—Harry POV—
When normal scars (that last forever) heal, they're supposed to simply fade into nothing more than a minuscule bump slightly lighter than your own skin. If anyone knows that about scars, it's me, anyway.
But magical scars just stay in that grotesque scabbed-over phase, where it looks like somebody very angrily drove red ink into their skin. The dried blood is what makes the scar visible, for the most part. That's why the scar on my forehead never grew up into my hairline as I grew. It's why the scar on my forehead also looks not more than a month old.
It's why I cover the scar Professor Umbridge gave me. Because it never faded the way a normal scar would. It just... stayed.
I must not tell lies.
My right thumb came to rest on the tip of the first letter, dragging slowly down. I held back the odd urge to pick at the unnatural and rough protruding lines on my otherwise smooth hand.
I must not tell lies.
This morning, when I'd woken up, I realized the transfiguration was down- my magic only cut off on me when I'm sick, and I most certainly was not sick.
I must not tell lies-
There was a knock at the door. I sighed, my head falling back against it as my hand fell from where it was.
"I'm busy,"
"Do you have diarrhea again like you did two days ago?" I cringed at Draco's question.
"No, just busy."
"Well, dinner is almost ready," he replied, his voice softening slightly. "...are you okay?"
I glanced at my hand again. I must not tell lies.
Even after trying for the entire day, I haven't been able to cover it back up. Why is it that my transfiguration wore off?
I stood slowly, flushing the toilet to make it seem as though I'd been using it, and rinsing my hands in the sink. The way the water flowed over my scar distracted me for a moment, but before I could get lost in thought for long, the door opened, revealing Draco. I jumped slightly, turning off the sink and drying my hands, making sure the scar was covered by the towel. His arms came around my waist, turning me around and moving in for a kiss. My hands were still slightly damp when I moved them around his shoulders.
"I love you," he whispered, tone sweet and smile soft.
"I love you too," I mumbled, moving for us to be closer together.
"I made us a good dinner, tonight. It's a bit fancier than our usual," he told me between soft kisses. I smiled.
"I can't wait, thank you." We shared one last kiss before he pulled away, grabbing for my right hand to bring me downstairs.
I would agree that Beef Wellington is significantly fancier than our usual. The last time we'd had it was on one of our impromptu dates. But this time, Teddy and Scorpius were here to try the meal as well. I silently wondered how difficult it would have been if either of them were picky eaters, like Rose, who still doesn't like it when any different foods touch, and likes fruit more than almost anything else.
"How's Professor Longbottom doing?" Teddy had asked it out of nowhere. It made me pause. I'd nearly forgotten about him...
"He's well," responded Draco. I looked up at him.
"Luna's been sending Owls," he explained. "Neville is in therapy right now. They're trying to help him regain higher order thinking processes, but he's been making exceptional progress."
Oh.
"That's good."
"Yes. And he's been administered potions to manage his tremors from cruciatus."
The table went silent apart from Teddy and Scorpius humming in acknowledgment. I cursed myself for not having considered the only other person who was hospitalized as a result of the battle, the only other person who barely made it out.
I shook my head, though, taking a breath and putting it in the back of my mind to check up on him at a later date. At the dinner table, I changed the subject, hoping to rid the tension I was feeling in the air.
"Ted, are you all ready to visit Andromeda for the night?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess it's for the best." Teddy looked at me warily. I made myself aware of the left hand I had sitting on my lap under the table. Nobody can see.
"I'm sure she'll be very happy to see you. Besides, you'll be back tomorrow," I reasoned. Just then I reached up to scratch an itch on my neck. Draco's eyes snapped towards me. I shrugged it off, putting my hand back under the table where it had been resting.
"Scorpius, why don't you go with Teddy? Just for a little bit? Andromeda will enjoy seeing you as well, I think." Scorpius looked up to his father with furrowed brows, and Draco simply nodded with an eyebrow raised. I narrowed my eyes. What?
I stood to grab my dish, as well as the others', pausing when I nearly went to use my left hand and switching. I felt Draco's eyes on me the whole time. He can't have seen it, I was careful, I made sure to not show it. Mentally I flipped through every instance in which I'd used my hands starting from now and moving backward through the day, tensing my jaw as I remembered the itch on my neck. But no, I used my... right. Or left... oh, shit.
As I started the dishes I heard the floo go off, signifying that Teddy and Scorpius had left. Teddy wouldn't be back until tomorrow, but Scorpius would probably return within the hour. I tensed when I felt Draco's presence behind me. My left hand is holding the plate, and at this angle, and from where he's standing, he can't see it.
"I remember the first time I discovered you had that scar. You were trying to hurt yourself because you thought you were a liar. Because you'd been deceiving your friends in order to get some space because you were in a bad place." I stayed silent as he spoke, only focusing on the dishes.
"You tried going around with the scar showing a few times but ultimately decided to keep it transfigured. The feeling of something sticking out on your skin made you more inclined to pick it, and it was just one of the smaller ways you were trying to get better."
I kept scrubbing the same spot on the same plate, even though it was already clean, just listening to him. Praying that he would just drop the subject, even though I knew he wouldn't.
"You've made tremendous progress since then, sincerely. And it was an incredibly long and difficult journey, but for a little while, I think it's been safe to say you are beyond a certain point in your recovery...
Given this information, you might be able to understand why I am concerned now to see that the scar is showing itself in all its glory... do you mind telling me what this is all about? Have you just... taken it off? Or..."
"I didn't." My voice was kept low and mumbled. I frowned, upset that I hadn't considered just how bad this might be.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"I-I didn't. I woke up, and it was like this, okay?" I put the dish down, shutting off the water and turning to dry my hands. Draco followed me.
"You mean to tell me that your transfiguration fell while you slept?"
For some reason, Draco's voice came to me as muffled, and I almost couldn't make out what he'd said. I chalked it up to the guilt crawling up my chest and shrugged, keeping my head down.
"Harry, that's bad."
"I must have caught something," I argued. "A cold, maybe. I'll just take a Pepper-up and be on my way-"
"Hold on," Draco held his hand out against my chest as I moved to walk away. "No... you would have had symptoms of a normal cold by now if that were the case. This is not normal." I moved around him and proceeded to the living room. A sort of fuzz spread through my arms. I flexed my fingers to stave off the uncomfortable feeling, yawning in the process.
I blinked, taking in my surroundings. Why is the living room so dark? I blinked again. Just then I was jerked around. Suddenly Draco was standing in front of me, hand on my shoulder.
"Harry, are you even listening?!" I let out a breath, unsure of what to say. Had he been speaking? Draco sighed, rolling his eyes before landing them back onto me, wide and pleading.
"Harry, I know your follow-up appointment isn't for another four days, but I think you need to go in before then. This isn't the first time your body has been acting up on you since you got out of the hospital and frankly it's-" he paused, gasping for air as though he'd been rambling- "terrifying."
I blinked, startled as everything he was saying fell into place in my brain. A dull ache formed at the base of my skull.
"What? No! This is... Draco, I'm fine!"
"See, I would believe that if you hadn't spent the past week and a half with your windpipe collapsing in your sleep," he held out his fingers as though he were counting, "with you spacing out, having day-long fits of diarrhea, your transfiguration has fallen, now... hell! Yesterday while we were having sex you told me you couldn't feel anything! At all! You didn't even feel it when I touched your hand!"
"Oh my god, will you stop?! Yes, I know I've been off, and sure, yesterday's timing was a bit awful, but do you really think this warrants me a visit to the hospital?! I'm alive! I made it! That's all that matters!"
Draco reared back as though he's been slapped. "You were hit with a curse nobody could identify- not even curse breakers, or Unspeakables. The healers were shocked you even woke up, let alone so soon. They told you they would need to monitor you!" Draco's voice was booming, I could tell by the way his face looked. I tried to ignore the cotton feeling in my ears, and the way my fingers twitched. "You wanted to go home, and maybe I was selfish and wanted you home too, but these things keep happening! And you're shrugging it off as though it's no concern!"
"Because I'm fine!" I yelled back, I felt magic like electricity coursing through my body. My fingers went numb with energy. My breathing increased in rapidity as my irritation grew. Why can't he bloody understand?! "You know that these are probably just after-effects of what happened! You know that I'm fine! I'll show up to Saint Mungo's just to have the entire Daily Prophet at the door and half the healers swooning and then they'll tell me I'm great! Fantastic! Their bloody savior! Of their fucking Wizarding-" my mouth instantly closed and clamped up and everything went rigid as though I'd just been petrified. My awareness quickly became reduced to blurry vision and the pain on my tongue as I bit down on it. The last thing I felt was a jolt of electricity shocking me.