"Hi!"

Harry spun his wheelchair around.

"Draco! You are here…"

Draco was standing before Harry in the common room on the first floor of their hostel in Boston, grinning madly. He let his backpack plop to the ground and bent down to hug Harry.

"I'm sorry I could only make it until today", he said. "Hitchhiking wasn't very successful as the weather turned bad and I had no money to pay for a train ticket…"

Harry frowned. "You could have told me. I would have paid for your ticket, I-"

"Please… don't", Draco said. "I… would not have wanted to, you know? I am here now, the sun has been shining the whole day and we still have one evening and most of tomorrow left before your flight. We will make the time count, mate! Where is everyone, by the way?" He looked around the room that was packed with travelers relaxing on the red couches or sitting at the tables.

"Guess Thomas and Martin are still out. They went on the Freedom Trail today. I… wasn't interested." In fact Harry had spent most of the day in their shared room and in bed. One week of travelling and hours spent in the car had taken their toll. His body was rebelling against the strain he put on it and he had had to take one day off to regain some strength. He felt considerably better but his legs were still tingling and his arms felt stiff. He was tired and as much as he had wished Draco to come to Boston, he would rather not have him here this evening and see him like this.

Draco nodded slowly then motioned towards the reception. "You know what? I will first check in and then we discuss what we do this evening, ok?"

"We have a four beds room. You can join us if you want."

"I will pay, of course", Draco insisted.

Harry shrugged. "If you want to…"

Draco nodded. "Yes, sounds good to me."

"You wanna put this thing up in the room?" Harry asked, patting the gigantic backpack.

Draco laughed. "I would be grateful to be rid of it."

Harry led the way towards a glass door behind which the actual hostel began. Trespassing was only possible for those who had a guest card. Harry struggled with fishing the card out of his pocket and inserting it into the designated slot, his hands feeling like wrapped into at least three layers of thick gloves and his fingers trembling slightly. As Draco held open the door after it had unlocked and Harry wheeled through he could feel his questioning gaze lingering on him.

Draco called the elevator and when it arrived and they had entered, Harry cleared his throat, putting a fist down on the button for the fifth floor. "This…" he said, staring at his hands in his lap, "is one of the less good days." He opened and closed his fingers into fists again, trying to prevent them from shaking. "I'm sorry". Harry's head flew up when two tanned hands covered his own, steadying them for a moment.

"You have nothing to apologize for", Draco said. His grey eyes locked with Harry's. Harry could smell his hair.

"Hey, are you guys going up or down?"

Harry removed his hands from under Draco's and turned the chair towards the doors of the elevator.

"We are exiting here", he told the girl that had just entered the elevator. Draco hesitated for a split second before he shouldered his backpack again and followed.

Draco let the backpack fall on the fourth and free bed in the room and sat down on the mattress. "Do you want to go out eating something? Because if you don't want-"

"No… it's Ok", Harry said, staring out of the window. During these milder episodes he usually stayed inside his apartment. He did not answer the phone or the door and curled up in his bed, waiting for it to be over. He certainly was not eager to go out, especially not for dinner. But he wanted to spent time with Draco, too.

"Have you eaten anything today? Like… at all?" Draco inquired, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

Harry shook his head. At his apartment he was prepared for times like this. Canned soup could be heated up without much effort. And if spoons prove to be too much of a challenge, there were also straws… Here, he had had a piece of plain toast in the morning.

Draco jumped up from the bed. "It is decided then! Let's go. Do you need anything?"

Harry snatched his jacket from his bed. "I'm ready. Where are we going?"

Draco grinned. "You will see", he said.

Harry was not very much in the mood for surprise but he followed Draco out on the street nevertheless. Draco offered to push the wheelchair but Harry turned him down. He knew he was being stubborn but he wanted no help at something he felt he still could do, even if his arms and his back protested when he pushed himself behind Draco on the narrow walkway.

Fortunately and to Harry's surprise their journey ended only five minutes away from the hostel.

"Burritos?" Harry asked.

"You don't like burritos?"

"I do like them…" Harry said, hesitantly.

Draco put his hands in his pockets. "You know… I thought, since you eat burritos with your hands… no cutlery involved… would be a good idea. Plus, it's close to the hostel and in my opinion they make the best Burrito in the whole city of Boston. So… but if you don't want it's OK"

Harry considered this for a while. Draco had a point there. Burritos sounded like a good choice for someone with as much feeling and fine motor control in his hands as the Hulk. As Draco opened the door to the small bar and the familiar smell of burritos reached Harry, his stomach growled and made the decision for him. At least he could try it, he thought.

They ordered and Draco collected the fresh burritos from the end of the counter, insisting on paying. They settled down on a table in one corner of the room. Draco unwrapped the upper half of his burrito and with a quick glance at Harry completely unwrapped the other one. Harry resisted scowling at Draco as he received the steaming roll.

After a few bites, however, he had to admit that burritos had been in fact not the worst idea. The days of canned soup seemed to be counted. As both ate in silence, Harry felt his spirits rise a little. Maybe this evening would not be all too crappy, after all.