agneskamilla (agneskamilla) wrote in adventdrabbles, @ 2014-12-07 13:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | contributor: agneskamilla, dec06, fandom: harry potter, prompt06, year: 2014 |
Dec 6, Harry Potter, Gen (this part), Night-time
Title: Night-time
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing/Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy
Rating: G
Word Count: 905
Warning(s): AU, H/C
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I write this only for entertainment purposes, no money is made by me.
Prompt: Holiday Hangover
AN: Unbeta'd. Written for adventdrabbles 2014; Day 6. I have had this idea for months and now I will attempt to write it in December... so TBC. Follow up to Departure, Encounter and Storm.
With a tired sigh, Harry changes the cold compress on the man’s forehead once again. It is now the wee hours of the night but Harry’s patient is still running a fever and he is still unconscious.
The storm has finally quieted down, and now silence blankets both the outside world and the inside of the tavern.
Harry has been sitting by the man’s bedside for hours; ever since they brought him in and laid him down in the room he previously rented for the night, according to Bernard. Bernard’s second wife, who is a qualified Mediwitch, examined the man and declared that he had a mild concussion and was in need of natural sleep, but she found no remaining damage. Harry was relieved beyond words. She also said that the man needed supervision until he woke up, and Harry volunteered to sit with him.
The injured man’s blond companion was there when they brought the man in – he had been waiting for the dark man’s return in the warm security of the pub – and asked about the dark man’s state, but after learning that he would be all right, the blonde excused himself and hasn’t returned yet. Harry finds that odd. He cannot fathom what is so important for the blonde to leave his companion in a stranger’s care. Although Harry isn’t complaining.
In spite of Harry’s best efforts the fever still hasn’t broken. Harry suspects it is because of magical shock; after all, Harry used a highly intrusive magical method in the man’s very core to heal him, and the excess amount of foreign magic in the man’s body hasn’t settled yet.
Harry removes the compress and lays his hand on the marble-white forehead. His magic reaches out to soothe the agitated energy working under the other’s skin and the same glowing patterns that previously covered their skins act up once again, leaving them in a sphere of soft light. Harry sees the red roses of fever on the man’s cheeks retreat.
Harry sighs in relief and removes his hand.
“What are you doing to him?” an unpleasant voice inquires suddenly.
Harry, caught and slightly panicky, turns to see the blond man in the door, eyeing him with a frown. He frantically searches his brain for an acceptable answer. “His fever is acting up again, so I applied a cooling charm,” Harry lies.
The blonde narrows his eyes in suspicion. “I am grateful for your services but I think you should leave now. I will stay by his side,” he says coldly and doesn’t sound grateful at all.
Harry is extremely reluctant to leave, but knows that he has no legitimate reason to be here anymore. He stands up. “He has been stirring in the past half an hour. He will probably wake up soon and will need a headache potion. Bernard promised to supply me with one but he must have forgotten it in all this chaos.”
“Bernard?” The blonde looks as if he smelled something unpleasant.
“The barman,” Harry clarifies.
“I see,” the other man says in a condescending tone.
“I can go and fetch the potion,” Harry offers.
The blonde nods dismissively and takes Harry’s place beside the bed.
Harry leaves the room and immediately stumbles upon a man lying on the corridor, dressed only in a strategically placed Santa’s hat. He is not the only patron sprawled out in Harry’s path towards the bar; many spent the night, confined within the walls of the tavern because of the blizzard, in the company of a bottle or three of some alcoholic beverage. The house is filled with the noises of snoring.
Harry finds Bernard in the kitchen, bleary eyed and exhausted. Harry asks for the potion and Bernard gives it to him with an apology for the delay in delivering it.
“No problem, this was a busy night,” Harry reassures him. “Are the horses settled once again?” he asks.
“Yes, but the damage in the stables is extensive.” Bernard sighs.
“Maybe I will be able to help with that tomorrow,” Harry offers. “At home it was always me who did the household repairs.”
Bernard agrees gratefully and they bid each other goodnight.
Harry walks back into his patient’s room, and is slowly opening the door when he hears voices from within. He recognizes the blond man’s whiny timbre followed by another, much darker and rustier voice. He silently steps inside and sees the blonde leaning over the other man, wiping his forehead with a cool and wet cloth just like Harry did for the last few hours. The dark haired occupant of the bed, once again conscious, is watching the blonde with an almost-smile on his face.
Harry hears only snippets of their quiet conversation.
“…for taking care of me…” the dark man says hoarsely.
“…no hardship… the same for me,” his blonde companion answers. They have eyes only for each other and never see Harry in the door.
The whole scene is painfully tender and intimate. With an inexplicable ache in his chest Harry realizes that he is not needed here. He leaves the potion bottle on the table next to the door and quietly leaves the room, to finally head towards his own bed for some rest.
It comes to Harry’s mind only after reaching his own room that he doesn’t know the name of his patient, nor the blond man’s, for that matter. They were never introduced.