Healing Draco Malfoy

Chapter 22

Published 3/21/2021

Draco didn't come out of it all night. His arms and limbs were clinched as close as possible to his body, and he was trembling. He maintained his death stare with the wall and wouldn't respond to him. Sleep didn't come to either of them. Harry just waited. He wanted so much to touch him, for his grey eyes to stare back at him, that tears periodically came. He wiped them away furiously. He had to keep it together. Draco needed him.

It was agony seeing him like this. Harry had forgotten that Draco was so... damaged, too. He had always seemed so strong. He never flashbacked or shut down like Harry did. He seemed so invincible compared to him. But this was so much worse. Harry tried not to think about the first few days Draco had been in his ward. Mute, always avoiding his eyes... scared. He could only pray to Merlin that it wouldn't go back to that... or worse.

"Please, please... come back," he whispered, desperately.

Harry should have known how much he had come to rely on Draco. How dependent he was on him. Bloody hell, it felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He sat next to him and couldn't resist touching his arm with his, as he leaned his weight onto the side of the bed. He would wait.

Cass came in the morning and wasn't surprised to see him. "Harry, you should get going before the day shift comes on."

"I can't," he whispered.

Cass gave him a look and came around the bed. Draco didn't react. "Harry... you need to go home. Get some sleep. I can stay with him if you want."

"No... what if he... needs me?" Harry whispered.

Cass's hand lightly turned his cheek, so he looked at her in the eyes. "He needs you. He needs you at your best."

Harry pulled away. "I don't need sleep."

Cass sighed. "I'll let Nat know. Just talk to him, okay?"

Harry nodded. He finally stretched out his hand and found his shoulder. He rubbed it gently. He told him that he was safe, that the bad people were gone. That no one would ever hurt him, again, but Draco remained unresponsive. He didn't even flinch when he touched his shoulder. He just stared. Harry was about to break down completely, when the door opened. It wasn't Natalie, like he expected. It was Joel.

"Harry!" he gasped and came over to his side, but Harry lowered his head.

More tears came out. "I... healed his hip... and he just... drifted out. I-I can't get him out of it!" he cried.

Joel set something down and turned his stool toward him. "Can I hug you?"

Harry was glad he asked, and despite his fear of being touched, he nodded. Joel carefully pulled him into his chest. One hand rubbed his back, and one was supporting his head.

"Shh... calm down, Harry. I'm right here. It's going to be okay."

"No! It's not!" he gasped, jerking away, or trying to. Joel pulled him back, and Harry tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he pulled him away from Draco's bed to the wall and let go.

"Calm down, Harry," he said, forcibly.

"I-am... cal..." he started but was practically hyperventilating at that point. Spitting out words with each breath. "I-don't-know-what-to-do! I-I-can't-get-him-out-of-it!" he choked out nearly hysterical.

Whack! Joel smacked him across the face, and Harry was so shocked and stared at him, in surprise.

"Sorry!" Joel said, putting his hands up in the surrender hand sign. "But you need to calm down if you want to help him."

Harry rubbed his face and tried to breathe deeper. "I... yeah... sorry... I... umm...."

"Alright, Harry... calm down," Joel said and grabbed the cuppa. "Shh... drink this. You'll feel better."

Harry took the warm cup and nearly drank it. He looked at it suspiciously for a second and then decided that he trusted Joel enough to swallow the spiked tea. Warmth and serenity filled his body, and he leaned into Joel for another hug. Joel obliged and didn't let him go.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome. Nat and Cass are going to pants out there, trying to decide what to do. Harry, what happened?"

The Calming Draught eased his tension, and he explained, "I was healing his hip, and he just... zoned out. When I released the Immbolius... he just curled up and hasn't snapped out of it."

Joel turned to look at him. "Okay... it's okay, Harry. Listen to me, sometimes people need to go inside themselves, and I know it's scary, but losing control will not help. If you can't keep it together, you shouldn't be here."

Harry lowered his head. "I can't just... leave him like this."

Joel gripped him harder. "I know. I know it's painful to see him so... out of it. But he needs to decide when he is ready to come out of it. You can't rush him. He needs to come to terms with what happened. He needs to heal his mental barriers. This is a defense mechanism."

Harry trembled. "What if... what if he doesn't come out of it?" That was fear that was driving him to panic.

"Believe that he will, Harry. He's resilient, and people can have setbacks... it's a natural part of recovery. Quite frankly, I've been astonished at how well he's handling it so far. Just give him a bit of time, okay?"

Harry nodded into his chest, and Joel let go. "Are you feeling better?" he asked, looking at him.

"Y-Yeah. Thanks. Nat call you?"

Joel nodded. "She's worried about you... and Draco. We all are. Draco is your friend, but he needs a healer right now. Can you be his healer, Harry? Not just his friend?"

Harry let out a little sniffle. "Yeah."

"Okay... I know he's important to you. You're important to him, but you taught me how important it is to be his healer, no matter how you feel."

Harry met his eyes. The kid had grown up.

"Your patient is in a dissociative state. What are you going to do?"

"Right... try to ground him. Maybe a Mood Stabilizer and Calming Draught?"

"That's good, Harry."

"What if he's...."

"Harry, he's scared. How did you calm him down before?"

"I... talked to him. Was positive... I made him laugh...."

"We'll try that, then, when it comes to it. But you need to understand that he's not going to just ease out of this break. You have to be patient. You have to give him space and, most importantly, you need to go back to your routine. You need to go to your appointments and sleep. People will notice very soon."

He looked at him and nodded. "I don't want him to be alone."

"Harry, I will ask if I can take off time of my rotation, but...."

"No. You can't. They hate that. I'll ask..." he started, but his friends were busy, too.

"Cass said that she could stay a bit longer, for you."

"She will?"

"Nat said that they would find others to help. The ones that like you and heard what you said in the cafeteria that day. They'll stay with him."

Harry's mouth opened. "I don't know... what to say...."

"Harry, you're a natural leader, and you aren't afraid to intercede on their behalf. They notice, even if you don't work with them on a regular basis. Why do you think that I was so helpful when I first come here? You're a legend. Not just cause you're the Chosen One, but because you're a damn good healer and don't mind telling the other healers to shove it. Healer Bones ranted about you all the time, but her wardens would do nothing but praise you as soon as she stepped off."

Harry closed his mouth, touched. "I just... never noticed. I don't like treating people... like I have been treated."

Joel nodded. "And that makes it so much more impressive. You just want to help people and refuse to bow to anyone."

Harry blushed. "I don't want people to notice me. I feel... nervous."

"I know, but go. Freshen up and do your appointments. I'll give Draco the potions, and Cass will stay with him. He'll understand, Harry, and you won't set him off by getting upset."

Harry nodded and gave Draco one last look, before Apparating straight out of the ward to his house. He rubbed his face where Joel had hit him. It wasn't exactly a sound method of breaking one out of hysterics, but it worked. He showered and came to work like normal. He saw no strange looks in the lobby and went upstairs to his ward.

"Harry," Nat called when she saw him and gave him a hug. "Cass is with him." She got another warden to stay with him after lunch, too. She said that he will swear himself to secrecy. "We won't leave him alone, okay?"

"Nat... thank you."

"Anything for you. Just... talk to him for a bit and go do your appointments."

Harry nodded and went to talk to Draco. It was awkward with Cass there, but he managed some words out. Draco didn't move. Harry went to his appointments, ate lunch, visited Draco. Cass went home when he left for his afternoon appointments and the other guy came. Harry occasionally looked in and vaguely recognized him, but didn't go in. At four, he came back and met the sullen-looking warden who was staring at Draco, with tears coming out.

"Oh... Healer Potter, I didn't hear you. Sorry... I'm not much of a talker, much less to Draco."

Harry's eyebrows raised. No one called him Draco. He was trying to place where he knew him from.

"I was a Slytherin?" the warden offered, and then the dots connected. He played quidditch.

"Harper... right? You were a seeker? Sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"It's okay. We only played one game. Draco was a legend in our house. It's... terrible... that he..." the Slytherin trailed off and turned back to stare. "You don't have to worry about me telling anyone, Healer Potter."

"It's Harry," he whispered.

The Slytherin gave him a look. "Thanks, Harry. They were right about you. You are taking care of him, right?"

"I'd protect him with my very life. I don't like leaving him alone."

"That's good. I got to go. I'll be back tomorrow after lunch for a few hours. Cass said it's important to you that he isn't alone. So, I'm willing to sit with him."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Draco does, too," Harry said, quietly.

"It's worth doing. Goodnight, healer."

"It's Harry," he mumbled, looking down. He didn't know Harper well enough to look him in the eye.

Harper paused, confused, no doubt. Everyone else who knew him before, looked at him weird when they saw how different he is. Dean and Seamus had been very baffled by his inability to handle idle conversation. Neville stared at him perplexed, grasping on to the fact that he now had more backbone than Harry did. He didn't like hanging out with Gryffindors too much anymore. Too... forward. Ron and Hermione were all he could handle.

"Okay, Harry. There are not too many people who care about Slytherins... or a marked Death Eater."

"I don't care about that," he mumbled, again, to the floor. He hated personal conversation.

"You really don't," Harper acknowledged, and looked at Draco, again. "My parents were Death Eaters... that could have been me in that bed. Thank you, Harry, for everything."

Harper left. Harry grimaced and went over to Draco's side and gently gripped his arm. Draco didn't respond. Harry stayed with him all the way to seven, when Natalie sent him home and did her extra four hours. Sleep didn't want to come, so Harry drank. Drank until he passed out.

The next day, he did the same thing, and the next and next. He was really starting to panic as Draco wasn't getting better, but tried to keep it under control. Joel stopped by in the mornings and calmed him down, but he was starting to despair. Joel finally told him that he would have to start caring for Draco like when he first arrived, treating him without direct permission. It took a bit to convince him, but Joel was right. Draco would lose what strength he had if he didn't start the exercises back up.

Cass stopped holding over and Harper stayed on days they were off. They would just keep an eye on him during their shifts, while Harry stayed with him as much as possible. He talked slowly, gently to Draco, who didn't react at all. But Harry explained what he was doing and slowly pulled his weakened arm out of Draco's tight fetal position. Draco resisted, but minimally. Harry slowly massaged it, keeping positive control, as Draco wanted nothing more than his arm back against his chest.

However, Harry could see that his pain was getting relieved. Joel was right. He could feel it and remember that Harry was there and wouldn't hurt him, just like before. When he was done, he let go, and the arm went back to his chest. Harry had to fish out the other arm, too, rotating Draco slightly to extract it. Draco intentionally avoided his eyes, like he had done in the beginning. Harry just calmly explained what he was doing.

The legs were harder, but he had to start massaging them, too. He just uncovered him and bend and rubbed each leg, working out the kinks and tears that he hadn't gotten to, yet. Draco winced several times and was shaking a lot at first. It slowly diminished, but he didn't look at him. Harry let go, and his legs went right back into position. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to help his recovery, but Harry vowed to start doing it three times a day.

And he did. Morning, afternoon and night. A routine. Harry pulled each of Draco's limbs out and gave a full massage. He told him about his day and the cases he was working on. He didn't touch his body. Draco didn't look at him nor say anything other than moaning when Harry worked out his muscles.

However, he noticed that Draco wasn't resisting as much anymore. Meekly, letting his arms and legs be pulled out of their safety zone and slowly returning back. Then he saw eye movement. Still nowhere near his eyes, but he wasn't a zombie anymore. He was looking around. Then... then... when he finished one arm, he asked for the other one, as the other pulled back to safety. Draco's other arm slowly extended out.

"Oh, Draco... that's so good. Thank you," he whispered, and tears started coming out. He almost missed Draco's eyes flashing to him. "Draco?"

He didn't look, again. Harry just continued and didn't rush him. Draco needed to remember that he was safe. He continued talking to him like before, every day. This time he told him all the things that happened at school, the real 온라인카지노게임 and it took several days. He told Draco about the man with two faces, the Chamber of Secrets, his godfather who escaped prison, what happened in the Triwizard Tournament, the DA, the hunt for Horcruxes and lastly, the hallows.

When he got to his parents calling him to the other side, Harry started crying and let go of Draco's hand to wipe his eyes.

"My mum... she told me that I was brave... I was so scared, though."

When Harry finally got ahold of himself, he took a deep breath and dropped his hands. He met Draco's grey eyes, and Draco didn't look away.

"Draco?" he murmuring, trying not to scare him. "Are you... back?"

Draco didn't look away, but seemed to be pondering the question. Harry could barely believe it, when Draco whispered, "How long?"

Harry could scarcely control his happiness. "Three weeks."

Draco grimaced and scanned the room.

"Are you... are you... back?" he asked, fearfully, as though Draco could snap out of it in any second.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Is there... anything you need? Or want me to stop?"

Draco grimaced. "My back... can you?"

"Of course, it's not a problem... I didn't want to do anything when you were... is it okay to touch you?" Harry rambled, eager to help him.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll fade out again, Harry," Draco said, as Harry kneaded his back.

"We'll take it easy," Harry said, worked his whole back and shoulders, that Draco definitely enjoyed. After he asked. "Do you think you can lay on your back?"

Draco grimaced, but nodded. "I'll need help. Things feel weird."

"Don't worry... we'll get you right back to where you were."

"I'm not worried about me," he stated gruffly, as Harry helped him into a sitting position like he had been in, before his hip was healed.

Harry looked at him, surprised. "You should be... I was. Draco, I'm so, so sorry for what happened." 

"No, Harry. Please don't feel guilty," Draco urged, looking at him, concerned. "You didn't do that. They did. That's how I was... when I was in there. That's how I protected myself. They could have my body, but they couldn't have my mind. You're the one who brought me out of it... twice. Thank you, Harry."

Harry tried to maintain his composure, but just burst out crying and mumbled more apologies. Draco reached forward, grabbed him, pulled him into his chest and hugged him tightly. 

"It's okay, Harry. I'm sorry I left you like that," Draco murmured into his ear. "I got you."

Harry felt guilty that Draco had to comfort him, but he just melted into his arms. He was home and safe.