He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.
Date: Friday, March 28, 2002
Time: After moonrise
Location: Spinner's End
Characters Involved: Draco Malfoy & June Connors
Rating: PG
( Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. )
Time: After moonrise
Location: Spinner's End
Characters Involved: Draco Malfoy & June Connors
Rating: PG
( Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. )
He hadn't. Right?
Having issues accepting that you actually trust her, Draco?
Bloody hell, there was that other voice again. He groaned aloud. This was not good. He had to silence that monologue again.
"Lumos." The light filled the bed and Draco frowned. Bloody alone. He wanted to apologize to her. What had he said to her? What had he done? A quick check and he knew he hadn't done anything overly stupid. At least there was that.
Still, he couldn't handle sitting here doing nothing. She'd been there for him. He would be there for her.
He took a deep breath and began levitating. He wouldn't bother Severus to help him with this. He desperately wanted to not make things worse on his friend. Dressed only in silk green pajamas, he moved slowly, concentrating hard on the task.
His mind on getting to June's room, he didn't think about how long after moonset it was. He didn't think about what would happen if Severus found him levitating. He focused solely on whether or not he was able to get to her.
At her door, he knocked on it. "June? Can I come in?"
He bit his lip, trying to focus, trying not to fall as he waited for her response.
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Easier said than done. The fire was crackling in the hearth and the room wasn't cold, but she was still shivering like mad, damp with sweat, and weak as a newborn kitten. The only thing to be grateful for was that she was used to this, and insofar as it was possible to prepare for it, she had.
With painful slowness, one hand crept across the floor, feeling around until it found the blanket she'd left by the foot of the bed. The bloody heavy blanket, or at least it seemed to weigh far too much, but eventually she managed to drag it haphazardly over herself. She huddled beneath it, waiting for her muscles to settle, for enough strength to return that she could get herself properly into bed.
And then the knock came.
Never had it crossed her mind that Draco might turn up down here, let alone so soon. She was lying on the floor, for Godric's sake, with a blanket barely covering enough of her for any decency. She couldn't have him finding her like this, but what was she supposed to do? Enough time may or may not have passed for the silencing charms to fade, but even if they had she didn't have the breath to call out for him to stay out. And her wand was beside the potions on the table.
Stifling a moan, she tried to draw herself in tighter beneath the blanket. Maybe if he didn't hear anything from inside he'd go away. Fat chance if he'd gone to the immense effort to get down here, but it was the only hope she had.
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Hearing no response, he entered further, expecting her to be in bed. She hadn't told him no before. Even as a wolf, he hadn't heard her tell him no. He'd told her he would be by.
Entering the room, he looked around, and nearly collapsed to the floor as her form appeared to his vision. She was on the floor, partially under a blanket which covered just about as much as he'd been covered when she came to visit. Well, except she had more vitals to cover.
"June," he breathed. He'd been told they were weak, were helpless after. He'd known they stayed in their rooms, but he hadn't imagined this.
Lowering himself quickly, he moved to her side with the levitation and covered her with the blanket more, being very careful and very gentle. His own injuries forgotten momentarily, only barely registered as how he couldn't move certain directions, but his mind focused entirely on making her comfortable.
Which was far better than focusing on how embarrassed he should be.
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You shouldn't be down here. You should be in bed.
Stop helping me. Take care of yourself. I'm fine!
What she actually managed to voice was a strangled sort of "nnngg" noise from low in her throat. Though she couldn't see his face, she suspected it was somewhat less reassuring than she'd intended.
Worse yet, the tiny burst of alertness from his unexpected arrival couldn't last. Even as he was tugging the blanket carefully over her unresponsive limbs, the blanket of fog was setting back over her thoughts. It was only the pain in her joints and muscles that was preventing her from falling asleep right here.
Wouldn't be the first time.
Draco. He was still here. June wasn't one who liked being taken care of, but she'd come to accept the necessity of it on the day after the Full. However, she'd prefer to be clothed and tucked up in her bed! Now even if she found the strength to try and crawl there, she couldn't. Couldn't risk losing the blanket in front of him - more importantly, couldn't let him see just how utterly pathetic she was.
Because it was possible to be more pathetic than collapsed on the floor unable to move or speak. Right.
At least it was Draco. She thought that if anyone not of the pack had to find her like this, she could do a lot worse than him. And not just because with his own current condition, he was less likely to be judgmental of her, but just because... he was Draco. He had just become the first human after Severus to touch her in wolf form - the first to hold her, in that form. She couldn't be uncomfortable around him after that.
Her thoughts drifting, she never noticed when she began to lapse back into unconsciousness.
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He'd never seen June this weak, this out of it. He'd never seen her incapable of taking care of herself. Weakness bothered him, but this...wasn't weakness. She'd survived this every month for the past six years. She was far stronger than nearly anyone.
He retrieved the potions, then sighed and smirked, just slightly, perhaps a touch softly, realizing she was sleeping.
"So nap time, hmm?"
He allowed himself to finally dwell on how close he'd come to sharing her curse instead of the little irritation he had. He'd been days away, and the knowledge caused him to shudder. Had he been bitten tonight instead of Sunday, he'd share this experience every moon.
"All right," he breathed, using his wand to bring over another blanket, settling it over both of them as he laid down next to her, making sure the first blanket was securely between them.
"I'll be here when you wake. You did that for me. It's the least I could do. Besides, I need to talk, and I don't know how to tell Severus."
That he was talking to her unconscious form didn't matter. It felt good to talk.
He curled next to her, but this time was careful not to put his arm around her.
"I'm allergic to silver, June. Me. Draco Malfoy. Prince of Slytherin, and I'm allergic to silver. I know I'm lucky not to be a werewolf, but how?" His voice was soft and low as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift.
He opened his eyes up some time later, noting that June hadn't really moved, but she seemed to have shifted somewhat.
"June? Are you up?"
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That was it - she wasn't alone.
As if on cue, he spoke, and she remembered. Draco. He was still here? Now she thought he'd been speaking before, talking to her as she'd been drifting. She edged one hand out toward where she could feel his body heat only a few inches away.
"Mmm..." It was the best she could do as far as an answer to his question. Words. Words would be helpful. "P- po... tion..?" That'd be a good start. As long as he was here, if he could Summon her pain potions over here, that would go a long way toward her being able to get herself into bed.
The problem of how she was going to do that without exposing anything she oughtn't - she wasn't worrying about that just yet. One step at a time, that was the secret to getting through today.
Besides, he was already dealing with limp eyelids over empty eye sockets, and that was at least as embarrassing as anything else she might inadvertently show him.
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The eyes bothered him somewhat, but after having heard about the scars she'd once borne, he wasn't going to make a sound. He did, however, wince, but he was reasonably confident she didn't notice. Beside, it could be passed off as having hit a spot on his leg.
"Here," he offered quietly, pressing a potion into her hand. "Be careful. It's open." He held the blanket over her to preserve her propriety. "When you've had them, I'll help you to the bed."
He needed to get her in a more appropriate place, somewhere Severus wouldn't skin him alive when if he discovered them.
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"Not... th'other," she managed, finding that breath for speaking already came a bit easier, though her voice was a hoarse ghost of its usual self. Explaining that taking the muscle relaxant now would make it flat-out impossible for her to get herself into bed anytime within the next four hours was too much work. Just let the pain potion work its magic, so to speak. "...one minute..."
It took several minutes all told, but gradually the potion snaked warm tendrils through her exhausted limbs, easing the pain of the transformation. Finally she was able to shift her weight, drawing her knees up until she could ease herself onto them. Then she cautiously pushed herself to a kneeling position, leaning heavily on one shaking arm as the other clutched the blanket around her.
Dizzy, ohMerlin...
"There's a... shirt..." she mumbled, trying not to slur her words though her tongue felt thick and clumsy. "Qui'itch shirt... on th' bed..."
What would Oliver think if he knew the old Puddlemere jersey that he'd given her had become her preferred post-transformation garment? The thing was just so soft, and nicely loose so it didn't bother oversensitive skin. She liked it, what could she say?
Not much right now, at any rate. This was too bloody embarrassing. The sooner she could be in bed, the better - even if it was too late to preserve any dignity at all.
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"June, let me help you," he muttered, flushing as she raised to her knees, holding the blanket around her. He helped to secure it around her more as she asked for a shirt.
Draco looked around, finding the shirt and retrieved it with his wand, unwilling to leave her, and not entirely sure he was able to.
"June, hold still, sit back down. Let me help you." He didn't think about dignity then, or anything but helping her with as much care as she'd shown him the night before. He tried to pull the shirt over her head, but his hands wouldn't obey the commands. Finally, he gave in.
Turning away from her, he put it in her hands. "I'm not looking, June. Just go ahead and get it on. I promise I won't look."
When she'd gotten it on, he used his wand to levitate her to the bed. "Just let me help you. Please? Stop arguing."
He levitated himself to the bed as well, holding the second potion in his hand carefully.
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The bedclothes were already turned back, so once he levitated her up there, she was able to crawl underneath them and give them a halfhearted tug so she was at least partially covered. She sensed his weight settling onto the mattress beside her, and offered him a shaky smile.
"'m not arguing..." Admittedly she wasn't very good about letting others take care of her, but right now she could hardly deny the need. Her nonexistent strength was just about spent, and the hand she lifted an inch or so from the sheet was shaking madly. After a moment she let it fall to rest on his leg, palm turned up, waiting for the second bottle to be placed in it. "You should be... in bed. Have th' other potion..?"
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