"Harry, I think you should talk to him again."
"I will," Harry agreed with her before taking another sip of his beer. It was getting pretty late and in his opinion, he hadn't had a beer with his best friend in far too long. "I will if he gets off his ass and gets to me on his own!" he added.
It was out of the question for Harry to go up to this arrogant guy and try to have a conversation. Hermione only sighed at this, while Ron had so far stayed out of the conversation. He was always a little uncomfortable when it came to the relationship between Draco and Harry. Meanwhile, he had become accustomed to certain things, but always seemed to fear that such a conversation suddenly went in an adult direction and he had to witch his ears clean afterward. In any case, he had once described it in this way or something similar, which had caused both Draco and Harry to deliberately bring up such a topic.
Right now he didn't have to worry about it, because the argument between Harry and Draco had once again taken on unexpected proportions. "Don't be so stubborn. You're not making it much better by doing that," she tried again.
"I don't care. I keep going at him first, now the Lord can get his ass here himself," he objected. He truly wasn't going to grovel, this time Draco could do it.
"I know you guys like to rock each other's boat, but..." She seemed to hesitate, which only made Harry give Hermione an incredulous look.
"Don't tell me you're on his side now!"
"I'm not on anyone's side at all. I can only understand him, which doesn't mean he did everything right." He couldn't believe it, she was actually on Draco's side. Even if she portrayed it differently now, she was agreeing with the idiotic Slytherin.
Harry thought it best to say nothing more now, preferring to take another drink of his ale. A little disappointed, he realized that it was already empty and pushed the bottle away from him. Hermione looked at him in the meantime, as if expecting some kind of reaction from her best friend. It failed to materialize, however, causing her to roll her eyes. "Please, don't then. I can't believe how ridiculous you two are being."
With that, she disappeared from the kitchen, leaving the two men alone. Whatever she was doing now, Harry suspected it had something to do with books, he was glad to have escaped another lecture.
"Mate, I know you don't want to talk about it..."
Annoyed, Harry groaned, stood up, and took another beer from the fridge himself. He was always free to help himself to anything at his best friend's house, as long as Hermione wasn't busy in the kitchen. Then no one was allowed in because she was disturbed by what she thought were two incompetent men. Harry could cook, but he didn't have to interfere when Hermione was there and preferred to use the time to talk to Ron.
"Come on, you of all people want to talk about Draco?"
"I don't want to talk about him! But I can't believe it leaves you so cold," he objected, now finishing his beer. He was certainly not wrong, but Harry's stubbornness sometimes knew no bounds, and he had taken on an equally stubborn partner. Quarrels were inevitable, especially when it came to Potter and Malfoy.
"It doesn't leave me cold. Still, he exaggerates beyond measure. He acts as if I'm going to leave him alone for months, and if I have to be away longer, it's because it's important." What was there not to understand about that? "After all, I don't run down to the basement and lecture him on how to brew potions either." Which he couldn't, even if he tried. Draco also hated it like the plague being interrupted or even someone else touching anything. This was his realm, Harry accepted that.
"Hey, I can understand you. It would bug me too," Ron agreed with him and the black-haired man looked almost victorious. "Did you really compare him to Ginny?"
"Well...yeah. It just slipped out and Draco knows I'm not comparing him to her." It had happened in an argument, out of the heat of the moment, and of course, he knew it hit his boyfriend. "It's not my fault he hasn't had a committed relationship otherwise."
"Are you sure he didn't have one?" his best friend interjected.
"I don't know. He doesn't talk about it and until now I didn't want to know. It's never been an issue between us."
Just as they, usually, avoided the subject of Ginny. Draco hated her and if there were ever family meetings, there was an icy silence between them. It was accepted because it was better than arguing every time. At first, it constantly degenerated and even if Draco sometimes couldn't keep his mouth shut, he truly tried.
"If he hadn't been such a... an ass, maybe it wouldn't have come to this. He drives me mad sometimes!" Harry sounded almost exasperated before taking another big swig of his beer and then setting the bottle back down on the table. With his hand, he began to turn it steadily, staring more at that bottle than at his best friend.
"You know I always stand by you, buddy. But even I can understand his opinion."
Harry's head flew up and he hoped Ron was just joking. "Seriously? You, YOU of all people, agree with him now too? Why isn't anyone here on my side?" echoed Harry.
"I'm not on his side! But you do work a lot, and even we hardly get to see you for months. It wouldn't hurt you to take it down a notch."
Harry rolled his eyes, he'd had to listen to Draco say that so many times. All the last few months already and now Ron was starting too. "I know I work a lot, but I love my job. I like being an Auror and the case is important! Besides, it's not the first time I've had to go away for a few days."
In the past, this had happened more often, but never had Draco been so cross as in the past months. His current assignment had been the straw that broke the camel's back, and after a loud argument that even resulted in a broken glass, he had fled to his best friends. With the words, "I'm leaving whether you like it or not!" He could have sworn that another of their glasses had been broken at that point.
Suddenly Ron had to grin, which earned him a questioning look. "The Ginny thing aside, I thought the housewife line was a good one."
Luckily Hermione wasn't present right now, she would have surely lectured the two grinning men. Of course, Draco wasn't a housewife, but he did work from home making potions. Harry never wanted to know exactly for whom, because he feared that there were more than a few strange characters among them and he didn't want to get in his way professionally. His friend had assured him several times that everything was legal.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Now it's his turn to grovel before me. By the time I get back, I'm sure he'll have calmed down and everything will be the same."
"If you say so. I don't have to live with Malfoy... Thankfully." Ron sounded genuinely tortured as if living with a Malfoy was torture. Well, it was indeed not always easy, but Harry had never really regretted his decision.
"Hey, can I sleep here tonight? If I flee home now, one of us will be banished to the couch and I don't feel like that."
"Sure, but you have to sleep on the couch here too."
"I know, but no angry Malfoy is waiting for me here the next morning." They laughed and surely drank another beer or two. He didn't want to talk about what had happened today anymore. When he got back, everything would go back to the way it had been before and then they could move on. Up to now, they had been able to get together again every time.
When Harry opened his eyes, he looked around disoriented. He could not remember being in that place. In general, he couldn't remember what had happened. His team had a mission that was, in fact, as good as over. And then? He was about to sit up and only felt something pushing him down.
Not very gently, mind you. "Stay down," an all-too-familiar voice growled at him. It was several minutes before he could finally open his eyes properly and look around. "Where am I?" he croaked, his mouth so damn dry and slowly feeling the headache.
"At St. Mungo's, where else?" the voice croaked again, and this time he could make him out. Draco was standing beside his bed, continuing to hold him in a horizontal position, presumably to prevent him from trying to sit up again. "Thirsty." Without another word, Draco took the water that was already on the small table next to his bed and helped him drink it. He felt much better after that, even if he was still confused.
"What happened?" Now it was Harry's turn to grumble, and he gestured to his friend that he wanted to sit up.
"Stay down, damn you. Let a healer check on you first."
Harry didn't understand the commotion, but please. If it made the blond happy, he'd wait. Until then, they didn't speak a word, and only after a few moments did Draco seem sure he was staying down.
Fortunately, the healers didn't take long and examined him. Harry let it wash over him and tried to remember what had happened. Damn it, why wasn't it working?
As soon as they finally let go of him, he opened his eyes, which he had kept closed for most of the time. Draco spoke to the healer, after which he sat down and they were left alone. "Congratulations, you get to sit up." If he didn't feel like his head was going to explode, he would have rolled his eyes now and shook his head at the same time. Only slowly could Harry sit up, his body feeling heavy.
"What happened?" he asked again, hoping to get an answer now.
"You were on your mission, you were surprised by the enemy, and now you're lying here. That's all I know, Potter." Relief resonated in the Slytherin's voice, but the mention of his last name suggested quite clearly that he was still miffed. He still only called him Potter when they were arguing or teasing for fun. Both happened often enough.
"I don't remember that."
"That's normal. The healers
say you'll be able to remember soon. How are you doing?"
"Better, I think. My head hurts, my body feels like a troll sat on me, but it's getting better." According to the circumstances, he'd been hit worse before though.
"Fine," Draco replied, boxing him in the shoulder, which made the Pottersprout yelp. "Ouch, damn it! What was that all about!"
"You had it coming! What the fuck do you think I've been worrying about you? First, you don't come home, go on this stupid mission, and a few days later I get ya letter because your ass is in St. Mungos!"
Draco was not only disgruntled, he was furious. Not to be overlooked, or rather, not to be overheard, because he snapped at him quite loudly. Fortunately, he was lying here alone, which was guaranteed to have been Draco's doing. Whether he was doing it to give Harry a rest or to beat him up to his heart's content, he couldn't say yet. At the moment, the latter was probably more true.
"I've been hurt worse, haven't I?"
"Worse? You had quite a few broken bones and slept through three days. In between, they were worried you'd still go into a coma."
It seemed to have been a bit more serious than that, but he was fine. The bones had healed, he wasn't in a coma, and ultimately he had looked worse after such an incident. Even if he didn't have a mirror at hand right now to take a look at himself and confirm that assumption.
"Draco, I'm not in a coma. As it is, my vitals are stable enough again and they have healed my bones. I'll be well enough as early as tomorrow," he tried to reassure him.
"Screw you."
"Where are Hermione and Ron? Were they there too?"
"Of course. They all came here to worry about you together. Like always."
"Now don't act like I end up in the hospital every week!"
"The fourth time in six months, Potter." At that, Harry said no more. Had it been that many? He had never been so aware of it when he had been able to return to work shortly after.
They were silent until the blond broke the silence again. It had felt like an eternity, but it had probably only been a few minutes.
"Even your ex was here."
"Ginny?"
"Who else? How many other broads have given themselves willingly to you, huh? Go ahead, speak up, I'm all ears. Maybe I can learn something!" Harry knew what this one was doing. "Listen... I didn't mean it that way. I'm not comparing you to Ginny."
"Oh no? Funny, I felt like that's exactly what happened. Oh wait, maybe I'd better talk to Mrs. Weasley. I'm sure she, as a seasoned housewife and mother of a whole weasel gang, can give me lots more tips!" he gave no less conciliatory, staring angrily at Harry, probably not thinking of calming down now.
"I'm sorry, okay? You know very well that I didn't mean it!"
"Oh, do I? That's news to me," Draco replied, not even looking at Harry. Harry rubbed his eyes, took his glasses off his nose for a moment, and then put them back on. Only now did he notice that Draco must have put them on when he was still too dazed to notice anything. How could a person be worried, caring, and angry at the same time?
Once again they were silent, this time for much longer, and Harry didn't know what to say either. Right now, everything just seemed to make his boyfriend even angrier. Usually, he thought it best to leave him alone for a while.
For a beaten 30 minutes they just sat there in silence until he wanted to lie down again. "Ah," he grumbled, which was due to a wrong move. Immediately Draco stood up and helped him lie down, catching the black-haired man's gaze, which he immediately knew to interpret correctly.
"I'm not in the mood for this anymore, Harry." The 30 minutes seemed to have worked because Draco immediately seemed more conciliatory. Pissed off, displeased, but no longer angry. They were even back on a first-name basis, and in their relationship that usually meant things were getting better.
"I already said I was sorry. I won't say anything like that to you again, I promise."
"By all, that's sacred to me, that's not the point!" Draco grew louder again but still seemed to have himself under control. At least more than he had just now, which was a good sign for Harry. He still seemed a little confused now, though, which tested the blond's patience.
"Do you think I take great pleasure in showing up here every few months and mothering your injured ass? Continuing to nurse you at home afterward just so you can run off to your next case?"
"That case was important! We were able to arrest Death Eaters who had been spreading fear and terror for months. Without our efforts, they would continue to do so!"
"If it wasn't for that crappy case, we wouldn't be sitting here right now. You always say that. Every time it's an important case or important information or whatever... I can't hear it anymore, it just pisses me off." Draco was struggling to stay calm, Harry could see that and bit his lips. Of course, all these things were important, that was why he did this job after all. He had always wanted to be an Auror and now he could live it to the fullest.
"I get it. Now I have to rest for a few days anyway, right? Then I'll be home and we can take our time. At my next job- Where are you going?" he interrupted himself because Draco had run his fingers through his hair in displeasure at first and then stood up.
"Away before I forget myself!" he shouted angrily at him and disappeared through the door.
Fortunately, he didn't stay alone for long, because Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came to visit him. Just like that, or whether his boyfriend had let them know, he didn't know. In the end, it didn't matter, because he was happy to see them. Again he tried to sit up and got help from Ginny, who eyed him as anxiously as the other two. "How are you?"
"Better. The painkilling potions are starting to work, but unfortunately, something is giving me a headache, which isn't so easy to cure with a potion."
His visitors stared at each other, nothing happened for a long time, and then Ginny sat down on the edge of his bed. "Malfoy's outside, looking like he'd love to curse everything and everyone. You guys fought."
"I don't know what his problem is. So I tell him we can make time for each other for the next few days and he leaves in a huff. Sometimes I don't know what's going on in that thick skull!" grumbled Harry, not seeming very happy about the whole situation. He would rather have Draco sitting on his bed and holding his hand. As much as this guy was driving him crazy, it had always calmed him down when he was there and that made him feel even better.
"Harry, did you not get it?" Ginny asked, still concerned. Only this concern didn't seem to be about his physical condition.
"Get what?"
"As much as I dislike agreeing with Malfoy, of all people, I also tried to make that clear to you at the time we were together. You work too hard, Harry. And you take risks too easily, you always have. It's just that lately it's getting more and more, and we don't want to show up here several times a year just as much because you're lying here again. What if at some point it doesn't turn out so well?" The other two nodded in agreement, but probably thought it best not to get involved any further right now.
Slowly it seemed to seep through to him, too, what the real problem of his boyfriend, no, actually his whole friends, his family, was. When they saw the realization in the green eyes, relief flared in their faces in the same breath. "Was it that much?"
"Dude, trust me, you overdid it. You don't want to know how upset Malfoy was when you didn't come home before your assignment, and then when a letter from the Ministry arrived, Hermione was already afraid Malfoy would curse around and destroy her beloved books!" Ron got a tap on the shoulder, which only made him laugh. Harry, however, could vividly imagine how Draco must have raged.
"He was with you?"
"He always is when you're working overtime again and don't get home until the middle of the night or, like now, have to go on a mission."
He had not known that. What else had he missed while throwing himself headlong into each new case? "I'm an idiot!"
"Oh yes, you are," another voice chimed in. Immediately Ginny got off the bed, probably not wanting to start another argument now. Draco seemed to have calmed down, and now sat down on Harry's bed and looked at him challengingly. This time Harry knew exactly what to do.
"You were right. I didn't even realize I was working so much. Every time I came home, you were there. Oh Merlin, I just took you for granted, didn't I? You always being there, always helping me get better after I injured myself again." Harry himself sounded shocked at his own words as if he had only just realized it. "I promise you, things will be different now."
"Don't promise me anything you can't keep. I've known you long enough."
"No, this time it's different. As soon as I can get out of here, I'll get a good rest at home. Then I'll go to the ministry and tell my boss I want to cut back. Besides, I have accumulated quite a bit of overtime. I'm going to take those to take longer off. Then we can finally take the vacation we've been planning for over a year."
"Why do you always have to exaggerate? You're welcome to tell your boss that you're now taking time to heal, but everything else can wait. I'm not going on vacation with a cripple just because you fall down the stairs out of sheer hubris and then no one can patch you up. I'll be too busy laughing at you, I'm afraid. The shining hero, defeated by a staircase."
"And why do you have such a crappy sense of humor?"
"I thought you appreciated that about me?"
"I appreciate a lot of things about you, a lot of things I've neglected. But I don't appreciate THAT." They both grinned because this wasn't a serious argument. They couldn't do without the banter, but that was
okay. It was more than that because Harry was relaxing and Draco seemed more and more relaxed, too.
"Hey, I appreciate your kisses too, you know?"
"I know, I'm a stunning kisser!"
"You're so arrogant," Harry accused him but reached out to pull the blonde to him. The latter let it happen, however, they did not kiss immediately. "But I also appreciate that about you. I like your way, Malfoy!"
Again they grinned before their lips met in a kiss. It wasn't a particularly passionate kiss, but it was a promise. A promise that everything would be better now. Then, they hoped, neither of them would have to see the inside of St. Mungo's anytime soon.
"Hey, I am wondering. Are our glasses intact again?"