Draco sighed. The heat from Harry's fingers had been fading for a while now, and the damn tingling was coming back with a vengeance, but Harry looked so peaceful, he couldn't bear to wake him. He knew this had to be hard on Harry, staying up as much as he could to take care of him. But right now, he was all tingly, and damn it, he had to use the bathroom. He slowly extricated himself from Harry's arms, trying not to wake him from his exhausted slumber. He slid off the bed, and headed shakily across the room towards the door where he'd found the bathroom. He collapsed against the wall when he got there, and he spent several long moments regaining his equilibrium before he opened the door. He completed his business as quickly as possible, and walked the few steps to the door, not stopping to rest, as he wasn't tired yet, forgetting how much effort it had taken to get here. Halfway across the room, his balance gave out, and he tumbled to the ground, waking Harry, who gazed around blearily for a moment before rushing to help him.

"You idiot, what did you think you were doing?!"

"I had to use the bathroom," Draco replied simply, knowing that Harry wouldn't like that answer, though he didn't really care at the moment. All he wanted was to go to sleep. He closed his eyes and lay back against the pillows, vaguely noting Harry moving to the table beside the bed, where there was evidently quite a bit of food. He didn't bother to open his eyes when he felt Harry sit next to him. Harry chuckled.

"At least open your mouth, you lazy prat." As if Draco didn't have any reason in the world to be lying exhaustedly against the pillows with his eyes closed. He parted his lips, petulantly refusing to do more; it wasn't as if he felt hungry or anything. There was too much magic in his system trying to rid him of his illness, it confused his body, and hunger was apparently one of the signals that weren't getting through. He felt the bottom of a spoon settle on his bottom lip, and opened his mouth enough to admit it.

"You enjoy feeding me, Harry?" he asked sarcastically once he had swallowed. He felt Harry shift, but there was no verbal answer, just another bite of soup. "Hmm, do you?"

"Would you rather starve? Because I'm not going to let your shaking hands get food all over the bed, as we're sharing it."

Draco yawned suddenly. "Gods, I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep . . .." He rolled over onto his side, grabbing a pillow to hold to his chest. Harry snickered.

"Need a teddy bear?" Draco grabbed another pillow to sling his way.

"Can I go to sleep now?" he asked sleepily. Harry laughed.

"Go ahead. Nothing stopping you, is there?" He knew Draco'd asked because they'd been talking, but still. Draco was sick, though he seemed to be recovering, and he deserved to be able to sleep when he wanted. It wasn't like Harry could really do anything else, and he was glad Draco seemed to be recovering on his own. Draco nodded and huddled up under his blankets again, turning to snuggle against Harry when he joined him. "Goodnight, Co." A soft snore was his only answer. He smiled as he slipped into sleep.

Light fingertips in his hair woke Harry, who looked up to find Draco watching him.

"G'morning," he mumbled as he slid out of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Reemerging a few minutes later, he noticed that Draco seemed to be trying to go back to sleep. Deciding that sounded like a really good idea, he climbed back into bed next to him, allowing him to pull close, as had become his habit in the past couple of days.

'Yes!' "Harry?" Draco said calmly, not showing his elation at Harry's trusting cuddle.

"Mmph?"

"You said I could do anything I wanted after I was better?" Harry was far too sleepy to read anything into this, though he really should have . . ..

"Mm-hmph."

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now...." He leaned over and pressed his lips to Harry's, kissing him passionately, eyes shining with laughter at the way Harry's eyes flew open, as well as lust. Harry's lips instinctively slipped open, and Draco took the invitation, sliding his tongue past the slightly chapped lips to tangle with Harry's, and trace gentle patterns on the roof of his mouth, making him squirm with pleasure.

He placed his hands on Harry's bare chest. They had both started wearing only pajama bottoms when Draco was sensitive, and as they were both comfortable with it, Harry had seen no reason to grab a shirt now. He shuddered as Harry slid his hands up Draco's hips to link them around his waist.

"Still sensitive, huh?" Harry whispered against his lips. Draco moaned a soft agreement as Harry's fingers traced little circles on his back. Draco kissed a wet path down Harry's cheek and neck, sucking briefly on the join of his neck to his shoulder, as Harry's arms tightened at the sensations.

"You like that, Harry?" Harry nodded, hands now trailing up and down Draco's back, pressing firmly. Draco moved back up to his lips, wanting another taste of that sweet mouth. Harry moaned, and Draco took the opportunity to slide his tongue in to twine with Harry's, who kissed him back fiercely.

Suddenly, Harry gasped, curling in on himself slightly, a pained look on his face. "Harry? What is it? What's wrong?" Harry shook his head, moving to kiss him again, but Draco could tell he was still in pain from whatever it was. "No Harry. Tell me." He cupped Harry's cheek with one hand, staring into his eyes.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Harry sighed, and turned away, curling against a pillow, which he held to his stomach, pressing it in with his knees. "Go back to sleep, Co. I'm sure you're still tired." Draco placed a hand on Harry's back, noting how the touch set him to trembling, and Harry's pained breathing. No matter what he said, Harry was not fine, and he was determined to discover what was wrong with the younger boy. Nothing was allowed to harm those he'd claimed protection over.

Harry curled tighter on himself, suppressing tears at the pain in his stomach. He felt Draco rest a tentative hand on his back, and shuddered. He knew that the blond was only worried about him, but it felt too intrusive, he had never had anyone near enough to notice when he had one of his sessions. It was just too much, and most of the symptoms that had arisen in the past year were pain. He just hoped that the magical increase he could expect with his birthday would stop it. He felt Draco's arms slide around him, one hand resting on his shoulder, the other on his stomach, and he whimpered slightly before he could stifle his reaction to the touch on this currently sensitive area.

"Just go to sleep, Draco. I can't explain it right now," he pleaded, and felt Draco's head, pressed between his shoulder blades, nod a reluctant agreement.

"You feeling better now, Harry?" Draco questioned softly; Harry didn't bother asking how the blond had known that he was awake. Taking a deep breath, he quickly took stock, and realized that, yes; he did in fact feel better.

"Yeah, thank you Co," he murmured, sounding so much like he had as a child that Draco gasped in shock. Harry smiled weakly.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Draco asked, gently but with steel in his voice. Harry turned his face away, but Draco reached out and gently turned him back, staring deep into his still-sleepy eyes. "Tell me what's wrong, I need to know so I can fix it." Harry looked sad.

"You can't fix it, Co. Pomphrey can't fix it, and they've had experts from St. Mungo's, and they couldn't either." Draco growled at his evasion.

"Then tell me so I can know, and do the best that I can to help you when it hits you." He stared determinedly into Harry's eyes, refusing to back down. Harry sighed.

"I've never told anybody," he said softly.

"Why not? Did they not notice?!"

"It wasn't so bad before, but it's been getting steadily worse, and since about April, a lot of the effects have been painful. Before that, it was mostly just annoying." Though it had always hurt, it hadn't been as bad as it was this past summer, mostly just aches. He'd had the effective equivalent of arthritis in his wrists and fingers by the time he was 11, and he'd finally taken to wrapping his wrists with ACE bandages over the summer, eventually finding a glamour that would hide the wrappings during school -though he'd had to explain to Pomphry both what the bandages were supposed to accomplish, and exactly how his hands hurt, the downside to his relationship with the motherly healer- but other than that it had been bearable. He hadn't told anyone when the pain had started increasing, having researched enough by then to know that this was perfectly normal.
He closed his eyes, unwilling to see the pity as well as the protectiveness and determination in Draco's eyes. Draco sighed softly, knowing his chosen approach wasn't getting anywhere, and stroked his hand gently down the side of Harry's face. Harry leaned into the gentle touch, smiling softly. Draco turned and pulled Harry's back flush against his body. Harry gasped and stiffened.

"I just can't help it, I want to touch you, Harry," Draco chuckled, pressing his face into Harry's neck.

"I- I'm not used to people touching me, Co," Harry stuttered. Draco merely wrapped his arms around Harry's waist.

"Then we'll have to get you used to it. I'm a very affectionate person, you know. I like touching. And once you're used to it, you'll like it too." Harry whimpered slightly, but Draco paid it no attention, since he was also slowly relaxing in his embrace. "Shh, Harry, I'm not going to hurt you like those horrid relatives did. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, I swear." Finally, Harry was relaxed against him, and Draco softly moved his lips to the soft flesh at the base of his neck, moving soft kisses across his skin, and Harry fought not to tense up again.

"Draco, stop," he whispered finally, and Draco pulled away, loosening his arms enough that he could move away if he wanted to, then tightening them again when he didn't move. After a while, Harry chuckled. "Co, I'm hungry," he whined. Draco laughed.

"Not surprised, you've been asleep over 12 hours."

"I have? Really?" Draco nodded.

"Mhmm. You should go get us some food."

"Oh I should, should I?"

"Yes. You were the one declaring hunger."

"Hmm. But I'm comfy."

"So'm I."

Dobby popped in, looking worried. "Masters is not eating?" Harry smiled at him.

"Could you bring us breakfast here, Dobby? Neither of us seems to want to move." Dobby nodded happily, his concern evaporating with Harry's reasonable -to him- request.

"Of course, Master Harry Potter, sir." Harry stared into space for a moment, then swore softly.

"I thought I'd broken him of calling me master," he explained at Draco's questioning look. Draco snorted.

"You'll never break him of that. When you freed him from my father, he swore service to you, and you accepted it with only the condition of his not trying to save your life." Draco smirked at Harry's surprise.

"Dobby was rather proud of it, he came back long enough to tell me all about how 'the noble Harry Potter saved him from evil dark wizard Lucius Malfoy'." He snorted softly. "Dobby always was fond of me. He was the only being in that manor that I could trust. Father had mother bespelled more often than not." Harry took one look at his face and instantly curled up in his lap, trying to comfort him. Fortunately, Dobby chose that moment to return with their food, and the previous topic of conversation was forgotten.