Chapter 23

Knock-knock-knock

Draco groaned as the knock sounded and rolled over to ignore it. He didn't want to get out of bed. He wanted to lay there and waste away. No pain, no fear, just sleep himself to death.

Knock-knock-knock

"Draco, sweetie, please get out of bed," called Tonks. "Sirius and Remus are ready." Draco lay quiet in bed. He didn't want to leave because of the peace he felt there. "Draco, you can't ignore it. You have to go."

Draco didn't groan, didn't sigh, and didn't make a sound in any way. He just opened his eyes and got out of bed. All around him were model cars and planes. Books and music lined the walls and a desk under a window with a laptop. Band posters hung on the walls and CDs stacked neatly next to a radio and DVD next to a TV. The pillows smelled of Old Spice and mint shampoo.

Draco walked over and opened the door before Tonks knocked again went to the bag by the bed he took out a pair of jeans and a dark shirt. He didn't acknowledge Tonks as she walked into the room.

"Sirius has a pair of good pants for you to borrow," she said.

"I'm fine," he said. He walked out of the bedroom, past Tonks and into the bathroom to shower. His usual soaps and shampoos were absent and all he used were Old Spice and mint shampoo. A bath that would have lasted a half hour for him ended in fifteen minutes and he dressed in blue jeans and dark shirt.

After stuffing his feet in a pair of white socks and shoes he went downstairs to the kitchen. Remus was at the stove making pancakes and Sirius and Tonks were softly talking over a cup of coffee for Sirius and orange juice for Tonks. Romulus lay next to Tonks under the table. Both looked up as Draco walked down. Another unexpected guest at the table next to Sirius was Severus Snape.

After Riddle had died Snape stepped forward as a second informant in the case, but couldn't get near enough good information as Draco did. It surprised Draco to find that Snape was Sirius' secret partner. They kept the relationship secret except for a few select people so both could work the case properly. Harry hadn't told Draco in case Draco was capture because of the continuous leak of information.

Apparently the argument that had lasted nearly a year that Harry told Draco about was Sirius begging Snape to quit spying and remove himself from the case. Snape refused and stay to watch Draco from the inside, which wasn't necessary as it later turned out. Now both were together again and the secret was out.

"You stay in the standing in bed all day isn't going to help," said Tonks.

"Tonks is right, Draco," said Sirius. "You have to push yourself forward."

"I just want to know how he feels," said Draco looking at his plate of pancakes and sausage. "Just for a moment."

For a few long moments no one said anything. The conversation hung in the air. Snape clearing his throat sounded like thunder to their ears.

"Black, we should get going," said Snape. Draco still found it strange and comforting that Snape called his partner his last name. "Nyphadora has an appointment to keep."

"Ooh, that's right," said Tonks jumping out of her chair. "Can't believe I almost forgot." She smiled at them. "I hope it's a boy! Wish me luck!"

"Good luck," said Sirius smiling at his cousin. Snape nodding his own and Remus smiled at her.

"You'll be fine," he said kissing her head. Tonks smiled at him and turned to Draco.

"Good luck, Dora," he said softly smiling at her. She smiled back at him and kissed his cheek.

"Such a good cuz," she said and headed to the door. "Come on, Rom."

The dog barked once before following his owner. Tonks and Romulus left and the rest sat in silence, eating the breakfast Remus made. A half hour after they finished Sirius cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, no point in putting it off," he said. "It's not going to go away by ignoring it." He turned to the silent blonde. "Draco..."

Draco nodded and stood. All silently left the Black-Potter house, Remus and Snape in their cars as Draco stayed with Sirius, pulling on a black suit coat and black tie. Both got in, shut the doors and left.

It had taken a month to process all the evidence against Riddle and his company. The account book Harry's father had hidden before his death completed the investigation and the company shut down. All involved were arrested. Because of Draco's help any act he did before and during the investigation were dropped and he moved in with Sirius.

Sirius drove to the federal court house and all three mend escorted Draco inside. They didn't walk far when Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Blaise came into view. The look on Ron's face wasn't of distain or annoyance but of one who had the same experience as Draco. Draco had gotten the stories from his friends after they gave it to the agents.

"Hey, man," said Ron reaching over and shaking Draco's hand. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine," said Draco dryly.

"Hermione and I thought about visiting later. We'll see you there?"

"Yes, I'll be there."

Ron nodded when an attendant called his name. He walked into the room. The rest sat nervously as benches outside. All didn't want to talk to each other. Hermione pulled out a book and began reading as Snape read a newspaper and Sirius and Remus discussed a movie they had watched. Draco just sat silently and looked at his hands.

Over the next two hours they were called in one by one and each went into the room. Soon it was just Draco left.

"Draco Malfoy," called the attendant as Sirius walked out. Draco stood and walked toward the room. Sirius patted Draco on the shoulder encouragingly.

"Good luck," he said.

Draco smiled reassuringly and walked in where Kingsley, the Director for the FBI, NSA and a judge sat. Draco walked over to the chair in the middle of the room and sat down.

"Draco Malfoy, you are here to tell the truth as you have seen it," said the judge. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do," said Draco.

"Can you tell us the events of May 7th in your point of view?"

"I went to prom at my school that night…."

"With friends or a date?" asked the FBI director.

"Both."

"Names?"

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley and Blaise Zabini."

"Your date's name?" Draco paused and looked away. The others agreed to not talk about Harry and Draco's relationship but it was Draco's choice to tell. "Mr. Malfoy, we need an answer."

"Draco," said Kingsley and Draco looked up at him. "You can trust them."

Draco watched Sirius' boss for a moment, looking for any sigh of a lie. There was none.

"Harry Potter."

"Sirius Black's godson Harry Potter?" asked the NSA director.

"Yes, sir," said Draco.

"Please continue," said the judge before the questions flew.

Draco described heading to the bathroom while Harry danced with Ginny and getting ambushed on the way out. He remembered hitting one in the eye before another took him out. He woke up some time later wearing only his boxers in a room without windows and a single lamp. He was given a set of clothes to wear and told to wait. So he waited and again sometime later, minutes or house, Riddle visited him and Riddle told Draco his plans to kill Harry and Draco as soon as he got what he wanted.

"Why did he tell you?" asked FBI.

"To taunt me," said Draco with a shrug. "And he thought he was going to kill me too in a few hours."

"Continue."

Draco continued to being held back as Riddle called Harry, yelling at Harry to stay away. Hours later he was staring at Harry from across the park. The trade was made and Riddle shot Harry. At the memory of the thought of Harry being dead he tried to keep from crying.

"It's okay," said a voice in his ear and he looked up to see Kingsley standing next to him with a hand on his shoulder. The hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You can do it. For Harry."

For Harry. Yes. Everything he had done was for Harry because Harry was the first to believe in him. Draco nodded and Kingsley walked back to his s eat as Draco dried his eyes.

"Are you ready to continue?" asked the judge. "We can take a break if you want."

"No," said Draco. "I want to go on. I want to finish it."

The judge nodded and Draco continued.

Riddle had taken him to the cabin, locked him inside a dog cage to keep Draco from running and left. A few hours later Harry came, alive and got him out of the cage. Riddle caught up to them and both he and Harry fought, during which Harry's gun fell. Draco grabbed it and shot Riddle in the back.

"Why did you shoot Riddle?" asked the FBI.

"To save Harry."

"Any other reason?"

"No."

The room was silent for a moment as the four took in Draco's story. Draco just sat in the chair and waited for their answer.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," said the judge. "You may leave."

Draco nodded, stood and walked out of the room. Remus was on the phone and sounded very excited as Sirius and Snape waited on the bench nervously. Well, Sirius was nervous. Snape was still reading the newspaper, but from what Draco could see he had been reading the same page since before Draco went in. when Draco walked out both stood to greet as Remus continued to talk on the phone.

"How did it go?" asked Snape.

"It went all right."

"Your eyes are red," said Sirius in concern.

"I'm fine. It's nothing. Can we go now?"

Sirius nodded and turned to Snape. "You don't have to stay. If you have papers to grade or lessons to plan…"

"No, I'll come," said Snape. Sirius gave Snape a grateful look as Remus hung up the phone. He looked over to them with a smile.

"Dora just found out," he said. "I have a son!"

There was a round of congratulations and talks of drinks as they walked out of the courthouse.

"So who are the godparents?" asked Sirius

"Actually, Draco, with you permission we wanted you to be the godfather," said Remus turning to Draco. Draco looked up in surprise.

"Me?"

"Well, you and…"

"Yeah, I'll, uh, I'll think about it."

Remus smiled and nodded. "I'm gonna pick up 'Dora. We'll come visit later."

"Thank you," said Draco smiling. Sirius and Snape lead him out and walked to the car. They followed Snape to his house and all three drove out in Sirius' car. Soon Sirius parked in front of the large white building and Draco stepped out.

"Snape and I are going to park," said Sirius. "You go on in without us.

"All right," said Draco as he closed the door. He waited for the ambulance to pass before walking into the hospital. Draco nodded to the nurse on duty before walking down the hall. He took the elevator up to the third floor and walked into a single room. He sadly looked at the patient lying on the bed.

Lying on the clean white sheets was Harry. A heart monitor softly bleeped a rhythm along with the air pump. Draco was used to the sight from his daily visits. Harry had recently been groomed because his hair was slightly neater. After the gun fired and Harry falling through the window Draco raced downstairs as fast as he could to reach his boyfriend. He found Harry and tried to stem the blood flow, wincing at the multiple cuts the glass made on him. A few seconds after that Ron and Hermione had found him and Hermione quickly made a tourniquet from the boy's shirts, warning them not to move him. Sirius and Remus came running in ten minute later, medics behind them. Draco had refused to leave without Harry and with Sirius beside him they rode back to the hospital.

The ride back and the surgery seemed long to Draco, longer than anything that happened in his life. He felt empty inside as the doctors worked all night on Harry. His heart stopped once on the way in and again on the table and but Draco barely registered it. He just sat paralyzed on the chair Sirius sat him on.

It was four hours before the doctors came back to tell them how the surgery went. The doctor said he would be all right, but Harry had suffered cranial trauma from the fall and went into a coma. When he'd come out of it the doctors couldn't say. He was placed in a private room and Draco visited every day after school and weekends. That was a month ago.

"Hey, Harry," he said walking into the room toward the window. "Let's let some light in." He opened the curtains. "I swear the nurses want to keep this room dark."

He turned to Harry with as soft smile at him. He looked so peaceful lying on the white bed. It was hard to imagine he was on the edge of death a few weeks ago.

"The others are coming soon," he said. "Weasley and Granger have to finish their test and Sirius and Snape will be up soon. I expect they'll give us a few minutes alone. They always do that."

He sat on the chair kept next to the bed and held his head. "Tonks went to the doctor today. They're having a son. Now they're off discussing names. They want us as godfathers. Personally, they've made terrible choices. We're both danger prone."

He thought he felt Harry's hand twitch under his but when he looked down it was still as a statue.

"They're finishing the case today. I told them everything I know. Shacklebolt was there. He was very supportive. He listened to every word, no questions asked. The others were interrogating me like I was a terrorist or something. I passed through it all right, except this one part."

Draco sighed back a sob as he remembered what he was feeling when Riddle shot Harry the first time. Ron had told him later that the three of them raided the federal building for a Kevlar best and bags of blood just in case Riddle didn't keep his deal.

"I wanted to cry. When I saw Riddle shot you I thought you died. I really did, event through it goes against everything I was taught. I wanted to so bad but I didn't. I stayed strong, just like I knew you would have done. I didn't cry, didn't even show I was scared even though I was about to shit myself. And when you came to rescue me I was so happy and so angry with you at the same time. I never trusted you more than that moment because of the way you made me feel. And I never loved you more."

Draco silent as he stared at Harry's sleeping face, feeling the need to cry and he didn't stop when a few tears did fall. He fingered the bracelet he got back from Sirius, the wish bracelet that was in Harry's pocket at the time of the rescue.

"I miss you, Harry," he said. "I miss you so much, even though I see you every day. So much it hurts. I can barely get up most days. I miss your bright green eyes, your wit, intelligence, your voice, the way you move. I miss being with you."

He reached over, turned on the radio and You and Me come on. Draco softly smiled at the song.

"Remember this, Harry? It's our song." Draco relaxed as he let the song take him back to the football field, back before his life turned into a living hell. Where he and Harry danced alone where they shared their first kiss. Sitting up he softly kissed Harry's lips. "I'll bring Sirius and Snape in now. I love you, Harry."

He dried a tear as he turned to the door. He had just reached for the handle when a voice softly called his name, almost in a whisper.

"Draco…"

He turned to see Harry's green eyes, slightly slacked from sleep.

"Oh my God, Harry!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"All right, everything looks fine," said the doctor as he shone a pen light in Harry's eye. "Any headaches, nausea, aches or pain?"

"No," said Harry. He looked slightly unnerved at where he was. "Where's Sirius?"

"He's outside waiting with the others." The doctor wrote a not down on his clipboard.

"Others?"

"I don't know names, but there are a lot of red heads."

Harry chuckled. "The Weasleys. They're like my second family." Harry paused. "Doctor, what happened?"

The doctor looked at him curiously. "You don't remember?"

"No. It's sort of blurry."

"It's not uncommon for a person who had suffered a head injury to have a bit of amnesia of the accident. I've seen people lose years from a bump on the head."

Harry looked out the window at the bright sunshine. "It feels like summer."

"That's because it is summer."

Harry looked at the doctor in surprise. "But spring just started."

The doctor looked surprised. "Harry, what day is it?"

"April eighteenth. Why? Why? What date is it?"

"Harry, it's June twentieth. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Going to bed after finishing my homework." Harry gave the doctor a frightened look. "Why? Did something happen?"

The doctor smiled at him reassuringly. "Of course not, Harry. Everything's fine."

"But I got shot again." Harry looked at the second bullet wound on his chest.

"I'm sure your friends will explain everything to you. One is very anxious to see you. A Mr. Malfoy?"

"Draco? He's here?"

"He hasn't left your side since your admittance. Would you like to see him?"

"Yes, please." Harry knew he sounded anxious but according to the doctor they haven't seen each other for a month. For Harry it felt like a two.

"Just a minute."

And the doctor left. Harry was left to piece his thoughts. He had lost two months with his friends and family, with Draco. Two months of memories gone and the possibility of not getting them back.

Draco walked in five minutes later after the doctor left, after a warning from the doctor most likely. He did seem anxious and nervous as he smiled at Harry and walked over to the bed.

"Hi," he said nervously.

"Hey, you," said Harry smiling reassuringly at him.

"So you…you remember…"

Harry's smile turned mischievous. "Why don't you come over here and find out?"

Draco softly cried our as he hurried to Harry and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, kissing Harry hard. Harry kissed him back and hugged Draco, softly smoothing the blonde silken hair.

"I missed you," said Draco in a soft sob.

"I missed you too," said Harry and Draco pulled away and sat on the bed. "Riddle?"

"You don't have to worry about him. He's gone. Taken care of."

"How?"

Draco was silent for a long time before speaking. "He's dead. He shot you. I shot him."

"You what?!"

"I was protecting you!"

"But I'm your bodyguard…"

"Not anymore…"

"That still doesn't excuse you shooting someone…."

"Harry." He looked up at Draco. "I'm not guilty over what happened. I did it to save you, not fight with you."

"I didn't want you to be a killer."

"I'm not. The Feds laid me off. Self-defense." Draco smiled as he took Harry's hand. "Come on, Harry. You just woke up. I just got you back. Let's not ruin this by fighting."

"But Draco, I've lost so much…"

Draco's smile brightened. "Don't worry. I'll catch you up. The others will help too. You'll get there."

Harry smiled at him. "I love you Draco."

"You too, Harry."

TBC

-Thankfully, I have never been part of a federal investigation so I don't know how it goes. This is just something my overactive imagination came up.