Too Young

Harry sat in the chair staring at his daughter, lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t hear the footsteps behind him, and flinched when he felt the hand caress his shoulder.

“Harry, you need to rest.” Draco said from behind him. “I’ll watch over her, you can sleep in the next bed.” The raven-haired boy just shook his head.

“I don’t know what to do, how can I condemn her to being a squib? But how can I condemn the world to save her?” Harry asked quietly. It took a further ten minutes for Draco to get Harry settled into the bed next to his daughters. He could sleep until Olivia woke up at least. Then he’d need the energy as Olivia was bound to be feeling much better.

Draco was right. Olivia woke up with a start feeling better than she had in weeks. Her magic didn’t feel crazy now. She was smiling at Draco and moved to cuddle in his lap. “Where’s Daddy?” She asked the blond as he moved to hug her.

The Slytherin shushed her and pointed to the other bed. She giggled and reached her hands out to be brought over to the raven-haired man. Harry, for his part, was totally startled when Draco dropped her right on his stomach, and out of breath when her little fingers started tickling him.

“Daddy, I feel better” she told the teen laying beneath her. Her smile was bright, and his only matched it.

“That’s great Livvie, the Goddess blessed you. She’s holding your sickness back so that you have time to get well.” He told the little girl.

“Can’t feel the magic anymore.” She told him. He tried his best to give her a smile. She didn’t understand what it could mean to her future. Draco just did his best to provide quiet support to both of them. Knowing how devastating it would be to Olivia if she didn’t feel accepted.

It was another few hours before Madame Pomfrey was ready to let the family head back to their own apartment.

***

Harry watched his daughter play on the floor by the sofa. She was playing with magical toys. Toys that were meant to react to the magic in a child, but they didn’t react to Olivia anymore. Her teddy bear didn’t hug her back, and her elephant didn’t trumpet when she wanted him to. She had asked why her toys were broken now and Harry had explained that it wasn’t the toys that were broken.

“Princess, for a little while, your magic doesn’t work. When your magic is fixed, your toys will work again.” He had told her. He didn’t know what he would do when time passed and her magic didn’t get fixed. How long would it be before she figured out that this might be permanent? Before he accepted that he had condemned his daughter to this?

Harry could have accepted a child born a squib and rejoiced in that child. But he mourned for a child who was born to know magic and had lost it. The brunet had every faith that if needed the Goddess would hold back the disease until Olivia was old and grey, as long as they believed.

***

Draco watched the scene from the table where he sat revising his transfigurations. His heart broke for the two sitting in front of the fire. For Olivia who had no idea how much her life had changed, and not for the better, and for Harry who felt the guilt and grief of a parent who had to make difficult decisions – none of them good.

Olivia would be a squib. He couldn’t get over that. This beautiful bright child who had absolutely radiated magic was going to be a squib if the ritual wasn’t performed? There was no way that Harry could do it, the loss of his magic would condemn the wizarding world to living under Voldemort’s rule. That could not be done. The ritual couldn’t be put off indefinitely, or Olivia’s growth as a witch would be stunted. Her magic would never reach its full potential. Eventually she would lose the feel of magic and it would be hard for her to ever fully recover.

Only someone who matched closely to Olivia’s signature could do the ritual with her. He made up his mind that he would be tested, and he would go see Madame Pomfrey tomorrow during his free period. Dobby could watch Olivia, and Harry would hopefully be in class. After that, if he was compatible he had a huge decision to make. Could he live without his magic if it meant that the beautiful little princess in front of the fire got to have her own back?

***

Madame Pomfrey was surprised to see the Malfoy boy. To be honest, she had thought his offer to be tested was nothing but bravado. An offer made in the heat of the moment based on emotions. Once he realized his magic could be at risk he would forget all about the possibility.

She was wrong; here he was standing in front of her demanding the test. “Mr. Malfoy you understand that if you perform the ritual you could end up a squib? That there is a possibility it might not work and you could still be a squib?” She asked. She hated to ruin Olivia’s chances, but her duty as a healer to both children required that she tell him the facts in a way that made him see reality.

“Then Olivia will have someone to help her through. I don’t think you understand, Madame. Olivia is special to me. That little girl has given me something I thought I had lost; something I probably never really had. She is my family and I will make sure that she never has to suffer if I can.” The blond stated firmly.

The nurse gave him a speculative look and turned to get the equipment for the test.

***

“Mr. Malfoy, you are a match for Olivia. You are not a perfect match, however, so the risks will be increased. You are close enough that I believe that the procedure will be able to bring back her magic, with a 95% chance of success. I have to warn you though; because you are not a perfect match the chances of you destroying your own magical core and becoming a squib are higher, up to 25% from 10%. It is a very risky procedure for the donor.” She stated.

The blond sat in the chair across from her desk stunned. He had known he would be a match, but now he KNEW he was a match. “Thank you Madame. I would appreciate if you would keep this between us. I’ve got some thinking to do before we can proceed, if we proceed.” He asked.

“Of course Mr. Malfoy. Just let me know when you decide. My door is always open should you have questions.” He nodded his head to the mediwitch and left the infirmary.

He spent some time wandering around the school. Not quite lost in thought, the Slytherin was too stunned to think. He could fix Olivia. He could lose his magic doing it. Could he give up being a wizard if it meant that the littlest Potter could stay a witch? Standing at the edge of the lake he reached down inside and felt his magic. It was warm and comforting. Could he let it go??

***

The blond Slytherin sat by Olivia’s bed for a while that night, softly rubbing her cheek and imagining her life. He imagined her attending Hogwarts a first year learning to transfigure a match into a needle. He thought of her playing Quidditch and a tear slid down his face.

Then he imagined a different life for her. He was a bit limited; his only muggle knowledge came from the children in the village by his home. But he tried. He imagined her running and playing on those contraptions in the park in the small town. He imagined her coming home each day after school, her bag full of books about mundane subjects; watching that telly-something that he saw in the store window when he was walking with his mother that day. Baking snacks in the kitchen as he had with the house elves when he was younger, before his father had caught him.

Either way he imagined it, it wasn’t a bad life. It was when he imagined them walking down Diagon Alley, Olivia staring longingly at all the magical items that he felt his heart break. It was when he thought of her staring at the brooms in Quality Quidditch, knowing she would never ride one that he cried for her. When he imagined that same walk through the alley with himself as the squib he felt his heart quiver just the same. Could he really decide which one would become the squib?

***

When he came out of the bedroom he found Harry sitting in front of the fire again. He had that devastated look on his face that he only allowed to be there once Olivia had left the room.

“Harry.” He called to the brunet as he sat beside him. He laid his head on his shoulder as he cuddled up beside him. Harry’s arm went around his waist automatically.

“Yes.” The Gryffindor whispered.

“What’s it like living in the muggle world?” he asked quietly.

Harry was snapped out of his sulk by the question and turned to the blond. Why would Draco want to know what it was like to live in the muggle world? Then he realized, Olivia.

“Coco, we don’t have to, you don’t have to live in the muggle world. We’ll fix her. It might take a while, but we’ll fix her. Even if we don’t, it doesn’t mean you have to leave the wizarding world behind.” Draco was stung by Harry’s words.

“Why wouldn’t I? Where will you be while I’m in the wizarding world? Have you read anything about restriction of magic in childhood??? Olivia can be “cured” at any time true. However, there is a major growth period for the magical core between the ages of 4 and 7. If we don’t cure her before she reaches the age of 4, every day after that is a day that she loses potential. If we don’t cure her before the age of 7 she will never reach her potential.” Harry was speechless. He didn’t know. How could he have not looked into this? His daughter wouldn’t be just fine in a few years once he took care of Voldemort. She would suffer loss of magic until he could finish the vile wizard off.

“Coco, I didn’t know. I don’t know what to do for Olivia. If I do the ritual, the entire world could suffer, but there is nothing I want more than to cure my little girl. You know how much I care for you, but I could never expect you to leave the wizarding world for me. If Olivia ends up a squib, I will raise her in the muggle world. I won’t taunt her with magic she can’t have.” Harry sobbed.

“For you? This isn’t just about you Harry. IF Olivia ends up a squib and WE leave the wizarding world to live in the muggle world it will be a decision we make together. We’re family Harry. Olivia, she’s like my own. I love you both and I would never be happy in the wizarding world if the two of you weren’t here.” The blond calmly told the crying boy beside him.

Harry looked up at Draco stunned. “You think of her as your own?” He questioned.

“Yes Harry, I do. She’s become so much a part of me I can’t imagine my life without her.” He answered with his eyes shining.

“I like that you think that. We both love you so much too. I was so scared that we would lose you if we had to leave. I think I could deal with this, if you were with me. Deal with Olivia losing her magic.”

The two boys held each other for a long time before they fell asleep there on the sofa, tangled together, cheeks stained with tears.

***

The next morning Draco stayed back from classes. He set up some toys in Livvie’s room and set her playing with them. Then he approached Harry.

“Harry, I…we need to talk.” He said.

“Of course Coco. What about? Shouldn’t you be in class?” He asked. Harry had been staying home with Olivia since her illness, and had yet to be able to leave her to go back to classes.

“I need to know, this thing between us, it’s serious isn’t it? I mean it’s not just something casual?” He looked straight into Harry’s eyes begging the brunet to understand what he was asking.

“Of course it’s not Coco. I wouldn’t do that. With Olivia in my life, I’ve learned that I need to take things seriously. I never would have so much as kissed you if things weren’t serious.” The green-eyed boy answered.

“So, you think that after school, we’ll maybe still be together then?” Draco asked in a small voice.

“Of course I do. And ten years after that even. Coco, it’s my intention to be with you for a very, very long time. I know we’re young and all, but I think that we live in a time and have gone through enough that we can make up our minds about things like this. This isn’t how I really wanted to tell you but I’m in love with you Coco.” Insecurity and fear appeared in his eyes at the last statement.

“Oh Merlin, I’m in love with you too Harry” Draco said as he leapt into his lovers arms. The two shared a passionate kiss and held each other for a few minutes before Draco found the courage to continue.

“So, if something were to happen to me, you would take care of me?” He continued.

“Of course I would. Even if our relationship didn’t work out, we’re family Coco. I’ll always take care of you.” Harry stated emphatically.

Relief poured into Draco’s eyes, worrying the brunet. “What is it? What’s wrong? You’re not sick are you?? Please, please tell me that was a hypothetical question???” the Gryffindor begged.

“Yes and no. Yes, it was hypothetical. No, I’m not sick. But Harry, I’m a match for Olivia. I went to Madame Pomfrey and got tested. I can cure her.”

It was as if all the air was pulled out of the room. “Absolutely not!!! I will not allow you to endanger yourself that way. She’ll be okay. You can’t lose your magic. You can’t. You’re a pureblood wizard, you can’t. I grew up without it. I could live without it again. You have no idea what you’re offering.” Harry shouted.

Draco sat down hard on the sofa. This was not the reaction that he was expecting. “You don’t think I’ve thought about this? I got the results two days ago. I’ve done nothing but think about it. Can I live without my magic?? Whenever I think about it, do you know what happens? What my answer is? Can I live with myself watching Olivia live without hers knowing that I could have saved it??? There is only a chance I’ll lose my magic. And even if I do, you just said you’ll be there for me. I don’t expect to end up some poor muggle working some dead end job scraping by. You have money, we have family. I’ll manage. I’m not looking to turn into a house elf. I don’t expect to live in some tiny little house and work as a house keeper or some such thing. I’m a Malfoy. If I lose my magic, and we move to the muggle world, I’ll learn something. Maybe I’ll just take care of Olivia. But whatever I do, I’ll have you there beside me to teach me how to live there.”

Harry was floored. Draco had really put a lot of thought into this. “Let me just, think about this some more, and maybe talk to Pomfrey. I’m just worried about you.”

***

Madame Pomfrey had not helped Harry in the least. The odds were in favor of Draco keeping most of his magic. However, there was still a chance he would lose it and this was a situation involving Harry Potter.

He did some research himself on binding the magic of a child. As it turned out, Draco was right. If her magic was bound through her Seventh year they would be lucky if Olivia came out of it able to do common household spells. She wouldn’t be able to go past O.W.L.S for sure. Time was of the essence and they needed to do this sooner, not later. If they waited for Harry, it might be a better choice to not do it at all. Putting her through the humiliation that Neville Longbottom went through so that she could wash the dishes with a spell just didn’t seem like a fair trade.

That left them with two options, Draco, or squib-hood. Neither was ideal in Harry’s opinion. He was so afraid that Draco would end up resenting Olivia and her magic, end up resenting him for not being able to be the one to make the sacrifice.

Finally, Harry found himself outside. He had with him his candles, his cloth. He had a bowl of incense and he intended to spend time at his altar. It was all he could do now to know what he should do.

After his petitions were done, a red energy appeared and flowed from his bowl of incense up toward the castle. Shocked, Harry ran after it. He followed it all the way to his own rooms where he found a hysterical Draco trying to get between the energy and Olivia. It was no use. The energy surrounded her and she collapsed on the floor.

***

Madame Pomfrey shook her head sadly. “The shield that was holding in her core is gone. We have no choice now but to perform the ritual, or start saying goodbye.” The nurse told the two boys.

“This is my fault.” Harry stated. “I was asking for guidance on what to do, and the energy came from my altar. The goddess revoked her protection. Why?? Why did she do that?”

“What were you focusing on child?” The nurse asked sympathetically. “Perhaps that will tell us why?”

“I was asking what I should do? Draco wanted to do the ritual, offered to do it. I didn’t want to risk his magic, but I wanted Olivia to have hers. I was torn, I couldn’t decide.” He said.

“So the goddess you petitioned, She decided for you.” Madame Pomfrey told him. “She has deemed it best that Olivia be cured. We know that she can be. Perhaps She will also protect Draco’s magic? Whatever happens we know that it is Her will don’t we?”

**AN/ Thanks to Keikokin for the Beta. Thank you all for the reviews. Will also be doing a quick edit on the last chapter today to fix an error pointed out in a review (thanks for that : ) Only one more chapter after this one......