A Throne of Blood and Stars

Chapter Fifty-Three

"Malfoy," Ron pants, his eyes rolling with relief when he sees his door. "Stay with me, Malfoy."

"Harry," the Slytherin chokes, convulsing in the redhead's arms.

"I know, mate. But he's not here right now. So I need you to stay awake, yeah?"

He hurries into his room, straight to the second bed from the far wall and sets Draco down on it. He doesn't even know what he's doing when he wraps the Slytherin in Harry's bedding, takes his pillows and lays them over Draco's head but not over his face so the boy can breathe.

"Draco," Ron says worriedly as he kneels on the bedside, his eyes watching the blond's face carefully. "I need you to take a deep breath, okay? Take a deep breath. Like this."

The inhale he takes is loud and exaggerated, but it serves its purpose because Draco imitates him, and he does it exactly like Ron does. He takes two big gulps of air before his body stops shaking under the covers, and one more and his face relaxes entirely. Draco's eyes roll up to Ron lazily, and he huffs a little. "Thank you, Weasel."

Ron's exhale of relief makes Draco smile lightly. "No problem, man. Merlin. Are you okay? What happened?"

The blond frowns, pulls the duvet further up to his nose so he can get a better whiff of his mate's scent. "Harry must be very far. The last time this happened he was on the other side of the castle. I assume since the bond is still in the early stages of completion, the distance between us must be kept to a minimum so the bond can solidify."

The redhead's forehead creases before he nods, looking away. "I get it. You're alright now, though. Right?"

"Yes," Draco nods. His eyes close and he sighs into the comforter, his entire body relaxing on the mattress. "For the moment."

"Okay. You rest. I'll stay here until you wake up."

Draco is already peacefully breathing before Ron finishes talking, so he stands and rubs a hand down his face. He whips his wand out and hesitates, but Draco is too important at the moment to ignore him in this state.

So he mumbles, "Expecto Patronum," and watches as the Jack Russell Terrier trots around the space of his old dorm and then sits in front of him, ready for an order.

"Harry," he starts, watching as the dog's mouth opens to record his voice. "Draco just had an episode because of the distance between you two. I put him in your bed, he's relaxed now. Hurry up and find what you're looking for before he wakes up and I have to explain what's going on."

The dog's mouth stays open for a second longer before it closes, and Ron whips his wand again, sending it off. It barks, whirls and runs to the window before jumping through it and becoming a beam of light that travels to Harry. Ron turns back to the sleeping boy, his lips twisting.

He summons a chair right next to the bed and takes a seat, crosses his arms and relaxes into it.

The next moment he's being awoken by the fumbling of the door knob, and he blinks his eyes open just in time to see Seamus and Neville stepping through, laughing at something one of them said.

"Hey," he rasps, clearing his throat before rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Neville gives him a dopey smile and then notices the body in Harry's bed. He nods towards the lump. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Better not be the snake," Seamus says bitterly. "I'm still upset at him for taking all the space in the shower for his expensive products!"

"You barely had anything left in your one shampoo bottle," Ron rolls his eyes. "And I know you've been using his stuff. You're just lucky he hasn't said anything about it or you'd turn red all the way to your balls."