Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
He winced as his voice cracked, confusion sprinkled on his face. He couldn't figure out why Narcissa Malfoy was at Private Drive, or why his bed was so soft. Or why she was holding his hand when she was clear across the room.
"Harry!" She hastened over to the bed, smiling at him. "You're at Malfoy Manor. When Albus approached us about keeping you here for the rest of the summer I was delighted to accept. I was hoping I could apologize, on behalf of the entire Malfoy family, for the way we have acted in the past."
Harry squinted at her, unsure of her motives. She seemed genuinely sorry, so he nodded his head before wincing a little at the throbbing pain that came with that action. She beamed, while she poured him a small glass of water.
"I'm so relieved. I'm sure you're full of questions Harry." He nodded again, more accustomed to the throb the movement caused. She lowered her voice, concern practically dripping from it. "Can you use your voice?"
"Barely." His throat was raw with pain, but he managed to force the tiny word out. He wasn't willing to try to start asking questions just yet though.
"I'll get the healer straight away." She sighed a breath of relief. "I'm so glad you're awake Harry." With that, she turned and closed the door softly behind her. The moment of peace let Harry wonder why his hand was still being held, and he had the answer shortly.
"You gave us all quite a scare, Harry." He jerked with confusion. He knew that voice, but there's no way Draco Malfoy, of all people, was talking to him so normally. "Shh, relax." A hand rested on his chest, trying to keep him from moving too suddenly. "You were unconscious for a week. And since you had, indeed, gotten an inheritance, we couldn't give you any potions. We had to just watch and wait for you to come back to us. But it's all right, there should be a healer coming in any moment now."
He tried to keep his eyes open and trained on Malfoy, but he was at an odd angle and his eyes couldn't strain that far for long. Draco, sensing this, moved to his mother's chair. "Look, I know you must be confused." Harry nodded, stronger this time. The throbbing was settling into a dull ache. "I promise you, I will answer every single question you have once the healer takes a look at you." The door opened again, and in whirled a young woman with blonde hair and mint green healer robes.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. I heard we gave everyone quite a scare with the inheritance hitting you so hard." She started casting diagnosis spells and fished out several potions from a small bag. "Ahh, here we are. Well Mr. Potter, your throat has been ripped raw, which I expected with all your changes. It was bound to hurt, yeah?" He nodded. "Here, open up. It won't taste good, but it'll make your throat feel so much better."
He greedily drank the potion and swallowed, not even caring that it tasted like dung. The sweet sensation of his throat healing as the liquid coursed through his throat was heavenly.
"Alright, now Mr. Potter. Would you like a moment alone with me or would you like someone to stay? There are some matters we have to discuss regarding your health."
"No, I'm fine. Really." He felt someone squeezing his hand.
"I'll stay. Mother?" Narcissa whisked everyone out of the room and closed the door softly.
"Draco, I'm fine, really-" He was cut off by Draco's snort.
"No Harry, you aren't. Trust me when I say this, I know you are not well. I'm staying for this. I want to help you." Harry started to panic. Draco couldn't know what happened to him. He couldn't find out what had happened at the Dursley's this summer, he was sure to blast it all over the school. "Harry, I've changed a lot over the summer. I won't tell anyone. I'll even confide in you some of my secrets under the veritaserum potion that I have in my room. Whatever it takes to let you let me help you."
He didn't respond, but Draco took that as a good thing. He hadn't fought back on it.
"Now that that's all settled. Harry, do you remember what happened the last time you were awake?" He nodded, tears burning their way down his face. He could only hope Draco didn't see them. "I'm going to recommend you talk to someone about it. Draco here has been worrying over you all week, as has his mother. I'm sure either one of them would be more than willing to help you through that. As for the rest of you, you have broken or fractured nearly every single rib, your right femur was broken, your right arm was shattered, and your right hip had popped out of place. Broken nose, cheekbone, fractured jaw, some fairly large bald spots on your head and you had obviously screamed your throat raw. But, through all of that, your inheritance seems to have healed all of that, except your throat."
"You managed to rip it raw again as you were changing." Draco's voice was a nice interruption, albeit a strange one. He furrowed his brow.
"So...I did get an inheritance…?" He let the question hang in the air, wary of the answer.
"Mhm. You're magic was so powerful your body had no other choice but to revert back to a magical creature that can hold that much magic without risking injury. Quite amazing, really. There's only been a small handful of others who have received such a gift as the one you were presented with." She packed her bag and made for the door. "I will be informing Mrs. Malfoy of the potions you need to take, and when Mr. Potter. I suggest calling on St. Mungo's if you have any other ailments or concerns in a few days. Don't overdo yourself Mr. Potter. I have heard plenty from Madame Pomfrey about you, and I would hate to see her worry over you more than she needs to."
After she closed the door, Harry groaned and let his head sink into the pillow under him. It seemed he would have to trust the Malfoy family to help take care of him. But if Dumbledore trusts them, then so should I. After all, Malfoy did say he would tell me his secrets under the truth potions effects…that's got to count for something.
"Malfoy?" He turned his head towards where he had seen him last. "What am I?" He saw Draco inhale sharply as he turned to look at him. Faintly, he wondered if it were that bad.
"Call me Draco. You're what we call a dark angel now. Do you know what that is?" Anger flared up in his stomach.
"Do you take me for a fool, or do you just presume yourself to be that much better than me?" There wasn't much fight behind his words, talking was going to take some getting used to again. He watched as Draco dipped his head.
"N-no, I just...well I grew up in the magical world and you didn't. I just thought that maybe you wouldn't know all the types of magical creatures that walk the earth yet, especially since dark angels are so incredibly rare. I didn't mean to offend you…" His voice got quieter with each sentence until he just gave up on arguing.
Harry felt like an arse. Here was someone who seems like they want to help and he had just snapped at them. Although, he didn't feel too bad as this was the one person who had come after him again and again in school.
"Alright. What's a dark angel then?" Draco raised his head, but didn't dare ask about his sudden change of tune.
"Dark angels are said to be the most powerful creatures to roam the earth. They don't even use wands, because their magic is so concentrated. They're sort of a cross between an angel and a vampire-" Harry panicked at hearing that, but Draco put a hand over his chest in an attempt to calm him. "Relax, that's not a bad thing. See, you get the best of both worlds. The wings, the ability to cast magic without anything more than your hands, the sense of morals, the patience, the ability to walk during the sunlight, never getting sunburnt again actually. Self healing, silent footsteps, getting to eat food. You get all the good, and none of the bad."
Harry shook his head, the ache just barely there now. "Wait, you said wings. And Ron said something about a mate I think…" Draco smiled to himself.
"Yes, I said wings. We'll talk about the mate thing later. But yes, you have wings." Harry tried to sit up, but before he had the chance Draco was practically forcing him farther into the bed so he wouldn't hurt himself. "Now look, the first time you look at yourself in the mirror you're going to be shocked. A lot has changed about your physique. I knew what my inheritance would be and what to expect, and I was still shocked the next day." He could still see that the lack of knowing was bugging him, so Draco sighed.
"Okay, here. Maybe easing you into this will help the shock settle a little slower." He pressed Harry's hand onto one of the wings that had appeared the day before. They were slightly spread out, outlining Harry's body so they wouldn't get too squished being under him.
Harry's eyes widened in shock at the feeling. More specifically, widened at being able to feel the feathers with his hand and also the shock of feeling he got from the feathers themselves. I have wings...I have wings and I can feel them...Just that amount of knowledge made him want to succumb to the darkness once more. Draco, upon seeing the panic, rushed to explain a little farther.
"You won't always have to tote them around like that. There will be some unavoidable circumstances when they will emerge, but from now on it will be painless from what I understand. You won't be able to hide them for awhile, but over time you will gain control over them, and the rest of your appearance as well." Harry's eyes jerked from the ceiling back to the blond.
"The rest of my appearance? What's happened to the rest of me? I must look like a freak, I-" Draco cut him off by placing a finger on his lips.
"Shh. Relax. It's nothing bad. As a matter of fact, even in these ratty old scraps you look rather dashing. Trust me." Harry's hands followed everything Draco was mentioning, so he hesitated in between to give him some time to adjust. "Your ears are a little more pointy at the top, your nose is straight now. None of that broken and healed a little off nonsense. Your skin is more fair now, and very soft looking without any blemishes or discoloration. Although you do still blush, it's more subtle now. Your eyelashes are darker and fuller, your lips are fuller and a nicer shade of pink for your new skin tone. Your hair grew so now it hangs over your eyes a little and it's got small streaks of color in it."
He paused, letting Harry process that last bit. It wasn't something you could feel, and must have shaken him a little. "Actually I quite like it. Your hair matches your wings, sort of. Black with little spots of emerald green. Speaking of your wings, they're mostly black and have a bright metallic silver and gold dispersed. Not enough to overwhelm the black, but to accent it. And you've got a handful of green on each. Very spread out though, it's quite nice."
Harry gulped. He wasn't sure he liked all the changes Malfoy was talking about. Although he did like the sound of softer skin and a straight nose again, the rest he was a little concerned with. "Do I still look….like me?" He frowned when Draco laughed.
"Of course you still look like you. At least to me you do. You're just a little more...ethreal than you used to be. But it's a good look."
"Anything else I should be made aware of?" He sounded wary, like he wasn't so sure he would like all these changes.
"Well, I can't tell about your body now can I? You're wearing rags at best, and you were starved for a few months. You probably won't know about that until you start eating and rebuilding your strength again." He took a deep breath. "Your eyes...your eyes changed a lot though." Harry scoffed.
"How would you bloody well know if my eyes changed?"
"Well, with all the fighting we did I managed to get a lot of looking in. Malfoy honor and all that. Gotta look your enemies in the eyes and all." There was a heavy pause before he cleared his throat. "They look nicer now. They're a little deeper green and have swirling ribbons of silver and gold in them. Actually swirling. It's….I've never seen anything like it."
"Well, are you bloody well going to let me get up so I can see myself?" Seeing the look on Draco's face he snapped, "I bloody well know what the healer said." Draco just watched him, clearly not giving in that far. "Alright then! Help me sit up at least." He struggled to get his hands under his wings so he could prop himself up without plucking some feathers out and wasn't succeeding. Draco took pity on him, apologized so softly he was amazed Harry could hear it and gently lifted his back up.
When his hands caressed the wings, Harry gasped. He clearly didn't realize how sensitive his new appendages would be. Draco helped him get situated so he wasn't sitting on his wings, and sat back down. When he wouldn't look up, Harry demanded to know what the issue was.
"Well...you're part vampire too. So, you have fangs. I'm surprised you didn't realize before now. You can still eat regular food-you won't need blood until you find your mate which, again, a conversation for another time." He hurried through the last part to try to stop Harry from having an all out fit.
Before he even knew what had happened, Harry was up and at the other end of the room standing in front of a full body mirror.