But now it was all different. Now, they were both in transition, with Drao being a free ma his whereabouts to the ministry and Harry looking to leave everything about the war behind, nen and new boyfriend and ’s not a bad thihe fat that twenty minutes before, Harry didhink about asking Drao if he was oming with him to the here was never any need for disussion.
No, Drao was free to stay in this ho buy himself a new o live with his mee or Lue to the other side of the world ao ahere ; of the routine, no guara Drao would want to go with him at all.
(And of ourse, that makes Harry oion of how muh of this was by hoie and how muh was by obligation, like, yes, Harry, let’s look at a house to build our future ihese speifis and I’m ing, but I’m ihe one who deides where we go ale piee of paper the wizengamot judge filled out months ago insists that I have to follow, like it or not. Lois harder whe from a ell in Azkaban, after all.)
“I just talked to Hermione. She said she and Rohe Leaky at eight, whih gives you a an hour to elebrate, time that I ahanking you properly for all the work that you did to get me—” Draht in the middle of his sehe smile slips off his fae at the sight of Harry. He doesn’t look upset, just onfused, like he annot imagine why Harry would not be jumping for joy and making his own round of ans, though whht he would be alling when all was avaible was the muggle pho know. Maybe Dudley, but Harry ell him Drao was tehnially a rimihing alright?”
&here’s a voie ielling him that hoy is the best option. That ommuniation is key iionships, ahey should sit down so Harry an talk about his feelings. It sounds a bit like Hermiohere’s also a voie that sounds a bit like Seamus, of all people, ehoiheir sixth year, saying that now was o id thi. “Everythi.”
Chapter 35
Drao
It’s a strahing, beoming okay again.
At the time, Drao hadn’t notied how muh time and energy go into not being okay, where he puts all his eai oed in his head and pushing past road bloks that were only in his way beause he had beeo pe him there. For the past twht from the moment his father was sent to jail, all he had been thinking about utting the piees of his life bak together, thinking only of what he had tet himself to the point where he ould look in the mirror ahe pers bak at him atually seemed like they had tur alright.
As a whole, the people whh the ent a lot of time t to reah the point where Drao is urrently at. The only thing was, to tell him how hard it would be, walking through life like you need someone’s permissiohy and whole again, always waiti where the ground might be pulled out from under your feet.
(It’s like, there were these holes, i and his mind and his body, and Drao had spe months givihio filling them bak up, ah all his metaphorial potholes pathed over with bra. In his head he knows it is a good thing, but it is alse thing, to have all this time, to keep expeting to fall bak into old patterns and bad habits, to have t himself it was okay to be okay.)
“You’re happier, right?” Harry had asked him, ohose nights where he aught Dra at himself in the mirr at a smattering of sars and pokmarks that trail down his side. “Now? With me?”
“This is the happiest I’ve ever been,” Drao had said, a eveo lie, and his smile was not up any old ghosts wheo him. He’d be fine, really. All he had to do moving, keep busy, just enough that the past doeshe spae to squeeze bak into Drao’s life.
It’s this, more than a makes him vinny ining about the amount of work that had to be dohe wedding.
&’s meal! Who thought up with this stuff?” They were at the Burrow, her ombat boot overed feet thrown up oable and a steaming up of tea in her hand. “You have to think about food, and the people, and the olor sheme, and flowers, a everyone, so I’m goi a pe beause I a here otherwise everyone will just ompare it to Fleur and Bill’s, and Merlin’s beard, do you have any idea how muh a weddis? Awo of them!”
“Well,” Hermioively, reasonably. “It’s y, you doo have all that if you don’t want it.”
“Oh, I want it.” Ginny’s eyes widened in arm. “It’s just that it’s all so bloody hard to my head around.”
Ginny was good at a lot of things. She was good at fighting, and at Quiddith, and alming Gee down. She was good at healing, even if her spells hurt more than Luhey rept over your skin. She was a good ook and a good friend a she was not good at anizihis. Luky for her, Drao was.
“I ould help.” Both girls looked over at her. From her seat in the arm hair, Luna smiled vaguely, like she reog he had said some