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Check out the Draco/Hermione C2 I'm part of!
Don't Speak Part 3
Hermione did not know how she came about this certain piece of information. In fact, it was almost scandalous that she knew it, being a Gryffindor and all. What Gryffindor would be caught dead admitting to knowing the Slytherin Prince's favourite Quidditch team?
"Falmouth Falcons vs. Pride of Portree at Skye Quidditch Centre," she mumbled, reading off a flyer posted in the coffee lounge. It showed several gorgeous female Chasers, dressed in purple, form-fitting robes, glaring at two burly 'man's men' in grey. The mock rivalry was laughable, to say the least.
"I love the Pride," Healer DeSotho confessed, peeking over Hermione's shoulder. "It gives me goose pimples just watching them. Quite an example of 'girl power', eh?"
"Spice Girls?" Hermione sputtered. DeSotho blushed a pretty pink that complemented her ash blonde hair.
"I'm young, okay?"
The two laughed. Jane DeSotho was right around Hermione's age, and was, in her own words, a "late discovery". Her magic had not been detected until three years ago, and to make up for lost time, she was doing the Healer's course at St. Mungo's.
"Quidditch is amazing," she said wistfully. "So glamorous and graceful. The players aren't bad either."
"Mhhhmmm…." Hermione answered dreamily. The skill of flying had evaded her since First Year, but she could still enjoy the beauty of the sport. And its players…..
Jane cleared her throat. "Oh, yes, speaking of which, Francine's friend has been asking about you." She held out a folder. "In his own special way, of course."
"He is not just my friend, Jane," Healer Francine Palmer objected, throwing her colleague a scathing glare.
Hermione gave Healer Palmer an inquiring look. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, you know, the Quidditch player in the Artifact Accidents wing. The cute one," she added, as if that helped any!
They can't be talking about…
Hermione groaned. "Not Draco Malfoy!"
The two other Healers burst into giggles at the sound of the name. "Yes, that one!" Jane answered, breathlessly.
"I wouldn't call him cute," Hermione retorted. "More like pointy, emancipated, gaunt and scrawny!"
"As if that's his fault!" Francine retorted haughtily. "He can't eat anything! When he first came in, he was quite handsome!"
"Handsome?"
"Yes, handsome, Healer-in-Training Granger!"
Someone needs to adjust their boy-metre… "Wait! He was asking about me?"
Jane giggled again. "Yes, you!"
Hermione glanced at the calendar hanging on the corkboard.
It's been nearly 4 days since I last visited!
"Oh….me."
Mumbling a hurried excuse, she grabbed his folder, and darted out the door. She hastily told herself that she didn't really care about the stupid ferret, she just needed to check up on him. Maybe save him from the nookie-hungry Healers. It wasn't guilt. Of course not.
She gave a quick nod to an elderly male Healer with a greying beard, then ducked into Malfoy's room.
The minute she walked in, she knew she was in deep shit. His eyes seemed to bore right into the back of her skull, and she was surprised horns didn't just sprout out of his head.
Don't let him intimidate you, Hermione. You can talk. He can't.
"Miss me?" she asked, in a syrupy sweet voice. He groaned into his wires, and she laughed darkly. "I know, your lack of presence has left an empty space in my cold, callused heart."
His frequent eye rolls seemed like his favourite form of communicating. She was surprised that those blue-grey-sliver-whatever-the-heck-they-were orbs hadn't just rolled right out of his head yet. Then again, she supposed that if she were in his position, eye rolling would seem quite attractive to her as well.
She pulled up the stool, and plunked down on it. "Francie's been telling me all about your little experiments with writing," she said calmly. His face turned beet red, and she could almost hear him begging her not to say the next line.
Sorry, ferret-face. It's my turn to be cruel.
"She said that you were asking about me! Isn't that precious!" she gushed.
"Uhhngh!"
"I thought so too!"
Flipping through his file, she continued to ramble endlessly about him. Bullshitting, basically. "She also told me about your fear of the dark! I couldn't believe it, seeing as I thought ferrets were nocturnal, but that shows how much I know! Oh, look!" She flashed a hot pink slip in front of his face. "You get to start walking in a week!"
His face instantly lit up with joy. Always the atomic killjoy, Hermione cautioned, "I heard it hurts brutally, walking about with the wires still on."
He glared at her, and she winced. "Ouch. If looks could kill, I would be lying in a bed next to you."
Not one of her wittiest comebacks, but had she ever made a comeback to a glare? Not that it really mattered. Malfoy wouldn't be able to heckle her for another month, at least.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Malfoy still glaring, and Hermione flipping through his folder, pausing to yawn every couple seconds. According to the papers, he was making good progress, and he was a compliant, if not a bit grumpy, patient.
Who would've known that Draco Malfoy could actually survive in a hospital?
Not really thinking about what came out of her mouth, she commented, "Falmouth Falcons are at Portree next week."
His eyes literally bugged out of his head. Understandably, of course, as it was a common reaction at the news of a game, especially from a Quidditch-starved freak like Malfoy.
"Falmouth's your favourite, isn't it?" she asked, nonchalantly, glancing out of the corner of her eye at his reaction.
Another glare. Typical.
"You are no fun to talk to when you're like this," she grumbled, closing his file, and placing it on his nightstand. "I know, I might have said that already."
Glare. Eye-roll.
"Well, all things considered, you're actually way more pleasant this way. You're usually so…snarky."
He cocked an eyebrow at her creative language.
"Never heard that word before?" She laughed to herself. "I can't imagine your family ever saying it. It's a Muggle thing, I guess."
"Guhhhhhhh…"
"Don't 'guh' me!" She poked him on the forehead. "People like you could learn some things from Muggles."
His face clearly betrayed his skepticism. "You don't think so? Well, take those wires in your mouth. About two years ago, wizards used to charm jaw bones back into place, with a very low success rate. A couple enterprising Healers experimented with the Muggle concept of 'stitches' and 'wires', and found them to be much more effective."
"Uuuh nuuuhh cuhhhphtuhbuhhhh."
"I suppose not, but you have to consider the alternatives."
Hermione paused. Did I just, heaven forbid, understand what he said?
"And second of all, what about hair gel? It was invented by Muggles too!"
If eyes could talk, his would be saying "Get out!"
"I'm serious! I don't remember who did it, or how it was done, but remember reading about it!"
"Iggguhhhh!"
"I didn't quite catch that."
"IGGGGUUUHHH!" His brow furrowed in frustration.
"You can tell me later." She waved it off. "What would wizards be without Muggles? It's like saying 'what would bad be without good?'. Without a comparison, bad would be normal, and we would know nothing different."
He seemed actually interested in what she was saying, so she figured she better make it quick. "Basically, Muggles and Wizards make each other more special. Without Muggles, Wizards would just be normal people, and vise versa. They compliment each other."
He seemed to ponder that for a moment, but then snapped right into Dracoland. Making a little twitching movement with his head, he motioned for her to get out, because he had to……?
'Errr….Iuhhhh!"
She wrinkled her nose. "What?"
"Iuhhhh!"
"What?"
He groaned, and made a grab for the quill and parchment on his nightstand. Finally reaching it, he positioned it on his lap, and quickly scrawled;
Granger, I have to PISS!
Turning scarlet, Hermione jumped up, knocking the stool over with a giant 'CLANG!' Malfoy rolled his eyes, as she collected her things, and quickly hurried out he door.
A couple seconds later, she saw her bushy head peek back over the frame.
"Uh….bye."
OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOOOIOIOIOIO
Much love to reviewers! I had to stop today, because my wrist hurts like hell, but hopefully the next chapter will be longer! Stay tuned…..(and review..please!)
magictrouser830: that sort of stuff will come later on……yes, I do have a mind like that! Draco's Little Mudblood: sparkly? Okkkaaayyy…..
Anigen, Elfaghetti, jesska-14, harryptaxd204, The Nauti Dolphin: Thanks! I noticed that we're pretty high up in the C2 standings! Puzzlette: that bit was based on a friend of a friend of mine (whom this story is based on). He lost 25 pounds in 2 ½ weeks!