Summary: Draco is a Healer, Harry is an Auror. When an accident sends Harry to St Mungo's and into Draco's care they begin to wonder if things can ever go back to the way they were.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings that you recognise; they belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money from this story.

A/N: Chapter fifteen – finally! I have no excuses, I've just been blocked terribly with this story and working on a lot of one-shots in the background. My sincere apologies xo

Chapter Fifteen: Plain and Simple

When Harry returned to the flat that night, Draco was nowhere to be found. He wasn't too worried; whenever they had fought in the past, Draco had gone out and gotten drunk with Pansy. He was sure that he would be back, pissed as a fart, at around two o'clock. He waited until two-thirty before going to bed but he didn't sleep. He rolled around for an hour before admitting defeat and sneaking into Draco's potions cupboard, pilfering a vial of Dreamless Sleep from his private supplies. After downing the contents, he slipped into a sleepy haze almost instantly and did not wake until ten-thirty. He rubbed his eyes and looked blearily around the room, squinting slightly as the bright morning sun filtered through the gap in the curtains. He lifted his wand, a quick Homenum Revelio confirming that there was no-one else in the flat. So, Draco had not come home. Harry frowned and made his way through to the living room, fully aware that doing what he was about to do before midday could end with him on the wrong end of a wand. Grabbing a handful of Floo powder from the mantelpiece, he threw it into the flames and got to his knees.

"Pansy Parkinson!" he called, waiting for her living room to swim into view. A few moments passed before anyone answered him.

"Potter?" Pansy took a seat on the couch wearing nothing but pink knickers, a black bra and the previous night's make-up. Her long black hair was loose and, somehow, she still managed to look incredibly sexy. She did not seem to be embarrassed that she had no clothes on and her disheveled appearance was strangely alluring. She lit up a cigarette and surveyed him through smudged eyes. "What do you want?"

"Is Draco there?"

"Why would I tell you?" she asked in a bored voice.

"Because he didn't come home last night and I'm worried," he said seriously, giving her a look that plainly said he wasn't in the mood to put up with her bullshit. She sighed.

"Yes, he's here."

"Can I come over?"

"He's sleeping," she said shortly.

"Can you wake him up then?" Harry was beginning to get annoyed.

"I think I woke him when I got up to answer your call."

"What do you mean? Where is he?"

"In my bed," Pansy replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. She caught Harry's alarmed expression and rolled her eyes. "Relax, Potter, he's all yours. As much as the thought of having Draco in my bed excites me, I'm sadly lacking in the penis department so I really don't see it working between us."

It was Harry's turn to sigh. "Funny. Can I come over now?"

"Merlin, you don't give up, do you? Fine, come over but don't be surprised if he Crucio's you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked as he stepped out of the fireplace. He dusted himself off quickly and met Pansy's gaze.

"What the hell do you think I mean? How stupid are you?"

"Where do you get off calling me stupid?" he cried, looking furious.

"Around the same place you get off turning down my best friend!" she shot back, jabbing a finger into his chest. "He proposes to you and you say that you never want to get married again!"

"He didn't exactly propose," Harry squirmed uncomfortably. "He just…"

"He just asked you to marry him," she finished sarcastically. "He's fucking heartbroken about this!"

"I think heartbroken is a bit strong, Pans," came a cold voice from behind them and they both turned to see Draco leaning against the doorframe in his boxers, his arms folded across his chest. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

"I was worried about you," Harry said quietly, not looking at him. "You didn't come home."

"Obviously not, seeing as I was here."

Harry flinched at Draco's sharp tone. "I don't want you to be angry at me."

"Why would I be angry at you? It's not like I proposed or anything," the blond replied, studying his fingernails. Harry flushed at his words and crossed the room in three strides, stopping within inches of the Slytherin. He reached for Draco's hand but the other man jerked it from his grip, not meeting his gaze, and Harry felt as though his heart might break. He could handle Draco's anger – Hell, he'd had almost a decade's worth of practice! – but this was something entirely different. Over the years, he had been the subject of countless malicious comments, disapproving sneers and bad-tempered outburst, all of which were signs that he was worthy of Draco Malfoy's attention, be it good or bad. He was used to being on the receiving end of jeers, hexes, even punches, courtesy of the Slytherin but he had not been at all prepared for this: cold indifference. He tried again to touch the blond but he was rewarded with a sharp slap on the wrist for his efforts. "I don't think that's a good idea just now," he said with a warning look.

"Draco, what do you want from me?" Harry looked at him pleadingly.

"Everything," came the reply.

"You have everything!" Harry cried. "I left my wife for you! I got a divorce like you asked me to and I moved into your flat!"

"I want a proper life with you!"

"You have a life with me!"

"No, I want everything. Every part of you. I want to know that you'll be with me, only me, until the end," Draco said, his jaw set determinedly.

"Of course I will! I love you and do you really think that I'm going to let you go after everything that's happened over the past few months?" Harry looked at him incredulously.

"I can't just take your word for it, Harry, I need a commitment."

"Haven't I done enough to prove to you that I'm in it for the long haul?"

"Obviously not!"

"I didn't even know that marriage was an issue in this relationship; you haven't mentioned it once!"

"Well, neither did I," Draco said dejectedly. "I wasn't bothered until you said that it wasn't an option and now it's all I can think about," Harry watched as Draco's shoulders sagged, a defeated look marring his perfect, slightly pointed face. "I love you, Harry, but I don't think that I can be with someone who doesn't want the same things as me. I'm sorry."

Harry felt as though someone had filled his innards with lead. "So this is… you're - you're finishing with me?"

Draco nodded, looking thoroughly miserable.

"After everything that's happened?" Harry blinked back tears. "You're willing to throw it all away just because I don't want to get married?"

"What's the point in being with someone if you know that you have no future together?"

"No future? What do you call living together and raising a child together? Is it just me that thinks that sounds pretty damn amazing?"

Draco cleared his throat. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is. I've made my decision."

"But -"

"Stay at the flat for as long as you want. I'll stay here with Pansy."

"Draco, please don't do this."

"I'm sorry. Goodbye, Harry."

-x-

Draco heard the telltale woosh of flames meaning that Harry had finally left and he curled up into a ball on Pansy's bed, unable to believe what he had done. He felt the bed sink a few inches as Pansy took a seat behind him but he couldn't turn to look at her. He was dimly aware that she was talking to him but she sounded very far away and Draco didn't have the strength to decipher what she was saying. The room swam in and out of focus. He tried his hardest not to replay the scene in his head but every time he turned his attention to something else, Harry's heartbroken expression swam to the forefront of his memory. Oh god, he had broken up with Harry. He would never get to hold him again, never feel his soft lips against his. Draco's stomach lurched violently and he leaned over the edge of the bed, wretching. Pansy wordlessly vanished the pool of vomit and pushed his hair away from his face, a look of pity gracing her pretty face. It was then that Draco realised he was crying – great, shuddering sobs that wracked his body and left his throat raw. Pansy pulled him into a bone-crushing hug and whispered empty promises of how things would get better, how Potter wasn't worth it anyway. That only made it worse, because Harry was worth it. Of course he was. The realisation that Draco would never again be able to touch Harry made him see that he didn't really need a commitment from the Gryffindor, he just wanted to be with him. He would take him any way he could have him. But it was too late; he had been the one to stamp his feet and kick his toys out of his pram the second things didn't go his way. He could hardly turn up at the flat, tell him that he changed his mind the instant that Harry left and expect to be welcomed back. He had made his own bed and now he would simply have to lie in it.

-x-

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace and took a seat on the couch, feeling dazed. Had that really just happened? Had Draco honestly just broken up with him? He didn't know where to look, how to sit, what to do with himself; he had a million thoughts buzzing around his head and he was finding it hard to pick one to focus on. His first instinct was to Floo straight back over to Pansy's and begging Draco to change his mind, to take him back and live with him and Teddy. He closed his eyes and saw the blond's beautiful grey eyes staring back at him; his perfect mouth, with the corners turned up in a smirk; his smooth, pale skin, so soft to the touch…

What the fuck was he thinking? Why wouldn't he want to be married to Draco? Was he just scared because his marriage to Ginny had gone so horribly pear-shaped? Because the two relationships couldn't have been more different, and Draco most certainly wasn't Harry's ex-wife. Why did he think that the same thing would happen if he married Draco? He loved Draco with all his heart. What good would it do though? He couldn't exactly turn up at Pansy's flat ten minutes after Draco had dumped him and say "I've changed my mind, I will marry you after all!", could he? That would make him look ridiculous. Draco had already made up his mind and Harry would just have to respect his decision, plain and simple.

-x-

A/N: TINY chapter, I know, but I will get a better update to you as soon as I can! Thank you for your patience with this story, I'm determined to finish it if it kills me xo