You Jump, I jump

Written by StrawberryGirl87

Hogwarts no longer feels like home, it is time to move on but Harry has nowhere else to go. Standing on the precipice of uncertainty he finds a helping hand from the most unlikely of people. Someone who is willing to stand by his side when things seem bleak.

Chapter Fifteen

Harry stayed with Ron and Hermione that night. The two of them had been living at the Burrow and it had been almost unbearable to receive the Weasley families grateful welcome and their fawning all over him at his return. They had been so happy to see him, relieved that he was all right, questioning why he had run off after the battle. Not even Hermione's insistence that Harry be left alone was enough to discourage them.

The onslaught of Weasley's however was not as unbearable as the thought of returning to that beautiful castle in Wales without Draco by his side. They had had such a wonderful evening planned and now he was without him.

There were no words to describe just how much he missed the Slytherin. The dreadful ache in his chest become a constant reminder that a small part of him that now belonged to Draco was missing. As the evening grew later the pain in his heart also became the reason that he failed to find solace in sleep.

He kept hearing the whispered words, Draco's last to him. I love you. He had meant it as a good bye he was sure, a fond farewell after everything they had been through together. Harry however was not going to allow that to be the last thing he said to him. He wanted to rescue Draco from the clutches of the Ministry of Magic and an undisclosed length of time in Azkaban if only so he could say it back and mean it.

Harry sat up in the living room of the Burrow, staring out of the window, up at the night sky that was littered with twinkling stars and the moon that was waning but still bright, illuminating the night time in a shimmering white light.

"Are you alright Harry?" Ginny asked, appearing rather suddenly at the bottom of the stairs, making Harry jump, he hadn't heard her coming, lost in his thoughts about Draco.

"Just a lot on my mind," He told her honestly as she came and sat beside him, perhaps positioning herself a little too close to him, Harry just didn't feel entirely comfortable with it.

"Is that why you left?" She asked him.

"Partly," Harry replied, not willing to go into his reasoning with her. Despite a few brief kisses that had been neither intense nor passionate, he felt numb to Ginny now. She was his best friends sister and he'd always care for her but only as a friend. If his past few days with Draco had shown him anything it was that he seemed to be gay, something he had never put much thought into but now seemed glaringly obvious.

"You seem so closed off Harry," She said with a sigh, attempting to cuddle up to him. "I wish you'd talk to me."

"Ginny, you do understand why I'm here right now don't you?" Harry asked her.

"I thought you'd come back," She said but Harry shook his head, "Then why?"

"I was travelling with Draco. When we went to attend Severus' funeral today he was arrested. I'm here because I'm going to the Ministry in the morning for his and his mother's trial. I need to set the record straight. I owe my life to them and I won't have them sent to Azkaban." Harry explained. He wished he could make the proud declaration that Draco was his boyfriend and that he was in love with him but Harry thought that Draco needed to hear it first.

"And what happens after that, will you just disappear again?" Ginny asked feeling a little hurt, she had always been of the belief that she and Harry would end up married with an obscene amount of children and deliriously happy together.

"I don't know but I won't be here, I'm sorry Ginny," He said and he truly was. What happened next he wasn't expecting, she leaned closer to him and placed her lips on his. Too shocked to realise what was going on he didn't immediately pull away which only spurred her on. It was when she tried to put her tongue in his mouth that he withdrew, looking at her in stunned bewilderment.

"I love you Harry …" She said with desperation.

"I just don't feel that way for you Ginny," Harry said as he got up, putting much needed distance between the two of them. "Believe me when I say it isn't you … you're amazing, truly you are."

"I don't think I understand," She said, her feelings hurt at his rejection.

"Ginny … I think I might be gay." He wanted to be honest with her, he didn't want to push her away but he needed her to understand that there was no chance that they would ever be together. He didn't want to hurt her, that had never been his goal. He couldn't help how things had turned out with Draco but there must have been a reason. A reason for him living, for feeling this passionately towards him … there had to be a reason because otherwise what was the point?

"Gay … but with who … you don't mean to tell me that you and Malfoy?" She asked completely surprised at this turn of events that to her was simply horrific.

"I don't know … I think that I might love him but I don't know. All I know is that he makes me happy when I'm with him. He's helped me through a few things since we've been gone. I wouldn't have survived without him Ginny."

Harry could see that he wasn't going to be getting the understanding or the compassion from the youngest Weasley child that he had hoped for. Her cheeks were going as red as her hair and it made Harry's heart sink to see this. He hadn't wanted to argue with Ginny, he really did value his friendship but it would never be anything more between them than that.

Angered, Ginny stood up and stormed off back upstairs. Harry sighed, running his hand through his messy raven hair, resuming his perch on the window seat, staring out across the moonlight gardens and wishing that he could be with Draco, even if that meant being locked in a cell in Azkaban for the night.

When morning dawned Harry was still sat at the window seat, having not moved nor slept at all for the entire night. The pain in his chest had become worse from being separated from Draco for so long. He showered and dressed, his sombre mood never lifting. He refused breakfast and wore his smartest robes. There was no way that he was leaving the Ministry of Magic without Draco being by his side.

"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked as Hermione came down, she too had chosen to wear her smartest robes and looked impeccably well groomed, however there was something about the look on her face that looked a little guilty.

"Yes but Ron isn't coming," She said and harry could see how much it pained her to tell him this.

"Why?" Harry asked, unable to comprehend why Ron wouldn't support him when he needed him. It was so like Ron to abandon him, it was starting to be a horrible habit of the red heads.

"He doesn't think that we should save Draco, he thinks they both deserve to rot in Azkaban for everything they've done." She explained which only made Harry angry,

"If it hadn't been for Narcissa Malfoy then I wouldn't have made it out of the forbidden forest alive, she saved my life. If it hadn't have been for Draco not telling Bellatrix who I was in Malfoy Manor when we were captured by snatchers then that could have ended a lot worse than it did. Does he not remember any of that?" Harry asked enraged, however attempting to keep his temper in check as he knew it wasn't Hermione's fault that her boyfriend was acting like a prize jerk.

"He knows all of that but he won't let slide all the bad things he did, to him to me … I'm still coming with you Harry, I want to help you both, I think it's the right thing to do," She said determinedly but Harry shook his head.

"I don't want to cause problems between you and Ron, Mione. I love you both, you know that even when Ron does act like a bloody idiot. I think I might be in love with Draco, I can't let him spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. I just couldn't do it. I need him to breath Mione," Harry said with a stifled sob, "It hurts that I can't be with him right now. It's all I can do to keep from dying."

"Oh Harry," She said going to him and embracing him in a comforting hug, she had seen the way they had looked at each other, she had suspected that they had feelings for one another but she could never had predicted just how deep it ran. "I don't care how grumpy Ron is at me for doing this, I'm going with you." She said with a stubborn determination. "I want you to be happy and if that means you need Mal- Draco then so be it."

"You're amazing, you know that right?" Harry asked as she released him from the embrace and wiped away the tears that had fallen at his painful confession.

"I might have been told a few times," She said with a fond smile at her best friend. It would cause arguments with Ron later but she didn't care. Hermione wasn't the kind of person to hold grudges and especially not at the expense of her friends.

"I can't believe you're going with him!" Ron said from the foot of the stairs, seemingly having been eavesdropping on at least part of the conversation.

"I'm doing the right thing Ronald, can't you see how miserable Harry is over this? Come with us, it isn't too late," Hermione said to her boyfriend who just stood glaring at the two of them.

"As always you're standing by him instead of me, I'm meant to be your boyfriend!" Ron said enraged. "It's either him or me this time Hermione."

"Don't do this Ronald," Hermione said sternly but there was nothing that could stop Ron's stupidity when he was in one of those moods.

"Hermione, stay here, I appreciate you wanting to help but you can't chose me, not this time, I don't want to ruin what you and Ron have, even if he is a stubborn git." Harry said with a pointed glare at his best friend.

"What did you call me?" Ron said as he strolled over to Harry confrontationally. The golden boy of Gryffindor stood strong and faced him.

"I think you heard me," He returned and it took Hermione pushing the two of them apart to separate them. If she hadn't then the two of them would have certainly come to blows.

"I think you should leave," Ron spat, giving his former best friend a look of utter disgust. "You aren't welcome here anymore."

"Ronald!" Hermione said in shock, she hadn't been expecting him to banish Harry from the burrow. The situation was getting way out of control.

"It's fine Mione, I love you, I'll get in contact soon to tell you how it went," Harry said to her, giving her a soft smile that hopefully portrayed the feeling that everything was going to be alright though he didn't feel as if it would be.

Harry turned on his heel and headed for the door, he hadn't even got outside of the wards before he heard Hermione calling out to him, asking him to slow down. Turning round with confusion he asked her what she was up to.

"I'm coming with you of course," She said with a smile, "We're in this together," She told him.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"He isn't happy but he'll get over it, at least he will if he wants to win me back." Hermione told him, though she didn't seem too happy.

"I didn't want to mess anything up between the two of you," Harry said regretfully. "I'm sorry that I did."

"You don't have to be sorry, he can be a right prat sometimes, he'll come round," She said, "But we have to go, we don't want to be late." Harry nodded in agreement, taking her by the hand and with a soft pop they were gone.