prompt: for the HPFC forum Angst-Fluff Juxtaposition Competition

couple: draco and hermione (dramione)

Hermione pushed her way through the crowd of people in the hospital. As much as she hated places like these – where germs thrived – she needed to see him. An envelope had arrived in her mailbox that morning; the letter inside contained details of Draco's urgent and intense condition and how he'd been calling for her ever since he was admitted. She knew that she had to visit him. However, now that she was visiting him, tons and tons of people decided that it was the perfect day to visit their loved ones in the hospital.

"I'm here to see Draco Malfoy," she told the nurse at the front desk, adding a smile so she would seem pleasant.

"That's perfect. You must be Hermione Granger, I presume?"

"Yes, I am."

"He's in Room 13A, which is the fifth room on your right when you go down that hallway." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Instead, there was sadness in her eyes. Hermione wanted to ask her why she was sad, but there was no time to waste. Quickly, she said thank you and zoomed down the hallway until she got to Room 13A.

Doctor Quince was written on a huge plaque framed on the door. Impatiently, she knocked thrice. On the third knock, the door opened and a tall man of about forty sadly smiled down at her. What was it with people and being sad? Well, it was a hospital…

"Are you Miss Hermione Granger?" he asked. When she nodded, he let her into the room and closed the door.

She saw Draco lying on the bed and gasped loudly. He looked much paler than he usually was and his hair seemed to be thinning and graying. It seemed as though he was aging, even though he was only twenty-one years old. "What happened to him?" she asked when she finally managed to speak.

"We're not entirely sure, Ms Granger. Our paramedics got a call from the emergency hotline, and the caller told them that Mr Malfoy had passed out. When they got there, there was barely a pulse on him. He was immediately rushed to the hospital by the ambulance, and we've been working on him ever since. Unfortunately, nothing has been able to work. We fear that he's becoming worse."

Hermione almost suggested that she use magic, but she remembered that her magic was taken away when she pleaded on behalf of Draco before the Wizard Council. He was freed, but she lost all of her magic, and so did he.

"If it makes you feel better, Ms Granger, as we said in the letter, he has become conscious and he's been calling your name. We think that this might be a breakthrough." There was a beep-beep noise, and Doctor Quince looked at his pager. "There's another emergency down the hall, so I'll leave you and Mr Malfoy with some privacy. If something happens, just press the red button on his bed and I'll come back right away." He smiled once again and left the room.

Hermione walked over to Draco's bed and held his hand. He squeezed her hand for reassurance, and she smiled. A couple of tears began to roll down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with her free hand. "Hermione," he croaked. "I'm not going to make it."

"Don't say that," she said, shocked that he would say such an absurd thing. "You're definitely going to make it. How else am I supposed to go through life if you don't make it?"

"You have that Weasley kid," he joked sadly. "He always liked you. I can't imagine why you liked me instead of him."

"I liked you because you weren't afraid to speak your mind. Sure, you were a huge jerk most of the time, there was something you had that he didn't. That's why I liked you."

"But you weren't supposed to," he insisted. "You weren't supposed to like me. That's why this is happening. Hermione, I'm not going to make it."

"Stop saying that! You're going to make it, I promise."

"Don't make promises that you can't keep," he warned sadly. He then laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. "Dad made me a promise when I was younger. Look where that got me."

"You'll make it," she said once again; this time, there were more tears coming out.

"I want you to do one last thing for me before I go."

"You're not going to die," she insisted firmly. "And, what do you want me to do?"

"Come here," he said. She leaned closer and he kissed her on the lips. If it wasn't for the fact that she was partially in her chair and still holding onto his hand, she would have melted into a pile of mushy goo. The kiss was electric and passionate and everything that she wanted. In the middle of the kiss, his hand went limp and she heard a loud beep coming from the heart monitor. She pulled away and looked at it – his heart had flat lined. This time, she broke down and cried. With blurry eyes, she looked for the red button on his bed and pressed it.

In a second, Doctor Quince rushed into the room with about three other doctors. "What happened to –" He stopped asking once he saw Hermione's red, puffy eyes.

"Darling," said one of the doctors, a female doctor. "I am so sorry for your loss." Without a word, Hermione ran to her and hugged her, and she hugged Hermione back. "We're sorry that we couldn't do anything about it. We tried our hardest, but nothing worked."

Hermione didn't respond; she just hugged the doctor harder, if that was even possible. All she needed was a friend – and, in that moment, that doctor hugging her and telling her that it would be alright was just the friend that she needed.

Draco flicked Hermione's nose as they lay side by side on his bed. "How do you put a giraffe in the fridge?" he asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "You cut up the giraffe and put it in the fridge?"

"No," he replied, smiling widely. "You open the fridge, put the giraffe in it and close the fridge."

"That doesn't make any logical sense," she protested.

He laughed. "You're just unhappy that you got it wrong. How do you put an elephant in the fridge?"

"You open the fridge, put the elephant in it and close the door," she replied confidently.

"Nope," he responded, shaking his head. "You open the door, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door."

"That's what I said!"

"It isn't, and you know it. Let me think. . . All the animals are having a meeting in the forest. Every animal is present except which animal?"

"The lion?" she guessed.

"The elephant," he said, "because it's in the fridge."

"You know, you're not even that funny," she said childishly.

"You know, you're just annoyed that you got the answer wrong." He kissed her forehead and said, "You're in the forest and you reach a man-eating crocodile infested river. How do you cross the river?"

She shrugged once more. "I don't know; how do you?"

"You just cross. The crocodiles are at the meeting!"

"I'm not even kidding." She grinned. "You're not that funny.""

"What do you call a deer crossed with rain?"

"What?"

"You call it . . . a reindeer! Get it?"

"I get it," she replied. "It's just not that funny."

"Shut up," he said stiffly. "You're just beyond jealous that you don't have my delicious sense of humor."

"Do you have any more?"

He shook his head. "No, because you don't appreciate my humor."

"I appreciate it!" She kissed his nose just to show her appreciation. "Do you have any more?"

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Knock-knock?"

"Who's there?" she asked rather impatiently.

"Knock."

"Knock who?"

"Knock-knock."

She laughed along with him. It was somewhat funny she had to admit. "You aren't funny."

"But you love me anyway."

"Yeah." She smiled. "I love you anyway."

hopefully, you can distinguish between the fluff & angst. oh my, this is my first hp fic (er, one shot). i'm so excited! haha. angst & fluff aren't my strongest, but. . . this seemed interesting. i hope you liked it :) (might contain errors).

disclaimer: i got the knock-knock joke from a t.v. show i watched. not too sure about the elephant & giraffe one. oh, and harry potter and its rightful characters belong to j. k. rowling, not me.

ox,

aly