Draco was at Hermione's side in a flash, his hands on her heaving shoulders. He said nothing, only helping pull her to her feet. His face was the only indication of how terrified he was; it was stark white, and his gray eyes were stormy. Ginny and Zacharias watched in horror as Draco Disapparated with his arm wrapped securely around Hermione. Ginny leaned over, and gingerly picked up the vomit-splattered newspaper. Zacharias already had his wand out, so he siphoned off the sick, and then blanched. Ginny would've thrown up too, but seeing that Hermione already had, she had prepared herself for something bad, and mercifully didn't have to throw up in front of everyone. However, if she had, no one would've blamed her, for wouldn't you throw up if you saw a picture of your brother lying naked under some sheets with a strange woman?
"Mr. Malfoy! Ms. Granger! Is she alright?" Madam Pomfrey hurried over to the spot where Hermione and Draco had Apparated to. They both supported a barely conscious Hermione over to an empty bed, and Madam Pomfrey hurriedly cleaned off the throw-up on Hermione's usually spotless robes. Draco said nothing until Hermione was fed some medicine and was awake again, although she was silent.
"She threw up." was all he said as he stroked her hair worriedly, the concern in his eyes making them warmer than usual.
"Obviously." snapped Madam Pomfrey as she put away the medicine. "But what did she throw up to? That's important, in case you didn't know."
"I don't know…" Draco's voice trailed off, and his hand's lingering caresses over her hair went down to her arm instead. "All I saw before I brought her here was that she was reading today's Daily Prophet, and as soon as she saw the front page, she upchucked. Maybe she'll tell us when she talks again. How long do you think that'll take?"
"I can't tell you for sure." Madam Pomfrey replied gravely, coming over to stand on the other side of Hermione's bed. "She seems to be in a state of shock, and there's no telling how long that'll last. Anyways, she won't be attending class today, that's a given. But I'm guessing that she'll be fully recovered by dinner. This doesn't happen often; whatever she saw must've upset her greatly, so don't go pressuring her for answers when she comes to."
"As if I would." Draco muttered. But in a louder voice, he asked, "If she can't attend classes today, then can't I stay with her? She might not be talking, but she's awake. I can't just leave her lying here by herself. She'd be lonely."
Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips, and started saying, "Young man, you can't-"
"Please? I'm Senior Boy. I promise I'm not trying to get out of class. I just want to be with her."
Draco's pleading eyes and longing voice finally persuaded Madam Pomfrey that he could stay. Rolling her eyes, she conjured up a comfy armchair for him to settle into next to Hermione's bed, and then went back into her office muttering about truancy.
Draco sat down and scooted the chair closer to Hermione's still figure, clasping her hands in both of his. To his surprise, Hermione turned her head to face him. "Draco." she whispered almost inaudibly.
"Yes, darling? Is there anything you need?" Draco's crooned as he rubbed little circles on the back of her hand with both of his thumbs.
"I don't feel well." she answered sadly, lightly squeezing his right hand.
"Just sleep it off, then. You've got all day, and I'll be with you the whole time. I won't leave you, I promise."
"Okay." Hermione whispered, and then her eyelids fluttered. In no time at all, she was fast asleep. Draco wondered how much she had thrown up to be this lifeless. She'd barely even had any bloody breakfast. What could she have been puking up, anyways? His eyebrows knit together, and he shook his head at the oddness of it all. She's a tough girl. Something must've been very, very wrong for her to react like that.
Ginny and Zacharias were having one of their few serious discussions during History of Magic. Ginny had even cast the Muffliato spell and Zacharias actually scooted his seat closer to hers. He knew that this was very serious, as Ginny was more furious than he had ever seen her.
"That prat." she hissed, slamming her textbook shut. "How DARE he sleep with a married woman? Especially when he was still with Hermione? I'm going to hex his-"
"Maybe he did it when he received Mione's letter." Zacharias said, cutting her off. "Although he doesn't seem like the vindictive kind."
"Owls don't travel that fast." said Ginny shortly. "He could only be getting that letter this Sunday at the earliest. I just CANNOT believe he do this!"
"I wonder how Hermione's doing." said Zacharias. "We'll have to get her and Draco's assignments from class today. It looks like Drake's found a way to get them both out of class for the day."
"You can do that." Ginny muttered. "But I don't know why Hermione reacted so strongly. I thought she didn't care about Ron in that sense anymore… Isn't she perfectly content with Draco?"
"I would've gagged too, if I'd seen that." Zacharias replied. "I guess we lucked out that Mione saw it before any of us did and gave us the heads-up."
"I'm just so glad that Hermione and Ron's relationship was only a rumor to most of the world. I know that article was by Rita Skeeter. She would just be thrilled if she could drag Hermione into this as the cheated-on girlfriend in the situation."
"Why does Skeeter hate Hermione?" asked Zacharias curiously. "Anyways, I wonder if your brother's still alive. Dawlish is a powerful Auror. And they're in the wilderness of Albania. It's easy to bury a corpse there."
"Har har." Ginny replied. "Hermione and Rita Skeeter go a long way back… I'm sure she'll tell you about it someday. As for Ron, well, we'll have to wait until we read the article itself to see what's happened to him. Maybe Mum will send me a letter before that, though. I think the Daily Prophet has sold out already today, judging from this lot."
It was true, for no one in Professor Binns's class was paying to attention to his lecture. They were all huddled into little groups and eagerly devouring the most scandalous new article. "I can't believe it's only been two weeks of school. Hopefully all this stuff isn't just the beginning to another wild year." Ginny said glumly.
"Things will calm down." Zacharias assured her. "Voldy's gone moldy, remember?"
As if on cue, Peeves suddenly zoomed into the room, screaming "WEASLEY'S A CHEATY, WEASLEY'S A CHEATY. WEASLEY'S A CHEATY, AND HE'LL BE DEAD MEAT."
"I think Rita wrote about Hermione in her article." Ginny said weakly.
Back in the hospital wing, Hermione finally woke up and saw her hand still being held by Draco's. Her blond angel was fast asleep, though, head drooping to one side of the armchair he was occupying. She yawned rather loudly, and his eyes fluttered open.
"Mione…" he groaned, letting go of her hand to rub his face with both of his. "You feeling better?" he asked groggily.
Hermione nodded, and sat up gingerly. She didn't feel dizzy or lightheaded anymore, and slid off the bed in one fluid movement. Draco held out his hands just in case when she stood up, but she didn't even wobble. "I'm hungry." she announced.
Draco smiled. "I'll ask Madam Pomfrey if we can go now. Wait here, and then we can go visit Kreacher for a treat. Classes aren't over yet, but I doubt you want to go back."
"Okay." Hermione agreed, and Draco walked off as Hermione sat down again.
Just then, Ginny and Zacharias came bursting into the Hospital Wing, with looks of horror on their faces. Great. Hermione thought.