A/N: I'm extremely sorry to all the fans/reviewers of this story! I hadn't
posted the other lost 2 chapters, and you all should be thankful that they
survived through my hard drive's reformat! Again, accept my apologies that
I hadn't updated in forever, I've been dealing with computer problems and
school, etc. If I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath to another chapter
very soon. I've almost forgot the storyline myself! _ But please review
on the mysterious lost 2 chapters to motivate me to write more! Oh no...I'm
writing too long of an Author's Note. BYE!
Chapter 3 - Helpless Malfoy
"Can I see Draco, please?" Hermione asked Madame Pomfrey, who was engrossed in the Daily Prophet. Madame Pomfrey looked up and registered in her head what Hermione had just said.
"Oh, sure, Ms. Granger. He's been resting all night."
Madame Pomfrey put the Daily Prophet down and stood up. Hermione glanced at the moving pictures on the front page of the newspaper, but didn't get to catch the headlines since Madame Pomfrey was already guiding her to Draco's bed.
"How badly is he hurt?" Hermione inquired.
"The cuts on his head are nothing major. His right arm is pretty beat up, I put on some bandages. He was limping on his leg, but I don't see anything wrong with it. It seems he landed on his back, right on to some rocks, so his back is going to hurt for a while. Otherwise, it's definitely not as bad as it could have been."
"Well that's good," Hermione said, "I mean how it's not as bad as it could be."
"Too bad we can't say the same for his father," Madame Pomfrey said, looking at the ground.
"What?" Hermione asked, completely at a loss of what she was talking about.
"What, didn't you hear?" Madame Pomfrey asked Hermione, shocked that she didn't know. Hermione shook her head as Madame Pomfrey rushed back over to her desk and picked up the Daily Prophet. Hermione took it and read the headlines.
"Lucius Malfoy Dies in Train Crash," Hermione read, nearly fainting.
Madame Pomfrey hung her head and said, "Yes. I thought you knew. Dumbledore came in late last night with a migraine. When he saw Mr. Malfoy, he immediately asked what happened. I told him, and after he went back to his office, he called Lucius and told him that his son was injured. Lucius caught the first train to Hogwarts. Halfway to Hogwarts, the train suddenly derailed and caught on fire, torching everything and everyone. Some people got out in time, but most of them were dead. They think one of the bodies to be Lucius'."
"Oh my Lord," Hermione gasped, "You have to be joking. How coul-how could Lucius Malfoy just.die?"
"Hermione, I've been a nurse at Hogwarts almost my entire life. People come, people go. When somebody dies, it can be really tough to overcome," Madame Pomfrey tried to comfort her.
"Can I just see Draco, please?" Hermione said, near tears.
"Sure, go ahead," Madame Pomfrey said.
Hermione made her way over to Draco's bed, and stood at the bedside. Poor thing, Hermione thought, Who's going to tell him his father died? How in the world will he be able to handle it? She just couldn't fathom what was going to happen. He looked so comforted, his eyes closed, resting on his pillow. He was so unaffected by what was going on in the outside world. He was just in his own little space, dreaming about.whatever Draco dreams about. It was nice for a change not to see him not sneering or scowling. She just had never thought of Draco as anything more than that evil little Slytherin. So there was something more to him.
Draco's eyes slowly began to open. He tried to focus to see who was staring at him. After a few seconds, he could make out that it was Granger, smiling at him, as if she enjoyed seeing him in pain. Speaking of pain, Draco thought to himself as the surging pain rushed from his back and arm. He grunted in agony, and Hermione's grin slowly faded to a frown.
"Where am I?" Draco asked.
"You're in the hospital wing. You had a nasty fall last night and I took you here," Hermione reminded him.
"Why in the world did you take me to the hospital wing?"
"Fine, next time I'll just take you straight to the nearest cemetery."
"No, I meant why did you help me?"
"You were hurt. I couldn't very well let you suffer all night long. Harry sure didn't seem intent on helping you, so someone had to."
"Oh. Well, thank you, I guess."
"You're welcome, I guess."
".So why are you still here?"
"You want me to leave?"
"I don't like people staring at me, especially if they're getting enjoyment out of my suffering."
"I don't enjoy watching you suffer. I've just never seen you sleep before."
".You're one weird little girl, you know that?"
"I'll let that go since you're on pain killers."
Draco's eyes started to close again. He gave one last glance to Hermione and then faded into a deep sleep. Hermione watched him for a couple more minutes, and then turned to leave.
Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall and glanced at the Gryffindor table. There sat Hermione, chattering with fellow Gryffindors.
"Should we sit by her?" Ron asked.
"And risk getting yelled at? She's probably trained that cat she has against us," Harry answered.
"Well then, where shall we sit?" Ron wondered.
Ron then saw his sister, Ginny, waving her hand violently in the air. "What about sitting with Ginny?" Ron asked. "I suppose so," Harry responded, half-groaning. Ron and Harry made their way over to Ginny, and each took a seat next to her. "Hi guys," Ginny said, smiling and repositioning on the bench. Before Harry or Ron could respond, Ginny continued talking, "So! Harry! I heard you and Hermione broke up." "Um, no, we're just.we're just having a little quarrel over something," Harry corrected her. "Oh. You guys should just break up. I mean, I'm sure Hermione is impossible to live with." "Ginny," Ron told her, "They're just having a fight, don't try and break them up." "I wasn't trying," Ginny insisted. "Good evening!" Dumbledore shouted over the crowd as everyone quieted down, "I have a few announcements. We'd just like to remind everyone that any wandering around during the night is strictly forbidden. Breaking this rule results in loss of House Points and suspension of privileges." Hermione gulped. "Hermione Granger would also like to announce that she has found a black cat that goes by the name of 'Bad Luck'. If anyone knows who this cat belongs to, please contact Ms. Granger." Hermione looked around the room to see if anyone had a reaction to the news. She was starting to have a strange feeling about this cat, but she couldn't very well leave it stranded. "Now," Dumbledore concluded, "If no one has any questions, I think we'd all like to get on with our dinners, yes?" Crabbe raised a chubby hand and called, "Where's Draco?" "Mr. Malfoy is in the care of Madame Pomfrey. He had an accident last night, but he should be up on his feet by tomorrow," Dumbledore told him. Dumbledore looked around the room to see if there were any more questions. When all seemed fine, he nodded his head and sat back down. "So what are you and Hermione fighting about?" Ginny asked frankly. "She's just been acting really strangely lately," Harry answered. "She always acts strangely," Ron commented.
Down the table, Hermione was scanning the food that had just appeared, looking for something to stuff in her pockets for her kitten. Parvati Patil looked at Hermione, slightly disgusted, as Hermione put a dinner roll in her pocket.
"Need a doggy bag, Hermione?" Parvati asked.
Hermione scowled and said, "No thanks. It's for my cat."
"It's not your cat. You just found it," Parvati reminded her.
"Well, I'm taking care of it until somebody claims it."
"All you're giving it is a roll? Shouldn't it have some kitten food?"
"Why do you care about my kitten and its eating habits? Who died and made you the Humane Society? Stop acting so arrogant and stay out of my business!"
Parvati looked shocked from Hermione's angry outburst, but always had something else to say.
"Me? Arrogant? You made Dumbledore announce to the entire school about your stupid little cat," Parvati said.
"At least I know the difference between friend and boyfriend," Hermione snapped back, bringing up the time Parvati tried to seduce Harry while he was still going out with Hermione.
"I guess Harry doesn't know either," Parvati said with a sneer, taking a letter out of her pocket and holding it up.
".What is that?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, nothing," Parvati said nonchalantly, "I just happened to find this note in my Potions book the other day. I'll spare you the sorrow of reading it, but let me just tell you this: Harry doesn't love you anymore, hun. He says you're impossible, and he wanted to know the next time I was available to. 'talk'."
Hermione's mouth dropped. Now her planned was ruined. If Harry didn't love her anymore, how the hell was he supposed to be jealous? She was really missing the more important fact. She wanted to make Harry and herself closer, not separate them. Who did Harry think he was? Hermione was acting out of the ordinary so that gave him the right to mess around with Parvati? She had to get away. She glared at Parvati and then stood up. She headed for the door, but as she passed Harry, she snatched his goblet of whatever he was drinking, and splashed it on his shirt.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Hermione?!" Harry shouted as he stared at his sopping wet shirt.
"That's for wanting to cheat on me," Hermione yelled back.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"Don't act stupid," Hermione muttered as she walked out of the Great Hall, a good sum of people staring at her and Harry to see what was happening. Hermione didn't know where to go. She wanted to get away from people, just to think. She finally remembered the perfect place. When in doubt, Hermione thought, go to the library.
Chapter 3 - Helpless Malfoy
"Can I see Draco, please?" Hermione asked Madame Pomfrey, who was engrossed in the Daily Prophet. Madame Pomfrey looked up and registered in her head what Hermione had just said.
"Oh, sure, Ms. Granger. He's been resting all night."
Madame Pomfrey put the Daily Prophet down and stood up. Hermione glanced at the moving pictures on the front page of the newspaper, but didn't get to catch the headlines since Madame Pomfrey was already guiding her to Draco's bed.
"How badly is he hurt?" Hermione inquired.
"The cuts on his head are nothing major. His right arm is pretty beat up, I put on some bandages. He was limping on his leg, but I don't see anything wrong with it. It seems he landed on his back, right on to some rocks, so his back is going to hurt for a while. Otherwise, it's definitely not as bad as it could have been."
"Well that's good," Hermione said, "I mean how it's not as bad as it could be."
"Too bad we can't say the same for his father," Madame Pomfrey said, looking at the ground.
"What?" Hermione asked, completely at a loss of what she was talking about.
"What, didn't you hear?" Madame Pomfrey asked Hermione, shocked that she didn't know. Hermione shook her head as Madame Pomfrey rushed back over to her desk and picked up the Daily Prophet. Hermione took it and read the headlines.
"Lucius Malfoy Dies in Train Crash," Hermione read, nearly fainting.
Madame Pomfrey hung her head and said, "Yes. I thought you knew. Dumbledore came in late last night with a migraine. When he saw Mr. Malfoy, he immediately asked what happened. I told him, and after he went back to his office, he called Lucius and told him that his son was injured. Lucius caught the first train to Hogwarts. Halfway to Hogwarts, the train suddenly derailed and caught on fire, torching everything and everyone. Some people got out in time, but most of them were dead. They think one of the bodies to be Lucius'."
"Oh my Lord," Hermione gasped, "You have to be joking. How coul-how could Lucius Malfoy just.die?"
"Hermione, I've been a nurse at Hogwarts almost my entire life. People come, people go. When somebody dies, it can be really tough to overcome," Madame Pomfrey tried to comfort her.
"Can I just see Draco, please?" Hermione said, near tears.
"Sure, go ahead," Madame Pomfrey said.
Hermione made her way over to Draco's bed, and stood at the bedside. Poor thing, Hermione thought, Who's going to tell him his father died? How in the world will he be able to handle it? She just couldn't fathom what was going to happen. He looked so comforted, his eyes closed, resting on his pillow. He was so unaffected by what was going on in the outside world. He was just in his own little space, dreaming about.whatever Draco dreams about. It was nice for a change not to see him not sneering or scowling. She just had never thought of Draco as anything more than that evil little Slytherin. So there was something more to him.
Draco's eyes slowly began to open. He tried to focus to see who was staring at him. After a few seconds, he could make out that it was Granger, smiling at him, as if she enjoyed seeing him in pain. Speaking of pain, Draco thought to himself as the surging pain rushed from his back and arm. He grunted in agony, and Hermione's grin slowly faded to a frown.
"Where am I?" Draco asked.
"You're in the hospital wing. You had a nasty fall last night and I took you here," Hermione reminded him.
"Why in the world did you take me to the hospital wing?"
"Fine, next time I'll just take you straight to the nearest cemetery."
"No, I meant why did you help me?"
"You were hurt. I couldn't very well let you suffer all night long. Harry sure didn't seem intent on helping you, so someone had to."
"Oh. Well, thank you, I guess."
"You're welcome, I guess."
".So why are you still here?"
"You want me to leave?"
"I don't like people staring at me, especially if they're getting enjoyment out of my suffering."
"I don't enjoy watching you suffer. I've just never seen you sleep before."
".You're one weird little girl, you know that?"
"I'll let that go since you're on pain killers."
Draco's eyes started to close again. He gave one last glance to Hermione and then faded into a deep sleep. Hermione watched him for a couple more minutes, and then turned to leave.
Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall and glanced at the Gryffindor table. There sat Hermione, chattering with fellow Gryffindors.
"Should we sit by her?" Ron asked.
"And risk getting yelled at? She's probably trained that cat she has against us," Harry answered.
"Well then, where shall we sit?" Ron wondered.
Ron then saw his sister, Ginny, waving her hand violently in the air. "What about sitting with Ginny?" Ron asked. "I suppose so," Harry responded, half-groaning. Ron and Harry made their way over to Ginny, and each took a seat next to her. "Hi guys," Ginny said, smiling and repositioning on the bench. Before Harry or Ron could respond, Ginny continued talking, "So! Harry! I heard you and Hermione broke up." "Um, no, we're just.we're just having a little quarrel over something," Harry corrected her. "Oh. You guys should just break up. I mean, I'm sure Hermione is impossible to live with." "Ginny," Ron told her, "They're just having a fight, don't try and break them up." "I wasn't trying," Ginny insisted. "Good evening!" Dumbledore shouted over the crowd as everyone quieted down, "I have a few announcements. We'd just like to remind everyone that any wandering around during the night is strictly forbidden. Breaking this rule results in loss of House Points and suspension of privileges." Hermione gulped. "Hermione Granger would also like to announce that she has found a black cat that goes by the name of 'Bad Luck'. If anyone knows who this cat belongs to, please contact Ms. Granger." Hermione looked around the room to see if anyone had a reaction to the news. She was starting to have a strange feeling about this cat, but she couldn't very well leave it stranded. "Now," Dumbledore concluded, "If no one has any questions, I think we'd all like to get on with our dinners, yes?" Crabbe raised a chubby hand and called, "Where's Draco?" "Mr. Malfoy is in the care of Madame Pomfrey. He had an accident last night, but he should be up on his feet by tomorrow," Dumbledore told him. Dumbledore looked around the room to see if there were any more questions. When all seemed fine, he nodded his head and sat back down. "So what are you and Hermione fighting about?" Ginny asked frankly. "She's just been acting really strangely lately," Harry answered. "She always acts strangely," Ron commented.
Down the table, Hermione was scanning the food that had just appeared, looking for something to stuff in her pockets for her kitten. Parvati Patil looked at Hermione, slightly disgusted, as Hermione put a dinner roll in her pocket.
"Need a doggy bag, Hermione?" Parvati asked.
Hermione scowled and said, "No thanks. It's for my cat."
"It's not your cat. You just found it," Parvati reminded her.
"Well, I'm taking care of it until somebody claims it."
"All you're giving it is a roll? Shouldn't it have some kitten food?"
"Why do you care about my kitten and its eating habits? Who died and made you the Humane Society? Stop acting so arrogant and stay out of my business!"
Parvati looked shocked from Hermione's angry outburst, but always had something else to say.
"Me? Arrogant? You made Dumbledore announce to the entire school about your stupid little cat," Parvati said.
"At least I know the difference between friend and boyfriend," Hermione snapped back, bringing up the time Parvati tried to seduce Harry while he was still going out with Hermione.
"I guess Harry doesn't know either," Parvati said with a sneer, taking a letter out of her pocket and holding it up.
".What is that?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, nothing," Parvati said nonchalantly, "I just happened to find this note in my Potions book the other day. I'll spare you the sorrow of reading it, but let me just tell you this: Harry doesn't love you anymore, hun. He says you're impossible, and he wanted to know the next time I was available to. 'talk'."
Hermione's mouth dropped. Now her planned was ruined. If Harry didn't love her anymore, how the hell was he supposed to be jealous? She was really missing the more important fact. She wanted to make Harry and herself closer, not separate them. Who did Harry think he was? Hermione was acting out of the ordinary so that gave him the right to mess around with Parvati? She had to get away. She glared at Parvati and then stood up. She headed for the door, but as she passed Harry, she snatched his goblet of whatever he was drinking, and splashed it on his shirt.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Hermione?!" Harry shouted as he stared at his sopping wet shirt.
"That's for wanting to cheat on me," Hermione yelled back.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"Don't act stupid," Hermione muttered as she walked out of the Great Hall, a good sum of people staring at her and Harry to see what was happening. Hermione didn't know where to go. She wanted to get away from people, just to think. She finally remembered the perfect place. When in doubt, Hermione thought, go to the library.