Beta read by YetiBettyFoufetti. Thanks a million!
Chapter Text
The Minister of Magic woke up from the coma after 27 days.
According to Draco, finding the cure was the perfect combination of skill and sheer luck. After weeks of going around in circles, he and the St Mungo team figured out the missing ingredient almost by chance. Draco described in detail the reasoning that went into the original, ineffective recipe and how one spelling mistake made them reconsider one of the key ingredients and come up with the final version.
"You should have been there when we realized this could actually work," Draco told him in bed the day Cole regained consciousness, radiating joy. "We couldn't believe it."
Harry pulled him towards him, contaminated by Draco's good mood. "I always believed it."
Over the following days Draco's joy didn't falter and neither did Harry's, even though their reasons for it were most likely different. Harry was mainly glad to see Draco's confidence grow back as the nation slowly put itself back together. Ulmer made another public statement during a press conference, apologizing for not defending him in the first few weeks after Cole's poisoning and praising Draco's crucial work in the Minister's recovery. Cole thanked him personally one week later, as soon as he came back to the office. What's more, he was hailed as a hero in the papers.
Only Draco had been mentioned by name even though it had taken a team of 5 potioneers to come up with the cure. Harry was used to this sort of bias coming from the press. His and Ron's names were always the one that made the front page, even when they were barely involved in the outcome of a case. Seeing the way Draco had been used in the narrative surrounding the attack on the Minister, it was no wonder this was the angle most journalists preferred to take as this was sure to sell more papers. Draco lamented the situation, gesturing amply as he complained over breakfast. Harry didn't disagree, refilling his coffee and nodding empathetically. However, he could tell Draco was relieved by the way things had turned in his favor. And even though Harry wouldn't have admitted it to Draco - because it didn't make a difference to him, what those stupid papers said - he was also relieved.
Despite doing everything he could think of, like finally gathering the courage to tell him about the Horcruxes or going home early and staying with him every night no matter how behind he was falling with his own investigation, Draco only started to get back to his usual self when the public display of acceptance overshadowed the articles disparaging him.
Four or five days after that, Draco was still in a good mood. Harry, not so much. He woke up before Draco, disturbed by dreams already half-forgotten, the guilt so intense he had to get out of bed and move around.
He still thought about it constantly. Thought about that night Draco ran away from him.
Harry knew that, no matter how much Draco blamed the Cole situation or the articles for his state, it had all started that night. The trembling had started that night, when he turned away from him and walked into ongoing traffic. The crazy thoughts about the war, they also started that night, when Harry stupidly started a fight about things he'd long forgiven Draco for.
The worst part was that he didn't know how to explain to Draco what that fight had really been about.
It was Emma who had noticed it, of course, when he finally made the time to go see her the first time after the fight.
"So, if I understand correctly," she said looking at Harry over the rim of her glasses, "you were talking about your muggle family the moment this fight started."
"No, we were talking about the fact that his friend and I grew up in the same neighborhood and- Well, Draco was shocked by some things my uncle did and-" Harry stopped mid-sentence. He glanced up at Emma. "Yes, we were talking about my muggle family."
"Interesting," she said, scribbling something down on her notepad.
It was interesting, Harry thought as he left her office having a whole new outlook on that situation. He hadn't given any thought on how speaking with David had made him feel, especially since so many things happened right after. It was undeniable that it had provoked some intense feelings. Speaking with a man who didn't know him as the powerful wizard everybody else was so determined to see in him, but as a child that grew up in the house of Vernon Dursley had made him feel like that boy all over again. And if Harry avoided something in life, it was ever having to feel like that again. He understood that much about himself after years of therapy.
What really cemented the idea in his head though had been the realization that he knew Draco wouldn't remember Dobby. Dobby had been mentioned off handedly before in Draco's presence and Draco had never reacted to it. It was obvious to Harry now that he knew it, yet that night it hadn't been obvious at all. He could still remember the rage that overcame him, the hatred he'd felt. He only snapped out of it when he saw Draco's lips tremble as he turned away from him. And then it was too late.
Harry had inadvertently confirmed Draco's irrational fear that Harry blamed him for the things he'd been forced to do during the war. That Harry hadn't forgiven him for who he'd been as a child. That the world hadn't either.
Harry washed his face with cold water. He looked around Draco's bathroom, remembering their talk in the bathtub after he'd found him dirty and shaking in the Pret a Manger around the block from the Ministry. Remembering the horrible things he'd told him.
Harry looked in the mirror. He'd pushed the man he loved the most in the world to go down a staircase full of dementors, defenseless. Because he couldn't even bear to answer one question about his aunt and uncle.
"Good morning" Draco said, coming into the bathroom rubbing his eyes. "Coffee?"
"Yes, please." Harry turned off the tap and wiped his face.
That had to change. Somehow, he was going to change that, no matter what it took.
Despite the fact that Cole was back at work - he'd insisted on coming back to the office as soon as the Healers allowed him to get out of the hospital - Harry's work was far from over. It was impossible to concentrate on any other cases while the person that had taken the Minister of Magic out for almost a month was still out there. Whoever had administered the poison seemed aware of the BAO's poison tracking protocol, because every single ingredient had been bought at a different apothecary, at different times of the year, by different people. They couldn't link any person that had visited Cole's house in the last year to the shops that provided the ingredients. The only solid lead they had was that the poison was brewed in Somerset.
The reasoning behind the attack remained as mysterious as ever. Nobody had come out to claim it - nobody verifiable, at least - and everybody was out of ideas by that point.
"Maybe we should look into the people who didn't vote for him," was Christopher's suggestion at the last meeting. Even Ulmer abandoned decorum and buried his head in his hands at that.
The paranoia continued to grow, undisturbed by Cole's return. If the Minister of Magic himself could be poisoned in his own home despite the intricate levels of protection in place, where did that leave everybody else? Nobody left their food unattended in the lunch room anymore and new spells designed to tell if one's beverage had been tampered with were becoming more and more popular, especially amongst the interns.
On top of the responsibility he felt towards Draco, Harry felt personally responsible for this state of affairs. His instincts had repeatedly led to dead ends, wasting precious time and resources. He had spent an entire week tailing a man that had purchased one of the rarest ingredients used for the poison only to find out his wife was terminally ill and that ingredient offered her some relief from the pain. Another week had gone to following a pair of wizards that had worked for Cole as cooks. Their biggest crime turned out to be stealing plants from muggles' gardens.
Harry was telling Ron and Draco about his latest failure, pacing around Ron's office like a caged lion, when he was distracted by today's newspaper on Ron's desk. Ulmer's picture was on the front page.
"Jesus," he muttered, scanning the article. Heralded as the brave new figurehead of the party was none other than Ulmer. As the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he had apparently "taken the matter into his own hands, deploying all of the Ministry's forces to solve this issue in the most timely manner, proving himself a natural leader."
"That's his goddamn job," Ron growled, reading behind Harry's shoulder.
"Show me."
Harry sent the paper towards Draco with a quick spell just as the door burst open and Ulmer came in, startling Draco who choked on a pastry and began coughing. Ulmer threw a sideway glance at Draco then quickly looked away.
Harry held back a chuckle. Ulmer was the only person who had seemed all that surprised when Harry stood up at the end of one of their departmental meetings a couple weeks back and announced that he and Draco were together. He only got whiter and whiter as Harry explained that he hoped this wouldn't affect the workplace environment in any negative way.
Since then it was like Ulmer couldn't decide how to treat Draco, oscillating between ignoring his presence and off-putting attempts to appear friendlier. Draco was equally disturbed by both.
"Easy, Malfoy," Ulmer said, stopping to pat him on the back. "Don't go dying now that you've become a hero."
"Thanks, sir," Draco managed to say between coughs.
"Any news about the Lotter boys?" Ulmer asked Harry.
"Dead end," Harry sighed. "We're going back to the apothecary in Glastonbury, see if we can find anything else."
Ulmer crossed his arms and nodded, looking somewhere over Harry's shoulder.
"You do that, Potter," he said at last, his tone more pensive than usual. "You do that," he repeated, making for the door.
He and Conrad visited the dusty shop that day but they didn't find anything. He went home feeling hopeless.
"I'm stuck," Harry admitted to Draco once he took his pills and Draco turned off the lights. He felt Draco's arm move under the blankets until it reached him.
"Maybe you need to change your perspective. Start from somewhere else…"
"From where?" he asked automatically, already wondering if he will be able to sleep that night or spend it all ruminating, like he did the last couple of weeks.
"I don't know. The other end?"
"What's the other end?"
"The motive?"
"There are probably as many people with a motive as wizards-"
"I know. But who benefited the most from Cole's absence?"
"Too many people," Harry sighed.
"Yeah," Draco said pensively. "I'm sure someone is probably making the point that I benefited from this situation…"
Harry stood up. He'd just remembered something. Fudge, the night of the charity event. He had told him something about Draco. Something about Draco poisoning people. That had been what, a couple of weeks before Cole was poisoned?
Adrenaline rushing through his veins, he got out of bed, crossed the room and opened the closet.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked, turning on the bedside lamp.
"I need to go. I have an idea."
"What idea?"
Harry looked at Draco. It wasn't worth mentioning to him what Fudge had told him. It would only hurt him.
"Just a hunch. I'll tell you if it leads anywhere."
"Alright," Draco pouted.
"I'm sorry," Harry said. He kissed him and Apparated right outside Ron's apartment.