Proclivitas- Dramione

Chapter 2

TW: THEMES OF ADDICTION, OVERDOSE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Theo

Theo's mind had been elsewhere all morning. He couldn't stop worrying about Draco and what he was doing to himself. He was terrified that he was going to lose him to his addiction. He had heard rumors of witches and wizards driven insane from potion abuse, turning to crime to fund their addictions, wasting away to shadows of their former selves, and more than a few who had gotten in so deep that the only escape they could find was taking their own life.

Draco had been Theo's best friend his whole life on account of their fathers and he could not imagine living in a world without him. They had all lost people they knew during the war, but Theo didn't think he could ever move on with his life if he lost Draco. It would be like losing half of himself and he knew he would never recover from it. Sometimes he found himself resentful of the fact that Draco had let his addiction get so out of control. He knew he had been through so much. But Theo didn't understand why having Blaise and him by his side wasn't enough. Why his love for his best friends wasn't more powerful than the hold the potion had over him. He hated that he felt like this because he knew that Draco was sick.

He tried to remember he shouldn't resent the addict but despise the disease they suffered from, and that although it was hard for him to watch his friend fading into someone he didn't recognize, he knew that it would be so much harder for Draco.

He tried to push the thoughts from his mind but they always managed to creep back in, after all, addiction wasn't just a disease that affects the addict themselves, but it also causes everyone who loves them to suffer as well.

Draco had always suffered from a poor opinion of himself and had always been the more emotional of the two. His fathers' constant pressure to live up to his impossible expectations and constant beratement of him had only added fuel to the fire. At least when they were younger Draco would talk to Theo about what was going on inside his mind, but the older they got, the more closed off Draco had become. He had begun to present a face to the world of a narcissistic, cold, heartless monster when deep down he was the same scared, self-loathing boy needing the approval of others he had been.

The opinions of people after the war hadn't helped. He couldn't go anywhere without disapproving glares and whispers following him and Theo suspected that this had hurt Draco more than he would ever admit.

He had to find a way to help his friend, who no longer could help himself. The only problem was he knew forcing Draco Malfoy to get clean when he wasn't ready would only make him abuse potions more. He needed to find a way to get him to a place where he was ready to face his problems head on instead of running from them. Draco was stubborn and proud and would never admit he was in over his head, but Theo knew him well enough to know Draco was deep down and to know it was only a matter of time before he would be too far gone to reach or before he did something that he could never come back from.

He would find a way to help him even if it was the last thing he ever did, even if Draco hated him for it. He was his family, and besides Blaise, he was the only family he had left. And he couldn't stand by anymore and watch him destroy himself. He couldn't stand by and allow for half his heart to be destroyed any longer.

***

After a long conversation with Blaise, they had decided that they needed to intervene, so they left work that evening and headed to the floo to go back home, adamant that they would find some way to help Draco before the end of the night.

When the flames died down and they stepped out of the fireplace in the drawing room. Theo felt an uneasy lurch in his stomach. The manor was in complete darkness and there was an eerie silence over the place. He looked to Blaise and could tell by the look on his face that he was feeling the same way. Panic began rising in his chest and he felt like the air around him had grown too thick to inhale properly. Draco was always here when they returned from work. He would always be completely off his rocker; music blaring and the manor would be lit up like a Christmas tree. Draco had mumbled something about feeling less alone with all the lights on when Blaise had questioned him about it the first time, they had returned to every light on the ground floor switched on.

Something was wrong.

He could feel it in his very bones.

What if they were too late and the unthinkable had already happened?

Theo would never forgive himself for taking so long to intervene to save the fight that the conversation would entail.

They both began running around checking every room on the ground floor, only to find them empty and shrouded in darkness. The panic was becoming overwhelming now and if it wasn't for the desperation coursing through his body, Theo knew he would be having a panic attack by now.

When they got to the 1st floor, they noticed a faint light coming from the underside of the door to the potion's lab. They both raced forward throwing the door open in their hurry to find Draco.

He was there laying motionless on the floor; his porcelain skin had a soft blue hue to it, and he was surrounded by a pool of what looked like blood and this morning's breakfast that had spilled from his mouth. Theo froze.

NO, NO, NO, NO his head screamed, his mouth unable to form the words.

Blaise was at Draco's side in a second, using his wand to cast simple diagnostic charms. Theos eyes scanned the room to find the source of the foul chemical smell that was filling the room. That when he saw it. A cauldron knocked over and a thick looking silver substance spilling on the floor.

"He's alive, but barely. We need to get him to St. Mungos now! He must have tried to brew the potion himself and had a mishap. Grab a vial of whatever is left in the cauldron and bring it with us. The healers will want to know what they are treating... THEO DAMN IT IF WE DON'T ACT NOW, HE'S GOING TO DIE!"

Blaise's screams broke Theo from his trance and he quickly bottled some of the potion and ran over to where Blaise was lifting Draco into his arms. The moment Theo made contact with his arm he felt a pull behind his navel and they apparated to the front doors of St. Mungos.