Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling does.

Warning: I do believe my story might end up being a wee bit dark.

A/N: Wow, a hundred reviews! I was not expecting that, but I'm pleasantly surprised about it! I want to thank all of my amazing readers and lovely reviewers for being so encouraging and simply awesome. You're the absolute best. If I could kiss all of your... foreheads without being a total creeper, I would. Oh, and thank you for worrying about my health, too. I'm much better now. [Caitlin, my darling, I love you.] I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Reviews are always appreciated.

Author getting slightly annoyed comment: It has come to my attention that a few recent readers have been ignoring my disclaimer. Take into account that "my story does not follow any of the books. It will have some twists to it, as you read I'm confident you'll be able to decipher them." I previously mentioned this in my first chapter, and my summary also includes some subtle warnings. In addition, please remember that you're in FanFiction. A place to "unleash your imagination" or in other words, a place where you can write whatever the heck you want. My story is one of those stories you have to approach with an open-minded mentality. If you don't like the way I depict the characters in MY story, then don't read it. I'm not trying to be harsh, but if you want to read a story that follows the books... Then this story is certainly not for you. Besides, I'm positive you can find many other stories on here that do indeed follow the books, instead of trying to convince me to alter my already envisioned plot. I honestly think you'd have better luck trying to convince me to get a hammer and nail my tongue to my own arm :P

Chapter Nine

Theodore Nott stood inside the Malfoy Manor, worrying in the uncomfortable silence of the living room, which he was currently sharing with his stoical blond friend. Though Theo didn't like to admit that he enjoyed bantering with Blaise, he couldn't help but miss their loud bickering.

Blaise's antics and childish behavior came to a gradual halt ever since he became sick nineteen weeks ago.

While they were still attending school, the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, who had dealt with many different ailments in her life, diagnosed it as a mild cold. At first they believed her diagnosis because the sickness seemed like any other inconsequential cold, laced with exhaustion and a light cough. However, after they graduated, the usually cheery wizard still showed no signs of improvement. In fact, he appeared to be slowly worsening.

Since Draco was now their employer, he had subtly hinted at the sick wizard on multiple occasions to take some days off from work, and get examined by a healer, but Blaise had vehemently denied any existence of his ever-increasing illness.

Both Theo and Draco knew that their friend's health was deteriorating, but they also knew he was very stubborn, which is why they had grudgingly allowed Blaise to retain his pretense. Oddly enough, it was only yesterday when the trio was going over various business documents in Draco's lavish study room that a very pale Blaise suddenly bolted up from his chair, and finally confessed that he didn't feel well, right before he collapsed.

That unfortunate incident then led to various mentions of remedies, and countless visits made by popularly sought-after healers that Draco had handsomely paid to find a cure, but despite every possible potion and spell applied to the sickly wizard, nothing seemed to help eradicate the unknown illness.

Theo was restless because of his friend's critical condition, but the truth was, he was also feeling a bit distressed about the front page cover of a magazine he had seen a week ago featuring a multi-talented healer happily embracing his new girlfriend, Luna Lovegood.

He wished he could still convince himself that she deserved what he had done to her on that fateful night for always harshly teasing him since year one, but the flimsy excuse no longer eased the gnawing guilt growing within his chest.

Although nearly five months had passed since their encounter, he couldn't stop hearing her frightened, pleading voice, playing in his mind over and over again whenever he thought of her. The fearful expression in her mesmerizing, dark blue eyes haunted his dreams along with an echo of her calling him a monster.

She probably didn't know, but he did feel like a monster for misjudging her, and every single time he saw her at school he had the overwhelming urge to apologize.

Theo was hesitant about initially seeing her in school because he believed that she would antagonize him even more than usual for what he had done to her, but she did something much worse than what he had envisioned, something he never thought could bother him.

She ignored him, acted as if he simply didn't exist.

After days of her neglecting him, he reluctantly came to the shocking conclusion that he missed her fiery temper and in a twisted way he also missed the way she used to insult him.

Why did he miss her hostile attention, when a couple of months ago all he wanted was for her to stop mocking him?

Impatient with his perplexing thoughts, Theo shook his head. Determinedly he pushed her haunting dark blue eyes and feminine voice out of his mind and turned his attention to the issue at hand. Once again thinking about Blaise's uncertain future, and feeling the icy fingers of fear grip at his heart, he looked down at the various potions and parchments scattered across the black wooden coffee table.

How could they not find a fucking cure?

He highly doubted the healer that Draco had summoned would find a bloody cure when more experienced healers had failed to do so. Thinking about healers made his mind wander to the damn freckled wizard holding Luna on the magazine cover. Theo let out an exasperated hiss at the intense emotions raging inside him. He ran his fingers through his light brown hair in a frustrated gesture, picked up a random potion from the small table, and threw it with force against the wall.

The liquid green contents splattered on the wall and began to drip down onto the floor. He then proceeded to angrily knock off all the remaining colorful glass vials with his arm. He reached out his right arm for the parchments that contained useless healing spells, intent on ripping them apart, but a strong hand stopped his destructive movements.

Draco put a restraining hand on his arm. "Calm down, mate," he said in a stern voice.

Theo aggressively removed the strong pale hand with his own, and briefly glanced over at his friend, seeing that even Draco appeared much too tired, as he most likely did ever since the illness had taken down their Italian companion. It had been a long and sleepless night for them both.

"I can't stand seeing him so sick, Drake," he wearily whispered, feeling his anger slowly vanishing. As always Draco was calm and unaffected as he replied to his brunet friend.

"I know. He is very ill, possibly dying, but destroying everything within your reach is not going to help him. You have to be patient," Draco said in a cool voice.

He anxiously glanced down at his hand without Theo being aware of it. He felt like a hypocrite advising his impatient friend to relax. It was only an hour ago that he had discreetly threatened his personal healer, Edric, to heal his fallen friend or face the possibility of his increasingly popular healer career ending prematurely, along with those that had previously failed to improve Blaise's deteriorating health.

Draco had handed out countless threats to all the seemingly incompetent healers he had hired to treat Blaise and successfully ended their prestigious reputations, yet here he was preaching about patience. He mentally snorted at the irony of his words, while outwardly keeping his composure, despite the electric shock–like pain he was feeling.

Theo's eyes widened at the daunting thought of death. He was already in an irritable mood thinking about Luna's latest boyfriend, and Draco being so negative about their friend's predicament only served to further infuriate him. The blond wizard's unabashed honesty bothered him a lot more than it usually would have.

"Don't you dare say that again!" he yelled, as his eyes blazed with renewed anger. His fists were clenching at his sides. He even whirled around and took a threatening step in Draco's direction.

Draco's face remained expressionless at the threat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned.

Theo glared at him, and could finally see the worry that Draco was trying very hard to conceal in his pale eyes. He was always the responsible one of the trio, but his frankness, had even, strange as it seemed, incensed Theo more than anything. He knew he was directing his anger at the wrong person, but the fact that one of his best friends was withering away and he couldn't do anything about it aggravated him beyond reason. He was never good at controlling his emotions or remaining calm when distraught.

He truly envied the way Draco always managed to stay so calm and collected when put in difficult situations, leaving hardly any visible evidence of his emotions. As his glare softened he could see that Draco still had something to hide in his silvery gaze, but he neither could question nor decipher what it was. Instead, Theo took a deep breath and slowly released it, having the knowledge that Draco was a powerful wizard and despite his cold exterior he cared about Blaise, he backed off.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking properly. You're right. I should stay calm," said Theo, looking away from the Draco's impassive form.

The aloof wizard merely nodded his head. The uncomfortable silence between the two grew. They were both too caught up in their own troubled thoughts to carry out any sort of meaningful conversation.

. . .

Draco Malfoy, owner of various business properties and the wealthy wizard in ownership of the largest privately-funded new casino resort built in the continent, was having a difficult time reigning in his pain caused by Theo's hand.

The last couple of months, Draco was certain, was the most accurate depiction of a living hell that any male in the world was most likely to endure. With the slightest form of injury or pressure, he found himself put through an excruciating amount of pain so intense that he had to refrain from appropriately closing important business deals by not shaking hands with other prominent wizards.

He was even forced to remain celibate because his rough sexual nature sometimes resulted in scratches decorating his back. Someone gripping his hand in a benevolent gesture or a witch passionately holding onto him caused far too much pain for him to bear nowadays.

It was pathetic the way he was reduced to evade handshakes and abstain from trysts. It was as if the new pain tolerance he had temporarily developed since the blood bond had disappeared and left him with an incredible susceptibility to pain. He didn't know what had led his disease to return with an altered vengeance.

He wanted to know, but he didn't want to ask nor appear weak, not even in front of his personal healer that was sworn to secrecy.

Lately he was very busy with his work, yet his mind always drifted to a filthy little mudblood. He did not have time to locate her since his grandfather's sudden death made him take control of the family business much sooner than he had anticipated, but he planned to find her soon. He hadn't forgotten about her disobedience, and with the dreams plaguing him about her moaning underneath him, he doubted he ever would.

. . .

Edric Fitzgerald, the "shy" genius behind the extremely creative, and best-selling books featuring fictional heroes with rare hereditary diseases, and the personal healer of the Malfoy family, had just finished diagnosing his newest non-Malfoy patient. He was now looking for a way to gain the attention of the two tense wizards in the living room that seemed to be very much lost in their own thoughts.

He had tried verbally capturing their attention at least three times to no avail, and even cleared his throat so obnoxiously loud that it burned.

A soft sigh escaped him.

Edric decided that tapping on the shoulder of one of the wizards would have to suffice. The closest wizard to him with light brown hair was someone he didn't recognize, but his gentle features made him seem much more approachable than the blond wizard that appeared to be brooding farther away.

"Sir," he respectfully addressed as he carefully tapped the brunet's shoulder.

Theo slightly jumped at the unexpected voice and turned around. He couldn't believe the sight that greeted him. There right in front of him was the wizard that he had seen hugging Luna on the magazine cover, the wizard that he had mentally been destroying in his mind for approximately a week.

He really, really didn't like the freckled wizard. Had he been thinking about the couple for so long that he had finally lost it and started to hallucinate?

Theo reached out his hand to confirm if he was still mentally stable or had simply lost his sanity. As his hand touched flesh, he said the only thing that came to mind, "What the fuck?"

Edric's violet eyes widened substantially as the light brunet began petting his face. He drew back, relieved when the offending hand simply fell away, and backed up as far away as he could from the odd wizard.

Theo, meanwhile, was edging towards him. His hazel eyes flared fire, and for a moment Edric could have sworn that he resembled a predator about to pounce on his prey, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver the fatal blow.

"I apologize, I did not mean to startle you," Edric quickly responded, swallowing uncomfortably.

. . .

Draco was consumed in his troubled thoughts and glancing outside the large stained glass windows, where the sky was turning the palest tint of orange, when a familiar and slightly nervous voice brought him out of his stupor.

"Theo, what are you doing to my personal healer?" inquired Draco in a perplexed voice. He truly had no idea why his friend seemed to be stalking towards the freckled young man that was clearly disturbed by the weird behavior.

Theo stiffened. He quickly became aware of his actions, and lightly blushed at being caught stalking a wizard. He ran his hand through his hair and slowly came to the realization that Blaise's life depended on the damn healer that was now staring at him with a wary, and dumbfounded expression.

"Nothing," he murmured. He slowly moved away, sat down on a leather couch, and silently glared at the healer from a distance.

Draco frowned and before he could comment on Theo's bizarre behavior, Edric spoke up. "Mister Malfoy, may I speak to you in private?" he asked in a tentative voice, casting anxious glances in Theo's direction.

Draco didn't say a word nor nod; he merely looked into the freckled healer's violet eyes, silently agreeing to his request.

Edric began walking hurriedly away, with the blond wizard following alongside him. "I have bad news," he commented, rather relieved that he no longer had to feel glares directed at him.

"You always have bad news," Draco said in a grim voice. The healer continued walking and only nodded without providing an explanation as they traveled down a corridor that led to one of the many guest rooms in the Malfoy Manor.

Hardly breathing, Draco went inside the room after his healer. He saw Blaise's deathly pale face. His cheeks were gaunt and sunken, his lips cracking and bleeding from excessive dryness. His once glossy dark hair was now lifeless and dull. The smell of vomit clung to his breath.

The sickness had left him so emaciated that Draco could clearly make out the outline of his pronounced bones in his upper body. He had no idea Blaise was hiding such a skeletal-looking body under his concealing clothes. Seeing his carefree friend in such a state made his heart twist.

He moved to bend down closer to his sick companion and placed a cool hand on his fevered brow. Tears threatened to descend from his grey eyes as he slowly swept the stubborn sweat drenched bangs away from his eyes. Draco always thought that they were just as stubborn as his personality and had once told him so. He faintly smiled at the memory of striking blue eyes flashing fire. He would give anything in the world to see those lively eyes again.

Blaise's unconscious body shivered and Draco gently drew the blanket up to cover his pale exposed chest that had a faint, yet large orange spot on it. He rose to his full height and addressed his healer.

"What's the bad news?" he asked in a calm voice that gave nothing away about the sadness building up inside him.

"Well, the bad news is that he's slowly dying from min poison," informed Edric.

"Min poison? He never got close to a transformed min. I've already told you how I was the one that killed it," he replied, his voice full of confusion.

"I remember, but you don't understand. The poison of a min resides in an orange cloud that is only present for three days after a min dies. The clouds are dangerous to witches, since it attracts them and causes them to do anything to reach them, which generally leads to death in emotionally unstable witches. Wizards, on the other hand, are poisoned by a very fine mist released from the clouds only at night. At some point your friend must have ventured out into the night after you recently killed the min, and gotten himself poisoned. The faint orange spot on his chest is the poison," explained Edric.

"I see, but if what you are saying is true, then why didn't any of the teachers at school warn the students?" Draco asked in a dubious voice. He really didn't want to believe that he was indirectly responsible for his friend's critical condition.

A smug smile lifted Edric's lips. "Because very little is known about mins. Mostly all of the information available to the public is inaccurate. There have only been two books written about mins. One of them is in Germany, and the other one in my library," he said in a proud voice.

Having grown somewhat close to his capable and efficient healer in the past months, Draco was not shocked because he knew that Edric was obsessed with writing and reading. He also knew the freckled wizard collected odd books like no other.

"Well, does your book have a solution for my friend's predicament?" questioned Draco.

"Yes, your blood or the blood of the female you bonded with will heal him. Since she's obviously not present, it will have to be you. All you have to do is lightly prick your index finger and mix the blood with a potion I created," replied Edric.

He gulped, produced the dagger from his boot, and lightly pricked his finger.

. . .

Forty-five minutes later, a cautious Edric along with a stoic Draco entered into the living room in which Theo was now sleeping in. If Draco wasn't in such a ridiculous amount of pain from lightly pricking his finger, he would have woken up the light brunet to deliver the good news of Blaise's antidote, but instead he merely turned and began to dismiss his healer who seemed very anxious and pale.

"What's wrong? He's not going to do anything to you. See? He's sleeping," explained Draco as he gestured towards the sleeping form with his wounded hand. He ignored the pain that the simple movement caused, and if it weren't for his discipline and control, he would have howled in pain.

"It's not him," retorted Edric, as evenly as he could.

Draco glanced at him with a mildly surprised expression across his face.

"I see," he said dryly, incorrectly assuming he was the reason for his healer's anxiety.

The healer scoffed, then smiled at Draco's assumption. "No, it's not you either. It's my girlfriend," clarified Edric.

The tall blond gave him an inquiring look.

"Today I get to meet her best friend and I'm worried she won't like me. If the best friend doesn't like you, then the relationship is practically doomed. Besides, the place I'm taking her to is very fancy and she doesn't really seem to like fancy," said the freckled wizard with a worried look in his violet eyes.

Draco chuckled at Edric's strange logic. "I don't know who your new girlfriend is, but I can assure you that your assumption isn't true. Where are you taking her, anyway?" he asked, hopeful that if he kept talking, he would get distracted enough to forget the awful pain now coursing through his system.

Edric grinned broadly and replied, "The Glacies restaurant inside Eximius."

"Ah, my casino resort rarely disappoints," said Draco in an arrogant voice, pleasantly surprised by Edric's revelation.

Edric smiled once more in agreement, before he left to meet his date, leaving the grey-eyed wizard all alone to endure the pain.

As another fresh wave of pain washed over him, Draco clenched his jaw.

If his pain became too intense he would be forced to ruin Edric's date.

. . .

Edric felt somewhat annoyed at himself for how nervous he was getting about meeting his girlfriend's best friend, but he couldn't help it. He really cared for Luna, and didn't want to mess up what they had by leaving a bad impression.

The last time he had felt this uncharacteristically nervous was when he had first met Draco.

A faint smirk adorned his face as he thought back to that day, there was no way the witch he was meeting today could ever make him feel as uneasy as his employer once had.

With that calming thought, he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in, straightened out his coat, and walked into Eximius.

A few minutes later, his violet eyes scanned an intricately carved wooden door.

Relaxed now, he proceeded to enter the restaurant with an air of absolute confidence.

Ice sculptures spread all around the room, antique crystal chandeliers decorating the high ceilings, beautiful arrangements on the tables, enchanted white and silver plants crawling up the walls in a stylish manner, and the soft sound of a piano playing in the background created the illusion of stepping into a completely different world.

He had to admit that Draco was good at what he did.

After Edric recovered from the beauty of it and finished mentally comparing the icy look of the room to Draco's personality, he was led by a pleasant hostess to his table.

Once he sat down, he noticed that Luna was late. He slightly frowned.

"May I get you something to drink, while you wait for your party, sir?" questioned a tall waitress with dark hair and icy blue eyes.

He settled for a glass of wine.

Five minutes passed when Edric smiled at seeing his beautiful girlfriend approaching his table with a dainty witch with long brown hair that wasn't looking in his direction.

Once her gaze lifted to reveal familiar big brown eyes he nearly choked on his wine. He stared at her stunned expression, and then at her slightly protruding belly.