~*~*~*~*~

Draco sat in the medical wing for the fourth day straight. They had tried to get him to leave, but he refused. Snape had told everyone to back off and let him stay, and after the first day of classes Madam Pomfrey had agreed that he should stay.

They had dragged him away to go to class the Monday after they had returned, and her vitals had dropped drastically. He had been in DaDa when Ginny had come running in for Snape. The girl was working in the medical wing, training as a medi-witch so she had been sent to find him.

~*~*~*~

"I expect that all of you have completed your assignments without mishap." Snape said scowling at Longbottom.

Draco just shook his head, luckily he had never had a problem in Snape's classes, as his head had been anywhere but on his assignment. He wanted to be with Katia, he had a horrible feeling that something was wrong.

"All right. I want a three-scroll essay on what you believe are the three most dangerous creatures of the ones we have covered so far this year. It will be due in two days time, and I expect."

"Professor!" Ginny yelled pushing the door open.

"Miss Weasley?" Snape asked, shocked at her entrance.

"It's Kat." She replied turning on her heels and running back towards the medical wing.

"Class dismissed, we'll go over the essay tomorrow." Snape said as he walked out of the room, Draco on his heels, and the dream team on his.

"Professor, do you have any idea what might be going on?" Ron asked as they ran.

Snape noticed them for the first time and shook his head softly. Of course they would be following him. "I'm not sure, but we will find out soon." He replied as they arrived at the medical wing.

"Poppy what is it?" He asked as they walked in.

"Oh Severus, were losing her."

"What?!?" he asked in shock and they ran over to her bed.

"Oh my." Hermione began as her knees buckled. Harry managed to grab her before she hit the floor.

"Mr. Potter, get her onto a bed. All of you go wait out there." Madam Pomfrey said pushing them out.

They all walked out of the area, except for Draco. But no one even seemed to notice that he was still there. He looked at Katia, scared to death. She wasn't moving, and she was so pale, the pillow had more color than she did.

"There's nothing I can do Severus. I've never seen anything like this before."

"No!" Draco cried pushing past them and grabbing Katia's hand.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey said, shocked at his actions. "I thought I told you to wait with the others."

"Poppy wait." Snape said stopping her. "Look." He said pointing to Kat and Draco. Draco was talking to her softly, but they couldn't make out what he was saying.

"She's gaining color." Madame Pomfrey said in shock. "Severus, you don't think."

"What else can we think. Up until this morning he was with her constantly. When we made him leave she nearly died. But once he was back with her she started to come back."

"Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"Once. My wife's family has a story they tell that is like this. One of their ancestors was terribly ill, and would have died. But her true love came, and stayed with her till she was better. Years later she became sick once more, and he stayed by her side. Everyday she got better, but then he had to go fight in a battle to protect the village. He was gone for days, and when he returned she was near death.

"Everyone was sure that she would die before he returned. But to their amazement she made a complete recovery and lived to be over a hundred years old. They died the same day, he went first, and then she died less than an hour later. She couldn't live without him."

"Maybe there is something in her family that makes them depend on the one they love so much." She replied as they continued to watch Kat continually improve.

"I think he should be able to stay with her if he wants. He can do his studies while here."

"I think you are right Severus. Mr. Malfoy should stay here for now."

"Mr. Malfoy." Snape said drawing the young man's attention. "If you would like, you can stay with Ekaterina as long as she is in the medical wing."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, really." Madam Pomfrey agreed.

He looked at Katia, then looked back at the two staff members. "Thank you."

~*~*~*~*~

That had been Monday, today was Thursday, and still she slept. He had not left her side once, other than trips to the restroom. The house-elves brought him food, and the teachers brought him his work. Snape had joined him every evening and helped him with his schoolwork if he needed it.

Katia's cousin and friends had been there throughout the day whenever they could stop by and see how she was doing. And Hermione had been there every evening after dinner to stay for a couple of hours. Often she and the rest of her friends would do their homework with him.

He hated to admit it, but the dream team had their good points. They were loyal to a fault.

He sighed as he looked at her once more. She was beautiful when she slept. She had regained some of her coloring since Monday, but she was still pale. She reminded him of a china doll he had once seen on Diagon Alley.

As he yawned he looked up at the clock and saw it was nearly midnight. He had better get some sleep; tomorrow was another long day.