The Burden of Memory

Authors Note: I'm back!! Many thanks as always to my beta's Alexandra & Shannon. Also, if you have not already seen, I posted the first chapter of my newest story titled Rivaling Affections, please check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Chapter 9 Goodnight

Harry walked into Lara’s living room heavy with trepidation. Vane was saying goodbye to his sister and looked up at Harry’s entrance. “Would you like me to carry him to your place?” he asked helpfully.

Harry shook his head. Draco was taller than him, but lighter, especially after being in the hospital for weeks. Plus he always had magic.

“Could you just make sure no one is lingering in the corridor?” Harry asked.

Vane nodded and stepped up to Harry. “Thanks for doing this,” he said in a conspiratorially. “I don’t want him staying here with Lara.”

Harry nodded and sighed in relief. Finally someone in this over-trusting family thought that Lara and Draco were a bad idea. “I know what you mean,” he replied. “And really, it’s no problem,” he lied smoothly. Spending time with Draco was probably his least favored or needed activity at the moment.

Vane shook his head and patted Harry on the shoulder. “I know it must be difficult, and I’m eternally grateful. I was at school when my mom died and I feel awful for not being able to protect all of them. I wouldn’t know what to do if anything happened to Lara.”

“Wait,” Harry said, something clicking in his mind. “Was Lara there too, when your mom died?”

“Well, sure. Lara and dad were both left for dead, but somehow survived whatever happened. It’s the strangest thing,” he mused.

“What did happen?” Harry asked in a whisper.

“Neither one remembers much, but from what they did tell me, they were at home, having dinner and someone broke in. Lara only remembers bright green light after that, and then nothing at all. Dad thought he saw the attackers, but he can’t remember anything solid about them. Neither of them saw what happened to mom, they just remember the police telling them how they found her.”

“The police assumed it was a robbery and that the people involved must have just panicked when they found people there. No one was ever caught for it,” he added with a grimace.

Harry narrowed his eyes in thought. “Something seems off, but I just can’t pinpoint it,” he said and part of him wished he had stayed to complete his Auror training. His instincts told him there was more to the story though.

He didn’t have anytime to think about it though, because Draco was stirring on the sofa and Lara was gently running her fingers through his hair. “Draco, dear,” she cooed. “It’s time for bed.”

He groaned and hefted himself off the couch, watching Vane and Harry warily. “Well, lead me to my cell, warden,” he told Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes and motioned for Draco to follow. He shook Vane’s hand and kissed Lara lightly on the cheek. She squeezed his hand to stop him from leaving immediately. “Promise you’ll take care of him,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, your precious fiancé will remain in one piece,” he remarked with a glare.

She smiled sweetly and let go of his hand. “He’s not my fiancé yet,” she added.

“I’ll make sure you remember those words,” Harry teased and left her flat, leading Draco across the hall to his own.

--

Draco looked around Harry’s flat with interest. It was an identical layout to Lara’s, but his was immaculate, where Lara was a bit of a slob.

On one side of the room was a large fireplace with towering bookshelves on either side. Several photos in frames lined the mantle but Draco barely recognized anyone in the pictures aside from Harry and Hermione. There was also a redheaded boy in some of the pictures who reminded him of Vane, but wasn’t him.

In the living room were a large green sofa and two teal armchairs, all done in rich cherry wood and luxurious fabrics. The kitchen table was old looking with claw feet and four ornate chairs. The curtains were a darker green than the sofa and in a thick velvety texture.

It was impressive, and looked quite comfortable.

“So where’s my room?” he asked.

“You’re looking at it,” Harry said with a smirk.

Draco blanched. “You seriously expect me to sleep on the sofa?” he asked.

“Or the floor,” Harry said with a laugh.

“Why can’t I just sleep in a guest room?” he demanded.

“Because there isn’t one,” Harry responded, heading for the kitchen, leaving Draco staring after him.

“Shouldn’t you offer to sleep on the sofa then? I might not remember who I am, but I can recall proper manners when having a guest over,” he huffed.

“How convenient,” Harry muttered. “Saying you’re my guest would imply that I want you here, Malfoy,” he added.

“And you don’t?” he asked, suddenly panicked.

Harry narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“Then why did you offer?” Draco scoffed, taken aback by Harry’s disgust.

“Because…” Harry sighed letting his voice trial away. “It’s what I do,” he said at last. “Help the helpless, blah, blah, blah. It’s what’s expected of me.”

“I don’t need your charity,” Draco stated firmly.

Harry came out of the kitchen with a pot of tea and two teacups trailed behind him in midair. “Sit,” he ordered and surprisingly, Draco felt compelled to obey. “You seemed scared, terrified even, of Lucius and Narcissa. If they did something to you, I want to know. I can’t do that without getting your memory back.”

Draco sighed and watched as the kettle poured thin gray tea from its spout, without the assistance of Harry. It looked like something that should surprise him, simpler acts of magic had certainly surprised both Lara and Vane earlier, but it was familiar to Draco in a way he couldn’t put his finger on.

“How do you take it?” Harry asked.

“I… don’t know,” Draco admitted.

Harry winced. “Sorry. How would you like to try it?”

Draco looked at the saucers on the tray and shrugged. “I’ll take it the way you do,” he said at last.

“I like mine sweet,” Harry warned.

“Maybe I do too?” Draco said.

Harry poured a bit of whole milk and three cubes of sugar into both cups and handed one to Draco.

The blonde sipped at it and winced slightly. “Apparently I don’t like it that sweet,” he said with a grimace.

Harry chuckled and a moment later the cup was empty. More tea poured in followed by the milk and then only one cube of sugar. “That’s perfect,” Draco nodded, after taking a sip.

“Well, there’s something we’ve learned about you, hm?” Harry said lightly.

“Yeah, now there are only a million or so things left,” Draco groaned.

Harry laughed. “Maybe you’ll be lucky and you’ll turn out to be as shallow as I remember? That would only leave a few more things to learn,” he teased.

Draco rolled his eyes and sneered at Harry, who proceeded to laugh harder. “I see you haven’t lost your talent to make faces at me.”

Draco sank further into his chair, slightly embarrassed and sipped on his tea. “Do you really expect me to sleep out here?” he asked after a moment.

“Unless you feel like sharing a bed with me,” Harry scoffed.

The idea of sleeping next to Harry, curling delicately around his warm body, sent a chill down Draco’s spine that he didn’t know what to make of. “Er…” was all he managed to stumble out in reply.

“I didn’t think so,” Harry replied with a laugh.

Draco stood defiantly, squashing the feelings he had at Harry’s previous mocking suggestion. “I’ll sleep with you,” he said. “I’m tired, where is our room?”

Harry’s eyes nearly burst from his skull at his words. “You… what?” he stammered.

“Your room, Potter. Will you escort me there, or not?” he asked.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. “It’s the door at the end of the hall,” he muttered, motioning toward it.

Draco walked swiftly to the room Harry had indicated and it took his breath away.

It was all ivories and crisp blues in varying hues. The bed was a large king four-poster, plenty of room for both of them, Draco noted. It was pale ivory wood and silver iron woven together to make a peeked canopy above the bed. The linens were an icy blue with dark pewter accents. The window dressings were a dark navy brushed silk with the same ice blue from the bedding in ivy patterns lacing up from the bottom.

On both sides of the bed were ivory end tables, and there was another bookshelf in the corner by a navy blue armchair. Draco perused the books and blushed at their titles.

‘The magical guide to sexual pleasure’, ‘Naughty Tricks and Sexy Tips for Male Wizards’ and ‘Homosexual Discoveries – a Manifesto of a Gay Wizard’ were tucked between volumes about wandless magic and healing spells. “Is Potter gay?” he whispered to himself quietly.

“So what if I am?” Harry asked from the doorway, blushing slightly. “Care to rethink the sleeping arrangements?”

He thought about it for a moment but eventually shook his head. The sofa was very pretty, but didn’t look too comfortable. From what he could tell of Harry’s personality so far, he figured the boy would be far too noble to try anything regardless.

Harry sighed and went into his adjoining bathroom and remerged wearing only green silk pajama bottoms. He raised a black eyebrow at Draco in confusion, and only then did Draco realize he had been staring.

He quickly composed himself and nodded toward the trousers Harry was wearing. “Green seems wrong on you… I mean it looks good, with your eyes and all,” he babbled, “but I feel like you usually don’t wear green.”

Harry blushed and climbed into bed, cutting off Draco’s view of his chiseled stomach. “Green is actually your house color, Slytherin,” he amended. “Mine was red and gold, so that’s what I usually wore, but I prefer green to red,” he said.

“I was a Slytherin?” he asked softly and nodded to himself right away. It felt right. “And you were in… Gryffindor,” he said with a triumphant grin, sure that he was correct.

Harry nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Though I was almost in Slytherin, too,” he added.

“Really?” Draco asked, climbing into bed beside him. “Why weren’t you? I think I would have liked having you in my house,” Draco asked.

Harry laughed. “No, you wouldn’t have. I told you, we weren’t friends. Quite the opposite, really. I wasn’t in your house because you got sorted first and when it was my turn, I asked not to be put in Slytherin,” he said quietly.

At Harry’s words the first day at Hogwarts rushed through Draco’s mind like a moving photograph. He saw the train, and his friends Crabbe and Goyle. He remembered trying to make friends with Harry, and Harry refusing. He remembered the sorting, and that the hat barely touched his head before shouting ‘Slytherin’, and he also recalled watching Harry’s sorting, hoping he would be sorted into Slytherin as well, and wondering why his sorting took so long.

Now he knew.

“So that’s why it took so long? You were asking the hat to change its mind?” he asked.

Harry looked skeptically at Draco for a moment and nodded. “You remember?” he asked.

Draco nodded. “I remember everything about the first day at Hogwarts. My mother cried when she left me at the platform and father told me not to worry, that I was a shoe in for Slytherin and to make him proud. He also told me to make friends with you,” he added.

Harry winced. “That didn’t go so well,” he said.

“I remember that, too,” Draco whispered. “Look, Potter… I know you hate me, you’ve made that clear, but I don’t recall feeling any hatred toward you-“

“You did, trust me,” Harry said, cutting him off.

Draco sighed. “Can we just start over?” he asked abruptly.

Harry blinked rapidly. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, based on the few memories I do have, I was an arse to you. I’m apologizing and I want to start over. I don’t really remember anyone, and I don’t feel like I have many people on my side right now. I’d like it if you were,” he finished.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching Draco carefully. “I’ll try,” he said at last. “Unlike you I’m still burdened by the memories of our previous relationship, but I’ll try to look past it.”

Draco nodded and smiled. “That’s all I can ask,” he said before yawning widely. “This bed is so comfortable,” he added sleepily, laying his head down on the thick plush pillow.

Harry smiled and mirrored him. Draco noticed that he was carefully settling as close to the other edge as possible.

“Goodnight, Malfoy,” he said.

“Goodnight, Potter,” Draco replied.

Authors Note: Say it together now "AWWW" lol. So at least it wasn't some insane-o cliffhanger, but please leave a review anyhow ;)