"You're late."
"Only by forty minutes," Harry shuffled past Draco into the parlor. "Hermione needed to do some holiday shopping and I went with her."
"Christmas cookies for her centaur pals?" Draco latched the door and crossed his arms across his chest.
"They're your pals, too," Harry folded his cloak and set it aside. "Aren't they? I heard you only take non-human cases."
"I'm not an advocate," Draco led Harry into the examination room. "I provide care for those who are excluded from most Healers' practices."
"What about me?" Harry sat on the edge of the table and raised his hands to the buttons of his shirt with a questioning quirk of his eyebrow.
Draco smirked and shook his head. "I simply like the idea of having the Boy Who Lived in my debt."
"Is that all?" Harry asked.
Instead of answering Draco retrieved an Erlenmeyer flask from the potions lab and measured a dose of orange fluid into a teacup. He handed it over and raised a hand to stop Harry from knocking it back.
"This is very powerful magic," he said. "But it requires focus from you. Focus on what you want, which is those antlers gone. Picture yourself with a normal head, dopey glasses and ridiculous hair and all, and concentrate on being free of the curse. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can," Harry sneered. "I've done powerful spells before, you know."
"Then say goodbye to your problems, because they're about to be solved," Draco stepped back.
"I like your confidence," Harry raised the cup. "Cheers."
"L'chaim," Draco smirked.
Harry knocked the cup back and gagged on the taste. But with a bit of a struggle he was able to keep it down. Draco retrieved the cup and set it on his desk.
"Focus."
"I am," Harry furrowed his brow and fixed the image of an antler-free head in his mind's eye. "So where does someone like you pick up a Hebrew word?"
"I spent some time in the West Bank," Draco leaned on his desk, his white coat falling open casually. "I met a family of Veelas who had been injured in a roadside bombing and couldn't find anyone who would help remove the shrapnel from their wounds."
"That's awful."
"Yes it is. Are you focusing?"
"I am," Harry reached up and touched his scalp but the antlers were still there. "It seems like the kind of prat you are wouldn't care much about injured Veelas."
"The kind of prat I am?" Draco leveled a stern gaze at him. "Still stuck on school days, are you?"
"No," Harry pictured himself at a Christmas party, waiting beneath a mistletoe, his head free of horns and waiting for a kiss. "I'm just saying its a big change."
"Big adversity leads to big changes," Draco checked his pocket watch. "Are you focused? It should be taking effect by now."
"I'm focused," Harry's heart pounded. He told Hermione that he wouldn't get his hopes up, but that wasn't true. His hopes were as up as they could get. He had really expected this potion to be the one that would get rid of the curse. So what was wrong? Why wasn't it working?
"Let me see," Draco guided Harry's head down so that he was staring at the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair and felt around the antlers. "Focus," he said more sharply.
"I am," Harry said through gritted teeth. He was focused. He wanted the antlers off his head more than anything, of course he was focused.
"They're not coming up," Draco released him and returned to his desk to check the potion details. "It should have happened by now if it was going to happen."
"Give it a minute," Harry squinted and concentrated. No antlers, no antlers, no antlers.
"It would show some progress by now if it was going to happen," Draco closed his book and raked his hand through his hair in frustration.
"So that's it? I drink and sit and then we give up?" Harry demanded.
"I'm not giving up."
"Well what other ideas are left?" Harry's voice was rising towards a yell.
"I need to do some more research around the mirror symbol-"
"The mirror is rubbish!" Harry shouted. He grasped his antlers and pulled as hard as he could, trying to break them free. "Merlin's fucking beard, I just want them off!"
"Calm down," Draco was in full professional mode. "It's not hopeless yet."
"Yes it is!" Harry whirled on him. He yanked on the antlers again and shouted in impotent rage. "Fuck!"
"Don't yell at me, Potter," Draco raised a warning hand. "I'm trying to help."
"I know you are!" Harry shouted again. "I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad!"
"Fine, be mad," Draco scooped up his book and headed back into the potions lab. "I'm going to have a look at something."
Harry paced the examination room with fire burning in his belly. This was intolerable. The Ministry Healer was useless, Hermione was out of ideas, Draco was clearly beyond his abilities, in fact he wasn't even sure Draco was qualified to help him. Care of non-human magical creatures? Wasn't that pretty much a veterinarian?
He spun on his heel and felt something shift in his pocket. The phial from the Necromancer, he remembered. He dug it out and peered at it, black viscous fluid sealed in cobalt blue glass. Merlin only knew what was in there, but maybe it was worth a shot. The man had called it a cure-all.
"There's another potion we can try, although it doesn't-" Draco paused mid-step as he returned from the potions lab. "What is that?"
"Got it from the Necromancer," Harry held it up. "He said it cures everything."
"Necromancers are not Healers," Draco held his hand out. "Give it to me. I'll bet you don't even know what's in it."
"He called it a cure-all," Harry insisted. "Why not try it, nothing else is working."
"Necromancers are notorious for using toxins and unproven potions," Draco took a step towards him and shook his hand. "Give it to me."
"Why not try it?" Harry laughed in near-hysteria. "Look at me, Malfoy, I'm a fucking stag! I'm either going to try this and nothing happens or it will fix my problem. It's worth a try!" He uncorked the phial and eyeballed its contents.
"There's a third option, Potter," Draco said. "It could kill you."
"I really doubt that's going to happen, Malfoy." Harry stepped out of his reach and tipped the phial into his mouth.
And then everything went black.