A/N: Hola, everybody! Once again, I am keeping secrets, but they will all be revealed soon enough. I will answer questions about Harry's disease, however. Sengmal is a disease of my creation, and I have already explained the symptoms and what it does to his body. More will be explained in this chapter on what the virus actually does. You will also learn about why Harry is taking his driving test, even with his disease. Enjoy!
Chapter Three: Tests and Secrets
"Very good, Mr. Potter… Black… Malfoy. Pull back into the parking lot, please." Harry nodded his acquiescence and followed the directions. In the parking lot stood his family, Draco having already barely passed his test. The middle aged wizard and boy climbed out of the car.
"So?" Sirius was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "How did he do?" The man did not even split a smile, and in fact looked like he had a giant stick up his arse.
"A few mistakes, but minor. He passed." Harry had to refrain for screaming his excitement. Finally, he would be able to drive that beauty lesser mortals called a car. The Ministry employee waved his wand, a license appearing in his hand. With a flick a pen appeared. "Sign the back, please." Harry did this impatiently, thanked him, and pulled Sirius by the arm.
"Come on! I can't wait to show Bella!" Sirius frowned, but followed. Goodbyes were said to Lucius and Draco, who were driving in Draco's Porsche.
Once in the Lamborghini, Sirius prevented his son from starting it. "We need to talk, love,"
"What is it?"
"There are going to be rules for you driving. You are only going to drive on good days, and your father and I will be the judge, not you. Also, you are not to drive alone. At the very least, have Draco in the car with you. There might even be a chance that Dr. Bradley won't let you drive at all, and we will respect his orders. We wanted you to have a license in case of an emergency, and because we want you to feel like a normal teenager for once." It was Harry's turn to frown, and while he was upset, he did not say so.
"Okay, Da. Can we go now?"
The drive was a silent one. The euphoria of new found freedom was once again burdened with more ropes and ties. Sirius got out of the car and agreed that Harry was fine just driving down the road to Bella's house. Lucius was not as pleased. He glared at his husband as their sick son drove away.
"It is only two minutes, maybe two and a half," Sirius defended.
"It takes two seconds to get an arm spasm and drive off the road!" Lucius intoned incredulously. Sirius glared.
"He's fine! Not even a twinge of dizziness! It doesn't hurt anyone to just go down the block."
"It will when he loses control! Sirius, these things happen randomly, which is why we decided to regulate his driving. We do not know when he will get dizzy or a spasm." Lucius was trying to reason with the Gryffindor alumni, but it was like trying to teach a wall to walk.
"So, just because he's sick we are going to keep in a little box? I can't do that. I ruined his life enough as it is. You did not see his face when I told him about his car. I hate making him unhappy. He rarely truly smiles anymore and it's all because of me! You go and tell him he can't drive down the block by himself." By this point the blond man had wrapped his arms around his mate.
"Shush now, love," He whispered into shaggy black hair. "You need to stop blaming yourself. You did not know this would happen. Harry does not blame you for it."
"More the reason for me to," Sirius murmured.
"And that will only make Harry unhappier." Sirius could not find an argument for that.
XXX
"Now you can be the one to drive us when you get the urge to leave!" Harry laughed from Bella's bed, watching her pick out clothes from the closet and stand in front of the mirror with them. "Do you like the red blouse better or the blue one?"
"How should I know? Just because I'm gay does not mean I have a fashion sense."
"You have a great fashion sense! Just look at your clothes! You always look hot." Harry smirked.
"You will have to tell Draco that. He's the one who dresses me." The abhorrence on Bella's face was priceless and the teen wizard could not help the laugh that escaped him. "Anyways, why are you getting all dressed up?"
"Oh," Bella said, distracted by her shirts again. "Charlie has some banquet tonight. It's for the police force. I have do look somewhat nice."
"The blue looks better on your complexion, by the way," Harry stated as he stood up. "Can I grab something to eat? I did not have any lunch."
"Sure, sure…" Harry shook his head and made his way for the door, but had to pause. The room had started to spin. "Are you alright? You look a little pale." Harry gave a small smile.
"I'm fine. I'm still a little sick. What a flu, huh?" He chuckled. She shook her head at him before turning back to the mirror.
"Grab some chips, will you? A soda as well, please."
"I am not your maid!"
"What was that, Marie-Claire?" Harry mocked a spitting action at her face before going downstairs to the kitchen. It was when he was making his way back upstairs that he had trouble. He was tossing back a bit of his soda when he was hit by another dizzy spell. This time his vision went completely away before appearing again. This happened several times and the food and cans of soda fell to the stairs.
"You alright there, Harry?" Charlie, Bella's dad, called from the couch in the living room.
"I-I'm so-sorry Charlie. I'm just a …little…," Harry was not able to finish his sentence. His vision turned black, and this time, it did not reappear.
"Harry?" Charlie inquired curiously. He walked to the staircase and gasped at the sight. "HARRY!" He rushed to the stairs and checked the boy's vitals. Bella emerged from her room at the shout. She gave a small cry before running to her friend as well. "Bella, go call the hospital, now!" She nodded and did as told. She had to hold back a tremble in her voice as she talked to the receptionist.
XXX
Harry woke up in a sterile white room and was immediately reminded of the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. He struggled to get up, but a hand pushed him back down again. "No!" He said groggily. "I don't want to come back. Let me go!"
"Harry, relax," A voice soothed. "It's Doctor Bradley. How are you feeling?" Harry leaned back and waited until his eyes adjusted.
"I feel alright, if a little tired."
"Good, it's how you should feel. Does your head hurt at all? You hit it pretty hard and have a decent size lump." The doctor prodded at the lump on his forehead, causing Harry to wince.
"Now it does, thank you," he muttered sarcastically. Bradley beamed.
"No problem. Now, have you been getting more dizzy spells lately?"
"Yeah, actually. I get at least one everyday now, but they are all small. Today was an exception, obviously." Bradley frowned.
"Hmm, that's odd. Then again, you're odd, so it's to be expected."
"You know, you are a great doctor. You know just how to make a patient feel special," Harry groaned.
"Now, now, no need to be irritable," The doctor tsked, a repressed smirk easily seen. He became serious again and said, "I am going to have to prescribe you another medication."
"I already take five."
"Yes, but this one you will only take in the morning. This will slow down the destruction of brain tissues. I did not think you would need this medication so soon, but neither did Brenson. In about three months you will have to take one at night as well, and a few months after that, three times a day. There is no need to worry about it now, though. I will go get it ready for you. Do you want me to send your friend in? You gave her quite a scare. Your parents should be here soon, by the way." Harry nodded, inwardly panicking. What would he tell Bella?
The girl in question walked in not even a second after Doctor Bradley left. She lied down next to Harry, her head resting against his chest. "Harry, what happened?" she whispered.
"Nothing to worry about. I told you, I had quite the nasty flu."
"A flu you need to take six medications for?" Harry frowned.
"You were listening?"
"I was walking in the room and stopped so I would not interrupt. Plus, your doctor is really loud. And the fact that he would not let the other doctors help you because you were a 'special case'. Even Doctor Cullen was not allowed to help you, and I hear he is one of the best doctors here, if not the best. What is going on?"
Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead before wincing again at the throbbing. "You cannot tell anyone. It's bad enough that the teachers know. I do not need another over bearing sibling either, so promise not to be like one, okay?" Bella just nodded expectantly. He took a deep breath.
"I'm sick, Bella. I have a disease called Sengmal. Before you ask, it is a very rare disease so you would not have heard of it. It is not contagious, either. It is genetic, and a few of my ancestors had it. It won't go away, and apparently I have the worst case. Instead of only losing a few years on my life span, my life is considerably shorter. I'll be lucky if I make it to thirty." Bella let this all sink in, her breath rattling.
"What exactly is it? What does it do?"
"Well, I have a virus that is basically eating at my tissues. It is not major, yet, and in most cases it is not supposed to get major. The virus usually only eats at certain points of the brain, like the motor cortex which controls movement, or at the amygdala, which controls emotions like anger and fear. Actually, that is why I believe my family has a reputation for being cold hearted. The virus targets a certain spot it likes and destroys it ,but does not do enough damage to seriously harm or incapacitate someone. If it does, it is usually in spots that won't kill anyone.
"The virus in me, however, has chosen to reside itself in many areas. Not only is it in my motor cortex, it is in my hypothalamus, which controls things like hunger body temperature and emotions, it is in my autonomic nervous system, which arouses the body in stressful situations and calms it after. It is in more places, but I do not know all and I don't want to bore you with a science lesson. To shorten the story, My former and current doctors think the virus is moving out of my brain as well and moving to other tissues, which is why it will be a maricle if I live longer than thirty."
Bella was silent for several minutes; then, the shaking started, followed by the tears. Harry rocked her gently, soothingly. "I just met you!" she cried. "I just met you, and you're wonderful. You are the first real friend I have ever had. You can't be sick! You can't die!"
"Harry?" The boy looked up to see his family standing by the door.
"I'm fine. I had a strong dizzy spell and hit my head hard on the stairs. I only got a goose egg." Draco hummed and walked over to his brother. He gripped the younger's angular chin in his hand, moving it side to side. He stared in Harry's eyes for a moment before nodding, satisfied. Then the blonde crawled into the bed on the other side of Harry. "Ah, come on. Don't get comfortable; I want to leave soon."