Chapter 2
"The changes in Mr. Potter have finally stopped this morning," Madame Pomfrey told the three Gryffindors who were once again gathered around Harry's bed. When the three entered the infirmary that morning they were just in time to see Madame Pomfrey finishing her daily examination of Harry.
"Does that mean he should be waking up soon, Madame Pomfrey?" asked Hermione.
"Let's hope so, dear." Madame Pomfrey then proceeded to tell the group of the details of her findings. The discussion continued for a few minutes until the mediwitch excused herself to attend to other tasks. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione then prepared for another long day of waiting to see if Harry would finally wake up or not.
As they sat around their sleeping friend the three Gryffindors talked about the goings on in school. Hermione was bemoaning the fact that even though they were back in school regular school sessions were not to resume until the next school year. Those who were on their seventh year during the war were invited to repeat the year due to the fact that their learning was hindered by hostile school conditions. Ginny merely listened and added her opinion every now and then. The group seemed to have regained some semblance of the normalcy before Harry fell unconscious, talking and laughing over anything that came to mind. There was a feeling of lightheartedness until Ron spoke again. "Did you see the Ferret this morning? It was hilarious when he spewed out his breakfast on Goyle. Goyle looked like he himself was going to puke. Everyone at the Slytherin table looked a little green after that little incident." For a moment Ron looked pleased while relating his amusement over Malfoy's breakfast scandal and he completely ignored Hermione's weak reprimand, only paying attention to Ginny's quiet giggle. Then in the next instant he turned solemn as he said, "I just wish Harry were awake to have seen that too and have a good laugh over it." And immediately the cheerful atmosphere disappeared and was replaced by an air of disappointment and slight desperation.
No one spoke another word until the infirmary doors opened to admit a couple around their mid-thirties. The woman carried a bouquet of flowers while her husband carried with him a roll of some sort of really thick material. It might have been a carpet. Immediately the three around Harry's bed realized that it was time for them to start entertaining the first of Harry's numerous guests for the day. The day went on with the three friends just chatting with Harry's visitors and receiving their gifts.
***** DMHP *****
In another part of the castle, somewhere in the dungeons, one Draco Malfoy was bent double with an arm leaning against a wall, trying not to collapse from the pain he felt throughout his body. Draco felt as if all the muscles in his body were ripping apart and his bones were breaking. His blood was boiling and his skin felt like it was melting. He was sweating profusely from the excruciating pain and his throat felt so dry it was starting to feel raw. He started dry-heaving and he could taste hints of copper coming up from his throat. His breath was shallow and erratic and the lack of oxygen was making him light-headed. And all of a sudden the pain subsided and Draco fell against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. All that was left of the pain was an odd tingling sensation throughout his body. His skin was also left feeling dry and he wanted to scratch at any part of himself that he could reach, but he did not have any strength to even regulate his breathing yet. The young man stayed on the floor with his head leaning back on the wall for a while. He looked absolutely haggard as his eyes slowly closed and he succumbed to unconsciousness.
When Draco awoke, he had no knowledge of how long he was out for. Although the tingling echoes of the pain were completely gone, he still felt just mildly sore and his skin was still irritatingly itchy. When he drew back a sleeve to scratch at his arm, he felt the skin was not only dry, it was rough and almost scaly feeling. However, Draco was more concerned about the pain possibly coming back so he just let it go. He got up from the floor and straightened his robes a bit before he continued on to the Slytherin dorms. He was named Head Boy at the start of term so he got an even better room than the one he used to have as a Prefect. When he finally entered his room and saw the inviting bed, exhaustion from his earlier ordeal finally caught up with him and he just collapsed on top of the covers.
Hours later Draco awoke and the first thing he noticed was the absence of sunlight streaming in through his bedroom windows. It was already very dark outside and he couldn't hear the usual hum of conversation coming from the common room, which meant most of the Slytherins have already retired for the night. As he sat up, Draco drew his wand out and casted a tempus charm. It showed that the time was slowly approaching midnight, so he carefully rose from bed and started for the door. It was once again time for his nightly infirmary visit.
As Draco drew nearer to the infirmary, the tingling sensation came back. It wasn't painful and it wasn't uncomfortable, it was simply just odd. The young man ignored it in favor of the prospect of seeing the lone patient of the infirmary once more. He opened the infirmary doors slightly and crept in quietly. He stuck close to the shadowed walls just in case there was someone else other than the sleeping Harry in the room. When Draco saw that there was no one else in the infirmary he hurried to Harry's bedside.
When he reached Harry's side he looked at the boy for a few moments and he didn't even realize that this time he had an almost imperceptible smile on his face. As he looked at the sleeping boy's face a while longer he couldn't help but finally start noticing the subtle differences in Harry. Draco thought Harry looked simply angelic lying peacefully on the bed and his eyes could not stop lingering on the boy's rosy lips. As he continued to stare, Draco suddenly realized his train of thought and shook his head to clear it. 'Did I just really think about how kissable Harry Potter's lips looked? Of course not. That's just preposterous.' As Draco thought this the tolerable tingling sensation he felt increased tenfold, just enough to make it quite uncomfortable. When Draco looked at the sleeping Harry again, his eyes were once again drawn to Harry's lips. "What the bloody hell is wrong with me?" he said out loud and the discomfort kept increasing.
"Well, Potter, it seems this visit has to be cut short." Draco just brushed his fingers against Harry's cheek briefly and quickly moved back toward the infirmary doors. All the while the uncomfortable tingling sensation was slowly turning into unbearable pain once more. Draco gritted his teeth as he tried to run to his dorm room, the pain hindering his movement greatly. When he finally made it into his room he used what was left of his waning strength to cast a silencing charm. Right as he finished the charm he dropped his wand as he clutched around his chest from the agonizing pain, falling to the floor in the process. Draco was biting his bottom lip so hard to keep from screaming that he started feeling metallic tasting liquid trickle down his chin for his efforts. When the pain increased to an excruciating extent, Draco finally let out a scream. For the rest of the night Draco Malfoy was on his bedroom floor writhing and screaming until he finally passed out from the pain.
***** DMHP *****
The dark-haired youth was once again lurking around Knockturn Alley. He had already been to Borgin and Burke's, but the shopkeepers were being most unhelpful. The bumbling men were certainly more than happy to display their wares, but they had yet to show the handsome youth some of their more 'special' items. And so the young man decided that he would hang around Knockturn Alley for a while and check out the other shops and come by Borgin and Burke's everyday to chat up the owners. Surely he could charm his way into earning their trust. And so with this goal in mind, the young man wandered around Knockturn Alley for some time.
***** DMHP *****
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were once again visiting Harry in the infirmary. They were currently watching Madame Pomfrey perform some diagnostic spells on their unconscious friend, noting that the mediwitch seemed concerned over some of her results. The three Gryffindors, however, knew better than to interrupt her as she worked on their friend. She would tell them soon enough of her findings.
When Madame Pomfrey finished with her daily check up of Harry, she turned to the other three in the room with a slightly worried look on her face. Before they could ask her what was wrong she started on her daily report. "Mr. Potter's temperature seems to be quite a bit higher than what's normal. Other than the slightly elevated temperature he is perfectly alright."
"Do you know what's causing the sudden spike in his temperature, Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione asked.
"Much like the cause of his unconsciousness, dear, I'm afraid I don't really know. All I can really do is try to reduce his temperature. But it doesn't seem like it is hurting him. And I don't sense any discomfort in him. He still appears to be sleeping peacefully. I don't think it is any cause for alarm much like all the other changes in Mr. Potter." As the mediwitch continued to discuss with and reassure the Gryffindors, the first few of Harry's daily visitors finally arrived. Madame Pomfrey excused herself from the group and the three were once again thrust into the roles of reluctant hosts. Throughout the day Madame Pomfrey checked for Harry's temperature and found that it was rising gradually. The boy still displayed no outward negative signs in regards to his increasing temperature so Madame Pomfrey settled for simply monitoring the boy.
Thank you for reading. In the next chapter we find out what is actually going on with Draco. Harry also finally wakes up.
