All Will Be Well

Amira woke up in severe pain. Her arms, legs, back, chest, neck, fingers, and toes all felt super tense and locked up. She could move, but she couldn't relax, and it hurt. Thankfully, her head didn't hurt, and her lungs felt much better, but her muscles were spasming. Tears fell out of her eyes before she could stop it. This soreness and stiffness almost felt worse than the night before when she had been too out of it to comprehend it. 

It was early dawn, she could tell. Draco was sleeping peacefully right next to her. She felt horrible that she was so much to take care of recently. She kept quiet and cried silently. She hoped she'd either get used to the pain, or that it would dull. However, the longer it went on, the more it burned. She tried to shift a few times, but nothing helped. She didn't know what else to do. After an hour of trying to contain herself, she finally broke. She needed help, and she didn't know what to do. 

"Draco," she sobbed. She reached for him and tried to tug on his shirt. He woke up quickly. 

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up quickly as if there was danger. His wand was out. 

"It hurts," she whimpered. She hated how weak she sounded but it had been going on too long and it was too painful for her to try to sound more put together. 

"What hurts baby?" he asked, looking her over quickly and touching her face. "Talk to me."

"Everything," she gasped out. He quickly moved the blanket down and ran his hands over her arm and leg. 

"You can't relax can you?" he checked. She shook her head as much as she could. "It's too soon for a muscle relaxer, but I can get you a strong pain potion."

"Please," she begged. 

He summoned one, and she drank it quickly. The pain diminished but the tension was still there. 

"That's better," she said through a strained voice, "Thank you."

Draco brushed her tears away. 

"Flip over," he said gently. She did as she was told, though it was a struggle. He helped her. Then, he started massaging the tense muscles in her neck. Amira had to keep from making noise. It hurt a bit, but it brought immense relief. He worked down her back. 

"I can feel when your muscle finally relaxes," he told her.

She just hummed her response. He worked all of the way down her legs and did her feet, and then came back up. He did her arms, and fingers. He flipped her over and gently massaged her temples, jaw, and the sides of her neck, and anywhere else that he could find tension. Then, he laid down next to her and pet her hair. 

She tried to open her mouth to say thank you but he shushed her. 

"You need to stay relaxed now," he said, "Blink twice if it feels better."

She did. 

"Okay, don't move okay? Only tell me if it's getting worse again," he said. His voice was calm and sure, and it helped her feel less guilty for needing so much help. She blinked twice. 

He summoned a book. 

"I'm going to read to you," he decided. 

That was how the morning passed. Amira dozed and listened to him read while obediently not moving too much. They didn't go to see the others, and the trio gave them their space. Around noon, after they'd eaten a light lunch with some tea, she started to get tense again, and he massaged it right out of her. After that, she fell asleep for most of the afternoon.

When she woke, around dinner time, she could smell the aroma of pasta and garlic bread in the kitchen. She could hear talking. 

Draco came to see her almost right away. 

"Welcome back love," he said, "You can take a muscle relaxer now."

She nodded. She was in a bit of pain, but nothing like it had been this morning. She drank the potion. 

"I'll give you a pain potion if you need it tonight after dinner," he told her. She nodded and then sat up on her own for the first time in almost a day. She stood and wobbled just a little bit. Draco pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. 

"I'm so glad you're alright," he whispered. 

"Thank you for helping me so much," she whispered back. She looked up and tilted her chin, and the two of them shared a gentle and loving kiss. "I feel a lot better."

The rest of the night passed peacefully and without anymore pain. They ate and laughed with the others. Amira stayed tucked under Draco's arm for the most part, just for comfort. Amira suspected Draco was relying on her closeness just as much as she was relying on his. 

The next day, she was sore a bit, but nothing like the excruciating pain of the days before. She tired easily, so she didn't run, and she mostly sat and watched the others plan and train. They moved camps too that day. 

She got better over the next week, but as time was passing, she inevitably got worse. Most everyday, she woke up sore, no matter what she'd done the night before. She couldn't stand for long periods of time. She was a bit helpless around camp. 

Her night terrors were getting worse. Draco would wake up to find their room in a tornado of objects with her curled in a ball in the middle. She'd managed to escape once again outside, and Harry had woken up and dragged her back with Draco's help. That was part of the reason she was so tired. Draco was tired too, as he was the one who had to deal with it every night. She often injured herself too, and sometimes, she thought it must have been pretty bad. Draco never told her, but Hermione had been summoned a few times to help heal her, and she knew Draco wouldn't have done it without it being urgent. 

She wasn't the only one having issues. Harry was having visions almost every night and sometimes during the day. The Dark Lord knew that his horcruxes were being hunted down, though he wasn't sure how many were destroyed. He also was growing frustrated in his inability to find their group, especially since they knew they were all traveling together. Harry didn't think he knew that he was sharing his visions, because often, Harry would get tips on where the Dark Lord was sending their hunting parties to search for them, which was a major help. 

The only downside to the visions was the pain and exhaustion that Harry was also experiencing. He was often tired during training now, and too sick to eat meals. 

It was almost ironic that the two with the best shot of defeating the Dark Lord were struggling so much to even be in good health for the final battle. 

Amira's birthday was May 1st. They were planning their Hogwarts infiltration for the day after, but if it became clear that Amira really wouldn't last any longer, they were ready to go at any time. They were going to apparate to Hogsmeade and go in through either Honeydukes, or the Shrieking Shack. 

It was the beginning of April, so she simply had to make it four more weeks. She could do it. Probably. 

It was a week before May when everything went drastically downhill. Draco sensed a change from the second she woke up that morning. Until then, she'd been doing better than anyone could have expected. She stayed calm, didn't use magic, ate just a little bit, and over all, was able to deal with all of her negative side effects fairly well, even though it wasn't enjoyable for her. The night terrors were really the worst of it, but with the help of the trio, Draco was able to take care of it. 

When Amira woke up that morning though, something was different. She was cold, and emotionless. Her eyes seemed paler than normal, and she wouldn't meet his eyes. She sat unnaturally straight during breakfast, but didn't eat. She didn't speak. She stared off into the distance the entire time. The others looked to him for an explanation, but he was lost too. When they went outside like they always did, she moved like a robot. She didn't lean into Draco like he was so used to. She didn't sit with them. Instead, she continued walking. Draco followed her, and grabbed her arm when she was about to walk out of the wards. 

"Amira, hey," he said, "Where are you going?"

She didn't look at him, and continued to look out into the woods. 

"Amira?" he asked, "Can you hear me?"

There was no reaction, and Draco felt chills go up his spine. 

"Let's go sit down," he said gently and tugged her arm. She went where he pulled her. He had to gently push her down to make her sit. Hermione watched apprehensively. 

"Amira," she tried. Amira ignored her and stared with vacant eyes into the woods where she'd tried to go. 

"I don't think she's hearing us," Draco said nervously. There was nothing about her face that looked familiar. And that was terrifying. She held so much power still, and the person who fought to keep it in check appeared to be absent. He didn't know where she'd gone. 

"Should we let her go where she wants?" Ron asked. 

"What if she apparates?" Draco challenged. "Out of the wards is too dangerous."

"Can you look in her mind?" Harry asked, "See what's going on."

"She has to let me in," Draco shook his head, "Her mind has natural defenses."

The rest of the morning was spent very uneasily. They all went about their normal activities, but Amira didn't move. She didn't speak. Her posture didn't change. She never looked away from the spot in the woods. Draco tried everything he could think of. Nothing worked. 

Around lunch, they went inside, and once again, she did not eat. 

It wasn't until late that evening that anything changed. They were all in the trio's tent, keeping an eye on her and discussing what they should do to try to break her out of her trance. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped backwards. Draco rushed to her

Before he could even get to where she had fallen back on the couch, she sat up again, this time her eyes were bright and wild. They were full of life, but also panic. She was back, and her face was full of the expression of fear. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he said urgently as she tried to jump off the couch. Their tables and chairs began to rattle and suddenly the candles flickered out as wind was created in their tent. She started to scream. High-pitched and blood-curdling screams. She put her head in her hands and rocked back and forth, clutching at her hair and digging her nails in. 

"Woah," Draco heard behind him from someone. 

"Calming drought?" Hermione asked loudly above the screams. 

"Yes!" Draco said quickly as he grabbed Amira's arms and forced her nails out of her skin. "You're okay, it's okay."

She didn't seem to be hearing him at all. The couch they were sitting on collapsed violently and then dissolved. Draco's heart pounded as the walls of the tent whipped harshly. 

"Come on love, you're okay," he said right into her ear. Hermione was struggling to reach them with the potion due to the intense, tornado like wind now spiraling around the tent. Draco noticed that Harry had up a large shield around them so that it was somewhat contained. Finally, Hermione handed him the potion and he used more strength than he wanted to in order to open her mouth and pour it in. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but the screaming stopped at least, and the wind died down. 

She began to cry. 

"Let me go," she begged. Draco was torn. He wasn't convinced she knew where she was and he didn't want her to hurt herself. "Please I don't want to."

"What darling?" he prompted. He loosened his grip but didn't fully let go. 

"I don't want to, please don't hurt me," she cried in a broken and almost childlike voice. 

"No one's going to hurt you love," he said softly, and let go of her hands. She shrank away from him. She hadn't done this before, at least, not since the beginning. Draco felt helpless, but he kept a calm exterior. 

"Amira, you're safe," he said softly. He heard the others rearranging the room and giving them space and privacy. "Open your eyes sweetheart."

She peeked open one eye and scanned the room distrustfully. She looked at him nervously. 

"Who are you?"

Draco's heart stopped. 

"Amira, what do you mean?" he asked, voice shaking. 

She looked around, and scooted backwards and away from him even more. She looked down at her hands. 

"I don't- I don't know who I am," she choked out. Tears started falling again. "What's going on?" 

"What do you know?" Draco said, edging closer but keeping his distance. 

"Nothing- I don't, I don't know anything," she said, and began to hyperventilate. Her nails found her wrist and began to scratch again. Draco had to think fast. 

"Do I feel familiar to you?" he blurted out, "Like that necklace you're wearing?"

She paused and looked at him. Slowly, she nodded. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, yes you do and I want to help you," Draco encouraged, "I'm Draco, you're Amira."

"Draco," she whispered. "I know that. Wait I- I'm so confused."

"It's okay sweetheart," he said, "Come here. Let's sit on the couch and figure this out."

Someone had either repaired the couch or conjured a new one. She nodded shakily and took his offered hand. The group sat around the living, now uneasy for a new reason. 

"So, Amira," Hermione said, "Where do you think you are?" 

"I don't know," she whispered, "I don't know you... but I know that I do."

Draco didn't know what to do but try to look in her mind, maybe he could get a sense of what was going on in there. 

"Look at me," he encouraged. Without warning, he slid into her mind. 

He almost choked. Her wall that was up was moved. It didn't wrap around her mind. It wrapped around a fragment of her mind. It was so tall that he couldn't see over it at all. The part of her mind that was exposed was in chaos. It was memories, thoughts, and disjointed pieces of magic all floating around completely unorganized. Fear, panic, stress, pain, and other emotions like curiosity, happiness, and love were floating around through them and spinning memories here and there. No wonder she couldn't think of anything. It didn't appear that any of the memories were whole. It was more so just blurry pictures of her past. 

Her window to seeing magic was free, and looked relatively untouched. But the room next to it was wrapped by the wall. The room that had held the seductive dark madness seemed to be the main part that her wall was wrapped around. He could feel it pushing, larger than it had been before. It was trying to get out. And the wall was shaking, he noticed as closer inspection. It looked like the wall was going to break. And then the madness would be everywhere. This was her mind's last ditch effort to protect herself. 

He had the hypothesis that the wall had moved that morning and had hidden all of her memories, thoughts and emotions from her, but a section of the wall had been broken down. Some escaped. The fear and the pain had caused the screaming. The wall rebuilt itself, but she didn't have enough to make sense of everything. 

He needed to direct the wall to only enclose the madness. Then, she'd have her thoughts, and the wall would have less area to cover, therefore would be stronger. He pushed on it lightly, encouraging it to move. 

In his physical body, he was aware of Amira jolting slightly. He kept going, until he had enclosed only the madness, and none of her memories. He withdrew, hoping that he hadn't made everything worse. 

Amira blinked. 

"Oh," she said. "That was mad."

"No kidding," Draco laughed with out humor. "Feel better?"

She nodded slowly. 

"I can think now, but everything is... a bit jumbled," she murmured. 

"What happened?" Hermione asked impatiently. Quickly, Draco explained what he had seen. 

"How long until this wall... breaks?" Ron asked. Draco shook his head. 

"I don't know," he said, "Not long though. Amira, can you feel it?"

"Yeah," she said dazedly, staring off. Draco tapped her leg, "What? Oh, sorry, what?"

"Can you feel the wall now that I've pointed it out?" he asked patiently. She nodded. "Can you feel if it's strong or about to break?"

"It's strong right now, but I don't think it can hold for long," she said somewhat airily, "I'm getting tired. It's a lot of work to hold it there."

"You need to tell us if it's going to break alright?" Draco told her firmly, holding her chin so that she could focus on him. She nodded. 

"It's hard..." She said, "I can't focus on both things at once."

"Both things?" Harry asked. 

"Holding it," she said, "And paying attention."

"That's okay, just focus on keeping yourself together," Hermione encouraged. "Maybe we should go to bed now, and see where we're at in the morning."

The rest of them agreed, and Draco and Amira went back to their own tent. 

Surprisingly, that night Amira did not have any night terrors. She slept peacefully, and Draco was grateful. Draco on the other hand, did not sleep as well. He was awake almost the whole night worrying over her. His mind was whispering to him that these were the last few days they would have together. 

More than that, he had no clue what they were going to do. She wasn't sane enough to remove the horcrux, or to fight the Dark Lord. She could barely do her daily tasks including eating and exercising. She wouldn't be able to focus on a battle or a huge task. She was a shell of herself. 

Their plans had all revolved around her in some sense, and they'd always just prayed that when the time came, she'd be okay. The time was here, and she was barely sane. 

The next four days passed without any major changes. Amira was absent-minded for the entirety of the days. She didn't pay attention to them at all. She was in her own world. She didn't eat. She didn't talk with them. 

If Draco needed to get her attention, he could touch her shoulder or her chin and have her attention for two minutes at most before she would lose focus. The others had an even harder time getting anything out of her. Her hands were always shaking now, and she scratched at her arms so much that Draco put a pair of gloves on her. She didn't even notice. 

It was painful watching the person he loved who was so strong almost become not a person. He knew she was fighting an intense battle in her mind, but it was still sad to see how lost she looked everyday. She had to make it to May 1st, which was only a few days away. 

On the fifth night, they were lounging in their tent with the others. Amira's head was in Draco's lap and he was playing with her hair. She had a serene smile on her face, but it was clear her mind was miles away. 

Suddenly, her eyes focused on his face and her expression changed to one of determination. 

"We have to go to Hogwarts," she said firmly. There was her voice, for the first time in days. It was the airy and far away tone she'd been using. This was Amira when she knew what she wanted and she was confident in it. 

"Right now?" he asked. She shook her head. The others had jumped when she spoke. 

"Tomorrow," she said. "I can hold out that long, but it won't be any longer."

"Two more days Amira, please," Draco said, "You'll turn seventeen the day after tomorrow, we can get you settled. Then we can go."

"I won't make it that long Draco," she said, "Tomorrow night is already too long. The wall is failing."

"Actually, all she needs to do is make it until midnight tomorrow," Hermione pointed out, "We could be there and ready."

Amira shook her head and sat up. 

"You all are not listening to me," she said strongly, "I will not make it that long, it's all I can do to hold it now. But... if I lose it then, while we're there, I can be of use to you."

"If you go mad in battle, that won't be very useful," Draco said harshly. He wasn't angry, he was scared, and he was aware that he was lashing out. 

"I'm good at battling when I'm like that," she argued. 

"You won't stop! You'll kill yourself," Draco said and stood. 

"So then keep me alive until midnight," she loudly. 

"I won't be able to!" he hissed, "You're too powerful."

"Then I'll kill the Dark Lord," she said, "If I'm going to blow up then at least let me be useful. If we're here, I might hurt someone."

"No. No. We're not talking about this," Draco said, putting his foot down. He shook his head. He wouldn't allow this conversation of madness. She wasn't sacrificing herself. She was so close. They'd made it so far. They were almost done. 

He looked around to see if the others agreed. 

"I'm sorry Draco, but she's right," Hermione said, "If she's going to struggle tomorrow night anyways, it's better to give her a target."

"And use her??" he demanded. 

"No," Hermione said softly, "This is what she wants. Listen to her."

Draco deflated as he looked at Amira. Her gaze was steady and strong. This is what she wanted. And he'd never questioned her before. 

"Are you sure?" he asked her. She nodded. 

"This is the best way," She said. Draco nodded slowly. 

"Alright," he said. He turned, and went to his bedroom. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. He didn't speak to Amira when she came back in to lay with him. He just held her tightly. He could feel when she slipped into sleep. He stayed awake, plotting how he was going to keep her alive. He would respect her wishes, but he was going to give everything he had to saving her life too.