Blind and Confused
No one said another word as they hurried through the school and up to the hospital wing. Destiny's panic level continued to rise as she noticed more and more blood staining the cloth over Draco's eye. The fact that he could not currently see bothered her excessively, but she was sure that Madam Pomfrey would know what to do. When they reached the doors, Blaise threw his shoulder against them and forced them open.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Destiny called urgently.
"Destiny!" Madam Pomfrey called from her office. "What can I do for-oh my word!" she gasped as her eyes landed on Draco.
"We were at Care of Magical Creatures, and well…" Blaise trailed off, uncertain what to say.
"What happened, Ms. McLaren?" Madam Pomfrey asked pointedly.
"Another student insulted a hippogriff, ma'am," Destiny said. "I was in the way, but…" she turned her gaze to Draco. "He saved my life," she whispered.
Madam Pomfrey's lip tightened, but she nodded and gestured to a bed close to her office at the back of the wing. "Put him here please and remove the cloth while I get some things from my stores."
Destiny and Blaise gently guided Draco onto the bed. "Draco…" Destiny began calmly. "I have to take the bandage off your eye now. It's alright, Madam Pomfrey will take care of it, but you have to let me remove the cloth, alright?"
"As long as it's you," Draco muttered.
Taking a deep breath, Destiny removed the sticking charm and reached for the cloth. As gently as she could, she pulled the cloth away from his eye, but Draco still winced as the cloth pulled at the edges of the gash. With the cloth gone, it was everything Destiny could do to repress a gasp.
"Oh my God!" Blaise cried. "That is-" but Destiny silenced him with a look.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, sounding terrified.
"Nothing Draco," Destiny soothed. "There's just a lot of blood, and Blaise obviously has a weak stomach."
Blaise glared at her but said nothing.
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey returned with several potion bottles clutched to her chest. "Alright then Mr. Malfoy, let's see what we can do for you," she said kindly. She stared at the wound for a long moment; her lip tightened. "Let's get it clean first so we can see the true extent of the damage. This may sting a little, Mr. Malfoy."
As Madam Pomfrey began to apply the potion, Draco tensed and let out hisses of pain. Instinctively, Destiny slid her hand into Draco's and squeezed and rubbed it for comfort. To her surprise, he returned the pressure.
"There we are," Madam Pomfrey said finally as she put the cork back in the potion. "Now, let's take a look at your eye…" She bent closer and peered at the wound for a long moment.
"Will he be alright?" Blaise asked quietly.
Madam Pomfrey waved a hand in front of Draco's eyes. "Can you see anything, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.
"N-nothing," Draco muttered. "Am I going to be blind forever?" His voice carried nothing but fear, and Destiny tightened her grip on his hand.
"I will not lie to you, Mr. Malfoy, this will not be an easy wound to recover from, but I believe that it is possible for you to regain your sight. You will have to remain in the hospital wing for several weeks, though I'm afraid."
"But what about the match?" Blaise groaned. "Gryffindor will kill us without you!"
Destiny scowled at Blaise. "Your best friend could never see again, and all you care about is a bloody game?!"
"Now, now, Ms. McLaren, there's no need to yell," Madam Pomfrey soothed. "I will speak to the heads of house about rearranging the schedule."
Blaise let out a sigh of relief just as the bell rang signaling the start of the next set of lessons. "Mate," Blaise began, "I've got to go now. McGonagall has zero tolerance when it comes to attendance."
Draco nodded his head slightly, and Blaise left the room.
"I'll be right back, Mr. Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey said. "I'll have to do some searching in my books for this treatment. As for you, Ms. McLaren, you should be off to class as well." She bustled into her office and shut the door.
"Don't go…" Draco whimpered suddenly.
"But I have class," Destiny said gently. "And you won't be alone for long. Blaise will be back after his lesson, and I'm sure Pansy will be along soon."
"I don't care about them," Draco whispered. "I want you."
Destiny was suddenly very grateful for Draco's lack of eyesight as she felt her face heat up at his words. "Then I'll be back after my lesson as well," she said firmly. "But I have to go now. You know Charms isn't really my favorite, and I can't afford to miss it."
Draco still did not let go of her hand.
"You have to let go of my hand, Draco," she whispered. "I'll be back…just let me go now."
Draco finally slackened his grip on her hand just enough for her to pull it out and stand up. Pulling her bag onto her shoulder, she looked back at Draco's face. "I'll be back soon, ok?"
"No you won't," he breathed, and Destiny could swear she saw a tear leak out of his eyes. "Why would you after what I did to you?"
"I will be back, Draco. I promise," Destiny said gently. "I'll see you soon."
With that, she left the room, and Draco turned his face away from the door. "She won't come back," he whispered to himself before beginning to cry into his pillow.
DMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDM
Destiny hurried through the halls of students as she tried desperately to get her emotions back in some kind of order. Finally, she was forced to take a detour into a girl's bathroom to check her reflection for visible signs of distress. Once confident that there were none, she continued on her path to Charms. Upon reaching the doors, she strode into the classroom and took her usual seat next to Alexis.
"There you are!" Alexis sighed in relief. "I was beginning to wonder if you would be coming."
"Why wouldn't I?" Destiny asked as she pulled out her books. "I'm not the one who got hurt."
"Yes," Alexis said with a knowing smirk, "but I do know that you care about him enough to sit up there and not move until he could."
Destiny's head whipped around to glare at her best friend who was still smirking widely. "I do not!" she hissed. "The only reason I cared at all was because he saved my life!"
Alexis shrugged. "Deny it all you want, but I know you better than that. You are head over heels for this boy, and I can't say I blame you; he's definitely easy on the eyes."
Destiny rolled her eyes and scowled. The door to the classroom banged against the walls, and Destiny turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the room. The moment her eyes met Ron's, Destiny's face flared with anger, and she knew without having to see a mirror that her eyes had turned green again.
"Don't do anything stupid," Alexis hissed in her ear, seeing where she was staring. "You'll really be in for it if Granger suspects you care about Draco."
Destiny, recognizing the truth in her friend's words, forced back her angry words and spun to face the board.
The clocks had to be going in reverse as far as Destiny was concerned. Flitwick just seemed to drone on and on, and Destiny's focus kept shifting to the boy in the hospital wing and what her best friend had teased her about.
In all fairness, Draco had matured in the looks department over the summer, and Destiny couldn't help but notice just how much she liked the change. Then her thoughts drifted to that same face mutilated by Buckbeak's claws, and she felt her heart contract. He had done that for her…he had risked death for her sake even though she had blown him off not ten minutes before.
Finally, the bell rang signaling the end of class. In less than five seconds, Destiny had repacked her bag and was halfway out the door when Harry called to her.
"Des! Where are you going?"
"Harry," Destiny said with a fake smile hurriedly plastered on her face. "I was just off to the bathroom."
"Des," Ron said, moving to join Harry. "Why did you take Malfoy to the Hospital Wing?"
Destiny bit the inside of her mouth as she took a deep breath to keep from slapping Ron. "He saved my life from your stupidity, and it was the least I could do," she said through clenched teeth.
"My stupidity?!" Ron snapped. "You were the one that turned your back on a dangerous animal!"
Harry moved to intervene in the argument, but Destiny got to Ron first. She slapped him across the face with all the strength she had. Then, before Harry or Ron could say or do anything, she had taken off for the Hospital Wing.
Draco was lying on the bed, lost in a world of darkness. He was terrified at the idea of being blind for life, but the reason was the source of his anger. He didn't blame the hippogriff; the animal was just following its basic instincts. He didn't blame himself; he would have done it again knowing the outcome. He certainly didn't blame Destiny; she hadn't done anything wrong. No, Draco blamed Ron alone for what had happened. His heart stopped when he thought it could easily have been Destiny where he was: blind or worse.
Destiny…he wondered if she really would come back after class ended; it must be nearly time. Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps outside the hospital wing before he heard the doors thud open against the wall. The footsteps hurried across the room before stopping beside his bed. He heard the thump of a bag being set down and someone breathing deeply as if in anger or trying to fight back tears.
"I'm back," her voice said, and Draco swore at that moment there was no sweeter sound. "Told you I would be."
"Thank you," he whispered. His thoughts drifted back to her ragged breathing when she came in. "Are you alright? Did something happen in Charms?"
"No I'm fine," she replied quickly. "Everything's fine."
Draco pushed himself up in the bed and carefully reached a hand out to find her cheek. "You're lying," he said after a moment. "Your face is hot…what happened?"
"I was in a hurry after class," she lied again.
"Tell me the truth," Draco pushed. "Trust me. I know I don't deserve it, but please…"
He heard her sigh. "Fine. Ron said some things after class that kinda got under my skin. That's all."
"What did he say?"
"Just that all of this was my fault," she muttered. "The sad thing is, he's right. I should've been looking at-"
"None of this is your fault," Draco interrupted. "I don't blame you for any of this."
"You don't?" Destiny asked in shock.
"No, I don't. Weasley was the one that insulted the hippogriff, not you."
"But if I had been paying attention," Destiny pressed, "I would've moved, and you wouldn't have been hurt." She gently ran her fingers across his face. "Why did you save me?" she whispered.
Draco froze at her question. "Are you serious?" he asked finally.
He felt her nod against his hand just before something wet hit his fingers; she was crying. "I-I had just walked away from you not ten minutes before because I was being stupid and stubborn, we hadn't spoken in forever, and I'm not even pureblood! I'm nothing to you…nothing! Why risk your life for someone like me?"
Draco was horrified at the words coming out of her mouth. "Listen to me, Destiny," he said firmly. "You are not 'nothing' to me, do you understand? I was the one being stupid and stubborn, not you. I'm the one that ruined our relationship last year, and I was the one who wouldn't apologize for it. I don't care if you turn out to be another Weasley…Hell I wouldn't care if you wound up being related to Granger…I'd still care about you. I saved you because I wanted to, alright? And I don't regret it either, so don't even suggest it."
Destiny sniffed before laughing lightly. "You may not care if I'm related to Granger, but I'm not sure I could live with it."
Draco laughed with her and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "Don't listen to that Weasel, alright? You're better than that."
"Alright, I won't," Destiny replied. "Besides, I think he'll be avoiding me for a few days."
"Why's that?"
"Because I slapped him before Harry could stop me," she smirked with pride.
Draco laughed even harder at this. "Are you sure you got sorted into the right house? You are such a Slytherin sometimes."
Destiny blushed. "Sometimes I wish I had been sorted into Slytherin," she admitted quietly.
"Why would you wish that?" Draco asked in surprise. "No one likes our house."
"I don't know," Destiny sighed. "It's just a feeling I get sometimes. Sometimes I just feel so out of place where I am."
The two fell into silence for a few minutes. "How are your eyes?" Destiny asked finally.
"No different than before," Draco sighed. "I heard Madam Pomfrey say there was nothing she could do just before you came back. I guess I'll just have to get used to it."
"That's horrible!" Destiny gasped. "I'm so sorry, Draco!"
"It could be worse," Draco said with a shrug.
"How?" Destiny asked.
"It could be you lying here like this," Draco whispered.
Again, Destiny felt her face heat up at Draco's obvious concern for her.
"I wish I could see you right now," Draco said.
"Why's that?" Destiny asked, still trying to decrease the blush in her cheeks.
Draco smirked. "I always loved seeing you get flustered.
Destiny swatted at his arm and laughed. "Well, it's good to know that your smirk didn't get broken at least."
Both laughed and fell silent again. This time, it was Draco who broke the silence. "Destiny?"
"Hmm?" Destiny replied with a smile he couldn't see.
"I'm sorry," he said in sincerity.
"Wh-what?" Destiny stuttered.
"I said I was sorry for what I said and did to you last year," Draco explained. "I was an idiot and a jerk. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have hurt you like that."
Destiny sat frozen in shock. Never had she expected to actually get an apology from Draco. "You didn't have to apologize," Destiny whispered finally. "You saved my life; I'd say that was enough for me."
"Maybe for you," Draco admitted, "but it wasn't enough for me. I wanted you to know that I really was sorry."
"I appreciate it, Draco," Destiny smiled. "I really do."
They continued in this fashion for several more hours: laughing, teasing, and talking about anything and everything that came to mind. Finally, Destiny glanced out the window to see that night had fallen. At the same moment, Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office.
"Alright Ms. McLaren," she said gently but firmly. "It's high time you went back to your common room and allowed Mr. Malfoy here some rest."
"She wasn't bothering me, Madam Pomfrey," Draco assured her. "I wanted her to stay."
"She knows, Draco," Destiny soothed. "But she's right. It's getting late, and I really should be getting back. I'm gonna get an earful as it is being gone this long."
"Remember what I said earlier," Draco warned. "Don't let them get to you."
"I won't," Destiny promised as she gathered her things together. "I'll be back to see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Thanks," Draco sighed as he sank back onto his pillows. "Who knows, maybe I'll actually be able to see you."
Destiny pressed her lips together as she met Madam Pomfrey's eyes; both knew the odds were not in his favor.
"I'll walk you out, dear," Madam Pomfrey said. "I'll be right back, Mr. Malfoy."
"Good night, Draco," Destiny called.
"Good night," he replied.
"Isn't there any hope for him?" Destiny asked quietly once she and Madam Pomfrey reached the doors. "There must be something you can do."
"There is one other treatment I could try," she admitted. "But I doubt it will help. His wounds are too severe for anything I know of. I wish I could do more."
Destiny hung her head and fought back tears. "Well, good night then."
"Good night, Ms. McLaren," she replied as she shut the doors to the hospital wing behind Destiny.
Destiny walked slowly back to Gryffindor tower still thinking about Draco and his condition. If Madam Pomfrey couldn't think of anything to use, maybe there really was no hope. "Then why can't I accept that?" Destiny muttered to herself.
Suddenly, Morgana appeared at her feet.
"Oh hello you," Destiny smiled down at the cat. "What are you doing out here?"
Morgana meowed and led Destiny to behind a nearby statue. Stashed in the shadows was…
"Harry's cloak?!" Destiny gasped as Morgana pulled it into view. "What's that for?"
Morgana meowed again and nodded her head at the lower floors.
"What are you on about, girl?" Destiny asked in total confusion. "The only thing worth sneaking into down there is…the Restricted Section in the library!" Destiny realized with a gasp. "Of course! Maybe there's a book with some spell that can save him, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't know because it's not really approved of! Morgana you're a genius!"
Morgana simply meowed in agreement as Destiny seized the cloak and hurried of to the library with a clear goal in mind for a long night of work.
Here's another chapter for you guys! Sorry it took so long; school work kind of took over my life for a while there. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave thoughts/questions/comments in a review (they really do help me with my writing), and I hope to have another chapter up soon because I'm almost done with school. Thanks everyone!