Burning heart

I do not own Harry Potter

It was a usual day at Hogwarts. Harry and his friends were having potions class with the Slyhterins and Snape was being his usual obnoxious self. Harry stood next to Hermione while mixing their potions and were engaged in a lighthearted chat, sharing a few laughs here and there. Lately it seemed the two have grown very close, closer than they used to be, much to Ron's dismay and everyone seemed to notice. Especially Malfoy. Looking for a reason to piss him off, Malfoy opened his mouth to speak.

"Hell of a taste you got there Potter! You shouldn't fall in love with mudbloods you know…" he trailed off and everyone laughed. Hermione's face turned a crimson shade of red and Harry's hands formed into fists. He reached for his pocket about to draw his wand but Hermione grabbed it.

"Don't." she squeaked softly.

Harry paused for a while, but then grumbled and put his hand down.

"Aww… isn't that cute? Hermione wants to hold his hand but poor Potter is too embarrassed…," mocked Malfoy again and everyone burst in laughter and Harry grew angrier.

"Knock it off Malfoy," snapped Ron.

"What's to you Wesley? Feeling a little jealous are we?"

Ron's ears turned red; never a good sign. He was about to curse the boy in front of him but Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes and shook her head in the negative. Ron sighed angrily and turned around back to his caldron.

"My, my… quite the love triangle we have here, don't we boys? Can't say I blame them. They always did bad have taste in women…" teased Malfoy again.

"Alright that's it!" yelled Harry and tackled Malfoy. Ron was about to jolt at him to but was held back by his friends. Malfoy kicked Harry off him and soon a dual began. They chased and threw curses at each other, most of them missing their targets. When Malfoy raised his want to strike, he used a curse he made up but never used before and didn't know its full consequences.

"Interio Infernio!" he yelled and a pinkish red light came out of his wand. But when he struck he realized Harry wasn't in front of him. At first, he thought he missed his target. Then, he realized it was worse than that. Instead of striking Harry, he struck Hermione. She froze in shock and in pain, and then she started sweating profusely, and collapsed onto the floor.

"Hermione!" yelled her two friends as they rushed to her aid. They flipped her onto her back and Harry cradled her head in his hands.

"Hermione! Are you okay?" he asked but she wasn't responsive. Her face was very red and hot, she was sweating, and she had trouble breathing. Harry looked up at Malfoy.

"What did you do?" he asked darkly.

Thinking he might have killed Hermione, Malfoy gulped.

"I don't know… I never used that curse before, I didn't know it was gonna do that…" he stammered. He approached them to get a better look at her. When he was close enough, Harry gave him a strong punch to the face, knocking him to the ground.

"That was just the first one, you bastard." said Harry.

"Harry we need to get Hermione to the hospital wing." said Ron.

"Oh, right," said Harry and they carried her out of the class in a hurry.

Right after they left, Snape returned from his bathroom break and saw a few people were missing.

"Where are three Gryffindors?" he asked.

Harry and Ron ran up the stairs as fast as they could, with each passing moment, Hermione's body grew hotter and hotter. Finally, they burst through the doors to the hospital wing.

"Good lord, you two! What happened to Miss Granger?" asked the school nurse.

"We don't know. She was hit by a makeshift curse and she collapsed after that. You have to help us!" said Harry.

"What was the curse?"

"Interio infernio." said Harry

"My word, that's not good. I'll do my best. Set her down on this bed," said Madam Pomfrey and they did. The nurse placed a hand on her forehead.

"Good lord, she's practically on fire!" gasped the women and hurried to get one her strongest potions. She came back with a big bottle and helped Hermione drink it. It wasn't helping and Hermione's face grew increasingly redder and hotter.

The nurse cursed under her breath and hurried to get another potion but that didn't work either. After trying five more potions with Hermione's body temperature still rising out of control, she tried a last resort. She took a step back and aimed her wand at the sick girl.

"Freezio!" she yelled and a thin layer of ice covered the girl up to her neck. The women sighed with relief and approached her. To everyone's immense relief, her face was starting to get less red.

"Thank goodness…" sighed Harry as the nurse continued to observe her.

"Alright, listen carefully, as soon as the ice melts cover her in her blanket. Miss Granger has a sick time ahead of her."

"What happened? What did the curse do?" asked Ron.

"The makeshift curse burned Hermione's internal organs, not set them on fire, God forbid, but they were badly singed."

The two boys paled.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes, but there'll be a lot of healing to be done. It will be a while till she'll be well again."

The two boys sighed again.

"Thank you madam Pomfrey. We're in debt to you."

"No debt you two, this is my job. I'll be back soon to check on Miss Granger. Make sure to cover her up when the ice melts," said the women and left. The two boys sighed once more. Ron looked at his friend.

"That was a close shave wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" sighed Harry and the two looked at their sick friend as the ice slowly melted.

"There… there isn't anything really going on between you two is there?" asked Ron hopefully.

Harry bit his lip.

"I'm afraid there kinda is. I've developed feelings for her lately, I've tried to get closer, and so far it seems to be mutual. But I could be wrong and it's mostly been beating around the bush so far."

Ron sighed.

"I guess I should have said something sooner…"

"I guess so."

"I won't get in your way then. She deserves you, you know?" he said and looked at him and Harry smiled.

"Thanks mate." He said and wrapped his arm around Ron's shoulder as the ice continued to melt. When it did, they covered her up in a thick blanket as the redness in her face began to subside, while her breaths remained hoarse and hollow…

To be continued…

So this is a change pace for once. How long will it take Hermione to recover? What will become of her relationship with Harry? Will Malfoy be punished for his actions?

All will be revealed later on. Stay tuned everybody and don't forget to review…

Peace out…