41. Chapter 41

Thank you all for your fast reviews! I was really amazed. You all know how much I appreciate it. On another note, I finished writing the last chapter yesterday so I can tell you that there will be 47 in total. Let the countdown begin.

Chapter 41

The look that Draco gave Harry was one of worry and concern, but not for Harry's sake. When Harry looked a bit closer, he could see some traces of blood on Draco's hands and robes. The blonde himself seemed to be frozen in his tracks as if he was not sure of what to do next.

"Draco," Harry urged again. "What happened? Are you hurt?" As if on instinct, Harry grabbed one of Draco's hands and checked to see if it was injured in any way but Draco pulled his hand free before Harry could get a closer look.

"I'm fine," Draco replied, his voice emotionless as if he was trying to contain himself. "Shouldn't you go back to work?"

"I will in a second," Harry said. "But I get the feeling that right now, my friend needs me."

A long moment passed in which Harry and Draco stared each other down before Draco relented with a sigh and a shaky shrug.

"It's my mother," he said, his voice barely audible. "This morning, she had regressed to when she was a young girl. When she looked in the mirror and saw herself, she got really scared."

Draco's voice was shaking and Harry put a comforting hand on his shoulder but said nothing.

"I couldn't calm her down in time," Draco continued hopelessly. "There was some accidental magic – I didn't even know that could still happen with adults – and she blew up the mirror. There was glass flying everywhere and she got cut by most of it."

Draco sobbed and buried his face into his hands. "Even after all that, I couldn't get her to calm down," Draco said. "She didn't recognise me and she was hurt. A few of her injuries were bleeding badly and I was getting worried so I – I stunned her and brought her here. Harry, I stunned my own mother!"

Harry moved closer and enveloped his suffering friend into an embrace. Draco did not fight him.

"I'm so sorry, Draco," Harry told him honestly. "I didn't realize that things had gotten so bad. It must have been really hard on you."

"I don't know what to do anymore," Draco hiccoughed. "I'm only eighteen. I don't know how to deal with this."

"You did the right thing by bringing her here," Harry told him. "I'm sure that the healers will take very good care of her."

"Yes," Draco replied bitterly. "And then I can take her back home and the whole thing can start all over again."

Harry withdrew from the hug, placing a hand on either of Draco's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Draco, if this is becoming too much for you, you can always leave her at St Mungo's. There's a specialized wing for people with her kind of condition."

"I can't leave her here," Draco said, horrified. "She's my mother. I will take care of her like she would take care of me."

Harry nodded. "As you say, Draco," he said. "I was merely making a suggestion. Would you like me to accompany you to your mother's room?"

"I – I would like that," Draco admitted, smiling slightly at his friend. "But don't you have things to do?"

"I will stay a bit longer tonight," Harry said easily, neglecting to say that he already stayed much longer than he should. "It's alright."

Draco nodded and led Harry to his mother's private room. They walked in silence and when they reached the door, Harry waited patiently for Draco to muster the courage to turn the knob.

At long last, they entered the room, finding Narcissa Malfoy strapped to the bed as she stared out of the window to her right. Her hair was a tangled mess and she seemed to have lost some weight. Her eyes that once held such strength were now filled with confusion and uncertainty. She looked up when Harry and Draco walked in and smiled ever so slightly.

"Where am I?" she asked, her voice slightly higher pitched than it should be.

"You're in St Mungo's, mother," Draco told her. "You had a bit of an accident."

"I've told Bella not to play with fire," Narcissa sighed wearily. "When she does, it's always me that gets burned." She turned her eyes towards Harry and looked at him hopefully. "Did Bella get punished for it?"

Harry smiled at the woman and nodded. "Of course she did, Narcissa," he told her kindly.

"That's good," Narcissa sighed, leaning back somewhat. She then locked eyes with Draco again. "Where am I?"

There was no mistaking the pain in Draco's eyes when he answered for a second time. "St Mungo's."

"I don't like hospitals," Narcissa told him. "Why would you bring me here? I want to go home!" She struggled against her bonds and looked as if she was ready to scratch someone's eyes out but she couldn't win from her restraints and eventually gave up. She kept her seething stare locked on Draco. The Slytherin was very startled.

"You were hurt," Draco pointed out. "I'm not too good at healing. I had to bring you here."

Narcissa's anger seemed to deflate as she looked at Draco with concern. She motioned for him to get closer and Harry thought he saw a flicker of recognition in Narcissa's eyes. Draco seemed to have seen the same as he eagerly moved closer and grabbed his mother's hand.

"Lucius, my love," she said sweetly. "I've missed you. Could you tell me where I am?"

Harry's heart ached for Draco as he saw the blonde open his mouth to try and formulate an answer. When no words came out, Harry answered the question for him.

"You're in St Mungo's, Narcissa," he said kindly. "You've injured yourself. Can you remember that?"

"Of course I can," she replied, smiling sweetly. Her eyes never left Draco's grey ones. "My love, why do you look so sad?" she asked. "I'll be okay. I'll come home to you in no time. You'll see."

Tears now fell from Draco's eyes as he pushed his forehead against Narcissa's hand, eager for the touch, even if her love was not strictly directed at him.

"Everything will be alright," she said comfortingly. She then turned her gaze on Harry who was trying to salvage his neutral expression. The confusion in her eyes was evident as she seemed to recognise him but couldn't quite produce a link in her mind. Her gaze flickered downward as she seemed to try and recollect herself and when she locked gazes with Harry again, all signs of recognition seemed to be gone.

She smiled sweetly and asked: "Where am I?"

Snape sat down in the chair Alex had procured for him in the bedroom. He was left alone with Emma while Alex talked with Maya who had come along with Snape this time.

"Emma, can you hear me?" Snape asked in a calm, soothing voice.

Emma wearily opened her eyes as she looked at Snape and smiled. "The shadow has come to visit me," she joked weakly. "I must be in a bad way. How horrible do I look?"

Snape chuckled as he brushed a strand of sweaty hair from Emma's forehead. "Not half as bad as Alex does," he told her honestly. "Now, could you sit up for me? I need you to take a few potions."

With Snape's help, Emme sat up, a pillow propped behind her back. Snape noted the droplets of blood that stained her sheets and cast a quick scourgify to get rid of them. He then handed her a fever-reducing potion.

"For me?" Emma joked weakly. "You shouldn't have."

"Less babbling and more drinking," Snape reprimanded softly. "I will pour it down your throat myself if I have to."

Emma chuckled and drank the potion, grimacing horribly at the taste. "Couldn't you have added some sugar or something?" she asked wearily. "That stuff is vile."

"I'd rather not go over the intricate details of potion-brewing right now," Snape sighed. "Drink this one next. It's a pain-relieving potion."

"Dare I ask if this will taste better?" Emma asked.

"I'd advise against it," Snape told her honestly. Emma smiled and downed the second potion as well.

"Nope," she said. "This was way worse."

"But it made you feel better, I'd wager," Snape pointed out.

Emma blinked a few times and then looked at Snape in surprise. "Much better," she said. "That was fast!"

She made to get up but Snape gently pushed her back down. "You're not cured, Emma," he told her. "I merely alleviated your pain. Now I need you to drink one more potion. It should serve to keep your organs intact for a while longer."

Emma shuddered but drank the offered vial. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she stared at the empty vial. "What's wrong with me?" she asked.

"You've contracted a magical malady," Snape told her. "I will not lie to you. This disease has no cure as of yet and has proven to be fatal one hundred per cent of the time."

Emma frowned but didn't seem as shocked as she should be. "This is the disease that's in the news every day, isn't it?" she asked. "The one that makes people disappear?"

"It is," Snape confirmed. "But I'm trying my best to create a cure."

Emma smiled as she took hold of Snape's hand. "If you're working on this, I have no doubt that I will be just fine."

Snape scoffed but said nothing.

"But just in case that I won't be," Emma said softly, squeezing Snape's hand, "could you take care of Alex for me? Charlie will be fine with my parents but Alex… he's not good at handling a loss."

Snape swallowed thickly as he gazed at the severely ill woman. "If it comes to that," he said, "I will. But I won't have you worrying about things that are most likely not going to happen. I will make this work."

"Of course you will, Severus," Emma said. "But if you can't, I forbid you from blaming yourself."

"Emma –"

"I would very much like to sleep now," Emma told Snape. "If there's nothing else, could you let me be, please?"

Snape sighed and gathered his supplies with a flick of his wand. "As you wish," he said. "Try and get some rest. I'll be back for you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Severus," Emma said groggily as she pulled the covers closer to her chin. Snape quietly left the bedroom and headed into the sitting room where Maya and Alex were waiting for him.

"How is she?" Maya asked. "Is it the –"

"It is," Snape told her honestly. Maya let out a shuddering breath and sank back into the couch.

"No," she pleaded. "It can't be."

Alex didn't respond. He was leaning forward, his hands clasped and hanging limply between his knees as he stared at the coffee table. Snape set down his potions kit just a tad too harshly in order to shake Alex from his less-than-helpful reveries. It worked as Alex looked up and glared at Snape.

"If you could kindly pay attention, Alexander," Snape told him. "These are the potions Emma will need to take twice a day. Give her this one – he motioned towards the fever-reducer – first and give her these two after."

Snape knew that he wasn't exactly exuding comfort right now but he really needed Alex to understand what he was supposed to do. Slipping into his professional demeanour was not only a means to that end, but it was also a comfort for Snape himself, who was watching one of his friends waste away before his eyes.

"Thank you," Alex said. "What will you do now?"

"I will retreat into my lab and start working on finding a cure," Snape said. He then directed his attention at Maya. "Will you stay with him?" he asked. "Make sure that he eats and sleeps? Emma can eat as well but I would recommend lukewarm foods only. Preferably liquids."

"Of course, Sev," Maya said. "But do remember to eat something yourself, okay?"

Snape huffed but smiled when he saw Maya's concerned gaze. "Don't worry," he said. "I will instruct Zippy to bring me meals at the appropriate times. You should just worry about your family."

Maya grabbed his hand for just an instance as she placed a chaste kiss on Snape's lips. "I am," she said meaningfully. Snape just nodded and retreated out of the front door. Acutely aware of the three people depending on him, he hurried back home.

When Harry had returned to finish his batch of fever-reducers, John had made no comment about the time it had taken him to come back. Harry had added two more cauldrons to his batch in order for him to try and catch up and was finding that it took little extra effort to do so.

After a few hours of working in silence, John spoke up.

"What's on yer mind, lad," he asked. "Ye've been very quiet since ye got back. Auld Lovegood dinnae sack you, did he?"

"No," Harry said. "In fact, he told me that I can brew with multiple cauldrons at once."

"Then what's got ye so melancholic?" John asked as he continued stirring his own brew. Harry wasn't even sure what the man was making today.

"I was wondering why there are next to no potions that can cure mental illnesses," Harry said.

John shrugged. "Our folk dinnae put much stock in the mental capacities of the ill," he said. "The mind is very difficult ter mend as well, ya ken? Much easier to deal with lacerations and the like."

"But a sick mind is far more crippling than a crippled leg," Harry argued.

"Aye," John said. "Tis as ye say. But tis of no difference, I'm afraid."

Harry huffed. "Well, I think I know exactly what my next research project will be."

John barked a laugh. "And when will ye seek to do that, laddie?" he asked. "Lovegood's got us both working practically non-stop. Yer aff yer heid if ye think ye can fit more brewin' into yer day."

"I'll make it work," Harry said confidently. "There's plenty of potions that can help me achieve my goal."

"Aye, but don't go an' get yerself into trouble, ye hear?" John said. "I'd find myself rather lonely without ye here."

Harry chuckled. "I'm sure you would do fine without me," he said. "But don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"So ye always say," John said, shaking his head.

In the next few weeks, Harry put in even more hours than he already was. Sometimes, he didn't even come home to sleep anymore, simply transfiguring a cauldron into a bed of sorts to sleep in for a few hours. He didn't even eat his lunch outside of the lab anymore. Instead, he would have a house-elf bring him something to eat which he would eat while brewing and researching. Without even noticing it, his birthday had come and gone. No owls could reach him where he was now and Hedwig was not allowed in the St Mungo's laboratory so she just stayed at Spinner's End.

Snape hadn't sent Harry very many messages anymore other than the occasional. 'How is everything?' and 'I hope you're taking care of yourself'. Harry had always replied with short and to the point answers but it was enough to know that someone cared. He didn't even mind that he was no longer socializing with other people at the moment because right now, people were depending on him and he couldn't let them down.

Little did Harry know that Snape was in just such a predicament in which he was getting more and more desperate as time kept ticking away mercilessly. Every day, he was fighting to keep death at arm's length and every day, he was feeling as if he was succeeding less and less.

Harry threw in the petals of the pansy flowers into his brew, quite certain that he made a breakthrough in the restorative memory draught he was creating when a piece of parchment appeared in front of his nose at the exact moment that one appeared in front of John's. Harry put a stasis on his cauldron and read the parchment.

Urgent staff meeting planned at 16:30.
Location: The second-floor meeting room.
Attendance is mandatory.

It wasn't signed but there was only one person that could call for a general staff meeting and that was chief Lovegood.

"What d'you reckon' the auld dodger wants now?" John asked Harry.

"Maybe it has something to do with the cure?" he offered. "Maybe he made a breakthrough or something?" He really hoped that was the case. It would severely decrease his workload and give him more time to try and help Draco.

At 16:28 Harry found himself in the required room with barely a minute to spare. And even then, he was contemplating how he would have been able to put that minute to good use. He was scribbling away any thoughts and ideas about the memory restorative draught he was trying to come up with on a spare bit of parchment, barely even noticing when Caratacus Lovegood walked in.

The room had been flooded by not only potioneers but also healers, nurses and even the janitors of the hospital. When Lovegood spoke, everyone looked up.

"You are probably all wondering why I have summoned you here," Lovegood said. "I'd rather not beat around the bush and keep you all from your work. I am not able to find a cure."

A stumped silence was Lovegood's only response so he just continued speaking. "I have tried to find something to counteract this disease for months now but am entirely unable to do so. Nothing is working and people are dying."

Lovegood's expert eye gazed at the crowd gathered in the room, hanging on his every word.

"Therefore I have summoned you here to ask for your help," he said. "Anyone who thinks that they can create a cure – I don't care if they are an accomplished healer or a janitor with hidden talents – will be rewarded by me. I will award you a sum of five-hundred-thousand galleons, coming out of my own pocket to the one who can present me with a cure. If you need the time to do so, please take it. We need to rally as one group in order for us to beat this thing. I am counting on you. You are excused."

The crowd broke into excited murmurs and conversation but Harry didn't want to discuss this with anyone. He just wanted to get back to his lab and continue brewing. If only the gods could be that merciful.

"Mr Potter, a word," Lovegood called after him.

Harry froze in his tracks, momentarily wondering if he could get away with pretending that he didn't hear Lovegood in the first place, but decided against it and turned around. "Sir?"

"I have a few more things to discuss with you," Lovegood said. "Stay for a moment."

"I really should get back to work, sir," Harry said.

"This will only take a moment," Lovegood told him. Harry sighed and sat down in a chair that had previously been occupied.

"It has come to my attention that you are no longer eating in the courtyard," Lovegood said. "You also rarely leave the hospital to go home anymore. You do with very little sleep and keep brewing. It's all we can do to keep replenishing the stocks of ingredients at this rate."

"I'm merely doing what is required of me," Harry said.

"I am the first one to compliment hard work," Lovegood said. "But what you're doing is not healthy. If the circumstances were any different, I would force you to take a week off."

"But the circumstances are not different," Harry told him. "This is what you need me to do right now."

"The additional research you have taken on is entirely unnecessary," Lovegood pointed out dryly.

Harry swallowed thickly. "I'm still meeting my quota, aren't I?" he said softly.

Lovegood sighed. "That is beside the point, Harry," he said. Harry blinked in surprise at the use of his given name. "You are on the brink of self-destruction and I will not have a promising potioneer do this to himself."

"I need to do this," Harry replied evenly, beyond all common sense.

"Like Master, like apprentice," Lovegood sighed. "Harry, I need you to focus on a cure for now. Your workload will be lessened for a while so you can do this. I urge you to put your personal research aside for now and pick it up later."

"But I –"

"When a cure is found, you will have much more time on your hands. I will even offer you my assistance in whatever it is you're trying to do. But please. I need your mind on this problem."

Harry stood there, silently contemplating Lovegood's words for a while before sighing in resignation. "I will do what I can," he said. "And I'll put aside my research for now." Harry just hoped that Draco would be able to last just a bit longer without his help. The boy had looked on the verge of collapse the last time he saw him and yet he had insisted on taking his mother home.

"I knew I could count on you," Lovegood said. "Now let's get to it. We haven't the time to dilly-dally."

Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I realize that it's New Year's Eve so I'll do what I did during the Christmas holidays and wait and see if I get any response. If people don't read this, I won't update on Wednesday. But I'll defenitely update on Thursday.

Let me know what you think! Happy New Year!