Fic: Nothing is More Important Than You Title: Nothing is More Important Than You Author:kitty_fic My own prompt: Scorpius gets hurt on an Auror Training Mission. He attempts to hide his injury but Harry isn't having it. Rating: PG-13 Pairing(s): Harry/Scorpius Summary: What was supposed to be a routine check of Knockturn Alley with a group of Auror Trainees ended up as something much more dangerous. When Scorpius Malfoy gets hurt, Harry loses control. Warnings: None (I don't get to write that word very often. lol) Word Count: 1927 Author's Notes: Thank you kinky_kneazle for the fantastic beta plus so much more! <3 Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
*****
Harry ducked and weaved as hexes flew by him on either side. He took a moment to look around and account for everyone in his team. Ron and the rest of the Aurors were to his left and seemed to be holding their own, shooting hexes back at the wizards they were currently battling.
What was supposed to be a routine check of Knockturn Alley with a group of Auror Trainees ended up as something much more dangerous. Now, Harry found himself in the predicament of having to defend and protect these new and inexperienced young men and women who were still training for battle.
He had already given the order that they stand back and stay out of the way of the experienced Aurors. A message had already been sent for backup and as soon as it arrived he planned to send them out of here. He looked behind him and noticed that a few of the trainees were currently locked in a battle with two of the perpetrators that had slipped past the front lines. They were holding their own for the moment, but on a second look something did seem to be off.
Harry cast a Protego as a jinx came at him and turned to make his way back to the young men and women to offer some extra help against their attackers.
When he reached them, he finally realized what it was that had seemed so off. Scorpius Malfoy was favoring his left arm. He kept the arm close to his body as he used his right hand to fire off counter spells.
"Scorpius, are you okay?" Harry asked as he came up beside the boy blocking another jinx.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Your arm. Looks like you've hurt it. Were you hit?"
"I'm fine, sir. Really."
Harry didn't think Scorpius even realized that he curled his fingers in and shifted his hand even closer to his body. Harry didn't have a chance to comment further because they were accosted on their other side and he turned back to back with Scorpius to defend against their newest attacker.
Harry threw himself back into battle firing one last Stupefy at his opponent and moving back into the thick of battle.
Moments later, reinforcements finally arrived and they quickly subdued their opposition. Harry turned back towards his trainees to assess their damage. Determining that none had been seriously injured, he instructed them to return immediately to the Ministry and wait there to be debriefed. Scorpius turned away from him to follow his team mates but Harry's caught sight of Scorpius' hand again and noticed that he was cradling it even closer than before, almost as if he was trying to hide it from everyone's attention.
"Scorpius, wait. I want to talk to you." Harry gently grabbed Scorpius' shoulder.
Scorpius turned his head to face Harry but kept his arm to his side and his hand hidden. "Yes, sir?"
"Your hand. Let me see it."
"No, it's fine," Scorpius insisted, moving his hand further behind him.
Harry narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. "Let me see it." His voice that time left no room for argument.
Scorpius slowly moved his arm from his side, stretching it towards Harry.
Harry didn't wait though. His hand darted out and grabbed Scorpius' hand, pulling it close to him. Three of Scorpius' fingertips, starting with his smallest finger, had begun to turn black.
"What happened? You've been cursed?" Panic edged Harry's voice.
Harry's heart began to race and his breathing sped up at the familiar sight; a sense of dread filled his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me you'd been hit." Harry looked down again at Scorpius' hand that he still clutched in his own. He could see that the curse was slowly spreading to a fourth finger.
"You were busy. We were stretched thin. I knew you couldn't afford to be distracted," Scorpius said weakly.
Harry finally released Scorpius' hand and grabbed him by both shoulders instead. Looking up into Scorpius' face solemnly. He willed the boy to understand.
"Nothing is more important than your health and safety. Do you understand that? Nothing!" He shook him just a bit to drive his point home.
With a flourish of his wand, Harry sent a Patronus off to Ron letting his partner know what had happened. The next moment, he wrapped an arm around Scorpius, pulled him close and said, "Hold on. We're going."
"Going where?"
Harry barely registered Scorpius' question over the sound of his own heartbeat.
He pulled Scorpius closer and Apparated them directly to St. Mungos emergency room.
Harry's feet had barely hit the ground again before he was shouting out for help. "I have an injured Auror. I need help over here! Someone help him!" His voice came out a bit cracked and Harry cleared his throat as a Healer and two Mediwitches rushed to their side. Harry grabbed Scorpius' hand once more and thrust it towards them. All five of Scorpius' fingers were black now and had began to move up towards his wrist.
"Oh, yes, I see," the healer said as he waved his wand over Scorpius' hand. "This is very dark magic."
Harry's breath hitched. "Can you help him? You have to stop it," he growled.
The healer looked up at Harry and said, "Yes. Yes I can stop it. It will require that I put the young man in a stasis spell." He nodded to one of the mediwitches before turning back to Harry. "Please follow Madam Delamere. She will show you to a private room."
A kind older witch that reminded Harry of Madam Pomfrey bustled out of the room and motioned for them to follow.
Harry felt Scorpius squeeze his hand tightly as they followed and he wondered when he had taken Scorpius' hand in his again.
*****
Harry sat by Scorpius' bed watching as he slept. He had been put into a magically induced stasis sleep in order to stop the curse from spreading as they worked their magic to reverse the effects.
Harry absently glanced up at the clock out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see that he had been sitting by Scorpius bedside for three hours without moving.
The Healers had done all that they could. Healing spells had been set in motion that would work to rid Scorpius' body of any lingering damage from the curse, but unfortunately they couldn't tell Harry how long that would take. The only thing they assured him of was that Scorpius would wake up on his own once the dark magic had been purged from his body.
Shortly after the first hour, the colour in Scorpius' hand had returned to normal, yet he still remained asleep.
Harry reached out to grasp Scorpius' hand again as he had done several times over the last few hours but when he heard the door open behind him, he quickly dropped it and turned to see who had entered.
"Hey mate, are you ok?" Ron asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah." Harry nodded.
"I was surprised when you hadn't come back to the Ministry yet."
The way Ron looked at him with so many questions had Harry's defenses raised.
"I had to stay here. Scorpius needed me. His parents are in France on standby waiting for an international portkey. He didn't have anyone else here with him," he blurted.
Ron raised his hands in surrender.
"He's fine now, yeah?" he asked.
"You didn't see his hand Ron. You don't have any idea what it looked like. Merlin, it reminded me of Dumbledore's. You would have been worried too."
"Yes, I'm sure I would have. But there are normal procedures and lots of options for getting him help. You didn't have to bring him here yourself."
Had he overreacted? Harry had always been protective of his trainees. He'd have felt this way about any of them getting hurt. Wouldn't he?
But if he was truly honest with himself, Harry knew that he'd never lost control like he had today. He cringed a bit as he remembered the way he had appeared in the emergency room of St. Mungo's and demanded help so adamantly. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that something was different about today. Something was different because it was Scorpius Malfoy that had been threatened.
"Yes I did," Harry said. "I can't explain why, but I just did. I care about him."
"Sure, Harry. I get it." Ron clapped him on the back and moved towards the door. "Don't worry about anything back at the office. I'll take care of everything until you get back."
"Thanks, Ron," Harry whispered. He was already deep in thought when his friend left the room. Harry didn't know how Ron could say he got it when Harry wasn't sure he understood it at all himself.
Only a moment after Ron left, Harry heard a groan coming from Scorpius' bed. He looked up and could see the boy beginning to move.
Harry grabbed his hand again. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
With a grunt, Scorpius shifted over to one side. "I feel like I've been drugged. What did they do to me?" he asked.
"Don't worry, the healers said it was to be expected. They said you might have trouble coming out of the stasis sleep you were put under," Harry assured him.
"Am I going to be okay then?" Scorpius asked.
"Yes. The curse has been purged from your body and they were able to heal all of the spell damage. You were lucky."
Scorpius pulled his hand from Harry's grasp, then used it to grab the edge of the bed and tried to push himself up.
"Don't try to sit up." Harry gently pushed Scorpius back down again.
"Harry, come here," Scorpius whispered.
Harry leaned slightly over Scorpius' bed. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"
"Closer."
Harry hesitated.
"Please," Scorpius breathed as he grabbed Harry's hand and gave him a gentle tug in encouragement.
Harry leaned over Scorpius close enough to feel his warm breath against his cheek and the edge of his mouth.
"What is it, Scorpius?" Harry asked, his voice coarse.
"Thank you. For everything." His breath tickled Harry's chin.
Harry looked down into Scorpius' endless blue eyes. "You're wel-."
Scorpius cut him off with a kiss, melding their lips together and prohibiting Harry from finishing the word. Harry froze in place afraid to move. Scorpius Malfoy was kissing him. He recovered from the shock quickly and when he registered the first explosion of taste that was Scorpius, he knew that he was lost. He pressed into Scorpius, parting his lips slightly, welcoming the kiss and crushing his mouth to Scorpius like he was starving for him.
Slowly, Harry pulled away from Scorpius' lips, reminding himself that the boy had just awoken from a stasis sleep. He pulled Scorpius' hand up to his lips instead and pressed a kiss to the unblemished skin.
"You should get some more sleep," he said, smoothing Scorpius silky blond hair back from his forehead.
Scorpius nodded and Harry began to move away. He needed to get the healer and have Scorpius checked over, but the hand in his tightened, preventing him from moving any further away.
"You'll be here when I wake up?" Scorpius asked.
"Of course." Harry nodded.
Harry watched Scorpius' eyelids drift shut and tried to reconcile the jumble of swirling thoughts and emotions raging in his mind. He closed his eyes and forced them all away. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he'd be there when Scorpius woke up.