A/N: I own no rights, I make no profits. But I enjoy taking the series for a little test drive.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Exhausted

When Aunt Andi stepped through the Floo, Draco all but grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her up the main staircase to the second floor. He kept telling himself it wasn't in his nature to panic, but what else could one call the emotional state he was in now? She merely followed along at the swift pace he was setting, asking him for clarification on a few points here and there.

When they reached Harry's room, they found that Narcissa had removed him from the tub, dried him, and dressed him in his underthings with charms, and cocooned him back under his covers. She was standing by radiating a forced sort of calm.

Andromeda started by pulling back the blankets from the boy, and running a few diagnostic charms on him, seeming quite pleased she could presumably do so now without fear of setting off any traps within his magic. She hummed and murmured to herself as she did so, occasionally clucking her tongue. After a long interval in which both Draco and his Mother seemed to be holding their breath, she replaced the blankets over Harry, and turned to them both.

"Magical exhaustion brought on by physical exhaustion," came the verdict. "Given that he's still recovering from his background, I'm not terribly surprised. I'm writing two prescriptions for him – one for a mild magic stimulant to be taken at breakfast and lunch, and one for a mild sleep draught to be taken with dinner. Both will be just over the course of the next few days – two for the stimulant, as it's too late in the day to begin it now, and three for the sleeping draught. The draught isn't strong enough to cause him to fall asleep at the table, but it will be enough to discourage him staying up too late. If there's anything he's working on, he may well find himself waking up with a book on his chest in the morning if he's been staying awake into the night studying it."

She took a moment to write out said prescriptions on a side table. "If Severus can't take care of these for you right away – I know it's his holidays too – let me know immediately, and we'll pay to fill them through St. Mungo's Potions Masters. I want him started on the sleep draught tonight. The sooner we get him on the mend from this, the shorter it will linger." She marked a few notes in what was presumably Harry's File, then slipped it back into her bag. "I'll give him a quick once-over before we all leave for St. Mungo's on Solstice Eve. For the moment though, potions, and warming charms. He may have a hard time regulating his own temperature while he's exhausted. And I'd suggest for the moment posting a house elf in here to sit with him and watch him until he wakes." She executed at the sleeping boy the first warming charm of what would be many to come over the next few days.

"Draco," said Narcissa, almost suddenly.

"Yes Mother?"

"Could you stay here and sit with Harry please dear, while I walk your Aunt down to the study and then Floo your Godfather?"

"Of course Mother," he said, feeling a bit knackered suddenly, now that the adrenaline was passing. As his Mother and Aunt left the room, he mused a bit on that – if this is what it felt like after resolving a little potential health crisis… how worn would he feel if they did manage to defeat the Dark Lord? He looked down at his deeply sleeping Cousin. "You've got a long way to go, Harry, but I meant it when I said I'd take that journey with you. I came back to change things, and I'm not letting you go into this fight alone. If the last time is any indication, you're bound to be set against the Dark Lord, which means I'm bound to go along with you. The good news is, I don't think it'll be long before our other friends will be lining up to follow you into the jaws of hell. Bad for them, maybe, but more wands at the ready for you can only be a good thing."

He turned his eyes out the window, letting his mind wander a bit, wondering what sort of conflict the final showdown would actually be… wondering who would come down on which side of it after all… wondering how Dumbledore had planned for it to be, for that matter – that master manipulator surely had been working from some sort of misguided plan, even though as often as not he had seemed just plain nutters. He found himself wishing he'd had a better grasp of what the Light side had been up to his first time around – it might have seen him better prepared for what they were sure to be facing in the years ahead. But they were a bunch of canny Slytherins, with a few brash Gryffindors thrown in for good measure. Surely they could suss out which directions they needed to be going in. The first priority, aside from getting Harry to hear that blasted prophecy, was certainly finding a way to sever his Father and Godfather from their hateful Dark Marks. He was not going through all this trouble just to lose the two of them as soon as the Dark Lord found a way to rise.

Harry stirred just a bit and mumbled fitfully in his sleep, but did not wake, and Draco found himself back in quiet contemplation – wondering this time how long it took his Mother to escort his Aunt out and Floo his Godfather. He got his answer shortly thereafter when she appeared – Severus in tow. Apparently he'd been keeping a small stock of the relevant potions, half-expecting something like this to happen to Harry.

The potions had already been handed over to one of the kitchen elves with explicit instructions, but Uncle Severus had apparently wanted to see the patient for himself. As he entered the room, he gave a low, exasperated seeming sigh. "That boy is going to be the death of us all."

"He's going to be the savior of us all, Uncle Severus. We just have to keep him patched up until he's healthy enough to start trying."

"You may have a point, Draco. Certainly—"

He was suddenly cut off by Narcissa's gasp.

"What is it Mum?"

"No one's told your Father, and he's home all day today. I'll just go and collect him." And she hurried out of the room.

Severus moved to sit on the edge of the bed opposite the one occupied by Draco. He surprised his Godson by reaching out to brush back Harry's unruly hair from the boy's forehead. "What are we going to do with you boy," he muttered under his breath, so lowly that Draco barely caught the words. Then, much more at a conversational volume. "He's still freezing. Have you been casting the warming charms on him or the bedding?"

"On him, why?"

"They'll last longer and warmer on the blankets." Uncle Severus took out his wand and cast two warming charms, one on the blankets, and one on the mattress itself. Then he reached into one of the voluminous pockets of his outer robe. Draco was shocked to see a stuffed hippogriff emerge. Severus cast a warming charm on that too, and gently slipped it into the bundle of blankets, approximately within the curve of Harry's arms. "Not a word, Draco. If you'll recall, I've brought you plenty of toys and amusements when you've been ill as well."

"He's really grown on you, hasn't he Uncle Severus?"

"The boy is so like his Mother… and yet his childhood had been so like what I was forced to endure. There was many a time when I thought that, had she even been a half-blood, Lily would have been sorted to Slytherin. She had the cunning, and the ambition – both in spades, really. I think the Hat just decided that Gryffindor was the next closest fit – because there was also nothing less than brave about her. But she often lacked the brash, act-first-think-later attitude so common to Gryffindors. It's very hard to over-look all that, now that I can see past his obvious physical resemblance to his Father. Oh, there is a streak of James in there, but it's well tempered."

"Well stated," came the voice of Lucius from the doorway. "How is the patient?"

"Still sleeping," answered Draco. "Where's Mum?"

"Fussing over an appropriate Dinner menu. She's hoping he'll be awake by then. She wants something fortifying yet approachable for him if he is able to join us – or take a tray up here."

"I'm sorry we've pulled you from your study, Father."

"No need to worry, Dragon. I was nearing the need to be finished for the day as it was. I am saddened by Harry's condition for several reasons though – both that he is sick, and because the Goblins are asking to see him, and I had hoped to be able to do so before the family Solstice gathering."

"Aunt Andi didn't say anything about him not being able to leave the house if he felt up to it," supplied Draco helpfully. Just that it would take him a few days to fully recover. If we take it easy, it might be alright?"

"We'll Floo her at home later and ask. For now, we'll post an elf to watch over Harry and head down for lunch – you're welcome to stay Severus, we haven't had you to a meal of any sort in quite a while."

Severus appeared to consider for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose lunch could be agreeable."

After summoning Dipsy, and giving her instructions, the three gentlemen made their way down to the informal dining room. No one was especially keen on looking out upon the snow at the moment.

The three Malfoys and Severus shared an enjoyable lunch, or at least as enjoyable as could be under the circumstances that brought them together. Much of the table discussion was slightly over Draco's head, as his Father and Godfather were discussing what little headway they'd made in attempting to research the nature of their Dark Marks. Lucius was of the opinion that they primarily a dark version of a protean charm at root, while Severus was insistent that they must be based on long-gone medieval slave branding charms.

After listening to them go back and forth for a while, though he really didn't know much about either subject, Draco piped up. "Couldn't it be a combination of the two? What if the Dark Lord used elements of both to create his own charm – or curse, more likely?" That certainly seemed to get their attention. Or at least, it set off a flurry of new discussion. By the end of lunch, they had agreed to get together before the end of the Holiday break to run a series of diagnostic spells on each other's marks, and see what they could discover that way.

Again, Draco had some input. "Could you maybe invite Aunt Andi when you do that? Just in case there's some sort of trap hidden in the spell?"

"A good idea, Draco," said Uncle Severus. "It certainly wouldn't do us any harm to have a medical expert on hand. And perhaps she can be told a few things now – certainly not everything; that's best left to the full Family meeting – but enough that she can be of help."

"Are you coming to Solstice Eve, Uncle Severus," Draco wanted to know.

"I'm not certain… I wouldn't want to cause awkwardness with Sirius and Remus both being in attendance…"

"Nonsense," said Narcissa. "You're Family too, Severus. And I'm certain Harry will want you to be there. It isn't as if anyone is telling you to buy the two of them gifts, just come and be in good company. You've just about always done Solstice Eve with us."

"I will… consider it."

"Excellent," said Lucius. "We're leaving from here at 3 o'clock. Don't be late."

Severus grumbled a little into his kidney pie, but didn't overtly say anything about not going along. He did, however, glare at his Godson when Draco began to thank him on behalf of Harry – Draco quickly changed gears and finished by implying the thanks was for the potions. Evidently Severus did not want to admit to having been so sentimental to have given someone who was not directly in his care something so… fluffy… as a stuffed toy.

As lunch wrapped up, Severus excused himself to take his leave back to the Castle. Apparently he was spending the day starting to make adjustments to the second term curriculum for his OWL and NEWT level students. He'd done the lower years in the two days prior. All three Malfoys bid him a fond farewell, seeing him off to the Floo in the Main Foyer. Before he departed, he suggested that perhaps dinner might well be served for young Harry's condition as a hearty chicken and rice soup. Narcissa promised to take that under advisement, as she still had the house elves waiting on her decision.

After Severus had left, Lucius went back to his study to make some notes. Narcissa returned to the kitchen to continue consulting with the house elves about what to have for dinner. Draco elected to find a book and park himself back in his Cousin's room, waiting for Harry to wake.

MM

It was nearing dinner time when Harry finally started to really stir, and let out a low groan. "Harry," said Draco gently, "Are you awake."

"Feel like I've been run over by a lorry full of ice," he mumbled. Then, "Draco? Why are you in my room?"

"Thought you'd prefer waking up to me over waking up to a house elf. Not feeling so well, I take it?"

"No. What happened?"

"Aunt Andi says it's magical exhaustion brought on by physical exhaustion. You gave us a scare there, boy wonder."

"Don't call me that, I'm not Robin."

"Not who?"

"Sorry, Muggle thing. And I didn't mean to scare anyone. What's the solution?"

"More potions mate, but only for a few days. And you're supposed to take it kind of easy."

Harry rolled over to face Draco. "That shouldn't be too hard if I keep feeling how I feel now." Then he seemed to notice something. "Draco? Why do I have a stuffed animal?"

"Uncle Severus brought it for you. But I wouldn't say anything about it. He was a little hush-hush about it. You know how he is, doesn't want anybody to think he's soft about anything." He smirked. "I think he thought the Hippogriff would be an appropriate choice."

Harry pulled the plush toy from beneath the covers and studied the charcoal grey creature for a moment. "I like it," he finally announced. "I've never had a stuffed animal before."

"You'll have to think of a good name for him then," smiled Draco. "Do you think you're up to coming down for dinner, or do you want to take a tray up here? If you want to eat up here, I'll stay and eat here too, to keep you company," he offered.

Harry let loose a great yawn. "I think I'd better stay up here, if it's ok," he said.

"No problem." Realizing Dipsy would more likely be on serving duty than on kitchen duty, Draco called for her, and instantly she appeared.

"Young Masters be wanting something," she asked.

"Dipsy," said Draco, "Could you inform Mother that Harry will be taking a tray in bed for dinner, and that I'd like to join him in his room to keep him company?"

"Yes Master Draco, I is be going at once." She curtseyed and disappeared. Moments later she popped back into the room, and curtseyed once more. "Mistress is be agreeing to your request Young Masters. Dinner will be up shortly." With another, totally unneeded curtsey, she popped back out of the room.

Harry shifted around awkwardly in his bed. "Draco? Where are my clothes?"

Draco stifled a laugh. "At least you're in your underthings. When I first found you in here, you were starkers."

That caused a bright blush to bloom on Harry's face. Draco had noticed before that the boy was fairly modest. "Could you get me something to put on, please?"

With a sigh and an eye roll, Draco made his way over to Harry's open trunk. He grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms, and the Montrose Jersey, figuring they'd be comfortable enough. "Will these do?"

"Yes please. Now turn around?"

"No, I don't think so. If I do, you're liable to lose your balance and crack your head on the end table. You'll just have to swallow your modesty this once."

Blushing furiously, and grumbling under his breath, Harry slid to the edge of his bed, and hurriedly slipped into the comfortable clothing. Then he retreated back to the cocoon of warmth at the center of his bed. He cuddled close to the Hippogriff toy and rolled so he was facing the side of the bed where Draco had been sitting again. "What are you reading?"

"I hope you don't mind, I borrowed your beginning ritual book. This stuff is really quite interesting, isn't it?"

"I think so. It's like this whole other branch of magic they aren't teaching us at Hogwarts."

"There are loads of things they aren't teaching us at school," replied Draco. "Stuff some schools do teach. But there's things we focus on that some other schools don't. I can't wait to see what sorts of changes they make next year. I wonder if they'll be adding any core classes or electives?"

"That would be cool, but it would make it harder to choose, wouldn't it?" Harry propped himself up a bit higher against his pillows, so he was closer to a sitting position, though still on his side.

"Probably, but maybe they would allot more hours per week of class time to OWL and NEWT students if there were more options. I know some of the subjects you can get an OWL or NEWT in as it is, you've just always had to take them as independent study here in Britain. Makes it a lot harder for most folks to get the passing grades on the tests. But once you're out of school, you can sometimes find a tutor for them. There aren't actually age restrictions for taking OWLs or NEWTs; just like there isn't an age restriction on gaining a Mastery."

Before the discussion could deepen any further, Dipsy appeared, balancing a tray-table in each hand. She handed one to Draco, one-handedly helping him settle it over his lap, before carefully setting the other over Harry's lap. Not a single one of the bottles of potions on Harry's tray so much as rattled, so steady were her hands. "Dinner is served. When Young Masters is done, calls for Dipsy and I takes away trays." She popped away, no doubt to another dinnertime duty.

"Looks like Mum settled on the chicken and rice soup," commented Draco, rather obviously. "And the yeast rolls with honey butter you like so much. And is that treacle tart for desert? I know why you're always getting sick," he said with a smirk, "it gets you spoiled."

Harry did his best to pull off a haughty pureblood look. "You're just jealous that you have to share the spoiling," he said. "Besides which, I am not spoiled."

The two of them dissolved into laughter before tucking into what was a very good meal indeed. When they had mostly finished, Harry started to inspect the potions. "What's this one," he asked, indicating the new bottle among his usual routine.

"Mild sleeping draught," answered Draco. "You get that the next three nights. Tomorrow and the next day you're getting a mild magic stimulant at breakfast and lunch. Aunt Andi said the draught isn't going to be enough to knock you out right away, but you won't be able to stay up working on anything, or reading or stuff like that."

"Great," huffed Harry sarcastically. "More potions."

"Only for a few days," pointed out Draco, before he drained the last of his pumpkin juice. "She said if we treated it like this right away, it should work itself out by then." He watched as Harry drained each of his potions, making a face after a few of them. Then the boy ate the last few bites of his desert and finished his water, washing everything down. "All done then?"

At Harry's nod, Draco called for Dipsy again. Once she was informed that they had both finished, she snapped her fingers and both trays disappeared, presumably back down to the kitchens. "I is to be telling Mistress you is finished." And she popped back out again.

"Suppose that means Mum will be up soon. She'll probably renew the warming charms on your bed. Still chilly?"

"The food helped, but yeah. I can tell the warming charms have worn off." Harry burrowed a bit deeper into his blankets, as if to prove his point. "So what made you go digging through my books to find the beginners ritual text?"

"Oh – I wasn't trying to snoop!"

"I know that Draco. You've been with me when I've gotten everything I own. I just wondered why that book?"

"Oh. Well you seem so interested in it now that you've started studying it, I thought maybe there was something to it, and I know a few things in the Malfoy book, and some of the Black Magics – which I'm hoping to get a chance to look at sometime if Sirius will let me – are ritual based. So I thought I'd just take a look… You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. Since I can't really do anything in the evenings right now, you're welcome to borrow it at night. I just might want it during the day still."

"Deal."

A knock on the doorjam announced Narcissa's presence in the open doorway. "How are you feeling Harry?"

"Cold, and a bit knackered still."

"Well we can take care of cold." Taking a page out of Uncle Severus's book, she set warming charms on the blankets and the mattress. She must have spied the Hippogriff too, because after a moment, she sent a charm its way as well, though she kept her own council regarding questions about where it had come from. "Knackered will have to work itself out, although I'm certain you'll feel a bit better tomorrow. Now, I've spoken with your Aunt Andi again, and she says tomorrow is out of the question, but the day after is reasonable, if you're feeling up to it –"

"Feeling up to what," Harry asked.

"I'd entirely forgotten you were still asleep. Your Uncle Lucius has heard from the Goblins and they're asking to see you, they seem to think it's rather urgent. He was hoping to take care of it before the Holidays proper started. So we Flooed to ask if it would be permissible for you to take a short trip to Diagon before you'd finished your short run of new potions."

"Oh. I wonder what the Goblins want?"

"They haven't said. Lucius thinks it may have something to do with the Horcruxes, but we have no way of knowing until you've talked to them together. It didn't sound like they'd be willing to just go through him on whatever this is." She pursed her lips, as though she wasn't too certain she liked the idea that they were insisting on seeing Harry personally.

"In any case," she continued, "I had wanted to tell you about that, set you new warming charms, and chase Draco here out of your room so you can get some rest."

"Mum," protested Draco, "it's not like I'm bothering him."

"No, but he is less likely to go to sleep while you're sitting here available for entertainment."

"Uhm, you don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," said Harry in a very small voice.

Narcissa looked appalled with herself. "Oh Harry dear! I'm so terribly sorry, we didn't mean to be doing that at all. Now you just get comfortable and rest yourself. Call for Dipsy or Dobby if you need anything through the night. Draco and I were just leaving – weren't we Draco."

Her tone made it clear it was not a question, so Draco stood, carefully setting down the rituals book he'd been reading. "Oi, Draco," said Harry, "Don't forget the book." Draco smiled, and picked it back up. He supposed Harry thought someone aught be reading it this evening.

"Goodnight Harry," he said as he turned to follow his Mother out of the room.

"G'night Draco," answered Harry, already sounding drowsy. Draco would have bet good gold that by the time he was settled in his own bed, Harry was already asleep. He stayed in the hallway to watch as his Mother fussed a bit turning down the lights in Harry's room from the doorway, and levitating a log onto the fire, despite knowing the elves would keep it up through the night. He pretended not to notice her place a child monitoring charm on the room as well. It gave him some peace of mind to know that his Cousin was being well looked after – as ever.

After bidding his Mother goodnight with a hug, Draco made his way across the hall into his own room, and began getting ready for bed. He changed into his warmest pajamas, stoked up the fire on his own, and summoned Dipsy to get him a mug of hot chocolate. When it arrived, he placed it on the end table next to his bed to begin to cool slightly, and slipped into his nice warm bed. For a moment, he wished he could cast his own warming charm on his blankets, but he reasoned they'd warm quickly enough between the warmth of the fire and his own body heat. Settled in, he picked up the rituals book again, and found the place where he had left off. In the morning, it would be Draco who would wake with a book dropped across his chest. Harry was right – once one started to study it, this ritual stuff was very hard to put down.

A/N: I have no good reason for your chapter being two days late. Let the author shaming begin now.

This chapter was without my customary second-run of beta reading, so errors you find are doubly mine – Lupinefire should take no responsibility for anything that crept in after her first read-through.

Now you know what's wrong with poor Harry – he's pushing himself too hard. Ambitions are fine, but he might want to tone things down a bit until he's fully recovered from his background. Any takers on a bet as to how easy for him that will be?

Hope everyone's had a good weekend, and wasn't worried about Harry overmuch. I'm off to keep writing the chapter that doesn't want to end. It's going to end up split in twain, I'm sure of it.