The following Wednesday was Harry's second visit with Healer Greg Goyle. The first meeting was a straight forward information session in which Harry learned about the virus he supposedly had, obtained a few pamphlets, and agreed to a regimen of suppressant potion. The only thing that even had him worried was when Goyle took a cheek swab to isolate his strain of the virus. Negative results were inevitable, but the test took two weeks to incubate, so he wouldn't have to face up to them until the second visit.
Now that Harry was walking into said second visit, he was far more nervous about the whole thing. He couldn't help fearing that he was about to be found out, despite the fact that his healer was Goyle. Draco hadn't known that Harry would need his virus isolated to determine the source and the rogue Incubus who had allegedly fathered his mother. He'd told Draco about the development, but Draco had told him not to worry about it and to cooperate fully. Draco was certain that as long as Harry's healer was Goyle, there was nothing to worry about.
Harry waited with apprehension and dread in the examination room for Goyle to see him. He paced back and forth, tapped his foot repeatedly, picked at his nails, and then repeated the cycle. He was an ex-Auror trained to keep his cool under pressure, but this situation was not on the list of scenarios he'd been placed in before. Yes, Goyle was still as dim-witted as the git had been in school, but Ron wasn't stupid and Ron would be waiting for these test results. Bottom line was that he had a lot more riding on this than a case or a job, because Draco's future and his children's lives were at stake. He couldn't fuck it up and there were no do-overs or second chances.
Goyle came into the room, catching Harry mid-pace, but didn't notice, because his nose was stuck in Harry's chart. He didn't look up as he asked, "You have been on the three ounce dosage of the suppressant potion for two weeks now?"
"Yes, every twelve hours. I haven't missed a dose," Harry confirmed, slightly relieved to be tossed a softball to start. He had taken the potion as directed, so that was not where he would be caught.
"Where have you been getting it?" Goyle asked.
Draco brewed the stuff on a regular basis for Narcissa, but had refused to supply Harry, fearing that it might look suspicious. If it were known that Draco was capable of brewing it, then that might lead to questions. It was better for Harry to purchase it from an outside source, giving the appearance that Draco was incapable of brewing it.
"The apothecary in Diagon Alley," Harry answered truthfully, opening up the file folder he'd brought with him to produce his receipts, which he thrust at Goyle. "I have all of my receipts."
"Very good. Unfortunately I am not allowed to take your word for it; I have to test your blood to determine the potion levels in your system. This will also allow me to gauge how quickly your body processes the potion and therefore what your ideal dose is," Goyle replied, taking the folder with the receipts for his report. Because of the recent court case against Draco, the report would be sent to three separate offices of the Ministry: the Wizenagamot, the Child Well-Fare Division, and the Auror Department.
Harry agreed and allowed Goyle to cast the detection spell. It showed unusually high potion levels, so Goyle ordered the potion dose cut down. Harry cringed at hearing this, because he knew precisely the cause of the high levels in his system: he didn't have the virus and those without the virus lacked the system for breaking down the potion that those with the virus had. In the future, he'd have to take less than he reported taking, to avoid Goyle noticing the discrepancy. He promised Goyle he'd cut his potion dose in half, but he told himself he'd take only a swig of it, so that Goyle would have to raise the dose next visit. Lowering it a second time might raise suspicion.
"How have the side effects been? I imagine that you must feel horrendous with the potion levels in your system," Goyle said.
Harry had been about to say he had no side effects, but upon hearing Goyle's statement, he caught himself and changed his tune. It was only in that moment that he realized that without the virus, there was nothing for the potion to act on, and therefore no potential for side effects. "Oh yeah, it makes my head feel like it's in a cloud. I can't think properly for hours after taking it. I have to take it early in the morning, so that my mind can clear in time for work." Luckily, he had firsthand experience with how the potion affected Draco, so he lied accordingly.
"We should be able to reduce those symptoms. Most likely it is the result of the high levels of potion in your system. Once we find the right balance, the side effects should diminish. We want to stop you from entering Draco's dreams, not stop you from thinking. There are some people who are severely affected by the potion even at the lowest necessary dosage, but they tend to be those who have a particularly active form of the virus. Those witches and wizards have to go the alternative route of marriage and a bonding ceremony, to insure that they don't violate anyone's dreams. Obviously from the levels of potion in your system and your two negative tests for the virus, you do not fall into that category. I don't think you have anything to worry about," Goyle reassured.
"Okay," Harry replied.
"Is there anything else you would like to know?" Goyle asked.
"Um, Draco and I've talked about doing the bonding ceremony. If I go that route, do I have to continue the potion? Would I still have to see you?" Harry asked in return.
"No, to both. Some Incubi and Succubi prefer to continue taking the potion after bonding, because they have grown accustomed to how it feels or because their spouse dislikes being visited in his or her dreams, but that is a personal choice. As far as the Ministry is concerned, you need do only one or the other."
Harry nodded.
"Do you have any other questions?"
"No."
"Alright then there is just the matter of your virus culture; it was negative, so we will have to try it again. Given that you seem to have a relatively inactive virus, it could take numerous tries," Goyle said.
Harry was relieved to hear that a negative culture at this point was not cause for concern, but at the same time, he felt dread building in the pit of his stomach as he thought about the fact that Goyle wanted to take another swab for another culture that would come back negative. How many negatives would it take before someone grew suspicious? "Do you do the cultures in house, or outsource them?" he asked, wanting to know if he could use Goyle's incompetency as an excuse with Ron.
"I do them all myself."
Harry sighed in relief. There was no telling how many negative tests Ron would be willing to blame on Goyle fucking up.
Goyle took another swab for virus culture. Then he made another appointment with Harry for two weeks. He was about to send Harry on his way, when he surprised Harry with a personal question, "My wife, Tracey, wants to know if we are still invited to the usual party at Malfoy Manor this Halloween?"
"Does Draco have a Halloween party every year, then?" Harry asked surprised. He'd completely forgotten about the holiday with everything else that had been going on. Draco hadn't mentioned Halloween once, even though it was coming up soon. The only celebration Draco was gearing up for was Nysus' upcoming birthday.
"No, he throws Dionysus a birthday party every Halloween. Nysus was born on Halloween, or didn't you know?"
Harry hadn't made the connection before, but now that he thought about it, the day the party was scheduled for was Halloween. "Oh, yeah, I know, er, I just wasn't thinking. Yes, Draco is planning a birthday party. He plans on inviting all of the usual people plus the Weasley children who are around Nysus' age. I'm sure Draco will get the invite out to you any day now. He's been working on the invitations."
"Great! Greg Jr. will be so excited to hear it and little Vince loves parties," Goyle replied.
"Greg Jr. and little Vince?" Harry asked curiously.
"My sons. Greggy is four and Vinny is two."
"Good. If that's all, I must be going," Harry concluded.
Harry went straight to the Manor to see Draco, despite the fact that he'd had dinner with the Malfoys just before the appointment with Goyle. Draco wasn't in his room, so Harry went in search of him on the second floor, finding him in Nysus' room, reading the child a bedtime story. Harry waited in the doorway, listening to Draco read. Nysus liked all kinds of stories and this was one of a popular children's series about a boy with a pet dragon. Draco's voice was animated and entertaining, captivating both Nysus and Harry as he read.
Draco read until Nysus yawned and had trouble keeping his eyes open. Then there was a kiss and a soft, "Sweet dreams," before he turned to Harry, acknowledging his boyfriend's presence. He silently led Harry upstairs to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "Well, what happened? How did it go?"
"The culture was negative, so he took another swab," Harry replied, leading with what had him most concerned.
"Was he suspicious?" Draco asked.
"No, but it's only a matter of time. I was thinking that maybe I should tamper with the culture. If I switch my sample with that of someone who actually has the virus, then Goyle won't have to keep swabbing me every two weeks and Ron won't get suspicious."
"No." Draco's tone was firm and forceful, his eyes boring into Harry's. "You will do no such thing. You are Harry Potter, war hero and Savior of the Wizarding World; the scandal it would create if you were caught tampering with your test results! No, we cannot risk it. You will do nothing and continue to cooperate fully with Greg. He isn't suspicious, so there is no imminent risk of danger."
"But for how long? Eventually someone's going to notice that all of my cultures come back negative. What if you gave me a sample from your own cheek? Then the sample couldn't possibly already be in the system, so there's no way I could get caught."
"Absolutely not! That is an even worse plan," Draco hissed critically.
"Why? What could go wrong?" Harry wondered.
"Worst case scenario, they realize that I am the source of the sample and that I am the Incubus. If that happened, they would then order me to produce a sample or get tested for the virus, or both, and there is no way my tests would be negative. Best case scenario, they trace the virus back to my great great grandfather, Cygnus Black the second, the last member of the Black family to have admitted to being infected, and assume that he is also your maternal grandfather. He and his wife Violetta are also on the Potter family tree, the parents of Dorea Black, nee Potter. From there they might decide Dorea was secretly a Succubus and initiate an investigation into her and the rest of the family lines that joins you to her. Or, they might decide that you are super inbred, with Cygnus on your dad's side and on your mum's side too. And since he is also on my family tree, then that makes him present on our children's family tree in three separate places. That level of inbreeding is not accepted in the Malfoy family and might cause problems if and when it comes time to bond. I may be the Lord Malfoy, so I could get away with it, but do we really want everyone to think that our children are inbred?" Draco asked.
Harry shook his head, because not even the best case scenario sounded like a good choice. "What do we do?"
"We wait and you keep giving samples and maintain your cool. Eventually Greg will mess up and either accidentally switch your culture with someone else's, or contaminate your sample with someone else's. He has many other patients with the virus, so there are many potential samples floating around his office. Eventually one of your tests will come back positive and the isolate will be sent along to the Aurors for further analysis. If the source is from a line with potential to be the rogue Incubus active way back when your mum was born, then problem solved. If not and the Aurors realize that the sample was contaminated, then Greg goes back to trying to culture your virus and you are not to blame. There is no potential for scandal if we rely on Greg to make the mistake," Draco explained.
"If you're sure…"
"I am. Now tell me about the rest of the visit; I want all of the details."
Harry nodded and recounted word for word what he and Goyle had said to each other. Draco seemed encouraged by the fact that Goyle was not suspicious about any of it and that Harry had thought on his toes, giving Goyle answers that sounded right. The unusually high levels of suppressant potion in Harry's system during the appointment would probably be enough to explain away the next negative culture, because with that amount of potion, it was unlikely that there would be much live virus floating around. Thus they were free from suspicion for at least another month. And because they did want to bond as soon as the children were ready for such a leap, they would not have to avoid suspicion forever. Once they were bonded, there would still be repercussions associated with lying to Wizenagamot and hiding the infection from the Ministry, but the threat of Draco having to take the suppressant potion would be eliminated. They preferred not to ever be found out, but if they could just buy another six months or so, then they would be able to manage.
With all of the talk about the virus and being found out, Harry completely forgot about the part at the end of the appointment, when Goyle had asked about Nysus' birthday party.
Author's Note: Two visits down; they're safe for at least the first six months, I think…
Up next will be birthday party preparations. Happy holidays and don't drink and drive!
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