AN: This is not my best work…I should be working on my courses for college but instead I'm writing fanfiction. Also in the past 2 days I've gotten about 5 hours of sleep…. Sorry.
Hermione shot out of bed, she was covered in sweat and her arm felt like it was burning off. She flicked on the light in her dormitory and stared at it; despite her pain what she saw amused her. The snake on her arm was 'dancing' which would have been quite funny if every move it made didn't leaver her in agony.
After pulling on her dressing gown she padded out the door and headed towards Draco's room. She levitated herself up the steps and opened the door as quietly as she could. With the dim light from her wand she could see him sleeping peacefully in his dark silky pajamas.
"Draco," she whispered. He stirred but remained asleep.
"Draaaco," this time her voice was loud enough to wake him. He grabbed for his wand instinctively. When he saw her he was fully awake, Hermione was pale to the point she was nearly grey, her eyes had large black bags under them and her arm (apart from the dancing snake) was an angry red. Before Draco had a chance to ask any questions, Hermione hit the floor with a loud thud.
Draco lifted her gently and headed for the quarters of none other than Severus Snape. When he finally opened the door, Slytherin's head of house looked ready to blow a gasket. When he saw whom was at his door, his demeanor changed slightly, he no longer looked furious but he still looked like one wrong move could result in death.
"Professor, she came and woke me up but then she passed out. Look at her arm." Draco was panting both from exertion and fear. Snape led the way into his quarters and gestured for Draco to lay Hermione down on the settee. He lit the room and began to cast diagnostic charms on her eerily still figure. He frowned and cast glamour over her dark mark before levitating her and beginning to leave the room.
"Pomfrey will need to see her, seems Lestrange did a better job than I thought. Go back to bed, I'll watch her." Draco opened his mouth to protest but then thought better of doing so, Snape was already in a bad mood; there was no need to make it worse. He trudged back to the boys dormitory and watched as the woman he loved was taken to the Hospital wing.
HGDM HGDM HGDM
"Poppy, Ms. Zabini seems to be quite ill. Mr. Malfoy brought her to me in quite a state of shock, seems she passed out when she came to find him." Madam Pomfrey's eyes flashed with suspicion before leading Snape to one of the empty beds in the wing. She began to cast her own set of diagnostic charms and was upset but not surprised when Severus made no move to leave. He took a seat and watched closely as she frowned at her results.
"Severus, she's been cursed with some awfully dark magic, care to tell me how it happened?" Poppy gritted her teeth, she knew she would either get a false answer or no answer at all but it was worth a shot.
"I can't tell you what you need to know Poppy, I don't know what she was hit with but I can tell you who did it… Bella got to her. " He looked from Poppy to the nearly lifeless girl on the hospital bed. Then back to Poppy "And even if I knew how it happened we both know I couldn't tell you." They both frowned. Poppy nodded her head to the looming potions master and scurried away. He sat in the chair near the head of the bed and prayed to whatever god existed that the dark lord's daughter didn't die on his watch.
HGDM HGDM HGDM
It was nearly dawn when the headmaster entered the quiet chamber of the Hospital wing. He sighed tiredly as he approached the bed of the girl who had formerly completed the golden trio. Poppy had informed him of her impending death, there was very little she felt she could do to help the poor girl. He hoped that his visit and the energy or tears of his phoenix Fawkes would be enough to save her. He looked to the exhausted potions master who sat in a silent vigil for the girl and wondered why the man was so concerned for her. Severus stared blankly at the old man.
"Severus." The headmaster tilted his head in greeting. Snape could not bring himself to reply with more than a huff. Fawkes flew into the hospital wing and perched on the end of Hermione's bed. He looked from his master, to the sullen man sitting in the chair, and finally to the pale girl lying in the bed. He could feel her magic fighting something dark and feel it dwindling. Without a second thought he extended some of his own energy to her, knowing that their combined strength would be enough to save her. As the darkness started to dissipate, he felt her magic strengthen. When he was confident she would be fine on her own, he flew away and left the hospital wing the same way he had come.
Hermione began to stir, she opened her eyes which were bloodshot and looked around the room wildly. She calmed when she saw professor Snape but stilled with fright when she saw Dumbledore. She tried to speak but found her throat dry and her tongue heavy.
"Dr-dra-dra" She struggled to make her mouth listen to her brain. Snape tried to comfort her.
"Mr. Malfoy is in his dormitory, you are in the hospital wing as a result of a nasty curse. Madam Pomfrey will be around shortly to help you." He made to leave but her eyes begged him not to. Dumbledore looked at the girl with eyes full of regret before he left the hospital wing.
