Confisio Suprema

Where the devil can't go, he sends Weasley

Draco walked out of the hospital like in a bad dream. How could something like this happen to Harry? After all he had to go through. Unknown curses were not so common, mostly, the healers' council knew how to treat the patient. He didn't suppose they'd neglected anything at St. Mungo's. He was determined to find a cure. He owed it to Harry, if only for rescuing him from the Room of Requirement the other day when it caught fire.

Draco spent the rest of the day in the Academy of Wizardry potions department. No mention of the curse that caused the limbs to turn black in that mysterious way. He found several curses that were similar in effect, but the clinical picture never quite matched. Draco contacted several medical capacities that same day. In the evening, he was completely out of energy, but he still wrote a short message to Neville. As a professor of herbology, he also had to learn about different types of injuries and their treatment.

He was sure that it was dark magic, so he reserved books in this department for the next day. He didn't know what to do first. He needed to find out what had caused Potter's condition to be so severe, but at the same time, he was preparing a new, improved version of the pain potion. If he couldn't figure out how to heal him quickly, Harry would develop an addiction to it.

The next few days were the same – studying, researching, and talking to various experts – all without results. At least work on the pain potion continued successfully. Although more extended testing on more subjects would be needed for market launch, Draco didn't have that much time. He expected to finish the potion within a month.

He visited Harry in the hospital every day. Harry was no longer given calming potions, so he was quite easy to talk to. They reminisced about Hogwarts together, discussed mutual acquaintances, and confronted their educational practices. Draco realised that the hospital visit was becoming the most enjoyable part of the day. Once he was a little late and was greeted with a wonderful sentence that was beyond belief: "I was afraid you wouldn't come." The treatment didn't progress, but Harry admitted to a slight improvement. Like his hands burned a little less. It was almost as if he forgot about his injury when he was with Draco.

They were laughing out loud at something when Draco noticed someone's gaze. Ron Weasley!

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Same as you," Draco replied calmly.

Ron frowned in such a way that it was immediately obvious what he was thinking.

"You should go." It took a lot of work for Ron to phrase his statement so politely.

"Harry should perhaps decide that," said Draco.

"I guess you really should go." Harry sensed a conflict and wanted to prevent it at all costs.

"As you wish."

Draco was offended to the core that Potter had preferred the redhead over him. He decided to skip tomorrow's visit so that the silly guy could see what he had missed. What can Weasley offer him? They'll just chatter about Quidditch or new prank inventions.

---

Draco only partially kept his resolution not to visit Harry. He missed the usual time, but in the evening, he felt remorseful and decided to go to the hospital. Hopefully, they'll let him in.

Harry looked like he did in the first days of his hospital stay. Evidently, his condition worsened, and he was given stronger potions again. What did Weasley do to him?

"Draco?"

Harry wanted to reach out, but the hand would not obey.

Forgive me, Harry, I'm such a jerk...

Draco silently sat down next to Harry and stroked his hand. Harry didn't have them bandaged anymore because it wasn't helping anything. Draco thought they were more black than usual. The room was dark, and the fluorescent veins had a menacing effect. But Draco got used to his friend's hands and held them in his own. When he closed his eyes, everything seemed fine, and he felt only healthy, warm skin.

"It almost doesn't hurt when you hold me," Harry whispered.

"I'll come see you as often as possible if it helps," Draco promised.