Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark violation is intended.

Added note/disclaimer: I also use quotes from other places. If you find a quote that wasn't cited, please notify me.

"We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance. "

XVIII

Death's Embrace

"Harry!" Hermione said jumping to her feet when we spotted him. I worried about him. He seemed so tired lately, that I wondered if it had been such a good idea to become involved with Malfoy.

I was surprised to find myself a week before the Christmas Holidays without any presents – without having thought of anything except Harry and Malfoy.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," said Harry. He hesitated before he said quietly, "Acheron's been listing everything that's wrong with Draco… there's a Healer who wanted to know."

"Do they think they can help him?"

"Not if he doesn't eat on his own," said Harry, looking at Hermione. "He hasn't been eating on his own. Every vitamin, every nutrient is going directly into his veins through an I.V. He tries, but I guess he's really tired of it now. He sleeps a lot nowadays."

"I'm sorry," said Hermione quietly. I wondered, though, was there even a chance that Malfoy could survive this at all?

"It's all right," said Harry with a sad smile. "Anyway, he's definitely got muscle atrophy – and according to the Healer who saw him, if he manages to pull through the crisis period, chances are that the lost muscle mass is permanent. He'll be pretty weak for the rest of his life. His health is definitely never going to be the same as someone who's healthy. But, she says that luckily he doesn't have osteoporosis like we thought he did. There's some thinning of his bones, but not too much. He'll just have to be very careful if he wants to play Quidditch or something."

"What about… everything else?"

Harry looked away. "He's got bradycardia. He might still manage to get that fixed, but his heart will be weaker than it was before. His kidneys are almost through. The healer says that they'll try to put him on a waiting list for a transplant." Harry looked back at us. "She's a Muggle-born and she's been studying ways to combine our healing with Muggle treatments. She's even gone through the Muggle medical courses to become a doctor. She says that it's his best shot. She also told us that he needs a liver transplant and that will be a priority…" Harry sighed, "He might not qualify for a heart transplant, though – not if the risks of doing that outweigh the benefits. She also told us that he's got something called ketoacidosis… she says that if he doesn't eat soon, he'll end up in a coma. The chances of his waking up aren't very good if goes into a coma."

"What's a coma?" I asked. I'd heard of it before, but I'd never really understood it.

Hermione told me it was when a person was deeply unconscious for a really long time. Sometimes comatose people died without ever waking up.

I felt sorry for Malfoy – he had so many health problems now that I was starting to wonder if it would be more humane for us to let him die than trying to save his life.

I thought that no matter the cost he ought to live.

But what was our right to force him to live if he didn't want to?

xxx

It was the scream that sent people running into the room. It was actually a girl named Mandy something – I can't remember her last name. She was the one standing there in the room, staring at something I couldn't see.

They ushered us out of the room before I could see what was going on.

"Oh, my God!" people were saying, "She committed suicide!"

I had a really, really bad feeling about this.

I turned and fled without speaking to anyone. I needed to find Luna or Colin – one of the people Ginny hung about with. Someone she was friends with…

No, no, no, no – it was a mantra in my mind with each step I took.

"Ronald," Luna said when I found her. "I have something to tell you…"

I stared at her and then she handed me a note.

Oh, God, no.

– Marcel Proust

A/N: Have you figured it out by now, if you didn't before? Anyway, again sorry for the rather short chapter… and sorry for making you all wait. I was going to update three days after I posted last chapter, but then my internet decided to throw a tantrum and then I got sick… Arwen's fallen off the face of the planet – or at least I haven't seen her, talked to her and she's my beta! She has my new story which I want to post… but more worrisome, she's my sister – and I think she's vanished… Oh, well, hope she's okay.

Citation/Disclaimer(s)/Reference:

1. Ketoacidosis – this should be easy, if you can take the word apart. All right then. This… the definition I've found is: "high levels of acids that build up in the blood (known as ketones) caused by the body burning fat (instead of sugar and carbohydrates) to get energy. It can be a result of starvation, excessive purging, dehydration, hyperglycemia and/or alcohol abuse (it can also be a result of uncontrolled or untreated diabetes). It can lead to coma and death."

Not a good and happy thing at all. And, yes, I put the most important details in the bold.

P.S: Arwen said that people with eating disorders are disqualified from getting transplants.

Review Response:

Senom Vefeth

Kekepania1

Arian prince: Thanks! I was wondering where that came from. I'll put it up on the list as soon as I can get around to it.

nina

randomness

Black Mirror: Thanks! That means a lot to me actually, since I've gotten most of my information out of textbooks, so for you to say that to me is great!

NinjaoftheDarkness

Sarah123Babe

Thanks for taking the time to review! Again, apologies for being so late with this chapter. There are only two more chapters! After this, you have Pansy. The last chapter's Harry. Then there is an Epilogue, but I feel that the story really ends with Harry. So, you don't have to read the Epilogue, unless, of course, you want to. Anyway, just a few announcements…

I'm currently fixing Shadow of a Dream's newest chapter, which will hopefully be done sometime soon… I am taking a poll on whether or not to continue the Board of Recognition, as I've fallen behind on it… and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. Also, I want to know if I should post a Harry Potter/ Artemis Fowl crossover! Yes, I know, Artemis Fowl is a children's novel and I am far too old to be considered a child but I enjoy Artemis Fowl nonetheless… speaking of how old I am, how old do you think I am?

Anyway, thanks again, for taking the time to review. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, and please review if you have any questions, comments, insightful suggestions to improve my writing skills, just remember to be polite!

Keir