Part 6
Harry landed with a sick thud. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think. All he knew was that he needed help.
He looked up to see people running towards him cheering but all he could do was hold onto the body underneath him and scream. He felt the tears rushing down his face and wanted to throw up. That’s when he heard it…
“My boy!” Harry held on impossibly harder and looked into Mr Diggory’s face – it nearly broke him.
“He’s back – Voldemort is back.” He needed Mr Diggory to know that he didn’t do this to Cedric, but it was his fault.
Harry was grabbed roughly by the arm and pulled from the Hufflepuff.
“No! I can’t leave him!”
“Come on son, there’s nothing you can do.” Harry slumped in the arms of Alastor Moody.
As he was dragged away, he looked again to the crowd and his eyes immediately found a pair of silver, looking like he wanted to rush to Harry. He shook his head slightly at Draco, even though all he wanted to do was run to his Slytherin and collapse.
Draco looked around and mouthed back at Harry “Later.”
***
Harry lay still, staring at the roof of the hospital wing above him. He refused the dream-less sleep potion that Madam Pomfrey had offered him – which was stupid he knew, but he didn’t want to sleep anyway so it wouldn’t have done anything.
He needed to think through all that happened in the last few hours. He was the reason Cedric was dead, he felt sick every time he thought about how close Barty Crouch Jr had been to him all year, and to the other students. How the fuck that had gone unnoticed… at least Snape knew now who was brewing Polyjuice Potion, not that that made anything any fucking better.
He heard the wing door open but couldn’t be fucked to pay attention, at least not until the curtains around his bed opened and he heard a quiet intake of breath.
Draco.
Harry didn’t move, just blinked and kept his eyes on the ceiling. He knew if he looked at the other boy, he would fall apart. Again.
“Oh, babe.”
He heard Draco move closer, Harry bit his lip. He didn’t want to cry anymore. Draco picked his hand up gently and kissed the back of it.
“I’m here when you’re ready. I love you so fucking much.”
Harry’s body clearly did not get the message. He burst into tears and rolled over to face the blond. Draco immediately let go off his hand, climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor as tight as he could.
“Shhh. I’m here, I’m never going to leave you, okay? You’re safe now and I’m here.”
Harry didn’t know how long he cried in Draco’s arms, but he eventually fell asleep, wrapped up like a cocoon.
***
He woke up to Madam Pomfrey bustling around his bed. Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtain she’d left open.
“Good morning, Mr Potter. How are you feeling?”
Harry did not comment, he knew she already had an idea, and he was too exhausted to waste his breath.
She turned away from what she was doing to face him, she held her hands in front of her and scrutinised him.
“You are welcome to stay for as long as you like. If you leave, and want to come back, there will be no questions asked.”
Harry blinked at her. She smiled softly, “We all deal with grief in different ways, Harry. I will do whatever I can to assist you – your way.”
Harry wanted to cry again, not many people in his life so far had let him decide how to deal with his own feelings.
Instead, he said very quietly, “Thank you, Madam.”
“Anytime my dear. However, please remind your visitor from last night, that he should let me know when he is here.”
Harry’s eyes widened in terror, but Madam Pomfrey smiled again.
“He is welcome anytime, again, whatever you need. But I do have rules that I expect you both to abide by.”
Harry nodded his head quickly, “We will, promise. Thank you.”
“Wonderful. Now would you like me to get a house elf to bring you some breakfast or would you like to join your friends in the Hall?”
***
Harry had every intention of heading straight to the Gryffindor table when he arrived at the hall. Breakfast had already been going for some time so there weren’t many people in the Entrance Hall. He stood staring at the doors from a far, so that no one noticed him before he was ready. It was deafeningly quiet. There were so many people in there, but the mood was depressing.
He took a deep breath, put his head down and decided.
He walked through the doors and immediately heard the whispers start up, he tensed but kept moving. They were only going to get worse once they realised what was happening.
Instead of turning right, towards the Gryffindor table and his friends – which he knew would have saved a space in the middle of them in an attempt to shield him from the other students. He turned left and made his way to the table filled with green and silver.
He lifted his eyes just briefly to spot the head of blond hair he was looking for. Consequences be fucking damned. He was going to find his boyfriend and sit with him – because that was what he needed.
Let them fucking talk.
The whispers grew louder, confused.
Harry kept moving. He made it to the space behind Draco… who conveniently had an empty seat next to him.
“Is this seat taken?”
Draco had been sitting ramrod straight staring at the plate in front of him as Harry had made his way to him. Now, he turned very slowly and lifted his eyes to his boyfriend. The question was clear, but Harry just looked right back.
“What the bloody fuck are you doing?” the Slytherin whispered.
“What I need to do.”
Draco looked at him for a second longer, he could see that this was important to Harry. He knew shit was about to hit the fan, but he found he didn’t give a single fuck. Harry Potter was standing in front of him, willing to show the whole school that they were friends… He assumed he wasn’t going to go as far as show them they were in fact more than that.
He was severely mistaken.
Draco waved his hand at the empty spot, “all yours.”
Harry slumped, just a little, in relief. He realised he probably should have talked to Draco first, but he was so desperate to be near him that he didn’t even think about it. The Gryffindor sat down next to Draco and muttered “in for a penny, in for a pound”.
“What was that?”
Harry didn’t answer, just turned his body, grabbed Draco by his green and silver tie and pulled.
He kissed Draco with everything he could, he needed him to see that he didn’t care what everyone else thought of him, of them. He just needed Draco.
The gasp from the students was audible.
Draco also couldn’t believe what was happening, but he could never help himself when Harry kissed him so passionately. He put one hand on the table to balance himself, and the other tangled in the back of Harry’s ridiculously messy hair and kissed him back.
“What the fuck?”
“When did that happen?”
Confused voices came from everywhere. But the loudest and clearest came from the Gryffindor table.
“Pay up Parkinson!” Came Ginny Weasley’s smug voice.
“Fuck.”