A Powerful and Painful Addiction

Chapter 16: The End of A Friendship and A Life

"I hope to find that the three of you know the seriousness of this, do you not? You all understand what I have just explained to you?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry slumped further down into his chair in Dumbledore's office. He never had imagined something would hit him this hard. He felt as though he was back under the table in The Three Broomsticks in third year, hearing the professors say that Sirius was the reason his parents were dead. But Harry knew that that wasn't true. So maybe this wasn't either. Though he painfully admitted that the Headmaster would not lie about what he had just told to him, Hermione and Malfoy.

"I can't believe she never told us," Harry sighed.

"What would you have said, Mr. Potter, if she had? What would you have done to help her?"

"I don't know, sir. It doesn't sound as though there's anything I, or any of us, could've done."

"She was afraid that she would lose us," trembled Hermione. "I knew that she had a curse on her, but I didn't know it went this deep. She never told me the whole story. She made me think it was out of jealousy."

"Yes, Miss Granger, she was very much afraid that all of you would abandon her. And she still is very much afraid for that fact."

"Why are you just telling me this now?"

"It was not my place until now, Mr. Malfoy. It is my duty to inform you of what you were held hostage and witness to."

"Not your place?" Draco hissed. "Is it, or is it not your place warn students prior about possible dangers they may encounter? Every bloody year you warn us about the Forbidden Forest!"

"We have new students every year."

"That's still giving them prior warning. I know that you and the professors sent subtle hints to the students about Umbridge last year, prior to things that she did. You should have told me about Damon!"

"Why, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I could've been protecting her all this time and he never would've found her!"

"But as I understand it, your addiction to one 'Careless Concoction' - is that not what you named it? - was your way of inhibiting your feelings from surfacing; thereby prohibiting yourself from touching her which would only cause her pain in your touch, which was indeed protecting her, Mr. Malfoy. You were protecting her because when she feels pain, that pain is relayed back to Damon which gives him a clue into where she is. Or was that potion just the new one that you teens are 'getting high on?'"

"That's not true!"

"So are you saying that you and Miss McGill are no longer friends and you weren't taking it to control your human desires of a female companion?"

"We never were friends," he sighed deeply, a small hint of sadness resonating in his voice.

"Oh that's bollocks!" Harry shouted, jumping up out of his chair. "Then why did you blame the fact that the reason for yours and Joely's fights were because she was sorted into Gryffindor? Though I guess you could be right seeing friends, even if they are in different houses, don't fight. Your fights had nothing to do with where she was sorted and you know it, Malfoy. Had you not kissed Pansy when we first got back you and she would be a happy couple. And believe you me, thinking about one of my best friends happily with you is not a comforting thought."

Draco's head snapped to stare Harry down in a menacing glare; his steely grey eyes now black as night and the blood that had been puddled on the Gryffindor Common Room floor. "Excuse me, Potter?" he growled.

"You heard me, Ferret."

"Harry!" scolded Hermione her teeth.

"Have you been eavesdropping, Mr. Potter?" smiled Dumbledore.

"Keep your filthy, mudblood loving nose out of our business, Potter," warned Draco emphatically.

"'Our' business, Malfoy, doesn't exactly sound as though there isn't a seriousness between you and her. Are you referring 'our' as yours and Joely's business? Admit that it's your fault that she hates you and you took that potion to make yourself feel less guilty about what you did!"

"I. Admit. Nothing."

"--could've fooled me, Malfoy."

"I could fool you into thinking you're a baboon's arse if I wanted to, Potter!"

"Harry, Malfoy!" snapped Hermione. "This isn't helping Joely any."

"Miss Granger is right," said the Headmaster.

"As always," snipped Draco.

"Cork it, Blondie," raged Harry.

"Gentlemen," began Dumbledore, "there is still more that you will need to hear, though I'm afraid that will have to be heard from Miss McGill herself. From this point on, no one is to be told, hinted into, or informed via another, what has happened. Unfortunately it will be revealed in its own time, to which we will not deepen the details of. Should you choose, I will have this event Oblivated from your memories to save you the trouble of possible reoccurring nightmares and of the like, but outside of that and a continuous Dreamless Sleep Potion dosage, I am out of offers."

"This isn't going to go away on its own, is it?"

"No, Mr. Malfoy," said Albus, returning Draco's somber tone, "this will be forever a long and heartbreaking situation."

For the first time in his life since he was possibly an infant, Draco allowed himself to appear helpless with more then one person around. Joely had seen him helpless before, but he knew there would be no consequences to reap from letting himself crumble in front of her. But allowing this state to wash over him in front of Potter and Granger was nothing to write home about. He knew he would have to endure some kind of backlash from them before it was all forgotten. Knowing Potter, he probably would use it the rest of his life. Yet currently, Draco had not a care about the future for himself, only for the female in the hospital ward that warmed his blood and heated his heart.

Draco didn't know what to do. He couldn't threaten, barter, deal, buy, or involve his father as a way to get out of this. And that made him feel all the more helpless. There has never been a time when he couldn't get out of something, but he had never tried to get another out of a situation. He hadn't a clue how to fight her curse, but he knew that she needed him to. She needed him to save her first, before she could save him. And Draco could feel within his heart that he needed her more he needed food, water, or the care of anyone else. Joely's curse was his ring mate, and in this state, he was in the prime position for a knockout punch.

With everything that he had been told, and everything he had figured out by himself, he was amazed that Joely had the strength to go on. She had endured years of beatings and torture, the casting of curse never allowing her to fall in love, and having had a loved one murdered right in front of her eyes and yet she was still fighting to live knowing another dead could ensue. All he had to fight against was the transition from being a snotty, high-nosed, better then all member of the Malfoy family where usually only his mother seemed interested in his life outside of studying the Dark Arts, to a member of a still high-nosed and better then all family, but now a family where both parents took interest in him and allowed him to feel appreciated and loved beyond being the Malfoy heir to the Dark Lord's service, and future procreator of more male Malfoy heirs. That had been the hardest thing he had ever had to deal with which he thought was too damn much and nearly took his life, but Joely had been through so much more and still wanted to live to see another day come her way.

He remembered a conversation that they had one very hot day in August while they tried to keep cool lying on the chilling marble floor of the ball room as Joely looked at an old bridal robe catalogue from her mother's shop. That had been a conversation where not only did he find out that her mother used to make bridal robes, but had been the day when Joely had relayed to him that she always loved the catalogues because she knew she would become a spinster, and she loved picking out her favorite ones to dream about being fitted for. He had always thought that she was being humorous and saying that for a laugh. Now he knew that unless her curse was removed, she really would become a spinster, and she had told him that very day. Though she would still be alive, Draco felt that her allowing herself to become a spinster was giving up; and that was one thing that she had taught through his battle over the summer holidays: never give up for your solution could be right in front of you, waiting patiently to be discovered. Draco knew that Joely had been his solution to his war. She was the reason for him wanting to fight to live. But was Joely's solution right in front of her? Was her cure right under her nose waiting patiently to be discovered? Was Draco her solution?

"Potter, Granger, I want to speak to Professor Dumbledore alone."

"We will visit Miss McGill afterwards together. You are to wait outside and not wander off."

Time seemed to stand still as Draco waited for the two to exit and close their ears to his wonder. His pounding heart kept time to the ticking sound of the lunascope on Dumbledore's desk until he heard that relieving sound of a door latch clicking.

"Am I killing her, sir?"

"Mr. Malfoy -"

"No, I don't want a sugar coated answer. I want the honest to Merlin truth."

"Yes, dear boy, you are."

Crash was all that could be heard in Draco's ears as he felt his heart shatter. He would've bet all his pocket money and inheritance that lay in trust in Gringotts that Dumbledore would not have given him such a tormenting answer. He, Draco Malfoy, was slowly murdering someone he had never wanted to hurt to begin with. He was repeating the same offenses that she had already endured by Damon.

"But not in the way in which you fear, Draco." Malfoy could feel a few pieces of his heart come together. "You have actually been killing her urges to give in to her curse and abandon the want for happiness. Since her attack before the end of the Christmas holidays, Joely has been battling with herself about returning to Damon and allowing him to take away the one thing that she truly wants above all else: to know that she is truly loved.

"She doesn't care about the magic that runs through her; she doesn't relish in knowing what power she possesses and the greatness that it can create or the damage it can inflict. All she's ever wanted is to know that she is loved by someone, and to have the ability to inhibit that power within someone is the greatest control one could possess over another. It is that ability in her that Damon controls. Cody Rawlings was not killed because he was a muggle-born, or because Damon was jealous of him. You heard from Professor Bridgeman that Mr. Hælan cursed Joely so she would have to return and vow herself to him as payment for removing the curse thereby getting everything he wants from her; Cody was killed because the love that the two of them shared was slowly allowing her to regain control of herself. Day by day, Joely was taking back more and more of herself as she knew that Cody was standing by her through thick and thin, loving her with all that he possessed. Day by day she was closer to being alleviated from Damon's control. Damon knew this and killed him to halt the take over.

"By standing by her through thick and thin, Mr. Malfoy, you're giving Joely something to fight and live for. You're slowly allowing her to take back more of herself that she had released to Damon to sate his thirst for her magic. You are saving and have saved her from a fate worse then death. To be an unwilling recipient behind blood magic has drastic consequences. Destroy the magic, and you destroy the caster. You, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Holli saved her life tonight. Your life debt to her has been repaid."

"Sir?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Malfoy, but the night of the twelfth of July, did Miss McGill not save your life?" Draco nodded. "Had you not felt that debt empower you tonight, she may very well be dead as we speak."

"No."

"No?"

"No, I would've done it anyway." Dumbledore nodded with a warm smile at Draco's answer. "I owe her more then my life. I owe her what only I can give her. I'm the only one that can save her, I know I am. If I wasn't, her grandmother wouldn't have told me so."

"Then why don't we go see her and you can begin your payment. I must warn you, Mr. Malfoy, of what you are taking into your own hands. This is not going to be easy and she will fight you on this every step of the way. She never gave up on you, so no matter the difficulties you face, and the fights you endure, you mustn't give up on her either. She needs you now more then ever. If you feel this is too big of a task to take, I'll understand for your backing down. Though you must do it now before you leave this office. Do you wish to back down, Draco?"

Draco needed no deliberation. "No," he said firmly.

"Brilliant. Oh, you might want to check out these books from the library. I hear that they're fantastic reads."

Staring quizzically at the headmaster, he unfolded the parchment to read what had been recommended to him. The Ins and Outs of Magical Torture: Everyday Items to Hex Your Victims With, and Ancient Ones to Zealous Types: Curses for Your Everyday Activities, Volume II, Blood Magic. Draco's eyes bulged; he knew these books!

..............................

The trio, Draco and Holli waited outside in what appeared to be a calm manner as Joely was being tended to inside the ward they were forbidden from entering under penalty of suspension and the threat of all failing their potions finals without question. Even as screams of agony mixed with wails of sorrow, the clashing of medical instruments, and the sharp pitches of breaking glass resonated to their ears, they sat, almost as though Permanent Sticking Charms had bound them to the floor, only allowing small wiggles of movement here and there.

Talk amongst them was not much of an occurrence either. Hermione was trying to remain calm by going over the ingredients and proper brewing instructions of the most complicated potion she knew; Harry watched Hermione ramble on occasionally whispering that she was going bloody mad; Ron had made up a Quidditch game in his head that starred The Chudley Cannons against The Montrose Magpies, and of course the Cannons were winning by a long shot; Draco sat with his legs out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, compulsively shoving his hands in and out of his pockets as he quietly berated himself for having read those books and finding nothing; but the tiny Holli was on her knees bent over and rocking back and forth as she muttered, "Please be okay, please be okay."

As the time passed by, the outlook of a possible recovery grew more and more grim. They were not going to accept her demise until someone came out of that infirmary and told them to their faces that she was gone. But their spirits plummeted to an all time low when they saw three green robed St. Mungo's Healers and three Healers in-training rushing down the corridor and into the ward, speaking frankly about the patient being dead.