Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) 17th Chapter ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize is property of JK Rowling. Additionally this is not my story. I am uploading this to my own account in support of the author the story belongs to who has been struggling with hackers.

The thing I've most been dreading as a fan is that the story would be removed from the site by the hackers and the author wouldn't have access to their old chapters when the situation was eventually brought under control in the event the site moderators wouldn't be able to give the author their account back.

For anyone interested the author goes by Hancock23 on Fanfiction -dot- net. I will remove the story from my account when Hancock23 has gotten the story safely uploaded elsewhere or has been safely given their account back on Fanfiction -dot- net. Without further ado I give you a backup upload of: Behind the Fog by Hancock23.

PS: This Backup Upload contains minor edits for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plus some rewording/restructuring of sentences so they make better sense and flow better. Hope you don't mind me becoming something of a Beta Reader for this Backup Upload Hancock23.

Chapter Seventeen - Despair

Soon after they returned to Hogwarts, Draco and Harry were summoned to the headmaster's office and informed that their things had been moved back to their houses. Neither of them would have admitted to it even under painful torture, but the idea of moving back to their previous rooms was not as appealing as it had once been.

Since no one had asked whether they would rather stay in the East tower, they kept their reservations to themselves. It couldn't be all bad, right? Harry wanted the chance to reconnect with his friends and housemates, and Draco would not mind the freedom to work without having to worry about Harry noticing his actions. He could even brew in his prefect's room if he wanted, not that he wanted to mind you.

For three days, the entire school held their breath whenever the two were in the vicinity of each other, but they were disappointed at every turn when Draco and Harry did not go back to their pre-marriage behaviour. There was no name calling, no fighting in the corridors or even secret duels in the middle of the night. They only spared each other a small smile and a brief nod every time they met, much to the surprise and disbelief of many.

However, the peace was short-lived, and on the fourth day, Draco woke up feeling like he had been run over by a herd of galloping centaurs. Figuring he was suffering from exhaustion, he went back to sleep, but he should have taken his condition as the first clue that everything was not fine because he had never been one to sleep more than necessary even when he was sick.

The next time he woke up it was two in the afternoon and he was in the Hospital Wing where Pansy and Blaise had taken him after trying and failing to wake him up. His head still throbbed, but it was nothing compared to when he had first woken up and thankfully, the rest of his body did not hurt. He stood up, ready to discharge himself, but he was stopped by a pained groan when he tried to take a step away from the bed. He had felt his headache intensify for a moment there, but he didn't think he had been the one to make that noise so he turned, only to find Potter in the bed next to his.

What the hell was Potter doing here? He wondered it, as he stared at his sleeping husband. He looked at him for a while longer, before deciding that Potter no longer had anything to do with him, but then he and Potter both screamed in pain when he attempted once more to take a step away. He had felt a lancing pain pierce through his skull and invade every cell of his body; A pain much worse than the Cruciatus Curse, and he began to have this feeling of dread when he saw Potter sit up on his bed, and turn accusing eyes on him.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. For all that they had stopped their antagonism towards each other, it was still too hard to address each other by their first names.

"I am not quite sure; I just woke up myself." Draco answered, and before he could say more, Madam Pomfrey came hurrying towards them; and as expected, she went straight to Potter.

"Get back on the bed Mr Malfoy." She said dismissively as she conjured a Patronus; which she sent to the headmaster, who had asked to be notified the moment the boys woke up.

The tall, thin old man appeared five minutes later; closely followed by Snape, as well as Black and Lupin, who must have been called to the school following Potter's illness.

"How are you feeling Harry?" The headmaster asked.

"Fine except for the fact that I have a dull headache." The Gryffindor said.

"And you Draco?" Snape asked.

"Same. Did we contract some disease?" He inquired of the potions master.

"I wish it were something that simple." The headmaster said, and Draco felt a chill run down his spine. "I am afraid that your bond is reacting negatively to your separation."

"What are you talking about Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a panic. Sure Harry had missed Malfoy more than he was willing to admit, but he was just getting back his life, he was not keen on anything else interfering with it. "Wasn't the bond supposed to settle after three months? After all, it is a simple elemental bond."

"Yes." Dumbledore frowned. "I honestly cannot say what went wrong." That was not what either of the boys wanted to hear.

"What have you done to my godson?" Sirius Balck asked, moving in a threatening way towards Malfoy.

"I knew this was a bad idea from the very beginning, but no one listened to me. We should have found another way; instead of binding my godson to a death eater's spawn." He continued angrily.

"Shut your gob, Black." Snape said, which surprised everyone. It did not escape their notice that something had caused a change in Snape's attitude towards his godson, and Dumbledore made a note to talk to the man later; He did not like it when things were kept from him. "No matter how you look at it, neither of them wants this bond."

"What do we do now?" Draco asked, after a long awkward silence.

"You will need to go back to the East tower until we can figure this out." Snape said. 'It seems that you can't be further than a foot from each other, so we will need to work around your lessons, meals and other activities."

Draco felt as if he was being submerged in icy water with every word that was said. What about his work? How was he supposed to work on anything, if Potter could not be more than a foot from him? In the bathroom maybe? Was his life over as soon as it had begun? Harry was wondering much the same thing using different words, and as if afraid of what would come out of their mouths if they spoke, they headed to their rooms in the east tower without saying a word when they were dismissed from the Hospital Wing.

Everything was as they had left it and their belongings had been returned to exactgly where they'd been. They locked the door behind them and for a moment stood there lost for words, so when Potter grabbed him and dragged him to the bedroom, Draco did not resist.

He could not say anything, but he felt like he needed to do something, so when Potter pushed him onto the bed and began to kiss him, he kissed back like his life depended on it. He wanted to feel something other than despair and Potter's kisses lit a fire in his blood.

The fire heated the blood in his veins and spread to every part of his body leaving him positively feverish when their clothes were finally off, and they lay skin on skin. Their lovemaking was tender; completely devoid of anger, as their misery had moved way past anger. It was as if they were both crying, without shedding a tear; and even their orgasms were prolonged; drawing out emotions from their bodies that left them shaking and scared.

When it was over, Harry held onto Draco like he was someone beloved and he allowed himself to be held. He needed it, they both needed it; because they still could not deal with whatever had changed the nature of their bond. It was only afternoon, but they both fell into an exhausted sleep, and that's when Draco's hell finally broke through its bounds.

It was the first of many times that he woke up screaming and wet with sweat, and it was the first of many times that Harry held him without knowing what the hell haunted the blonde's dreams. Draco would not talk about it, and Harry could only hold him and hope the spell would pass soon enough, because he couldn't leave the bed to sleep on the couch when being more than a foot apart caused them excruciating pain.

When they woke up again, it was almost ten; Dinner was already over so after a quick shared shower, Harry asked Dobby to bring them some food which they took to Draco's side of the room. They sat on the couch and ate together silently; no one spoke until they had finished eating and the platter had disappeared.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Draco answered. "I will try moving and see what happens." He did, but he only managed a step, before the pain returned with a vengeance.

"I guess we still have to be together at all times." Harry sighed.
"I guess so." Draco answered.
"You can't play Quidditch like this." He said.
"You can't stay up and spend all hours of the night playing chess and reading manga like this." Harry retorted.
"You can't meet privately with your girlfriend, or even have sex with her." Draco said.

"You can't do whatever it is you do when you disappear for several hours at random times of the day." There was a meaningful silence at that remark from Potter; and Draco once again wondered how Potter managed to track his movements.

"You can't do anything without me." Draco deadpanned.
"You also can't do anything without me." Potter bluntly supplied.
"So what do we do?" Draco questioned.
"I really I don't know." Harry said.
"There are important things I have to do." Draco declared.
"Same goes for me." Harry rebuttled.

"How will you do them?" Draco asked.
"How will you?" Harry asked in return.
"I don't know." Draco admitted, frankly terrified.
"Neither do I." Harry said, just as scared.
"Let's just go to bed for now." Draco proposed.
"Yes, let's do that; and maybe, just maybe," Harry said, not very optimistic, but trying to stay positive. "This will all be a horrible nightmare when we wake up."

Draco didn't offer a response to that. They had sex once again, and still, there was no anger, just despair. Nothing had changed when they woke up, so they took a shower together, dressed together, went to the kitchen for breakfast; and then stood lost in the entrance hall because Harry had Herbology, and Draco had Arithmancy. Eventually, they gave up on classes and just went to their tower; and hoped that someone would come up with a solution for their problem, because they sure as hell could not help themselves as they were.

Uploader's Note: This Has Been A Backup Upload of Chapter 17 of Behind the Fog by Hancock23.