"A—m—o—s—a," Draco moaned. His tongue darted out, as if licking something, and he gripped the mattress beneath him as another convulsion tore through his body.

"He's calling for me again," Astoria cried. "I'm here, darling, I'm here!" She took his hand and he stopped convulsing for a moment, meeting her eyes with a look of bewilderment.

"Draco, sweetheart, it's me, your Astoria, your wife!"

"Ahh…ohh…sss…ia…"

"He knows I'm here!" Astoria said, watching the Healers cast their diagnostic spells again. "It's obvious! He recognizes me!"

"Mrs Malfoy," one Healer said forcefully. "The sounds he's making are not related to you. We have reason to believe he's hallucinating."

A wet, squelching sound emerged from the bed. Draco had soiled himself, again , and he was shaking, spreading his bowel movement all over the bed, much to another Healer's chagrin.

"Play the jazz! He likes it!" Astoria demanded, watching her husband become more agitated. "He's calmer with music playing!"

An exasperated Healer tapped her wand on the wireless and jazz began to play. Draco stopped thrashing violently, instead swaying to the sound.

"You see!" Astoria took Draco's hand, squeezing it to the beat of the music. This seemed to calm him further. "I'm here, darling, I'm here." She stroked his hair, brushing it out of his eyes, and kissed his clammy forehead.

Draco was inexplicably aroused now, making kissing motions with his lips. Astoria bent down, kissing him soundly, sure that he was thinking of her and recognizing her. No matter what the Healers said about hallucinations, she knew her husband had his eyes and heart reserved for her, and her alone.

"Mrs Malfoy," a Healer said tersely, interrupting her activity.

"Yes?"

"It's been two weeks since the potions accident and we haven't seen any improvement."

" You may not think there's been an improvement, but he recognizes me!"

The Healer sighed deeply. "Come with me. We want to show you something."

Astoria eyed him warily but followed out of Draco's hospital room. She was led upstairs, to an observation room directly above Draco's room.

"Watch what happens," the Healer said, tapping his wand on the floor.

A circle appeared on the floor between the observation room and Draco's hospital room. Unbeknownst to Astoria, an apple had been dangling above Draco's bed. The Healer murmured a charm at the apple and it disappeared from sight.

Draco thrashed violently in his bed, moaning incoherently. The Healers around him tied his arms down to the bed, holding him steady where he was.

"What the—"

"Now see what happens," the Healer added, murmuring another charm to make the apple reappear. At once, Draco calmed down. He began drooling and moaning "A-o-s-a" at the apple.

"We've got reason to believe he's confusing you with the apple," the Healer said quietly. "He's calmest when you're both in the room."

"My husband isn't in love with an apple , you—"

"Mrs Malfoy, please see reason. We've been conducting experiments. We noticed a correlation between his calmer periods and his diet. When he has an apple, he seems to be calm. When you are with him, he is calm, but he is most at peace with you and the apple."

"This is ridiculous," Astoria growled. "You can't possibly be serious."

"We take the apple away…" the Healer made the apple disappear in the hospital room and Draco began screaming and convulsing again. "…and bring it back." The apple returned and Draco calmed at once.

"Take the apple away," Astoria ordered. "You call yourselves Healers? My husband doesn't need an apple to be happy. He needs me ."

The Healer gazed at her pityingly. He flicked his wand at the apple and sent it flying against the wall, where it smashed against the window and slid slowly down.

Draco's screams began anew.