Chapter 4 – Suspicious Allies
When she woke, Hermione felt sore. She felt like she had been set on fire, and given the pain she had endured, it was a very accurate description. She knew a Slytherin girl had been crying next to her bed, but she couldn't remember the girl's name. All Hermione knew about her was that she owed the girl her life. She vaguely remembered people moving around her as her body burned, but she couldn't identify who they were. She knew that it was pure pain that caused her forgetfulness, knowing that if a potion were involved then she wouldn't have been in agony for so long.
Hermione pushed herself up the bed, so that she was sitting up. She could see around the hospital wing much easier like that. It was late evening. She could tell by the way the light shone orange though the windows instead of the usual yellow hue that lights the room during the day. There were two other people in the hospital wing, both blonde and Slytherin. She recognized the girl sleeping in the far corner of the room as the girl who healed her. She didn't seem injured, which Hermione did fear for a moment. She was worried the girl had gotten hurt helping her. The other was the sleeping form of Draco Malfoy. It seemed like he was only sleeping also, but she couldn't work out why he was there. Malfoy hated her; he would never sleep in a bed next to her lest she dirty his pure blood. But it appeared that he chose where he had lain down. Why was he there in the first place, had he come to try to convince the Slytherin girl that she was wasting her time? He wouldn't have stayed if he had.
"He's there because he had a very large hand in saving you." Madam Pomfrey spoke quietly as she walked over to Hermione's bed, carrying a tray with several potions and a glass of water. "Have a sip before you talk." She ordered, handing Hermione the glass.
She did as she was asked and took a hesitant sip, unsure if she could keep the liquid down. "He would never help me." She spoke, her voice quiet and cracked. She took another small sip of the liquid
"He spent much of last night and this morning aiding myself and Professor Snape, as did Miss Greengrass, who I am sure you would like to talk with when she wakes." Madam Pomfrey smiled, glancing over at the blonde girl. "You were hit by Dolohov's curse, a spell that until now, none had survived. It was a very risky and painful procedure. We almost lost you."
Hermione looked over at Draco. It made sense, almost. He must have chosen the bed next to hers in case she needed help while he was asleep. "How did you do it?" She croaked.
"That was thanks to Miss Greengrass." Madam Pomfrey smiled proudly. "Her mother had taught her how to heal cursed wounds during the summer, evidently fearing Death Eaters attacking. As I am told, the curse was made to feed off of any healing potions, making it impossible for the victim to survive, given our usual procedures. Thanks to dark curses rejecting essence of dittany, we were able to use it to flush out most of the affected blood. Had we known sooner, the poison may have not been necessary."
"Poison?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide. She couldn't understand how a poison could have cured her.
Madam Pomfrey smiled again, understanding Hermione's confusion. "The curse had to be burned from your blood, and we did so by Professor Snape brewing a rather potent poison." She stopped talking when she saw that Daphne was waking up. "Allow me to just go and check on Miss Greengrass." She smiled, walking to the other side of the hospital wing.
Hermione watched as the healer whispered with the blonde, both glancing over at her. She knew something very bad had happened to necessitate two Slytherins to heal her, but she couldn't work out what it was. Surely Madam Pomfrey would have been able to heal her perfectly well by themselves.
"Daphne really drained herself trying to heal you." A groggy voice smiled, drawing Hermione's attention. Draco Malfoy was sat up on the edge of his bed, messy haired, his shirt only half tucked into his trousers. It appeared his jumper and tie had been abandoned at some point during the day. But he looked relieved, like he hadn't expected her to wake up. "Her heart is too big, it could get her killed in this war."
Hermione stared warily at the Slytherin, amazed he was talking civilly with her. "Why did you do it?" She asked, noting the questioning look in his eyes as she did so.
"When you were first treated, Madam Pomfrey brought you down to the potions room, where myself and Professor Snape were working on some potions for her." He began, staring at his hands. "You were bleeding so much, I didn't even consider that I was helping someone I'm supposed to hate. I was covered in blood by the time we were finished, and it was all I could think about. How red your blood was."
Hermione scoffed, an aggravated smile playing across her face. "All blood is red Malfoy, muggles aren't a different species." She spoke coolly, rolling her eyes.
"But that's what I was taught." Draco argued, his eyes still glued to his hands. "That muggleborns were some different species that didn't deserve the magic they stole. It was literally beaten into me until I believed it." He took a deep breath, looking up at Hermione's puzzled expression. "But your blood was as red as mine. It was pure. I can't believe in my father anymore, not when his entire life's teachings were a lie."
Hermione was taken aback by his words. She didn't know what to say or think about the changed man in front of her. He didn't hate her, or at least not as much as he did. It was like seeing her blood had shaken him beyond repair. Or at least shaken the prejudiced teachings from him.
"Mr Malfoy, could you inform Professors Snape and Dumbledore of Miss Granger's recovery?" Madam Pomfrey asked, walking over to the pair. She looked slightly worried, like something had shaken her. Draco looked suspiciously at the healer but walked from the hospital wing, picking up his jumper and tie as he went. "Are you feeling well enough for Miss Greengrass to speak with you?" The matron asked, indicating to the weary looking Slytherin approaching behind her.
"Of course." Hermione smiled, wanting to thank the girl.
Madam Pomfrey left them alone, heading to her office so that they could speak alone.
"I should thank you." Hermione began, smiling.
The blonde held up a hand, cutting her off. "You shouldn't thank me yet. I used very forbidden magic to keep you live. It's not dark magic, that would have definitely killed you. I used a rare type of blood magic only available to people like me." She noticed Hermione's expression shifting from confused to worried. "Do you remember Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion from last year?"
"Yes I do, Ron wouldn't stop talking about her." Hermione rolled her eyes, wanting the girl in front of her to explain, instead of seemingly avoiding her explanation.
"She's half veela, on her mother's side." The Slytherin explained, moving to sit on the bed Draco had previously occupied. "We're second cousins, my grandmother being her aunt. My grandmother is a veela, as was my grandfather and my mother." Hermione nodded in understanding, though not quite knowing what it meant for her. "I was able to heal you by creating a soul forge. It's rather complicated but in short, I used my life force to keep you alive while we healed you. You could have survived without it but I'd gotten to you too late."
Hermione stared at the girl, trying to work out what she wasn't saying. There was no way for her to explain it, but she felt sad, like she knew something awful was going to happen. Hermione pushed the feeing aside, listening intently to the Slytherin.
"I told Madam Pomfrey that Professor Snape doesn't know how to heal someone in your situation, and that was partially true. He knows how to heal cursed wounds yes, but he wouldn't be able to create a soul forge." She explained, staring at her hands. "I was hesitant to do it, I'd never actually done it myself, just helped my mother stabilize one. I poured too much of my magic into the forge."
Hermione nodded, understanding what she was missing. She smiled at he girl. "You can't break the bond you forged because too much of your magic lives in it."
The girl had tears in her eyes, clearly apologetic for what she had done. "If one of us dies, the bond will break and kill the other. Trying to break the bond will do the same. I'm so sorry Hermione."
Hermione took a deep breath before trying to stand, ignoring the pain across her chest as she did so. She crossed the space between herself and the Slytherin, pulling her into a hug. "I understand exactly what you did, and what it means for the two of us. And I am glad that you did it." Hermione laughed to herself slightly. "I may be a Gryffindor but I am human. Death scares me."
"You're okay with what I've done?" The sobbing girl asked, pulling out of the hug. "Do you completely understand what it will do to you. You'll feel everything I feel. Pain, sadness, heartbreak. There is so much of our magic in the bond, we may as well be the same person."
"Yes I am." Hermione smiled. "I may not know you, but I know the other Slytherins ignore you because you don't believe in blood purity. You don't have a bad bone in your body."
"As nice as it is to see you up Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey spoke, walking out of her office. "You need to get back into bed. You're not fully healed yet." Hermione rolled her eyes and climbed back into bed, a light smile on her face.
"I'll come and visit you tomorrow, explain to you more about what happened." Daphne smiled, jumping to her feet. "And Hermione, call me Daphne." The Slytherin skipped from the hospital wing, her sadness apparently having disappeared.
Hermione laid back in the bed, allowing Madam Pomfrey to fuss over her. She smiled slightly to herself, thinking about Malfoy's sudden change of heart. Maybe there was hope for him yet.
AN- I hope you like this chapter, it is a bit of a filler but I think I managed to put enough information in it that it wasn't useless.
As always please let me know what you think and follow this story if you want to read more.
Amyx
