Piece of Your Heart ✔️

Chapter 8

Harry awoke to a soft hand in his hair and he let out a quiet groan. His head was killing him. He felt that hand begin to pull away.

"Don't stop.", he mumbled.

The owner of the hand remained quiet, silently threading their fingers through Harry's hair once again. Harry let out a small contented sigh, cuddled back into the soft surface, and fell back sleep.

The soft surface, that was none other than Draco, held Harry tightly. When he saw Harry's knees begin to buckle, he didn't even know he could run that fast. He had caught Harry before he could fully collapse.

Draco had sat on the couch, pulling Harry down carefully. Mr. Weasley had picked up Harry's feet and placed them on the other end of the couch. Draco moved to get up, but Harry held his hand in a tight grip and wouldn't let him go. Draco frowned at how vulnerable Harry looked.

"What happened?"

"Too much dark magic exposure too quickly."

Draco's mouth dropped open in shock.

"It's nothing with Vo-"

"No. We were casing an estate. Lots of dark artifacts. Harry was walking around, trying to get a feel of how bad each room was. A side effect of his connection is that he feels negatively drawn towards dark magic. He met a particularly bad one, and I was worried he wouldn't make it back in one piece."

"He never knows when enough is enough.", Hermione whispered.

"I have to head back, are you all going to be alright?"

"Yes. Thank you for bringing him back safely Mr. Weasley."

"Of course Draco. Harry is one of my own and family comes before anything else."

Draco looked down at Harry and pushed the damp hair off of his forehead.

"Hermione could you get a damp towel for his forehead please? He's burning up."

When Hermione left, Arthur approached him.

"I'll see you at family dinner at the week's end?"

"Oh no I don't want to impose. I was going to reach out to my cousin, Luna, so that I didn't intrude. I know how highly you value family Mr. Weasley and I have always admired that. Please do not put yourself out for the sake of me."

Arthur crouched drown in front of Draco and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I want you to listen to me Draco. You are not a bad person. You have just had bad things happen to you. You reacted the way you did to protect your family. Much like Harry here, you didn't have a choice in the path you took. Your father sealed the fate or your family many years ago. You were caught in the crossfire.

The Minister told me that when you were assigned community service you specifically asked if you could help rebuild my home."

"But he said-"

Arthur held up a hand.

"He thought that we should know you requested to help us. You've apologized and become a better man Draco. Everyone sees that."

"Doesn't Ginevra hate me?"

"Things have been hard for her. No one else holds any animosity towards you. Ron is a little hesitant, but he respects what you're trying to do.

Harry is the best judge of character, and he is extremely fond of you. You will always be welcome in our home."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley. That... that means a lot to me."