Healing Draco Malfoy

Chapter 13

Published: 11/11/2020 - Happy Veteran's Day!

"Alright, Draco," Harry said, preparing himself for this conversation. "This is going to be a rough day. I healed everything that I could without moving you... but it's time to start on your back."

Draco stared at him like the ramp-up seemed unnecessary. Harry was sure that Draco had never felt any serious pain when he worked on him. That was about to change. He had already tasked Joel with analyzing Draco's scan and asked Natalie not to disturb them.

"Listen... you haven't been able to feel your back, hips and legs. They aren't healed all the way. All of that is going to hit you at once."

Draco nodded.

"I'm going to up your pain potion... and... unfortunately, I'll have to put the full Immoblius Charm on your arms and chest, again."

Draco frowned.

"I could... put you under... if you want?"

He shook his head.

"I was going to wait another week... but I don't want to heal anything else until your spine is fixed. Then I won't have to worry about serious damage... more serious damage."

Draco nodded.

"Are you sure... I can try to heal more?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I've been through worse."

Harry nodded, trying not to react to the fact that he spoke. "I just don't want you to be in pain anymore, and I can't fix your hip first. I have to... manipulate, to get it back. If I Vanish it, it'd take days to regrow, and it would be hell without a pain potion. If we do it this way, then it'll still be a few days, but you can have as much pain potion as you want."

"Stop coddling me... Pottah," Draco drawled.

Harry smiled and sighed. "Still going to insist on that double dose. This is going to be painful."

Draco drunk it when it came and looked a little high but surprisingly quiet. Harry froze him and rotated on his side and held him there, with magic. He was facing the wall, for his comfort, and Harry had to pull the blanket down to cover his back. Harry knew Draco's back wasn't pretty and didn't want Draco to feel self-conscious. He started at the neck and worked his way down. Draco almost purred as Harry had already worked this part of his spine. But Harry knew that it was going to get harder.

When he reached his mid-back, he hit the spot. "Alright, Draco... it's going to get rough from here. I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."

Draco took a deep breath and braced himself. Harry slowly pushed the disc back in and healed the nerves. Draco sucked in a breath, as he reconnected with his legs. Harry didn't want to draw it out, so he went on, moving from the thoracic to the lumbar discs. It took a few hours. Draco huffed in pain a lot, but whenever he cracked his eyes to check, Draco was just staring at the wall. Harry pushed on, ignoring his own exhaustion and limits. He wanted to finish.

He made it to Draco's tailbone, and then straightened it and repaired the surrounding tissue. He was panting from the effort and could barely keep his eyes open. He ran his hand along his spine, finding a nice straight line. He reinforced the tendons and checked all the cartilage as he could regrow more of it. He found few pinch points and started to ease out the kinks, but now his hands were shaking.

"Harry... that's enough," Draco's smooth voice called.

His heavy eyes opened and he looked at Draco, worried that he had hurt him. Draco's eyes looked fine. Harry was a little confused. "What?"

"You did enough, rest," he ordered.

Harry nodded, suddenly drowsy, and slowly lowered Draco to the bed, again. "How... r... you... fee...." But he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

***

Draco sighed as there was little he could do. He was frozen under the charm, and Harry had been unconscious for ten minutes. Stupid idiotic Gryffindor. Draco had tuned out most of the pain. He had a high tolerance for it, thanks to Azkaban. He could just see Harry drooling on the floor. He smirked and let the idiot sleep. From appearances, Harry slept only a few hours a night, so he needed it. Draco half-wondered if Harry was always this... neurotic or his presence was causing this behavior.

Obsessive behavior, guilt-ridden fits and self-destructive behavior was what he generally expected out of Potter, but not to this extreme. Harry has panic attacks about his panic attacks and seemed mortally embarrassed about being gay. Maybe his muggle family beat heteronormativity into him, too. But there was something that Draco couldn't put his finger on. Something underneath the overly enthusiastic conversations they had. Something buried deep. Something... dark.

As if on cue, Harry jerked and whimpered, "Please... please don't. Please let me go...."

Draco recognized the desperation in his voice... recognized those words and their meaning. Harry said he understood everything... and he meant everything. How the fuck did something happen to Mr. I-Don't-Need-My-Wand. Oh fuck. Draco grimaced at his sudden epiphany. That was why. He cracked. Harry cracked his core under the extreme duress to escape, and it's open now. That's why he can do wandless magic. Most wizards and witches go completely insane when that happens. That's why Hermione had to sign for him, and they considered him a threat. Fuck.

Draco needed to wake him up. When he might start throwing objects, but Harry was exhausted, so that was a plus. Since he was still bound, he could only yell, but Harry didn't move after several rounds of his name being calling. Finally, Draco blew a loud whistle, hoping that would do it. It didn't, but it brought the warden... Natalie.

"What's... Harry!" she cried, then turned and yelled, "Joel!"

She knelt down and examined him. "Merlin... he over-extended... it's been years."

"Nat? What's wrong?" Joel said and then saw Harry.

"He used too much of his magic at once. He used to pass out all the time, but he was better at spacing it out."

"He was going to heal his back," Joel said and glanced up to look at Draco. He ignored them and wished they'd wake up Harry.

"No... please..." Harry whimpered, tears coming out.

Draco wanted to shout at them to wake him up and comfort him! But he was still afraid of talking in front of people.

But Joel reached out and shook him. "Harry... Harry, it's Joel."

Harry jerked awake and immediately curled up into the wall, his arms in front of him, defensively. He wouldn't look at them.

"Harry... it's Joel. I won't hurt you."

Did this guy know, too? Draco wondered.

"I'll go get a cup of tea," Natalie said. Draco rolled his eyes. They were definitely British.

"Hey... calm down. You're at the hospital... in Draco's room. See Draco?" Joel said, nodding up to him. "You just passed out."

Harry made eye contact with him, but he stayed curled up, though. "I'm okay, sorry."

Harry's first actions were to say that nothing was wrong and to apologize. Draco sighed. Harry hadn't told anyone. He hadn't tried to process it. Hell, he denied it happened to him. He was so afraid of being attacked, again, that he was afraid of everyone. Worse, he thought no one could find out, because they trap him in a holding cell. He felt for the Gryffindor.

Draco felt at ease around because Harry was so... defenseless. He couldn't be afraid of someone more hurt and scared than him. He realized how much he wanted to protect and console the poor idiot, too. Harry was too nice and innocent to be suffering the way he was. He had fucking died for them! Harry had even saved him, his enemy, from the fiendfyre. He had fought tooth and nail at his trial, too. Without Harry... Draco knew that he would have been in Azkaban... forever. He would have died in there. If Harry hadn't healed him, he would have been crippled for life.

He wasn't stupid. Harry had been peeling him out of his shell, one day at a time. Talking to him, making him feel safe, defending him and, slowly, ever slowly, touching him. Harry was getting him to trust, again, and not be scared. Harry had to know what had happened to him. Draco had a feeling, and every day it became more solidified. Harry didn't just heal. He could tell what had happened. He never questioned anything or asked how it happened. Never tried to pull bits of 온라인카지노게임 out of him. Never touched him without leave.

Even when the kid came by to scan him, Harry tensed up. The scan... Harry knew what the scan would show. Harry made sure that he agreed to it, agreed to Joel knowing. Harry couldn't say no without admitting to him that he knew. Harry was a bit of a Slytherin, wasn't he? But Draco had to admit, Harry's plan was working. He didn't think that he'd ever talk to anyone willing, again. But Harry needed him. He was unraveling. Years... without healing... and Draco knew how that felt. But he would take care of Harry, like Harry had taken care of him.

***

"Here, I brought some tea," Natalie said and passed him the cup.

Harry was so wiped that he just took a large gulp of it with shaky hands. He didn't intend to have a flashback in the middle of the fucking day. Come on, calm down, he told himself. He took another drink, and he did calm the fuck down. He was confused and looked at them and then down suspiciously at his cup.

"I'm sorry... I might have hypothetically stolen a Calming Draught and illegally spiked your drink."

Joel gave her an astonished look, and Harry nodded. He was surprised that he forgot to check for potions, but he took another drink, grateful for her intervention. "I didn't hear anything."

"Nope, me neither."

Natalie smiled. "Just have to worry about your patient. I suppose I could kill him, but that might make you mad."

Draco scowled.

"It would. I might be able to persuade him to lose his hearing, too," Harry murmured, breathing deeply. "Thank you."

She reached out and patted his cheek. "Anything for you, Harry."

After he finished his tea, Joel gave him a hand up. "Sorry... if I woke you up... wrong."

"There isn't a right way to do it," Harry said. "I don't usually sleep here. Thanks, guys. I need to check on Draco before I eat."

"Don't you do any more healing, or I'll whack you!" Natalie promised, and Harry nodded.

They both left, and Harry pulled the chair over and sat in it. He sighed and enjoyed the calm tranquility of the potion.

"I'm sorry... I was so desperate to finish that I... went past my limits. Are you okay?"

Draco nodded.

"Can I check your legs for a response?"

Draco shrugged. Harry rolled on back to the end. "I'm going to lift the charm on your feet and your arms, too."

Draco could suddenly move his hands and arms. He sighed in relief, but then Harry poked his feet and they reacted. Harry pulled the blanket back, so Draco could see his toes.

"Alright... wiggle them."

Draco gave him a look.

"You can do it, Draco," Harry encouraged and touched the top of his feet to remind him where they were.

Draco bit his lip, not at all in a cute way, as he tried to command his forgotten limbs to listen. Suddenly, they moved, and Draco smiled with tears coming out. Harry gave him a big smile.

"I'm so happy for you, Draco. You're getting closer... just bear the pain for a few more days, and then I can lift everything, okay?"

"Thank you, Harry," he whispered, looking at his toes that wiggled, again.

"You're welcome. You mind if Natalie brings your lunch potions?"

Draco shook his head.

"Alright... I might not be back until dinner. You want to stare at your toes some more, or should I put the blanket on them?"

Draco glared.

"Yeah, I know: Shut up, Pottah!" Harry said and covered them up.

Harry went to his office, and Joel stood up when he came in. "Everything okay, Harry?"

"Yeah... thanks. I get bad dreams... the war, you know."

Joel stared at him, but didn't stay anything about that. "And Draco?"

"Great... he can move his toes... I mended his spine, but I'll have to go back through and adjust as he moves more."

"That's good news," Joel said, smiling, but then leaned forward. "I didn't know that you could... wear yourself out like that."

"Yeah... if you did hundreds of healing spells at once, you'd pass out, too."

"What?"

"If you cast a spell, with your wand, it takes what... a second? I was channeling magic for over two hours... it wears on you."

"Oh... right. I didn't think of that. Harry... how do you do it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just figured out I could do it. It was an accident at first. Healing wounds without a wand, and then I found I could do it at will, better than with my wand. I did it more often and built up my... strength... I used to only be able to work for ten minutes at a time... now I can do it for two hours... and with all kinds of spells."

"At your will? Or do you actually know the spell?"

"Most are wordless. But hexes, curses, even shield spells, work better with the word. I can't say I have to use it, though."

"That's... amazing, Harry."

"Yeah... and why I can't teach you how to heal like I heal. It's wordless... by feel."

"Maybe one day we'll figure out how to teach others, because what you do is so important, Harry."

Harry gave a weak smile. "So, what did you learn from the scan?"

Joel gave a detailed description of the spinal injuries and how to see the weakness in the muscles. Though Harry had healed the fractures, they still appeared in his scan as blips, defects in the bones, but when Draco starts eating properly and exercising, they will be less noticeable. Joel was thorough, no doubt wanting to impress him.

"Alright, Joel... excellent and clinically correct. But this isn't the trauma ward. You're looking at what is broken and wrong," he said, and Joel looked at him. "You have to look beyond that. I saw abuse when I looked at Mrs. Humphrey's scan, immediately, but it was not subtle. Joel... what happened to Draco?"

Joel swallowed. "Torture."

"Yes? Specifically? Because understanding what happened to him, helped me decide on what approach to use. The fewer things that I have to pull out of my patient, the easier it is for both of us. So, what happened? What caused his muscle atrophy?"

"Inactivity?" he guessed.

"Really? He just didn't think that he'd move?"

"The scars on his wrists?"

"Well, they are seeable. What caused these injuries to the shoulder blades? You see how they are similar, but not equal? You could even figure out the weight and what caused it if you are good enough."

Joel stared at the chart, frustrated. "Crush injuries?"

"They are not the same, though, which means that they didn't happen at the same time or they were not a single object. Now, what brought Draco to St. Mungo's? A fall or something landing on him?"

Joel's mouth popped open and he looked perplexed.

"Can you tell from the scan how old injuries are?" Harry asked. Joel looked more uncertain. It wasn't a thing the Trauma Ward taught their staff. "Yes, the scan will answer all those questions, Joel."

"I think I have a lot to learn."

"You do, and I didn't expect you to get this immediately. You read it like you were trained to... now build on it."

Joel nodded. "Harry... these injuries... how?"

"Being a healer has responsibilities, Joel. The most important responsibility is to save your patient, mentally, physically and even socially. It is an oath to do them no harm. Understand that justice is not your right. It is his. But we could call MCAPS the other day, why? Only because she was a vulnerable person, and the abuse was still going on. Do you understand? We need his consent to do anything ,and we also have a responsibility not to hurt him. We could have thrown this information in his face when he got here, but do you think that would have helped?"

Joel shook his head.

"I take this... my position seriously, because I can only hope people will treat me with this level of respect and dignity. Do you understand me, Joel?"

Joel leveled his head and straightened up. "I do, Harry. I will take being a healer seriously, too. Thank you for explaining... it, this. Thank you for teaching me."

"It's my pleasure, Joel."