I decided to do something a little - okay, a lot - different for me. Special thanks to Jezabelle Rose Riddle for the correction on Blaise's last name.
It was late June and the war trials had finally ended. Draco Malfoy stood in the Department of Mysteries outside the courtrooms.
"Draco?" His friend, Dalia Chance, walked up to him.
"In a minute." he murmured. Dalia nodded and backed away again. At last, the court let out and the one Draco was waiting for emerged.
"Potter!" he called. A man with messy black hair stopped and turned towards him.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked warily.
"I wanted to say thank you."
"You're welcome." There was a pause before Potter turned to leave.
"Potter!" Draco called again.
"What, Malfoy?" the man snapped as he whirled around. Draco shrunk back.
"I – I was hoping-" Draco stopped and cleared his throat. "I was hoping we could start over. I want to make amends."
"Look, Malfoy, it's nice that you want to make amends and all but the past isn't going to just go away. Maybe in another life things would have been different but not this one." Potter said before turning and leaving. Draco stood staring after the Savior of the Wizarding World until Dalia came up to him again.
"C'mon, Draco, let's get you home." she said as she led him towards the atrium.
Draco's bedroom was filled with worried occupants. Gregory Goyle slumped against the wall beside the door while Blaise Zabini, his sister, Alice Zabini-Vargas, and her husband Lovino Vargas stood along the adjoining side wall. Dalia hovered alongside Pansy Parkinson on the far side of the large four poster bed Draco sat on while a healer checked over him. Narcissa Malfoy stood behind the healer watching her son mournfully.
"Well, Mr. Malfoy, your health is indeed declining rapidly but I can't seem to find a reason. I could prescribe a series of potions, but without knowing a cause there is no guarantee of recovery." the healer said. The Malfoy's sighed.
"How long?" Draco asked. The healer blanched and tensed.
"Beg pardon?" he asked. Draco sighed again.
"How long until I die?" he clarified.
Everyone stared at Draco with wide eyes; everyone except Narcissa, who looked on with doleful eyes.
"Not long, I'm afraid. A week at most I'd guess." The healer conceded.
"Thank you, Healer Firr. Allow me to show you out." Narcissa said taking advantage of the young adults shock.
"Don't worry Draco. We'll find another healer who really knows what he's talking about. We'll find a cure for whatever's wrong." Blaise said as soon as the shock had worn off.
"Let it go, Blaise. There's nothing you can do." Draco sighed.
"What? What do you mean 'there's nothing we can do?'" he snapped.
"I'm a Mhealltach. This happens when-" Draco cut off.
"When?" Pansy prodded gently. Draco shook his head.
"Forget it." he murmured.
"We're just trying to help." Goyle pointed out.
"I said forget it!" Draco's outburst was followed by a severe coughing fit. Glaring at her friends, Dalia hurried around the bed to help Draco. In the five days following the end of the war trials, Draco had been getting weaker, frailer, and paler. A collapse earlier that day finally resulted in a call for a healer.
Thankfully, Harry Potter's testimony at Draco and Narcissa's trials kept them from being too badly shunned. They may have been stuck with a healer of ill-repute or without a healer at all if not for him. Then again, the latter option wouldn't have been much different from their current situation. Mrs. Malfoy came in just as the fit was ending.
"My son needs rest. Out. All of you." She ordered as she took Dalia's place beside her son.
"Now what?" Goyle asked when the group had vacated to the hall.
"If Draco won't tell us what's going on then we'll just have to find out ourselves." Alice said with conviction.
With only Draco's mention of being a Mhealltach, the group of friends took over the manor library and ransacked the shelves. Each Slytherin took a book and found a place of relative comfort to begin the search. The only sounds that filled the room were the rustling of turning pages and the occasional shuffle. Every so often, a house elf would bring them meals or one would leave to use the loo. Finally, after two days of searching, Alice called out from her place at the desk.
"Hey, I found it." She said. Within seconds, the others had crowded around her and were reading the entry out of The Bestiary of the Ethereal, the Diabolic, and the Commonplace by Radana Pound over her shoulder.
Mhealltach – Fay version of incubi/succubi. Unlike their demonic cousins, they only mate once and for life. Mhealltach can have any amount of Fay blood and still come into their inheritance at 17 since the Mhealltach gene is dominant. The Mhealltach gene is called an inheritance as it remains dormant until the Mhealltach comes of age.
The activation of the Mhealltach gene entails the use of a mild allure to attract a mate. Once found, the Mhealltach and their mate will begin the 2-step bonding process; the binding of the soul and the binding of the body. Mhealltach are extremely loyal to and dependent on their mates. Should a Mhealltach's mate die or reject them, the Mhealltach will die.
Traits associated with –
"Well that's reassuring." Pansy said dryly. Blaise groaned.
"At least we know what's wrong with him now." Goyle pointed out. Dalia spun around and slapped him sharply on the arm.
"Yes, he's dying and we have no way to save him." she snapped.
"Now that we have more information, maybe we can find how to save him in one of the other books." Lovino reasoned. Alice nodded and grabbed another book.
"While we do more research, why don't you go see if you can wheedle anything out of Draco? You've always been able to get him to talk." Alice advised Dalia. The younger girl hesitated before nodding.
"Wish me luck." she said as she walked to the doorway.
"As if you need it!" Blaise called after her retreating form.
Dalia knocked gently on Draco's bedroom door. Entering upon hearing the weak invitation, she quickly schooled her features to hide her shock and horror. If Draco was bad two days ago, he was beyond worse now. Where there was once a proud man, now there was a pathetic hull swathed in bedclothes. His once alabaster skin had turned sallow and his cheeks had begun to sink in. To see who was once considered the Slytherin Prince in such a state was disheartening to say the least.
"Draco, talk to me. What happened?" Dalia asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed beside Draco. He sighed.
"You wouldn't understand." he murmured.
"I understand that you're a Fay who relies on their mate. I understand that I your mate were to reject you or die, you'd die. I understand that. What I don't understand is how to help you. Care to enlighten me?"
"You can't help me, only he can." Draco's eyes widened at his slip up.
"He?" Dalia immediately latched onto the information. Draco looked away, but Dalia moved so she remained in his line of sight. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"My mate."
"Who's your-" Dalia cut off suddenly remembering.
"Maybe in another life things would have been different but not this one." Potter said before turning and leaving.
"Potter?" she whispered. "It's that broad is it?" Her remark earned a dull look from Draco.
"So how would he go about helping you?"
"What?"
"Potter; how could he save you? You know we're not going to give up until we know it's hopeless." she added when Draco looked away stubbornly. He glared at her but sighed and murmured something.
"What was that?"
"He'd have to accept me. But don't get your hopes up, buy the time you talked him into it I'll be dead." he bit out. Dalia nodded.
"Alright," she sighed as she got up and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you later." She walked out of the room but once she reached the stairs she took off at a run.
Alice looked up at the sound of someone running in time to see Dalia streak past the open library doors.
"Dalia? Hey, where are you going?" she called darting to the door.
"To find Potter; we don't much time."
"Why?" Pansy asked from Alice's right as Blaise asked from Alice's left, "Do you even know where to find him?"
Dalia stopped at the front door and didn't answer either question.
"I didn't think so." Blaise said walking towards the brunette the rest of the group slowly following.
"That's why I'm going now. I have a lot of ground to cover and little time."
"I take it you got something out of Draco then?" Alice guessed.
"No, I just want to find him to worship him like the other women of our generation do." Dalia joked dryly.
"What are we waiting for?" Pansy asked.
"A lead; we're looking for Potter, remember? We might as well be chasing smoke." Blaise said.
"Why are we looking for Potter again?" Goyle inquired.
"He's the only one who can help." Dalia answered.
"Wait a second;" Alice started catching on. Dalia nodded shortly to confirm her musings.
"Can we just go? We're wasting precious time!" she snapped.
"Lead the way." Lovino bowed.
Harry Potter was in the Burrow's garden when the Slytherins found him.
"How could you?" Dalia screeched as she stormed up to him. The Slytherins stopped dead at her explosion.
"You – who's saved the Wizarding world! – How could you be so willing to let him die?"
"What are you talking about? Let who die? How did you get here?" Potter asked drawing his wand. Ron and Hermione drew their wands behind him.
"Draco! He's a Mhealltach! You're his mate!" she continued ignoring the wands pointed at her. Potter's eyes widened at Dalia's declaration.
"What?" He murmured.
"He'll die because you rejected him unless you do something!" Tears suddenly began to leak from Dalia's blue eyes and stream down her cheeks.
"Please," she pleaded softly. "Please, he only has a few days left. I can't watch another friend die." The Slytherins gapped in shock as one of their strongest broke down and not only cried but begged.
"I- I don't-" Harry stuttered. Dalia's eyes sharpened.
"Fine, be that way. Don't think I won't let it be known who the great St. Potter let a man die because he wasn't enough of a man to move pas a petty school rivalry." she hissed before spinning on her heel and sweeping out of the garden, the other Slytherins following with a sharp, "Come!"
Upon returning to the manor, the group slowly dispersed leaving Dalia to speak to Draco. Alice placed a consoling hand on her shoulder before joining her brother and husband in the drawing room.
Dalia slowly made her way to Draco's room. She crept in and smiled sadly at the pale and skinny form on the bed wrapped securely in the bed coverings.
"Hey," she greeted softly as the gently sat on the edge of the bed. Draco (or what was left of him, Dalia thought bitterly) groaned and blinked open dull grey eyes – lifeless eyes.
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she tenderly carded her fingers through his hair.
"Empathetic to that of a shell; or at least what I imagine a shell to feel like." he joked honestly. Dalia hummed and continued to run her fingers through his hair soothingly for a while before speaking again.
"I'm sorry Draco. I tried, I really did, but he's just so stubborn and proud."
"What are you on about?" Draco murmured.
"Potter; I went to talk to him today to try and make him see-"
"You did what?" Draco hissed almost sounding like his old self.
Knock. Knock.
"May I come in?"
Dalia jerked around and gapped at the speaker. There, standing in the doorway, was none other than Harry Potter. He shifted nervously before stepping into the room, apparently taking the shocked silence as an affirmative.
"Hello, Draco," he greeted hesitantly.
"Potter," Draco nodded. Dalia's eyes darted between the two men before she stood. She grasped Draco's hand and squeezed it lightly.
"I'll give you two some time." She said. She partially closed the door behind her when she left.
"What are you doing here, Potter?" Draco asked after a moment.
"First off," There were footsteps and then the sound of sheets rustling. From her place leaning against the wall beside the door, Dalia assumed that Potter had taken her spot on the bed. "I want to apologize. I didn't mean for this to happen."
Draco's scoff turned into a hacking cough, one that Dalia just knew would bring up blood.
"Too little, too late, Potter."
"No one deserves this Draco." There was a pause. "What can I do?"
"Didn't I already tell you? It's too little, too late."
"There must be something-"
"Look, Potter, I actually don't have a lot of time left. If you don't mind, I'd like to spend my last few minutes in peace." Draco snapped weakly. Outside, Dalia clasped her hand over her mouth the muffle her gasp. Minutes? She'd thought –
"What happened to the Draco I went to school with; the one that always had a cutting remark. Who was always so full of life and never backed down from a challenge? Don't give up now."
"What's the point? There's no reason anymore."
"That's not true. What about your friends: Parkinson, the Zabini's, Chance. She gave me a stern lecture for you. And what about your mother; she's already lost your dad. There's also-"
"No point!" Draco chocked out. Dalia vainly fought back tears as her friend's breathing became labored.
"Draco – no – don't you dare!" Harry's voice was frantic. "Draco, please, - c'mon – stay with me! – Draco, I – no…"
The tears flowed with renewed vigor.
"I love you." Harry whispered but it was too late. He was gone. Dalia entered the room cautiously after a moment. Looking at Harry she saw the real Savior stripped of all masks and personas.
She saw a man with a thousand deaths on his shoulders and another just added. She saw a man who had killed even if it was in self-defense – for the greater good. Most of all, she saw a boy who had been forced to grow up far too quickly.
"I'm so, so sorry." he whispered.
"It's too late." She replied even as she hugged him so he knew she understood and forgave him.
"It's too late."