Chapter 3: A New Arrival, and Illness.
Hello all my loyal fans (like, all 0 of them). lol.well I said I'd reply reviews as they go, few though they may be, so that's what I'll do:
ILUVRONWEASLEY: hiya! I dunno.your fic is an influence on many-a-thing.I'm also grabbing a few things from Buffy, and I'll probably use weird, dramatic things that make no sense whatsoever, that I've picked up from somewhere. Just don't panic is I suddenly begin talking about filthy eastern ways and magical mysteries. Lol. Tell all your fanfiction buddies about this if you will. Spread the word! Show everyone the light! And so forth. Thanks for telling me how to do the . . . by the way. I kinda figured that was how to do it.
Bombshell: Aww.thank you for the vote of confidence. Whoosh-ka is something I picked up from a great show called 'The footy show' which they show in Australia during the footy season. And, just wondering, do you spell 'seriously', 'siriusly' just because it's a reflection of Sirius? Coz if so, that's cool. And hey, if you like the story so much, tell your friends about it!!! I need more people to read it!!!
Ehlonna: I know.isn't it wonderful??? (in a crappy way). Keep reading, please, if it interests ya!
I'm very excited at the moment because both of the guys left in Australian Idol wanted to do a particular Beatles song. Poor old Guy had to choose something else. He did, tragically, not do a different Beatles song, but that means Shannon's doing 'Hey Jude' next Sunday! I am very excited about this.
Disclaimer: I own all but what I don't own.
Right, let's get down to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Yeah,' said Hermione, looking Malfoy square in the eye. 'I can hack it. I just can't believe it.'
'Uh-huh. Ever considered a career in not being so cryptic.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. She waved her wand, and everything that was cleaning went away. The dungeon was spotless. She uttered then the non- detection spell, got up, and brushed herself off.
'See you tomorrow Malfoy.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione woke up the next day with a slight headache. Mind you, she thought to herself, as she went to get a drink of water, anyone who had to spend any amount of time with Malfoy would have something like that.
She went downstairs to the common room to see Harry writing furiously. Hermione frowned.his writing would probably be awful. Harry looked up and smiled when he saw her.
'Morning! How was detention with Malfoy?'
'I'll tell ya later. What are you doing?'
'Writing to Mrs Weasley. She sent me news from the Order. Apparantly Percy's decided to come and join us. . . finally.'
'No, seriously?' Percy, along with the rest of the Ministry, had admitted to Lord Voldemort's return at the end of the trio's 5th year. He did, however, know that he ought not to return to home for a while, mainly because Fred and George would probably break his limbs. Being fond of his limbs, he decided to remain in Diagon Alley, and send the family a written apology. Halfway through the last summer, about a month after Hermione, Harry and Ron had arrived at Grimmauld Place, Fred and George decided to officially forgive him. Of course, by officially, they meant sending him a bunch of Weasley Wizards Wheezes. They went over to deliver it to them personally. The trio heard it was a very teary moment, and they were very excited to hear when Percy would finally be willing to join the Order. It looked as though it had arrived at last.
'So I'm sending this letter over to see what's happening and if there's anything they need from us. I trust this meets your approval?'
'Of course,' replied Hermione, magically adding her signature to the parchment. 'My only concern about this though, is that Percy might suddenly turn back. What if Fudge thinks up some new ludicrous theory, like that image of Voldemort being a mirage Dumbledore concocted in his old age, or something like that?'
'You have some imagination 'Mione,' replied Harry. 'It's been over a year and Fudge has been trying to help Dumbledore as much as he can. I think it'll be OK. Begin to trust people a bit more.'
Hermione bit her lip, but uttered an 'all right'.
When the two of them walked down to the Great Hall Ron was already there, stuffing his face. When he saw the pair of them though he swallowed hurriedly.
'Harry! Ginny was wondering when the first quidditch session is?'
'Oh yeah, you're right! I have to begin telling them all. It's tomorrow evening, at 5.00. Should last until 7. We need to try out a new person to be that replacement Chaser, now that Katie's gone.'
'Obviously. A girl in 5th year gave me a tip off though, as to someone who's be really good. Susie something.'
'Susie Bellnak,' said Hermione immediately. 'I know her. She'd be good. She's quite good at slipping out of things. Hence why she became prefect, I guess.'
'Uh-huh. Excellent. Well we'll try her out tomorrow night. I'd better put a notice on the board telling anyone else that the tryouts are on as well.'
The bell rang then. Harry and Hermione each grabbed stacks of toast as the three of them walked up to the transfiguration classroom.
Professor McGonagall entered, looking her usual stern self. She placed her books down on the desk and ordered the class to settle down. They all did so. As Hermione did, she noticed Malfoy sitting to her right, talking to someone that didn't look the slightest bit familiar. Curious, Hermione thought.
'Right,' said the Professor. 'In case any of you haven't noticed, we have a new person in the class today.'
Ahh, thought Hermione, as the rest of the class looked round for the new person, spotted him and began smiling at him. Well, the Slytherins did. Everyone else kind of turned away again, because the new person was obviously a Slytherin.
'I hope you all make him feel welcome. He's only come today, as his father transferred to this location in order to be a little bit closer to his family in this time of need. Please welcome Nikolas Lestrange.'
Lestrange?!?! Hermione turned again to look at the boy. He was standing up now, and walking to the front of the room on the teachers command. He was tall, with black hair which was quite tidy. He was thick set and had very cold, almost black eyes. Hermione recognised that expression on his face.
Hermione turned to Harry and saw that Harry had a look of mass resistance on his face. Hermione saw Harry's wand clutched to his side.
Then Hermione turned and noticed Neville, wearing a similar expression on his round face, also clutching his wand. Hermione closed her eyes. Please, she thought to herself. Please don't make them make fools of themselves.
'Right. Nikolas, sit down. Now today, class, we'll be working on one of the simpler spells for your N.E.W.T's. This involves turning something inanimate into something alive.'
The rest of the lesson passed eventually, but Hermione didn't really notice. She was a) pleased with herself, because she'd managed to make the statue in front of her stand up and bow at her with much enthusiasm, first removing his hat, and b) because of this new arrival. He was clearly the son of Bellatrix Lestrange. None other then the person who drove Neville's parents insane, killed Sirius, and drove her own parents insane, in that order. Her heir, basically, was sitting in this classroom. Hermione, and Harry and Neville as well I'm sure, didn't consider the thought of killing this person entirely terrible.
She also noticed how chatty Malfoy was with him. Hmph, she thought. Some converted evil person indeed. She knew he must have been joking. Who makes friends with the son of a life-ruiner and claims they're not evil.
An underknowledged person, said a voice in her head.
God, she replied to the voice, as they were putting their statues (of various states of conciousness) into the drawer. You're not going to let me loathe him for any valid reason are you?
Your choice, said the voice.
When the bell ended Hermione found her headache had returned. Maybe I'm coming down with something, she thought to herself. Bugger, If I'm sick I might have to miss some class.how behind would I get? She thought about this as she headed down to Arithmancy. Harry and Ron scooted off to the common room.
Arithmancy was frustrating. Hermione, for once, couldn't concentrate, because the new kid, Nikolas, was taking it. She couldn't stop giving him the evil eye. Professor Vector was explaining something very complicated about figuring out the reliability of certain spells, and she hardly heard it. Not Hermione-like at all, and she wasn't feeling very happy about it. Padma Patil, who also did Arithmancy, leaned over to her and whispered:
'Are you OK?'
(btw, I'm assuming Padma's usually V. nice, but likes to be treated nicely.)
'I don't know,' replied Hermione. 'I think I'm coming down with something. Also, seen the new student?'
'Yep. I do Transfiguration. He looks freaky. His name rings a bell too.'
'Yeah,' she said scornfully. Padma decided not to elaborate on it.
When the class ended Hermione headed straight down to the lunch table where Harry and Ron were, discussing something.
'I know that kid,' said Harry, taking a bite out of his pie. 'He's in 4th year. He's fast enough on his feet, because I've seen him running before.'
'Ever seen him fly though Harry, that's the main thing.'
'Errr.no. But most people who are fast on their feet are fast in the air.'
'It makes me glad I'm Keeper. I couldn't do anything else. I practically trip over my broomstick while I'm sitting there.'
'Uh-huh. Hey Hermione. How was Arithmancy?'
'Disaster,' she replied. 'The new kid takes that class. Plus I couldn't concentrate.'
'Hermione, not being able to concentrate?' asked Ron. He began fanning himself. 'I think I'm about to have a heart attack.'
'Oh shut up,' she snapped to him. She wished she hadn't yelled though. It made her head feel worse. She brought her head up to her face with a slight groaning sound. Harry noticed this. He brought her to the bench and made her sit down.
'Are you OK?'
'You're the second person that's asked me that. And no. I think I'm sick. I've got a headache that's steadily getting worse.'
'Maybe you should go down to the hospital wing.'
'What have we got next?'
'Nothing. It's Divination. You really should go Hermione. You're beginning to turn pale.'
'No! No, I'll be fine. I need to catch up on Arithmancy. I'll be fine. I just need something to drink.'
'But-'
'Don't worry. I know how to look after myself.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Apparantly she didn't know how to look after herself that well. By the end of the period, her headache had progressed to a sore throat, and her stomach was now beginning to complain. As the bell rang Harry looked at her and nearly fainted, mainly because Hermione looked very close to fainting herself.
'Right, that's it! Hermione, hospital wing. March!'
'What? Don't be absurd-'
'I'm not taking any excuses. Come on.'
So Hermione was marched towards the hospital wing. Well, kind of dragged as well because she was finding it hard to manage the walk. When they got there, and Madam Pomfrey saw Hermione, she let out a gasp.
'Oh my lord!' She felt Hermione's forehead, and took her hand away very quickly. 'You've got a very high fever. You're going to have to stay here for a few days.'
'What?' gasped Hermione. 'I can't! Tomorrow I've got defence.and I'm in detention too.Malfoy won't do it, so I'll get in even more toub-'
'Hermione,' said Harry, who'd been allowed to come in with her. 'Shut up. It'll be fine. You really need to work out your priorities. You're really ill. You need to relax. Ever done that before Hermione? It's really easy and it's great for curing over-worrying and stress.'
Hermione closed her eyes. She was trying to keep her breathing steady. 'You know what I mean Harry. I'm going to be in trouble, and-'
'I'm sure even someone with as cold a heart as Snape will understand. I think this illness is punishment enough. How do you think you got it anyway?'
Hermione pulled the curtains back and began changing into the hospital gown. 'I don't know, Harry,' she said through the curtains. 'It's a muggle illness, so I've obviously got it from before we were on the train. That's odd though.I thought wizards were immune to such diseases.'
'I looked into this,' said Harry. 'It depends on purity of blood. I haven't gotten sick very often.just injured. Ron's NEVER gotten sick. It's incredible. Actually, he told me one he got a wizard illness. It's a bit like the flu, except you don't have control over things flying around your room either. It's very rare, Ron said. Everyone in their family's only gotten it once. He said that one time the twins, Percy and Bill all had it at the same time, and nobody could find anything because it was either floating around in the air or had landed somewhere odd.
'Muggle borns have it very strangely. They're not too susceptible to muggle diseases. But they're also practically immune to wizard diseases, because of all the muggle blood in your veins. You are more susceptible to muggle diseases then the rest of us though.'
Hmm, thought Hermione. Interesting. She pulled the curtains back again and climbed into the bed. Harry sat down next to her.
'I'll make sure the others visit you at some point, OK?'
'All right.' She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Harry was gone.
She stared up at the ceiling. She wondered if the hospital wing stocked muggle Panadol, or something like that, because her head was really beginning to kill her. She supposed she ought to try and sleep, but she was concerned about what was going to happen at detention tonight, when Malfoy found out that she wasn't there. She smiled to herself slightly at the thought of Malfoy having to clean the entire dungeon by himself manually. She did know how unrealistic that was, but hey, let her dream.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione got visitors at around 6:00, about 2 hours after she'd been emitted into the hospital wing. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna arriced, and Hermione couldn't have been more thrilled to see them.
'Hermione!' gasped Ginny. 'You look awful!'
'Thanks Ginny,' said Hermione, trying to look offended.
'No, I mean it.what do they call this muggle illness.'
'I'm not sure what it is yet,' said Hermione. 'It feels a bit like the flu. It's a high body temperature, headache, stomach ache. It's a really horrible thing to get, in the muggle world.'
'WEI isn't that great either,' remarked Ron.
'Is that what the illness you got called?' asked Hermione. 'What's WE stand for?'
'Wizard Enhancement Illness,' said Luna dreamily. 'Your wizard powers become enhanced, and often become hard to control, particularly when they're asleep. It's handy to keep protective spells around the bedroom door when someone has it, and keep them enclosed.' She drifted onto a seat and stared up at the ceiling.
'I wonder if Madam Pomfrey knows how to deal with muggle diseases?' remarked Ginny.
'There have probably been students here before that have gotten muggle diseases.I wouldn't worry about it too much,' said Hermione. 'She probably knows what to do.'
Half an hour later, the 5 of them left, and as they did, Hermione heard Harry conversing rather loudly with someone. Hermione closed her eyes again, opened them again, then found out why he was practically yelling. Malfoy was coming towards her.
'Granger. Why did you go and get sick when we've still got 4 more of these stupid detentions to endure?'
'Malfoy, you really think I can help it? I thought this would make you somewhat satisfied. Because of my bloodline I've gotten some muggle illness so I now feel like shit whereas pure bloods like yourself are basically scot-free.'
Malfoys eyes narrowed at that. 'Pure-bloods get illnesses too Granger. I had a really bad case of EMI when I was six. Don't go saying that pure- bloods don't suffer from any illness whatsoever.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Whatever Malfoy. Just tell Snape we'll have to resume the detentions when I can basically walk.'
'Fine then. Have fun in here Granger.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes as Malfoy walked off. God I hate him, she thought to herself. He's so.evil.and such a prick.
Hermione fell asleep about an hour later. She had a strange dream. She was walking in a forest, and it was dark, and windy. She pushed along though. She wished it would stop being so dark and windy, because she was looking for something, and it couldn't hear her. One of the trees slapped her face. It hurt terribly, and Hermione could feel the blood coming out of her face.
'Where ARE you??' she yelled.
She woke up with a start. She was back in the hospital wing. She didn't have a clue what happened. The strangest thing, though, was that Hermione touched her face, and her fingers had blood on them. How had she gotten that graze?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rar! OK, I'm taking a new view of this. I am officially the best author in the world. To tell me exactly how much I rock, please review! And do it soon.I've keep getting stomach aches when I think about how Paul McCartney's a father at 61. Please distract me from this pain.
Hello all my loyal fans (like, all 0 of them). lol.well I said I'd reply reviews as they go, few though they may be, so that's what I'll do:
ILUVRONWEASLEY: hiya! I dunno.your fic is an influence on many-a-thing.I'm also grabbing a few things from Buffy, and I'll probably use weird, dramatic things that make no sense whatsoever, that I've picked up from somewhere. Just don't panic is I suddenly begin talking about filthy eastern ways and magical mysteries. Lol. Tell all your fanfiction buddies about this if you will. Spread the word! Show everyone the light! And so forth. Thanks for telling me how to do the . . . by the way. I kinda figured that was how to do it.
Bombshell: Aww.thank you for the vote of confidence. Whoosh-ka is something I picked up from a great show called 'The footy show' which they show in Australia during the footy season. And, just wondering, do you spell 'seriously', 'siriusly' just because it's a reflection of Sirius? Coz if so, that's cool. And hey, if you like the story so much, tell your friends about it!!! I need more people to read it!!!
Ehlonna: I know.isn't it wonderful??? (in a crappy way). Keep reading, please, if it interests ya!
I'm very excited at the moment because both of the guys left in Australian Idol wanted to do a particular Beatles song. Poor old Guy had to choose something else. He did, tragically, not do a different Beatles song, but that means Shannon's doing 'Hey Jude' next Sunday! I am very excited about this.
Disclaimer: I own all but what I don't own.
Right, let's get down to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Yeah,' said Hermione, looking Malfoy square in the eye. 'I can hack it. I just can't believe it.'
'Uh-huh. Ever considered a career in not being so cryptic.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. She waved her wand, and everything that was cleaning went away. The dungeon was spotless. She uttered then the non- detection spell, got up, and brushed herself off.
'See you tomorrow Malfoy.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione woke up the next day with a slight headache. Mind you, she thought to herself, as she went to get a drink of water, anyone who had to spend any amount of time with Malfoy would have something like that.
She went downstairs to the common room to see Harry writing furiously. Hermione frowned.his writing would probably be awful. Harry looked up and smiled when he saw her.
'Morning! How was detention with Malfoy?'
'I'll tell ya later. What are you doing?'
'Writing to Mrs Weasley. She sent me news from the Order. Apparantly Percy's decided to come and join us. . . finally.'
'No, seriously?' Percy, along with the rest of the Ministry, had admitted to Lord Voldemort's return at the end of the trio's 5th year. He did, however, know that he ought not to return to home for a while, mainly because Fred and George would probably break his limbs. Being fond of his limbs, he decided to remain in Diagon Alley, and send the family a written apology. Halfway through the last summer, about a month after Hermione, Harry and Ron had arrived at Grimmauld Place, Fred and George decided to officially forgive him. Of course, by officially, they meant sending him a bunch of Weasley Wizards Wheezes. They went over to deliver it to them personally. The trio heard it was a very teary moment, and they were very excited to hear when Percy would finally be willing to join the Order. It looked as though it had arrived at last.
'So I'm sending this letter over to see what's happening and if there's anything they need from us. I trust this meets your approval?'
'Of course,' replied Hermione, magically adding her signature to the parchment. 'My only concern about this though, is that Percy might suddenly turn back. What if Fudge thinks up some new ludicrous theory, like that image of Voldemort being a mirage Dumbledore concocted in his old age, or something like that?'
'You have some imagination 'Mione,' replied Harry. 'It's been over a year and Fudge has been trying to help Dumbledore as much as he can. I think it'll be OK. Begin to trust people a bit more.'
Hermione bit her lip, but uttered an 'all right'.
When the two of them walked down to the Great Hall Ron was already there, stuffing his face. When he saw the pair of them though he swallowed hurriedly.
'Harry! Ginny was wondering when the first quidditch session is?'
'Oh yeah, you're right! I have to begin telling them all. It's tomorrow evening, at 5.00. Should last until 7. We need to try out a new person to be that replacement Chaser, now that Katie's gone.'
'Obviously. A girl in 5th year gave me a tip off though, as to someone who's be really good. Susie something.'
'Susie Bellnak,' said Hermione immediately. 'I know her. She'd be good. She's quite good at slipping out of things. Hence why she became prefect, I guess.'
'Uh-huh. Excellent. Well we'll try her out tomorrow night. I'd better put a notice on the board telling anyone else that the tryouts are on as well.'
The bell rang then. Harry and Hermione each grabbed stacks of toast as the three of them walked up to the transfiguration classroom.
Professor McGonagall entered, looking her usual stern self. She placed her books down on the desk and ordered the class to settle down. They all did so. As Hermione did, she noticed Malfoy sitting to her right, talking to someone that didn't look the slightest bit familiar. Curious, Hermione thought.
'Right,' said the Professor. 'In case any of you haven't noticed, we have a new person in the class today.'
Ahh, thought Hermione, as the rest of the class looked round for the new person, spotted him and began smiling at him. Well, the Slytherins did. Everyone else kind of turned away again, because the new person was obviously a Slytherin.
'I hope you all make him feel welcome. He's only come today, as his father transferred to this location in order to be a little bit closer to his family in this time of need. Please welcome Nikolas Lestrange.'
Lestrange?!?! Hermione turned again to look at the boy. He was standing up now, and walking to the front of the room on the teachers command. He was tall, with black hair which was quite tidy. He was thick set and had very cold, almost black eyes. Hermione recognised that expression on his face.
Hermione turned to Harry and saw that Harry had a look of mass resistance on his face. Hermione saw Harry's wand clutched to his side.
Then Hermione turned and noticed Neville, wearing a similar expression on his round face, also clutching his wand. Hermione closed her eyes. Please, she thought to herself. Please don't make them make fools of themselves.
'Right. Nikolas, sit down. Now today, class, we'll be working on one of the simpler spells for your N.E.W.T's. This involves turning something inanimate into something alive.'
The rest of the lesson passed eventually, but Hermione didn't really notice. She was a) pleased with herself, because she'd managed to make the statue in front of her stand up and bow at her with much enthusiasm, first removing his hat, and b) because of this new arrival. He was clearly the son of Bellatrix Lestrange. None other then the person who drove Neville's parents insane, killed Sirius, and drove her own parents insane, in that order. Her heir, basically, was sitting in this classroom. Hermione, and Harry and Neville as well I'm sure, didn't consider the thought of killing this person entirely terrible.
She also noticed how chatty Malfoy was with him. Hmph, she thought. Some converted evil person indeed. She knew he must have been joking. Who makes friends with the son of a life-ruiner and claims they're not evil.
An underknowledged person, said a voice in her head.
God, she replied to the voice, as they were putting their statues (of various states of conciousness) into the drawer. You're not going to let me loathe him for any valid reason are you?
Your choice, said the voice.
When the bell ended Hermione found her headache had returned. Maybe I'm coming down with something, she thought to herself. Bugger, If I'm sick I might have to miss some class.how behind would I get? She thought about this as she headed down to Arithmancy. Harry and Ron scooted off to the common room.
Arithmancy was frustrating. Hermione, for once, couldn't concentrate, because the new kid, Nikolas, was taking it. She couldn't stop giving him the evil eye. Professor Vector was explaining something very complicated about figuring out the reliability of certain spells, and she hardly heard it. Not Hermione-like at all, and she wasn't feeling very happy about it. Padma Patil, who also did Arithmancy, leaned over to her and whispered:
'Are you OK?'
(btw, I'm assuming Padma's usually V. nice, but likes to be treated nicely.)
'I don't know,' replied Hermione. 'I think I'm coming down with something. Also, seen the new student?'
'Yep. I do Transfiguration. He looks freaky. His name rings a bell too.'
'Yeah,' she said scornfully. Padma decided not to elaborate on it.
When the class ended Hermione headed straight down to the lunch table where Harry and Ron were, discussing something.
'I know that kid,' said Harry, taking a bite out of his pie. 'He's in 4th year. He's fast enough on his feet, because I've seen him running before.'
'Ever seen him fly though Harry, that's the main thing.'
'Errr.no. But most people who are fast on their feet are fast in the air.'
'It makes me glad I'm Keeper. I couldn't do anything else. I practically trip over my broomstick while I'm sitting there.'
'Uh-huh. Hey Hermione. How was Arithmancy?'
'Disaster,' she replied. 'The new kid takes that class. Plus I couldn't concentrate.'
'Hermione, not being able to concentrate?' asked Ron. He began fanning himself. 'I think I'm about to have a heart attack.'
'Oh shut up,' she snapped to him. She wished she hadn't yelled though. It made her head feel worse. She brought her head up to her face with a slight groaning sound. Harry noticed this. He brought her to the bench and made her sit down.
'Are you OK?'
'You're the second person that's asked me that. And no. I think I'm sick. I've got a headache that's steadily getting worse.'
'Maybe you should go down to the hospital wing.'
'What have we got next?'
'Nothing. It's Divination. You really should go Hermione. You're beginning to turn pale.'
'No! No, I'll be fine. I need to catch up on Arithmancy. I'll be fine. I just need something to drink.'
'But-'
'Don't worry. I know how to look after myself.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Apparantly she didn't know how to look after herself that well. By the end of the period, her headache had progressed to a sore throat, and her stomach was now beginning to complain. As the bell rang Harry looked at her and nearly fainted, mainly because Hermione looked very close to fainting herself.
'Right, that's it! Hermione, hospital wing. March!'
'What? Don't be absurd-'
'I'm not taking any excuses. Come on.'
So Hermione was marched towards the hospital wing. Well, kind of dragged as well because she was finding it hard to manage the walk. When they got there, and Madam Pomfrey saw Hermione, she let out a gasp.
'Oh my lord!' She felt Hermione's forehead, and took her hand away very quickly. 'You've got a very high fever. You're going to have to stay here for a few days.'
'What?' gasped Hermione. 'I can't! Tomorrow I've got defence.and I'm in detention too.Malfoy won't do it, so I'll get in even more toub-'
'Hermione,' said Harry, who'd been allowed to come in with her. 'Shut up. It'll be fine. You really need to work out your priorities. You're really ill. You need to relax. Ever done that before Hermione? It's really easy and it's great for curing over-worrying and stress.'
Hermione closed her eyes. She was trying to keep her breathing steady. 'You know what I mean Harry. I'm going to be in trouble, and-'
'I'm sure even someone with as cold a heart as Snape will understand. I think this illness is punishment enough. How do you think you got it anyway?'
Hermione pulled the curtains back and began changing into the hospital gown. 'I don't know, Harry,' she said through the curtains. 'It's a muggle illness, so I've obviously got it from before we were on the train. That's odd though.I thought wizards were immune to such diseases.'
'I looked into this,' said Harry. 'It depends on purity of blood. I haven't gotten sick very often.just injured. Ron's NEVER gotten sick. It's incredible. Actually, he told me one he got a wizard illness. It's a bit like the flu, except you don't have control over things flying around your room either. It's very rare, Ron said. Everyone in their family's only gotten it once. He said that one time the twins, Percy and Bill all had it at the same time, and nobody could find anything because it was either floating around in the air or had landed somewhere odd.
'Muggle borns have it very strangely. They're not too susceptible to muggle diseases. But they're also practically immune to wizard diseases, because of all the muggle blood in your veins. You are more susceptible to muggle diseases then the rest of us though.'
Hmm, thought Hermione. Interesting. She pulled the curtains back again and climbed into the bed. Harry sat down next to her.
'I'll make sure the others visit you at some point, OK?'
'All right.' She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Harry was gone.
She stared up at the ceiling. She wondered if the hospital wing stocked muggle Panadol, or something like that, because her head was really beginning to kill her. She supposed she ought to try and sleep, but she was concerned about what was going to happen at detention tonight, when Malfoy found out that she wasn't there. She smiled to herself slightly at the thought of Malfoy having to clean the entire dungeon by himself manually. She did know how unrealistic that was, but hey, let her dream.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione got visitors at around 6:00, about 2 hours after she'd been emitted into the hospital wing. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna arriced, and Hermione couldn't have been more thrilled to see them.
'Hermione!' gasped Ginny. 'You look awful!'
'Thanks Ginny,' said Hermione, trying to look offended.
'No, I mean it.what do they call this muggle illness.'
'I'm not sure what it is yet,' said Hermione. 'It feels a bit like the flu. It's a high body temperature, headache, stomach ache. It's a really horrible thing to get, in the muggle world.'
'WEI isn't that great either,' remarked Ron.
'Is that what the illness you got called?' asked Hermione. 'What's WE stand for?'
'Wizard Enhancement Illness,' said Luna dreamily. 'Your wizard powers become enhanced, and often become hard to control, particularly when they're asleep. It's handy to keep protective spells around the bedroom door when someone has it, and keep them enclosed.' She drifted onto a seat and stared up at the ceiling.
'I wonder if Madam Pomfrey knows how to deal with muggle diseases?' remarked Ginny.
'There have probably been students here before that have gotten muggle diseases.I wouldn't worry about it too much,' said Hermione. 'She probably knows what to do.'
Half an hour later, the 5 of them left, and as they did, Hermione heard Harry conversing rather loudly with someone. Hermione closed her eyes again, opened them again, then found out why he was practically yelling. Malfoy was coming towards her.
'Granger. Why did you go and get sick when we've still got 4 more of these stupid detentions to endure?'
'Malfoy, you really think I can help it? I thought this would make you somewhat satisfied. Because of my bloodline I've gotten some muggle illness so I now feel like shit whereas pure bloods like yourself are basically scot-free.'
Malfoys eyes narrowed at that. 'Pure-bloods get illnesses too Granger. I had a really bad case of EMI when I was six. Don't go saying that pure- bloods don't suffer from any illness whatsoever.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Whatever Malfoy. Just tell Snape we'll have to resume the detentions when I can basically walk.'
'Fine then. Have fun in here Granger.'
Hermione narrowed her eyes as Malfoy walked off. God I hate him, she thought to herself. He's so.evil.and such a prick.
Hermione fell asleep about an hour later. She had a strange dream. She was walking in a forest, and it was dark, and windy. She pushed along though. She wished it would stop being so dark and windy, because she was looking for something, and it couldn't hear her. One of the trees slapped her face. It hurt terribly, and Hermione could feel the blood coming out of her face.
'Where ARE you??' she yelled.
She woke up with a start. She was back in the hospital wing. She didn't have a clue what happened. The strangest thing, though, was that Hermione touched her face, and her fingers had blood on them. How had she gotten that graze?
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Rar! OK, I'm taking a new view of this. I am officially the best author in the world. To tell me exactly how much I rock, please review! And do it soon.I've keep getting stomach aches when I think about how Paul McCartney's a father at 61. Please distract me from this pain.