Blaise returned to the room a few minutes later to see Madam Pomfrey leaning over Hermione, Draco deeply asleep beside her.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, noticing how flustered the medi-witch appeared.
"Well, it seems the potion might take a little bit longer to brew, and it appears Hermione might have a bit of a concussion," she replied, not looking up. "Would you mind keeping an eye on her while I go and get Professor Snape? And try to stay awake, unlike Mr. Malfoy here. Please, don't let Miss Granger drift off again."
Blaise nodded. "Sure, as long as I don't get in any trouble for staying up past curfew."
"Of course not!" she replied as she rushed out the door, barely waiting for him to confirm that he'd stay.
Blaise shrugged and wandered all the way into the room. He levitated Draco to a seperate bed and sat down next to Hermione.
"Hello," she whispered.
Blaise grinned. "Hey. Are you okay?"
Hermione seemed to need to think about it for a while. "My head hurts. Why are there bright lights all over?" She squeezed her eyes shut. "They hurt."
Blaise waved his wand and the lights dimmed. "That better?"
She nodded and rolled onto her back. "What happened?"
"You were attacked," Blaise replied, watching her curiously.
"Where's Draco?"
"He's next to you."
Hermione turned her head and saw Draco asleep in the bed beside her. "Was he attacked, too?"
Blaise shook his head. "No, he's just tired. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm dizzy," she replied. "And my arm hurts."
"Madam Pomfrey should be back soon," Blaise said, smiling slightly as he watched her shift uncomfortabley on the bed, immensely resembling a child who didn't want to go to bed.
"Good," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "Because my head hurts. And my stomach. And my arm. Look at this bruise!"
She pulled up her shirt to reveal an ugly purple bruise surrounding her belly-button. "Yikes, Granger! Be more careful next time."
"Hm!" She said, rolling onto her other side, away from Blaise. "Don't tell me what to do," she grumbled.
Blaise had to suppress the urge to laugh as he rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Granger."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Granger? You still awake?"
She didn't reply, and Blaise groaned as he lifted himself out of the chair and wandered around to the other side of the bed. She rolled away from him.
Blaise shook his head. "You can't make this easy on me, can you?" He walked to the other side of the bed and caught her just before she could roll away. She sucked in a huge breath, ready to scream, but Blaise covered her mouth with his hand, his wand just out of reach. "Quiet!" He whispered fiercely. "Do you want to wake up the entire school?"
"She might not, but your obnoxious whispering sure will."
Blaise glared at Draco, whose eyes were still closed. "Get over here and help me with your girlfriend."
Draco glared at Blaise before getting up and swaggering over to Blaise. "She's not my girlfriend."
"Whatever, just help me!" Blaise exclaimed, wondering how Granger ever got to be so strong.
Draco took Hermione's wrists from Blaise and Blaise reached for his wand, muting her voice just as she was about to let out an awful shriek. She tried to cross her arms, but obviously couldn't, so she just glared at the two of them for a few minutes before deciding they weren't worth it and sliding her eyes closed.
"Wait, Granger!" Blaise said. "Madam Pomfrey said not to go to sleep."
She glared again before closing her eyes once more.
"I'm back!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, rushing into the room with a tray of potions.
Blaise discreetly returned Hermione's voice.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey said absently, sorting through her potions and pouring one into a glass. "You're up. Good. I need you to fill this vial with the potion brewing in the back room. Can you do that for me?"
Draco nodded and took the vial, returning a few minutes later with a full glass.
"Miss Granger, darling, can you sit up for me?"
Hermione obliged and sat up using her hand that wasn't hurt. Madam Pomfrey administered several potions.
"Right," said Madam Pomfrey. "You'll need to stay the night. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, you two are dismissed. Go on, to your rooms. It's getting late."
Draco and Blaise nodded and left the room.
"I never did my rounds," Draco exclaimed as they walked.
Blaise shrugged. "Isn't spending time with Granger better than boring old rounds?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Sure, but I don't want to lose my position."
"Draco, your rounds are so that you can stop things like what you did tonight," Blaise replied tiredly. "Quit trying to be so noble and go to sleep."
Draco glared and said the password. "Goodnight, then."
"Night, Drake!" Blaise jogged off down the hall, on his way to the dungeons.
Draco sighed and shook his head as the door swung shut and he was all alone in the big Heads rooms. He jumped at a sound from his bedroom, having thought he was alone. Slowly, pulling out his wand along the way, he crept to his bedroom and pulled open the door, slipping through and closing the door so that the intruder couldn't escape that way. He sighed and chided himself when he saw it was only an owl knocking at his window. Rolling his eyes, he let it in, took the letter, and let Sirius Black's owl zip off into the night.
Wow, that was fast. I just sent my letter, what? Three hours ago?
He quickly unrolled the letter and found it wasn't from Sirius, but from the werewolf, Remus Lupin, his previous DADA teacher.
Dear Mr. Malfoy, it read, We have taken your current position into account, and have got you covered completely. As you know, the Black fortune is immense, and thought Mr. Black was disowned, he still recieved everything his parents and brother had after their death. As you can see, he has far more money than he's ever going to be able to use in one single lifetime, so please don't feel like you need to tell us no because it'd be trouble, because really, it will be no trouble. Paying your tuition for you for the rest of the year will barely make a dent in the piles of money Sirius has practically falling out of his ears.
We've taken it into our hands, and have already discussed everything with Headmaster Dumbledore.
So, let your father disown you. It happened to Sirius, and look how he turned out! Okay, maybe not. But if it ever happens, we here at the Order have open arms and a spare bedroom.
Yours truly,
Remus Lupin
Well, that wasn't exactly what Draco had expected to happen, but now that they had offered, why, what kind of man would he be to refuse? He quickly wrote a thank you to send in the morning, and then began the grueling task of writing a letter for his father, basically telling him to sod off. He sighed, thinking of his mother, but knew there wasn't any other way to get through this while not breaking her heart.
Setting the two letters on his bedside table, Draco kicked off his shoes and curled up in bed, knowing that with everything that had happened that very long day, there was absolutely no way he would find sleep that night.
...
Harry and Ron wandered into the Great Hall the next morning, their eyes scanning the entire room for their missing best friend. They asked several Gryffindors if she were anywhere to be found, before fianlly resorting to asking Draco.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked awkwardly, trying to be polite so he could get a straight answer from the blonde boy.
"Potter," Draco aknowledged.
"Er...have you seen Hermione? She didn't stop in the common room this morning and she's not here."
"She's in the hospital wing," Draco replied absently, trying to eat quickly so he could stop in the Owlry before spending the day with Pansy, Blaise and Theo.
Harry looked worried. "What? The hospital wing? Why?"
"What did you do to her?" Ron spat vehemently.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Saved her. She was attacked last night on her way back from-actually, I have no idea where she was coming from. But I took her to the hospital wing."
"Are you sure you didn't put her in there?" Ron glared.
Draco returned the glare. "Yes, I'm sure, Weasel. And she probably doesn't appreciate you accusing me. So go on, go visit her and she'll tell you all about how I rescued her, just like the knight in shining armour muggles are always on about."
Harry rolled his eyes this time. "Whatever, Malfoy. Thanks for telling us where she is."
Malfoy returned to his breakfast. "Don't mention it, Potter."
...
By now, Hermione was healed completely. She was just a little tired from all of the healing.
"Merlin, Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head. "I always knew that bloke was bad news, but I never expected him to actually try anything."
Hermione sighed. "Apparently, I didn't either, considering I stayed long enough for him to do this to me."
"Want me to beat him up for you, Mione?" Harry asked, always the best friend.
Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Harry, but I'll pass. I rather like your face the way it is."
Harry tried to act offended, but ended up grinning and laughing with his two best friends.
"So, where's Draco?" Hermione asked finally.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, jaws dropped.
"What?" Hermione exclaimed.
"Draco?" Harry said incredulously.
"What?" Hermione repeated defensively. "It's his name isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, boys. Quit being so childish. I call my friends by their first names."
Ron choked and his face turned a nasty shade of red. "Your friend? Since when has he been your friend?"
Hermione shrugged. "I've decided to give him a chance. Is there a problem, Ronald? Because I don't comment on who you choose to spend your time with."
His face flushed, this time from embarassment.
"Exactly," Hermione said. "So leave me alone. If I want to be friends with Malfoy, I'll be friends with Malfoy."
"Does Malfoy know you're friends with Malfoy?" Harry asked skeptically, one eyebrow raised.
Hermione sighed. "Malfoy knows I'm trying to be friends with Malfoy." She shrugged. "Which is enough."
At least, she hoped it was enough. Because so far, just knowing she wanted to be his friend wasn't helping very much. Not much at all.