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CHAPTER NINE

The week went by quickly and Draco took every opportunity to watch Harry. He noticed how the boy who lived looked like the boy who was dying. His skin had an unhealthy color and he seemed to be out of breath all the time. Harry always took his time in going from one place to the other like he was in constant pain. When Thursday arrived Draco decided that he was going to have a heart to heart talk with Harry.

The raven haired man was surprised that Draco suddenly stopped trying to hide from him. When Draco asked to talk Harry led him to his quarters. Lighting a fire he invited Draco to sit in a chair next to him.

"How have you been Draco? Do you like teaching?"

"Yes I quite like teaching; it's much different then when I take Evan all over the world for his lessons."

"How are you adjusting to being back at Hogwarts?"

"I'm ok; it's a bit painful being here. Harry I won't lie to you. Right now I'm still mad at you for doing what you did. But I think I'm ready to give you a chance. I...I have a few questions about something I heard earlier this week. I heard that you were going to Godric's Hollow for the weekend. Could I go with you and we could talk things over?"

Harry seemed shocked that Draco would want to be with him all of a sudden. He just nodded his agreement and smiled. After they had talked about Evan for a while.; Draco telling him of the things they had done and places they had visited. After talking for an hour Draco noticed that Harry looked tired.

"I'll be going back to my quarters now. I have some essays to mark." Touching Harry's he told him to go to bed and rest. Harry agreed and told him they would see each other at breakfast and he would give Draco the details of how they were going to get to Potter Manor.

The next morning the two men were sitting together eating breakfast and discussing their son's grades in his class. Evan was top of his class in all his subjects.

"He's always been very curious. He sometimes throws himself headfirst in some situations without thinking. I guess it's the Gryffindor in him that makes him act that way. At other times he can be quite cunning." Draco was chuckling at his son's antics. Harry was listening to him eyes wide with wonder at how wonderful their son was. Draco kept on talking but also noticed that Harry didn't eat very much. Remus seemed to notice that Draco's attention was drawn to Harry's plate.

"Harry are you not going to finish your breakfast?" asked Draco.

"I'm just not very hungry this morning. I'll pop into the kitchen later for a snack in between classes if I get hungry." Harry started getting up throwing his napkin on the table. He excused himself to go to teach class. He was half way across the great hall when he collapsed. He didn't see the two blondes and the werewolf who rushed to his aid.

Harry woke up a few hours later in the hospital wing and looked around wondering how he got there. Then he remembered walking in the great hall and feeling himself falling down. (OH great, I must have passed out again. Damn how am I going to hide this from the others now?)

Harry looked around and noticed that Evan was asleep on a chair next to his bed. He heard Draco come in and sit next to their son. "How are you feeling Harry?"

"I'm fine." Harry tried to sit up but grimaced as a pain shot through his chest.

"Harry, I know your lying now tell me the truth. How are you?" Draco gave him the famous Malfoy glare.

Harry just looked down at his hands trying to decide if he would tell him or not. After all this problem had started six years ago and was now about to end. Letting out a sigh Harry looked at the blonde who was sitting next to him.

"Draco, what I'm about to tell you must not leave this room. Only Remus and Pomfrey know about my condition. Do you promise me not to tell anyone?" Harry seemed nervous and had paled a bit.

Sensing that this was quite important to Harry; Draco quickly agreed. "All right I promise, but I want the whole story." Draco was crossing his fingers behind his back; something that Evan had taught him. He really shouldn't let the boy play with muggles too often he thought while chuckling to himself.

"Well first I want to tell you that after the battle with Voldemort I was gravely injured and stayed in a come for six months. I almost died five times within those months. My heart stopped beating only to start again when the nurse would perform some spells on me. It took me another six months to be able to get out of bed after I had woken up. Then it took me another six months to be able to function normally."

Draco was shocked to hear that Harry had been so sick. "Go on."

"After I was healed I started looking for you. Hermione and Ron weren't too encouraging. They kept on telling me that you had made a new life for yourself and that I would only get hurt. I didn't listen to them at first. I'm sorry Draco. I kept on searching for you and for five years I couldn't find any clues as to where you had disappeared. At around the fifth year of searching I started getting sick and weak. I went to see a healer who recommended rest and a nice tropical climate so I could get my health back. So I stopped the search for a few months and went to live in one of my summer homes in Barbados. But instead of getting better I was feeling worse. I returned to England and got a second opinion. The healers discovered that I had a rare heart condition that only affects very powerful wizards who have had severe trauma to their bodies. And I of course having seriously injured in my fight with Voldemort was a perfect candidate for the disease. The reason why I stopped looking for you after five years was because I became sick and I didn't want to burden you with a dying man; I thought you had started a new life."

Harry stopped to take a drink of water and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He was a bit tired but he knew he had to be truthful to Draco. He had hid his medical condition for so long that it had become a habit to rely on only himself.

"The disease is called Aurorus Cardius. What it basically means is that my magical core is loosing strength to keep my life force going and it's putting a strain on my heart. With time my heart will not be able to keep up and one day it will stop beating."

"What, do you mean that you're dying?" Draco was now sitting on the bed next to Harry holding his hand.

"Yes, the more powerful the wizard; the longer the disease will take to kill them. Usually the wizard dies after three to four years. But since I'm so powerful I've been able to live a few years longer than expected. The healer thinks I still have a little over another year to go."

"What is this surgery that you and Remus were talking about the other day?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco questioning how he knew about the surgery.

Draco laughed "Hey I'm a Slytherin; sneaking around school is nothing new to me."

Harry shook his head and smiled. At lease Draco was talking to him now. "The surgery is actually a muggle idea. Some muggles when having heart problems get what's called a pacemaker installed in their bodies and it controls their heart beats. What the healers have in mind is similar to that but it would be powered by magic and would relieve the stress that is placed on my heart. The procedure if successful would add four to five years to my life."

"So you're going to do it right?"

"I don't know. I'm very tired of the pain." Harry turned his head to look out the window. He also whispered so that no one could hear him. "I'm so bloody tired of being alone; maybe it's better this way."

Draco took Harry's hand making the raven haired man jump in surprise. "Oh you're going to tell the healer that you want the surgery. I will be with you all the way and so will Evan. You're not alone Harry."

"What! You heard me?"

"Of course; ever since I was able to manage the animagus transformation, my sense of hearing as been sharper than before. Now rest and I'll be here when you wake up."

Harry gave him a grateful smile and lied back down to sleep. He felt like the weight of the world was off his shoulders now that Draco knew about his disease. After a few minutes he was back asleep and Draco left the infirmary heading towards his quarters. There he flooed Healer Johnston and asked him to get in contact with specialists who was familiar with the Aurorus Cardius. He told him to spare no expenses and that he wanted them at Hogwarts as soon that they could be there. Then when he was done he returned to the infirmary just in time to see his son awaken. Draco told him what was wrong with his daddy and told him not to tell anyone. He also told his son that was going to hire some of the best specialist in the world to find a cure for Harry so that they didn't loose him again.

Both father and son were sitting next to each other snuggling on the chair watching the man they both loved so much sleep. Draco told Evan that he was going to give Harry a chance and that he wanted them to be a family. Evan hugged him and agreed that they needed to give Harry a chance. After all life was always so unpredictable. Things happen and you just have to learn to live with them.

Harry woke a few hours later to a sight that he had long to see for so long. Both Draco and Evan were playing wizard's chess while talking softly and laughing. Harry watched them for a few minutes before letting them know that he was awake. He felt happy that he now had a family.

Noticing that Harry was watching them Evan jumped up on the bed and gave his daddy a hug. He proceeded at telling his father that he knew that he was sick and that the healers that Draco had hired would help him get better.

"What healers?"

Draco laughed and said. "Did you really think that now that we have you that we're going to let you go without a fight." Draco leaned over and gave Harry a gentle kiss making sure he didn't put any pressure on Harry's chest. He then wiped the tears coming from Harry's eyes.

"I love you Harry. Let's let the past behind us and star anew."

Draco and Harry talked long into the night while Evan slept on the bed next to Harry. The next day would be a busy day for them; so finally after a few hours Draco enlarge the bed with a charm and slid next to Harry under the covers. All three slept on hoping for good news the next day.