Chapter 8

"PANSY PARKINSON! Detention an 50 points from Slytherin. Draco, get miss granger to the hospital wing immediately. Maybe she can spend the majority of the rest of her birthday at least conscious." Snape bellowed. He was saved by Hermione during the war and has always had a soft spot for her since. "And Draco… wish her a happy birthday from me."

Pansy, Ron and Harry stood shocked at Snape's reaction. The others knew about what happened with Snape and Hermione so it didn't come as much of a shock to them.

"Yes sir, I will professor." Draco said, whilst picking up Hermione in his arms. He was about to start running towards the castle when the professor spoke again.

"And Draco, give her this from me." He handed Draco a neatly wrapped parcel in birthday paper. Red paper with a gold ribbon, Gryffindor colours.

Draco started to sprint to the hospital wing, the boys and Ginny in tow. Harry's curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

"Say, Draco. What happened between Snape and Hermione to make him nice to her? And why was Snape there anyway? And what did Snape give you to give to Hermione? And how did Snape know it was her birthday?" Harry had more questions in his mind but thought that these would give the best explanation.

"Well, during the war, Snape kept tabs on me. So he knew I was safe. Hermione kept tabs on Snape and saw that he was in the boathouse with Voldemort. She noticed that Snape's dot was fading on some map or something. I didn't really understand her but couldn't ask her about it because she was already on her way to the boathouse.

"I don't know what happened there, just that Snape almost died and Hermione saved him." Draco answered just before bursting into the hospital wing, Blaise ran to get Madam Pomfrey and Draco put Hermione down onto one of the hospital beds.

"What is the meaning o… Oh my dears, what happened here?" Madam Pomfrey asked when she noticed Hermione on the bed and Draco nearly in tears.

"Pansy… Hermione… crucio… unconscious…Snape…ran…here" Draco managed to get out between sobs. "All… my… fault."

"Draco, mate, it's not your fault. You weren't to know Pansy would do something like that." Ginny tried reassuring him but decided to hug him as well.

"Yer Drake, it's not your fault that Pansy's a psychotic b-"Blaise chipped in but wasn't happy when Ginny stopped him swearing by kicking him in the shins. "What? She is!"

"Look Draco, Pansy's not strong enough to cause any lasting pain. I watched my parents lose their minds at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. It won't happen to Hermione. It won't happen again." Neville could relate to Draco differently to the others. Yes they all cared about Hermione, but only Neville and Draco knew what it was like to lose someone they cared about because of the Cruciatus curse. He had helped Draco sort arrangements for his mother in St. Mungo's.

Neville's words really hit home for Draco. He understood how hard it was for Neville to talk about his parents. Neville understood what he was going through. He was always there if Draco needed someone to talk to.

"Yer Draco, none of us blame you. And I'm sure Hermione won't either. But what I want to know is what Pansy was doing there in the first place. I mean, how did she know that we would be there? None of us said anything, did we?" Harry asked, looking around at Blaise, Neville, Ginny and Draco who all shook their heads, then everyone's eyes were on Ron. Draco let go of Ginny and apologised for making her shoulder wet from his tears. "Ron?"

"Hmm… oh, yer Harry?" Ron was looking suspicious and refused to meet anyone's eyes.

Harry looked at Ginny before responding, signalling for her to take Draco's wand, just in case. "Did you tell Pansy that we were going to the Quidditch pitch today for Hermione's birthday?" his voice had a hint of anger in it that didn't go un-noticed by anyone, least of all Ron.

"NO!" Ron answered, too quickly for Harry's liking, but even then it sounded forced and hesitant. "Why would I? What benefit would I get out of doing that?" Ron was being a coward and he knew it.

"Why Ron? You know what Pansy's capable of. And you know that she hates Hermione for taking Draco from her. Hermione's your best friend. This is something I would have expected from Percy, not you. But, hey, maybe your just a mini Percy, aye?" Ginny was disgusted by her brother and at that moment fled from the hospital wing. Draco looked at Harry and nodded, gesturing to the direction that Ginny had just gone in. Harry smiled and left in pursuit of Ginny. How Draco knew about Harry's feelings for Ginny he would never know, but for once, he was glad that Draco did.

It was all getting too much for Neville. Draco sensed this and smiled at him. He turned to Luna, who he had just noticed as she was standing behind Harry. He approached her and went to whisper in her ear "take Neville to the heads dorm and give him some cocoa. If you want, slip some Firewhiskey in it. It's in the top cupboard behind the cereal. It's in a blue bottle. Hermione hates it when I drink, so I have to hide it in different bottles." He explained, smiling, when he saw Luna's more confused than normal expression.

"Ok, but come get us when she wakes up, yer?"

"I will Luna, I will." Draco reassured her when she took Neville's hand and led him out of the hospital wing. Then he turned to Ron.