Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Dedicated to kati'mtl for sparking my thoughts for this chap.

My Heart, My Soul

Albus couldn't help but be amused at the way their assigned healer was fussing over him while minutes before the woman had gone about checking over Scorpius in the most detached and professional of ways. In his case she'd offered to get him more pillow or blankets if he wanted them, had adjusted his covers for him without being asked, and had just plain been the most hospitable of hosts where he was concerned. Of course the fact that Scorpius hated being confined to a hospital bed even more than he did and it showed probably didn't help matters.

But that was his favorite Slytherin, never nice unless it was in his best interest to be.

When she was finally convinced that she couldn't do anything for him she told them both that she'd turn their light off when she left and that they were to go to sleep and in the morning they'd be able to go home unless one of them had a relapse.

"Will there be some annoying person waking us up during the night?" Scorpius wanted to know, his voice suggesting that he might just curse anyone who dared to interrupt his sleep.

Stiffly the healer informed him that the bracelets they wore around their wrists would alert the healer running the main desk if their blood pressures should soar which would indicate that the antidote they'd been given hadn't done its job and signal the need for help. No one would be waking them up unless there was reason to do so.

It went without saying that there wasn't a healer in the building who would willing wake the Slytherin up against his will.

"I see. Then thank you very much for all your hard work on our account today. We both hope the rest of your evening goes well." Which hopefully would be the case once she didn't have to deal with Scorpius, Albus silently added with a smile.

The woman's face made it clear that she knew Malfoy didn't wish any such thing and Albus was just being polite, but she wished them both good night and then vacated the room, turning the light off as promised before firmly closing the door behind her.

Once the sound of her footsteps had faded away Scorpius pushed aside his own covers and carefully slid out of bed, grateful that he felt perfectly fine. They'd both tried to talk the healers into letting them go earlier, but they'd insisted on them staying overnight, just in case. Albus's mother had declared that her son was staying, and since there was no way he was leaving the place without his partner he'd stopped badgering the staff as well and had resigned himself to staying. About them leaving that was. He'd enjoyed picking on them earlier about other things just to amuse himself. There wasn't a lot to do after all, and the constant stream of visitors there to see Albus had gotten annoying.

And while they could keep him in the hospital they damn well couldn't keep him out of his lover's bed, Scorpius thought with a wolfish smile.

Shifting over on his side Albus smiled as he felt his partner climb into his bed, fitting their bodies together with the Slytherin's arm coming around to rest over his waist in a protective gesture. "Careful." Albus teased, eyes closed in contentment. "She said high blood pressure would bring the healers running."

Chuckling, Scorpius slid his hand under the man's thin pajama top so that he could spread his fingers over the warm skin there. "We should have asked her how high our blood pressure has to get before they'll interrupt us."

"Hindsight's a bitch." Albus agreed, wiggling back to get closer to his lover and tease a bit more. "But we better behave so that they'll let us out of here in the morning. Dad said we're off for a week on medical leave since they want us taking it easy…so that's seven days we're under ORDERS to be in bed."

"I don't think your father meant it that way, Partner."

"Then he should have been more specific, shouldn't he?"

All but purring in agreement Scorpius had to admit that he did indeed like the sound of spending an entire week in bed with his Gryffindor. Unfortunately there was still one cloud on the horizon and he wasn't going to sleep well until it was dealt with. "We'll be able to charge him for his attack on your cousin, but we still don't have enough proof on the other counts. He could walk on those."

As much as it stuck in his craw Albus knew that to be true. "So far no one's been able to figure out how to undo what Louis did, or if they can they aren't saying since everyone knows he's the reason we're in the hospital and Louis almost got a bad facial. You heard my dad say that the guy can't even eat normally and is having breathing problems because of how messed up his face is. They're feeding him intravenously, and they'll make sure he gets oxygen, but who would want to live like that? Maybe he'll break in exchange for the damage being undone. He doesn't know that Louis has no idea how to fix the damage."

Actually he rather liked the idea of the man continuing to look like road kill for the rest of his cursed existence, but Scorpius was willing to settle for the man being behind bars if that was a possibility. "I bet your cousin Hugo could figure out how to fix the guy. Or Dumbledore." It went without saying that both geniuses would probably be able to solve the problem without significant trouble given time, though neither would probably be forthcoming about their findings unless it would put the man in jail as a result. Both men loved Albus quite a lot.

"Are you actually acknowledging the intelligence of one of my relatives?"

"I won't be making a habit of it but yes, in this case."

"Somewhere in the world a pig is taking flight." The humor in Albus's voice rang out loud and clear, though he knew better than to push it. "And on that positive note you and I really should be turning in. We aren't going to be able to help out the investigation on our down time if we're sleep deprived."

"We're supposed to be resting for the week, not investigating." Scorpius pointed out, his next words anticipating his partner's. "But that's never stopped us before, right?"

"Right."

)

Louis's flat was currently smelling like a very well stocked garden, which meant he couldn't be inside his place without thinking about a certain Slytherin. And unfortunately he loved all his flowers too much to get rid of them just because they made him itchy for the other man for reasons he'd rather not think about. Not that any of the flowers were from the man he was sorta sleeping with, the Gryffindor thought darkly as he fingered a nearby petal. Despite the man's profession Rorake had yet to so much as give him a single posy of any sort, which was just one more big black mark he could put beside the infuriating man's name.

It was so ridiculously easy to come up with black marks though, so that didn't please him the way it normally would.

He was still stewing over that fact when his doorbell rang, drawing his attention to the fact that he might be getting another delivery, which wouldn't be a good thing since he was running out of places to put all the flower arrangements, Louis thought as he headed towards the door. It was actually getting sort of ridiculous since he hadn't even been injured. His mind boggled if he tried to think about how much more he would have gotten if that were the case.

Checking who it was before opening the door, he'd promised Uncle Harry to do so, Louis couldn't open the door fast enough, a smug grin in place as he took in the large bouquet of very exotic looking flowers Rorake Goyle was holding in his manly arms.

"You brought me flowers."

"I'm delivering flowers to you from someone else." Rorake corrected, amused by the way the blonde's face immediately fell. "A number of florist shops I sell flowers to have suddenly been upping their orders because of a sudden, unexpected demand. At my last delivery the owner was going a little nuts because he was going to be late for dinner if he didn't close up and head home instead of delivering this as promised. To make a long story short word has gotten around London that you and I are seeing each other and he asked if I wouldn't mind delivering this to you."

Sighing in disappointment that the flowers weren't from the Slytherin, Louis moved off to the side, motioning with his hand for the other man to come in.

Walking in Rorake waited until the blonde had closed the door before following him into the front parlor, whistling under his breath as he got a look at all the flower arrangements already set out. "I see that a number of my flowers have ended up here. Thanks for the business."

"You can put it down there." Louis informed him, pointing towards his coffee table. He'd move it later when he figured out where he actually wanted it. Or he could take a bunch of them to St. Mungos, ask the healers to distribute them to people who didn't have anyone to give them something similar to brighten up their stay at the hospital.

Setting them down where the man wanted them Rorake fiddled with the flowers a little and then straightened, once again surveying the room with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "And you got all these without getting a scratch on you. I'd go out of business if someone ever seriously hurt you, wouldn't I?"

"There certainly wouldn't be any left over for the funeral of the guy who messed me up, that's for sure. Not that anyone would want to buy flowers for him, since he'd be one of the most hated men in Britain at the time. Or hated woman, since they tend to be more vicious and inclined to wreck my face than men. They'd be more likely to succeed too." Louis added thoughtfully.

The blonde would know given he had two older sisters, and Rorake was happy not to know as an only child. "Well this should make you feel better about almost getting your face messed up."

"They aren't all from my admirers, I'll have you know. At least half of them are from people who are grateful I took out the guy who tried to kill Al. And Malfoy." The Gryffindor tacked on as an afterthought.

"Yeah, I'm sure the Wizarding World is real thankful you stopped the guy from having another chance at doing Scorpius in." Rorake drawled out with a smirk. " Anyway, I should be going. I'm sure you have loads of things to do."

Actually he didn't have any plans for the evening, but he wasn't about to tell the other man that.

"I'll show you out."

"No need, I know the way." Turning to leave Rorake faked a thoughtful pause, and then turned around, reaching inside his leather jacket to the large pocket hidden inside. Withdrawing the rolled up present he'd brought in with him the Slytherin took aim and threw it at the startled Gryffindor, who just managed to grab it before it hit him in the nose.

"You just threw something at my face." Louis hissed out through clenched teeth, not even looking at what that something was as he glared daggers at the other man.

Rocking back on his heels Rorake just smiled congenially. "You should look at what it is before you totally blow your top, Freckles."

"What did you just call me?"

"Nothing."

Fuming Louis's gaze dropped down, frowning when he realized that he was holding black material rolled up and tied with a blue ribbon. Undoing the ribbon, which he stuck in his trouser pocket, the Gryffindor shook out the 'gift' to discover that he was holding a T-shirt. Turning it over so that he was looking at the front Louis's eyebrows rose as he took in the fact that there were words written on the front of the vee neck in large, white letters.

'Traumatizing People Since 2006'

Lips twitching Louis looked up to meet Rorake's gaze, struggling and failing to keep a straight face. "I have not been traumatizing people since I was born, I'll have you know."

"I wouldn't count on that."

Unable not to laugh over the shirt Louis grinned and rushed over to throw his arms around the man's neck, giving his Slytherin one hell of a thank you kiss.

This was definitely a big check mark in the man's favor no question about it.

)

Working away at his desk Harry looked up at the sound of knocking at his door, calling out for whoever it was to enter. His smile of greeting for his secretary turned to one of surprise when he informed him that not only did he have a visitor, but that that visitor was apparently the mother of the man who'd tried to kill his son two days ago. And while it wasn't unusual for a parent of a criminal to come by and demand the release of their 'innocent' offspring, they usually came with lawyers and issuing all sorts of legal and personal threats. Mrs. Santana was apparently sitting patiently in his waiting room, alone, and composed.

So the mother was as tough a customer as her son, Harry thought as he informed his secretary that he'd see the woman now.

Rising from his chair Harry rounded his desk to greet the woman, finding her handshake to be a solid one, the air of quiet elegance around her reminding him a bit of Teddy's grandmother as he motioned for her to take a seat and then returned to his own.

"Obviously you're here about your son, Mrs. Santana. What would you like to discuss?"

"You have locked my son up without any concrete proof that he has done any of the things you and your press are accusing him of." She stated in heavily accented English, her gaze unflinching.

"No, Ma'am. Your son has been arrested and charged for crimes we can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt he committed. We cannot, as yet, prove that he is responsible for the murders of two politicians and the attempted murders of two of my aurors, but we can prove he attempted to cause permanent, disfiguring harm to my nephew, Louis Weasley."

"The same sort of harm he potentially caused my son."

"In defense of himself and others." Harry returned just as quickly, wanting her to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that her son would be punished with the maximum sentence for every crime they could think to throw his way if that was the only way to get some justice for the victims they had yet to be able to tie to David Santana. "As for your son's injuries we do have people looking into reversing the effects of the spell, but to be blunt I don't think their hearts are really in it. People in this country tend to take a dim view on individuals who attempt to kill members of my family."

Heat flashed in the older woman's eyes for a moment and then was banked down. "I am aware of what you did for this country, Mr. Potter. I know I am in the presence of a hero, and under normal circumstances I would be honored to meet you. But these are not normal circumstances and you are responsible for locking away my son, for smearing his honor. These are things I cannot forgive you for."

A considering look came into Harry's eyes. "You love your son very much, don't you, Mrs. Santana."

"Of course. He is my heart."

Reaching out the Gryffindor grasped a frame from the corner of his desk, studying it for a moment before he turned it so that she could see the family portrait. "This is my family. My heart. My reason for living." Holding the frame with one hand Harry pointed to his youngest son with the other. "This is my son Albus, though we often call him Al. He's a couple years younger than your David. He's just recently gotten together with the love of his life, and their life together as a couple is just starting. Two days ago your son tried to end his life, to end them. To eradicate all that they are and could be together for reasons I don't know, but I know he did. You say you know about me, so you know what I've lost. Who I've lost. So you can understand, though never enough because you can't unless it's happened to you, why it is that I will not allow your son to go unpunished for what he did. I will protect my son, just as you are trying to protect yours. Because that's what we as parents are supposed to do. And in this case you need to protect David from himself by making him see the dishonor he's brought on himself and his family, to accept punishment for his actions so that he can pay for them as an honorable man should. I taught my children that they're accountable for the decisions they make in this life, and that that goes for everyone, not just them."

The woman was silent for a long time and then she asked a final question. "You truly believe, without question, that my son has done the things you accuse him of?"

"I do."

"Then it is not you I need to speak to. It is him."