A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters are owned by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 3

Lessons started the next day. Somehow Cho made it through the day. She wasn't feeling too well. After dinner, she stumbled back into the Head's room. Draco was already there.

"What's wrong, Chang?" Draco asked. Cho didn't answer. Instead, she swayed on the spot and fell. Draco jumped up and managed to catch her in time.

"My god, Chang, you're burning up! Let's get you to Madam Promfrey," Draco's eyebrows were knitted. Cho could only mumble incoherent speech. Draco picked Cho up and carried her to the hospital wing.

Madam Promfrey gave Cho a mouthful of medicine and then Cho drifted off into a restless sleep.

"Carry her back. All she needs now is a good night's rest. She'll be fine in the morning," she said, so Draco carried Cho all the way back up.

Up in the room, Draco placed Cho gently on her bed. Now what was he supposed to do? Undress her? Draco dismissed the thought immediately. It would be stripping Cho of her dignity.

In the end, he just removed her robe and her tie. Cho didn't budge at all while he was trying to remove her robe. She was dead to the world.

Draco took a chair and his 'Inferior Muggles' book and sat by Cho's side throughout the night.

When Cho awoke the next morning, she felt fine. She sat up and saw a hunched figure sitting by her bedside snoring gently.

"Aaah!" she shrieked, causing Draco to wake.

"Wha-what?" Draco said groggily.

"What the hell are you doing here Malfoy?" Cho demanded.

"You fainted remember? I carried you to the hospital wing and back," he mumbled, going back asleep.

"What happened to my robe and tie?"

"Hmm? I removed them..." Draco said, half asleep already.

"What?" Cho grabbed Draco's book, which happened to be lying on her bedside table, and used it to hit him. Unfortunately for Draco, the book was a hardcover.

"Hey!" Now Draco was awake!

"Get out! Get out immediately!" Cho screamed.

Draco didn't need any more motivation. He hurried to his own bed. "Yeah, you're welcome!" he called over his shoulder.

Cho went down to breakfast and her best friends, Pearl and Eve were waiting for her.

"What's wrong Cho?" Eve asked, seeing that Cho looked flustered.

"Well, I passed out into Draco Malfoy's arms by accident yesterday. He carried me to the hospital wing and back, then put me in bed and sat by me the whole night," Cho said, helping herself to bacon and eggs.

"Draco Malfoy? Oh, he's so hot! Cho you are so lucky!" Pearl crooned. Cho noticed that they hadn't said anything or showed any concern that she had been sick. "He's every girl's dream!"

"Not mine," Cho interrupted. "Did I mention that he also took the liberty of removing my robe and tie?"

"Ah! How romantic!" Pearl said dreamily staring at the back of Draco's head as he entered the great hall.

"Pearl, Eve, shut up! Don't want the whole world to know!" Cho said, taking a bite out of her bacon.

"We won't tell anybody," they promised.

Of course, Pearl and Eve couldn't help their abnormally large mouths and by lunch, Cho was known as the luckiest girl in the school and Draco had a reputation with the female population of the school to be a sexy romantic.

Cho, of course, was angry at Pearl and Eve, so she stomped off to class early in a rage, but on the way, she heard voices coming out of a nearby classroom.

"Malfoy, what did you do to her? Word has it that you robbed her of her innocence," Cho heard. It sounded like Ronald Weasley.

"Yeah, Malfoy, what kind of sick pervert are you?" That was Hermione. Cho was sure of it.

Cho rushed into the classroom in time to see Hermione slap Draco and Ron delivering a hearty punch square into Draco's stomach. Draco clutched his stomach and doubled up on the floor.

"Stop! What are you all of you doing to poor Draco? Fifty points from Gryffindor! I am appalled at this ruthless behaviour! You are both Prefects, for God's sake! What ever did he do to you?" Cho said, kneeling by the fallen Draco. She took out a piece of tissue and started mopping up the blood coming from his profusely bleeding nose.

"Not what he did to us, Cho, but what he did to you and Harry," Ron replied.

"Draco didn't do anything to me! He stayed with me the whole time I was sick! Why are you hitting someone as caring as that? Anyway, what does Harry have to do with this?" Cho replied, tears streaming down her cheeks. She hated quarrels and arguments. She'd experienced too much of it at home.

"Do you know how hurt Harry's been to find this out? He still has feelings for you, Cho!" Hermione said.

Cho didn't answer.

"Are you sure you're all right, Cho?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Cho snapped. "Could you please call Madam Promfrey up here?"

The two hurried out of the room.

"Oh, Draco, are you all right?" Cho stroked Draco's silky blond hair.

"You- you used my first name!" Draco gasped.

"Yes, I never got the chance to thank you for what you did last night," Cho whispered and kissed Draco on the cheek. Right then, Madam Promfrey bustled into the room.

"Now, what do we have here?" Cho moved aside to let Madam Promfrey examine Draco. She kept hmm-ing and ah-ing and poked Draco in places with a stick. Draco gasped and winced every time he was prodded.

"Madam Promfrey! Stop! You're hurting him!" Cho cried.

"He's broken a few ribs and his nose, too. May have internal bleeding. Got to check," and with that, Madam Promfrey conjured up a stretcher and elevated Draco onto it. "Should be better in a jiffy though" Cho looked at her watch. "Oh no! I'm late for class! Professor Snape is going to kill me!"

"You'd better go, then. I'll send your boyfriend up to your room later," Madam Promfrey said.

"He's not my boyfriend," Cho objected, blushing.

"Not from what I've heard!" Madam Promfrey smiled, a twinkle in her eyes as Cho rushed out of the room.

"Kids these days... tsk tsk tsk..." Madam Promfrey mumbled.

Hope you liked this chapter. Please R/R. The action heats up in the next chapter!