The ground felt so cold, everything hurt. Everyone was screaming. Someone knelt down beside him, he didn’t know who it was, everything was blurry, but he had red hair.
- “Harry!” The mans voice was filled with worry and he sounded scared. Then everything turned black.
The lights were bright, really bright. He was in a bed, surrounded by strangers. He heard the door to the room open.
- “Who is it and what happened?” This man’s voice wasn’t filled with concern. Harry thought he recognized it. The strangers around him all stopped talking while the man steps got closer. Come on, what happe..” The man seemed to have lost his ability to speak. He knew the man on the bed, he knew the patient. Everything turned black again.
There was a constant beeping sound, it was driving hi insane. He felt exhausted but managed to open his eyes. The room smelled clean, in the way only hospitals did. Harry looked around the room, a single room. What ever happened to him must have been bad if he was in a single room. Next to his bed his husband sat curled up in a chair half asleep. As soon as he realized Harry was awake he got up. Harry tried to sit up straight but the room started spinning and he could feel how Draco gently pushed him back down.
- “Take it easy. Your body isn’t near fully recovered yet.” He helped Harry sit up properly, leaned against some pillows. “Don’t ever do that again! Okay?” Harry could see Dracos eyes fill with tears.
- “Don’t” His voice died out before he even spoke. He cleared his throat and ended up coughing. “Don’t do what?” His voice was still weak but clearer.
- “Merlin, Harry. You almost died!”
- “What? What happened?”
- “You were out on one of your stupid auror missions with Weasely and a few more and something obviously went wrong. I think you were attacked. They don’t really tell the healers that kind of details.” Tears were rolling down his checks now. Harry reached out and put a hand on his check, drying the tears with his thumb.
- “How’d you find out?”
- “I picked up an extra shift and they told me there was an emergency. An auror had been hurt, badly. I went there and, on the bed, were you. The auror was you.” The tears were now streaming. “I got so scared. They decided it was best to give you another doctor and security dragged me out. They didn’t tell me anything. I thought you were dead.” The last word wasn’t more than a whisper. Harry tried to give him a hug but Draco stepped out of his reach.
- “I’m fine Draco. Everything’s alright.”
- “But what if it wasn’t?!” Draco interrupted him. “What if everything wasn’t alright? You could have died.”
- “But I didn’t.” Harry voice was calm. Both in an attempt to calm his husband but also because it hurt too much to yell.
- “Not this time. What about next time? We both know there will be a next time. You get hurt, constantly.”
- “It’s part of the job and you know that.” Draco looked at him with new tears in his eyes threatening to spill over.
- “Harry, I love you. You know that. I know how important this job is for you, I do. But… But I think you should change career.” Draco let out a sigh of relief, he’d been thinking about this for a long time. Harry on the other hand lost his temper.
- “Change career!” He would have continued yelling if it wasn’t for his voice braking and his throut burning with pain. “Like I said. The danger is part of the job. You knew that we went on our date or when you married me.”
- “I know, I understand the job comes with risks. I can live with that even though it’s proving to be a lot harder than I expected it to be. It’s just that…that. I don’t know what to tell them. What am I supposed to tell them?” Harry looked at him in confusion. “What am I supposed to tell Teddy when he asks why dad isn’t coming home? What am I supposed to tell Scorpius when he gets older and asks why he only has one parent?” What am I supposed to tell your sons?”
- “I don’t know.” Harry’s voice wasn’t more than a sad whisper.
- “Will you at least think about it?”
- “I’ll think about it. Where are they right now?”
- “With Molly. They don’t know what’s happened.” Draco walked over to the door and Harry asked where he was going.
- “Ron and Hermione are really worried about you. I’m going to go get them, They’ll be happy to see you’re awake.”
- “How long was I out.” Draco looked at him.
- “Five days.” Then he closed the door behind him.
Hermione and Ron was happy to see him just like Draco said. They hugged him, asked how he was feeling and just talked. They were so relieved that he was okay. He asked them what they thought about what Draco said about changing career.
- “Come on mate, you love the job!” Ron had exclaimed without thinking.
- “We all know he does Ron.” Hermione sighed at put a calming hand on her husband’s shoulder. “You’re asking us because you don’t know what to do, aren’t you?” Harry nodded.
- “I don’t know. I love this job but he’s right. Of course he’s right! I can’t leave Teddy and Scorpius won’t remember me. I don’t want to quit, I really don’t, but he’s right. It’s to dangerous.” They continued talking for a while but then Ron and Hermione had to get back to work. Harry asked one of the nurses who came to check on him for a quill and parchment. He wrote a letter to his boss explaining he had decided to resign from being an auror du to the risks and he had a family to care for. Then Draco finally came back.
- “Good news. Since I’m a healer, they’re letting you go home. Here’s some clothes. Get changed while I sign the discharge papers.”
- “Thank you.” Draco gave him a weak smile and he was just about to leave. “One thing.” Draco turned around.
- “Yes?”
- “Would you please owl this to the ministry while I get ready?”
- “Sure.” He took the envelope and saw it was to his boss. “What is it?”
- “My letter of resignation.”
- “Really?” Draco practically ran over to him with tears in his eyes and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you” Then he left. Harry had only given him the letter right now because he knew that if he didn’t the likelihood of him resigning was slim.
Draco came back twenty-five minutes later.
- “Sorry, the paperwork took longer than I expected. You ready to leave?”
- “Yea, let’s go.”
- “I’m not sure you should apparate. I’m going to pick up the boys at the Weaselys. Do you want to take the floo or come with me?”
- “I’ll join you. It’ll be nice to see Molly again.”
Draco apparated them to the Weaselys garden. They walked over and knocked on the front door, Arthur was the one to open.
- “Hi you’re here, come on in.” He stepped to the side and gestured with his arm to step inside. “Molly! They’re here.”
- “Harry! You’re alright.” Molly let out a sigh of relief and embraced him in a tight hug that med him wince. “Sorry dear.” Then she turned to Draco “Teddy’s eating dinner. I didn’t know when you were coming so I thought that was best. Scorpius fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago.”
- “Thank you so much for taking care of them these last few day. I hope it wasn’t to much trouble.”
- “Nonsense. It’s been nice to have young children running around here again. And you had to be there for Harry.” Teddy had heard them talking and came running.
- “Dad!” He ran towards Harry who bent down and catched him in a tight embrace.
- “Hi Teddy.” The impact from Teddy running into him had hurt against his weakened body but he didn’t say anything. Draco brought the boys home to put them to bed but Harry decided to stay a while. Draco was hesitant to Harry apparating but he reassured him by promising to take the floo. He had to talk to Molly and she seemed to understand. They had hardly closed the door after waving them of before she asked him about it.
- “What’s on your mind dear?” Not knowing how to start Harry threw out the firs sentence that came to mind.
- “I resigned today. I don’t know if it was the right decision.” Molly carefully led Harry over to the couch. He was in chock like he first now realised what he’d done. Maybe he was.
- “Then why did you do it?” Harry told her about the fight he and Draco had at the hospital and how he realised Draco had a point but he loved his job. “If you don’t know try. You’ve already sent in your letter of resignation so try staying at home or getting a safer job and se how you feel. If you don’t like it I’m sure the ministry will take you back. They did ask you to work for them to begin with.”
- “Thank you Molly, really. I needed to talk to someone.”
- “Don’t worry about it. Now get home. It’s getting late and Draco’s been worried sick over you these last couple days.” After one last hug from Molly and Arthur Harry took the floo home to sleeping children and a relived Draco. Harry was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. He apologised to a very understanding Draco for it. Then they cuddled up in bed.
* * *
The next day Harry didn’t get up until lunch when he found his children and husband at the table eating pasta. He decided to talk to Draco about what bed been thinking while lying awake in bed for the past couple hours. So while the Scorpius took a nap and Teddy was playing in his room they sat down in the living room.
- “You said you’d been thinking. Is something wrong?”
- “No but I have an idea I’m not sure you’re going to like.
- “Okay?”
- “So there is no chance I’m just going to stay at home. I will go insane.”
- “Okay?”
- “I thought about it and my first impulse was to try and get my old job back but then I thought about everything you said. What do you think about me becoming a healer?”
- “Really?”
- “Yes, really. You think it’s a bad idea?”
- “No not at all. Quite the opposite actually. You’re compassionate and caring and seem to have an urge to help people. But are you interested in it?”
- “Actually I am. I thought about it before the ministry asked me to become an auror.”
- “Then I think you should go for it.”
- “Thank you”
- “There is something I want you to know.” Harry looked at him curiously. “I want you to know that if you don’t like it. I’m okay with you becoming an auror again. I just really appreciate you trying.” Harry couldn’t help but smile.
* * *
It’s now five years later. Harry became a healer and a damn good one. He opened his own clinic in Diagonally and it’s going great. He does miss the excitement of being an auror sometimes so every once in a while, he joins aurors on missions when they need a healer. Draco didn’t like it at first but agreed. Harry had quit his job as an auror for him after all.