Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Only the general plot/setting is my own. All characters and other references to 'Harry Potter' are solely the property of J.K. Rowling.

A/N: I am so sorry for the unbearably late update. I feel bad especially as the drama in real life is barely even settling still. I hope this makes up for it and I also pray I have not lost any of you.

The Boy Who Loved

By

Belle. A. Lestrange

Chapter Twenty-Five:

A Bolt of Reality

The table shook as the phone was slammed back down into its cradle.

Severus looked around at Narcissa and felt his stomach knot at the tears in her eyes and her hands quivering as she clenched her wand against her hip. "There's been an incident," he stated as calmly as possible, the rage boiling within him was the only thing that allowed him to straighten up and march over to grab his muggle coat. Narcissa's lip trembled as she nodded, trying to blink her tears away. "I need to get them all the to safe house. Send word to Dumbledore and for Merlin's sake don't cry in front of your husband."

Narcissa sniffed loudly and wiped her tears away furiously. She watched as Severus darted back and forth like a large bat. She shuddered. He was just about to head for the front door, his face pale with fear. She reached out and grabbed his forearm with her numb fingers, "Make sure my little boy is safe, Severus," she pleaded, her eyes cold and firm with unbearable agony and a fierce determination to fight. He pressed his lips tightly together and nodded his head.

"You can apparate home from the kitchen," were his last words to her before he ventured out into the dreary night.

The brisk march to Privet Drive hardly took him ten minutes as his heels clicked loudly through the hollow streets. His dark coat hugged him tightly against the frigid breeze that snared through the atmosphere from the blotchy black clouds overhead. He arms and hands were twitching with suppressed rage as he strode through the winding streets. He could feel his bones quaking beneath his skin. He rounded another corner and glared down at the white and black road sign nailed into the ground. 'PRIVET DRIVE' glared right back up at him, as though his dark thoughts had insulted the road. He sneered and marched on to number 4.

Outside the door there were two large white vehicles with blaring red and blue lights parked on the street. He was almost barred from walking over the driveway to the front door by an uptight policeman who assured him that no one was to enter. Severus sneered down at the muggle, his cold dark eyes seering through the man's soul. "My son is in there!" he hissed pushing the man aside so that he could stride up the rest of the driveway and through the front door. Another policeman greeted him with a cold stare as he slid passed him. "Where are the boys' and Petunia?" he demanded snappishly.

The policeman frowned, "Are you a relative?"

Severus curled his lips up in a sneer, "Yes, you fool! My nephew and son are in there and I want to see them now!"

He tried to side-step the ignorant man, but the policeman stepped into his way. "So where have you been all of this time?"

"I -unlike you officer -have been doing a job that takes me to the other damn side of the country! As soon as I got a call from Petunia last night saying there was trouble I got on the first plane back to London airport! Now can I please ignore your stupid questions and go and see my family?!" he hissed darkly, his temper rising to form blotchy spots on his waxen cheeks.

The policeman nodded mutely before stepping aside and allowing him into the front parlor where Harry was lying with his head in Draco's lap and Petunia talkng at the paramedic who was attempting to see what was wrong with the poor boy. "What the bloody hell has happened here?" he snapped, his voice cracking like a whip throughout the room, making everyone snap to attention. The paramedic frowned over his shoulder before returning to replace the ice-pack on Harry's right eye.

"It was that brute of an Uncle!" Draco sneered, his fingers carding through Harry's greasy black hair, the feverish sweat glistening on his forehead. "He tried to ... again -and I just -I couldn't let him do it, Sev. Not again!"

Severus felt anger shaking his body. He drank in the sight of his only child and his god-son on the sofa, both with scrapes and scratches that were being bandaged up, and poor Harry -his little Harry -had a swollen black eye and dried blood clotting around his nostrils. It made him feel sick to his stomach just looking down at them. He would need to sneak them some subtle healing potions. He had brewed a few and had managed to sell them to Witches with troublesome youngsters who were always falling about. The healing worked within ten to twelve hours and would leave no visible trace upon the human body that there was any cut or scratch. Even Poppy at Hogwart's had taken to stocking up on them. She said it was so much better than the usual twenty-four hour potions she usually had to put up with.

"You two are going to have to come in to the hospital for some tests and scans," the paramedic concluded with a sombre expression.

"Why?" Draco frowned, his teeth catching on his lower lip. He had never been to a muggle hospital before. He doubted it would be like what he had heard about St. Mungo's where everything was done with very little touching and prodding. He, himself, had had a doctor come to the Manor, but then he reasoned he was a 'muggle boy' now. He blanched at the prospect.

The paramedic leaned forward and grasped Draco's shoulder in a rough but comforting manner, "Your friend needs to under-take a rape test. We need to see if his Uncle will truly be sent down for what he has done."

"Can't you just take his word for it?" Draco asked, hysteria ebbing into his voice as his hold on Harry tightened.

The paramedic opened his mouth, but Severus got there first. "I'm sorry Draco, but they can't. It doesn't work like that here. They'll need solid evidence to prove that his Uncle is guilty."

The blonde looked as though he wanted to protest, but didn't have anything to retort with. He clamped his jaw tightly and turned his burning bright eyes away. The paramedic sighed through his nose and shifted up onto his feet, "We're going to have to take him in for some over-night observation. These cuts could turn septic."

Draco's silvery eyes darted to Severus as the paramedic went out to get his partner in from the ambulance. Severus watched him go before dropping to his knees beside Harry, fishing a small phial out of his coat pocket and popping the cork with his teeth. Draco caught a whiff of what smelled like dying lavender as he tilted Harry's head up a little more. Severus slowly dribbled the potion into Harry's parted lips before slipping the emptied phial back into his coat pocket. Draco ground his teeth together as he watched a tender pinkish hue return to Harry's feverish cheeks; the bruises on his face seemed to lighten up. "Is it ... working?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Severus inclined his head with a somber expression on his face, "He will still need to go to the hospital, but we will be with him. He will heal slowly, faster than muggle medicine can anticipate, but it will still take a little while."

Draco bit the inside of his cheek. It was nothing of what he wanted to hear, but what could he do about that?

The two paramedics re-entered the living room and ushered Draco and Severus away from the unconscious boy. Draco ground his teeth together as he was pushed behind Severus and Petunia who were all forced to stand in the doorway of that joined the kitchen and the lounge. Just as the paramedics were wheeling Harry out on a gurney, one of them turned to face them. "Who's coming in the ambulance?"

"I will," Petunia sighed in an exhausted tone as she followed them outside.

"Why does she get to go? Why can't we go too?" Draco hissed to his godfather as they were left out of the offer.

"We'll need to follow later on," Severus stated as calmly as possible, placing a firm hand on Draco's tense shoulder. The blonde jerked his hand away, his eyes wide with fury. Severus sighed and grasped Draco's shoulder before steering him out towards the front door.

"Actually, before you both leave, could you come down to the police station to answer a few questions?" one of the police officers asked as they stepped out of the front door. Severus stopped in his tracks as did Draco. The blonde glared up at the police officer's but made no comment to reply to them. Severus' nails dug deeper into his skin. He winced.

"I would rather that we answer questions later. I have to make sure that my son is not suffering too greatly," Severus announced coldly.

The police officer cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at Severus. "And if this boy is your son, why are you not in the ambulance with him?" he bit out dryly.

"Because he doesn't know it yet!" Severus spat before spinning elegantly in his thick muggle cloak and marched back down the drive-way, Draco stumbling along in his wake, the lamplight's reflecting on his pale skin.

They rounded the corner at the end of the road, and continued on to the pathway that led down to the huge illuminated Tesco store at the bottom of the hill. Draco was still fuming, his fists clenched and his arms and legs pumping aggressively as he kept stride with Severus. The silence hung over their heads like a thick heavy smoke. "Where are we even going?" he snarled as Severus managed to surpass him.

"To a secluded apparition point," Severus snapped back, the veins in his temples throbbing. Draco clamped his mouth shut, and jutted his jaw out as he followed Severus obediently. The hill seemed even steeper than all the other times he'd climbed it, both up and down, and he was more than grateful to not waste energy on keeping himself stable, and more energy on being rationally angry at everything that had happened that evening.

It didn't take them too long to find the apparition point. Severus crooked his arm at an angle for Draco to hold. The blonde boy, though still fuming and throbbing with suppressed rage, gripped his godfather's elbow, ground his teeth together and felt the familiar, nauseating tug on his navel. All too soon they landed heavily on the concrete pavement in an alley alongside the nearest hospital. Draco stumbled at the impact, his ear-drums popping painfully and his stomach feeling as though it was doing somersaults. "I fucking hate that!" he spat as he watched Severus' shadow recede from him towards the mouth of the alley.

"Come quickly, Draco. We won't have much time before we will need to be questioned!" Severus called back over his shoulder, his voice cold and calm, though the undercurrent of anger was evident in his voice. Draco obliged and ground his teeth at the bitter wind that was scraping and scratching away at his skin. He wished that he had grabbed one of Harry's loose jumpers from the wardrobe. He felt a shiver rip through him as they stepped through the automatic sliding doors that led into the hospital reception. "Excuse me!" Severus called out to the nurse as he came to stand in front of the pine desk, the white walls stretching out on either side of him. Draco blinked his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. It made his eyes ache. No wonder muggles didn't like hospitals.

At he sound of the nurses voice, Draco snapped his attention back to the desk, "I'll just get someone to show you where he is."

The white walls created an endless maze for him as he followed Severus like a detached shadow, rounding sharp corners and his soles squeaking on the linoleum flooring. The stench of some for of disinfectant hung in the air and irritated Draco's nostrils. He screwed his nose up and was barely paying attention to what was going on until he bumped into Severus' back. He looked up in confusion. They had stopped outside a private room clearly reserved for Harry, if the white board outside the room with his name scrawled on it. The doctor was prattling on with some technical jargon that he barely understood. He rather doubted that Severus understood much of it, but he ignored that all as a shadow came up behind the glass window in the door, the handle bent, and the door swung inwards.

"Oh, I was wondering when you would get here!" Petunia gushed under her breath as she opened the door wider to admit them, throwing a stern look at he doctor. Severus slipped into the room, unbuttoning his black muggle coat and throwing it over the end of Harry's bed, before going to Harry's head and opening each of his closed eyes and furrowing his brow in concentration. Draco rang his hands together, gnawing on his lower lip while Petunia paced back and forth and chewing on her thin bottom lip. "They said they'll be coming by to take him for some MRI and CAT scans to see what damage has been done," she sniffed loudly.

"What do they do?" Draco asked, his voice wavering and about to break to emotion.

Petunia waved the question aside, "To see if he has any muscle damage or fractured bones."

Draco's alarmed gaze whipped around to see Severus inspecting Harry's swollen throat. He ignored Draco's look and removed another slender phial from his trouser pocket. He unfastened the cork and tipped the contents down Harry's throat, tilting the brunette's chin back so that the potion would trickle down his throat. "That should do it," Severus stated as he replaced the phial in his back pocket before turning to ease himself into the seat and dropping his head into his hand.

"What -what did you do?" Petunia's shrill voice pierced the air. Draco winced as he edged closer to Harry's bedside.

Severus removed his hand from his face and blinked. Draco was amazed. In the last two seconds Severus had looked calm and controlled -as much as possible -but now he looked as though he had removed a mask, the worry lines etched around his mouth said it all. "I gave him a potion that will lessen any internal bleeding," he pinched the bridge of his nose and blinked against the bright lights, "It works fairly quickly and should take full effect by the time the doctors come to take him in for his scans."

Petunia looked between Severus and Harry before her shoulders slumped, "Well thank you. The last thing I need to hear is how bad the injuries are. I don't want him to suffer internal bleeding."

Draco turned his attention back to Harry, ignoring the dull chatter that Petunia and Severus started up. Harry looked no better underneath the harsh florescent lights that he did in the dim living room lights in Privet Drive. His black eye looked even worse and then swelling was still quite prominent. He felt his throat clench tightly. The whiteness surrounding them made Harry look so thin and fragile. Maybe he'd always been that thin, maybe he just hadn't been paying attention to his prominent cheekbones but rather, the beauty of those great green eyes that were now closed to the world. He reached out and gingerly touching Harry's forehead and ran his index finger down over the boys' lightning bolt scar.

He felt a spark prick his fingertip.

He winced and stuck his finger in his mouth and turned to view the rest of the room -only he wasn't in the hospital room any longer. He was in a soft yellow room with soft cuddly toys littering the floor around his throat, a lopsided cot with a wailing mass of blankets. He frowned and walked forward to take the comforter from over the baby's head, when his foot caught on something -making him stagger. He looked down and felt his stomach drop. Bright green eyes were staring up at him, a single red curl spiraling down into the fear etched into the otherwise beautiful face of a young woman. He swallowed thickly. He whipped around, crouched down and whipped the blanket off of the wailing baby. The blood red scar jumped out at him through the gloom. He gnawed on his lip in panic. A shrill cry of terror ripped through his brain, making him drop to his knees with his hands pressing down tightly on his ears.

"Draco?" a faint echo called out through the darkness.

He clenched his eyes tighter against the screaming.

"Draco?!" the faint voice barked, growing louder in volume.

He opened his eyes. He blinked. The yellow walls where once again white. The screaming had stopped. The carpet had vanished. There was no baby and no woman. He was back in the hospital room crouched down on his knees, Harry's trainers pinching at his feet, with Severus' shoes glaring up at him from the grey and white speckled linoleum. He looked up with wide eyes and Severus' grip on his shoulders softened a little. He could feel tears in his eyes and hot tremors shaking his limbs. Severus frowned down at him, "Draco what's wrong?"

"I saw her!" he yelped out, his wide wet eyes staring straight up into Severus'. He clenched at the tall mans forearm. "I saw her -she was screaming -and -and -and -she was dead! And Harry -he was -he was alone!" He cuffed his nose on the back of his hand, as his watery gold lashes stuck together. He sniffed loudly, and looked up at Severus and Petunia. He swallowed to try and clear his throat but no sound came out.

Petunia frowned and inched closer, "What happened?"

Draco sniffed and tried to control the tremors running through his body, "I -I'm so sorry!" he wept as he keeled forward into Severus' arms. The dark-haired man felt a little awkward as he cradled his god-son in his arms. He adjusted their position so that he could pull Draco against his chest whilst they both sat in the hard plastic chairs.

As Draco cried, he loathed himself for feeling so small and weak and pathetic, but his heart was aching so badly. He now knew exactly what Severus felt like at having lost the love of his life.

Petunia had lost her sister.

Harry had lost his mother.

Severus had lost his lover.

And Draco ... He couldn't endure the pain of losing Harry. It would be like all of those heart-breaking experiences rolled into one. He sniffled as he curled tighter into Severus' chest feeling a vague sense of security. Over the edge of Severus' elbow he kept an eye on Harry. His Harry. He wouldn't give up hope, he knew he wouldn't.

He just needed to keep a calm head.

A/N: Another chapter that I hope you all love!