'Heal'
Disclaimer: I own healer smith! Muahaha!! My bubbles!
Chapter 4
Hermione leant against her desk, picking idly at the petals of a wilting tulip.
She couldn't stop thinking about Malfoy. She couldn't stop thinking about the haunting look in his pale, grey eyes...they were so cold, so distant and yet...
So lonely.
She remembered though, that she'd seen him look this way before.
It was during the Yule Ball. She saw him by the lake; gazing at the stars, silver strands of hair moving gently in the breeze. Hermione vaguely remembered wondering why Parkinson wasn't with him, but did not take further notice because Viktor had dragged her away then, to get more drinks. It was one of those little incidents that one tended to forget far too easily.
But now she remembered. He gazed up at the sky with the same loneliness, the same empty hollowness she'd seen last night...
A pale orange petal drifted to the ground. Hermione frowned and straightened herself. But what did she care, anyway? This was Malfoy she was thinking about, the most evil, foul git ever to have crossed the grounds of Hogwarts. Besides, she had tried to help, but Malfoy flatly refused it. And as far as Hermione was concerned, she would have nothing to do with Draco Malfoy the moment he was fit to leave St. Mungo's. So there.
She tapped her wand against her mug, which filled itself to the brim with steaming hot coffee, and glanced impatiently at the clock. Where was Ron, anyway? She'd got up early just to complete Malfoy's medical report for him to bring back to the ministry, so where in the world was he?
Hermione took a sip of her coffee, made a face, and hastily spat it out. Some instant coffee spell. Muggle coffee tasted tons better than this.
'Hey Mione!!' A warm hand clasped her firmly by the shoulder. Hermione nearly jumped out of her seat, spilling coffee as she did so. She turned round to see a red-haired wizard in brown robes, grinning good- naturedly at her.
'RON!! Don't ever do that again!'
'Do what?'
'Do...oh never mind...here's the report you wanted.' She handed Ron a loose sheaf of paper whilst hastily mopping up the spilt coffee.
'Ah...yes...' Ron was flipping through the papers idly, when Hermione realised that someone else was behind him.
'Er...Ron?' Hermione looked warily at the figure. She was dressed in robes of pale yellow with gold trimming, her large, watery blue eyes gazing fixatedly at a moving model of the human body.
'Mm-hm?'
'Isn't she...'
'Oh. You mean Luna.' Hermione detected a note of exasperation in Ron's voice. Ron turned in the direction Hermione was looking. 'She's my secretary.'
'Your secretary? But how did she...'
'Oh...long story...Luna, could you go out for a sec?' Luna blinked, nodded sagely and left the room.
He turned back to Hermione. 'You know, with her father being good friends with Dumbledore and Dumbledore being the Minister for Magic and her father suggesting that he recommend a good job for Luna...' Ron sighed, clearly not too pleased with the arrangement.
'Can't Luna be the editor of The Quibbler or something?'
'Her father wants her to get some working experience...you know, before she takes over The Quibbler.'
'Oh.'
The door swung open and Luna stepped in again, gazing about in her usual nonchalant fashion.
'What is it this time, Luna?' Ron rolled his eyes. Luna cocked her head to the side, looking slightly bemused.
'There's quite a big commotion outside you know, about some Death Eater going missing or something...'
'WHAT??!!' Ron's hand flew for his wand as he and Hermione exchanged worried glances. 'No, you stay here, Hermione...I'll take care of this. Stupid Dementors, can't even do their job right!'
'No! I'll help! We'll split up to look for Malfoy!' Hermione protested. The thought of Malfoy, cornered by Dementors was not a comforting one.
Ron hesitated, before nodding reluctantly.
'All right then.'
~~~
Up on the rooftops of St. Mungo's, Draco looked at the skies searchingly. Clouds drifted lazily across the pale blue sky, and there was hardly a stir of movement in the air.
He knew Bellatrix was up there, he just knew it. It was just a matter of time now, before she appeared.
Draco froze. He heard footsteps from the staircase below.
Damn.
~~~
Hermione rarely had an intuition about anything. But when she did, she followed it. And intuition told Hermione that Malfoy was up on the rooftops.
And there he was. She stood for a while, panting, eyes fixed on the figure with his back towards her, gazing up towards the sky.
'I knew you'd be here!!' Hermione glared at Malfoy, her wand clutched tightly in her hand. 'You'd better get down this instant, before the others get here!' Hermione eyes flashed with anger, her breathing shallow and uneven. Malfoy looked back, his eyes widened slightly with shock.
'What are you doing here, Granger?' He demanded, his grey eyes reverting to its usual cold and expressionless manner. 'Clear off, you don't want to be involved in this...'
'Oh yes I do! You think it's funny, running about like this? Well, it's not, because the Dementors are coming, and Ron's coming, and if you try to escape now you'll just get killed!' Hermione yelled back at the Death Eater. She heard the distant cawing of ravens, and saw a whole flock of them, heading for the rooftops. One raven, in particular, swooped down and perched itself on Malfoy's shoulder, almost seeming to whisper into his ear. Malfoy was nodding to the raven, a slow, surreptitious smirk on his lips...
Hermione looked at Malfoy, then at the raven. Why in the world was she so worked up, anyhow? And since when were there so many ravens at St Mungo's?
'So what's it to you, Granger, if I get killed?' Malfoy approached her, a smirk still plastered across his face. His pale face neared Hermione's, his silvery-grey eyes boring into her. Hermione was having difficulties breathing. He was close, far too close for comfort; she felt her face burning up...
'Stop it!' Hermione shoved Malfoy with all the strength she could muster, but Malfoy stayed put. He gripped her arm in a vice-like grip, prying the wand loose from her fingers with his other hand.
'Thanks. This might come in handy.' Before Hermione knew it, Malfoy's arm had somehow snaked round her, and pressed her wand lightly against her neck. 'And so will you.'
~~~
Ron strode impatiently down the corridor, followed closely by a pair of morbid Dementors, and a morbidly curious Luna.
'Where d'you suppose that Death Eater went? D'you think Healer Granger has found him? Could he have done something to her?'
'Luna, for the last time, I don't...'
'Ron!!' Ron felt a surge of relief when he saw Hermione racing towards them. 'I couldn't find Malfoy -d'you suppose he's escaped?'
'No, he can't have...have you checked the rooftops, Mione?'
'He isn't there!' Hermione gave an impatient snort. Ron frowned. Something wasn't right. He cocked his head to the side, and realised.
Hermione didn't have pierced ears!
'Nice disguise, Malfoy,' he smirked. 'But it's just not good enough...Revealo!' There was a cloud of blue smoke, and the Death Eater stood before him.
'Not bad at all, Weasley, not bad at all...' Malfoy breathed, his haunting grey eyes making even Ron extremely uncomfortable.
'Same to you, Malfoy. Very high-level transfiguration.' Ron raised his wand once more. 'Too bad it wasn't enough...' He jerked his head towards the Dementors. The Dementors nodded, tattered robes swaying ever so slightly. They drifted down, closing in on the Death Eater.
'Put down your wand, Malfoy, if you want to live...'
'Hey look! Another Malfoy!!' Ron followed Luna's gaze down the corridor. Indeed, another Malfoy, dressed in pale hospital robes, was streaking down the stairs.
'What the...' Ron froze. The other Malfoy clutched Hermione by his side, his wand pressed against her neck.
The Dementors looked from one Malfoy to another, apparently confused.
'Feeling rather confused, are you?' Ron looked back, horrified. He saw, instead of Malfoy, a raven-haired woman, dark eyes shrouded with malice.
'You...you...' Ron knew it was too late. The other Malfoy, the real Malfoy was gone. The woman winked, and disappeared, leaving a dark purple swirl of mist behind.
~~~
Draco had never heard so many swear words coming out of Hermione Granger's mouth at once. Heck, he never even knew that she knew so many of them.
'Shut up! Or I'll really kill you!' He looked frantically about. He'd left the hospital only to find himself hopelessly lost on the streets of Muggle London, and he felt panic rising in his chest.
'Well go ahead then! You, foul, evil son of a...'
'Silencio.' Draco turned at Bellatrix's voice, only to find a small girl in her place, pointing a wand towards Granger. She glared up at Draco. 'Why'd you bring her along? You should have killed her the moment you left St. Mungo's.' At this, Granger mouthed several other words even Draco would have been embarrassed to use.
'Er. I forgot.' Noticing the curious stares from Muggle onlookers, Draco loosened his grip on Granger, but kept his wand against her back.
'You disappoint your Father and I, Draco,' Bellatrix eyed Granger with contempt. 'We'll settle this later. For now, you will follow me. No, don't release the girl...she may yet be of use...'
Draco felt Granger quiver beside him.
'Don't make any sudden moves, Granger, or I'll blow this whole street up.' Granger stared at him in disbelief. Draco smirked, nudging Granger forwards. 'And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?'
~~~~
I'm so sorry about the annoying slashes...those are supposed to represent words in italics, but I couldn't use the italics because I have problems with encoding. Bah.
I think e previous chappies were so-o-o-o boring now that I look at this one. Hope you liked it.
Thank you thank you thank you lovely lovely reviewers!!!! Yes, I know no one's reviewing but thanks anyway to those who bothered...THANKS!
YAY! So review already XP. (this never works...*grumbles*)
Disclaimer: I own healer smith! Muahaha!! My bubbles!
Chapter 4
Hermione leant against her desk, picking idly at the petals of a wilting tulip.
She couldn't stop thinking about Malfoy. She couldn't stop thinking about the haunting look in his pale, grey eyes...they were so cold, so distant and yet...
So lonely.
She remembered though, that she'd seen him look this way before.
It was during the Yule Ball. She saw him by the lake; gazing at the stars, silver strands of hair moving gently in the breeze. Hermione vaguely remembered wondering why Parkinson wasn't with him, but did not take further notice because Viktor had dragged her away then, to get more drinks. It was one of those little incidents that one tended to forget far too easily.
But now she remembered. He gazed up at the sky with the same loneliness, the same empty hollowness she'd seen last night...
A pale orange petal drifted to the ground. Hermione frowned and straightened herself. But what did she care, anyway? This was Malfoy she was thinking about, the most evil, foul git ever to have crossed the grounds of Hogwarts. Besides, she had tried to help, but Malfoy flatly refused it. And as far as Hermione was concerned, she would have nothing to do with Draco Malfoy the moment he was fit to leave St. Mungo's. So there.
She tapped her wand against her mug, which filled itself to the brim with steaming hot coffee, and glanced impatiently at the clock. Where was Ron, anyway? She'd got up early just to complete Malfoy's medical report for him to bring back to the ministry, so where in the world was he?
Hermione took a sip of her coffee, made a face, and hastily spat it out. Some instant coffee spell. Muggle coffee tasted tons better than this.
'Hey Mione!!' A warm hand clasped her firmly by the shoulder. Hermione nearly jumped out of her seat, spilling coffee as she did so. She turned round to see a red-haired wizard in brown robes, grinning good- naturedly at her.
'RON!! Don't ever do that again!'
'Do what?'
'Do...oh never mind...here's the report you wanted.' She handed Ron a loose sheaf of paper whilst hastily mopping up the spilt coffee.
'Ah...yes...' Ron was flipping through the papers idly, when Hermione realised that someone else was behind him.
'Er...Ron?' Hermione looked warily at the figure. She was dressed in robes of pale yellow with gold trimming, her large, watery blue eyes gazing fixatedly at a moving model of the human body.
'Mm-hm?'
'Isn't she...'
'Oh. You mean Luna.' Hermione detected a note of exasperation in Ron's voice. Ron turned in the direction Hermione was looking. 'She's my secretary.'
'Your secretary? But how did she...'
'Oh...long story...Luna, could you go out for a sec?' Luna blinked, nodded sagely and left the room.
He turned back to Hermione. 'You know, with her father being good friends with Dumbledore and Dumbledore being the Minister for Magic and her father suggesting that he recommend a good job for Luna...' Ron sighed, clearly not too pleased with the arrangement.
'Can't Luna be the editor of The Quibbler or something?'
'Her father wants her to get some working experience...you know, before she takes over The Quibbler.'
'Oh.'
The door swung open and Luna stepped in again, gazing about in her usual nonchalant fashion.
'What is it this time, Luna?' Ron rolled his eyes. Luna cocked her head to the side, looking slightly bemused.
'There's quite a big commotion outside you know, about some Death Eater going missing or something...'
'WHAT??!!' Ron's hand flew for his wand as he and Hermione exchanged worried glances. 'No, you stay here, Hermione...I'll take care of this. Stupid Dementors, can't even do their job right!'
'No! I'll help! We'll split up to look for Malfoy!' Hermione protested. The thought of Malfoy, cornered by Dementors was not a comforting one.
Ron hesitated, before nodding reluctantly.
'All right then.'
~~~
Up on the rooftops of St. Mungo's, Draco looked at the skies searchingly. Clouds drifted lazily across the pale blue sky, and there was hardly a stir of movement in the air.
He knew Bellatrix was up there, he just knew it. It was just a matter of time now, before she appeared.
Draco froze. He heard footsteps from the staircase below.
Damn.
~~~
Hermione rarely had an intuition about anything. But when she did, she followed it. And intuition told Hermione that Malfoy was up on the rooftops.
And there he was. She stood for a while, panting, eyes fixed on the figure with his back towards her, gazing up towards the sky.
'I knew you'd be here!!' Hermione glared at Malfoy, her wand clutched tightly in her hand. 'You'd better get down this instant, before the others get here!' Hermione eyes flashed with anger, her breathing shallow and uneven. Malfoy looked back, his eyes widened slightly with shock.
'What are you doing here, Granger?' He demanded, his grey eyes reverting to its usual cold and expressionless manner. 'Clear off, you don't want to be involved in this...'
'Oh yes I do! You think it's funny, running about like this? Well, it's not, because the Dementors are coming, and Ron's coming, and if you try to escape now you'll just get killed!' Hermione yelled back at the Death Eater. She heard the distant cawing of ravens, and saw a whole flock of them, heading for the rooftops. One raven, in particular, swooped down and perched itself on Malfoy's shoulder, almost seeming to whisper into his ear. Malfoy was nodding to the raven, a slow, surreptitious smirk on his lips...
Hermione looked at Malfoy, then at the raven. Why in the world was she so worked up, anyhow? And since when were there so many ravens at St Mungo's?
'So what's it to you, Granger, if I get killed?' Malfoy approached her, a smirk still plastered across his face. His pale face neared Hermione's, his silvery-grey eyes boring into her. Hermione was having difficulties breathing. He was close, far too close for comfort; she felt her face burning up...
'Stop it!' Hermione shoved Malfoy with all the strength she could muster, but Malfoy stayed put. He gripped her arm in a vice-like grip, prying the wand loose from her fingers with his other hand.
'Thanks. This might come in handy.' Before Hermione knew it, Malfoy's arm had somehow snaked round her, and pressed her wand lightly against her neck. 'And so will you.'
~~~
Ron strode impatiently down the corridor, followed closely by a pair of morbid Dementors, and a morbidly curious Luna.
'Where d'you suppose that Death Eater went? D'you think Healer Granger has found him? Could he have done something to her?'
'Luna, for the last time, I don't...'
'Ron!!' Ron felt a surge of relief when he saw Hermione racing towards them. 'I couldn't find Malfoy -d'you suppose he's escaped?'
'No, he can't have...have you checked the rooftops, Mione?'
'He isn't there!' Hermione gave an impatient snort. Ron frowned. Something wasn't right. He cocked his head to the side, and realised.
Hermione didn't have pierced ears!
'Nice disguise, Malfoy,' he smirked. 'But it's just not good enough...Revealo!' There was a cloud of blue smoke, and the Death Eater stood before him.
'Not bad at all, Weasley, not bad at all...' Malfoy breathed, his haunting grey eyes making even Ron extremely uncomfortable.
'Same to you, Malfoy. Very high-level transfiguration.' Ron raised his wand once more. 'Too bad it wasn't enough...' He jerked his head towards the Dementors. The Dementors nodded, tattered robes swaying ever so slightly. They drifted down, closing in on the Death Eater.
'Put down your wand, Malfoy, if you want to live...'
'Hey look! Another Malfoy!!' Ron followed Luna's gaze down the corridor. Indeed, another Malfoy, dressed in pale hospital robes, was streaking down the stairs.
'What the...' Ron froze. The other Malfoy clutched Hermione by his side, his wand pressed against her neck.
The Dementors looked from one Malfoy to another, apparently confused.
'Feeling rather confused, are you?' Ron looked back, horrified. He saw, instead of Malfoy, a raven-haired woman, dark eyes shrouded with malice.
'You...you...' Ron knew it was too late. The other Malfoy, the real Malfoy was gone. The woman winked, and disappeared, leaving a dark purple swirl of mist behind.
~~~
Draco had never heard so many swear words coming out of Hermione Granger's mouth at once. Heck, he never even knew that she knew so many of them.
'Shut up! Or I'll really kill you!' He looked frantically about. He'd left the hospital only to find himself hopelessly lost on the streets of Muggle London, and he felt panic rising in his chest.
'Well go ahead then! You, foul, evil son of a...'
'Silencio.' Draco turned at Bellatrix's voice, only to find a small girl in her place, pointing a wand towards Granger. She glared up at Draco. 'Why'd you bring her along? You should have killed her the moment you left St. Mungo's.' At this, Granger mouthed several other words even Draco would have been embarrassed to use.
'Er. I forgot.' Noticing the curious stares from Muggle onlookers, Draco loosened his grip on Granger, but kept his wand against her back.
'You disappoint your Father and I, Draco,' Bellatrix eyed Granger with contempt. 'We'll settle this later. For now, you will follow me. No, don't release the girl...she may yet be of use...'
Draco felt Granger quiver beside him.
'Don't make any sudden moves, Granger, or I'll blow this whole street up.' Granger stared at him in disbelief. Draco smirked, nudging Granger forwards. 'And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?'
~~~~
I'm so sorry about the annoying slashes...those are supposed to represent words in italics, but I couldn't use the italics because I have problems with encoding. Bah.
I think e previous chappies were so-o-o-o boring now that I look at this one. Hope you liked it.
Thank you thank you thank you lovely lovely reviewers!!!! Yes, I know no one's reviewing but thanks anyway to those who bothered...THANKS!
YAY! So review already XP. (this never works...*grumbles*)