Everything Remains

Chapter 15- Return to Me

Draco hurried back up to the Hospital Wing, not even caring about who he was running into, what would happen to Pansy, nothing. Nothing mattered to him except for Harry and getting back to his side. 
Draco basically sprinted through the halls and up the stairs, landing himself back in the chair beside Harry's bed. 
'This is all my fault. I should have thought harder, seen through Pansy's bullshit. Now, who knows if he will ever wake up? What if we truly lost Harry this time? I would be responsible for taking him from the world!'
Draco continued to spiral, worrying more and more as the hours passed. 
A few representatives from St. Mungo's came to observe him, a few people from the ministry came, no one was able to figure out how to wake him. 
Draco split his time between pacing nervously and rocking back and forth in the chair. 

Hearing the news, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, and assorted others came to visit periodically. Hermione and Ron stayed the longest, asking what had happened, who did it, what they can do to help. Everyone felt helpless. Draco did have some hope when Hermione checked him over; if anyone knew what to do, it would most likely be her. But even she was stumped. 
Around 10 pm, Ron, Hermione, and Draco were still at his bedside, contemplating. 
Hermione reached over to pat Draco's hand. "We know it wasn't your fault, Draco. Please don't blame yourself for this." 
"I should have known! I shouldn't of trusted Pansy like that!! It's me that's supposed to be unconscious, not HIM." Draco couldn't hold it in any longer. He began to sob into his hands. 
Hermione walked over to him, rubbing his back. "No, don't say that! No one could have guessed that she would do that. We will figure it out. We just have to keep trying!" Hermione's own eyes watered. 
"What if it kills him? What if he can't get out of this?? I won't be able to live with myself." Draco sobbed again, hiding his face in his sleeve. 
"Mate, we will figure something out. We always do. He's still alive! He's still in there. Maybe we can just keep talking to him. Help him find his way?" Ron offered, shrugging. 
"I'm going to research more in the library. There has to be something about this kind of curse. It's not just every day that someone invents something new. This HAS to have existed before, just rarely." Hermione bit her lip, looking off into the distance. 
"I'm going to stay with him until he wakes. I will not leave his side." Draco sad solemnly. 
"You have to take care of yourself, mate." 
"The only thing that is important is him right now. If you find anything out, please come tell me." Draco asked quietly. 
"We will. We'll see you tomorrow." Ron ushered Hermione out of the room. 

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This carried on for days, weeks. Every day, Draco would sit with Harry. Refusing to go to classes, refusing to leave the room. Hermione barely got him to eat something and take quick showers before returning, panicked, to the hospital wing. Harry's status was the same. Alive, breathing, but never conscious. Draco would move him around the bed, change his linens, shave his stubble for him. He would change Harry's pajamas and make sure he was getting water and food. The professors tried several times to get Draco to leave, but he refused and put up a protective barrier, keeping him with Harry. They eventually stopped trying. 

Draco would cry most days, willing him to wake up. When no one was around, he would hold Harry's hand and stroke up and down his arm. His heart was hurting, seeing the man he loves unable to function. His life without Harry's quips, his laugh, his bright emerald eyes, was becoming meaningless to Draco. 

After about two and a half weeks, Hermione finally found something in the library's restricted section that might give them a clue to what was going on. 
Hermione sprinted directly from her post at the library all the way up to the hospital wing. 
"I'VE FOUND SOMETHING." Hermione panted, winded from the trek up. 
"WHAT? WHAT IS IT?" Draco leapt up, reaching for her. 
"I found some information about what the curse could possibly be. Back in 1435, there is record of this curse being used on someone else. Apparently, a husband and wife enchanted a pendent to curse their daughters' betrothed, so that they couldn't marry. They had the pendent made by a King Ragnuk, who cursed it. Once the daughter gave the pendent to her betrothed, he feel into this deep enchanted sleep, unable to wake. So the daughter couldn't marry him."
"So this is old, trickery magic. What does it say about a cure?" Draco asked, desperately. 
"It... doesn't say anything else. It just says that he remained in that state for the rest of his natural life... but that doesn't mean it is incurable! I just have to research more on King Ragnuk. If I can get an idea about what type of magic he used, I can figure out a way to reverse it!" Hermione started to cry, sounding unsure of her own words. 

Draco sunk down to the floor, his heart breaking. 
"What use is this bullshit story if it doesn't tell us how to break it?!!" Draco yelled, tears flowing forth again. 
"Why hasn't the ministry done anything? Ask the damn bastard who cursed the brooch how to undo it???!!!" Draco losing control. 
"They did, they interrogated him for hours. He doesn't know how to reverse it either. But I'll find a way!! I have to find a way... I always do.." Hermione sobbed quietly, throwing the book to the floor. 
Ron walked over to Hermione, holding her in his arms. "We've got someone to look up now, we are getting closer to the cure. We really are. We've go to keep going. For Harry." 

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Later that night, Draco couldn't keep the exhaustion away. He fell asleep around 1:40 am and slept for a few good hours before jolting awake, the sunrise flooding through the windows. Draco scolded himself for falling asleep, slapping his face a few times to wake up. Draco looked over at Harry, sleeping peacefully. Draco's heart ached, wanting nothing more but to hold him and hear his voice. 
Draco reached over and held Harry's hand in his, tears prickling his eyes once more. 
Draco sighed heavily, overcome with emotion. "Harry. I love you. Please. PLEASE come back to me. To us. We need you." 
Draco hung his head low, sobbing through the weight of his words. 

"drrrr..... drrrrrrraaa." Draco lifted his head, confused at what the sound was. 
Harry had opened his eyes and was trying to speak. His voice rusty after almost three weeks of being asleep. 
"drrrraaaco. help." 
Draco's eyes grew 10x their size, leaping up from his chair and holding Harry's head. "HARRY??? ARE YOU REALLY AWAKE????!!!!" 
"neeeddd. water..." 
Draco rushed to fill his cup, propping Harry up on his pillow and pouring a little bit at a time down his throat. 
"Harry, oh my god, Harry. You're okay, you're alive, you're AWAKE. HOW??!!?" Draco was practically spinning, afraid that he was imagining this all. 
"whattttt... happeneddd?" 
"Hold on, we have plenty of time for that. MADAME POMFREY!!!!! HE'S AWAKE!!!" Draco yelled down the corridor, scaring the poor woman into movement. 
She made her way down the corridor and began an evaluation on Harry. "Call the Headmistress!" 

Draco ran over to the nurse's owl, scribbling on parchment before letting him fly to McGonagal's office. He still wasn't about to leave Harry. 
After a few minutes, heavy, running footsteps were heard leading up to the hospital wing. Professor McGonagal opened the door, flying through the space to get to Harry. Hagrid, Slughorn, Ron, and Hermione followed her. 
They all took their turns hugging him, giving him several looks over, and expressing how worried they were. Harry was flustered, only remembering falling asleep in Draco's dorm room. 
"Everyone, everyone. I know we are excited that Harry is awake. But let's give him some room." McGonagal ordered, conjuring plenty of chairs for everyone. 
Slowly, they began to tell Harry the story of what had happened. How the brooch was cursed by Pansy, who was trying to curse Draco, and how they still aren't sure how he was cured. Harry stared in shock, trying to put it all together. "So I've been sleeping for almost three weeks? That is utter insanity." 
"Although it is a long time, we are so glad that it wasn't longer. We will have to keep checking on you periodically until we can figure out how you were cured." McGonagal paused, wracking her brain. 
"Mr. Malfoy was here with you the whole time. And Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley here were searching night and day for a cure. You are lucky to have such great friends, Mr. Potter." Madame Pomfrey smiled, patting Harry's hand. 
Harry glanced over at Draco, surprised that he stayed with him for nearly three weeks straight. 
Draco blushed, looking down at his feet. 
The group continued to catch up and get everything sorted before allowing Harry to gather his things and travel back to his dorm room. 

Harry was almost like a newborn deer, wiggly on his legs from not using them. He shuffled his way over to Draco. 
"Did... did you really stay with me the whole time?"
"... yes. I feel terrible guilt for what happened. It should have been me." Draco swallowed hard. 
"It's not your fault, and it never will be. Thank you for taking care of me, Draco." Harry smiled softly at the blonde, his heart warming at the thought of never being alone. 
"Ahem, the least I could do. Let's get you back to your dorm." 

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