Rain

By: Who Else? Me

Chapter Thirteen

Sleeping Sickness

Dorothy sat at her house's table, deathly silent and paler than before. She wasn't eating very much and her body was weak and her head drooped from loss of sleep. Hermione sat down next to her and looked over into the sullen face of the dark-haired girl. She had large bags under eyes red, puffy eyes, she look near dead sitting there.

"Dorothy, are you alright?" Hermione asked, scraping some eggs onto her plate.

"Huh? Oh, good morning Hermione. Yes, I'm sure I'm alright. I just didn't sleep well last night," replied Dorothy, trying her best to sit up straight. Suddenly somebody bumped her in the back and she nearly fell face first into her food. She looked up to see who it was and was looking into Draco's sneering face.

Draco almost gasped out loud as he saw Dorothy's physical state. She looked absolutely dreadful with those bags under her eyes and her messy black hair. She looked at him mournfully but he turned away and continued walking to his table trying his best to look all high and mighty.

"He's so horrible all of a sudden. I wonder what happened," Hermione said, glaring at the Slytherin boy.

"Yes, I wonder," replied Dorothy. She stood up but had to sit back down because she suddenly felt dizzy.

"Dorothy? Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked again. "You look sick."

"I might be. I got caught in the rain yesterday on the way back from the Quidditch pitch," replied the dark haired girl. "Maybe I caught a cold."

"He made you go through the Quidditch hoops upside down, blindfolded did you say? He just seems to love torturing you all of a sudden."

"I suppose." Dorothy got out of her chair slowly this time, refusing the help of Hermione who suggested she visit the Hospital Wing. "No, no. I'm quite alright. I'm just a little tired. I need to go get my stuff together for Transfiguration and Divination."

Dorothy managed to get out of the great Hall, up the stairs, and into the Gryffindor common room without collapsing. On her way to McGonagall's class she'd stopped to talk to Professor Sprout who was in the building talking to Dumbledor about the Empherus plants.

"Yes, they're coming along quite nicely, yours and Draco's especially. You two should be very proud of yourselves. Your plant will produce pure, white snow I believe," she said, smiling cheerfully. "Are you alright, Ms. Agel? You look positively dreadful. Are you sick?"

"I don't know," Dorothy replied, holding her head. "I feel dizzy and tired and I keep stumbling...I haven't been sleeping well lat—" but she didn't finish her sentence because her lack of sleep over came her and she blacked out, falling to the ground, and allowing her books to spill everywhere.

Somebody nearby had run down and told Hermione who stood up abruptly, followed by Harry and Ron and ran off to the Hospital Wing. Draco watched them speed out and glanced over at a Slytherin who sat down at the end of the table.

"What's going on?" Draco asked, almost bored.

"Ah, that new transfer student...what's 'er name...Dorothy? I think they said she collapsed on the third floor. She's in the Hospital Wing," replied the Slytherin, as if it were uninteresting news.

Draco sat up suddenly but relaxed figuring it wouldn't look good if he got all upset over this news. He gave a painfully fake smirk and said, "Served her right, the Gryffin-dork." Everyone around him laughed and Pansy adjusted uncomfortably, having not forgotten about what she saw the other day.

Draco yawned and stood up. "It's almost time for Defense Against the Dark Arts with that idiot of a new teacher. Umbridge was much better. Stripes...that new teacher is a completely incompetent witch. Probably a mudblood."

He left the table being followed by Crabbe and Goyle. He sat down in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He and the rest of the Slytherins all had to wait fifteen minutes before Professor Wits finally showed up, looking quite flustered and indeed worried.

"I'm terribly sorry class," she said in an anxious voice, taking something out of her desk. "I have been seeing to my poor niece in the Hospital Wing. It seems she's fallen ill with a sleeping sickness. Hasn't been getting enough sleep lately and so she just collapse in the middle of the hallway. It's horrible don't you think? Anyway...er, yes, the lesson."

"Yes, the lesson," said Draco, trying to act normal, "do you think we could get on with that?"

"Patience, Mr. Malfoy, or I'll have to try this ferret thing I keep hearing about. Seems you make," Professor Wits grinned, "quite the bouncing ferret." Draco felt his blood boil at this but remained calm. "Now let's see...ah yes, vampires, let's talk about those, shall we?"

Draco didn't pay attention to much more of the lesson, he was distracted, for some reason his mind kept wandering to Dorothy and her sudden predicament. Why should he care about her? She didn't care about him...well, maybe that wasn't true. She was just trying to spare his feelings...

"That's it for today class," rang out Professor Wits' voice into Draco's thoughts. "For homework, I want you to write me an essay on vampire repellants and their effects. Good-bye."

Draco picked up his things and left, a weight suddenly baring down on his shoulders. He walked steadily down the corridor, silently, being followed by the usual people.

Meanwhile, in the Hospital Wing, Dorothy opened her eyes to find herself lying alone on a bed. She felt exhausted and her body still ached slightly from the day before. Madam Pomfry, noticing her awakening, came striding up to Dorothy with a body of some odd liquid.

"Drink this, deary," said the nurse, handing the dark-hair Gryffindor girl a cup of it. "It will help you sleep a dreamless sleep."

"Thank you," said Dorothy, taking it and drinking it slowly because she was too tired to do anything very quickly. When she was done, it left a bad taste in her mouth but she felt herself becoming steadily sleepier. With in a moment she was asleep again but before she'd fallen asleep completely, she saw a face.

The face of Draco Malfoy.

A/N: Okay, this one didn't turn out that good. I'm sure the next one will be much better! No! Please don't go! Anyway, thanks to everyone for you comments and to Emma Barrows, I'd love to read your stories but lately I've been short on time with High School and everything. And usually on the weekends I go out with my boyfriend. I'll probably print it off and take it to school with me one of these days, when I get a moment. Alright, that's all for now. Ciao.

WEM