The Afflicted Pretty Boy ~ Book 3 of the Pretty Boy trilogy

Chapter 30

After hours of stuffing our faces and laughing at reruns of old reruns of Pingu and making sexualized jokes, we crashed.

I awaken to a knocking at the door. When I sit up, Colin opens the door and I hear Lucius ask "Where is he?"

In my pajamas, I pull on my shoes, and grab my bag as Colin moves out of the doorway.

As I leap over the kitchen table, I hear the twins scream in unison "He's running!"

When I make it to the backyard, I start towards the gate, went a very aggravated Keeper tackles me into the snow, with a yelp on my part.

When he flips me over in the snow, and grips my wrists behind my back, he sighs "Why do you always have to run?"

I chuckle, cockily, as he pulls me up. I remark, sarcastically "Maybe I like when you slam me into the ground."

He gives me an annoyed look "I have one week to be with Blaise, and we get interrupted, because you killed some thugs and ran away."

I stop walking and he cocks an eyebrow to me. When we lock eyes, his face goes confused as I look at him in regret "I'm sorry." He scoffs in disbelief and I give a weak smile "Really, Oliver." He goes silent and I tell him "I truly am sorry."

He looks me over for a minute, before patting my shoulder "We'll get you fix up, Draco."

I give a weak smile, before continuing on walking. When we get inside, I find the twins, Molly, Arthur, Remus, a very pregnant Tonks, Lucius, and Blaise stand in the living room.

Remus looks me over in concern "Hey, Draco. Colin told us you haven't been sleeping well."

I set my jaw, before turning on the snarky "Can't sleep when you party until four."

Remus gives a weak smile, before Lucius sighs "I should have never let you leave the manor!"

I cock an eyebrow to him and sneer "What would you have done to keep me there?" I snicker "Would you beat me into submission?"

He sets his jaw and Molly sighs "You shouldn't be so hard on your father, Draco."

I chuckle in anger "He's not my father." Molly looks at me in disgust and I growl at them "A father doesn't beat their kids."

Blaise sighs "Draco, we're taking you home. Clean you up." He looks me over "You look like you haven't slept in a month."

I shake my head and insist "I'm not going back to the manor!"

Arthur nods, before giving a weak smile "We'll bring you to the burrow. Let you sleep in one of the kid's rooms, until you go back to Hogwarts."

~

When we get to the burrow, Ginny stands in the kitchen, making a sandwich. Molly looks to her, immediately "Ginny, upstairs!"

Ginny furrows her brow and asks "What is he doing here?" She looks me over "You look like shit."

I furrow my brow and declare "Got the clap." She scoffs and running up the stairs.

Fred looks at me in confusion "You got gonorrhea?"

"Had it." I state and he gives a disgusted look, before I remark "It's not as bad as chlamydia."

When I sit at the kitchen table, they sit with me and Remus sighs "The three boys who died, where known homophobes. There was a knife on the scene."

I shrug, before leaning back and crossing my arms "Yeah, he threatened me, okay? I killed them before I knew what I was doing."

I set my jaw, as they look between one another.

I sigh, before asking "Can I just go back to bed?" They look between one another and I shrug "I just need to smoke, first."

Molly takes in a deep breath, before declaring "You'll sleep in the boy's room."

I nod, before grabbing my bag and patting Oliver on the back "You two go back to Amsterdam. Get your brains fucked out so he's not whining on the train."

~

As I light my pipe on the balcony, The door across the way opens. Ginny gives me a weak smile, before asking "Do you really have gonorrhea?"

I exhale as she sits next to me. I scoff, before telling her "Not anymore." She hums as she motions towards the pipe.

When I hand it over, I clarify "I had it over the summer." As she smokes it, I tell her "Had Chlamydia, too."

As she passes it back, she exhales and asks "So, why are you here? Why do you look like crap?"

I shrug, before leaning back and sighing "I haven't been sleeping much, lately." She cocks an eyebrow to me and I explain "With the war coming, and Dumbledore..." I give a weak smile.

She hums, before declaring "And with you and Colin back together, it must be really hard to get some sleep."

I scoff, before taking a hit. As I exhale, I tell her "Colin and I aren't dating." She gives a doubting look and I ensure "Just friends."

She takes a hit and I look her over, before asking "You sleep with him, yet?"

As she passes the pipe back, she releases the smoke and insists "No." I hum, before she asks "How would you feel if we ended up dating him?"

I take in a deep breath, before insisting "That's your decision." She furrows her brow and I shrug "He's a grown man. You're a grown woman." I give a weak smile, before telling her "Fuck his brains out. I don't care."

She looks me over and asks "What attracted you to Colin?"

I scoff, before offering her the pipe. She motions she's done and I tell her "He was a gay guy at Hogwarts." I shrug "Much like it was with Harry."

She gives a short nod, before asking "Did you hear about that werewolf attack in London?"

I nod, before telling her "Yeah, I heard." I rest my head on the doorframe and sigh "I'm pretty sure it was Greyback."

She hums, before leaning against the railing "I do, too." She motions down "I think we all do."

I hum, deciding to let her keep believing that. I motion towards the boy's room "I'm going to crash..."

She nods and I grab my pipe, before shutting the door and crawling into bed. As I stare up at the ceiling, a familiar smell calms me.

It's the fantastic smell of owl feathers, parchment, ink, sweat, dirt, and broomstick polish.

It smells like Harry.

And I can remember feeling safe in his arms.

For the first time in over a year and a half, I feel safe.