Medical Magic (Drarry)

Chapter Twenty: The Aftermath

            Harry returned to work the following Monday, having ignored both Ron and Hermione's owls all weekend. He was unsurprised when he found them both waiting for him in his office.

"Well?" Ron demanded.

"Well what?" Harry muttered, hanging up his coat.

"I think what Ron means," Hermione added, "was what's going on with you and Draco? Since you've come back... alone?"

Harry motioned for Ron to get out of his chair and sat down, putting his head in his hands. "We had a fight."

"What kind of fight?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"The kind where you can never go back." Harry lifted his head and knew his friends saw how tired he was, how much he was hurting. "The kind where things are said that can never be unsaid."

"What was said, mate?"

"Draco told me what we had meant nothing – that it was nothing but a convient shag because I was there."

"I'll kill him," Ron hissed.

Hermione's eyes clouded over in deep contemplation. "Do you think maybe Draco was just trying to push you away? Because when we were all together he seemed quite enamored with you, well as much as he can be while still being aloof."

Harry laughed humorlessly. "Then he did a fucking fantastic job of it."

"I'm serious, Harry. I don't think he meant what he said."

"That makes it even worse then, Hermione," whispered Harry.

"Who needs him anyway, Harry," added Ron.

Harry groaned and put his head on the desk. He did – he needed Draco. He felt like someone had cut him open and scooped out his insides, leaving a gaping, aching hole in its place. He hated to admit it, but he missed Draco already. He'd found the man who'd been haunting his dreams and realized he'd been chasing after the man he'd hoped Draco would become. And he'd become so much more, a hero in his own right. A respectable man Harry looked up to. It had only flamed his infatuation with the man because Harry could finally admit that's what had been calling to him all this time.

"I'm fucked."

A knock on the door drew everyone's attention, and Harry's boss walked in, stopping at the sight of Ron and Hermione. "Can I have a word with Harry?"

The two nodded and left, throwing sidelong glances his way.

"Now, how did your trip go? Did you find him?"

Harry stared into his boss' eyes and knew he had no other choice. "No," he lied.

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Draco slammed his clipboard down on the counter, scaring the nurse at the station. "Why the fuck," Draco spat, "has Anylia's bandages not been changed?" The nurse gaped at him, having never seen he normally even-keeled Doctor in such a foul mood.

Dr. Peters came up behind him, having heard the whole exchange. "I'm sure it was just about to be done. Why don't you come with me so we can let the nurses work?" She gripped Draco's arm like a vice and steered him away and to her office. Once seated, she said, "Now tell me what's going on, Draco?"

Draco sniffed. "Nothing."

Dr. Peters gave him a pointed stare.

"Nothing!" he repeated himself.

"I see your shadow isn't here anymore," Dr. Peters observed, changing directions.

"Shadow?"

"Harry."

"Oh." Draco was silent for a moment. "He went back home."

"Willingly, or did you two have a fight?" she asked knowingly.

Draco shifted and stared over her left shoulder. "Words may have been thrown about."

"Why, Draco? The boy seemed to really care about you!"

At her implication, Draco looked up. "How did you know we were..."

"Together? A blind man could see it. He's the one part of your youth your willing to talk about, and then he suddenly appears? And the sparks between you two were obvious. All of the staff knew something was going on between you two, especially with him shadowing your shifts. Now, let me ask again, did you destroy whatever was happening between you two?"

Draco closed his eyes and nodded once.

"Why?!"

"Because he deserves so much better than me."