Stuck With You / drarry

The Mysterious Case of Draco Malfoy

The next day Harry was discharged. He had to wear his robes from the previous day, fortunately someone from the hospital had performed a thorough cleaning charm on them. However, the puncture hole from the knife was still very much there. Harry would have to familiarize himself with some repairing spells once he got home. He absentmindedly slid the Extendable Ears in his pocket, and grabbed the chocolates and the flower Hermione had brought.

The nurse who gave him the release parchment also gave him a potion for the pain, taken when needed. Harry left his room and navigated through the hospital to the reception counter, where he handed the wizard behind the desk the release form and they wished him a good day. Harry crossed the quiet entrance hall and walked straight into one of the outgoing Floo fireplaces only to step out at his place moments later.

Immediately Harry discarded the love chocolates into one of his emptier cupboards somewhere high up in his kitchen, but placed the daffodils on his dining table. He couldn't help noticing how they brought a nice touch to his otherwise simple place; maybe he should get some more plants, perhaps a tablerunner too. He decided that if he couldn't go to the gym and couldn't go to work for a week, he would at least do something nice for his home. A clean-up couldn't do any harm, he thought, looking at the layer of dust sitting on top of his upper cupboards.

That day he attempted to fix his ripped robes, and eventually managed the job, with difficulty. The knife puncture had left a mark, like some kind of a faint scar, on the fabric, that Harry couldn't make better. Household magic wasn't his forte.

That night he couldn't sleep, it felt like every time he was drifting off, a stinging pain from one of the damaged bones woke him up, and he had to admit to himself that a little drop of the painkiller he had gotten from the hospital wouldn't hurt. He took a small gulp of the bitter liquid and within minutes it had taken effect, minutes after that Harry was already asleep in his bed.

The next day, Friday, Harry woke up late, finally sleeping in after waking up for work almost every day the past two weeks. With his newly acquired energy, Harry dug up a book from the bottom of his bookcase called Practical Household Magic by Zamira Gulch, that Hermione had gotten him when he moved away from the Burrow. With the book in one hand and his wand in the other, Harry succeeded in performing a much needed deep-cleaning of the house.

He started with the kitchen, dusting everything off, reorganizing his cupboards, and polishing surfaces, maybe he would even cook now that it looked like someone actually lived there. Next he moved on to the living room, where he performed the same procedures, getting the dust off of his carpet and pillows, sweeping the ashes from the fireplace, and overall arranging the havoc that was currently taking place. Lastly, he cleaned his bedroom, changed his sheets and aired out his bedspread and pillow, dusted off the surfaces and opened the windows to let in some fresh air. The book contained a ready-to-use spell for a bathroom, and after a few tries, Harry managed that as well. A satisfying feeling came over him once he realised how much nicer it was to live in a clean house. He was even inspired to wash his windows for the first time in forever. Harry was amazed at how good he felt being away from work.

After lunch that day, Harry headed for the Carkitt Market just off of Diagon Alley to get groceries, real ones for once, not instant magic meals. The weather was quite beautiful, though rather cold, and the market was full of wizarding folk going about their business. Harry felt refreshed being out and about among the regular people, and not either hunched up in his office or at his house.

People were huddling around the vegetable stands and the fresh flowers that had arrived that morning. Harry picked up all sorts of stuff, maybe even too much for just him, and quite honestly wasn't even sure what the half of it was. What does one do with a fennel anyway? Harry walked past the flower stand many times, until finally he caved in and purchased two blue hydrangeas, for which he would have to conjure a huge vase somehow. The witch selling the flowers smiled at Harry very kindly.