Changed (Drarry)

Chapter 15

"Where do you think would be best for this?" Lily asked, resting her hand gently on James' shoulder.

"Here should be fine if everyone's alright with that." James said, looking around at everyone to make sure they were all nodding. Of course, Harry's agreement was the most important, and he too nodded, although he looked nervous. "If you could lie down on your side, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, lying down on his side, facing into the room, curling up slightly because the sofa was too small for him. The others shifted around them, not really knowing what to do, it's not like there was anything to do to help out, but they might interfere if they were too close.

"Please try to stay as relaxed and calm as you can, but make sure you stay awake." James said in a voice that seemed more formal than before, although it still held a strong sense of love and concern. "Lily, can you keep an eye on his condition, I'll need to be focusing on the magic."

"Of course." Lily said, kneeling down beside James, she didn't touch Harry, but her eyes were clearly fixed on him, making Harry feel a little uncomfortable with the intensity.

"Sorry Harry, this is going to be far from comfortable." James said before starting.

It was immediately unpleasant and Harry felt like he was going to throw up, like every part of him was trying to get him to make it stop. But while it was extremely uncomfortable and Harry's body was rejecting it as best it could, it wasn't actually painful.

"Focus on your breathing Harry." Lily said, not that Harry wasn't exactly sure why, he was sure he had been breathing. "And try to relax, you're quite tense."

Harry didn't quite know how to describe what the magic felt like other than uncomfortable and not something he wanted to repeat, but it wasn't the kind of thing he felt comfortable talking through. Harry started counting the amount of time it took for him to breathe in and breathe out, hoping that was enough of what Lily meant. Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to stop the tenseness. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation, and he couldn't get himself to relax anymore.

And then it got worse.

Harry's head started to spin wildly and he started to feel hot. The spinning was worse than the heat, but he felt like a pan filled with boiling water that was trying to bubble over the lid. Harry couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or closed, but he thought he could practically feel the old memories coming back to him. Most of it was what he remembered before they started this procedure, except that his time with the Dursleys had him more willing to answer back or speak at all, which Harry now knew was something he was too scared to do, or he saw it as pointless, so he stopped trying. The immense pressure he could feel all over but especially his back was making the spinning more intense.

Then his memories got to the point when he was in Hogwarts, they weren't coming to him in the right order, as he remembered meeting Remus and Sirius for the first time since going to the Dursleys before he remembered being sorted into Slytherin, but they were coming faster, and almost brighter. It wasn't like they were casting any light, but bright was the best word Harry had for the way they seemed to make him feel less stuck in his own mind.

Finally the pressure and heat that was building up released and Harry felt like he could breathe again, which he hadn't even noticed he was struggling to do, too swept up in his returning memories.

It felt just as sudden as the sudden release of pressure that Harry's head stopped spinning as his last memories came back to him.

"Harry?" Draco asked, taking a step closer, Harry's eyes damp and he was still feeling unwell.

Harry didn't say anything as he turned to look at Draco, looking between Draco's eyes for a moment before launching himself at Draco, wrapping his arms around Draco's neck and crying into his shoulder. Draco immediately hugged Harry back tightly, stumbling backwards slightly.

"Are you okay?" Draco whispered, perching at the edge of an armchair as Harry continued to hug him, but Harry just held Draco tighter, continuing to cry.

"You alright?" Lily asked gently, laying her hand on James' shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I need a lie down though." James said heavily, putting a hand over his eyes and stumbling as he tried to stand up, Lily grabbing his arm to help steady him.

"You should probably get Harry somewhere he can lie down too." Lily said, looking over at Draco who still had Harry's head hidden in his shoulder. "It's draining for both of them."

"Is there a specific place for him?" Draco asked, feeling Harry's grip on him loosening and assuming he was falling asleep, the obviously draining procedure, emotional turmoil, and crying being enough to drain most people, especially with how tired Harry looked when walking around the castle most days.

"He has a room opposite ours." Lily said, gesturing at the door she was talking about as she helped James into their room.

"Okay." Draco said with a small nod, picking up Harry and carrying him to the room that had been designated as his, even if he had never used it to the point that Harry hadn't used it to Draco's knowledge.

"What's the plan from here?" Hermione asked, looking up at Remus who wasn't looking at her too kindly, clearly just as annoyed as Lily and James were about her actions.

"We wait for Lily and talk from there." Remus said firmly, but he was playing with the portkey in his hands, seeming anxious to tell everyone things had gone well.

"Okay," Lily said with a sigh as she came back into the living room and glanced over the two people in there. "Is Draco not back?"

"He's still with Harry, I wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep too." Remus said. "Stress." He added in way of an explanation, not that he really needed to.

"First we should inform the others it went well, Miss Granger," Lily said firmly, turning on Hermione as her tone became very forced as she kept her smile at Hermione's surname. "You will be staying here until Harry, James, and Draco wake up."

"I'll go tell them, I expect Sirius will want to come." Remus said, standing up, with the port key in his hands.

"Of course, the two of you are welcome here as long as we live here." Lily said with a gentle smile. "I'm sure the house we bought in Godric's Hollow is uninhabitable?"

"Yeah, sorry." Remus said, he was sure she and James didn't want to stay here any longer than they had to, he knew he wouldn't.

"It's not your fault, just a shame we never actually got to live there." Lily said with a small sigh, sitting down lightly on the armchair Draco had so recently been on with Harry, her eyes fixed coldly on Hermione.

((A/N: Hey everyone, I know you are probably all here for this story instead of my art, but the Q&A section took a lot of time and hard work, please, at the very least, could you answer the questions I asked you? I don't want to guilt trip people, but I do want some interactions with my stories as they mean a lot to me. I hope you're all well and happy. Have a good day.))