Summary: Draco is a Healer, Harry is an Auror. When an accident sends Harry to St Mungo's and into Draco's care they begin to wonder if things can ever go back to the way they were. HarryxDraco slash.
Rating: M
Warnings:angry!Ron, distraught!Ginny (yay!)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings that you recognise; they belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money from this story.
A/N:Well, you all gave me such amazing reviews (for the most part anyway. If you have something constructive to add, by all means let me know. If you have a random opinion about something irrelevant to the plot, that in no way hinders the way the story is going, please keep it to yourself. It doesn't allow me to improve my writing, it just serves to piss me off) and I felt so bad for leaving you with such a huge cliffhanger that I decided to give you an early update. How nice am I? x
Chapter Nine: Three Out of Five Ain't Bad
There was a long pause in which neither Harry nor Ginny made any attempt to speak. Slowly, Ginny took a step back, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. She was trembling and trying desperately to focus on anything but her husband. Harry knew that this was the moment that would turn his life upside down. He should have taken her into his arms and apologised for his awful timing, stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. He should have told her that he never regretted a second of their time together and that he never meant for things to end this way. He watched as her shoulders began to shake and he knew that he should have wiped away the tears that were now leaving wet, salty trails on her pretty face. He should have done something, anything, to soften the blow of his words and lessen the pain that she was undoubtedly feeling at that moment. He didn't. Instead, he turned on his heel and left the marquee without a word, Ginny's anguished sobs ringing out across the dancefloor.
He walked quickly, almost running, but he heard his name being called. He turned to see Ron running towards him and his instincts were screaming at him to move, to just get away before he caught up with him, but he ignored his gut feeling and stood his ground. Whatever Ron was going to dish out, Harry more than deserved.
"What the fuck, Harry?!" Ron yelled. He shoved him hard, causing him to stumble backwards.
"Ron, I -"
"What the hell has gotten into you?!" the redhead's face was contorted with rage and he looked as though he wanted to punch him. "Ginny's in there sobbing her heart out! She can't even speak!"
"I -"
"You've ruined my brother's wedding!" he bellowed, shoving him again, this time knocking him to the ground. "How could you do that to George? How could you do that to your wife?! The woman that you supposedly love!"
"But I don't love her!" Harry cried, looking up at his best friend. "And I'm sorry that I ruined the wedding but I just sort of blurted it out! I never wanted meant it to happen this way," he sighed, dropping his head into his hands. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm so sorry."
Ron stared at his oldest friend in shock. He loved Harry like a brother and he knew that he would never intentionally hurt anybody, but he was still furious with him. He sat down on the grass beside his fellow Gryffindor and they gazed into the distance for what seemed like hours. Harry watched with silent tears rolling down his cheeks as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, casting a rosy golden glow on the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. He could feel Ron watching him but he couldn't bring himself to look his best friend in the eye.
"Maybe it's just the stress of your jobs," he said quietly, pulling at the hem of his robes. "You both work long hours, maybe you just don't see each other enough."
"It's not that. I've been unhappy for a long time, long before Gin was made captain."
"Oh. Well, maybe if you make more time for each other, things will go back to the way they were," he suggested hopefully.
"I doubt it."
"Maybe if -"
"There's someone else," Harry said dully.
Silence fell once more and neither man looked at one another. Ron knew that he should have been outraged that his best friend was cheating on his little sister but he knew how sensitive Harry was and he knew from experience how difficult Ginny was to live with. She was loud and unreasonable and, if he was honest with himself, it was a miracle that they had lasted as long as they had. Ron lifted an arm and slung it around Harry's shoulders, pulling him into a rough hug. If a relationship is not meant to be, saying the wrong thing or nothing at all can be all it takes to end it. If you are lucky, you'll find a relationship so strong that no words are necessary. Harry and Ron's was the latter.
-x-
Harry stared at the ceiling in the darkness, listening to Draco's light breathing. He loved the feeling of sleeping beside him, his warm and comforting weight just inches away. He turned onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, gazing down at his lover's sleeping form. His eyes were closed and he looked like an angel, with his pale skin almost luminescent in the dark and his halo of blonde hair glinting in the moonlight. Harry smiled and buried his face in Draco's chest, inhaling deeply.
"I love you," he murmured, closing his eyes and pulling him closer.
Draco, who had been pretending to be asleep, opened his eyes and prayed that the Gryffindor could not hear his rapidly accelerating heartbeat. Had Harry just said that he loved him? It certainly sounded like it. Yet he had said it thinking that he was asleep, so maybe he wasn't ready for Draco to know. The blonde's mind immediately went to war, with half of him wanting desperately to say it back, and the other half trying to be respectful of Harry's boundaries. In the end, he grudgingly chose the second option. He tried his best to lie perfectly still and, a few minutes later, the sound of Harry's breathing deepening alerted him to the fact that his boyfriend had finally fallen asleep. After two hours of fighting consciousness to no avail, he threw on his tracksuit and went for a run, leaving Harry snoring quietly into his pillow.
-x-
A week had passed since The Incident, as Hermione referred to it, and Harry couldn't face Flooing in sick again. Not that Kingsley was upset – Ron had explained everything to him and the Minister had personally owled Harry with his condolences regarding his marriage and urging him to take as much time as he needed – but Harry felt terrible. There were only five months until he and Ron would graduate from the Auror training programme and these final few units were incredibly important. They would be studying four five-week blocks of various advanced subjects, the first being Potions. He had to admit, he was feeling a little gun-shy after the debacle with Ron's last attempt at potion-making but it was an essential unit if he wanted to sit his final exams in June. The written part was taken at the beginning of summer and only if your mark was Exceeds Expectations or above would you be put forward for the practical section of the exam, which took place in August. Harry surveyed Draco over his breakfast.
"What?" Draco asked, not looking up from the Prophet.
"Nothing," Harry busied himself with buttering another slice of toast.
"Spit it out," Draco was not a morning person. Harry didn't think it helped that he refused to eat anything before noon, but he would never voice this opinion for fear of ending up on the wrong end of his boyfriend's wand.
"Would you like a piece of toast?" the Gryffindor asked timidly, gesturing towards the plate in front of him.
"You know that I can only handle black coffee in the morning," the blonde snapped. "Now, why are you staring at me?"
"No reason," he replied through a mouthful of scrambled egg, earning him a disapproving glare from Draco. "It's just work stuff, it can wait."
Draco's expression softened. "I know you're worried about your exams but I know you'll do brilliantly."
"I not so sure. Our next topic is Potions," he said gloomily, pushing his food around with his fork.
"I thought that you'd covered Potions already," Draco replied, looking puzzled.
"We do it every year but this year we've had two blocks of it already and one more to go. I'm shit with Potions and you should see what they've set for this unit. Some of the stuff they have us making is ridiculous," the brunette moaned. "I just know that I'm going to fail."
"Well..." Draco wasn't about to argue the fact that Harry was terrible at this particular subject; six years of shared lessons had shown him no evidence to the contrary. "I do happen to know the head of the Potions department at St Mungos and I'm pretty sure that he'd be willing to help you for a very reasonable price."
"Hmm, is that right?" Harry grinned and leaned across the table. "And would this friend of yours be willing to accept sexual favours as payment?"
Draco smirked and leaned closer, his mouth against Harry's ear. "You know, I think he just might."
Kissing him, Harry stood and grabbed his bag. "Thank you, it would help a lot if you walked me through everything."
"Not a problem," Draco smiled as he reached for his coffee mug. "Have a good day at work."
Harry turned and walked towards the fireplace, secretly thinking that he couldn't fail to have a good day after seeing the Slytherin's beautiful smile. How he had known him for eleven years, lived with him for six, and never seen that smile, he had no idea. Draco Malfoy's smile was a sight to behold and he had to work very hard to stop himself from grinning like an idiot as he made his way through the Ministry corridors.
"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed loudly in the huge Atrium and Harry turned around, embarrassed to see that everyone had turned to stare at him.
"Shhh! Yes, it's me," he laughed, pressing the button for the lift. The taller man caught up with him easily and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Merlin, it's good at have you back, mate!"
"I've only been away for a week!" a quiet ping announced the arrival of the lift and they stepped inside. "It feels like it's been longer than that though."
"Yeah, I know. We missed you yesterday," Ron looked at him sadly. Every week, the Weasley family had a Sunday roast at the Burrow and almost everyone made the effort to go. It was lovely to see everyone and talk about the previous week over Molly's excellent cooking, and Harry had felt supremely sorry for himself as he tucked into a grilled cheese sandwich the previous night.
"I missed everyone too," he admitted. "How's Ginny?"
"Not great, mate," Ron replied quietly. "She's moved back in with Mum and Dad."
"Oh," he didn't know what else to say to that. He had assumed that she would be staying at number twelve.
"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services," a cool, female voice announced and the lift shuddered to a halt, the doors sliding open.
"Where are you staying now then?" Ron asked as they hurried down the corridor to the training rooms.
"Sorry?"
"Ginny mentioned that she'd gone to pick up some stuff and it didn't look like you'd been back at all," Ron shrugged. "I thought it seemed a bit odd but 'Mione said not to bring it up. She doesn't seem all that worried to be honest."
"Oh. I'm just staying at a... friend's house," he said vaguely, not looking at him.
"Oh right, cool. Anyone I know?" Ron asked, looking slightly relieved.
Harry bit his lip. He knew that there was no point in lying to his best friend as they were friends with the same people and it would very quickly get back to Ron that he was not, in fact, staying with Seamus or Dean or Neville or any of Ron's brothers. He took a quick look around before pulling Ron into an empty office and casting a Silencing Charm on the door. "Do you promise not to be pissed off?"
Ron looked worried as he took a seat on an empty desk. "o...kay... what is it?"
"I'm serious. You're not going to like what I'm about to say and you have to promise not to get angry or hex me or punch me. Okay?"
"I promise," Ron frowned. "What have you done?"
Harry took a deep breath. "I'm staying with Malfoy."
Ron was silent for a moment, no doubt trying to decide if Harry was joking or not. Apparently he settled on not.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Malfoy?!" he cried, jumping up.
"I told you that you weren't going to like it," Harry took a step back, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Ron's fist as he could.
"Not like it? Harry, I don't like when Danny draws on the wall and I don't like blackcurrant jam on my toast. I HATE Draco Malfoy to hell and back!" he said, his ears beginning to turn red. "Never mind not liking him!"
"Ron, please just hear me out," Harry looked at him pleadingly.
"Harry, if you need somewhere to stay, you just have to ask! 'Mione and I would love have you and I'm sure Danny wouldn't mind seeing more of you, either."
"That's very kind of you to offer but you've got issues with space as it is. There's hardly room to swing a kneazle in your flat!"
Ron ignored this and tried a different approach. "I suppose you're going to tell me that he's changed and that he's not the same smug, slimy little arrogant prick that he was five years ago?"
"Well, yes. He's great, actually, and nothing like he was at school," Harry said defensively. "He's a Healer at St Mungos now. He treated me after you nearly killed me," he added with a grin.
Ron didn't smile, however. "How can you trust him?"
"I just can. I swear, he is a completely different person now. I think you could really like him if you gave him a chance," Harry said gently. Ron snorted, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "ferret".
"Well, do you know what, Ron? You can say what you like but it won't change my mind about him," Harry saw no point in keeping anything else hidden from his best friend. It would only serve to make things worse when it all came out in the future. "Do you remember at the wedding when I told you that there was someone else? It's Draco. That's who I was seeing behind Ginny's back."
Ron's face turned a violent shade of magenta and he looked as though he was about to throw up. "Are you... are you still together?"
"Yes, we are. And I've never been happier," Harry watched as Ron fell backwards into a vacant chair, his eyes glazed over. "I know you're angry and I don't expect you to accept this right away but I'm tired of lying to everyone. I'm with Draco and I think he's amazing. I hope that, one day, you will think so too."
With that, he turned on his heel and marched over to the door, tapping the lock with his wand. He pulled the handle and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found himself caught in a fierce embrace, his cheek pressed awkwardly against Ron's shoulder.
"I'm sorry for being a dick. I know it must have been really hard going through this by yourself," Ron said quietly, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I know we don't really do the mushy friend stuff but I just want to say that I'm here for you. I know you must have felt like you couldn't talk to anyone because we're all so close with Ginny."
Harry felt a rush of affection for Ron. He took a step back and looked up into his ocean blue eyes, which were looking suspiciously watery. He conjured a tissue. "Hayfever season again, eh?" he remarked, as the redhead blew his nose. "They need to stop cutting the grass so early in the morning."
Ron looked at him thankfully and mumbled something indiscernible as they made their way out of the room and down the corridor. Harry clapped him on the back and grinned, feeling as though he was walking on air. He had an amazing boyfriend, the best friends in the entire world and he was well on his way to having his dream job. Nothing could bring him down today, not even the mountain of paperwork on his desk or five years of marriage going down the shitter. As the saying goes, three out of five ain't bad.
-x-
A/N: Wow, what a cheesy way to end that chapter. I think I just coined my own phrase! Anyway, please review! And please don't be put off by my rant at the beginning of the chapter, I've just been plagued with people chiming in with little criticisms about minor non-plot-related details and it really bugs me. I love hearing what you guys have to say. Cookies to the best reviewer! The one to try and beat is Riyan, she's always my best reviewer *grins*