Mizzrazz72: Now he really does need help.
Caithlinn13: Glad you like the double update. The muses have been working overtime.
Xiu: Here's your new chapter.
TheSamurai'sRose: Ha Ha So I was giving a vampire vibe? Sweet.
Mad-eye-93: Thanks!
SilentIntrovert: I didn't make you wait long for this one. But the next chapter I will be. Sorry!
Guest: Thank you. I'm glad you like my writing. I haven't really figured out the full ending of the story yet or what ends up happening with the trio. The few stories I've found with the trio I have found to have been well written, but to each his own.
Hotflower901: Ha Ha We all know that boy doesn't do anything halfway.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This will be the last update for at least a week. I am going to be out of town for a family celebration. Then I'm going almost straight into a temporary summer job. Luckily, it's like part-time work so plenty of time to dedicate to writing. Hope y'all enjoy the new chapter!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The next few weeks had everyone on edge. Nico had nightmares almost every night, sending him flying to his fathers' bedroom at late hours. Minerva gave Draco some time off so he could be there with his family. The wards around their home and Malfoy Manor had been reworked so Narcissa couldn't get anywhere near either home without Kingsley being alerted.
Lucius had to take things easy so after dropping Nico off at Harry's, Draco spent his days with him. Their first job had been for Lucius to cut Narcissa off from all Malfoy funds and immediately file for divorce. Lucius had spoken with Kingsley, giving him as much information as he could to aid the man in locating his soon to be ex-wife. Most of the library had been salvageable with many of the books being protected even from the strength of the magical fire.
The most surprising piece of paper that hadn't burned had been the one Narcissa had been hiding. It turned out to be a betrothal contract between the Malfoy's and the Greengrass Family. After speaking with the Greengrass Patriarch, it was discovered Narcissa hadn't even told them. It looked like her plan was to seal Nico into the deal before coming to their family. Draco had hugged his son extra hard that night.
Harry was almost completely healed of his injuries. Because of the nature of his disease, his doctor couldn't use spells to heal him. Instead they had used medical pastes and topical potions that wouldn't interfere with the ones he was taking. Draco, distracted by things with his father, didn't take notice of the slow healing until after Harry's more visible injuries had disappeared.
Hermione and Ron, concerned for the poor best friend's health, traded off staying with him. The nights Hermione stayed Harry was treated to a home-cooked dinner. When Ron stayed, they watched movies and had some junk food. Some nights, where Ron was working late, Hermione would bring the babies. Harry would play with them and help Hermione put them down to sleep for the night.
The dragon's egg grew warmer by the day, but had yet to hatch. Cecil and Cooper stayed nearby, enjoying the warmth from it. Harry sometimes carried it around in the pouch of his pullover.
Nico started drawing more pictures of Harry with purple around him. Nico thought the purple was due to Harry's injuries with his fight with his grandmother. His fathers knew about how Harry was hurt so he didn't say anything to them. They went into their third week when Nico finally said something about the incident.
"Black means bad?"
Harry sighed. Nico had decided the lunch table topic of the day would be the colors his grandmother had been. Harry put his bottle of water down. He leaned heavily onto the counter with a sad smile on his face.
"I think black does mean bad, Nico. It sounds like orange and red are anger while black means someone is…" Harry paused to find the right words.
"Batshit crazy?"
Harry's hear reared back in surprise.
"Where did you hear that?" Harry asked, shocked.
The only person he could think of that would say that was Ron but he hadn't been around the young boy recently. Nico grinned from ear to ear.
"Grandpa Luc!"
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Well, if that's the way you want to describe what black is, just don't say I said that to your Daddy and Papa," Harry said, winking.
Nico brought his hands up to his mouth to stifle his laughter. The giggles spilled out through his open fingers. It made Harry smile to hear the child laughing again. In that first week back to working with Harry, Nico had barely smiled and had been so quiet Harry had cancelled the Monday group with the other children.
Nico startled when a phone went off. Harry told him to finish his lunch before standing to get it. He pulled a phone out of a hidden spot Nico hadn't seen before.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Maurice." Harry turned to face away from Nico and dropped his voice down in volume.
Nico, the ever-curious child, pretended not to notice, but strained to overhear Mr. Harry.
"No, no, I've been doing okay. No, I don't need any more. How soon? A week? Okay. Yes, I'll make sure to call if something…comes up."
Nico dropped his head and made it appear like he hadn't been listening. When Harry smiled at him as he sat back down, Nico knew he didn't know. After they finish lunch, they did a little artwork. Nico drew a picture that was realistic (a man walking a dog that looked a lot like Cooper) and a picture that was imaginary.
"What made this drawing imaginary? What makes it unreal?" Harry asked.
Nico pointed at each piece in his picture as he explained his drawing.
"The dragon is sneezing and the flames are pink. Dragon's don't sneeze and fire is orange and yellow. The kids have wings and and and we don't," Nico answered.
Harry chuckled. They ended up spending the next five minutes talking about whether dragons could sneeze.
Next, they played a game like charades. They practiced first with Harry giving instructions and then showing him some examples. They used a special deck of cards (Hermione had charmed them the night before) that would read the charade to the person who was holding the card.
Nico took his first card and it read to him The Three Little Pigs. He carefully thought about how he was going to get his card's message across to Harry. He put the card down. He held up three fingers to Harry. The older wizard nodded as he wrote on his mini white board the number three.
The little wizard walked over to one side of the room. He pretended to be building a house of straw. Harry wrote building? on his whiteboard. Nico scratched his head. Then a brilliant idea came to him. He pretended to have a broom, flipped it upside down, and pulled pieces out of it. He put those on his invisible house.
Harry chuckled as he wrote straw house. Nico moved a little over from the straw hat, pretended to pick up a pile of sticks, and build another house. By now, Harry knew what Nico's card said yet he allowed the little boy to play out building all three homes. Nico cheered when Harry guessed his card right.
Then Nico sat on the couch with the mini white board, marker, and eraser. Harry's card read as Trying to give a dog a bath. Cooper was really good about taking a bath so Harry had to pretend he was giving a bath to a difficult dog. Otherwise, Nico wouldn't get the message.
A giggling Nico enjoyed the show.
Harry started with bending at his waist and patting his leg to give the impression he was calling for someone. He patted the invisible dog's head before picking up what must have been a large dog. Nico wrote dog on his board.
Then Harry put the dog in a tub and acted like the dog was trying to get out. He made his face looked panicked and wagged his finger like telling the dog No. Cooper, who had been napping nearby, now stood next to the couch watching him with his head cocked to the side. The show ended with a drenched Harry yelling as the dog ran out and jumped around in a mud puddle.
"A bath! A bath! You're givin' Cooper a bath!" Nico laughed.
Harry tapped his nose.
"Ha Ha You're right, Nico," Harry said.
Cooper let out an undignified snort. He looked affronted by such a statement. Harry reached out to scratch behind his ears.
"Sorry, Coop. Nico, Cooper really does well taking a bath. But I was supposed to be giving a dog a bath. Or trying to."
They continued this activity with a variety of topics on the cards. By the time they were finished, Nico had fallen fast asleep on the couch. When Severus came to get him, he was relieved to see the small child sleeping peacefully.
"Has he had any nightmares?" he asked Harry as he picked up the small child.
Harry shook his head with a wide, jaw-popping yawn.
"No. Is he still having them at home?" Harry asked.
Severus nodded with a sigh.
"Yes. Nico's too young to give him a Dreamless Sleep. We've tried milk before bed, meditation, everything."
Harry sympathized with Severus. He could hear the exhausted tone in the man's voice.
"Has he talked to you about the nightmares?" Harry asked.
If possible, Severus let out an even deeper sigh.
"Sadly, no. He won't tell me, Draco, or even Lucius. We're at a loss. All I can guess is it involves Narcissa," Severus said.
Harry hesitated before offering to try and find out what was plaguing the youth.
"I can try and see if he'll tell me."
Severus flashed him a small, appreciative smile.
"Thank you."
They spoke for a little longer before Severus and Nico departed. Walking away from the living room, Harry shook his head as he cringed with a hand over his chest.
"Bloody heartburn," he mumbled.
The next day, Isis came to visit. It was something Harry had been unable to avoid. Upon setting eyes on Harry, her hand flew to her mouth yet it didn't stifle her sudden gasp.
"You're-!" Isis couldn't even finish.
Harry slowly nodded. Isis shook her head.
"I knew your color had changed, but I didn't know…I mean…you never said…Harry!"
Harry reached out to take her outstretched hand.
"This is exactly why I haven't told anyone. I don't want to upset people," Harry explained.
Isis hated to agree, but she did.
"Does Nico know? Does his family?" Isis asked.
"No."
"Has he not seen your Aura?"
Harry explained in the smallest amount of details what had happened a few weeks ago. Isis hummed.
"So he must think your Aura has changed because of your injuries. Life is cruel. Here, Life has put this little boy in your life for you to form a bond, only to have you ripped away from him."
Harry couldn't have put it in better words himself. Now Isis wondered even more about the mysterious book in Nico's library. Sadly, she was only in town for the day before she had to return to college. Before she left, she gave Harry a long hug.
"I hope this isn't the last time I see you."
"Me too."
/…/
In the dark corner of a hidden apartment, Narcissa sat with a large glass of wine. She was stewing. Lucius had clearly survived her attack since she no longer had access to the Malfoy Family vaults. However, she still had hidden accounts all over the world with the Black Family name. The Aurors would never find them as silence could always be paid by banks.
She knew if Lucius had survived the Fiendfyre she had unleashed in the library, then Potter was likely still alive as well.
Potter has ruined everything. I should have killed him when I had the chance, Narcissa thought.
Narcissa had wanted to make him suffer so she had sent curse after curse at him. A simple Avada Kedavra would have robbed her of the chance to make him suffer. She had almost been disappointed with how slow he moved, not even offering her much of a challenge. However, when she had tried to return her attention to her husband, Potter had struck.
Narcissa looked over her shoulder at the mirror hanging over the dresser. Catching the light right revealed the messy series of deep scratches across her bare back. Her hand tightened around her glass. She would have never suspected the younger wizard of striking when his attacker had their back to him. It was definitely an unGryffindor thing to do.
Potter will pay if it's the last thing I do, Narcissa thought.
/…/
That night, Nico didn't have a nightmare. Instead, when he went to sleep, he entered his library. He had tucked his grandmother's completely black book away into a corner. He had sorted all the books based on groups. His family and friends were on one shelf, people he had met, and people he hadn't met.
The dark gray, almost black book, was the only book that remained in the air. It floated in the air above his head. Nico glared. He had discovered he couldn't find Mr. Harry's book so he had been able to deduce the book belonged to Harry. He knew the dark gray was different from his grandmother's black.
"Let me in!" he shouted at the book.
Suddenly, the book shook violently before bursting open. A swirl of pages flew around him in a wide, tornado-like circle. He saw images of his memories with Harry. He saw their first meeting, meeting Isis through Harry, their field trips, Christmas, everything. As the pages all floated down to scatter around him on the ground, a lone figure was revealed.
Nico gasped. It was Harry. He was all dressed in black and his skin was pale. He stood staring out into space like he wasn't even aware of where he was. When Nico stepped closer, he saw there was weird lines cracking along the side of Harry's face. It reminded him of an egg he had cracked, but not completely opened. Shivers tingled up Nico's back and over his arms.
The next morning, Nico had slept through the night in his own bed and felt energized [1]. However, he was still at unease with opening Harry's strange book. He was very nervous about Mr. Harry. He felt like something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Nico quickly dressed and hurried down the stairs, almost falling twice. He darted into the kitchen where his Papa was handing off a hot cup of coffee to his Daddy. He nearly ran into Draco who barely put the coffee down in time.
"Woah, little guy! Where's the fire?" Draco asked.
Nico looked up and blurted out, "I need to go to Mr. Harry's house!"
The two fathers glanced at each other and the clock.
"Nico, it's a little early for you to be going over. You usually have breakfast first," Severus said.
Nico glanced at each father. For the first time in his life, he opened his mouth and said his first true lie.
"Mr. Harry inviteded me to brickfist. I forgotted to tell you," Nico said, making his face sad to make it seem like he felt bad.
He was pleased it work and they gave him permission to go along to Harry's house alone. Nico disappeared out of the room, through the floo, and off to Harry's house. Draco chuckled.
"The child could forget his head if it wasn't attached," Draco commented.
Severus nodded as he sipped his coffee.
"When are you due to return to Hogwarts?" Severus questioned.
"Wednesday afternoon. I need to get back to prepare the NEWT level class," Draco said, taking a long sip of his hot beverage.
Severus' eyebrows raised in question as he took another sip.
"What were they working on when you left?"
Draco went into a full lecture mode explaining his NEWT level students. He was in the middle of explaining a charm when a clearly distraught Nico came barreling back into the room. He hit Draco's legs so hard the man crumbled against the counter. His empty coffee mug fell into the nearby sink, striking a huge crack into the ceramic.
Severus quickly put his own mug down and disentangled Nico from around Draco's legs. He lifted the child up, trying to discern what was upsetting him. Draco dragged himself up to a standing position.
"Mr….Har-Har….Mai-Mai…see—see…Mug…Mug…."
Without looking at his husband, Severus knew Draco had already run to grab a Calming Draught. When Draco returned with the potion, it took both their efforts to coax the small child into accepting a few drops on his tongue. As the potion went into effect, Nico calmed down to blurt out one single statement.
"MAISY SAID MR. HARRY IS IN THE HOPSICKLE!"
/…/
"I'm sorry, Potions Master Snape, but I can't tell you what's going on with…Mr. Smith because I don't know. I've already summoned the person overseeing his case," the receptionist told him.
Severus held back an angry scowl. He nodded briskly before stepping away from the desk. He leaned back against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. It took everything in him to prevent himself from pacing back and forth.
Draco soon arrived in a swirl of robes.
"Severus, have you-?" Draco started.
"No. I'm waiting for the Healer," Severus answered, cutting him off to prevent him from saying Harry's name out loud.
Draco stepped up to wrap his arms around him. Severus wasn't in the mood for a hug, but he dropped his arms and returned the hold. He felt some of the tension leave his body. However, he felt it all come back when he saw the doctor approaching them.
"Trenton? Why is…he seeing you?" Severus demanded.
Trenton MacGregor was not a Healer, but a Doctor. In Saint Mungo's, the title meant someone who specialized in healing and muggle medicine too. They worked special cases that sometimes involved the intermixing of it. Doctor MacGregor didn't look too thrilled to see him either.
He drew out his wand and cast a spell around them to prevent others from overhearing. He left it open for the person he had coming down the hall.
"I know why you're here. I understand Mr. Potter hasn't talked to you about what's been going on with him," Doctor MacGregor said.
Draco jumped in before Severus could.
"Is he suffering from any injuries from the duel with my mother? Is it internal?" Draco questioned.
Doctor MacGregor developed a tired look as he stood there with him.
"What he has is internal, but it's been with him long before the duel. In fact, the only reason I'm speaking to you now, is Mr. Potter has given me permission to talk to you about it. The duel made things worse. It accelerated the damage that's already been done."
He could tell his words were causing more confusion. He knew his next words may be over Draco's head, but he knew they wouldn't be for Severus.
"Mr. Potter has Kizal's Disease."
Severus' tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He was rendered temporarily speechless in which he blinked at the doctor like he was a hallucination. Draco scratched his head.
What was Kizal's Disease? He had never heard of it.
"That…" Severus finally found his voice. "That's not possible."
Draco's head swiveled back and forth between the two.
"Severus, what's wrong?" Draco asked.
"I'm afraid your mistaken, old friend," a new voice said from behind them.
Severus spun around to face a wizard in strange robes and bright, round glasses. He had a small, almost sad smile on his face as he stepped over to the three wizards.
"Maurice?"
The other Potions Master nodded.
"It is good to see you again, Severus."
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE