Draco/Harry

Warning... another emotional one from me.

For the Sharing A Bed Challenge

A couple cannot touch even when sharing a bed

Prompts: Snowy, feathers, tea, parchment

Harry was humming to himself. It was a habit he had picked up merely because it used to annoy Draco. Now he did it without realizing it. Today he was humming a Christmas Song. His song only paused when he lifted his cup of tea. No one could hum and swallow at the same time... although Harry had tried. Harry smirked to himself as he continued to read through the reports on his desk. There was a knock on the door. Harry looked up to see one of interns standing there nervously. His name was Bill, and he was a 7th year Ravenclaw this year. Harry smiled encouragingly. "Can I help you?"

The boy nibbled on his bottom lip before walking forward. "I was asked to deliver this to you Auror Potter." He was holding out a parchment. Harry quickly scanned it with his magic, and saw that it had been stamped by the guards. It was clear. Harry smiled at the boy before taking the paper. It was the light green parchment that St. Mungo's used. Harry's heart began to pound, even as he broke the seal. The world blurred, and Harry stared at the words in front of him blankly. But the boy took a step back, and the sound jolted him out of his reverie. He quickly jotted a note to Ron, told the boy to take it to his friend before he rushed off.

When Harry found himself at St. Mungo's, he was slightly surprised that he hadn't splinched himself, as he couldn't remember apparating. But the thought was a fleeting one, as he rushed inside. The nurse took one look at his face before directing him where he should go. That was a good thing because Harry wasn't sure he could form the words.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front a man who was blocking the door. "Get out my way." He growled.

The healer, which was apparent by his clothes, spoke softly and calmly. It took a few minutes for his words to get through Harry's hazy thoughts. "Mr. Malfoy is in a very delicate condition now. If you would like to see him, I need to tell you what precautions you must take." Harry nodded dumbly and dropped the hand that had been squeezing the man's arm.

Harry started to feel cold as they walked a few doors down to the man's office. Once inside the man offered Harry a drink, but he shook his head. Anything he drank would come right back up. "What's wrong with Draco?" Harry blurted the moment the man sat down.

"Mr. Malfoy was working on an experimental potion." Harry nodded, Draco was always working on something. "Mr. Malfoy accidentally put tainted unicorn blood into a potion meant to suppress depression..." The man trailed off. Harry had learned enough to know what had happened. The potion had exploded. But Draco was always under a shield charm anyway, it was one of the things he had promised to Harry. "... there would have been little damage, if Mr. Malfoy had not ingested a calming potion not too long earlier."

"What do you mean?" Harry's heart froze.

"Mr. Malfoy's body has become over sensitized." The man leaned forward and spoke in soft reassuring tones, but Harry's panic rose with every word. "The sensitivity causes his enormous pain if he even brushed up against the softest object. Even a feather brushing his skin would feel like someone cutting him. As soon as we were able, we surrounded him with an alternate form of a stasis charm. It has surrounded his entire body with a shield of sorts. It makes it so that nothing, not even his own hair, will brush against his skin."

"How long until you can cure him?"

The man sat back and looked above Harry's head to answer. "We do not have the skill necessary to do so."

Harry felt his anger boiling inside of him. "What do you mean, you do not have the skill?"

"This is a highly specialized case. We have already consulted with our top healers. There is simply nothing we can do for him, except make him more comfortable until..."

Harry stood up, the chair hit the floor, and his finger shook in the doctor's face. "Do not say it! Don't you dare say it!" Harry turned and left the office and practically ran into Draco's room. He looked so peaceful. He walked forward and reached out toward his husband's sleeping face. About an inch from it, he hit a barrier. It perfectly contoured his body. Harry went to put his fingers through Draco's hair, but found a barrier protecting it as well. Harry growled half in anger, half in sadness before crawling onto the bed. He lay with his chest hovering an inch from Draco's chest, his arm draped and inch above Draco's waist, and a leg laid and inch over Draco's.

Day's passed, and Harry hardly left Draco's side. During the day he would sit in a chair next to his husband, and remind him of their lives together. And at night he would crawl into the bed and lay himself against the barrier, hoping for just a hint of Draco's heat. He managed never to cry, until he recounted their first kiss.

The nurses had a habit of listening in on the stories when they were in the room. Harry hardly noticed them. "Draco do you remember that first Christmas. We happened to meet by chance. I had been shopping for Hermione in London, muggle London, and in you walked. Turns out the store was one you had invested money into. I don't remember what we argued about, do you? Something stupid, something in the past. You turned to leave and I just followed you out. I remember thinking you looked so angelic with your pale skin and hair. Your lips were too red and enticing for an angel though. But I was afraid, so I said something stupid." Harry chuckled and his fingers traced his jaw. "You socked me! I was so surprised I fell backward. But I grabbed your arm and pulled you into the snow with me. You were on top of me, and I found it so perfect, I pulled you down for a kiss. At first you froze, just like the snowy wonderland around us, but you started to..." Harry sniffed even as he felt a tear slip out of his eyes. "... you started to kiss back." A sob caught in Harry's throat. He lay his forehead on the bed and placed his hand on the barrier around Draco's hand. "I had... wanted you... so long! I... I... I finally... HAD... you. Why... why... why..." And his sobs made it impossible to speak any longer.

Harry felt a comforting hand on his back, but it didn't help. So it guided him to lay on the bed with his frozen mate. Harry clutched at his husband, even as the barrier kept him from touching him, or even moving him. It was like hugging a statue. It wasn't his fiery Draco. It wasn't him! Harry slipped into sleep even before his sobs had subsided.

Harry never went back to work. Hermione and Ron visited him and Draco multiple times, but he never seemed to see them. At first Ron had been angry at Harry, had even punched him. But Harry hadn't even looked at Ron, he had just stood up and crawled onto the bed with Draco again. The month passed fast, and Hermione grew worried for her friend. She approached Dr. Smecks who was in charge of Draco's case.

It was about halfway through the conversation that Hermione learned what was really going on. "Mr. Potter is feeding Mr. Malfoy his magic."

"What?" Hermione stared at the man incredulously.

"It's one of the main reasons we haven't tried to separate them. Mr. Malfoy's best hope is that Mr. Potter feeds him enough magic to help him heal naturally from this affliction."

"But isn't Malfoy in a stasis charm? He won't heal anyway! It'll just end up hurting Harry!" Hermione pulled on a strand of hair in nervousness.

"It's not exactly a stasis charm. It is just slowing the effects down dramatically. If Malfoy was not receiving any magic he would have a week at most left, before the pain caused his brain to permanently shut down."

"WHAT!"

"But as it is, Mr. Malfoy has at least another month in him. I have consulted with the others, and they agree that we best leave Mr. Potter as he is. We don't think he realizes what he is doing, which is a good thing. If Mr. Potter tried to send his magic on purpose, it could outbalance Mr. Malfoy's own magical core, causing both to perish instantly. Unfortunately you are seeing the side affects of what Mr. Potter is doing. He is always depressed, he hardly eats, and his whole attention is on Mr. Malfoy. We have been doing our best to keep Mr. Potter healthy throughout this process."

"When would Malfoy be healed, theoretically?"

"About a year, by our best guess."

"A year! Harry will die before then!" Hermione stood this time, she began to pace, even as her brain did the math. Harry would never live a full year giving his magic away to someone.

"Ms. Granger, I think you are misunderstanding something. "The magic that Mr. Potter is channeling into Mr. Malfoy will not affect his health directly. It will affect his mood, but that is only because that is the body's way of complaining. It's the same amount of magic he would do if he exercised for an hour each day. If this affected Mr. Potter's health at all, we would not have allowed it."

Hermione nodded, before she slowly sat back down again. "What can I do to help?"

Harry glanced outside briefly. It was snowing. A whole year had passed. A whole year he had stayed by Draco's side. Harry briefly wondered about Ron and Hermione, before his attention returned to Draco. As had become his habit, he pressed his hand against the shield on Draco's forehead. He almost couldn't remember what it felt like to touch Draco's skin. Than as he watched, Draco's eyes slid open. Green eyes caught silver and the shield disappeared.

Please let me know what you think!