Chapter 20: After Valentines Day
Oh everyone, I am so sorry I am such a lazy slob. This chapter shouldn't take as long. What happened was a had a huge period of time where I didn't feel like writing at all, but now I'm on a writing craze again. Hopefully this will keep up for a few more chapters.
Anyhow, reviews!
littoxkigga: yeah I know, sorry. Here's another one. How'd I go this time?
artemisgirl: ooh, you like Artemis Fowl? I love Artemis Fowl. Anyhow, don't worry, eventually they will get a chance. I'm getting somewhere with all these attacks, trust me. Anyhow, yes, I am here with another chapter.
None: thanks. Not the most accurate typer.
SweetCheeksDracoLover: oh thank you for being so enthusiastic. Means a lot to me. Keep reading.
Lightning: crap. Try and assume which one is Malfoy and which is actually Hermione. Sorry about that. I really should be bothered to beta.
bombshell: I always had a sneaking suspicion it was made of cheese. Excellent.
xcharmedx: never fear. I assure you eventually there will be some more action. Patience, my pet.
electra: thank you. Now UPDATE YOUR STORY!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, shall never own anything, etc.
I'm in love. It's a wonderful feeling, but also a sad one because said person would never return affection.
Bellatrix Lestrange eyed Malfoy with a mixture of disgust and faint curiosity. Malfoy eyed her back with deep loathing.
'Tut tut Draco,' Bellatrix said slowly, 'Dancing with a Mudblood. Your father won't be happy about that.'
Malfoy lowered his eyes dramatically, and green sparks shot from his wand. 'Don't call her that,' he said slowly and deeply.
Bellatrix stepped closer to Malfoy, apparently not aware that the entire school was looking at the conversation that was ensuing between her and her boss's son.
'I see we have a few feelings for the girl.'
'So what if I do?' asked Malfoy, before really realising what he was saying.
'Your father won't be happy,' the woman replied, eyeing Hermione, now violently shaking in her sleep. Nobody dared approach her and try to wake her. They were all just too frightened.
Malfoy had, however, in some unexplainable way, gained complete control over the situation. He just looked Bellatrix straight in the eye and said 'I don't care.'
Then he, with about 5 other voices, yelled out 'Stupefy!' and Bellatrix was knocked almost completely unconscious.
In a matter of seconds people came flurrying over to the area where the Death Eater was lying. Malfoy quickly got away from the crowd and went back to where Hermione was lying. Harry and Ron were there too, urgently trying to wake her.
'Malfoy! You have to do what you did before, and quickly! She's getting pale and clammy, and she seems beyond screaming.'
Malfoy didn't need to be told twice. He knelt down, grabbed one of Hermiones hands, carrassed it with both of his own and said 'Granger, please, please wake up. You've got me. You'll always have me. I'll never, ever hurt you, and won't let anyone else ever hurt you. You can trust me.'
Harry and Ron just goggled. Was this Malfoy they were hearing? They immediately decided to ask questions later, however, because Hermione had just woken up, and looked completely lost.
'What happened?' she asked, looking around at Harry, Ron, Malfoy. Malfoy! She'd been dancing with him and suddenly she was here. . .
'Potter, please get her to the Hospital Wing. Weasley, you should go with her. She needs her friends at the moment. I need a word with the Headmaster.'
Harry and Ron were about to argue, but Malfoy said quickly to them 'Please do this? I'll answer any questions later. Just get her there for me?'
Harry and Ron both felt so uncharacteristically sorry for him, they nodded, picked up Hermione, and got her out of the Great Hall, changing magically back into their school robes as they walked out of the door.
Malfoy rushed straight over to where Bellatrix lay. Professor Dumbledore was kneeling there, eyeing her carefully. Malfoy made a slight noise and Dumbledore lifted his head.
'Ahh, Mr Malfoy. Yes, I'd like a word. Minerva!' Professor McGonagall walked briskly over. 'Please see to it that the Ministry of Magic deals with this. . . woman, and try to get the proceeds of the evening back to normal. I must have a word with Mr Malfoy.'
Professor McGonagall did as she was asked without complaint. Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore and Malfoy made hot foot out of the Great Hall, the door changing them back into regular attire quickly, as they headed up towards Professor Dumbledore's office.
They both entered it with a shout of the password from Dumbledore, and quickly walked up the stairs to the large, circular room where the Headmasters lived during their reign. Dumbledore sat down at his desk, took out a quill and parchment, and began writing hastily. Malfoy watched him. He didn't understand. What was he doing?
'Mr Malfoy, please have a seat. I have to send this letter to the Minister as quickly as I can. I'll be with you in a minute.'
Malfoy sat down and waited tensely. After about 5 minutes, Dumbledore had finished, and an owl called from the Owlery had come and taken the letter. Dumbledore rescrewed the cap of the ink bottle on, and turned to face him.
'Mr Malfoy, I believe the time has come for you to understand the seriousness of the situation.'
Malfoy was slightly insulted at that. Did the Professor think he was stupid or something? 'I fully understand the seriousness of this situation! Granger keeps collapsing and having dreams to such an extent that if she isn't woken up quickly enough, she'll kill herself in her sleep, and a whole bunch of Death Eaters seem to want to make this possible –'
'I'm not underestimating you, Mr Malfoy,' interrupted Dumbledore calmly. 'But I do think it's time for you to understand exactly why the Death Eaters have been launching themselves at Hermione.'
Malfoy relaxed slightly at that. He'd never really thought why they were doing it. He'd just presumed that they were doing it because she was friends with Potter and had a conveniently life-threatening disease. But the way Dumbledore was talking implied that there was more to it then that.
'Why are they after Granger? Why not Potter? Isn't he the one who has proven he's a challenge to the Dark Lord?'
'One would think that,' replied the Professor. 'But apparently the Dark side have been planning for a long time this sequence of events.'
'Really? My father never mentioned anything.'
'Didn't he? Remember when Miss Granger's parents were driven insane? How did your father react to that?'
Malfoy tried to remember. He remembered a huge party being thrown, and his father, slightly drunk, bragging about how he helped with it all . . .
But hang on? Why was a party being thrown? Parties weren't normally thrown for small matters as driving a few muggle insane. Why were they throwing it then . . .
'Because they were Hermione's parents', said Dumbledore, as though he was reading Malfoys mind. 'And the Dark Side realised Hermione's potential ever since Harry's first year, when they saw how much she had helped Harry retrieve the Philosophers Stone.'
Malfoy was trying to string all of this together, but it was hard. 'But, wait. . . it's Potter they want, isn't it? Why didn't they give Potter this illness . . .'
'Because Harry wouldn't have gotten it. Harry is the one who will end up defeating Voldemort, yes. That's what the Prophecy says. The prophecy, however, didn't indicate how he was going to end up getting the knowledge and power to defeat Voldemort.'
'Hermione,' said Malfoy, uncharacteristically using her first name.
'That's right.' Replied Dumbledore. 'Luckily, we are a step or two ahead when it comes to the general need to defeating Voldemort. Harry will be prepared for it, when the time comes. The Order of the Phoenix are confident about that.
'But we are not sure how we're going to be able to save Miss Granger.'
Malfoy immediately came alert at that. 'What do you mean, you're not sure? Didn't you say you were going to try and find a cure for her?'
Dumbledore smiled slightly. 'I was hoping you'd react like that. It means that we might, in fact, be able to cure her.'
'But . . . what have I got to do with it?'
Dumbledore smiled slightly at Malfoy then. 'You're the cure, Draco. It's you who can save Miss Granger.'
Malfoy just stared at the Professor then. The cure? HIM? But how? Why?
'Me?' he asked.
'Yes,' replied the Professor. 'You.'
Malfoy shook his head, unable to quite believe it. 'But, how? What about Potter and Weasley? Her father? Or something like that . . .'
'No. And I'll tell you why. You're different to all of them. You possess something special for Miss Granger, both in her heart and yours.'
'Something special? Like what?'
'Like love, Mr Malfoy.'
'Lo . . . love? But . . . but Malfoys don't love. They just don't. How is it possible for me to . . .'
'That's something I have been wondering myself, but it seems to have happened. Hermione needs love, Mr Malfoy. That is her main cure for Kedua's syndrome. A kind of love that her friends cannot give her. There has to be something unique, something special, something you have. An unexplainable something.'
Malfoy shook his head. But he couldn't be. Hermione didn't fancy him, surely? And him fancying her seemed even more preposterous. Malfoys DO NOT fall in love. EVER!
'That's all I can really say to you at the moment, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore was saying. 'But I think you're going to have to work this out for yourself, and I wish not to rush you, but Miss Grangers situation is getting desperate. It's becoming very hard for her to sleep at all, as one can tell by how easily she succumbs to being forced into sleep. Go and be with her now. Try and get her at least one peaceful night.'
Malfoy stood up and left the office, in the strangest daze. He was still trying to absorb it all in.
Meanwhile, in the Hospital Wing, Hermione was forced into a bed, and Harry and Ron were sitting down on said bed, and all three of their foreheads were wrinkled in confusion.
'. . And he said 'You can trust me', and I woke up?' asked Hermione.
'That's right,' replied Harry.
Hermione shook her head, and examined the cuts on her hands. They looked painful, and in fact were painful. When she balled her hands into fists the skin stretched and the cuts threatened to split. It was so painful. However, the pain brought Hermiones mind into sharp focus. She was trying to remember the dream she'd had.
She'd been in a bathroom. Not a typical one though. This one was made completely of cold, hard stainless steal, so it had an eerie silver-grey look. Hermione had been kneeling on the floor, and a hooded figure had been standing above her.
'Please,' she remembered herself saying. 'Just kill me. Kill me now.'
'No,' replied the hood slowly. 'I'll have fun with you first. Your hands are looking too white and pure for my liking,' and he took out a small and obviously very sharp knife, and began cutting in to Hermione's hand. She could see the blood flowing out, and trailing down her hand. She knew it was killing her, but she also appreciated the truly sad beauty that the tiny rivers of deep red created on her pale skin.
Then, she'd remembered, the hooded figure had gone, and she'd gotten a strange sensation of being gripped by the shoulders and shaken. Then she'd obviously been woken up, because she couldn't remember any more of the dream.
The door of the wing opened, and the three of them looked up to see Malfoy coming in, his usual cool stride evidently lost. He seemed panicked and worried, and kept running a hand through his hair.
Hermione became very concerned. 'What is it Malfoy?'
'I thought I'd come to check up on you,' he said. 'And to tell you what happened.'
'Harry and Ron gave me a fairly accurate depiction, I think.'
'OK.'
'But none of us can figure out why you can wake me up, and Harry and Ron can't. We don't get what makes you so different from them.'
Malfoy shook his head slightly, smiling grimly. 'I have no idea either.'
Harry and Ron looked at each other, then Ron said 'Well, I think we should go Harry. Sleep on it. We'll come visit you tomorrow Hermione.' They both stood up and hugged her. She smiled at them. 'I'm so looking forward to another night in one of these beds.' She replied.
The pair of them grinned and left, leaving Hermione and Malfoy alone. Hermione looked up at Malfoy with a small amount of sorrow in her eyes.
'Where did you go? Why didn't you stay with me?'
Malfoy didn't stop to consider Hermiones tone in that sentence. He said 'I had to go and see the Headmaster.'
Hermione sighed. 'I hate this,' she said, randomly.
Malfoy nodded, slightly taken aback. What had happened to the ever-so- strong-minded Hermione Granger he'd known? This wasn't normally Granger. Normally Granger would have been toughing it out, and she would never have proclaimed it unfair, or anything, like she was suggesting at that moment by saying that she hated what was happening. He decided to comment this to her. 'That's the first time I've heard you complain about this. It's strange to hear you be bitter about something that you can't help.'
Hermione shook her head at the ceiling 'It's bugging the hell out of me.' Malfoy noticed huge bags under her eyes, and how droopy her eyes were. She was clearly lacking a good nights sleep. 'I just want to sleep, that's all.'
Malfoy noticed her hand lying next to her, and traced the cuts along it with his finger. Hermione watched him doing it sadly.
'It looked beautiful in the dream.'
Malfoy looked at Hermione sharply, and said 'Never think self-harm is art, Granger.'
'I don't,' replied Hermione. 'It looked beautiful, in the most horrible sort of way. A horrid beauty, you know?'
'Yeah,' replied Malfoy, nodding. 'The same kind of beauty Bellatrix Lestrange was, before going to Azkaban. She was so beautiful, but in the most horrible way, because she's evil.'
Hermione nodded. 'You have to be good and pure of heart, before being truly beautiful.'
'Yeah,' said Malfoy. He took Hermiones damaged hand in his own. Hermione hoped he'd leave it there for a while. His hand was cool, and felt really nice against the cuts on her hand.
'I should probably go,' said Malfoy after a while. He let go of Hermiones hand.
Hermione suddenly did something both she and Malfoy thought very bizarre. She grabbed onto his hand, and said, in a pained voice. 'No, please, I need you here.'
Malfoys eyes widened in slight bewilderment. He would normally have refused. But this time, he couldn't . . . he just couldn't refuse her. He couldn't refuse this 17-year-old girl, this muggle-born, who Malfoy was beginning to, despite her being the epitomy of what his father disliked, get very strong feelings for.
'I'll stay for a while longer,' he said.
'Thank you,' replied Hermione, awkwardly letting go of his hand. Malfoy picked up Hermiones hand in his own though, and continued tracing it with his finger.
It was a strange sensation Malfoy was sending Hermione by doing this. A warm, fluttery sort of feeling, but not too much of one . . . it was almost not enough of the feeling, in fact, Hermione thought.
'That feels nice,' she said quietly
Malfoy said nothing. He leaned in to Hermiones face and ran his free hand along her face, while still holding her hand with his other one. Hermione closed her eyes as he did this. She fluttery feeling she was having intensified. Malfoy ran a hand along Hermiones first initial scar; the one on her cheek. He tucked some loose strands of her hair behind her ear, so none of it hid her face. Hermione, now almost asleep, sighed softly. Malfoy found he was enjoying himself immensely, just by being there for her, and having the power to make her look completely relaxed.
'You're so beautiful,' he said softly.
'Mmm-hmm,' Hermione replied, not really listening, but trying to savour what she was feeling; what Malfoy was making her feel.
'I have to go now,' said Malfoy, even more quietly then before. 'I'll see you tomorrow, after you're released, OK?'
Hermione didn't reply. She was already falling fast asleep.
Malfoy crept quietly towards the door, and before leaving the hospital wing, turned and looked at her again. 'Here's to one dreamless night,' he said, and blew a kiss at her.
And as Malfoy walked towards the Slytherin common room, he satisfied himself in believing that he was sure he'd seen Hermione smile slightly, right after he'd blown that kiss at her.
Hey guys, sorry that took a while. There were some reviews I got whos replies aren't in this chapter. They'll be in the next one, I assure you
See ya . . . oh, and keep the reviews coming!
Oh everyone, I am so sorry I am such a lazy slob. This chapter shouldn't take as long. What happened was a had a huge period of time where I didn't feel like writing at all, but now I'm on a writing craze again. Hopefully this will keep up for a few more chapters.
Anyhow, reviews!
littoxkigga: yeah I know, sorry. Here's another one. How'd I go this time?
artemisgirl: ooh, you like Artemis Fowl? I love Artemis Fowl. Anyhow, don't worry, eventually they will get a chance. I'm getting somewhere with all these attacks, trust me. Anyhow, yes, I am here with another chapter.
None: thanks. Not the most accurate typer.
SweetCheeksDracoLover: oh thank you for being so enthusiastic. Means a lot to me. Keep reading.
Lightning: crap. Try and assume which one is Malfoy and which is actually Hermione. Sorry about that. I really should be bothered to beta.
bombshell: I always had a sneaking suspicion it was made of cheese. Excellent.
xcharmedx: never fear. I assure you eventually there will be some more action. Patience, my pet.
electra: thank you. Now UPDATE YOUR STORY!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, shall never own anything, etc.
I'm in love. It's a wonderful feeling, but also a sad one because said person would never return affection.
Bellatrix Lestrange eyed Malfoy with a mixture of disgust and faint curiosity. Malfoy eyed her back with deep loathing.
'Tut tut Draco,' Bellatrix said slowly, 'Dancing with a Mudblood. Your father won't be happy about that.'
Malfoy lowered his eyes dramatically, and green sparks shot from his wand. 'Don't call her that,' he said slowly and deeply.
Bellatrix stepped closer to Malfoy, apparently not aware that the entire school was looking at the conversation that was ensuing between her and her boss's son.
'I see we have a few feelings for the girl.'
'So what if I do?' asked Malfoy, before really realising what he was saying.
'Your father won't be happy,' the woman replied, eyeing Hermione, now violently shaking in her sleep. Nobody dared approach her and try to wake her. They were all just too frightened.
Malfoy had, however, in some unexplainable way, gained complete control over the situation. He just looked Bellatrix straight in the eye and said 'I don't care.'
Then he, with about 5 other voices, yelled out 'Stupefy!' and Bellatrix was knocked almost completely unconscious.
In a matter of seconds people came flurrying over to the area where the Death Eater was lying. Malfoy quickly got away from the crowd and went back to where Hermione was lying. Harry and Ron were there too, urgently trying to wake her.
'Malfoy! You have to do what you did before, and quickly! She's getting pale and clammy, and she seems beyond screaming.'
Malfoy didn't need to be told twice. He knelt down, grabbed one of Hermiones hands, carrassed it with both of his own and said 'Granger, please, please wake up. You've got me. You'll always have me. I'll never, ever hurt you, and won't let anyone else ever hurt you. You can trust me.'
Harry and Ron just goggled. Was this Malfoy they were hearing? They immediately decided to ask questions later, however, because Hermione had just woken up, and looked completely lost.
'What happened?' she asked, looking around at Harry, Ron, Malfoy. Malfoy! She'd been dancing with him and suddenly she was here. . .
'Potter, please get her to the Hospital Wing. Weasley, you should go with her. She needs her friends at the moment. I need a word with the Headmaster.'
Harry and Ron were about to argue, but Malfoy said quickly to them 'Please do this? I'll answer any questions later. Just get her there for me?'
Harry and Ron both felt so uncharacteristically sorry for him, they nodded, picked up Hermione, and got her out of the Great Hall, changing magically back into their school robes as they walked out of the door.
Malfoy rushed straight over to where Bellatrix lay. Professor Dumbledore was kneeling there, eyeing her carefully. Malfoy made a slight noise and Dumbledore lifted his head.
'Ahh, Mr Malfoy. Yes, I'd like a word. Minerva!' Professor McGonagall walked briskly over. 'Please see to it that the Ministry of Magic deals with this. . . woman, and try to get the proceeds of the evening back to normal. I must have a word with Mr Malfoy.'
Professor McGonagall did as she was asked without complaint. Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore and Malfoy made hot foot out of the Great Hall, the door changing them back into regular attire quickly, as they headed up towards Professor Dumbledore's office.
They both entered it with a shout of the password from Dumbledore, and quickly walked up the stairs to the large, circular room where the Headmasters lived during their reign. Dumbledore sat down at his desk, took out a quill and parchment, and began writing hastily. Malfoy watched him. He didn't understand. What was he doing?
'Mr Malfoy, please have a seat. I have to send this letter to the Minister as quickly as I can. I'll be with you in a minute.'
Malfoy sat down and waited tensely. After about 5 minutes, Dumbledore had finished, and an owl called from the Owlery had come and taken the letter. Dumbledore rescrewed the cap of the ink bottle on, and turned to face him.
'Mr Malfoy, I believe the time has come for you to understand the seriousness of the situation.'
Malfoy was slightly insulted at that. Did the Professor think he was stupid or something? 'I fully understand the seriousness of this situation! Granger keeps collapsing and having dreams to such an extent that if she isn't woken up quickly enough, she'll kill herself in her sleep, and a whole bunch of Death Eaters seem to want to make this possible –'
'I'm not underestimating you, Mr Malfoy,' interrupted Dumbledore calmly. 'But I do think it's time for you to understand exactly why the Death Eaters have been launching themselves at Hermione.'
Malfoy relaxed slightly at that. He'd never really thought why they were doing it. He'd just presumed that they were doing it because she was friends with Potter and had a conveniently life-threatening disease. But the way Dumbledore was talking implied that there was more to it then that.
'Why are they after Granger? Why not Potter? Isn't he the one who has proven he's a challenge to the Dark Lord?'
'One would think that,' replied the Professor. 'But apparently the Dark side have been planning for a long time this sequence of events.'
'Really? My father never mentioned anything.'
'Didn't he? Remember when Miss Granger's parents were driven insane? How did your father react to that?'
Malfoy tried to remember. He remembered a huge party being thrown, and his father, slightly drunk, bragging about how he helped with it all . . .
But hang on? Why was a party being thrown? Parties weren't normally thrown for small matters as driving a few muggle insane. Why were they throwing it then . . .
'Because they were Hermione's parents', said Dumbledore, as though he was reading Malfoys mind. 'And the Dark Side realised Hermione's potential ever since Harry's first year, when they saw how much she had helped Harry retrieve the Philosophers Stone.'
Malfoy was trying to string all of this together, but it was hard. 'But, wait. . . it's Potter they want, isn't it? Why didn't they give Potter this illness . . .'
'Because Harry wouldn't have gotten it. Harry is the one who will end up defeating Voldemort, yes. That's what the Prophecy says. The prophecy, however, didn't indicate how he was going to end up getting the knowledge and power to defeat Voldemort.'
'Hermione,' said Malfoy, uncharacteristically using her first name.
'That's right.' Replied Dumbledore. 'Luckily, we are a step or two ahead when it comes to the general need to defeating Voldemort. Harry will be prepared for it, when the time comes. The Order of the Phoenix are confident about that.
'But we are not sure how we're going to be able to save Miss Granger.'
Malfoy immediately came alert at that. 'What do you mean, you're not sure? Didn't you say you were going to try and find a cure for her?'
Dumbledore smiled slightly. 'I was hoping you'd react like that. It means that we might, in fact, be able to cure her.'
'But . . . what have I got to do with it?'
Dumbledore smiled slightly at Malfoy then. 'You're the cure, Draco. It's you who can save Miss Granger.'
Malfoy just stared at the Professor then. The cure? HIM? But how? Why?
'Me?' he asked.
'Yes,' replied the Professor. 'You.'
Malfoy shook his head, unable to quite believe it. 'But, how? What about Potter and Weasley? Her father? Or something like that . . .'
'No. And I'll tell you why. You're different to all of them. You possess something special for Miss Granger, both in her heart and yours.'
'Something special? Like what?'
'Like love, Mr Malfoy.'
'Lo . . . love? But . . . but Malfoys don't love. They just don't. How is it possible for me to . . .'
'That's something I have been wondering myself, but it seems to have happened. Hermione needs love, Mr Malfoy. That is her main cure for Kedua's syndrome. A kind of love that her friends cannot give her. There has to be something unique, something special, something you have. An unexplainable something.'
Malfoy shook his head. But he couldn't be. Hermione didn't fancy him, surely? And him fancying her seemed even more preposterous. Malfoys DO NOT fall in love. EVER!
'That's all I can really say to you at the moment, Mr Malfoy,' Dumbledore was saying. 'But I think you're going to have to work this out for yourself, and I wish not to rush you, but Miss Grangers situation is getting desperate. It's becoming very hard for her to sleep at all, as one can tell by how easily she succumbs to being forced into sleep. Go and be with her now. Try and get her at least one peaceful night.'
Malfoy stood up and left the office, in the strangest daze. He was still trying to absorb it all in.
Meanwhile, in the Hospital Wing, Hermione was forced into a bed, and Harry and Ron were sitting down on said bed, and all three of their foreheads were wrinkled in confusion.
'. . And he said 'You can trust me', and I woke up?' asked Hermione.
'That's right,' replied Harry.
Hermione shook her head, and examined the cuts on her hands. They looked painful, and in fact were painful. When she balled her hands into fists the skin stretched and the cuts threatened to split. It was so painful. However, the pain brought Hermiones mind into sharp focus. She was trying to remember the dream she'd had.
She'd been in a bathroom. Not a typical one though. This one was made completely of cold, hard stainless steal, so it had an eerie silver-grey look. Hermione had been kneeling on the floor, and a hooded figure had been standing above her.
'Please,' she remembered herself saying. 'Just kill me. Kill me now.'
'No,' replied the hood slowly. 'I'll have fun with you first. Your hands are looking too white and pure for my liking,' and he took out a small and obviously very sharp knife, and began cutting in to Hermione's hand. She could see the blood flowing out, and trailing down her hand. She knew it was killing her, but she also appreciated the truly sad beauty that the tiny rivers of deep red created on her pale skin.
Then, she'd remembered, the hooded figure had gone, and she'd gotten a strange sensation of being gripped by the shoulders and shaken. Then she'd obviously been woken up, because she couldn't remember any more of the dream.
The door of the wing opened, and the three of them looked up to see Malfoy coming in, his usual cool stride evidently lost. He seemed panicked and worried, and kept running a hand through his hair.
Hermione became very concerned. 'What is it Malfoy?'
'I thought I'd come to check up on you,' he said. 'And to tell you what happened.'
'Harry and Ron gave me a fairly accurate depiction, I think.'
'OK.'
'But none of us can figure out why you can wake me up, and Harry and Ron can't. We don't get what makes you so different from them.'
Malfoy shook his head slightly, smiling grimly. 'I have no idea either.'
Harry and Ron looked at each other, then Ron said 'Well, I think we should go Harry. Sleep on it. We'll come visit you tomorrow Hermione.' They both stood up and hugged her. She smiled at them. 'I'm so looking forward to another night in one of these beds.' She replied.
The pair of them grinned and left, leaving Hermione and Malfoy alone. Hermione looked up at Malfoy with a small amount of sorrow in her eyes.
'Where did you go? Why didn't you stay with me?'
Malfoy didn't stop to consider Hermiones tone in that sentence. He said 'I had to go and see the Headmaster.'
Hermione sighed. 'I hate this,' she said, randomly.
Malfoy nodded, slightly taken aback. What had happened to the ever-so- strong-minded Hermione Granger he'd known? This wasn't normally Granger. Normally Granger would have been toughing it out, and she would never have proclaimed it unfair, or anything, like she was suggesting at that moment by saying that she hated what was happening. He decided to comment this to her. 'That's the first time I've heard you complain about this. It's strange to hear you be bitter about something that you can't help.'
Hermione shook her head at the ceiling 'It's bugging the hell out of me.' Malfoy noticed huge bags under her eyes, and how droopy her eyes were. She was clearly lacking a good nights sleep. 'I just want to sleep, that's all.'
Malfoy noticed her hand lying next to her, and traced the cuts along it with his finger. Hermione watched him doing it sadly.
'It looked beautiful in the dream.'
Malfoy looked at Hermione sharply, and said 'Never think self-harm is art, Granger.'
'I don't,' replied Hermione. 'It looked beautiful, in the most horrible sort of way. A horrid beauty, you know?'
'Yeah,' replied Malfoy, nodding. 'The same kind of beauty Bellatrix Lestrange was, before going to Azkaban. She was so beautiful, but in the most horrible way, because she's evil.'
Hermione nodded. 'You have to be good and pure of heart, before being truly beautiful.'
'Yeah,' said Malfoy. He took Hermiones damaged hand in his own. Hermione hoped he'd leave it there for a while. His hand was cool, and felt really nice against the cuts on her hand.
'I should probably go,' said Malfoy after a while. He let go of Hermiones hand.
Hermione suddenly did something both she and Malfoy thought very bizarre. She grabbed onto his hand, and said, in a pained voice. 'No, please, I need you here.'
Malfoys eyes widened in slight bewilderment. He would normally have refused. But this time, he couldn't . . . he just couldn't refuse her. He couldn't refuse this 17-year-old girl, this muggle-born, who Malfoy was beginning to, despite her being the epitomy of what his father disliked, get very strong feelings for.
'I'll stay for a while longer,' he said.
'Thank you,' replied Hermione, awkwardly letting go of his hand. Malfoy picked up Hermiones hand in his own though, and continued tracing it with his finger.
It was a strange sensation Malfoy was sending Hermione by doing this. A warm, fluttery sort of feeling, but not too much of one . . . it was almost not enough of the feeling, in fact, Hermione thought.
'That feels nice,' she said quietly
Malfoy said nothing. He leaned in to Hermiones face and ran his free hand along her face, while still holding her hand with his other one. Hermione closed her eyes as he did this. She fluttery feeling she was having intensified. Malfoy ran a hand along Hermiones first initial scar; the one on her cheek. He tucked some loose strands of her hair behind her ear, so none of it hid her face. Hermione, now almost asleep, sighed softly. Malfoy found he was enjoying himself immensely, just by being there for her, and having the power to make her look completely relaxed.
'You're so beautiful,' he said softly.
'Mmm-hmm,' Hermione replied, not really listening, but trying to savour what she was feeling; what Malfoy was making her feel.
'I have to go now,' said Malfoy, even more quietly then before. 'I'll see you tomorrow, after you're released, OK?'
Hermione didn't reply. She was already falling fast asleep.
Malfoy crept quietly towards the door, and before leaving the hospital wing, turned and looked at her again. 'Here's to one dreamless night,' he said, and blew a kiss at her.
And as Malfoy walked towards the Slytherin common room, he satisfied himself in believing that he was sure he'd seen Hermione smile slightly, right after he'd blown that kiss at her.
Hey guys, sorry that took a while. There were some reviews I got whos replies aren't in this chapter. They'll be in the next one, I assure you
See ya . . . oh, and keep the reviews coming!