Title: legatum de maladie

Genre: Romance/Drama/Angst

Pairing: HP/DM

Rating: M

Summary: AU. There was never a boy who lived, only a boy who died.

Draco Malfoy is ill. Harry Potter is a Healer. Lucius Malfoy is desperate. Slash.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. It's all the property of J.K Rowling, and this story is being written for entertainment purposes only. Not a dime is being made.

xxxx

12

Remus sighed and flipped through Harry's storybook dazedly. He'd finally managed to convince Kate and the two Slytherin students to go and find some food in the kitchens. He was unnerved that there was still no sign of staff in the infirmary, and that Albus, no-it-all that he was, wasn't hovering over Draco Malfoy's bed with his twinkling eyes and unnerving disposition.

Draco Malfoy smelled like rot, and Remus just knew there was more going on with the young boy than met the eye. He was reminded of the night he'd helped Harry put together a tentative schedule for his new teaching job, and the haunted expression in Harry's green eyes. Something had been off that night, but Harry had expressly told him not to ask.

Harry had asked the students to read the tale of the Prince of Shadows. Remus hadn't been lying when he'd said there were literally hundreds of different versions of the story.

Remus' own favorite was set after the Prince had served the blind goddess. The Prince would wander about the crossroads collecting lost memories and putting them in his pockets. Then one day he'd stuffed a memory into his robes and the seams had split, and all the memories had come tumbling back out in a rainbow of colour. On Earth, it would rain every time the Prince's pockets split, and each raindrop was one of the lost memories he'd collected before the gates of heaven. Remus had read the story as a student in University and had loved the simplicity of it.

Now it appeared that simple fairy tales held more clues than met the eye. Of course, Remus had known this for awhile, given his passion for literature, but seeing fairy stories of such a dark nature perfectly reflected in real life didn't sit well with the werewolf. Remus sniffed again and scowled. Draco was deteriorating, and he smelled worse with each passing hour. The werewolf entertained the idea of opening a window to air the smell out, but one look at the fragile little boy lying in bed stomped out the notion.

"Lupin, what are you doing here?" Remus jerked up and smiled when Severus Snape entered the room.

"Hello Professor. I was wondering when someone would come and check on young Mr. Malfoy here. It's been many hours with no sign, I was beginning to worry."

The Potions Master flew to the young boy's bedside and checked his temperature. He closed his eyes in defeat when his simple status charms turned a pale yellow. "Curse you child. How did I know you'd missed a dose?" He pinched his long nose and sank into the nearest chair, unable to take his eyes from the sleeping boy.

"Severus, what the devil is going on with this boy? Harry called me and asked me to come and oversee both he and the children watching him, but I've been kept in the dark ever since. You say he missed a does? Of what?"

"Where is that blasted mediwitch?" Snape looked around the empty infirmary sharply.

"She's in St. Mungo's undergoing treatment for a rare hex, or so I'm told. Severus?"

The Potions Master sighed deeply and snapped his fingers. He'd be grateful of the elves if they could give him a pot of tea. He looked at the man sitting across from him and sighed again. There was nothing to stop the whole brigade of Gryffindors from getting involved now. "How much did Potter tell you?"

xxxx

"Sirius, you have to understand, I can't do this without you." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He was running out of time. It had taken him three days to track down Sirius, and another half day to finally meet him.

Sirius leaned back on the stone bench and sighed. Muggle tourists wandered about all around him, each taking in the heavenly sights of Zanzibar's splendor. He'd been in the wild near Arusha when a snowy owl had descended on his camp, startling a few muggles in the group. It had taken a few discreetly placed charms and some savvy wordplay to help them get over the idea of a snowy owl in the African wilderness. Two days later he'd finally managed to meet Harry on the Island of Zanzibar, and since he'd never had the pleasure before, was eager to take in as many of the sights as possible. They were seated in the Forodhani Gardens overlooking the old Stone Town Harbor and its glorious blue waters, and Merlin's beard, all Harry could talk about was Malfoy. He interrupted the younger man before he could go off again. "Harry, I told you Malfoy was bad news, but you wouldn't listen to me. Since you won't tell me what's up, I can only guess it's really really bad since you want to involve that Asian voodoo you dug up with me. I don't know much about it, but-"

"Bullshit." Harry glared down at his Godfather. "You were with me every step of the way, and while you play the part of grand misadventurer perfectly, you cannot fool me into believing that you know nothing about that curse. You helped me with my thesis on it Sirius, and I know with your help now I can use it to satisfy Malfoy."

Sirius' brows lifted. "Grand misadventurer? Harry, do you have any idea how many galleons I'll be throwing away if I just up and leave here and follow you back to England? I'm sorry if my job doesn't appear to be as serious as yours, but it's still my job, and while I do on some twisted level, appreciate your insinuation that I have no appreciation for responsibly, I unfortunately must make it clear that I do." The older man huffed, only slightly put off that everyone seemed to share the same low opinion on him, even his godson of whom he thought was different. After all, he'd hardly ever done a thing to persuade anyone to think otherwise.

"I'm sorry for my insinuation Sirius, but I meant what I said. You're too smart to be slaving away in the African heat leading rich wizards on Safari, or whatever it is you're doing here. I won't pretend that I understand completely, but I know you're happy with your work…. I just really need your help, and I wouldn't be here groveling at your feet if I didn't know that I couldn't do this without you." Harry began to pace. "I don't know if I can swing it alone," he finally whispered.

"Merlin, what have you gotten yourself into Harry? And sit down!" He grabbed the sleeve of Harry's shirt and pulled him down onto the bench.

"I signed a contract with Lucius Malfoy to offer my services to him and his son." Harry winced. "There are several clauses in the contract that prevent me from telling you the specifics, but since Lucius neglected to tell me a few things, the contract doesn't cover what I've learned on my own."

"Slimy Slytherin bastard caught you in one of his traps, eh? I can't say I didn't tell you so."

"Lucius was dabbling in Necromancy, Sirius."

Sirius gaped at the younger man. "Holy shit! You have any proof of that? We can get the fucker hauled to prison for sure."

"It's not that simple. He resurrected his son, which in itself is a complete mystery. I'll never be able to comprehend how he actually managed it. The point it, Draco Malfoy is a resurrected human being, but there's something wrong, and Lucius expects him to die again before Halloween."

"One less snake in the nest to worry about."

Harry's eyes hardened. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"Why! It's the truth Harry! Why can't you see that?"

Harry stood up sharply. "Because I'm a snake too, Sirius! You mean to tell me that if I was sick and dying that you'd walk away without feeling anything because I'd be 'one less snake in the nest?' That's awful!"

"Harry sit down, you know that's completely different." Sirius looked around cautiously. There was a large wizarding population in the old quadrant of the city, but it was still overrun with muggles.

Harry sat. "It's not though, Siri. Draco Malfoy didn't choose his parents. He didn't choose to die and he certainly didn't choose to be resurrected and then live a life of unbearable agony. If we can help him, isn't it the Gryffindor thing to do?"

Sirius frowned. "I cannot believe you're using the Gryffindor thing against me now."

"Why not, I'm a Slytherin, remember?"

Sirius rubbed at his now tired eyes. "How can I forget? Harry, do you even know if this curse is going to work?"

Harry shook his head. "I know nothing yet for sure Sirius. I still need to talk to a few people, but I have this feeling…"

Sirius laughed. "Just like you father kiddo, following your gut instincts. What is it you want me to do exactly?"

"Can you come to Hogwarts the day before Halloween?" Harry bit his lip.

"That's less than what? A week? You want me to be back in the UK in six days?" Sirius started doing mental calculations. He could get out of his contract if he handed it over to Moses, but that didn't sit well with him. Still, if he made arrangements today, he could be packed and back in London when Harry needed him.

"Please Sirius. If I never ask anything else of you, will you do it?"

"I'll try kiddo, but I can't promise anything. You think you'll have everything figured out in six days?"

Harry swallowed sharply. "I'll have to. Let's just say I don't have any choice in the matter."

xxxx

"It's not fair." Olli whined, dumping his books on the Slytherin table in disgust. "Why won't they let us back in the infirmary? We were there in the beginning. If Draco's dying, we deserve to be there with him until the end."

Rhoswen sighed and looked around the Great Hall cautiously. She winced when Kate Potter waved at her from the Ravenclaw table, but waved back nonetheless. It was only polite. Several students were beginning to wonder why Oleander Parkinson and Kate Potter, two sixth years students, were spending so much time with her, a mere second year. She didn't want to upset the precious balance she'd worked so hard to maintain, and the last thing she needed was to be bullied over something as stupid as her age. "They must have their reasons. Besides, we're no good to Draco if we miss lessons."

The three students had been kicked out of the infirmary by Remus the morning after their little fairy tale story exchange. He'd suggested they go to the kitchens and eat, but when they'd tried to get back in the infirmary afterwards, they were told by Professor Snape that they had classes to attend. Olli sighed. "I guess so. I mean, none of us has any healing experience, but it would be nice to be included." He snorted. "I bet Potter gets to go help her brother when he comes back."

Rhoswen frowned. "I don't think so. Professor Potter seems very protective of her. He'll likely not call on her."

"I hope you're right." Olli beamed when the table filled with hot food. "He's not the only one who's feeling protective." He blushed around a mouthful of toast.

Rhoswen giggled. "That's so romantic. I knew you had a crush on her."

"Hey look! Owls! I wonder if we've had any mail while we were cooped up with Draco?" Olli grinned when the change in subject literally came flying in.

Rhoswen paled when she spied one of the Malfoy birds in the air, headed right for her. "I don't think I want to read my mail actually." She whispered. She'd known the reprimand was coming, after all. Lucius Malfoy knew everything, and after what had happened to Madame Pomfrey, she really wasn't looking forward to any correspondence with the evil man.

Olli shrugged. "It can't be that bad." He peered at the owl and raised an eyebrow when he recognized it. "You still haven't told us what's up with you and Malfoy."

"I won't be telling you either, if it's any consolation." She whimpered under the Malfoy's eagle owl's stare and removed the missive attached to its enormous claw. She saw the date on the outside of the envelope and shuddered. "It's from two days ago. I must have missed it with all the running around." She cautiously slipped the owl a bit of bacon. Even if the news was dreadful, it wasn't the bird's fault, and it had been looking for her for quite awhile. She slipped the parchment opened and took a deep breath. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, she hadn't wound of in hospital as of yet. She paled again when she opened the last fold of the letter. The words that bled out on the page took a moment to register, but when they did, she was a loss for what to do. Crumpling up the message in one white fist, she raised the other to bite it and stave off the scream she knew was coming.

The effort was futile.

xxxx

Harry did a double take when he entered the infirmary and saw Remus Lupin having tea with Severus Snape. He tossed his pack on one of the empty beds and nodded at the two men while he checked on Draco's status. He cursed himself when he saw the lights on his charms were fading rapidly. He'd been away too long, and he still had so much work to do if he was going to save this child. "How has he been? Did he wake up at all while I was gone?"

Remus shook his head. "Whatever Poppy gave him, it appears to be keeping him out."

"Either that or his body is simply too weak to try and regain consciousness on it's own at this point." Snape sneered and stood up.

"Harry, now that you're back, I really think it's time you explained some things." Remus crossed his arms over his chest. "I've had quite and enlightening conversation with Severus here, and I'm most interested to know how you've gotten involved with Necromancy. Harry, you could go to prison for this, and if I didn't love you as much as I do, I would have called the Aurors."

Biting his lip, Harry cast one of the strongest stabilizing and preservations charms he knew on Draco's prone body. "Remus, I-" He stopped and spun around rapidly to stare at his former potions teacher. "You know about Draco!"

Severus sneered, but nodded. "I had the unfortunate task of assisting with the original ritual."

Harry gaped. Severus knew everything then. He would be a literal fountain of information. "Severus, you need to tell me everything you know." He stalked over to the older man, his eyes wild and desperate. "I can't help Draco unless I know exactly what happened when Draco was resurrected, even what happened before that."

Snape peered at his student but eventually nodded. "I don't suppose we could do this in Poppy's office? It's more comfortable in there and this could take awhile."

"Sure, wherever." Harry hastily agreed. "I just have to grab something from my quarters. I'll be back shortly."

"Don't keep us waiting Harry. I've been sitting here for almost four days waiting for you to come back."

Harry nodded. "I won't."

xxxx

"Albus, where the devil is Severus? He's the poor child's head of house; he ought to be the one taking care of her in this time of need!" Minerva McGonagall looked at the tiny girl in the chair beside her and frowned. The child had let out a small wail in the Great Hall two days ago upon reading her mail and had then shut up completely. They were now seated in the Headmaster's office for the fourth time since the events, and Miss. Rainwater hadn't uttered a word. She hadn't eaten either, or slept, and the results were clear on her young face. There seemed to be a dark cloud forming over Hogwarts, and specifically Slytherin House, and everyone was at a loss to explain it. Albus himself had been teaching potions for the last few days without explanation, and Poppy Pomfrey was also nowhere to be found. "The letter came from the Malfoy's. They're obviously family friends, perhaps we could send her to their estate for the time being?"

"No, thank you."

Minerva started at hearing the child's voice and looked down at her gently. "My dear, it's perfectly alright for you to take some time to deal with this situation. The death of a family member is always a difficult thing to deal with, but in your circumstances-"

Rhoswen turned cold, hard eyes on the Head of Gryffindor House. "I'm grateful for your understanding, Professor," she choked, "but I'd prefer to stay at school, if that's alright with you."

Albus had been watching the situation carefully for many days now. That the girl was finally talking at all was a very good sign. He stood up from his desk and placed a calming hand on the girl's shoulder. "That might be best for you, Miss. Rainwater. Your friends can help you through this tragedy better than any strange family could. However, if you find yourself needing time to cope, you're always welcomed in this office."

The second year closed her eyes in agony. "Thank you, sir." She whispered. She swallowed painfully and decided that now was as good a time as any to spill. It was probably too late to help Draco, and it curled her stomach to think that her family had been murdered to save a secret that had no use in saving. She certainly had nothing left to lose now, and she was feeling exhausted: a bone deep tiredness that she shouldn't have felt at age twelve. "Sir, you should know something."

xxxx

The setting inside Poppy's office was somber. "I cannot believe that bastard wouldn't even go in after his own son." Harry shook his head sadly. He suddenly wanted to take Draco in his arms and never let him go.

"How the hell are you going to help this child, Harry?" Remus pointed out at the bed, his own eyes watery. "The last I'd checked you weren't a Soul Mage, or a God for that matter."

Harry nodded and scooped up the thick folder he'd brought with him. "I'm not a Soul Mage Remus. There are actually very few options open to me at the moment, but I have an idea and I'd like you to hear me out before you say anything more." He glared sharply at both men, "that means both of you."

The two nodded, both their interests piqued.

"I'll admit that I hadn't really thought much about how to fix this before I jumped on this particular curse," he pulled a worn scroll from the folder. "I've been trying to dig up information for days, but since that's literally all I've been given: days, I just kind of fell into this curse. I was sitting at my desk wondering how I was going to get out of this when my eye caught the edge of this file. I'll admit that until today it's all been a bit of a stretch of my own imagination. I was pretty much only daydreaming about how I'd take my own research one step further and it would end in glory." He blushed at the reproachful looks he received from his mentors. "But it's okay now, because now I have some substance to work with. It's kind of funny, actually, how everything is literally falling together. It's sickeningly convenient."

"In my experience, nothing is convenient." Severus muttered. "There is a reason you were given this task."

Harry nodded gently, cocking his head slightly. "Lucius Malfoy hired me because of a few papers I'd written on dark magic and its properties in healing. I think I'm simply his last resort. His way of telling himself that even if Draco dies, at least he'd tried every possible avenue to help him, though, given what you've just told us Severus, I cannot imagine why he'd care so much." Harry carefully back away from the subject, not wanting to discuss how Lucius' eventual retribution would affect him. "Anyhow, here it is. The curse is roughly four thousand years old." Harry laid his work out over the desk and pointed at the magically produced copies of the original scroll he and Sirius had dug up. "Its original purpose was an attempt at immortality by taking the memories of a person and making it possible to transfer them, complete, into another body. The husk left over after the curse was administered would have no memories and its thought would be jumbled and unclear, not unlike an infant child." He looked up at Severus and Remus with a dark look. "The body that the memories were than transferred to would carry them for another lifetime, and thus, the knowledge of one lifetime would never be lost.

However, two generations down, there were problems. Too many lifetimes worth of memories in one mind caused the mind to deteriorate and eventually led to insanity. The scrolls with the wizard's research on the curse were lost, and while the curse did manage a fledgling existence in dark textbooks, it was never again used to transfer memories. Dark wizards used the curse on their enemies and then cast the memories away so they'd be lost forever. It's easily one of the most carnal torture devices ever created." His two mentors nodded.

"Immortal Memory," Remus muttered and smiled at Harry. "The Prince of Shadows and his collection of memories, Harry?"

Harry blushed. "I knew you'd be familiar with that after-tale." He wanted to ask if Draco's school mates had read and understood the text he'd given them, but he could see that he needed to finish his explanation first.

"Harry, how exactly do you suppose this curse is going to help Draco?" Remus inquired, looking at the sinister looking artwork that graced the Latin section of the scroll.

"I'll get to that, but first I need you to understand the curse, as well as you possibly can." He took a deep breath. "Its last known use happened during the Crusades. They had translated it into Latin at that point." He pointed at the pictures that had captured Remus' stare. "The earliest version of the curse is in a dialect that is long dead, but I did manage to piece together some of the characters into modern Cantonese. When I got back to England I dipped into my expenses folder and hired an expert in the field to help me. She translated it into Vietnamese: nhớ, ghi nhớ, which she told me was a simple "commit to memory" charm, similar to the ones used to fill a Pensieve. The Latin curse here," he pointed, "reads as servo recordatio saecula saeculorum. But it won't work without the necessary parameters, which luckily for us, were outlined further down." Harry paused. "Truthfully, I don't know for certain if this is going to help Draco. Like I said, I have no background in soul magic, Necromancy or anything else that might fall into the realm of resurrection. All of this is based in a gut instinct that has quickly turned into a theory on my part."

"Alright, then explain your theory then." Severus leaned back in his armchair and sighed when a tea cup appeared out of nowhere.

Harry nodded. "It all comes back to your story, Severus. At least, that's what confirmed my suspicions. I've already admitted that I just kind of fell into this curse, but your story has been very enlightening." He paused, wondering how to best word this. "You said that when you went into the realm past the veil in the Department of Mysteries, that you met a child, aged roughly six. At least, the child you met was speaking to you and seemed very aware." Severus nodded, his eyes darkening. "However, the body that Lucius had had you remedy was still essentially that of an infant?"

"I think I can see where you're going with this, Harry." Remus nodded sagely.

"I modified the curse. Basically I messed with it so that it wouldn't take the memories from the mind, but would work in conjunction with known healing spells to heal a damaged mind so that it could remember. A colleague and I, with Sirius' help, used the modified curse to successfully assist elderly patients with memory loss. I tweaked the curse to the point where I could recover lost memories that were over fifty years old." He gestured into the infirmary where Draco was laying. "That boy in there is a miracle. What Lucius did shouldn't have been possible by any means. I think the reason why Draco's body is failing is because there are some missing pieces. He's a puzzle that's missing the outer edge that will make him whole. I think if I use this curse, combined with the stabilizing ritual, that I can tie all of the lost pieces together. Draco is missing the six years worth of memories that his soul says he has, but he's also missing something else."

"An aging potion." Severus deadpanned. He rubbed his face as hot tears prickled his eyes. "It seems so simple." He shook his head in disbelief.

Harry nodded gravely. "It's not though. This magic is very old and very complicated. He shoved the scroll in Snape's direction. I've already asked Sirius to come and help me. The curse-charm we used in my medical research is the mild version. I'm pretty sure that if we want to try this, we should go all out and do the complete ritual."

Severus glanced over the text and frowned. "It says here that you'll need someone with a blood connection to draw the symbols."

Harry nodded. "I've already written Lucius. I'm expecting a meeting with him soon."

Severus paled. "He wrote me as well." He removed the short letter from his robes. "That's what tipped me off that there might be a problem with Draco in the first place. I was making a batch of Wolfsbane and I got distracted. I neglected his needs for almost two days." The Potions Master looked stricken.

"Severus you need to stop beating yourself up. There's nothing we can do for it now, but if we're going to try Harry's plan, you need to be in shape to brew a decent potion." Remus patted his shoulder gently.

Harry smiled weakly. "You'll need to research a potion that will age Draco's body the exact number of days, hours, minutes and seconds that he was lost. I suppose you're the only one in the universe besides Lucius Malfoy that might be able to determine that number?"

Snape nodded and stood up. "I'll begin immediately." He paused on his way out the door. "Lucius might not be as helpful as you expect him to be, Harry." He warned. "Is there any chance that this spell could work without his involvement?"

Harry frowned. "I have no idea." He scratched at his head in contemplation. "I'll talk to him, and if he's uncooperative, I'll deal with that when it happens."

xxxx