"I see. I hope I didn't...."
"No, I'm glad... really," Draco said.
"I just upended your confidence in your abilities... are you sure that you're okay?" Harry said, kissing his head.
Draco felt tingles through his body and relaxed, again. "I couldn't care less about it, now. Please keep holding me," he begged.
Harry chuckled. "I guess I should have known how much you like this." He brought him in closer and snuggled until Harry had to leave. He cast some muscular healing spells, gave him a kiss and left to Apparate to the hospital.
Draco slowly got up. His legs were wobbly from the stretches, but he could get up. He changed and called Nimi, his house elf, to take him to work with his walker.
"Good morning, Draco," Carla said.
"Morning," he said, shuffling into her room and plopping down in the chair across from her desk.
She immediately noticed his sour attitude. "My... you are grumpy today. Want to tell me what is wrong? Or show me?"
"The latter," he said, hoping that the healer could provide some insight into what Harry was trying to say.
Carla turned to him and cast Legilimens, easily entering his mind. Draco led her to the conversation and rewatched it with her. She didn't respond until Harry triggered him and Draco's stability wavered. She calmed the emotions that he reexperienced and kept him focused. When they came out, she gave him some tea.
"What to talk about it, now?"
"I just... I didn't think I'd respond to something so... negatively. I mean... it was Harry."
Carla merely said, "Peppermint."
"What?"
"That guy who assaulted me... he must have just finished a peppermint candy or something. When I smell peppermint no matter where I am... I always remember the attack. I can control my reaction to it, and I don't go into full meltdown... anymore, but it still triggers me. You have to know your triggers and mediate your reaction to them."
Draco nodded. "He said that I had more."
Carla gave him a look. This was the first time he had come in and purposely sought her help as a mind healer and as a friend. "You have several... probably more than you realize. You locked up another point in that conversation."
"I did?" she said.
"When Harry got mad... about your "implication" that he was weak?"
Draco felt chills from that, too.
"See? You were jumpy from when you said that you could handle anything and he questioned that."
Draco's shoulders dropped. "I... I don't know what to say...."
"First, admit that you have triggers and are not always in control," she suggested.
"Oh yeah... so easy...."
"It's not easy, Draco. Do you want to walk away from everything that happened, pretend it doesn't affect you and not repair anything? This isn't going to be the last time this happens."
"I'll work on it," he murmured.
"Sure. Second... and this is important... Harry was clearly trying to open up and set limits with you, but you basically told him that you don't have limits."
Draco's mouth dropped open. "No, I didn't."
"Not in so many words. Your partner is in a somewhat vulnerable state and you, Mr. I-know-Occulmency-so-F-everyone-else, just blew it off. You made him feel weak and probably encouraged him to not talk about it to you, because you're "not" bothered by anything that happened to you."