Potions and Apologies
A/N: I do not own anything you recognise from the world of Harry Potter.
This may have been one of the hardest fics I've had to write to date, mainly because I found it difficult to write with the limit of 500 words or because I don't generally ship Dramione lol. But, I do hope this isn't too bad (I will fix the start to one my friend J. F. C originally liked after the comp). This was written for the HPFC forum's 'This Means War' comp organised by halffictionalprincess :)
The scene takes place after Harry uses Sectumsempra and Draco ends up in the Hospital Wing (although, I hope I managed to convey that haha) and the way I see it, it is starting to break down the tensions between Draco and Hermione and the way they perceive each other.
"Well, spit it out," he demanded, sick of watching the girl before him stammer.
"Look, all I'm trying to say is that I don't think Harry should've done it- it was a really dangerous spell to use."
He just wanted to forget about it, about everything. He wasn't going to be able to get those stupid cabinets to work, he wasn't going to be able to save his family- he just wanted to slip back into the unconsciousness that had consumed him before the Mudblood had disturbed his peace. But no, here she was, with a flimsy excuse about wanting to apologise for what Potter had done only to force him to dredge up memories of the duel in the bathroom.
Struggling into a sitting position, he took another swig of the potion Madame Pomfrey had forced upon him. He scowled as the turquoise liquid scorched his throat- at least the foul taste allowed him to momentarily block out her false words.
He didn't know why she was there; why she even cared. He had been surprised to find her sitting on the plastic white chair beside his bed minutes before, mistaking her brown eyes for those of Pansy's. It was only his detection of the fact that the ones staring at him swirled with honeyed tones beneath flecks of melted amber, unlike Pansy's mud brown eyes, that he realised it was Granger.
He hated the way she was staring at him so pityingly, as though she hoped to convince him that she really cared about his wellbeing. At least she had not dumbed down the words of comfort she softly spoke, making sure to enunciate her words carefully as they passed through her full lips- it was a nice change of pace to the sickly sweet baby talk Pansy had used when she had visited him the day before.
"Mal- Draco, if you need help, let me know," the girl stood up, looking at him in what he thought she probably hoped was an earnest expression.
He watched as she left the room, throwing yet another concerned look his way. As she passed the stream of weak sunlight that had managed to penetrate through the room's glass, he noticed the way it kissed her hair, highlighting the strands of gold woven into the bushy brown mane. It made him want to call her back, to run his hands through it…
Shaking his head roughly, he turned away from her and stared disgustedly at the bottle in his hand. Of course, the bloody potion that was supposed to aid in his recovery was poisoning his mind.
"Oh Dwakey! I was so worried being apart from you!" Pansy shrieked as she replaced the girl.
He sighed in obvious annoyance, redirecting his thoughts to Granger's proposal. Even if he was in need of protection, and even if she was being genuine, he could not accept her offer. Instead, he took another gulp of the potion, hoping it would at least make Pansy more bearable.
