Rose Bushes
Blaise and Pansy were awoken by a blood curling scream from Draco’s dorm, the two rushing down the hall frantically. They swung open the door to see the blonde standing in front of his mirror, his shirt discarded on the floor.
He was examining himself in the mirror, a small flower on his collarbone. “What the fuck is this!?” He cried, turning towards his friends in a panic. The flower’s bright red color contrasted on his pale skin, practically glowing.
When neither Pansy nor Blaise replied, Draco went to pull out the flower. “Don’t pull it out!” Blaise stopped him, gripping his shoulder. “It’s connected to your veins, if you pull it out you’ll bleed to death.”
Draco’s shock had melted into anger. “You’ve know about this. The whole fucking time?! And you didn’t tell me!” The blonde yelled, shoving Blaise off of him. “Why the hell would you not tell me?” He hissed, cautiously touching the flower on his skin.
“We wanted to tell you Draco, we just forgot.” Pansy apologized, rubbing the back of her neck. “Forgot?! How could you forget something like this. If anymore flowers grow, I’m going to look like a rose bush.”
Draco starred at himself in the mirror once more, stomach rolling up like a ball of yarn. “Didn’t know you have abs,” Pansy chuckled softly, trying to ease the moment.
“How could you make a joke at a time like this?” Draco turned over his shoulder towards her sharply, gritting his teeth. Pansy swallowed thickly, embarrassed.
“How am I supposed to go out like this, how do I hide it?” He asked, falling down onto his bed exasperated.
Neville had met the group for lunch, sitting with them at the Slytherin table. The golden trio noticed quickly, completely outraged.
“Bloody hell.” Ron groaned, shoving another bite of food in his mouth. Harry watched the group talking, barely. They seemed much quieter than usual. He watched as Draco adjusted the collar of his sweater every few seconds, clearly uncomfortable for some reason.
Draco could barely stand how sensitive the damn flower was, every prick at it by his clothing made him tremble. Pansy gripped his hand in her’s, trying to calm him down. “Can we leave?” He asked her, and the group quickly left the great hall.
The golden trio curiously followed.
Neville set out a small picnic blanket in the court yard, covering the green grass. Draco sat in the corner of the fabric, hugging his arms around his torso.
Neville and Pansy continued to talk about God knows what, and he watched as his best friend inched closer to the Gryffindor. It was obvious that he was developing feelings for her, and Draco hated to admit it, but he felt jealousy swimming in his stomach. It was hard to watch someone reciprocate feelings so easily.
“Longbottom,” A voice shouted from behind them. Harry Potter. Draco exchanged eye contact with the chosen one, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.
“May I speak to you,” Harry paused, staring at the group. “Alone?”
Neville nodded and walked off with they brunette. Draco’s mind raced with anxiety, his stomach twisting in knots.
“Breathe,” Pansy whispered, “You don’t want to start choking here.” The blonde huffed, she knew him too well.
Harry walked Neville out of the courtyard before turning around frustratedly. “What the bloody hell are you doing with Malfoy?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Malfoy. Why are you hanging around him?”
“Why do you care?”
Harry was stunned by Neville’s response. It wasn’t harsh, but it made him wonder. Why did he care?
“L-look, Draco’s trouble, I’m just trying to look out for you.” Harry fibbed, not well enough anyway. Neville raised an eyebrow, a little annoyed.
“I don’t know how many people have to stick it in your brain that he’s changed, he’s a different person,” he protested, “you have got to stop patronizing him.”
“I am not-“Look Harry, I get you two have a history but that boy has a lot worse things going on in his life than you know, you need to give him a break.”
That last bit came out a little harsher than Neville intended, but he meant it. Harry had no clue all the problems Draco’s life, and he was only making matters worse.
“Try and get to know him a little, it’ll make great strides in your jealousy issues.” Neville smirked before walking away. He heard Harry call out after him, but didn’t bother turning around.
Draco was busy adjusting his sweater, the flower constantly bothering him. “You alright?” Blaise asked, Draco only groaned in response.
“It probably doesn’t help that you’re ticklish, huh?” Pansy chuckled softly. Malfoy’s cheeks burned red. “Shut your mouth, Parkinson.”
They watched as Neville walked back over, taking a seat next to Draco. “So?” Blaise asked.
“Nothing important, he was just bitching as usual. Think’s you guys are a bad influence on me.” Neville sighed. The group sat silent.
“Did you just curse?” Pansy finally said something. Neville took a moment to think. “Oh merlin, I did!”
“Maybe we are a bad influence on you,” Blaise chuckled. As the others began to burst out laughing, Draco couldn’t stop thinking about Harry.
He constantly had the boy on his mind, which didn’t help him in the slightest. He couldn’t count the hundreds of times he almost knocked himself out playing quidditch because he got distracted by the boy wizard.
Harry had this certain laugh that gave the blonde weak knees, and a bloody nose if he were close enough.
It was embarrassing, to be so flustered by the chosen one. Just thinking about him made Draco’s ears burn, to which Pansy took notice.
She moved closer to him, whispering, “Thinking about Harry?” He shoved her before folding his arms over his chest, which only made her laugh more.
The group had almost forgotten Draco was suffering from a fatal disease, until he started to cough.
It was worse than before, Draco hadn’t felt more pained than now. Pansy rushed to his side, trying to help.
The pain was excruciating, he couldn’t take anymore of it. “P-please.. t-the infirmary..” was all he could manage out, and soon the group was rushing him to the Nurse’s wing.
They rushed by Ron and Hermione, no sight of Harry anywhere. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw them pass by, Draco clutching onto Pansy’s shoulder for stability.
Ron stopped Blaise for a moment, “What’s going on?” They were both concerned for the blonde. Blaise hesitated saying anything, “Just a situation, don’t worry.”
“Is Draco alright?” Hermione asked, looking down the corridor they left. “He’ll be okay, nothing the nurse can’t fix.”
And with that, Blaise raced after the Neville, Draco, and Pansy.
When he entered the infirmary, he saw Draco being seated on one of the hospital beds. His cheeks were damp with tears, his coughing had stopped.
The nurse was nowhere to be find, thankfully, because in Draco’s hands there lay 3 large flowers.
“This is hopeless,” He breathed. His body was trembling as Pansy drew circles on his back gently, trying to calm him down.
He slid his sweater and shirt off, tossing them on the ground. Neville was shocked to see the flowers growing on his collar and chest.
“Lie down, you need to rest for now. We can get you a pass from potions and spell history while you recover.” Neville suggested, giving Draco back his clothes.
“You better keep those on, just in case someone walks in here. We can’t tell anyone about your disease or they’ll force you to remove it.” Pansy said.
“Wouldn’t that just be the safest option?” Blaise persisted. “I already told you Blaise, I don’t want to lose feelings for him.” Draco spat.
“But your life is on the line. Do you understand that?” Blaise grew more frustrated.
“More and more so everyday.” Draco sighed. Each day was worse than before, and with the upcoming season finals quidditch game, he felt defeated.
“We’re gonna need to find someone to replace you for the quidditch game,” Blaise sighed.
“No! I can do it, I swear!” Draco begged.
“We can talk about it later,” Pansy reassured, “for now, you need to rest.”
He watched his three friends leave the room, shutting the large doors behind them. His mind wandered back to Harry, hoping the wizard was thinking of him too.