harry asked.
"I do… but I try to ignore it. If I get really frustrated, my magic might shoot out in accident." Draco brought his hand up and wriggled his fingers. "Now that we're taking about it, my fingers do feel tingly."
Harry came over to the blond and stood next to him. "You can try using wandless magic to—" Harry looked around and his eyes landed on the dust on some of his ingredient bottles. "—clean the dust off those bottles."
"Potter, I told you I wasn't good at wandless magic," Draco said exasperatedly. "I can't control it properly. If I put too much effort I might blow up your shelf and all the bottles in it."
"Just try, Draco. If it doesn't go well, we'll go shop for a new wand for you. And I can always buy another shelf and new ingredients if they do explode," Harry told the sitting man. He then smiled when Draco looked at him, shocked. "I-I can also help you with wandless magic if you want. It would be something to do in my house, and you wouldn't be bored. I mean, it could come in handy in the future…" Harry blushed when Draco gave him the smile.
Merlin, Draco looked handsome when he smiled. It made him look younger. His whole expression softened whenever he smiled. Harry wished he could see it more often.
"You'll help me? I had to learn on my own when I was young… nobody offered to help me." Draco's smile diminished slightly.
"Well, I'm here to help you. Don't even hesitate to ask me," Harry said brightly, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.
Draco only smiled in answer.
Draco was smiling, almost fondly, at the way Potter was so concentrated at the task in front of him. He was sitting across from Harry, whereas Harry was standing behind a bubbling cauldron, frowning a bit as he stirred the contents inside. Harry then puffed out one cheek as he reached for a bottle containing some shrivelfigs. Draco looked down at Harry's notebook and scribbled shrivelfigs onto the page. The brunet had asked Malfoy to write down all the ingredients used for his newest brew.
It was amazing what Harry had done. The man had created many potions, all from scratch. Some were made from an original, but Harry had modified them and came up with much better effects.
"Shrivelfigs, as I found out, have a re-growing property when mixed with aconite," Harry said as he dumped some brown figs into the cauldron. "Of course, to specify so that it would re-grow nerves in the spinal cord, I am going to add sopohorous."
"Sopohorous? But Harry… when that's mixed with aconite, they create a poison!" Draco exclaimed, writing down sopohorous into the notebook. "Potter, you're not trying to poison me are you?"
"Dear Merlin! No, I'm not!" Harry laughed. "There is one more thing I must add before I let this potion sit." Harry took another vial and looked at Draco. "I need to add some valerian. You know what valerian and sopohorous make, don't you?" Harry tapped his index finger on the vial.
"Nerve strengthening property… and they also have a purifying property as well, when put together." Draco's eyes widened then laughed softly. "Oh, that's right! They could cancel out the poison effect. Well done, Harry." Draco beamed and wrote valerian.
Harry almost puffed up in pride when Draco praised him. In all his years knowing the blond, this was the first time Draco gave him an approval. Potter grinned drunkenly and stirred the potion with a wooden spoon.
"Now that you have all the ingredients in, how long do we have to wait?" Draco asked; he had been writing short memos in the notebook.
"Around fifteen—Oh Christ!" Harry quickly looked down and waved his hand in front of the fire. He lowered it and the potion stopped sizzling. "Shit… I almost ruined this batch…" Harry then grinned at Draco. "See? I told you it would smoke whenever I brew a new potion."
Malfoy rolled his eyes and peered at the fire. He nodded to himself and wrote medium fire in the notebook. Harry came over to Draco's side and read what the blond had jotted down for the past half hour.
Spinal Nerves re-growing potion (sample number three)
Ingredients:
Aconite, grounded. One small-sized vial
Shrivelfigs, three slivers.
Sopohorous, diced until paste
Valerian, shredded and then cut into four equal pieces.
REMEMBER to put base before starting the fire. Add two cups of distilled water; wait until it starts to boil. When see bubbles, add aconite, slowly. Do not carelessly drop into cauldron. When water turns blue, add the three slivers of shrivelfigs by sliding them down the side of cauldron. DO NOT make splashes. Sopohorous can be added after the potion begins to turn green; stir the potion counter clockwise three times. Lastly, add valerian by sprinkling them on top. Stir potion sixteen times clockwise, five times figure-eight, and then let it sit for fifteen minutes.
Start with medium fire and keep it that way throughout (stupid Potter almost burned his potion).
"Wow, Draco… You keep really good notes," Harry mused. "It's a good thing you're here… I wouldn't have written all that down if I worked by myself." Harry then read the last sentence; he quirked his eyebrows. "Do you really have to put 'stupid Potter' in there?"
"You did almost burn the potion," came Draco's expected drawl, "I was only putting down the truth."
"Can't you take out 'stupid'?" Harry whined childishly. "I can't be that stupid if I'm brewing all these potions."
"No." Draco smirked; his eyes were filled with an evil flare.
Harry sighed.
"Here you go." Harry handed a cup of thick brown goo to Draco. Steam drifted upward and Malfoy could smell how horrid the potion was. The blond took the cup and brought it close to his nose. Draco gagged at the putrid scent of the potion.
Dear Merlin!
"Fuck it, I'm not drinking this," Draco muttered. "It smells absolutely horrible! Way worse than what I drank in St. Mungo's."
"Malfoy, just drink the damn potion," Harry said. "Look. I can pinch your nose while you drink. That way, you can't taste the foulness of the potion."
"I don't need you to pinch my nose, Potter," Draco mumbled. "Fine, I'll drink it."
"Good, because I thought I was going to have to force you to take it."
"Let's get this straight before I pass out from taking this… this drink. I have to tell you if anything feels different, correct?"
"Yeah. Even if it's just a small tingle in your lower back, tell me," Harry said. "I have to write all results down, no matter how small they are. From the previous potions I gave you during your stay at St. Mungo's, there weren't any significant changes… Not that they didn't help me, though.
"From what I've observed, the salamander blood I used in that lavender colored potion could be mixed together with aconite and valerian. With these three combined, they could make one hell of a strengthening potion and that is exactly what your spinal cord needs, Draco. If I can find a way to strengthen the nerves and re-grow them at the same time… the chances for your back to have pains in the future will be slim.
"But the problem is that salamander blood and shrivelfigs don't mix… which means I can't mix them." Harry bit his lip and looked troubled. "I must find another re-growing ingredient. I'm sure there are others beside shrivelfigs. The next best thing would be Re'em blood but I've never really used that before…"
Draco was listening to every word that came out of Harry's mouth. He took in the worried expression to the happy smile that had appeared on Harry's face. Potter sincerely wanted to help.
Draco took a deep breath and brought the cup to his lips. He threw his head back and downed the thick goo. Malfoy choked; his eyes watered as the rotten tasting potion slid down his throat. Draco swallowed his saliva a few times, trying to get rid of the horrible aftertaste.
"Harry…" Draco rasped out; Harry was still mumbling to himself.
"Re'em blood is very rare… I think I only have one small vial of it. Must go to…" Harry babbled on, not paying attention to Draco at all.
"Harry, stop for a—"
"There must be some other alternative. How about pomegranate juice?" Harry asked himself, smiling.
Draco rolled his eyes and slammed his cup of potion onto the worktable, making Potter jump in surprise. Green eyes narrowed then widened when Harry found Draco glaring up at him.
"Potter, are you done talking to yourself or do I have to take you to St. Mungo's so that they can check their top Healer's mental health?" Draco smirked at Harry when the brunet blushed.
"Sorry… I was thinking… thinking out loud, I guess. Anyways…" Harry tore his eyes away from Draco's icy silver ones. He found the cup empty on the table. "You drank it? How do you feel?" Harry quickly snatched his notebook and thumbed to the page where he had written down the results from previous tries.
"Nothing yet… I just—Oh…" Draco winced when he felt something jabbing in his lower back. "You better write it down, Potter."
"What? Are you alright?!" Harry dropped to his knees and put one hand on Draco's back. Green eyes widened once more when he felt how hot it felt in that area. "Oh my god… Draco, does it hurt really badly?"
"You better believe it," Draco growled and closed his eyes in pain. "FUCK! Harry… I-I… This is not normal… I've never… Shit." Draco's own hand joined Harry's and he pressed down on his lower back.
Harry threw his notebook down. Who the fuck cares? Draco's in pain! He could feel the muscles beneath his palm going into spasms. It jerked and throbbed and it felt so very hot. Harry was even more worried when Draco began whimpering in pain. Clammy hands clamped onto his wrists and Harry looked up into Draco's pain-filled eyes. Potter almost wanted to cry, seeing how Draco was.
"Harry… Harry, this isn't… You made something happen… I can feel the pain," Draco whispered. He tried a small smile but another jolt of searing pain ran across the small of his back. Draco screamed and his fingers dug into Harry's flesh.
"The pain shouldn't stay that long. It should've passed by now. Something's not right," Harry panicked. "Let me get you to bed and I'll do a test on you. I might even have to bring the potion out of your body. God, I'm so sorry, Draco…" There were actually tears swimming in Harry's eyes and Draco noticed.
Malfoy shakily removed one hand from Harry's wrist and brought it up to cup the brunet's face.
"Not your fault… Never think that…" Draco whispered before he lost consciousness.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
A/N: God, I am an awful person :D A whole month of waiting for an update and I end the chapter like that… Yes, I am the Devil.
Thanks for reading! :D