CHAPTER SIX

Draco was a little hesitant when he entered the room, but he felt his heart warm immediately when the brunet greeted him with a wide smile, his old glasses slightly crooked on his face. The blond closed the door behind himself and made a quick detour to manually pick up a chair before approaching the bed. Every second he could gain before talking to Harry was worth pursuing.

"Hey." Green eyes gleamed when they met silver.

"Hi." Draco replied quietly, and took the hand the other man extended to him, holding it fondly between both of his. Even after so long, there was a profound familiarity in the gesture.

"How you've been? They told me I was out for... a while."

Draco tried to smile. "Ten years is not a while, Potter."

"Ten years?" He asked, surprised. "They said it'd been a long time, but... Wow."

"Honestly, every damn healer in this country was sure you wouldn't wake up anymore, after so long." He couldn't help the tears starting to pool in his eyes, and angrily brushed them away. I am a Malfoy, he reminded himself. "I was really surprised when they told me you were up."

"Well, I should've guessed it'd been longer than they told me. You're looking old, Malfoy."

The blond frowned for a moment before chuckling. "It seems ten years weren't enough to improve your sense of humor after all."

"Yeah." He smiled, and for long minutes they just looked at each other fondly. "What... What happened?"

"You don't... remember?" Draco asked hesitantly, trying to let go of the hand he was still holding, but the brunet stopped him.

"Nothing. Last thing I remember... Ginny was bugging me about planning the Halloween party at our new place. It was still weeks away, but she insisted we sorted out every last detail beforehand." He smiled at the memory, then frowned his brows. "Talking about her, where is she? I figured she'd be the first they'd call when I woke up." He said, thoughtful. "Not that I'm not thrilled to have you here." He added quickly at the playful reproaching look he got.

"Well... It was pretty bad." Draco started, a lump forming in his throat. He swallowed hard, but it didn't seem to change much. "It was just before Halloween. I guess you got the details sorted out, because you and Weasley went shopping in Diagon Alley."

"Shopping?" He raised a surprised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. I know you hate it, and I don't know how many times I stressed that you shouldn't be in public any more than you absolutely have to." Green eyes smiled apologetically. "Well, anyway. Jamie and Al were sick, so they stayed at your place with mother-Weasley. You and Weasley were having ice-cream, which is insane, because it had already snowed that year, and that day was freezing cold and-" He stopped himself at the arched brow he received. "Sorry." He said quietly, taking a deep breath. "You were at Fortescue's, and then... There was some sort of attack. One minute everything was perfectly peaceful, the other half the street had been blown up and walls were falling left and right. A group of Death Eaters who got away were seeking revenge. They said you sent for your auror friends, but when they arrived, it was too late."

He nodded, trying to process the information. "What about Ginny?"

"She... Someone hit their target, Harry. She died instantly."

The shock in Harry's eyes was palpable, and the blond had to fight his breath increasing in frequency in reaction to the pain in his chest. Why did it have to be him to tell? Why couldn't Harry just remember it?

They spent long minutes in silence, Draco caressing gently the back of the brunet's hand, but Harry didn't seem aware of it. His eyes were fixed somewhere on the wall ahead of him, his brain fighting the information he'd been given. It couldn't be true, and yet... He knew Draco wouldn't lie to him. Not about that, not anymore.

"What about... What about the kids?" He asked weakly, finally meeting the silver orbs.

"They're fine." Draco forced a smile, trying to focus on the fact that this part was good news. "They're all at Hogwarts now, and according to someone's instructions, they've been living with me."

Harry smiled faintly in return. "So you really did take them in?"

"I promised you I would. I just wish you could've given me the heads up before."

"What, that I'd be attacked and spend 10 years in a coma?" He joked, even though his heart was bleeding with the words he didn't dare say: and Ginny would be dead.

"No, you idiot. That you were going to make it formal, have a will filed with the Ministry."

"Oh, that. It was a bit of a whim, really. But it was a nice touch, don't you think?"

Draco made a face at him, and Harry relaxed a little. "Sure, what better way to start a war between the Malfoys and the Weasleys than to take the kids away from their godparents and give them to me?"

"I thought it might be a bit challenging for them, that's why I kept it a secret. But it seems things worked out alright, right?"

"We ended up in court three times in the meantime, but sure, things worked out fine."

"You actually fought for my kids?" He asked, surprised.

"Of course I did. I keep my word, don't you know that already?"

Harry smiled, reaching his free hand to caress the blond's cheek, whose eyes fluttered shut in reaction to the gentle touch. "You're the one I trust the most, so it was pretty obvious to me that you'd be assigned that task." He said quietly as he pulled away.

Draco just smiled in reply.

The two held their gaze for another moment, but loud voices outside the room caught their attention and, as their hands slipped apart, a swarm of redheads joined them, talking loudly and excitedly. The two men exchanged a quick glance as Draco got up, and the green eyes were still on the blond's figure when the man shut the door behind himself.

"What was that loser doing here, Harry?" Ron asked, making a face and taking the now vacant seat beside his bed.

"Heard I was awake and came to see how I was doing." He answered honestly, the loud noises giving him the beginning of a headache.

"What does he care?"

"He's my friend, Ron." He insisted.

"Yeah, so we've heard. What's up with nominating him as guardian instead of us, mate?" There was a slightly annoyed tone in his voice, but the redhead couldn't really be angry with the man still in a hospital bed.

"I had my reasons."

Ron was about to continue with his questions, but was interrupted by the other people in the room, all parroting versions of the same usual questions, how Harry was feeling, did he remember anything, what had the healers said. The brunet gave them an overview of the situation, but neglected to tell them he'd only just found out through Draco what had happened, instead letting them believe he remembered and throwing the topic off the table. After several minutes of conversation, he claimed a headache and all his guests promptly offered to leave.

The tears only came once he was alone.

Lily was again sitting by a window in a deserted corridor when the owl found her, carrying a letter from home. She was decided to finish the chapter she was reading before giving the animal any attention, so by the time she retrieved her letter, the left hand she was using to keep the animal at bay was rather bloody and sore.

"Okay, okay, I'll get the letter already..." She muttered, retrieving the envelope. As soon as she got her message, the bird took flight and disappeared through an open window.

The redhead girl opened her correspondence carelessly, having recognized Draco's handwriting on the address. The letter wasn't half a page long, but contained unexpected news about her father. She spent a few minutes staring at the carefully drawn lines of text before folding up the parchment and tucking it away in a pocket before retrieving her book and losing herself in it again.

Albus and Scorpius were on their way back from the library when the rustle of wings caught their attention - as well as that of every other student in the packed hallway - and the blond expertly retrieved the letter the owl dropped over their heads. Running his eyes through the familiar handwriting, he offered it to the brunet.

It only took Albus a few seconds to read through the short message, and then the boy looked up incredulously at the blond.

"What?"

"My father's awake." He replied quietly.

"Harry Potter?" He asked, even though they couldn't be talking about anyone else.

Albus nodded in reply.

"Oh, wow."

"I know."

"Now what?"

"Dunno." The brunet shrugged and picked up his pace. "What I do know is that we still have a lot to study for our midterms next week."

"Tell me about it."

At the same time, James was sitting by the fire in his Common Room, and would've missed the owl addressed to him altogether if his friend Addison hadn't happened to look up to the window when she did, as she battled her textbook. The loud noise of conversation and occasional bang of a game of Exploding Snap camouflaged the sound of the bird hitting the glass with its beak. Recognizing the animal, she retrieved the letter and handed it to James.

The boy read the message quickly and, evidently annoyed, crumpled letter and envelope into a ball and tossed them into the fire.

"What was that all about?" Chase asked, frowning.

"Nothing important." He mumbled. After a minute, he threw the textbook he was trying to read into his backpack and stood up. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He announced as he walked away without looking back.

Draco had meant to visit Harry the following day, and perhaps every other day until the brunet was discharged, but he was somewhat afraid of running into the redheads and saying something to upset Harry, so he allowed himself to be buried by work, only leaving his office to eat and sleep.

On the other hand, he was also worried because it'd been a few days already, and he still hadn't gotten any sort of reply from the children about the letters he shipped off when he returned from the hospital. He wasn't sure they'd take the news all too well.

So as the blond walked across the hospital, making his way to Harry's room, he was rehearsing all his excuses in his head, to make sure the brunet wouldn't see past them. As he turned a corner and made it for the door, he ran into a healer who asked him if he was visiting Harry. Though incredibly offended by the man's intrusion, he did his best to be polite as he replied affirmatively.

"I wouldn't go in if I were you. He's been categorically refusing to see anyone, and to eat and sleep. He just stays like that all day, and doesn't respond to anything anyone says. Between you and me, I think all that time in a coma made his head go cuckoo. " The man accompanied the suggestion with the characteristic gesture before walking away.

Wondering why nobody had told him about it - and then bitterly remembering nobody considered him to be anything to Harry -, he went into the room carefully, closing the door behind himself before turning to the bed.

Harry was lying on his side, his knees against his chest and his arms around them, his face hidden away. Draco called his name a couple of times as he walked closer, but there was no reaction. Suddenly very worried, he hurried his last steps and gently rest one hand on the man's shoulder while whispering his name.

"No!"

Draco jumped back, surprised at the reaction. But he was decided to get to the bottom of whatever it was.

"Talk to me, Potter." He demanded as authoritatively as he could, but got no reaction in return. "Talk to me, you stubborn idiot! What happened to you?"

Harry remained in silence and perfectly still if not for the constant rise and fall of his chest in response to his breathing.

Unsure how to proceed, the blond decided to go with a more direct approach and, knowing the brunet would reject it, he just the same put both his arms around him and pulled Harry against his chest as strongly as he could, struggling to maintain his grip against the fight the other was putting up.

"No! Let me go! Get out of here! I don't want anybody in here! Let - me - go!"

"No, Harry." He replied quietly in return, his breath caressing the brunet's ear. "I'm not going anywhere until I'm certain you're better. I won't let you push me away."

Though Harry didn't reply, his struggles only ceased a few minutes later, when they were substituted by a waterfall of tears which, for long minutes, the blond feared would never end. But eventually all tears dry, and when the brunet was finally done, he slowly let go of his own knees, and Draco immediately sat down on the newly created space in the bed, all the while careful not the let the brunet go. He pulled Harry's legs onto his lap, and the other man immediately hid his face on the curve of Draco's neck.

"Can you tell me what happened, Harry?" He asked gently, caressing the ever-rebellious brown locks.

Harry sniffed in reply, and the blond waited patiently until the other man was ready. "She's dead." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It's my fault. I should've protected her. I should've-"

"Shh, it wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault."

"Of course it was. I vowed to protect her and-"

"You were ambushed, Potter. Seriously outnumber, and yet you managed to hold your ground until just before the aurors arrived. You two knocked out a whole lot of them, and now they're all rotting in Azkaban."

"Still, I ... I should've..."

"It wasn't your fault. There was nothing anyone could've done." He said firmly.

"I... I should've told her, Draco. About... Us. I... I let her die believing a lie, a huge lie. I... She had the right to know."

"I know, Harry. I know it's hard to know you'll never be able to come clean, but I'm certain she was a happier person to believe that lie."

"How could she? I... I betrayed her. I... Didn't love her like she deserved, she deserved so much better than me."

"You were the only one she wanted, and she died a happy person for believing she had you."

"You really think so?" He asked hesitantly, looking up to Draco. His moist green eyes shone in the artificial light of the room.

Draco nodded, and Harry rest his head against the blond again. "You know, Jamie used to believe Ginny was in Heaven. And I'm sure that, if there is a Heaven, she's there, and she's forgiven you, Harry. And she would want you to do the same."

The blond felt the smile that spread through Harry's lips. "I really think she'd be in Heaven." He whispered quietly. "Though I'm sure she was a handful to whoever decides who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell." He giggled softly, and Draco smiled.

"I'm sure of it." He agreed, and the two remained in silence for a few minutes, the blond's hand mindlessly drawing circles on Harry's back.

After a while, their breaths fell into synchrony, and just as Draco started wondering if the other man had fallen asleep, he felt soft kisses bathing the side of his neck, lazily crawling up to his ear. He could barely suppress the moan that formed in his throat; after so long without that caress, he seemed hyper-sensitive to it. But however much he wanted it, he forced himself not to give in, gently pushing Harry away with one hand.

"What?" The brunet asked, slightly disappointed. "Don't you like that any-"

He shook his head, and the other man stopped talking. "That's not it, Potter. I love that, and I can barely wait to be with you, but not... not like this, not right now."

Harry nodded weakly, and leaned his head on the blond's shoulder again. As easy as it would be to just get lost in sex, he understood that moment was about emotion, not sex. And Draco was probably right, it would only spoil things. But that knowledge didn't quite make up for his frustration for being interrupted.

"Tell me about the kids?" He asked softly after a couple of minutes.

"They're all grown up." Draco replied with a smile. "You'd be proud of them, they're all good kids. Probably a whole lot different than you imagined they'd be, but..." He let his voice trail off.

"But what?" Harry insisted, curious.

"But they're good kids."

"I'm sure you did a great job of raising them."

"Damn right I did." He said in a falsely arrogant tone, making Harry giggle.

"How are they doing at school? "

"They're doing well. It's Jamie's O.W.L.s year this year. And the other two are very intelligent. They adjusted well."

"Are they all together in Gryffindor?" Draco chuckled softly, and Harry moved away enough to look at him with a raised brow. "What?"

"Well, actually only James is in Gryffindor. And I'm sorry to tell you, he was quite pissed at it. He wanted to be in Slytherin."

"James?" He asked surprised. "I'll bet that went down so well with the Weasleys." He smiled, resting against Draco again.

"Honestly, he doesn't get along with them very well. I think he somehow blames them for everything that happened, and hasn't yet been willing to give them a chance. When he was little, right after everything happened, he used to be very rude to Granger and mother-Weasley, especially. I kept telling him not to be, and one day, he started simply ignoring them. I suppose it was better, but still... He hated having to spend time with them."

"Really? That's so... awful."

"I don't really care for that bunch, but they're his family, and I sort of understand what you mean."

Harry nodded. "What about the others?"

"Albus and Scorpius are in Slytherin. The two of them seem joined to the hip or something, you never see one without the other. And Lily's in Ravenclaw."

"So they're all separated?"

"Don't worry about it, they all get along great, and are always looking out for each other. Though I think Lily won't like it too much when she starts dating, with three older brothers and all." They both laughed for a moment.

"I wasn't missed then, I guess."

"Of course you were, Potter. We all missed you a whole lot, and you'll see it when you get out of here and come spend the holidays with us."

"Oh, I couldn't. I mean, the Weasleys-"

"Are coming too, so stop making excuses. The kids will be home soon, and you'll have a chance to catch up with them. It'll be great."

"So you're all getting along now?"

"Don't push it. We manage to be civil, but there's no need for any more than that, is there?"

Harry laughed. "It seems I missed a whole lot while I was asleep."

"I'll tell you." Draco snorted.

"Please, do. Tell me about everything I missed."

The blond smiled, and Harry was finally at peace hearing the man's voice recollecting the past decade, the sound of his heartbeat providing the soundtrack and his strong arms sheltering him from the rest of the world.