All Will Be Well

Draco woke the next morning to birds chirping in the forest around them. Amira was already up, he could smell that she'd made breakfast. He sat up and put on his shoes before wandering to the kitchen. There was a plate of eggs, toast, and fruit for him there, next to a cup of tea with a warming charm on it. He smiled and ate quickly, hearing some quiet talking outside. 

Draco couldn't believe it. He was camping with Potter while they were both on the run from the Dark Lord. If he told himself that a few years ago, he would have thought he'd gone mad. Images of last night also played through his mind. He couldn’t believe the immense trust that he had been gifted. He would never ever take it for granted. The gift of being the one to be able to show her what sex should be like, and to make her feel that good was incredible. 

He donned his winter coat and boots and went outside. Potter and Amira were sitting next to a fire talking to each other. It seemed more pleasant than it had been last night. Draco walked over and sat next to Amira, but didn't interrupt them. 

"So mostly we just looked through old memories of his to find out where his horcruxes could be hidden," Potter was explaining. He looked up when Draco came over but didn't greet him. Draco knew that six years of hostilities were not going to be solved overnight. Draco didn't really care to do that. 

"No magic training?" she asked. He shook his head. Amira turned to look at Draco. "I was just asking him about his previous encounters with the Dark Lord and what preparation he has to fight him again."

Potter nodded. 

"We need to go to Hogwarts," Amira said, "There's a basilisk there."

"What?" Draco asked. 

"In the chamber of secrets," Potter said, "It's dead."

"But it's fangs will still work to destroy the other horcruxes," Amira explained. Then she turned back to Potter. "You're a parselmouth?"

"Yes," Potter said and tapped his scar. 

"Tell me about that connection," Amira requested. Her tone was still commanding, but much more polite and soft than the previous night. 

Potter sighed, "It used to be almost dormant, unless we were in the same room, then it hurt a lot. Since he came back, I get dreams, even visions when I'm awake sometimes. It hurts when he's angry or happy, or anytime he's close."

"Can you see through his eyes whenever you want? Can he see through yours?" Amira asked, eyes narrowed. Harry shook his head. 

"I try to leave it alone as much as I can," he said, "Because it goes both ways. Luckily, I can feel when he's in my head, and fight back, so he doesn't try that anymore."

"Do you practice Occlumency?" Amira asked. 

Granger had come out and joined them, "No but he should."

"I tried to learn, my fifth year, with Snape but it didn't work," Harry admitted. Draco held back a snappy retort. He didn't want to be like that anymore. Especially not in front of Amira. 

"Interesting," Amira said. 

"So what are we going to do today?" Granger asked Amira. Amira looked at Draco. 

"Well," he said, "We should probably move again today, just to be safe. And we could go get some food to stock up your tent. We don't have enough for four people."

Amira nodded, "Good idea."

"Then you should probably start working with him right away," Draco suggested and pointed at Potter, "Granger and I can spend the time strategizing our next moves."

"Great plan," Granger agreed. 

"Draco, do you mind packing up the tent while I go run?" Amira asked him quietly as they stood. Draco nodded, knowing that Amira had to in order to stay stable. Granger heard them. 

"Oh do you like to run?" she asked. 

"Yeah, I try to stay fit," Amira said. 

Draco turned towards the tent when Amira took off. He closed it down and then waited for Granger and Potter. Their tent was much bigger, as he had seen last night, which made sense as it was bought to fit the entire Weasley clan. They had to go about packing it up a little more. When they were done, Draco started to take down their wards to cover their tracks. 

Amira joined them a couple minutes later, out of breath with flushed cheeks. Draco thought she looked beautiful. He stared, and she caught him, and then blushed even more and looked down. Dirty thoughts raced across Draco’s mind. 

"Are we ready?" Potter asked her. He seemed to be ignoring Draco, which was perfectly fine with him. 

"Yes," Amira extended her arm to him. Potter took it quickly and Draco narrowed his eyes. It had been decided that Draco would apparate Granger, and Amira would have Potter to show them which town they would need to go to, but now Draco wasn't as sure that he liked that arrangement. 

Amira disappeared silently as always. Draco still had a crack to his, but he was working on quieting it. They landed on the outskirts of one of the three towns they rotated through. 

Amira was helping Potter off of the ground and Draco rolled his eyes. At least Granger knew how to land. 

He started walking to the small grocery store that they had found. 

"Pick out what you like," Amira told Granger, and handed her some money. 

"What are you going to get?" Granger asked. 

"I'm craving pasta," Amira admitted. 

"Oh that sounds wonderful, should we do dinners together? We could take turns cooking?" Granger asked excitedly. Draco inwardly groaned. He did not want them to be a big happy family. Amira nodded though. Granger's excitement was hard to resist. She was clearly craving social connection after having been alone with only Potter for months. 

"Then... just get whatever you'd like for breakfast and lunch," Amira suggested. She turned and Draco followed her. 

"This is great," Draco muttered. 

"Be nice," Amira said playfully, "They're not bad at all."

"You didn't think that last night," Draco complained. 

"I was being influenced," She defended as she grabbed some sauce, “Besides, my mood has been much improved.”

Draco snorted at her cheeky quip. 

“So you liked it then?” he checked. He came up behind her and kissed the top of her head. She shivered. 

“I think I liked it too much, I can’t think of anything else,” she admitted.

“Me as well,” Draco said gruffly in her ear and squeezed her waist. 

She pulled away, “It’s too bad though because those two… and the war are quite the mood killer.”

Draco grabbed the noodles she liked from the top shelf without her asking. 

"At least Weasley isn't here," Draco mumbled. Nothing would be worse than the ginger to kill the vibe.

"Yes, I think Hermione is quite sad about it," Amira said, "Were they together?"

"I always thought it was Potter and Granger," Draco shrugged, "Though he did have a thing with the little Weasley girl last year."

"Hermione doesn't like Harry," Amira argued. “Not like that.”

"How do you know?" Draco asked, "You just met them."

"You can't tell?" Amira asked. 

"Is this one of your powers now?" Draco teased. 

"No, it's just obvious," Amira pointed out. "You're a boy."

"A man," Draco corrected. 

"Yes." Amira nodded, looking him up and down. 

"Stop that now," Draco said, cheeks flushing. "You can't be doing that in public."

"I didn't do anything," Amira said cheekily. She turned and walked down the aisle. "Wine?"

"I suppose," Draco said, "Getting drunk on the run, very safe."

"Well, we can take turns," Amira said. "Besides, don't you want to party with the Gryffindors?"

"Never say that again," Draco complained. Amira just laughed, which brought a smile to his face. 

They finished up at the store relatively quickly. 

"Do you need anything else?" Amira asked Granger outside, "Clothes, supplies?"

"Well, we're low on potions, but we won't be able to get that here," she admitted. 

"No, but Draco has a brewing set, and we're fairly stocked," Amira explained. 

"How do you decide where you're going to camp next?" Granger asked. Amira shrugged. 

"We have a list of forests and locations that we jump around to," he explained, "That way no one can follow us."

"Should we go?" Amira suggested. In a few minutes, they were setting up their new campsite. This one was in a very densely packed woods and it was hard to even find a place big enough for the tents. 

Finally all of the wards were up. 

Draco and Granger went into Potter's tent to look over the notes that Granger had compiled. Draco shook his head. He was working with Granger, a mudbl- muggleborn. Who would have thought?

Amira sat down next to Harry. He flashed her a small smile. 

"So what are you teaching me?" he asked. 

"I need to teach you how to connect to your magic without a wand, because once you do, the possibilities are endless," she explained. 

"Is that what you do?" he asked. "How did you learn to go without the wand?"

"I never used a wand," she said, "It's very hard for me."

"Really?" he asked. 

"It's a long story," she dismissed, "Now, you need to connect to your magical core."

"Alright," Harry looked at her blankly. 

"Cast a lumos, with your wand," she instructed, "Then, find the magic as it traces up your arm."

Harry tried, and failed. And he failed again. No matter how many times he tried to find the subtleties, it seemed like the Golden Boy could not do it. 

"I'm going to suggest something," Amira said after an hour, "And you aren't going to like it, but it's the only thing I can think of."

"Okay," Harry said apprehensively. 

"Draco," she called loudly. A few moments later he popped his head out of the tent. She motioned him over. 

"What is it?" he asked. Hermione followed him outside. 

"I need you to go in his head," Amira said. 

"No." Harry protested. "Absolutely not."

"Why?" Draco ignored Harry. 

"I need you to show him where he can feel his magic," she said, "I would do it, but you're much better than me with minds."

"And there's no other way to achieve this?" Draco asked. 

"He's not going in my head," Harry protested. 

"Got something to hide Potter?" Draco taunted. "Relax, I don't want to see anything in your head."

"Boys," Amira scolded. She was getting irritated with their little feud. There were more important things than school boy rivalries. 

"I think if it could help, it's a good idea," Hermione piped up. Amira nodded. 

"I guess it's up to you, but this is something the Dark Lord has never been able to do," she said, "It could be very useful."

"Why can't he do it?" Harry asked. 

"Because she hasn't shown him how," Draco said, "Amira's naturally gifted with it, and as far as we know, I'm the only one who has begun to learn it because she showed me directly. I've never read a book that described anything like it."

"So why can't she just show me?" Harry complained. 

"Because I had to go in her head for it," Draco snapped, "And we don't have the time for you to figure out how to do that. Besides, you can't get in anyways."

"Why not?" Hermione asked. 

"Because I don't let anyone in my head," Amira said smoothly, "It was a fight to let him in, and I trust him completely."

Harry looked between the two of them. 

"Fine," Harry said, "If you look at anything other than what you need to, I'll strangle you." 

"Maybe we should eat lunch first, and warm up." Amira said suddenly, "And then we can."

The group looked at her a little strangely, but they agreed. She knew it was abrupt, but she'd had an idea. She needed to talk to Draco, alone. 

"What do you need to tell me?" Draco asked when they went into their tent. Amira was grateful for the silencing charms that came standard on the tent. She also enjoyed the way he knew what she needed without explanation. 

"You need to look for something while you're in there," she said. 

"What?" Draco asked, "He's going to see whatever I do. I'm not going to be able to hide it."

"I know, but it's not a memory," she said, "Just... let me know if anything seems amiss. Like in my brain, how everything's fragmented and weird and that's how you know that I'm a bit mad."

"You're not mad," he said. "What should I be looking for?"

"Darkness," she said, "I'm not sure, but just tell me if there's anything out of the ordinary that jumps out at you."

Draco nodded. They made some leftovers from the night before and ate quickly. When they went outside afterwards again, Hermione and Harry were waiting for them. 

"It's so nice to be eating full meals again," Hermione said gratefully, "We are so thankful for all of your help."

Amira nodded. 

"Ready?" she asked Harry. 

"Sure," he said morosely. 

"Oh, cheer up Potter, it'll be fun," Draco teased. Amira rolled her eyes. He was such an instigator. It was a side she hadn't seen much at the Manor. It was endearing though. It was how she had been with Bellatrix at the beginning. 

Harry and Draco sat across from each other. 

"I mean it Malfoy, don't you dare-" Harry started. 

"Relax Potter, I'll be gentle," Draco cooed. Amira could tell the moment that he dove into Harry's mind. Harry tensed and sat up, and his eyes went glazed over. It only lasted a few minutes, and Draco withdrew. Harry sagged. 

"Did you show him?" Amira asked eagerly. 

"Yes," Draco grumbled, "He's going to be good at it, the colors are brighter than mine."

"Interesting," Amira said. 

"He has hardly any texture though," Draco pointed out. 

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, "Colors, textures?"

"I'll show you yours sometime Granger, but not today," Draco asked. 

"That's so interesting," Harry mused, "I never knew that was there."

"Can you see it now?" Amira asked quickly. "If you focus?"

Harry looked around. "I can see it in you, and in the locket."

The locket was sitting in their tent. 

"You can see it that far?" Amira asked. Harry squinted his eyes and nodded. "But nothing else?"

He shook his head. "Not in Hermione or Malfoy."

"What about the tents, can you see the enchantments?" Amira asked. Harry squinted. 

"Barely?" 

"Draco, cast something," Amira requested. He cast a big lumos. "What about that?"

"Barely." he admitted. 

Amira decided to cast a lumos. 

"That I can see," Harry nodded, eyes wide. 

"Come, hold my arm when I do it," she said. He did. She cast again. 

"Oh wow," he said, "That feels crazy."

"Doesn't it?" Amira asked excitedly. It seemed Harry could feel hers much stronger than Draco could, but his range was much more limited. Draco could sense it in about everything, but not very clearly. "You try. Mimic it."

Harry's lumos was more like a fireball that got hurtled at a tree. 

"Close," Amira said nervously. "Let's maybe start smaller."

"This is so riveting," Hermione breathed. 

"We should go back to our discussions now," Draco decided, "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"You're right," Hermione said mournfully. Amira watched them go. She was dying to ask Draco what he had seen. There was also a part of her that didn't like him to be so far away, even though it was just in the tent. She'd grown used to his presence, and it was an immense comfort to her. Additionally, his magic was the most stabilizing feeling in the world and she felt shaken when she was away for too long. 

"This is awesome," Harry said, bringing her back to the present moment. "It feels great."

Alarm bells went off in her head. 

"Describe that," she said, "In detail. What do you mean great?"

"It just feels more natural," he said, "A little crazy and out of control but I think it's just new."

"Do you feel like you need to keep doing it?" she asked carefully. 

"I mean, I'd like to learn more," Harry said. 

"No, do you feel like the magic wants you to do more?" she asked. 

"Er... no? I just think it's neat," he said, clearly confused. 

"Okay, you need to tell me the second that you start any urge from the inside to keep going okay?" she said, "Or if it starts to feel too good."

"Got it," he said, "Why?"

"It could be a problem," she said evasively. He was a man, and both Dumbledore and the Dark Lord implied that it only happened to girls, but Amira figured she couldn't be too careful. 

"Alright," he said, "What do we do now?"

"Well, maybe figure out how to control that lumos," she suggested. A few fireballs later, he had a huge glowing ball in his hand. He laughed. "Can you make it any smaller?"

He tried, and it exploded. 

"You should work on that," she said dryly. 

"Obviously," he said, but he had a big smile on. He was cute, she supposed, and charming. It made sense that he was such a conversation topic. There was just this pure innocence in him, combined with positivity and humor, as well as a courageous and loyal streak. There was a dark history, but he'd overcome the odds.  He was a classic hero. The picture of the light. 

"Okay," she said, "Summoning spells. They're super useful. And once you get the feel of it, it bleeds into levitation and charms. Really, it's just maneuvering objects through air, and there's no limit to how much you can do with that."

"Right," he said. 

She placed a large rock from nearby on a log. 

She extended her arm for him to grab, and then summoned it to her. "Got it?"

"I think so," he said. She sent it back. 

"Use way less than you think you need, we don't need you to have a concussion," she warned. 

"Right," he said. He concentrated hard. The rock twitched and didn't move. Then, it rolled forward off of the rock. Finally, it started rolling slowly and unsteadily towards them. 

"Maybe a little more," Amira laughed. Harry chuckled as well. He put his hand out again, and the rock shot over his head, deep into the woods. 

"Oops." he said bashfully. He scratched the back of his neck. 

Amira looked at him thoughtfully. 

"You've got power," she said, "But you have an issue controlling it."

"It's so hard to moderate the amount," he agreed, "It just slipped and then it all went."

"Was that as much as you had?" she asked. "We need to know where your max is."

"Yeah that felt like as far as I could've sent it," he said. Amira nodded. She would have sent the rock miles away, but she knew she was abnormal. Harry was strong, but he was still a normal wizard. His power didn't compare to that of the Dark Lord or Albus Dumbledore. With training, she thought he'd be able to take on the best aurors and best Death Eaters. However, he was still young, and he didn't have training. She had her work cut out for her. 

"Do you feel tired?" she asked. 

"Only a bit." he said. He had stamina then. That was something Amira still struggled with. If she had used the full strength of her power, she would pass out or she would go into that maniac state that she did sometimes. Harry was balanced. His power fit nicely in the bounds of how much he could hold and use. If he could just get his control tightened, he would be hard to beat for almost everyone. Almost.

"Then let's do it again," she said. "You need to strengthen your control."

They tried all afternoon, and eventually got him to the point where he could summon rocks and catch them before they whizzed past his head. He was sweating by then, despite the cold temperatures. Amira was as well, having to run back and forth to pick up the rocks that Harry missed. Harry asked her why she didn't just use her own magic, and she dodged the truth by claiming that she just needed the exercise. Draco and Hermione didn't emerge until the very end when they had laid down in the snow to catch their breath. 

"What did you do?" Draco asked, slightly amused. 

Amira propped herself up on an elbow, "He's not very accurate."

"I am trying," Harry complained with a smile. Amira rolled her eyes. 

"He is making progress," she said, "Slowly."

"Hey," Harry protested at the good-natured jab. 

"I'm just glad you two are getting along today," Hermione stated.

"We are," Harry said warmly with a smile. Amira smiled back at him. Draco turned away. 

"Should we start dinner?" he asked. 

"Yes, good idea," Amira agreed, walking after him. 

"I'm starving," Harry said. They all ended up in Draco and Amira's kitchen. 

"I need to change," she stated, her clothes were wet from the snow and really too heavy to be wearing indoors. She went to their bedroom and pulled out a pair of soft pants and a tank top with a cardigan. Just as she was about to go back out, she was hit with a wave of tiredness. 

"Woah," she murmured to herself. She went and took a seat on the bed. The world was spinning just slightly in a very slow way that unnerved her. She looked down and saw her hands were shaking. She didn't know what was going on. She hadn't been practicing magic. Her magic was protesting, as it always was, begging to get out, scratching to escape beneath her skin, but that was normal. She put her head in her hands. The world felt like it was tilting off of it's axis. There were black spots in her vision but she didn't pass out. It was more like partial blindness. She wanted to call out to Draco but her voice was lost. 

"Amira?" someone called, "Which seasoning did you want to use?"

She couldn't respond. She didn't feel panicked or completely unhinged, but everything was wrong. She felt ill. 

"Amira?"

There were some footsteps.

"Hey, what's wrong?" 

Draco was there and he knelt in front of her. She shook her head. "I don't know."

"What's going on baby?" he asked. He took her hands down so that she could look at him. She blinked hard, trying to rid herself of the black spots. 

She pulled him up so that she could hug him. He adjusted them so that she could tuck her face into his collarbone, as she often liked to do. 

"I feel sick," she said, "It came on so fast."

"Your mind is clear?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I'm just dizzy and I can't see," she said, "It's making me feel like I might be sick."

"Do you know why?" he asked. She shook her head. 

"I was fine just a second ago," she said. 

"Okay, let's just take a second," he said, rubbing her back. "Deep breaths."

A few moments passed. 

"Did you see anything in his head?" Amira asked, trying to distract herself. 

"There was a very, very dark corner," he said. "I couldn't go near it, but you couldn't miss it. It's isolated and somewhat covered up, but it's there."

"Interesting," she murmured. 

Slowly, the feeling began to fade. Then, it was gone as quickly as it came on. 

"It's so weird, but I feel fine now," she said and sat up a little bit. He looked at her closely. 

"You look better," he said, "You were really pale before. Do you want to go eat?"

"Yeah," she said, and her stomach rumbled. 

"Okay," he said. He kissed her head and then stood, and offered his hand. They went out to the kitchen and saw Harry and Hermione facing the boiling pot, arguing about seasoning. Amira let go of Draco's hand and stepped in between them. 

"It doesn't matter that much," she laughed, "This will work I think."

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked as Amira took over. 

"Yeah I'm good," Amira said smoothly. The other pair didn't press her. 

They finished the pasta and ate together. They decided to save the wine for New Year's eve. Once everything was done and put away, Harry and Hermione retreated back to their tent. Amira started to feel off again. Draco noticed. 

He walked over to her, "Hey let's sit down."

She saw concern in his eyes but she couldn't really think about it as everything started to move and tilt and go dark again. He pulled her down to lay on the couch with her head on his lap. He brushed the hair off of her forehead as she closed her eyes. 

"You think it's just another side effect?" she whispered. 

"I don't know, probably," Draco nodded. 

A tear leaked out of her eye before she could stop it. 

"Talk to me love," Draco said and brushed it away. 

"I'm just getting tired," she admitted. And she was. Between the sleep-walking episodes and the constant pang in her magical core, the itching under her skin, and all of the other side-effects, she was exhausted. Additionally, worrying about the war, the Dark Lord, horcruxes, and how they were going to finish it all was becoming too much. She'd only been in the magical world for less than two years, and it had been crazy. She always had something wrong, and she was simply tired. 

"I know sweetheart," he said. He didn't say anything else, there wasn't anything else to say. Eventually she fell into a restless sleep on his lap.