A Dragon And His Hatchling (Drarry)

What's My Age Again?

3rd persons PoV

New Years Eve

It was the day before Harry took the potion, the day before everything changed, possibly the day that Draco had his heart broken. It wasn't uncommon to see the group of friends wiping tears away from their faces, thinking they had done so unnoticed, nor was it unusual to see the teens giving Harry more love and affection than normal (which was a rather large amount anyway) as the day progressed.

Draco's anxiety had shot through the roof when he woke that morning and realised it was the last day he had with a version of Harry Potter that didn't hate him and it had only gotten worse throughout the day, now he couldn't even look at the little boy without feeling a pain comparable to the cruciatus hit him straight in the chest.

They had all been given the day off classes for tomorrow, so Harry could acclimate to being 16 again and the rest of them would need to grieve the loss of someone who had been the focus of their lives for the past four months, not that he was really gone.

The 8 of them spent the whole day with Harry, playing with him, watching movies with him, treasuring the time they had left with the precious child which, as the hours slipped by, became obvious there wasn't a whole lot of. The day ended with the friends curled up under blankets, bodies intertwined and close to each other, savouring the feeling of closeness and their familial bonds as they fell to sleep that night.

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Draco, was the first to wake new years day, sleeping rather fitfully through the night. Kissing Harry's forehead gently he went to get ready, crying in the shower; and as he got dressed. The blond was an emotional wreck and the toddler hadn't even left his care yet. Waking the others quietly he could see in their eyes that this was upsetting them all, he knew that his best friends had become quite attached to the tiny golden boy, he knew this would hurt them almost as much as him, as it was the three of them with everything to lose. Wordlessly they drew each other into a hug, tears slipping down their cheeks as they held themselves up on weak legs, feeling the weight of the loss already settling heavily on their shoulders.

Harry wakes not long after everyone is ready, he is dressed in a green t-shirt and dungarees before they leave for breakfast with a bag filled with a set of clothes for Harry when he is back to his usual self. The group of eight eat their fill and head down to the hospital wing to meet Madame Pomfrey and professor Snape with the potion. Draco carries Harry close to his body, wanting to make every moment count before it all possibly went wrong, they'd reached the hospital wing in under five minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time for any of them.

Harry was set down on a bed and immediately whined at the loss of cuddles from Draco, the noise piercing the blonds heart, who longed to hold him again. Snape and Pomfrey approached the students milling around one of the beds, potion phial in the hand of the sour faced potions master. The blonds eyes watered as he laid eyes on the potion that would take his raven away from him, knowing soon the phial would be empty; and so would he.

The moment had arrived. There was no more putting it off, no more time.

Harry had been given the phial and told to drink it to make him better, nervous he looked to Draco for reassurance, who only nodded before turning away as the four year old drained every drop of the potion. The screams started and Draco broke down, burying himself in Blaise's shoulder as the child cried out, the rest of them watching entranced as the small boy started to grow and change. It only took moments, but Draco felt like it'd been a lifetime. He turned to face the boy he'd cared for, the boy he'd loved and felt excruciating pain stab him in the chest as he saw the face of a boy who no longer looked at him like he'd hung the moon.