Dumbledore looked down at the boy in his arms, his head was tilted back far exposing his long neck. His eyes were shut and his mouth held a slight grimace, Dumbledore couldn't imagine the pain the young lad was going through.
He sped into Madame Pomfrey's office, where she looked up in alarm, standing up from her seat and moving towards the duo.
Dumbledore barely noticed as he sat Draco down onto a bed. He turned to Poppy and explained the situation, his words rushed.
"He was hit by a crucio and the killing curse," He spoke.
Draco's eyes fluttered a bit and he stared straight up into the ceiling, his eyes were foggy and his mind confused. His body radiated in a firey burn, it spread from his head to his toes, spiking shocks ran up his spine as if a thousand needles were jabbed into the skin.
Just die already! He thought to himself, sick of the pain. This was not what he wanted, not what he had expected at all when fighting Voldemort. This was much worse than any nightmare his mind could have created. He searched for a distraction, something to occupy his mind. His blurry eyes landed on Dumbledore, who was staring straight down into Draco's own eyes.
He could see his mouth moving, and hear the faint buzz of his words, but nothing was comprehenisble, it was all jibberish. He felt that insufferable pressure on his wrist again, and shifted his eyes to see Madame Pomfrey looking over him concerned, she lifted her hand and wrote something down before picking up her wand and waving it over Draco's body.
Draco shivered a bit from the cold air of the spell, but was pleased that it took some of the heat off, if only for a second. He squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, attempting once more to hear the adults voices. At first he heard that annoying buzz, like an old shitty television, but the sound slowly cleared.
"...Days at most, possibly less, maybe more," Madame Pomfrey stated, her voice full of doubt.
What? How many days? Draco screamed in his mind
"Seems so impossible, do you think he has any chance?" Dumbledore questioned with a whisper.
Madame Pomfrey never answered with words, but by the sound of Dumbledore's heavy sigh, it wasn't looking good. Mixed emotions traveled through the depths of Draco Malfoy's mind, on one hand, he wished for his death, but on the other hand there were so many things he wanted to do, people he needed to appologize to, and a girl he wanted to thank.
Then the pain spiked, hitting Draco so hard that all his breath pushed out of his lungs and his eyes snapped open, there was no blurr, everything was clear. He clenched his teeth together, hearing them grind into eachother. His right hand formed a fist which he squeezed, he looked over and could see each vein standing up from the pressure. He felt a hand push over his hair and whisper soothing words, it was Madame Pomfrey.
"Just breath, Draco," She whispered, staring him down.
He nodded and drew in a deep breath through his nose, it was rough and it burned as it traveled down to his lungs, but the air held a calming effect and he felt his pain give in, just a bit, the agony turning to normal.
"He must be miserable," Madame Pomfrey said with sympathetic eyes. "I wish there was more I could do."
Dumbledore looked up from the boy and glanced over at Poppy "Is there some sort of spell that may help?"
She removed her hand from Draco's forehead and moved over to the other side of the room, picking up a large book, she pulled a piece of paper out and wrote something down, then she traveled over to Albus.
"Here," She said, "give this to Snape, it will help the pain very little, but something is better than nothing"
Dumbledore took the paper and folded it up and took one last glance at Draco before strolling out the door. Madame Pomfrey let out a large exhale, shaking her head back and forth. She took a quick peek over at the young Malfoy, and noted that his eyes were shut but his chest was still rising and falling in a steady pattern. She set up an alarm in case he became unstabalized, and left the room to call her sister Korina, perhaps she knew of some way to help.
Draco slowly opened one eye after he heard the door click shut, then he pushed himself up into a sitting position, almost falling backwards due to the wobble of his arms. He blinked and took a good look around. The room was a light shade of beige, the floor was covered in white tiles, and the bed he lay on was plain white. There was a window to his left, the door to his right, and a pile of books stacked on the bedside table. His eyes continued to take everything in, they stopped at a shelve of medical books and he wondered idly how people could learn all that about medicine.
He groaned as a wave of sickness passed over him, his head spinning for a second. The pain kicked up another knotch, causing Draco to hiss through his teeth. He cursed Voldemort in his mind, before wondering if he was truly dead. It was safe to say he was, Harry had gotten out of that bubble somehow, but what if the dark lord just escaped?
"id be dying for no reason," Muttered the boy.
He shifted his legs up into a cross at the knees and looked at himself through a mirror. His eyes were red and bloodshot, wider than normal too, and his previously perfect hair was tossled in every direction, his pale skin seemed almost translusent and he looked worse than death itself.
"Bloody hell, not only am I dying, now I look bad," He growled.
A small chuckle was heard from the corner of the room and he spun his head, an action he truly regretted, to see who had snuck in. It was Hermione, her head was tilted to the side and an amused smile was on her lips.
"Only you would think of that," she giggled and walked over, pulling a chair with her and sitting down beside his bed.
"Your not supposed to be sitting up" She scolded him.
Draco raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "and your not supposed to sneak into this room"
"Touché." She smiled lightly.
The room fell silent on that note, the only sound was Draco's breathing, which was heavier than normal. Hermione watched as his eyes would grow darker and his arm would twitch, sometimes he would grind his teeth and she knew it was a way to stop the screaming.
"Pansy's worried." Hermione stated, attempting a diversion.
Draco winced at the thought of his clingy stalker, she was completely in love with him and he had nothing to give in return. Of course, being Pansy, she never could take a hint.
"That's no surprise" Draco muttered, leaning back on his pillow and glancing over at Hermione. "She's always been a bit obsessive"
Hermione brushed away a strand of her dark hair and felt the ghost of a blush rise to her cheeks out of embarresment "She's not the only one, I'm worried too"
Draco was slightly surprised at the confession, the statement made no sense, and he briefly wondered if this was the same Granger that has punched him in the face. Being a Malfoy, he recovered quickly and replied with low laugh.
"Oh, so your obsessed with me too, huh?" He watched her reaction closely.
Her eyes widened first, and her mouth fell open just a bit, the tips of her ears turned red and her face showed disbelief.
"No!" She gasped out. "Of course not!" She gained back her composure and narrowed her eyes, "I would never wish the death of someone that saved my life, that's all"
Draco gave her a hard stare "Perhaps, but do you think the weasel, for example, Is worrying, kind of convienent that your the only one here"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something back, but for once she was entirely out of arguements.
"I'm not obsessed" she muttered instead.
The door snapped open and in strolled Madame Pomfrey, a needle in her hand. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Hermione, who herself looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Miss Granger! You are aware that you are not authorized to be in here?" She scolded, her eyes turning into a cold glare.
Hermione stood up sheepishly and nodded her head "I-im very sorry, I was uh..just going, I swear"
"Be on your way then," She motioned towards the open door.
Hermione nodded and took one last glance at Draco, she smiled at him a bit and lifted up his hand, putting a small piece of paper into it. She then hurried out of the room.
Draco's eyes followed her retreating figure and stared at the spot where she had previously sat. Why on earth is she being so cival? He questioned to himself. He felt the dull prick of the needle go through his skin. I don't understand it, he continued to himself, his eyebrows creasing.
"There you go sweetie," Madame Pomfrey smiled. "Perhaps you might catch some sleep"
Draco nodded his head and closed his eyes, feeling the drugs effects kick in, the pain numbed just a little, but he could still clearly feel the torture of the Crucio. He heard Pomfrey leave and his eyes snapped open once more, he opened up the small piece of paper and read the words.
'Ill be back tommorow with your school work
-Hermione (Granger)'
Draco chuckled a bit to himself, only Granger would think it right to do homework up until death. He smiled, realizing that he was actually looking forward to seeing the witch, believe it or not. Of course, he noted as the pain forced itself into his throat, that would only be if he made it through the night.