Chapter Four: Three of Spades.
(I'll be amazed if you get this, because I sure don't.)
A few hours later, Kiyoshi woke to find Draco sitting next to his bed in the hospital wing. He blinked groggily as Draco jumped up to throw his arms around him. "I thought you'd never wake up!" He exclaimed. "You missed supper. I brought you this." He handed him a sugar cake that his eagle-owl had delivered that morning. Kiyoshi took it silently, and his lips twitched in something that might have been a smile. He set the cake on a tiny nightstand next to the bed, then slumped back amongst the sheets. Draco leaned forward, alarmed. "What's the matter? Don't you feel well? You're not going to faint again, are you?"
Kiyoshi gave a weak cough, swallowed, and closed his eyes. Draco stood up. "I'll go get the nurse." He turned to leave, but Kiyoshi grabbed his wrist. "What is it?" Draco asked, clutching his friend's pale fingers. Kiyoshi used his free hand to point out the window. Upon looking out, Draco saw Professor Wolf crossing the courtyard. "Wolf!" he hissed with sudden realization. "I knew it. He must have put a—a curse on you, or something. I'll stop him!" He darted out of the room.
In the following silence, Kiyoshi let out his breath in a sigh.
***
Draco bolted down the stairs in the hospital wing, knocking over carts and pushing people out of the way, sending crutches flying. He stumbled into the courtyard just as Wolf disappeared into the Gryffindor dorm. Draco stopped at the painting of the fat lady in pink, panting. He didn't know the password to get in. While he was standing there, wondering what to do, he heard voices coming from the other side.
"Please—not here—"
"No one will see us. The children are all in their classes. Don't be afraid—"
Draco's eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer to the wall, straining to hear. That was Wolf on the other side, he knew it, but who could he be talking to?
"I have a class in half an hour, Wolf—"
"Plenty of time. I know that you sit in that classroom all day, waiting, aching to be set free. Why are you so hesitant? Are you afraid to feel this kind of—"
"Oh—"
Draco leaned closer, eyes wide.
"You see? It's all right. Let go. Here, take this off."
"Wolf—"
Draco pressed his ear against the painting in an attempt to hear better.
"Minerva."
"Excuse you," The lady in the painting said haughtily, just as Draco stumbled and fell, knocking over a vase. It shattered on the floor.
There was a moment of terrifying silence as Draco sat on the cold marble floor, too scared to move. The pink lady glared at him. "What was that?" Came Wolf's voice from the other side of the painting.
Summoning all of his courage, Draco scrambled to his feet and fled just as he heard Wolf shout "Cave Canus!" followed by the scraping sound of the painting moving aside.
Draco ran out into the courtyard, his ears and face burning. Professor McGonagall—Wolf? The thought made his stomach turn. He decided to go back to Kiyoshi, to see if at least he was feeling any better, and what he thought of Professor McGonagall's affair.