A new begining - 6

Draco looked waxy and pale against the crisp white hospital linen. Much of the usual vigor and venom seemed to have drained from his eyes. He turned his head to listlessly stare at them.

"Oh, look. It's Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Can this trip down the rabbit hole get any worse?" he asked, rolling his eyes but never raising his head from the pillow.

"Does that make you the Mad Hatter?" Ron asked, sniggering.

"Since when do you two know about Muggle children's stories?" Harry asked, feeling nettled at seeing the Slytherin boy looking so weak. It was unnerving.

Draco scowled, but Ron stared at Harry blankly. "That's a Wizarding children's story about a Muggle girl who accidentally stumbled across the Wizengamot."

Harry shook his head. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, I think even your lame power of deductive reasoning can figure that one out, Potter. I had my insides physically pulled out because I helped you. How do you think I'm doing?" Draco asked scornfully.

Harry swallowed heavily but fought the piles of guilt Draco was trying to lay on him. He'd had enough guilt to last a lifetime. "Thanks for helping with the Occlumency. I couldn't have done it without you. Without any of you," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, it's over now, and you're everybody's hero – again. Doesn't do much for the rest of us, does it?" Draco asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked. "Harry and Hermione both saved your useless arse. You're alive, you're no longer being hunted, and you're free to go back to your life and do whatever it is you do."

"Yeah, I'm free," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "My mother's dead, the woman I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with is dead, and it'll take me months to recover enough to take care of myself properly. My life is just perfect."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked quietly.

"It's not like I have a choice. The Ministry still hasn't released its hold on Malfoy Manor, and I can't go there alone in my condition, anyway. So, I'm forced to rely on the pity of distant relatives," Draco said, gritting his teeth. "My mother's sister, Andromeda, and her Muggle-born husband have agreed to take me in – under the condition that they'll be well-reimbursed for my care."

Ron's expression turned gleeful. "D'you mean to tell me that you're being looked after by your aunt and uncle – your Muggle-born uncle – who most likely blame you for the death of their daughter?"

Draco scowled. "What of it?"

"Well…at least they probably won't make you live in a cupboard," Ron said, obviously delighted by the irony.

Draco's eyes flicked to Harry before his expression darkened. "Get out. Now. GET OUT!"

"Go, Ron – just go," Harry said, before Ron could continue antagonizing Draco. It wasn't as if Draco wouldn't have done the same thing to Ron – wasn't as if he hadn't done the same in the past – but he'd still helped Harry in the end, and Harry couldn't forget that.

Ron moved the Hover Chair back into the Minister's Suite while Harry fought the fatigue that was finally overwhelming him. He barely remembered how he actually got back into bed before the darkness claimed him once again.