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 Twenty Four

Draco had been up since dawn had broken. He had had the wireless on, listening for any news on Harry. He had no idea where to start looking for him and he had thought that this best bet was to see if the media had sighted him at all. Draco's logic was that even if he was several steps behind Harry he could perhaps work out where he was going.

That was when the news had broken. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had been seen brawling in Diagon Alley. Draco almost couldn't breath as the report went on to say that both of them had been taken to St Mungos for medical treatment after the famous boy wizard was defeated in the muggle duelling. He only felt himself breath in a sigh of relief when the report went on to say that both had been released after being fully healed.

It was what Draco heard next that made him doubly miserable than he had been feeling since Harry had left him. Harry Potter was reported to have been drowning his sorrows with copious amounts of Fire Whiskey in the Leaky Cauldron in London with best friend Hermione Granger. He hated the idea that Harry was having to drown his sorrows at all, he just wanted to wrap his arms around him and hold him.

Figuring that he would have been too far to apperate Harry had to still be close by to Diagon Alley, if not staying at the Leaky Cauldron. If it was meant to be then he would find him, he had to hold that belief. He yearned for Harry, he needed to be with him. He didn't care what it took, he was going to go and find him.

Grabbing a fist full of floo powder he through it in the fireplace, watching as the brilliantly emerald flames erupted violently in the grate. Throwing himself into them he yelled his destination and was off.

HPDM

Ron had agreed to open and run George's joke shop for the day as a form of apology after how he had acted the previous day. His brother was still not coping well with his twin's death and he hadn't needed Ron fist fighting in front of him to make it any worse. It was at least he could do to make it up to him. It also got Ron out of the Burrow. He was still very much in the dog house when it came to his mother, especially since the news of the fight had been broadcast all over the wireless and would no doubt be in the Prophet this morning too. Ron had been all too happy to escape the confines of his family home for a few hours and do something productive.

He hadn't expected for halfway through his morning to see a mob of rather angry looking witches and wizards screaming and shouting. Seemingly all of their rage focusing on one person and that was when he saw the shock of white blonde hair in the centre of the rabble. Even through the windows of the joke shop he could clearly see that Draco Malfoy was the reason the witches and wizards had formed the mob, their rage focused solely on him.

Ron hesitated, he knew that if he didn't do anything then they would likely kill him, whether it be an accident or not. It would have solved all of their problems but he couldn't do that to Harry. He may not have liked the smarmy bloke but he wasn't cold hearted enough to wish anyone dead, not even Draco Malfoy. A life sentence in Azkaban sure but not dead. Taking a deep breath and trying not to think about what he was about to do he ran out of the shop to intervene.

Pulling at the cloaks of the offending witches and wizards to get to the already bleeding Draco Malfoy who had curled up on himself in an attempt to protect himself from the enraged mob that had accosted him. There was no doubt in either Ron or Draco's mind that this crowds ultimate goal had been to kill him.

The crowds seem to part in shock when they saw who it was intervening with their righteous anger. Ron Weasley was a nationally known war hero for the part he played in defeating Voldemort, just like Hermione was too. People knew who he was and they respected him for what he had done for them in the war. Even harry Potter had admitted that Voldemort would not have fallen without the help of his two best friends.

Reaching the middle, where Draco cowered, his entire body trembling, he began pushing people back, shouting. "I get it, nobody hates this little bastard more than me but you can't just go around beating people to death because of what they've done! Besides if you kill the twat then Harry will be upset and Merlin knows that he's cried enough already. You don't know how miserable it is to watch an orphan cry when everyone he cares about dies!" Ron yelled aggressively, "Now just buggar off the lot of you."

The crowd, somewhat begrudgingly, began to disperse, muttering to themselves with resounding disappointment. The adrenaline pumping through Ron's body, the blood thundering in his ears all began to ease as he saw that the danger was passing. He then turned to the blonde and shook his head, hardly believing what he had just done.

"Fuck," Ron groaned, "Now I have to do something with you Malfoy," He said dragging him into the joke shop by the scruff of his neck, throwing him down upon a chair behind the counter so he could see how badly injured he was.

The crowd it seemed had been too condensed to really do much damage, all of them too intent on killing him to allow anyone else to get close enough to actually do it. They were more likely to have trampled him more than intentionally murdered him. Aside from one gash to the top of his left eyebrow that shone with fresh blood he seemed perfectly alright, if not a little shaken.

"Thank you," Draco said humbly, his eyes on the floor, not daring to look up and meet Ron's eyes. He knew that Ron and Harry had physically fought the day before and there could be no other reason other than him, not when they had been such close friends before.

"Why are you even here Malfoy, do you have a death wish?" Ron snarled.

"I was looking for Harry … I wanted to see him … I missed him." Draco knew that his best chance at surviving Ron's wrath now that he was out of the mobs range was to be honest, to be humble and to grovel. He wasn't too high and mighty to grovel, not anymore.

"Well if you believe the news reports and I guess you do, Harry and Hermione were drinking pretty heavily last night," Ron said glaring down at Malfoy, nothing but abhorrence for him in the hateful stare.

"Do you know where he is?" Draco asked desperately.

"I might have a general idea, but they'll both be sleeping off the after effects of their alcohol intake. It isn't the first time the two of them went off drinking together." Ron admitted still not relaxing his guard.

"Please tell me, I have to see him!" Draco begged, he didn't care how much he humiliated himself, he needed Harry. He would continue to degrade himself by pleading with the red head, no matter how long it took.

"Why should I tell you anything?" Ron sneered in absolute disgust. "Harry is better off without you, you're poison Malfoy, I really don't understand what Harry sees in you. I think you're just using him to save your own skin and that you'll discard him a few weeks down the line when you're sure you won't end up in Azkaban."

"No … I would never, I'd do anything … anything for him," Draco said in a panic. He knew that that had to be what everyone was thinking but it wasn't like that, what they had shared meant more to him than his own life. This was why when the angry mob of witches and wizards had started attacking him he had done nothing to defend himself other than curl up and embrace the pain, feeling as if he deserved it.

"Then prove it!" Ron snarled dangerously.

"How?" Draco asked desperately. Ron meant a lot to Harry, he knew this and didn't want to come between them. He knew his best bet of securing his relationship with Harry was to go through Ron and he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Get creative, think of a way or leave because you clearly don't give a shit about Harry!" Ron demanded heatedly, almost shouting now. He wasn't about to let Draco Malfoy anywhere near his best friend or his girlfriend unless he could prove that he wasn't being a complete bastard and using Harry for his own personal gain.

"I'll make the unbreakable vow," Draco said as the anxiety mounted, stretching out his hand to Ron, all prepared to do it, to make the vow and put his life on the line to prove that he did indeed love Harry and wasn't using him like Ron thought, "I'll make the unbreakable vow that I'll never knowingly hurt or endanger Harry."

"Seriously?" Ron asked a little taken aback by this sudden proposal. He wasn't sure what it was that he had expected from Malfoy but the unbreakable vow had not been high on his list of expectations.

"Yes, I'll make the vow and that way I'll be dead if I break it, it's the only way I can think to prove to you that I'm not using Harry, I love him. I can't live without him. I have to see him. If this is the only way to prove it to you then I'll do it."

"How is it done?" Ron asked as he had never had the need for it previously, he'd only ever heard about it, mainly because Snape had made one to protect Draco. He did vaguely remember that his twin brothers had tried to make him make one when he was five before his father interrupted them but that had been years ago.

"We need a third person, a bonder. The bonders wand needs to be touching our joined hands as the oath is made. Each clause of the vow is agreed and then the vow is sealed as a flame joins the hands of the participants." Draco sounded tired and forlorn as he explained, he had read about them after learning what Severus had done with his mother, the vow that they had made to protect him. He knew the cost of what it entailed, especially if he ever broke it but then if he did then he wouldn't want to live anymore if he ever knowingly hurt or endangered Harry.

"I'm not going to make you do it," Ron said after a moment of hesitation where he actually considered finding a third person, a bonder to solidify the bond. "I swear to Merlin if you ever make me regret it I'll kill you myself," Ron threatened, his tone deadly serious.

"You'll tell me where he is?" Draco asked breathlessly, unable to believe that Ron wasn't about to force him to make the bond when he would have willingly done it to prove himself. He would have done anything.

"I still don't like you Malfoy but I know how much Harry likes you. My mother would kill me if I stopped Harry living the way he wanted to live so yes I'll take you to where I think they are but we'll need to pick up some hang over potions for them as they won't be happy to see us otherwise."

Ron knew the drill, this was the second time that the two of them had gone off to get drunk together. Harry and Hermione were like siblings to one another and sometimes it was the best way to cope with the stress in their lives. He just hoped that she hadn't done anything stupid, the last time she'd almost broken her ankle. He loved her so much, there was no way that he would ever be without her. It was time they made up from their arguments.

"There is one more thing Malfoy, before we go," Ron said as they had stood up to leave. Draco looked at Ron's angry face in terror feeling very much a coward. "If I hear the word mudblood out of your mouth again I swear you'll regret it and I don't care what Harry thinks!" He warned viciously.

"I wouldn't … not since … after my Aunt … on Gra- Hermione … that was when I knew, it didn't matter about blood status. I would give it all up to take back what my Aunt did to her. I lost faith in everything my parents had instilled in me that night."

"And if any deatheather friends of yours, former or otherwise turn up or contact you at all then you have to turn them over to the Auror's, understand?" Draco nodded in agreement, fearful of the red heads temper.

Seemingly satisfied with the answer that Draco had given the two of them, not quite friends but not quite enemies either made their way uncomfortably to the potion shop to buy what they needed for Harry and Hermione who were likely not to welcome intrusions as they nursed their hangover headaches.

Only one more chapter to go! I hope you enjoyed this story! Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from you guys. It makes my day!