sitting ❀ drarry

𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑝

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟼.𝟺𝚔
𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍: 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶
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With a few more weeks under his belt, Harry was in a good place.

Malfoy had worked tirelessly to help him, and with some assistance from Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus and Dean they were able to introduce Teddy to some new people. Robards had even canceled his performance review for the term so that Harry could spend more time focussing on himself and his anxiety.

It took a lot of getting used to, for Harry at least. Malfoy was able to handle Harry's anxiety for the most part, but there had been one point where he had made the mistake of leaving Harry alone in the kitchen for a moment. When he had come back, Harry was sitting on the ground surrounded by a circle of broken purple glass with his knees drawn up to his chest and his hands over his ears. Neither of them were ever able to discover where the glass had come from, and Andromeda was at sea about what to replace when she couldn't tell what was missing.

Beside that, there were very few problems and Harry had even started getting used to handing Teddy over to other people when he wasn't able to watch him. He had called Hermione over to take over his duties once when Quincey had wanted to meet up at a local pub one night. Malfoy had been studying for one of his larger exams, and had frantically fire-called Harry to explain why he wouldn't be able to join them.

It had been no matter, since Quincey and Harry had needed to discuss a few things anyway.

Poor, unfortunate Zacharias Smith had terrible luck when it came to keeping family members healthy. His grandmother was as well as she would ever be again, and her condition was declining rapidly. She had been moved from a normal room in the old folk's home to one that was almost constantly monitored. She had doctors that checked on her twice a day, and was on so many medications that the list continued on to the back of a page when written down.

His mother was in a similar state, though a bit better physically. She had a sort of Alzheimer's that was still new to the doctors.Treatment was limited, and her memory was absolutely atrocious. Zacharias was struggling to keep up with work when he tended to visit his family so much. There had been more than one time where Harry had told Zacharias to just leave and visit, that he would cover for him if Robards asked where he was.

Though this was helpful for Harry's partner, it still wasn't enough. With his grandmother in nearly critical condition, he threatened to quit. He claimed, very vocally, that the only thing keeping him from leaving his job was the burden of medical bills.

It wasn't until he ran into Quincey, actually, that Zacharias decided to speak with him about switching shifts between the two of them. Quincey would get to be Harry's partner again, and Zacharias would get to visit his mother and grandmother during the day without having to worry about work. He would go late, sleep early, and visit during the time where they were awake the most. He needed to continue these daily visits to keep his mother remembering and his grandmother feeling loved. He pleaded with Quincey, who agreed. Whether it be his own selfishness or selflessness that compelled him, Zacharias was not concerned.

Harry, however, was left out of these discussions.

He had absolutely no idea that he was going to be getting a completely new old partner, or that it was one of his most cherished friends and colleagues. Was he upset? Not about the switch. Was he upset about the lack of consulting him? Devastatingly so.

When Quincey sent him an owl telling Harry to meet him at a pub, Harry had complied readily. Quincey had even suggested that Harry bring Malfoy with him, but, well, that didn't work out with Malfoy's exam.