Draco moaned as he woke up; it was as if he hadn't slept at all. Though, judging by the light that was pouring in through the window, he'd overslept if anything. Good thing it was a Saturday. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, shivering as his bare skin was chilled. He lifted a shaky hand and raked his fingers through his hair. Reluctantly, he stood on the floor and went over to the wardrobe. If being a prefect had no other perks, it was having your own private room and furnishings. He pulled out a sweater and pair of slacks. As he pulled the black sweater with green diamonds over his head, he felt an immense tickle in his nose. Sneezing mightily, the pale-haired Slytherin sat down on the end of his bed. Regaining his composure, he pulled his black slacks on and hunted down a pair of socks. Next came the shoes, which he had to bend over to tie. Doing so made his head throb and nose run terribly. He sniffed and laid back once he was done, resting for a bit.
The rest was intended to be short but ended up being quite a bit longer. A knocking on the door woke him with a start. He moaned, perhaps a bit louder than he'd intended, as an overly concerned voice issued from the other side of the door.
"Draco? Are you okay?"
"Pansy?" Draco coughed once, hard. "Just fine; I'll be out in a moment."
"Don't bother; I'm coming in. Pureblood."
The door swung open and in flowed Pansy, long-term girlfriend of Draco. He moaned in spite of himself; why wasn't he happy to see her? She sat next to him and leaned in for a kiss. He turned his head, feeling a sneeze come on. It did and he was, for the first time that day, grateful he felt like house elf food. But it didn't save him; she gently turned his head around and leaned in again. He turned just enough for the kiss to turn out being just a peck on the cheek.
"What's wrong?"
"Hate to get you sick."
"Ah, so something is wrong."
"No need to COUGH sound so COUGH smug about it." Draco broke into a hard coughing fit, bending him over to the point he almost fell off the edge of the bed. Not knowing what to do, Pansy rubbed circles on his back. She continued doing so while he regained his breath.
"I'm alright now, thank-you." In truth, he still felt like crap, but to admit that would be to admit he was sick. Though he'd already done as much, Draco still had a small bit of pride left and intended to keep it. He stood, fighting a wave of dizziness. Pansy stood too, much to his dismay. Slowly, making his attempt at balance look like grace, he walked towards the door. He made it and closed it after Pansy. He then went to the common room, thoroughly intending to leave her and go with Crabbe and Goyle wherever. However, the only other person in the common room was Blaise Zambini.
"Malfoy. Pansy."
"Blaise."
"What, no greeting from you, Malfoy? Something eating at you?"
"No. Good morning, Blaise."
"Morning? Not bloody likely! It's mid-afternoon, Malfoy."
"Bloody hell! Well, good afternoon then."
"Something wrong?"
"No."
Malfoy walked past and through the portrait hole into the dungeon corridors. Pansy followed him but he lost her once he turned and walked into the boy's bathroom.
In the bathroom, Draco sank to the floor with his back against the wall. He rested his head on his hands and sighed. Surely he should be more allowing to Pansy; she was his girlfriend after all. But he just couldn't find it in him to let her nursemaid him, maybe it was so ungodly out of character for her to want to and him to need it. After what he felt was sufficient time, he left. Pleased to find that Pansy had left, Draco walked on to the potions room. Once there, he knocked tentatively. Finding no answer, he went to Snape's office and knocked.
"Come."
Draco did so and closed the door after himself. Snape glanced up from his papers, slightly surprised to see who he saw.
"Yes?"
"Professor," Draco coughed on his wrist, drawing Snape's attention, "I need a potion."
"Go on."
"Do you by some chance have a cold tonic I could use?"
"That's what the hospital wing is for, isn't it?"
"Right, and give up to anyone who may see that I'm sick? Please, professor." Draco coughed hard, bending over. He had to put a hand on the nearby wall for support while he regained his composure. The potions master's coal black eyes softened a bit to see this and he stood.
"Alright, Mister Malfoy, I'll give you a dose."
Draco nodded his thanks, not trusting that he had a voice. Snape walked around to a door and opened it to his private stores. He came back out after a bit, holding a vial of red liquid. Draco turned to see and smiled slightly. He reached a shaky hand and took it. He uncorked the vial and gulped down the potion, feeling instant relief to his throat but really little else. Seeing his confusion, Snape took the empty vial and put it back in his stores. He then went and sat back down behind his desk.
"It won't take total effect immediately, Mister Malfoy."
"Thank-you professor. And I'll thank you not to mention why I was here."
"Don't sound so much like you're in charge of the situation, but no I'll not tell why."
Draco nodded and turned to leave.
"Draco." He turned back around to face Snape. "Get some rest."
Draco smiled, nodded, and turned back to the door. He opened it and stepped out. He walked down the corridors, not to the common room, but to the stairs. He went up and walked to the Great Hall. He walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down in his usual seat, next to Crabbe and Goyle. Thankfully, Pansy wasn't there.
"Where've you been?"
"Trying to get away."
"Right. She came here looking for you."
"Right." Draco sniffed. He looked across the way to see a certain Gryffindor staring at him. Blearily, he stared back into the green eyes of Harry Potter.
"Heads up."
Draco turned to Goyle, wanting to ask what he meant, but answered himself when he saw Pansy walking through the door. Sighing slightly, Draco let his head fall.
"I've been looking all over for you. Where've you been?"
"In the loo."
"For half an hour?"
"No, I went to see Snape."
"What about?"
"Something not concerning you."
Pansy shut up and caressed Draco's face. As much as this annoyed him, he didn't object to the coolness of her fingers on his hot face. Shortly Crabbe and Goyle were done eating and the four left. Draco felt himself being stared at and turned his head to see Harry following.
"I'll be right with you."
The others nodded and continued on, leaving Draco. He stepped back against the wall and waited for Harry to approach. He did and stared him down.
"Did you want something, Potter?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Besides being harassed by you?"
"You show up at the very end of lunch after skipping breakfast, then don't eat. I know you're up to something."
"Oh really. Well-" Draco broke off in a coughing fit that landed him doubled over. It was short lived, however, and Harry stepped closer and put his arm to his throat, putting him in a choke hold.
"Don't be smart with me, Malfoy. You think you can get away with it, well you're wrong. And why the bloody hell is your skin so hot?"
Harry drew his arm back and Draco breathed deeply and coughed slightly.
"I'll have you know that sometimes, if you'd step off your high horse, you'd see that people sometimes get sick."
Harry was quiet and Draco started to walk away. Harry grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Sorry. Get some rest before Monday."
Draco nodded, trying not to close his eyes for too long. He turned and left, not making any particular hurry to catch up with the others. Somehow, Harry's suggestion of getting some rest wasn't sounding like such a bad idea. In fact, the more he thought of it, the better it sounded.
A/N: Whether you review or not, I'm continuing this because, spoiler alert-Bellatrix is going to be a main character in this and I love her! She's like, my favorite character. Bellatrix and Arwin, you can't go wrong. So nih.