Part 18 Aftercare

When Draco woke up it was dark outside. The room he was in was still lit up, but the sky was dark blue. He noticed (because of the bare white walls) that he was in the hospital wing. He didn't quite know why he was here though.

"Draco," a soft voice said.

He turned his head a bit, even though it felt very heavy, and saw that Harry was there.

Of course Harry was there. He would never leave Draco here alone.

Harry reacted over and brushed some hair away from Draco's eyes.

"T'anks," he whispered.

Harry only smiled.

"Why am I here?" Draco asked, his voice rough.

"You were captured by Nott, Greengrass and Flint," Harry answered, eyes darkening. "You were poisoned."

Oh… right. Draco remembered now. That hadn't been a fun experience.

"Oh…"

"You're okay though," Harry said in a rush. "Snape and McGonagall got you here in time. You got a bezoar and it saved you. You're okay."

Draco wasn't sure if Harry was trying to convince Draco or himself, that Draco was in fact okay, but it was nice either way.

"Thirsty," Draco whispered.

"I'll go get some water," Harry said, standing up.

Draco closed his eyes for a while. His whole body felt heavy and tired. Not that surprising after the day's happenings.

"I heard you were awake Mr Malfoy."

Draco opened his eyes and saw Madame Pomfrey walk towards him. Her arms were full of potions, and she had tucked her wand into her waistband.

"Didn't I take potions before I fell asleep?" Draco asked mildly confused.

"Yes, but a few shouldn't be combined with the bezoar. They could wait," Madame Pomfrey said, giving him a vial. "You needed your sleep too."

Draco took the vial and sniffed it. It smelled like a mild pain potion.

"For lingering pain," Pomfrey clarified.

Draco nodded and swallowed the bitter potion. The next one he got, he didn't recognize.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"It'll help your lungs heal and make it easier to breathe. The smoke you inhaled and the poison damaged them quite a bit," Madame Pomfrey said. "You'll have to take that potion for a couple of days, before they're fully healed."

Draco nodded again and drank the potion. He felt the invisible weight on his chest ease somewhat.

The next potion was a nerve soothing potion. The fourth a poison aftercare potion, with some unpronounceable name.

After another couple of healing potions Harry came back with a glass of water. After all the nasty tasting potions, Draco happily gulped it down. When he emptied the glass he sighted and sank down in the bed, surrounded by a warm quilt and a couple of blankets.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked as Madame Pomfrey walked back to her office.

"I'm alright," Draco said. "My head hurts a bit, my body is heavy, my arm stings a bit, and my throat is a bit tight. But otherwise, I'm okay."

Harry chuckled at his definition of 'alright'. Draco closed his eyes enjoying the sound.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again," Harry whispered, his smile falling.

"I guess we're even," Draco whispered back.

"Huh?"

Draco opened one eye.

"For the quidditch accident?" Draco said in a sharp tone.

"Yeah. I'd forgotten about that," Harry said.

He scratched his head in embarrassment and blushed slightly. Draco thought he looked too cute to be mad at, so he smiled back.

"But I really thought you would… You know," Harry paused, "die."

"Can't die when I still haven't taken you out on a real date yet, now can I?" Draco asked teasingly.

If Draco hadn't been recovering in a hospital bed, Harry would've swatted him on the arm.

"What happened to Theo, Daphnee and Marcus?" Draco asked.

"Flitwick took them to Dumbledore. They're already expelled. They'll have a trial and hopefully end up in Azkaban," Harry said.

Draco nodded. He did feel safer knowing they were expelled, but the thought of them in Azkaban didn't seem as tempting. He knew they deserved it, but still...

Draco could only see Theo, the little boy afraid of butterflies, and Daphne, the girl with a new summer dress jumping around in a garden, sitting in a depressing prison cell. Surrounded by dementors and insane laughter.

Harry noticed the frown on Draco's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well…" Draco had a hard time trying to collect his thoughts. "I don't really like the thought of them going to Azkaban."

"Draco, they tried to kill you," Harry said. "They deserve it."

Draco shrugged.

"Draco this isn't just about you," Harry said in a soft voice. "Don't get me wrong. You should get your revenge too. But they're future Death Eaters. They won't change like you did. It's too late for that."

Draco nodded but stayed quiet.

"If we take them in now, they won't hurt more people," Harry said.

Draco knew he was right. It still felt wrong that his childhood friends would most likely go to prison. But he knew that if they did, it was for the best.

Harry sat down on Draco's bed and pulled him into his arms. It was the only place Draco wished to be right now. They sat like that, Harry's arms enveloping Draco, for several minutes.

Harry only let go when Snape walked into the room. He didn't leave tough, just sat back in the visitor chair.

"Draco," Snape said, nodding towards him. Snape stood by the foot of the bed.

"Thank you for saving me Professor," Draco said. Snape always reminded him to call him 'sir' or 'Professor' in public.

Snape gave a short nod.

"I do wonder though, how did you find me?" Draco asked.

Snape walked a bit closer to Draco, and sat down in another visitor chair on the opposite side from Harry.

"Two second year Ravenclaws, who were late for charms class, saw you being carried away. They ran into me and Minerva outside the charms classroom and we, joined by Filius, rushed to the place they had last seen you. We had to look for a while since the imbeciles didn't bother to check where you were taken," Snape said with distaste, and Draco saw how Harry tried to hold back his laughter. "When we found you, you had just gone into phase five and started hallucinating."

Draco didn't remember much of that phase. He knew he had felt threatened and afraid. There had been a lot of shapes and shouts. He also remembered Harry dying, but not much more.

"What did I do?" Draco asked.

"First you were just twisting on the ground, since you were still bound. I released you from the ropes and tried to calm you down, but you rushed up and started backing into a corner," as Snape spoke Draco saw small flashes of his memories from the time, "Minerva and I tried to calm you down, but when I got to close you lashed out and bit my arm."

Both Harry and Draco gasped.

"Did I hurt you?" Draco asked concerned.

"It hurt at the time, but we had more pressing matters," Snape said waving away the concern. "It's fully healed now."

"Anyway. Taken by surprise I, accidentally, flung you into the wall," Harry sent Snape a glare, "After that you started crying and whimpering, sometimes shouting or screaming.A couple of minutes later you came back, asking what had happened. It was first then I could ask what potion you had consumed."

Draco nodded. From there on his memory was clearer.

"Thank you again sir," Draco said.

"You should try to sleep some more Draco. You to Mr Potter," Snape added with a glare towards Harry. "It's another day tomorrow."

Snape exited the Hospital Wing, cloak billowing as he went.

"That's probably the most positive thing I've ever heard him say," Harry said.

"What?" Draco asked.

"'There's another day tomorrow'," Harry said, looking towards the door Snape had disappeared trough. "He was very worried earlier. He tried to not show it, but you could see it in his eyes when we brought you in. He's probably very happy that there's another day tomorrow, in your case."

Harry turned and smiled at Draco.

"Yes. As I said, I got a hot date," Draco said with a sleepy smirk. "Wouldn't do to miss it."

Harry bent down to kiss Draco's forehead.

"I guess I should go before Madame Pomfrey kicks me out," Harry said with a wink.

Draco gave a small laugh, that turned into a cough. Harry smiled and kissed Draco's forehead, for a second time.

"I love you," he whispered against Draco's skin.

"Love you too," Draco mumbled and yawned.

"Sweet dreams," Harry said before he leaned back.

"Mm, G'night," Draco said, eyes already closed.

Harry quietly slipped out of the room, while Draco fell into the world of dreams.

Authors note:

This story is soon coming to an end. There'll be a couple of more chapters (I think) but then it will be goodbye.

I don't like reading fanfics were the authors try to keep alive a story for too long, and I'm afraid I might have already done that with this story.

I could maybe write a sequel to this fanfic, if there's people interested in that, but I'm not sure if I'll do that yet. If you think I should write a sequel then please say so. If you also have ideas for plots or other stuff you want in a secuell then feel free to send suggestions!

For now though, what did you think about this Chapter? Please leave Reviews!