Harry and Draco's first football game was coming up, and Draco was extremely nervous.
"I don't understand. You've played hundreds of football games before, why are you so nervous for this one?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because the coach is so determined to win the championships this year, and I feel like I'm going to ruin it," Draco responded.
"Ruin it? Draco, you couldn't. You're one of the best players on the team," Harry reassured Draco, for what felt like the millionth time.
"I'm not the best, though," Draco argued. "You are."
"Oh, please I'm not the best. If anything, Ron is the best. That stupid git," Harry said.
"Oh come on; it goes you, Ron, Dean, then me. Everyone knows it," Draco said.
"You're the only one who 'knows it', Draco, as much as it pains me to admit, Ron may be stupid, but he is a damn good football player," Harry said with air quotes around "knows it."
"Wow. Good at football and modest. You're every girls dream," Draco sighed.
"You're blinded by our friendship. Honestly, I think you need to go get your eyes checked. Maybe even your brain," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Well, that's harsh, Potter," Draco said, putting his hands to his hurt and mocking a face of pain.
"You're an idiot, you know," Harry said, pushing Draco away from him.
"Yeah, sure. But you are friends with this so-called idiot, so the joke's on you," Draco responded.
"Yeah, I am," Harry sighed. A couple of days later, it was finally the big day. After many reassurances from Harry, Draco finally felt more confident. They were heating up and stretching when the coach called them into a huddle for one final prep talk.
"Okay guys! This is it, the game we have all been waiting for-" the coach started.
"It all comes down to this," Draco interrupted.
"This is a big deal" Harry continued.
"This game can set the terms of the championships" Ron, a red-headed tall player, said.
"Okay, okay. I get it, I say this speech a lot, but this game is important so I expect you boys to be playing with your best efforts today. Understood?"
"Understood," all the players murmured in agreement. The coach looked to the scoreboard and saw they still had time left.
"Okay, so we all know who's starting yes?" the coach asked.
"Yes, sir," eleven of the players, including Draco and Harry said.
"We're starting with 4-4-2, right Coach Wood?" a boy with curly brown hair said.
"Yes, and then we'll see how the other team plays and go from there," Coach Wood replied. Then, the referees began motioning for the teams to start. Harry's team had won the coin toss, so they were going to kick-off. The boy with curly brown hair went to the referee in the center of the field to kick-off the ball and the game began.
The game went by uneventfully, as no one had scored, until there was only about two minutes in the first half. The ball had gotten to their side of the field and Draco had a break away. No one was near him, and he was running as fast as he could. He was almost at the goal when he suddenly stopped. He bent over and grabbed his stomach. Harry had been watching this and ran to his best friend. Everyone seemed to be frozen in their spots.
"D-draco, what's wrong?" Harry panted. Draco didn't answer, and Harry motioned for their coach to come over. Their coach along with a few of the players came over. Coach Wood knelt beside him and said, "What's going on?" and Draco just shook his head. He was having a hard time breathing and was wheezing and coughing.
Then the coach told one of the players to call 911. Harry was watching this silently and went to kneel down next to Draco and the coach. Draco was still struggling to breath when Harry heard his parents call him. They were running over to them and when they finally got there, Harry knew they were worried.
"What's going on?" James asked Harry. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of Draco as the coach instructed him to lay down. He heard a distant siren was getting increasingly louder. Lily and James walked over to kneel down besides Harry.
"What happened?" Lily asked, softly.
"I-I don't know. He was fine and then all of a sudden, he wasn't. Are the paramedics here yet?" Harry asked looking concerned for Draco.
"I think they're close. I hear them," James said.
"Right," Harry almost whispered.
"He'll be okay, Harry," Lily said, but it looked as if she was trying to convince herself rather than Harry.
"Yeah," Harry said, still staring at Draco. Then, the paramedics finally arrived. They had Draco get on a stretcher and wheeled him into the back of the ambulance.
"C-can I go with you?" Harry asked one of the paramedics.
"One person can ride along, yes," he answered quickly and walked off. Harry turned to his parents who nodded at him.
"Yeah, go ahead," James said. "We'll meet you over there,"
"Okay," Harry said and got into the ambulance. They had already hooked Draco up to an oxygen tank and it appeared he was getting slightly better. A few seconds later, all the doors were closed and the ambulance was speeding off to the hospital. It only took five minutes to arrive and the paramedics went straight to work and got Draco out in record time. Harry followed closely as they passed Draco over to a few nurses and went through the hospital and assigned Draco a room.
"Okay, I'll just leave you two here for now, while I go get all the paperwork. If you have any problems press the nurse button," a nurse with red hair told the boys and left. Harry nodded and looked back to Draco. He was just laying there with his eyes closed. Harry knew he was awake though, because his eyes always fluttered while he slept, but they weren't now. Harry walked over to the bed and sat down in a small chair. Draco finally opened his eyes.
"You know, you don't always have to make a scene everywhere you go," Harry said tentatively, trying to cheer Draco up. Draco went to reach to take his oxygen mask off, probably to make a snarky reply, but Harry grabbed his hand.
"No, you don't need to be taking that off," Harry said sternly. Draco responded with a glare.
"I don't know what that was, but it scared me. Why'd you have to do that?" Harry teased. Draco wasn't paying attention. He was looking down at his hand was still in Harry's grasp. Harry looked down as well and realized he was still holding Draco's hand. He went to pull away but Draco squeezed his hand, silently asking for him not to let go. Harry obliged and went on like nothing happened.
"You know we would've won, too. But, no, you had to go and stop breathing," Harry said with a smirk. Draco just shook his head. Then the nurse walked in holding a small stack of papers.
"We need you to fill these out, and we should contact your parents. Do you have numbers I can call them at?" Harry stood up and took the papers.
"Well, his parents are out of country at the moment. He's staying with us. He's going to be okay, though, right?" Harry asked, looking concerned.
"Oh yes he'll be fine. But we need permission from parents to perform any treatment," the nurse assured.
"Oh, can you get permission over the phone?" Harry asked.
"Yes, that'll have to do, if we have no other option," the nurse said.
"Okay let me just find their numbers..." Harry said as he looked around for his bag. Then, he realized everyone was in such a rush that no one grabbed anything. His stuff was still on the field, along with Draco's.
"Actually, I think we're going to have to wait until my parents get here. I don't have any of my stuff with me at the moment," Harry told the nurse.
"Oh, alright. When they come in, I'll have them give me the information to contact his parents so you won't have to worry about it," the nurse told Harry.
"Oh, okay," Harry said, turning around to walk to the bed again.
"Well, a doctor should be in here shortly to make sure everything is fine. Goodbye now," the nurse told the both of them. Harry sat back down as she closed the door behind her after she left.
"She was alright, but she was kinda perky, don't you think?" Harry asked looking at Draco, who was already staring at him. Draco nodded vigorously.
"You must hate that thing. I know how much you like to hear yourself talk," Harry said. Draco reached up to take it off, but Harry caught his hand again. This time, however, Draco just used his other hand to take it off, which made Harry frown.
"You should keep that on, I think," Harry said.
"And just lay here and let you talk shit about me? No thanks," Draco replied.
"Fine, I won't say anything bad anymore. Just put it back on," Harry pleaded.
"And what do I get if I do? Draco asked, one eyebrow arching up.
"Hmm, you get to stay alive?" Harry suggested.
"I'm fine. I don't need this thing anymore. It was just a little...panic attack?" Draco's voice went high at the end, making it sound like a question rather than a statement.
"I'm pretty sure it was just a little more serious than a panic attack, Draco. You couldn't breathe! And plus, you've never had a panic attack before. Why would you have one so suddenly at our game?" Harry pointed out.
"I don't know. You know I was worried about the game, so maybe that's what triggered it," Draco said, shrugging.
"Remember when you were having a hard time breathing when we were running the other day?" Harry asked him, trying to figure out what had happened.
"I wasn't having trouble breathing. I was just a little tired, is all," Draco said.
"Draco, I know that you don't want to hear it, but maybe there is a serious medical problem involved," Harry said.
"No, there isn't. I'm fine, Harry. F-I-N-E," Draco said, as if spelling it out would convince Harry.
"I'll believe it when the doctor says it," Harry said. Draco opened his mouth to argue, but then the door open and Lily and James burst in. They were carrying Harry's and Draco's bags with them.
"Oh, Draco, are you alright?" Lily asked, looking like a concerned mother, which made Draco smile.
"I'm fine. The only reason that I'm still here is because Harry, here, is worried about me," Draco said while pointing his thumb at Harry and rolling his eyes. Harry just glared at him.
"I probably wouldn't worry so much, if you put that damn thing back on, already!" Harry exclaimed.
"Alright, alright," Draco gave in and put the oxygen mask back on.
"Oh, by the way, I gave the nurse at the desk the numbers for your parents. They'll be calling them soon," James spoke up.
Draco pulled the mask off, "Oh, yay," he said sarcastically. Harry gave him a pointed look and Draco put the mask back on.
"Have you seen a-" Lily started to say, but was cut off by the door opening. A young woman in a white coat walked in.
"Oh, sorry," she said to Harry's parents, as they were close to the door and the doctor had almost hit them.
"Oh, no. That was our fault. We shouldn't have been standing in front of the door like that," Lily said, and the doctor smiled in return.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Etaine," the lady announced to the room. "I see you were having a hard time breathing earlier?" Draco looked over to Harry to see if he was going to get mad at him if he took the mask off. Instead, he saw Harry staring at the doctor admiringly. After a few seconds of no one saying anything, Draco took his mask off and spoke up.
"Yeah, I would say so," Draco retorted. The nurse smiled and walked over to Draco pulling her stethoscope away from her neck as she did so. As she checked his heartbeat, he studied her. She was average height 5'8" or so, had wavy, light brown hair, and had brown eyes. Draco concluded that she was pretty, but he didn't think she was gawk-worthy. He looked over to Harry to see him staring at her.
Draco coughed and Harry looked up at him. Their eyes met for a second, but then Draco turned away. Dr. Etaine backed up and consulted her clipboard which had a few papers on it. She made some notes and looked up.
"Have you had any other incidents where you had trouble breathing before?" the doctor asked Draco. Draco shook his head.
"A few days or so ago, he was having some trouble catching his breath after our daily run," Harry interjected, which made Draco glare at him.
"It was nothing," Draco told the doctor.
"Well we shouldn't rule anything out right now.
"And you put in the papers that your mother had asthma, correct?" she asked Draco.
"Um, yes I guess I did," Draco said. He hadn't written anything on the papers. Harry had filled them all out.
"I think you have asthma, as well" she stated matter-of-fact.
"A-asthma?" Draco asked, softly. Harry scooted his chair closer to the bed, but Draco just glared at him again.
"Yes. Wheezing and coughing are classic signs of an asthma attack and the sounds in your lungs just right now confirmed. I'm going to write down the prescription to get an inhaler and medicine right now, okay?" she asked and Draco just nodded. Dr. Etaine wrote a few things on her clipboard and ripped a little piece of paper off of it and handed it to Draco. Draco just stared at it.
"This prescription is for a preventer inhaler that you will take twice a day to prevent anything from happening," the doctor said and then wrote down another prescription. "And this one is for a reliever inhaler, which you use if your asthma starts to act up," she continued while she handed Draco the other prescription. She then went on to explain how to use both of them and what he should expect from now on.
Draco was trying to pay attention but many thoughts were invading his mind and all he could think was, 'I need to get out of here.'
"Okay, well I think you're good to go. Your breathing is back to normal. Just make sure you drop these prescriptions off as soon as possible. I'll just get your release papers," she said and walked out of the room. Everyone remained silent when she left.
"Asthma can be controlled. It's not that big of a deal, you know," Harry said to Draco, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Draco said softly, sounding unconvinced.
"Hey, it'll be okay, Draco, I promise," Harry said, putting his hand on Draco's shoulder. Before Draco could answer, the doctor walked in with the release papers. He just had to sign a few papers and then they were allowed to go. Draco remained silent as they drove to the pharmacy and then home. Lily and James tried to keep up a conversation but Draco refused to contribute and Harry was too worried about Draco to invest himself in the conversation. When they finally got home, Draco and Harry went straight to Harry's bedroom. Draco laid face down on the bed as soon as they entered.
"D-draco?" Harry asked softly. Draco didn't reply.
"Draco, I know that this scares you, but you're fine. It's just asthma," Harry told him, trying to comfort him. Draco sat up and looked at Harry for a few seconds.
"You don't get it, Harry," Draco said.
"Then help me to," Harry replied.
"What happened to... you know. It started off with just a few minor problems and then..." Draco trailed off.
"That's not going to happen to you Draco. What happened to your sister was a terrible thing, but just because it happened to her, doesn't mean it's going to happen to you as well," Harry tried to assure him.
"You don't know that, Harry. Maybe our family is just cursed," Draco said, putting his face in his hands.
"Look, your mother has asthma. That's likely why you have it. It's not because you're about to get terribly sick," Harry said.
"You don't know that," Draco repeated.
"Yes I do. And if you do happen to get sick, you have full permission to backhand me," Harry said, trying to make Draco smile. He didn't.
"It's going to happen. I just know it," Draco said softly.
"It won't, okay? You have to believe that," Harry said, sitting down next to Draco. Draco finally brought his head up and looked at Harry.
"It's hard, Harry," Draco said. His eyes were getting watery.
"I know, Draco, I know," Harry said. Then he hugged Draco to him. Draco kept quiet as tears rolled down his face.
"I miss her," Draco croaked.
"Of course you do. She was your big sister. She was always there for you," Harry said, trying to calm Draco.
"Harry?" Draco asked tentatively.
"Yes, Draco?" Harry said.
"D-do you believe in an afterlife?" Draco asked Harry.
"I have to believe in an afterlife. I can't accept the idea that when people die, I'll never see them again. I have to know that we'll be together again one day," Harry answered.
"Yeah, there must be something after all this, right?" Draco asked.
"Right," Harry confirmed. Draco sat up and looked at Harry.
"Thank you," Draco whispered. Then he stood up and kissed Harry on the cheek.
"I'm going to go home to take a shower. I'll be in about half an hour," Draco told him. Harry nodded. After Draco left, Harry put his hand on his cheek, thinking about what just happened.
A/N: So in this, I made Wood just a little older so he could be the coach, because he always deserves to be the coach. Anyways, did you guys like that Draco had a bigger sister?