A/N: This was originally written in 2004, before the last two books came out and was set in their 7th year. Each chapter under this title will be a different stand-alone/one-shot involving Draco and Hermione in extremely unlikely situations (hence the title) that might involve them not totally hating each other by the end of it. It will be updated whenever I get another crazy idea to have them end up together. :) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.
- An Extreme Situation -
"Alright, spill. What have you two done now?" she asked afraid of the answer.
Harry and Ron had come into the common room looking extremely smug...and extremely guilty at the same time.
"We haven't done anything, Hermione. Honest," Ron said trying his best to look the picture of innocence.
"Okay. Now I know you're lying."
They said nothing.
"Ron, you're a prefect. You can't just go around doing...whatever it is you just did. And I know you did something so don't try and deny it. It's written all over your face. Both of your faces."
"It wasn't our fault," Harry chimed in.
"Yeah, he started it," agreed Ron.
"He who? Wait, don't tell me...Malfoy? Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid. He's a prefect! And you're head boy, Harry! Are you two trying to get expelled? What did you do?" she demanded.
"We didn't do anything you wouldn't have done," Harry began.
"Oh, I highly doubt that," she interjected.
"You should have heard all of the things he was saying," Harry tried to explain while Ron nodded in agreement. "He was saying horrible things about you. Worse than usual!"
Hermione let out a huff. "Look, I know Malfoy is a loathsome git, but you can't let him get to you. He knows exactly how to push your buttons and you fall for it every time. And who is it that always winds up getting into trouble? You two," she said, stabbing a finger at both of them in turn.
They were looking down at their feet, like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. She felt bad for yelling but she was tired of lecturing them when they should have known better by now. She'd lost count of the number of times that Malfoy had baited them into a fight only for them to wind up in detention with Malfoy laughing at them. She was afraid that one day, they'd take it too far and wind up expelled in their last year.
She closed her eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of her nose, utterly tired all of a sudden. "Just...tell me you didn't kill him."
Harry rolled his eyes. "We didn't," he assured her.
"Good," she said sounding relieved. "Thank you for defending my honor but next time don't worry about it. No matter how many times you hit him, he's never going to change."
She walked over to them and pecked them both on the cheek. "It's getting close to curfew, I should go start my rounds. You finished yours, right?" They nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later."
Harry and Ron stared wearily at her retreating back.
"What if she finds him?" Ron asked worriedly. "She'll know it was us and she'll kill us. I reckon we went too far this time, mate."
"Maybe, but he deserved it. We should go move him. Let's go."
... ... ...
Hermione made her way down to the dungeons. She always liked to start her rounds in Slytherin territory, and get it over with, and work her way up to the more cooperative houses so she could end her patrols on a good note.
It's not that she was scared of the Slytherins. They might know a few dark spells, but she knew more spells than any of them combined. She was confident she could hold her own against any student in the castle, and maybe a few of the professors, if it came down to a duel.
As she made her way through the dimly lit halls, her thoughts flickered back to her two best friends. She couldn't help but notice that their tempers had been getting the better of them recently. Ron was being uncharacteristically short with the younger years whenever he caught them breaking the most trivial rules, rules that they themselves had brazenly broken, and laughed about, when they were the same age. And Harry was no better. He had earned himself so many detentions for mouthing off to Snape on various occasions, that Dumbledore had questioned him about his behavior.
All of these thoughts and more occupied her as she walked with her wand lit, out in front of her. Then she saw something towards the end of the hall. It was too far away to see clearly but it looked like a person hunched over on the ground.
"Excuse me," she called loudly, filling her voice with authority.
To her surprise, not one, but two figures stood up abruptly. Their hoods were drawn up around their faces, and combined with the dimness in the hallway, she wasn't able to recognize them. She did, however, note the bundle on the ground that they appeared to be dragging.
"Stop!" She moved towards them but before she could get close enough to see who they were...they ran.
She darted after them. They ran down the hall and took a sharp left turn. By the time she had reached the same spot, they were gone.
... ... ...
"We have to hurry. She usually starts down here," said Harry as he and Ron emerged from a portrait.
"Look. He's still there," said Ron. "Let's drag him around the corner and hide him in the bathroom."
"Wait. We better modify his memory so he won't remember it was us," said Harry as he pulled out his wand. "Obliviate!" he whispered. "Okay, you grab his feet and I'll-"
"Excuse me," someone shouted behind them.
They looked up. "Bloody hell. It's her. Run!" Ron whispered.
They got up and ran as fast as they could around the corner. They could hear her footsteps following.
"Frog's wart," Harry gasped at a portrait and he and Ron dove in for cover.
"Do you think she'll find us?" asked Ron still panting from their sprint.
"No. I don't hear her coming. Good thing, too. If she saw us she would have hexed us into oblivion."
... ... ...
"Damn it," she said as she rounded the corner and found the hallway empty.
She walked back to see what the two people had been dragging. She had been so busy trying to catch them that she had run right passed it the first time without looking at it.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that it wasn't an 'it' at all, but a 'who.'
"Oh my god!" she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth and kneeling beside them.
Her wand lit up the bloodied and bruised body of Draco Malfoy and her stomach turned. He lay before her in a heap of robes, almost unrecognizable. Both of his eyes were nearly swollen shut, he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and he had a nastily deep gash down his left arm from the shoulder nearly to his wrist that was bleeding profusely.
"Malfoy! Wake up!" she hissed, shaking him. She suddenly remembered all of the times that she wanted to smack the smirk off of his arrogant face. But this...this was too much. Harry and Ron had gone much too far.
She could see him struggling to open his eyes. He groaned and managed to open them half way then tried to speak, but his breathing was labored and it was difficult to understand him. He whispered something that was barely audible, spit out blood, and tried again. "H...hem...hemophilia," he managed to mutter before passing out.
"What? You have hemophilia?" She was surprised but then realized she shouldn't be. With centuries of exclusive pureblood intermingling, something like this was bound to crop up eventually.
However, now she was really worried. If I don't get help soon, he'll bleed to death, she thought in a panic.
Would that really be so awful? An evil little voice argued in her head. He hates you. Why should you save him? Just turn around...leave...someone else will find him.
And if no one does? The good part of her argued back.
One less Death Eater running around...
"No," she said out loud. If I leave...I might as well kill him myself. I can't, no, I won't let him die. I hate him but I'm not a murderer. "Mobili Corpus!"
Draco's body rose slowly off the ground.
"Snape. Have to get to Snape. The hospital wing is too far," she muttered to herself.
She quickly reached the door to Snape's office and barged in, not bothering to knock. "Professor! Help!" she yelled, frantic.
Snape emerged from a door set in the very back of the office wearing a black bath robe, his hair still wet, and took in the situation quickly, eyes shrewd.
So he does wash his hair, she thought wildly before remembering to focus on the problem at hand.
"Miss Granger, explain," Snape demanded immediately.
"I just found him like this. I was patrolling. Professor, he has hemophilia," she said urgently.
Snape's eyes widened slightly. "Put him there," he snapped, motioning towards a black leather futon.
She set him down and waited for further instructions.
"I will see to Mister Malfoy. You may leave."
"But-"
"Go! I will contact Madame Pomfrey and report this."
His tone left no room for argument. Hermione nodded and left the room leaving Snape to run about his office gathering different potions.
She was halfway down the hall when something occurred to her.
Harry and Ron! If Malfoy lives to report them, she shuddered at the alternative, they'll be in huge trouble. Expulsion at the very least. Oh, I'm going to kill them!
She stormed into the common room to find it empty.
If they think hiding in bed is going to save them, they've got another thing coming, she thought, fuming.
She let her rage carry her as she stomped up the stairs to the boy's dormitories muttering to herself the whole way. "How stupid could they be? Nearly killed him. They could be shipped to Azkaban. They will be if he remembers what happened. Don't care how big of a prat he is. They should learn to ignore him like I've done for six bloody years! Well, there was that one time...but that's besides the point!"
She reached the door and knocked forcefully on it three times before practically breaking it down.
She was greeted by five shocked faces and a flurry of motion to cover up half naked bodies. She would have laughed at their expressions if she wasn't so angry.
She stared at Dean, Neville, and Seamus. "Get out," she ordered.
Without hesitation, they left one by one and closed the door behind them.
"Silencio!" she practically yelled, casting a silencing charm on the room.
Ron gulped and looked at Harry.
"Harry James Potter, how could you be so stupid!" she began her tirade, sounding much like a howler. "I would have expected this from him but not you!"
"Hermione, what are you-" Ron started to ask. She cut him off with a withering glare and the red-head paled.
"Ronald Weasley, don't you dare insult my intelligence by finishing that sentence. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Malfoy! You two nearly killed him!"
"Don't be so dramatic, Hermione. We only hit him once or twice," said Harry calmly.
"Or three or four times," added Ron. "And he deserved it!"
"You idiots! He has hemophilia!" she snapped.
"Malfoy's afraid of gay people?" Ron asked, looking between his two friends, confused.
"God help me," she muttered to herself, wiping a hand down her face in exasperation. "No, you complete twit. I said hemophilia not homophobia. It's a disease that prevents the blood from clotting properly."
They both looked at her blankly.
"When your blood doesn't clot, you keep bleeding. He would have bled to death if I didn't find him!" Her scowl could have drilled holes through diamonds.
Now they had the good grace to look worried.
"Good thing we modified his memory," muttered Ron.
Harry rolled his eyes so hard they almost fell out of his head. He could have killed Ron right then and there.
"You WHAT?" Hermione bellowed at the top of her lungs making both of them grab their bed covers in shock. "Memory charms are notoriously difficult to cast! You could have turned his brain to soup. Did you learn nothing from Lockhart?" She took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down a bit. "You're lucky I love you," she said in a deadly whisper. "Otherwise I would report you to Dumbledore. If you ever do anything like this again, I will not cover for you. Do you understand? Malfoy can call me whatever he wants, bitch, slut, whore, mudlood...I don't care. I can defend myself."
They were in utter shock. Hermione had just cursed more times in a few seconds than she had in her entire life.
She walked over to the door and opened it to find Neville, Dean and Seamus huddled against it trying to hear what was going on inside.
"Did you not hear me cast a silencing charm?" she snapped and continued on her way down the stairs.
"So how bad did she hurt you?" asked Dean as they went back inside.
... ... ...
Morning dawned and Hermione was the first to wake. She showered, dressed, and headed straight for the dungeons to see if Draco was still alive. She didn't want to think what would happen if he wasn't. Would she have to turn Harry and Ron in? Would they do it themselves?
She arrived at Snape's office before she knew it. This time, she did knock.
Snape opened the door and she immediately glanced inside and surveyed the office. It was empty. Her eyes widened as she looked at the Potions professor. "Oh no. Is he, did he, I mean, he isn't-" she stuttered.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy is not dead. He's not entirely well but you found him just in time. Surely you didn't think he would stay down here," he asked with his eyebrows raised. "I brought him to the hospital wing as soon as he was as stable as I could get him."
Of course. She nodded quickly and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding before turning to walk away.
"Good job, Granger," she heard Snape say before shutting his office door once more.
She nearly tripped in surprise. That was the first compliment he had ever given her.
In a slight daze, she made her way to the hospital wing, nervous to see Draco's condition.
He was easy to spot as he was currently the only one there. He was not awake and he also wasn't alone.
She walked over to his bed and was immediately bombarded by questions. As was to be expected.
"Where did you find him?"
"Did you see who did it?"
"How long was he there for?"
Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey had practically attacked her once she was within earshot.
"I was patrolling a little after nine last night when I found him in one of the corridors in the dungeons. That's all I know," she lied. "How is he?"
"Well, you found him just in time," the nurse began, echoing Snape's words. "Another minute and he would have certainly bled to death given...his condition," she explained. "We've given him several potions to thicken his blood and help it clot, but we are currently waiting to see how well he recovers. At this point, he could have lasting damage or he could be fine."
They retreated to the nurse's office deep in conversation and left Hermione alone. She sat next to his bed.
"Why do you have to be such a prat? You brought this on yourself, you know," she started. That still doesn't give them the right, she argued with herself.
If the situation were reversed, if it was Harry or Ron lying there because they had provoked Malfoy, would she say they deserved it...no.
She looked at his paler than usual skin. Is that why he's always been so pale? she wondered. Wait a minute. Now it all makes sense! She had just remembered the incident in third year when Buckbeak had cut Draco's arm. At the time everyone thought he was exaggerating his injury for attention, but now...It's no wonder he freaked out. He could have been seriously hurt.
She heard a small groan. He was waking up.
He opened his eyes slowly and with great difficulty. At first the room swam around him but everything came slowly into focus. He heard a soft voice calling his name.
"Malfoy? Malfoy?" it said.
He looked to his left and saw the very last person he expected. "You," he croaked, lacing the word with every ounce of contempt he could manage, which given his present condition wasn't very much.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Do I look it?" he snapped.
"Actually, you look like shit," she said matter-of-factly. She was amazed that even in this state, he could be so horrible. She would have been impressed if it didn't make her so angry.
His eyes widened a bit in surprise. "What do you want? Come to see if I was dead yet?"
"Yes, actually. I was the one that found you."
"Great. Saved by the mudblood. I'll never live it down," he mumbled.
She tried to pretend like the words didn't hurt...but they did. She suddenly understood what he might have said to deserve this beating and was no longer as mad at Harry and Ron as she had been, despite her words to her two friends the night before.
"What do you remember?" she asked through gritted teeth, holding back the urge to give him a fresh bruise on his face.
"Why do you care? Are you in charge of finding out who did this to me?" he sneered.
"Yes," she said stone faced.
"You are?" he asked before he could catch himself. He narrowed his eyes. "Stupid bloody mudblood. I don't remember a damn thing. I was walking to the common room then...nothing," he spat out contemptuously.
She stood suddenly, pushing her chair back roughly. Her face was full of such furry that he was quite sure she was about to hit him.
Instead, she leaned over and did something that even she would later regard as a temporary loss of sanity. She kissed him. And not gently.
He saw her coming closer and didn't know what to do. He couldn't move very well, though he wanted to because, from the look of things, she was going to bite his nose off.
But when her lips roughly met his, he was in such utter shock that he did nothing at first, but just lay there.
She had his face cupped in her hands in a slightly too firm grip. She didn't realize she was hurting his newly healed but still sore face.
He didn't register the pain. His brain was short circuiting. On instinct, he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss and was surprised when she responded with her tongue. A sweet and warm sensation filled both their mouths and their bodies tingled with warmth all over.
Abruptly, she pulled away. Still just inches from his face, she looked at him and saw a single involuntary tear rolling down his face. Her fingers nails had left fresh crescents near his temples and it had hurt.
"Taste any mud?" she whispered. Finally she let go of his face and straightened, glaring at him. He could see tears forming in her eyes. "I should have just let you die," she said angrily, trapping him with her heated gaze. Then she turned on her heel to leave.
"Thank you." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
She stopped for just a second before stalking out of the room. She didn't know whether he was talking about the kiss or the fact that she had saved his life, but she didn't care.
She had just kissed Draco Malfoy, her worst enemy...and she hadn't entirely hated it.
... ... ...