Snatchers
As the winter turned to spring, they continued working on Harry's magic. Amira almost exclusively no longer used magic at all, except at night when she was under Draco's supervision. It was just way too easy for her control to start slipping. Things were easier now because the trio knew somewhat about her issues. She could sit down, go to bed early, nap, and more without too many questions. And, they didn't question it when she couldn't use magic.
The main issue for her now was actually nutrition. She was struggling to keep food down. She was hungry often, but when she ate even a little too much, it would come back up. It was frustrating, and it was starting to take a toll. She could no longer run as much, as she felt weak, which in turn caused her magic to be angrier and more pent up. All in all, it was a trainwreck that was fast approaching. She just held onto the hope that she could make it two more months.
Hermione was doing a lot of research when they went to towns to get the most low-volume high nutrient food. She was looking into supplements and vitamins. She also had done what she could to research Amira's condition, but even with her extensive book collection, there was only so much that they could do.
Harry and Draco were grudgingly starting to get along. Harry, Amira, and Hermione were already good friends. Ron was the wild card. Hermione had finally forgiven him, and Harry and he were great. He was still awkward around Amira, and he was normally edgy around Draco. Draco ignored him for the most part. Still, the overall feeling of their little group was friendly.
Harry was casting spells outside. He could disarm, shield, and was working on a Patronus charm. Amira had never tried one, and she couldn't give him much advice. She longed to try it when she saw him do it. It looked like it would feel so good. She was entranced by it, so much so that Draco had needed to grab her hand to bring her back to reality. She sat with him as he read, purposely looking away from Harry so that she wouldn't feel tempted. Hermione was also reading, and Ron was doing his best imitation of a dementor.
"Will he really use dementors if most of his forces can't defend against them?" Hermione asked Amira. Amira shrugged.
"He might, they would have orders not to attack the dark side, but even he would know that it is still a big risk," Amira explained, "Still, he's not sane, so best be prepared."
"It's not like it's a risk to him," Ron reasoned, "He barely has a soul."
"Yeah, Voldemort-"
"HARRY NO!" Hermione yelled.
At the same time, "No!" from Draco.
Amira cursed under her breath.
They knew about the taboo on his name, and had done well thus far. However, they were bound to slip up at some point.
"Shit!" Harry cursed, "I'm so sorry."
Draco had already leapt his feet and was shrinking their tent. Hermione was doing the same and Amira rushed to help her. There would be either Death Eaters or snatchers there in the next few seconds. Amira and Hermione shoved the tent into the bag just as there were the first cracks.
There were wards here, but since Harry had said the name inside of them, they were null.
Amira felt the presence of about five wizards, and one werewolf. She whipped around to face them, and realized they weren't even Death Eaters, but snatchers. She wouldn't have been worried at all, except it was really dangerous for her to use magic to defend herself. She'd rely on the others until it was clear that someone's life was in danger. Thankfully, they'd discussed this already.
They needed to go too, because as soon as it was clear who they were, the snatchers would call for back up.
Spells started firing within seconds, surprisingly from Draco. He was jumping on the offensive. He surprised the snatchers, and the trio joined in, but it was clear that they weren't used to attacking instead of defending. Amira made a note to work on that with them if they survived this.
Amira hit the ground when a stray spell flew in her direction. They just needed to maneuver out of the wards, and get together, and then they could go. She rolled to her feet. Draco was covering her, but he was locked in a battle with two wizards. Hermione was fighting the werewolf, and Ron had another wizard. The last two were fighting Harry.
"Oi, it's Potter! Call for more," one of them yelled. Amira cursed in her head. The magic flying around made her hands itch.
She threw up a shield to save Harry from having his head blown off.
"Amira," Draco warned through gritted teeth.
"I'm fine," she said.
Two more cracks. They were outnumbered. She was going to need to help.
"Draco, I have to, let me take over so we can get out of here," she begged. Draco surveyed the area before drawing the same conclusion. Three cracks. He nodded.
"Please be careful," he told her. She nodded, and readied her hands.
She blew back each of the death eaters with a wave of her hand.
"It's her!" one of them yelled from the ground. Ron and Hermione turned and ran towards her. Draco pulled her backwards.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled. He turned and ran towards them, spells flying at his back. Amira threw up a shield. There were real Death Eaters here now, and they were circling behind them. Ron and Hermione seemed to be handling it. They just needed to get a few steps farther back and then they could go.
Amira shot a blast towards the ground, and a giant crack ruptured the dirt, and shot towards the large group in front of them. They dove out of the way and Amira followed it with a line of fire so that none of them would be able to cross that way. Then she whipped around to face the real threats at their back. They just needed to be pushed back a tad, and they'd be free.
They were too close to use the same trick. Amira recognized one of them as Rosier, and she grinned evilly. She heard Draco's voice trying to calm her, but the rush and adrenaline of the magic and battle was overtaking her. She'd been pent up for far too long.
She launched herself into the air and flipped behind the group of Death Eaters with balls of fire in her hands. All attention turned to her, the "Chosen One" all but forgotten. This gave the group the room they needed to escape the wards. She saw Draco and Hermione whispering about where they should go, and then the trio cracked away. All she needed now was to get back to Draco, and they could go. The spells fired at her felt like annoying flies that she just smacked down repeatedly. It wasn't hard. She blasted them to the side one by one until Rosier was the only one standing.
She felt revenge and anger well up in her as she looked at him. He wasn't the one she really wanted to hurt, but in her disoriented haze of madness, she didn't care. Heat sparked from her hands, fire filled with hatred. She levitated off of the ground, and energy cracked around her. His face paled, and he disparated before she could throw it at him.
"Amira, stop!"
She whipped around to find the enemy who'd yelled at her. She squinted, and realized it was Draco.
"We have to go!" he yelled, "You have to stop."
She shook her head, trying to orient herself. The panic in his voice was the only clarity she had. She didn't want him to sound like that. She never wanted him to sound so scared. She looked around for the threat. There was none. All of the men were on the ground, groaning and not moving very fast. She flew to him. The heat disappeared from her hands as she landed, stumbling.
"What's wrong?" she asked, "Are you alright?"
He grabbed her arm, "I'm fine, we have to go."
"No," she said, ripping her arm back. She turned back to her enemies, eyes blazing. They all needed to burn. Her hands heated again. She needed to keep going. It was a high that had never been better. It soared through her, soothing all of the pain she’d been feeling for months.
"Amira please," Draco's scared voice came from behind her, "Don't do this, don't be like them."
She turned her head to him. "What?"
"Come on, we have to go make sure Harry's safe," Draco encouraged, "They might have followed him."
Draco was right. Harry could still be in danger. That made sense to her. She had to go fight anyone there.
She nodded, and let Draco take her arm. They apparated away.
They slammed into the ground, and Amira immediately looked around for any threat. She saw Hermione building the wards, and Ron on the ground with blood on his arm. Harry was rifling through the bag on the ground.
"You're okay!" Hermione exclaimed. "Um, are you alright?"
Amira walked by her and stalked over to Ron.
"You're hurt," she said. He looked at her apprehensively. His arm was ripped up. His face was pale.
"Y-yeah," he said. Amira put her hands over the wounds, and pushed.
"Amira, no!" Draco called behind her, "You can't."
She ignored him. Healing magic didn't feel as euphoric as the destructive magic, but it still felt heavenly compared to how she'd been feeling for months now.
Ron looked up at her, "Your eyes are glowing. Creepy."
Then he passed out.
"What did you do?" Hermione cried. She ran over to him and cast diagnostic spells. "Oh, he's perfect."
"Of course he is," Amira snapped and glared at her. Amira stood and spun around, looking for her next excuse to use magic. Hands grabbed at her shoulders.
"Stop it, right now."
She looked up at Draco's grey eyes and bristled. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Amira, come back, this is not you," he continued firmly. His voice wasn't nice. It was hard and cold. Part of her felt hurt and sad that he was talking to her that way.
She heard Hermione and Harry talking in hushed voices behind them. She glared at Draco.
Suddenly his stern eyes turned concerned, "You're bleeding."
He let go of her shoulder and touched under her nose. His fingers came away bright crimson. She reached to feel it herself. Her head spun as she looked down at the blood, and more dripped on her hand.
"Oh," She said weakly, all fight suddenly draining out of her. She fell down to her knees. The rush of adrenaline turned to dizziness, pain, and fatigue. Her chest hurt, bad. Her ears were roaring, and it was hard to breathe. She fell backwards onto the ground. There were urgent voices around her.
She felt her muscles beginning to tense up, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She fell into darkness.
"Draco what's happening?" Hermione asked worriedly as Amira began to seize on the ground.
"Help me hold her down," he told them. He held her arms, and Harry held down her legs. Draco just hoped she wouldn't choke. "I have potions, the energizer, the blood replenisher, nutrients- no muscle relaxer - and...."
His mind whirled as he thought about how he could help her.
"Don't worry, I'll grab them all," Hermione promised and ran to her bag. Ron was still passed out blissfully on the ground. Hermione ran back just as Amira's seizure ended. Draco checked her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it, though it was weak. Her face was pale, and her nose was seemingly bleeding a little less now.
He started uncapping vials and pouring them in her mouth, his own heart pounding with fear. Her face almost seemed to be turning grey.
"Come on love," he urged under his breath, "Not yet okay? Not yet. You gotta stay here."
He rubbed her upper chest to try to stimulate the potions to work faster, a move that he had seen his mother do a time or two.
"Please sweetheart, wake up," he begged. He didn't care that the others were there. He didn't care about anything else.
Suddenly, she gasped and coughed, and her eyes fluttered open.
"Oh thank Merlin," Harry said behind him.
Draco leaned over her face. Amira's eyes were completely blood shot and looked unfocused.
"Draco," she whispered.
"Gave me a scare there," he told her, checking her pulse again to feel it getting stronger.
"tired," she mumbled, eyes closing again. "hurts."
"Sleep love," he encouraged and kissed her forehead. Her head lolled to the side as she fell asleep immediately. Draco cleaned up her face as Hermione set up the tent. Draco carried her inside and laid her on the couch so that he could keep an eye on her. He told Hermione to bring in the other couch for Ron. That way, the three of them could watch over the two injured people while they made some food and discussed what occurred.
"That was terrifying," Hermione said quietly as she cut up some bread for them. Draco's hands were still shaking, and he nodded. "I've never seen her like that."
"It used to take a lot more for her to get there," he admitted, "Now, any small amount of magic and she loses her mind. And her body really can't handle it."
"At least you stopped her," Harry said. "Just in time."
"Barely," Draco said, "She never listens. I don't blame her because she can't help it, but it's stressful."
"That's how she looked in the newspaper," Harry pointed out, "I was wondering how she'd managed to be so... evil looking."
"I know what you mean," Hermione nodded, "She's not evil, and she doesn't look like it either, but something overtook her there."
"She was introduced to dark magic as a way to release all of her magic," Draco explained, "It feels a lot better for her than other magic, when she's like that anyway. But it destroys her mind so quickly."
He looked over to see if they were still asleep.
"You can go sit with her, I'll finish this and bring it over," Hermione encouraged softly. "Tea?"
"Yes please," Draco said quietly. He set down his food and walked over to Amira. He sat on the floor next to her head and leaned back against the couch so that he could hear her breathe. When Harry and Hermione brought the food, they sat on the other two armchairs. It was crowded in there, as they normally sat in the other tent. However, Draco was grateful for it. The day's events had been completely overwhelming. It felt nice to be so close to a few others who had gone through the same thing.
He wanted desperately for Amira to be awake, so he could talk to her. He needed to hold her, and for her to hold him. Making sure she was okay was therapeutic for him. If she was okay, then he would be okay too.
They sat and ate their food. Draco wasn't truly hungry, but he knew he needed to keep his strength up.
Draco noticed a faint noise in Amira's breath. It was like a wheeze, or like her breath was catching on every inhale.
"She's having trouble breathing," he murmured. He cast a few diagnostic spells. "Her lungs, I don't know, somethings wrong with them."
Hermione joined him.
"It's not punctured," she said after casting her own spells, "It might be collapsed? Or partially so."
Draco shook his head, "I don't think so, that would be a lot more severe."
"I don't know then," Hermione said, "What do we do?"
"I think all we can do is keep an eye on it, or get her to a healer," Draco sighed. "Which we can't do."
"I'm sure it'll be okay when she wakes up, she's probably just tired," Hermione said, but Draco could tell she was very worried.
Ron shifted and woke a few minutes later, and Hermione went to him right away. Ron looked around groggily.
"What happened?" he asked.
"We were attacked, you got splinched again," Hermione said, "Your old wounds reopened."
Ron moved his shoulder, "It feels great?"
"Amira healed you," Hermione told him, and rolled up his sleeves. She gasped, "The scars are gone!"
"Then you passed out for awhile," Harry finished explaining.
Ron gestured at Amira, "She okay?"
"We'll see," Draco said solemnly.
"She had a seizure," Hermione said, sitting back so that Ron could sit up.
"Because of her... situation?" Ron tried to ask politely, "Her eyes were glowing."
"Yes," Draco answered him. "That's why she can't use magic much."
"We should go sit on watch," Harry said after silence fell.
"I'll come with you," Ron said.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Hermione fretted.
"Yes, honestly better than I've felt in a really long time," Ron assured her. The other two boys left the tent. Hermione sat back in her chair with a book.
A couple minutes later Draco heard Amira's head move and he turned around quickly to see her trying to adjust to turn on her side with her eyes squeezed shut.
"Amira," he said quietly, "Are you awake?"
Her eyes fought to flutter open. She looked around before she settled on him. It scared him, how bloodshot they still were. Her face was still pale.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"It hurts," She croaked, voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper.
"What hurts darling?" he asked.
"Everywhere," she said, and then coughed painfully, "My chest. My skin."
Draco felt helpless. He wasn't very qualified in healing. His expertise was potions, but anything related to healing with charms was beyond him.
"Do you want some water?" he asked. She shook her head, and then winced. She reached for him with a shaking hand. He held her hand and smoothed back her hair as gently as he could.
"I'm so tired," she whispered.
"You should sleep," he encouraged. She gave a weak tug on his hand, signaling that she wanted him up on the couch with her. He stood and lifted her upper body gently so that he could sit on the end of the couch, slightly reclined, so that she could lay on his chest. Her legs were in between his, and he pulled up the blanket to cover them both.
"It's easier to breathe," she murmured. Draco supposed that made sense. She turned so that she was laying on her chest with her head turned to the side facing the back of the couch. Her arms came around his midsection to hold onto him.
He smoothed back her hair until she fell asleep again. Her breath wasn't catching anymore, and even in sleep, she seemed more relaxed.
"You're so gentle with her," Hermione spoke up from where she was watching, "It's sweet."
Draco nodded, "She deserves it. She deserves everything."
"Why didn't the two of you just run?" she asked, "Escape everything and relax. You didn't owe anyone."
"I would have," he said simply, and truthfully, "I want nothing more than to leave with her, give her a life that she deserves."
"But...?"
"But she didn't want to. She saw what the Dark Lord was, what they wanted, and she couldn't leave it," he said, "She wants to stop him, and save people."
"Why? What stake does she have in it?" Hermione pressed, "She's not a group that would be persecuted, she's not tied to this at all, besides for her last name."
"She knows what they do to people," Draco said, "That's enough."
"That's admirable," she said.
"I think she feels some responsibility," Draco continued, "She knows she can help, with the power she has. She's the only chance Potter's got at stopping him."
"Harry has to finish it," Hermione argued.
"But he'll need her help," Draco finished. "It's why we have to wait until she's seventeen."
"Will she make it? How much will this set her back?" Hermione asked.
Draco shook his head, feeling his heart seizing the way it always did when they discussed this, "I don't know."
They fell into silence after that.
Amira couldn't stay asleep. She kept shifting and turning every thirty minutes or so. She was in pain. One pain reliever didn't seem to work, and Draco was hesitant to give her more so soon after he'd given her so many potions just a few hours before. Draco did his best to soothe her, and comfort her, but there was only so much he could do. Amira never fully woke, just enough to look up at him before he coaxed her back to sleep.
She whimpered in her sleep and shifted again. Hermione looked just as stressed about it as Draco felt.
"Maybe a warm bath?" she suggested, "To soothe her? We have one in our tent."
"Maybe," Draco nodded, "Anything's got to help."
"I could make a sleep-time tea," Hermione said and stood, "And she should eat."
Draco sat up a little bit and Amira made a noise of unhappiness.
"Hey love," he said quietly, "Do you want to try a bath?"
Amira looked at him sleepily through pained eyes. She nodded once. Draco extracted himself so that he could lift her. He kept the blanket wrapped around her as it was now dark and cold outside. He carried her to the other's bathroom. He set her very, very gently on the bathroom counter, leaning against the mirror. He turned on the water and poured in some soothing muscle relaxer that he'd brought with them.
Then, he unwrapped her from the blanket. She wasn't fully awake, and was a dead weight in his arms. He struggled to pull off her clothes, but he took his time, hoping he wasn't causing anymore pain.
He lowered her into the bath and rolled up his sleeves. He wanted to climb in with her, but he thought it would be better to stay on the outside of the tub so that he didn't absorb any of the potion. Amira sighed.
"'s better," She mumbled with her eyes closed. Her head rested back against the edge of the tub, so Draco grabbed a towel and folded it up into a pillow. He put it under her head so that it wouldn't be so uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry love," he said.
"Not your fault," she told him opening her foggy eyes, "I did too much."
"I just wish I could help more," he said. She reached out of the water to take his hand. Her hand was still shaky, but it was less.
"You help me so much," she said. Her words were clearing up, and she seemed more present.
"You feeling more awake?" he asked. She nodded.
"It hurts way less now," she said.
"What was hurting before?" he asked.
"My head and my chest mostly, but also it felt like all of my muscles were so tense and I couldn't relax them, and my skin hurt," she admitted, "Like... even my bones hurt."
"And now?" he asked.
"My head and my chest still hurt, but the rest is almost nothing," she said. "And the steam is helping my chest."
"Good," he said, "You want to try to eat something when we're done?"
She nodded, "I'm hungry."
Draco smiled. Hungry was good. It meant some of her body was still functioning normally.
She closed her eyes again and Draco let her relax for a long time, reheating the water whenever it got less than warm. Draco let his fingers trail in the water so that she could keep holding his hand. Eventually he realized his fingers were so numb that he couldn't feel them or move them very well.
"Alright, I think it's time to get out," he said, pulling his hand out and massaging them to get the feeling back. She hummed. Draco laughed and started draining the water. He warmed up a towel and then pulled her out of the tub and wrapped her in it. Her limbs were like noodles, and Draco did all of the work to dry her off. He summoned some cozy clothes from their tent. He dressed her in them.
"Still feeling alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah, just a little tired," she said. The bathroom was still really warm and steamy, so Draco figured that helped. He cast a strong warming spell on the blanket again and wrapped her in it before taking her back to their tent. There, he lit a bunch of candles and piled on the blankets so that she could stay warm and cozy. That way, she could stay relaxed and hopefully not tense up so bad again. It didn't matter if he was sweating a bit.
"You look a lot better," Hermione said, bringing a grilled cheese and soup to her, as well as a hot chocolate, and mint tea. "I wasn't sure what you liked."
"This is great, thank you," Amira said quietly. Her face did look less pale, and her eyes were still red, but a lot clearer than they had been.
She munched on the sandwich a little bit but mostly ate the soup. Then she sipped on the tea. Draco noticed her breathing in the steam a few times, and made a mental note to remember that that helped a lot. Hermione left them, as it was late now, and when Amira was done, Draco took her to bed.
He cast another warming spell on the bed.
"I'm so cozy," Amira murmured, "Thank you."
"I'm glad you feel better," Draco said and kissed her forehead.
Her eyes were already falling closed.
"I love you," she said as he climbed into bed with her.
"I love you too," he said, pulling her close. The serenity almost allowed him to forget the events of the day, and the direness of her situation. Almost.