The Pursuit of Happiness

Okay, I didn't want to post this until I was sure I was able to receive reviews for it, but I didn't think it was fair to hold back just because AFF.N was acting up. I like this chapter better than the first. Hope you guys agree.

::The Pursuit of Happiness- Snape Charming::

Harry looked out the window and sighed. The snow had fallen, covering the ground in a white icy sheet, but nobody was allowed to play in it for fear that they would catch whatever Draco Malfoy had contracted. Harry could hardly believe the stupidity of it all. A child had never caught a serious disease or curse, from playing in the snow! Four days since they were welcome to roam the grounds, because Draco still lay groaning in the infirmary.

Rumors passed around the school ranging from the mediocre to the ridiculous, on behalf of exactly what Draco’s illness was. More than half of the Hufflepuffs truly believed that Draco had been turned into a woman, because of some offhand comment made by Blaise Zabini. Only Harry knew the truth, and only part of it at that. If only the teachers knew what was wrong with him… If only Dumbledore could find the anti-curse, before Draco’s brain melted out of his ear…

“Harry, where is your mind all of the sudden? You need to say the incantation before the potion burns!” Just as he said it, a puff of smoke shot out of the cauldron and hit Ron in the face, turning it blue. Ron coughed and sputtered. “Harry!”

“Whatever is the matter, Weasley? Did Mr. Potter ruin yet another potion?” Professor Snape glided over to the side of the two Gryffindors, staring down his nose at the brew. “Don’t look so down, Mr. Weasly. It wasn’t that big of a loss. If the potion had been correct you would have been green, not blue.” Severus Snape gave the boy’s cauldron a tap with his wand and smirked. “Ten points from Gryffindor for disrupting class with…” Professor Snape pointed at the bubbling concoction in the cauldron and sneered. “…this.”

A few Slytherins chuckled at Harry and Ron’s expense, but it didn’t really feel the same without Draco to spur them on.

“Class dismissed.” Severus made his way back to his desk and took a seat. He opened his Potions book and became absorbed immediately, seemingly ignoring all else in the room.

The students hurriedly put their cauldrons and supplies away, before exiting the class. Harry was last to make it to the door. He had almost made a clean break when…

“Mr. Potter.”

It was a summons, if Harry had ever heard one. “Yes, Professor Snape?” He paused in the doorway, wishing he could be free of Snape’s dark inspecting eyes.

Professor Snape closed his book and asked Harry to come over to his desk. “You seemed to be in another place today, Potter. May I ask where you were? I would love to know where exactly you deemed more interestingn myn my classroom.”

‘How about… anywhere?’ Harry thought, with a sigh. He looked up at Professor Snape and judging by the scowl on his face, the man had read his mind. “Umm…”

The Potions Master looked smug, as he summoned a bottle of Ginger Root from a shelf on the wall. He opened the bottle and smelled it, before corking it back up and laying it on his desk. “You’ll have to be more specific Potter. The land of Umm is a vast place, indeed.”

“Snide git.” Harry’s eyes grew wide, when he realized he had spoken his thought aloud. “Oh, shit.” He shook his head and stuttered. “I… I… di… I mean…”

Professor Snape rolled his eyes and huffed. “Really, Potter, don’t get so anxious. It really doesn’t become you.”

Harry gulped and nodded slowly. Harry felt a weight lift from his shoulders after he realized he had called Snape out without retaliation. “You aren’t going to take house points?”

“Is that what you want?” The professor sighed. “Mr. Potter, I feel that as a seventh year student you should be able to act with a certain amount of restraint, but seeing as how you don’t seem to have the word restraint in your vocabulary, I expect you to at least be honest.” The man leaned back in his chair and clasped his hand over his stomach. “You are to tell me how you truly feel about me, Mr. Potter. This is your only chance to clear your mind, without the reduction of points from your house. I don’t want any unneeded outbursts from you, during class.”

Harry paused for a moment, but decided that if this was his only chance to insult Snape he was going to make the best of it. “I think you are condescending and pretentious. You place too much worth in ‘your’ students, meaning Slytherins, who aren’t really as bright or conniving as they seem to think. Plus, your hair is oily enough to lead us, as students, to distraction. I mean… really… do you ever bathe?”

Snape’s face seem to contort into something akin to rage when it started to blur and misshapen.

“Harry… Harry!” Ron’s voice pulled Harry from a dark and dizzy place.

“Ron?” Harry shot up in bed and gasped.

“You were gone, Harry. I could hardly wake you!” Ron looked absolutely horrified. “It wasn’t the Crutatius was it? You weren’t thrashing or screaming.” Ron’s voice got small. “I thought you were dead.”

Harry shook his head and tossed his covers off of his legs. “No, it was the dream where I tell Snape off.”

Ron’s look of fear melted into a grin. “What did you say this time?”

Harry chuckled and gasped, when the dream started to bombard him, once more. “I asked him if he ever bathed…” Harry bent in half, laughing until his eyes filled with tears. The look on Snape’s face was priceless.

Ron shook his head and sighed, with a smile. “You slept through breakfast, so that you could insult Snape.” Ron stood up from the foot of Harry’s bed and looked over at his friend. “Why do you suppose you have all the luck?”

Harry laughed harder and shook his head. “You’re an ass of the highest degree, Ronald Weasley.”

Ron nodded, as he snatched up a pair of Harry’s pants. He threw them at the dark haired boy and started for the door. “Don’t be late for Divination, unless you want Trelawney to read your tarot, when she sees you next. She’s been e cre creepy, lately.”

Harry nodded and slipped on his pants. “I’ve got a pass, Ron. I’m going to see Malfoy, in the infirmary. “

Ron looked utterly confused. “Why would you do that?” It had never even crossed his mind to go see how Malfoy was doing. He had been relieved when he heard that the Slytherin was out of commission, for the time being.

Harry shrugged, as he pulled his shirt on and buttoned it up. “I guess I’m just a glutton for abuse.”

Ron rolled his eyes and sighed, gustily. “So, I’ll see you in Charms?”

Harry nodded, as he finished tying his tie. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The red head quirked a brow and shook his head. “Your just a little bit nutty sometimes, Harry.” The boy left without another word, allowing Harry to finish dressing.

Harry slipped on his robe and pulled on a pair of shoes, before heading out of the Gryffindor dormitories and toward the infirmary. He quietly entered the infirmary and walked over to the curtained area, where Draco lay sleeping. Harry pulled the curtain aside andppedpped in, taking a seat next to the bed. He watched the Slytherin doze for a while, listening to the soft snoring sounds and smiling.

‘He almost looks sweet, when he’s asleep.’ Harry sighed, silently. ‘Now, that’s just ridiculous. Draco’s about as sweet as he is innocent.’ Harry almost groaned. ‘There you go calling him Draco again. What is wrong with you, Potter?’

Wrong, indeed. Harry had had four days to think over the weird conversation he had with Malfoy. They had almost gotten along, which even though that should be seen as a good thing, it was weird and should not be trusted. ‘Draco wouldn’t feign illness to gain my trust, would he?’ Harry shook his head. It was just conniving enough to be considered, Harry thought for a brief moment. Harry then saw the way sweat dripped from Draco’s brow and decided that he was an idiot and a horrible person for even kingking that Draco was lying.

“What are you staring at, Pot… oh.” Draco groaned and lifted his hand up to his brow. “Hell, I’m hallucin… a… ting.” Draco’s arm dropped to his side and he squirmed in the sheets, uncomfortably. “It’s so fucking hot in here.” He moaned and sighed. He was too tired and too sick to act like an asshole. It took a lot of will power to be such a big prick, he decided.

Harry saw the way Draco was squirming and he helped pull the sheets off of his upper body, down to his waist. “Is that better?” Harry asked, with a gulp. He had pulled down the sheets, before realizing that Draco was practically naked beneath them. ‘Uhh…’

Draco shook his head. “Nothing will help. I’m goio buo burn up and then I’ll freeze to death. Freezing is the final stage. I probably have a week, at most.” The blonde turned over on his side and laid his head in the crook of his arm.

Harry looked the boy over, scrutinizing every detail. “You’re getting thin.” Draco was losing weight but he seemed to be maintaining muscle tone. His abs and pectorals were well defined, but his collarbones and hipbones seemed to jut out, dangerously. “Can’t you hold anything down?”

Draco shook his head. “Not since last Monday. What was that? Six days ago?”

Harry shook his head. “Draco, yesterday was Monday.”

Draco sighed and closed his pale grey eyes. “Monday before last, then.” Draco silently did the math. “Eight days.” The blonde’s eyes snapped open and peered up at Harry. “Bloody hell. You did it again.”

Harry shook his head. “Did what?” Harry was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything to warrant the Slytherin getting upset.

“You…” Draco pointed at Harry with his free arm and smirked. “… called me Draco.”

Harry shook his head. “I assure you that if I did, I didn’t meant it at all.”

Draco seemed to smile for one genuine moment, before his face went blank and his eyes drifted shut. “Has Uncle Severus been in to see me?”

Harry frowned and let out a soft sigh. Draco sounded so tired. He wished he could give him the answer he was looking for, but the truth was he didn’t know. “I’m not positive, but I don’t think he would allow you to be in here for four days without a single visit.”

“He would if my father ordered him to keep his distance.” Draco stated, blandly.

Harry nodded. Lucius did seem to wield a certain amount of power, where Snape was concerned.

“Of course, I’ve come to see you Draconian.” Professor Snape walked up behind Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. He squeezed it and let go quickly, before pulling up a chair and having a seat. “How are you feeling today, Draco?” Professor Snape took in how Draco was sweating and how much paler he was becoming.

Draco opened his eyes and smiled at his godfather. “Like I’m about to die.” Draco coughed and shivered, before looking back at Harry. “Do you think it’s fitting that my name means ‘unusually harsh and unfaithful’?”

Harry scratched the back of his neck and squirmed in his seat. ‘Hell.’ “Umm… You’ve only been slightly harsh, as of late, and you seem pretty loyal to…” Harry searched his mind for who Draco was faithful to. “…yourself?”

Draco’s jaw dropped, slightly, and then he started to laugh. He laughed until he was hurting all over and he felt like he was going to wet himself. Harry’s answer hadn’t been that amusing, surely, but the look on his face… Draco gasped for air and coughed, sporadically. “Severus, aren’t you going to take points or hex him… or something?” Draco tried to act indignant, but he couldn’t stop grinning.

Snape sat back in his chair and smirked. “You seem to feel better when you have company.” The Potion’s Master looked at Draco and silently seethed. He had come to see him, yes, but where was Lucius and Narcissa? The owls had been sent out days ago and neither had come to see their child. The boy was seventeen and all but wasting away.

“You have that look on your face, Severus.” Draco looked thoughtful. “The one where you have just eaten a bad bowl of chili.”

Severus looked heavenward, as if trying to grasp a little grace from God himself, and then gazed back at the young Slytherin. “I’m brooding. It’s what all the old, greasy Potions Masters are doing.”

Draco shrugged a shoulder. “As long as you’re stylish. I would hate to think that my godfather is brooding, when the trendy thing to do is pout.”

Professor Snape gave the boy a nasty grin. “I’ll leave the pouting to you, Draco. Merlin knows you do it so well.”

Draco was too tired to come up with a retort, so he just chuckled. Friendly banter between him and Snape always cheered him up.

The professor took in a deep breath and looked over at Harry. “You should be heading to Charms. Shouldn’t you, Mr. Potter?”

Harry shrugged and looked over at Draco, whose eyes were drooping closed, once more. “I suppose that I should.”

Professor Snape stood up and pulled a vial out of the pocket of his robes. He leaned over Draco and tipped it to his lips, making him drink the liquid down. “Sleep, Draconian.” Snape handed the vial to Harry and watched for the effects to set in.

Draco’s eyes closed and he fell over, his face smooshed into the pillow and his arm lying under him at an awkward angle.

Snape reached down and lifted his godson, easily, straightening the boy out on his back and pushing his bangs out of his face. “I’ll walk you to your class, Potter.” It wasn’t a question, so much as a command. Snape took the empty vial back from Harry and slipped it in his pocket, once again.

Harry and Snape walked in silence. It was past time for Harry to be in Charms, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He figured he had a Professor to make up for his lack of a note, and Professor Flitwick would certainly not argue with Snape over whether Harry was late for a good reason or not.

“What’s wrong with him?” Snape had stopped walking, before they could reach the door of the Charms class. He expected Harry to stop and answer him immediately. “Well, what is wrong with my godson?”

Harry turned back toward Professor Snape and sighed. “He doesn’t want me to tell.”

Professor Snape quirked a brow and sneered. “Why do you think that it makes a difference whether he wants you to tell or not, Potter? I can’t help him unless I know what is wrong and he is too much like his father to tell me what sort of mishap he has stumbled into. Malfoys are all stubborn, bullheaded, and foolish, when it comes to their own lives.”

Harry nodded, while taking it all in. Draco wasn’t really in his right mind, was he? He would certainly want someone as powerful as Snape on his side in this situation, if he were. Harry let out a sigh and gave in. “Lucius allowed someone to curse him. I don’t know why or with what, but Draco thinks he’s going to die.”

Severus’ face grew darker and his eyes seemed to cloud over. “I’ll have to confront Lucius.” Snape seemed to be thinking out loud, more than actually talking to Harry. “Next time you talk to Draco, try to find out more about the curse and why he was stricken.”

Snape seemed to be thinking rather hard, Harry thought. The wrinkle in between his eyes was getting deeper. “Of course. I don’t know when I can get free from any of my classes, though.”

“You have Potions at the end of the day. Skip it.” Professor Snape mit sit sound like it was the obvious thing to do. He then turned on his heals and stormed down the hall, toward the dungeons.

Harry nodded in agreement, before realizing that his ‘hall pass’ had left him without a way of charming the Charms teacher.

TBC

Please review.

If the characters seem OOC, consider that (it is fiction) Draco is sick (it is fiction) and Professor Snape loves the boy… in my story, at least. It’s his godson! You don’t get a godchild for nothing, people! Plus, it is fiction.

Okay, now if AFF.N doesn't allow you to review, please E-mail me at gypsyqueen@catt.com with any comments you may have. I love to hear what you have to say... praising or otherwise. It is all acceptable.