Chap 3
"You're awake... Harry." Seeing his eyelids flutter, Mrs Tonks immediately stood up to call Healer Smethwyck, the Head of the Department.
The boy was laid down beside Harry. He casually pulled the little one into his arms, because Harry feared that, with the restlessness ingrained deep in his blood, he might roll off the bed and fall to the floor.
The ward door opened once again, but it was not Healer Smethwyck nor Mrs Tonks who stepped inside... it was a head of bright, meticulously combed blond hair, dazzling to the eye.
"Don't you know how to knock? Malfoy." Harry's voice was dry and hoarse; he had no idea how long he had been asleep.
"Let me pour you a glass of water..." Draco quickened his pace, yet the gait of a nobleman did not change in the slightest.
At this moment, no one had the strength to notice that Draco's hand was trembling faintly... perhaps he had already spent all the courage of his life simply to step into this room.
Helping Harry sit up against the wall, and only after seeing that he was steady, Draco then handed the glass of plain water to him.
"It seems the work of the Deputy Minister is a bit too much for you, isn't it, Pottah? You've become so frail that you fainted at home and had to be admitted to hospital..." His voice still carried a trace of mockery, yet strangely, Harry could hear a hint of concern within it. After facing each other for so many years, who would have thought that one day Harry would be able to understand his rival with nothing more than a single glance.
Harry gave a faint smile, though it did nothing to bring any colour back to his pale face...
"Why is Lord Malfoy here?" Harry asked.
"I am apprenticing here... it has been two months already. I passed a small examination on my own in order to be accepted here..."
Which means I came here on merit. I am very capable...
"Actually... since that day, I have not yet had the chance to properly thank you..."
The ward door opened once again. Draco faltered, and the words he had just been about to say were swallowed back down...
Seeing Draco, Mrs Tonks was both suspicious and wary. She demanded harshly, "Malfoy... what do you want with Harry?"
Mrs Tonks could hardly be blamed. After the war... she had lost both her daughter and her son-in-law. At present, she only had Teddy left, and Harry could also be considered half a member of the family. It was only natural that she would hate the Death Eaters for the rest of her life.
"Mrs Tonks..." Harry called out, as though to reassure her. Only then did he turn to Draco and continue, "I understand what you mean. You should step outside first."
Mrs Tonks held Teddy in her arms and sat down on a chair, as if consoling herself. Healer Smethwyck brought over some documents, presumably Harry's medical records...
"Very well, Mr Potter... we may discuss this matter in Mrs Tonks's presence, is that correct?"
Harry gave a slight nod in agreement, then sat quietly, waiting to hear his diagnosis.
"It is like this... the fragment of soul residing within you has not, in fact, been completely destroyed. It is like a chronic illness; it erodes your mind and your very vitality. The change in your temperament is the most evident symptom... you are easily angered, prone to gloom, and your emotions are readily unsettled..."
Beneath the thin blanket, Harry's hand tightened into a fist.
Harry asked again, "Why? Was it not supposed to die as well if I accepted death for the sake of others... why has it turned out like this?"
Healer Smethwyck let out a sigh. "The cause is likely the Elder Wand... it did not fully acknowledge the Dark Lord; therefore, that was an incomplete curse. It recognised that you had attempted to find a way to destroy it... And we can only restrain the erosion, in order to prolong the time. This case is rather similar to that of Professor Dumbledore, except that it is eroding your body from within."
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