Chapter Eleven:
Mended Yet Broken

The next day was rainy, adding to the bad moods and unease that had settled over the students of Hogwarts.
The Great Hall that was usually roaring with laughter and talk was unusually quiet. Students ate silently or talked in hushed tones. Instead of the bright morning sun poking through the rafters of the enchanted ceiling, rain drops fell towards the four house tables, disappearing just feet above the students' heads.
Hermione sat by herself at the end of the Gryffindor table, pushing her breakfast around her plate as she mulled over how bad her day was going to be.
Oh, I have a lot to be happy about, she thought bitterly to herself. After the events of the previous day, her life had been completely miserable. The Erkling didn't gouge my face. I guess that's a good thing.
Of course, gouge was an overstatement, but she didn't pay attention to that. She had suffered a cut across her cheek where the Erkling's nails had caught her skin. She ran her fingers over it, hating it. Hating the way it felt. As if being embarrassed in front of Harry wasn't bad enough, she thought to herself, Parvati had to laugh hysterically at my face when she saw it.
She spotted Pansy at the Slytherin table and glared at her. Why did she have to rub it in?
Pansy noticed that Hermione was watching her and sneered as she made a scratching motion at her face. The Slytherins around her guffawed stupidly and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"How immature." she said as she glanced down at her plate.
"What is?" came a familiar voice from behind her and she turned to catch a kiss from Harry on the cheek.
Not being in the mood, she brushed him away.
"Not now – Harry."
Harry looked a little hurt, but sat beside her just the same.
"Sorry," he replied as he picked up his fork and put some sliced ham on his plate. "So...what's immature?"
Hermione sighed.
"Pansy Parkinson." she replied glumly as Pansy sneered at her again and sat down at her table.
Harry grinned. "Even I could have told you that." he chuckled.
This seemed to lighten Hermione's spirits a little and Harry was pleased to see a smile appear on her face. But, it lasted only so long and Hermione was back to staring down at her plate.
Wanting to get off the subject, he looked up at the ceiling. He frowned as he watched the raindrops falling onto them, blinking as he watched them disappear a foot or so above his upturned face. He'd seen that before, though it had been snowflakes instead of raindrops.
"Geeze, they don't give us a break, do they?" he remarked as he cut his ham and popped a piece of the juicy, warm meat into his mouth, savoring it as he chewed. "Just give me a nice day for the Quidditch match on Sunday." he finished after chewing and swallowing.
Hermione smiled. She knew how much the Quidditch match meant to Harry. It was all he could talk about since he got back from practice the night before. She wondered if Ron was as enthusiastic. She had heard he was going to be playing as well on Sunday.
Suddenly, as if just noticing it, she frowned. Ron hadn't appeared with Harry the way he usually did in the morning.
"Hey, where's Ron?" she asked, hoping he hadn't come down with the depressed sickness she had picked up.
"Oh – he's in the Library finishing that Potions paper we had to write."
"You did it, right?"
Harry smiled as he looked over at her.
"Of course." he replied, taking a bite of his bacon. "Why wouldn't I?"
Hermione shrugged as she replied, "I don't know. You just have a reputation for procrastinating. That's all."
Harry grinned, looking into her eyes. She hated it when he did that. It felt as though he could read them, seeing what she was thinking deep down in her soul.
"Not today." he replied happily.
"Good." Hermione concluded as she felt her attitude sway a little. Perhaps the day wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be.

Ron sat in the Library, surrounded by crumpled pieces of parchment, trying desperately to finish his essay on why hair-growth potions would benefit society. With a groan, he ran his fingers through his hair, gripping it in fist-fulls. He couldn't think of anything to write that he hadn't already said.
"Oh man, Snape – give me a break." he sighed as he leaned back in his chair, trying to exhale some of his stress.
Why did Potions have to be such a miserable class?
Ron heard someone enter the library, the light tap-tap of Hogwarts uniform shoes on the hardwood floor. He had enjoyed being alone, but some company wouldn't hurt. Maybe it was Harry or Hermione, coming to help him with his paper.
But, when he looked up he saw that it wasn't Harry or Hermione coming down the rows of bookshelves. It was Draco Malfoy.
Could my morning get any worse? He asked himself as Malfoy continued to walk towards the table where he sat.
Ron had an urge to snatch up his things and leave, but he had to write another paragraph before his parchment was filled, and that had to be done in the next ten minutes before classes commenced. It was too late to move anyway because before long, Malfoy was standing before him.
Malfoy curled his fingers into his palms as he placed them onto the table and leaned on them, glancing down at what Ron was working on. Ron was surprised that Malfoy didn't hold a sneer this morning. He glared up at him just the same though.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he barked softly, determined not to make a scene and get banned from the Library for a week.
Malfoy kept his placid expression as he spoke.
"Look, Weasley, I know you don't want to see me here right now, but I had an urgent...issue I wished to discuss with you."
Ron, wondering what in the world Malfoy could want to actually talk to him about, looked up, placing his quill back in the ink well.
"Alright. I'm listening," he said as he folded his arms on the desk.
Malfoy pulled a chair up to the other side of the desk and sat on it backwards, even though there was a table top before him, and folded his arms over the back of the wooden chair. He looked serious.
"Okay, Weasley – I just wanted to apologize for what I said the other day."
Ron almost stopped breathing. What did he just hear?
"Sorry?"
Malfoy seemed impatient, as though he could only stand to talk for a few moments with Ron.
"Yes – yes, sorry for what I said."
Ron couldn't keep the natural glare off his face as he gave a sarcastic chuckle.
"Sorry for what you said, huh? I'm not sure that I remember correctly what it was you said to be sorry. So, if you would," he went on, basking in the power he had gained, if only for a moment. "Refresh my memory?"
Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"I said you and Potter were spending time in the Quidditch showers, okay? Is that good enough for you?"
Ron knew there was more, but didn't press his luck. Who knew how long he would have Malfoy in the nervous and intimidated state he was in?
"Yeah, now I remember. I can't help but recall people spreading rumors that Harry and I were a couple – all because of you." This received a sorry look from Malfoy, mixed in with his sneer of disgust. "Do you realize how damaging that was to my reputation?"
Malfoy shrugged.
"It was just a joke. Besides – I said I was sorry, okay? Are we even now?"
Ron shook his head.
"No. Why are you apologizing to me all of a sudden, Malfoy? What happened to you or better yet – who paid you off to pretend to apologize to me?"
Malfoy groaned.
"Weasley – I thought you were intelligent enough to know a true apology from a fake one. I don't apologize for money."
"You must be apologizing for something. Who talked to you?"
Malfoy looked as though the name of the person was on the tip of his tongue, but he shook his head and kept it to himself.
"That's none of your business. I have to leave now, before anyone sees me talking to you."
Ron laughed sarcastically as Malfoy turned and started to leave.
"Can't have anyone see you talking to Potter's boyfriend, huh?" he said mockingly as Malfoy pretended he didn't hear it. But, before he turned the corner around the bookshelves, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Ron.
"They create more volume you know." he said matter-of-factly, but Ron didn't know what he was talking about.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" he asked as Malfoy started walking off.
"Hair-growth Potions." Malfoy called back as Ron glanced down at his paper. Indeed, he hadn't put this down and grinned as he jotted down another three sentences, smiling as his parchment was filled.
When he looked up, Malfoy was gone.

The group of students, both Gryffindor and Slytherin, huddled under umbrellas provided by the school as they made their way slowly across the grounds to the greenhouses for Herbology class. The grass – though short, was slick because of the rain it had withstood that morning. Harry had slipped a few times, almost taking Hermione down with him as he held onto her hand.
Though it had been raining all day long, Harry still looked forward to this class even though he wasn't prepared to work on the project with Seamus. Seamus hadn't talked to him very much, so he had no idea what they were going to be doing.
Looking to his left, he spotted a group of Slytherins walking in the same direction they were, towards Greenhouse 7. He hated their attitude towards the Gryffindors. What did they ever do to provoke such hostility towards them?
He shrugged the feelings off as he gave Hermione's hand a squeeze. She returned it, weakly. He could tell she was still a little self- conscious because of the scratch on her cheek.
"You okay?" he asked as he looked over at her.
Hermione looked a little surprised at this question and shook her head.
"No, no – I'm fine. Why?"
Harry shrugged.
"You just look a little down, that's all." he replied as Hermione smiled at him and rested her head against his shoulder as they walked.
Suddenly, someone tripped in front of them, sliding down the hill as they watched him get soaked. Harry saw that as the person stood up, it was Neville Longbottom, a boy whom he had talked to often the previous year at Hogwarts. He grinned as Neville brushed himself off and started picking up his umbrella.
"You okay, Neville?" he asked as he and Hermione caught up to their shivering classmate.
Neville smiled nervously as he held his umbrella over his head once again.
"Oh, I'm fine, Harry." he replied with a chuckle. "I was waiting for that to happen, actually."
Hermione looked curiously over at him and muttered, "Oh?"
Neville grinned. "Yeah. I've been sliding on this grass all the way down here. These school shoes have no traction, you know. It was just a matter of time before –"
"Hey, Longbottom!" came a voice from the group of Slytherins. "Can't stay on your feet, huh?"
It was Pansy Parkinson. Harry watched as Ron groaned a ways ahead of them. Harry felt bad that Ron had to work with her. He couldn't imagine spending more time than he needed to around the hateful girl.
Pansy wasn't finished as she called out more insults.
"Maybe we should call you Wetbottom! Ha!"
Harry was about to shout something back, but Ron beat him to it.
"Oh, bug off Pansy! We don't want to see your miserable rat face all the way there!"
Harry laughed as Pansy frowned and moved into the group of Slytherins so that they couldn't see her.
"Good one, Ron." he called up to Ron who looked back with a disgusted expression.
"Well, I have to work with that git, so it's probably best to tell her off now rather than later."
Harry was amused greatly by this, but, looking over at Hermione, he noticed she wasn't amused at all. He gave her hand another squeeze.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked once more.
Hermione nodded.
"Harry – I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
But I can't stop worrying about you, he thought as they entered the greenhouse, happy to get out of the rain and put their umbrellas away. The greenhouse was muggy, but at least it was warm compared to the icy temperature outside. Harry's nose was greeted by the scent of fresh dirt and fertilizer.
"I hope Sprout's not late today," he said as he looked around the greenhouse for her.
"I'm not, Potter." came her voice from behind them. This made Harry jump.
Hermione chuckled as Harry watched Professor Sprout walk around them towards the front of the class.
Once she was there, properly in place, she smiled.
"Well, at least I know somebody wants me here." she started, looking at Harry which made him uneasy. "Anyway, today I've set up a free period for all of you to get together with your partners to work on your projects. I want you to work diligently, because this may be one of the only periods I give you to work on it."
With a clap of her hands, she dispersed the class into groups.
Harry looked down at Hermione and smiled.
"I guess I have to part with you to work with Seamus," he said, leaning down to get a kiss from her, but she looked away. Harry wasn't sure what was going on with her, but was determined not to show that he was hurt by the way she'd been brushing him off all day, so let go of her hand and walked off towards Seamus.

Hermione found herself alone and regretted pushing Harry aside. Now she'd be with Malfoy, the one person she didn't want to be around right then. Even Ron was far enough away from her that she couldn't talk to him. Looking up, she spotted Malfoy walking towards her and groaned.
He gave her a half-hearted smile as he dropped his bag to the floor beside him. "Do I always have that affect on you?" he asked as he started rummaging through it, as though searching for something.
Hermione sighed, not needing another enemy that day.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy," she started, but Malfoy wasn't convinced.
"Look – don't say sorry unless you mean it. Okay?"
Hermione was struck by this comment and didn't know what else to do besides nod. "Okay...Malfoy."
He looked up at Hermione, directly into her eyes and frowned. "I thought I told you to call me Draco."
"Well...I – fine." she stuttered. This was strange to her. Malfoy – Draco, wasn't acting mean or insulting to her. "Geeze, aren't you full of surprises today." she commented as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Surprises?" Draco started, grinning. "Oh yes, lots I'm afraid."
"Huh?" Hermione started, wondering what in the world he was talking about. "What do you mean?"
Draco looked up, annoyed a little.
"Don't you Gryffindors understand English? Am I speaking a foreign language or something?" Hermione shook her head. "Okay then. I said I'm full of surprises today."
Hermione still didn't understand.
"Here –"Draco said finally, pulling three sheets of parchment from his bag and handed them to her. She took them reluctantly, not knowing what they were.
Looking at them more closely, she saw that each – front and back – was covered in a handwriting she decided was Draco's since he had given the papers to her. She read the heading of the first page, and discovered that each was numbered.
"Permetula Rosebud: the flower of love?"
Draco nodded solemnly as though trying not to show much emotion.
"I'm glad you can read." he replied as she turned over the first page and scanned the parchment. It was completely covered in information about the plant she'd never heard of before.
"Draco – what in the world is all this? Is this our...project?"
Draco nodded.
"Yeah. We still have to write the report and everything, not to mention put together a study on the plant and presentation notes, but it's all the information from the book we need."
Hermione grinned.
"Wow." she started as she looked at him. "You really are full of surprises today."

Harry didn't like having to force himself to work. He didn't have much discipline when it came to doing work on his own – especially when it pertained to schoolwork. He sighed, scanning the list of plants with Seamus who seemed just as clueless as to which one they would do.
"You have any ideas?" Harry asked him.
"Nope." Seamus replied, shaking his head. "I'm not good at this stuff, remember?"
Harry rolled his eyes.
"That makes two of us, then."
Hermione's voice from across the greenhouse caught his attention and his eyes slipped off the list for a moment as he looked up to see what horror Malfoy was putting her through. But, he was surprised to see her smiling and talking happily.
What in the world is this? He asked himself as he handed Seamus the list.
"Take this." he said as he walked behind a row of tall plants, determined to get closer to them and hear what was being said.
Hermione was laughing, as though she was talking to Harry, but Harry knew she wasn't hearing one of his jokes. He was slowly creeping closer; hoping nobody spotted him eavesdropping on Hermione's and Malfoy's conversation.
Slowly, he caught what Hermione was saying.
"...This is amazing, Draco! When did you do all this?"
Draco? Harry thought to himself as he listened on. Since when were they on a first-name basis?
"Last night." Malfoy replied. For once, he didn't sound mean but actually considerate if not kind. "I felt really bad for what I said yesterday morning to you about Hagrid, so went out last night to his hut and got the plant. It's in my room right now."
Hermione giggled. This made Harry a little jealous. Why was Malfoy making his girlfriend giggle?
"This is just too awesome, Draco." Hermione went on. "I feel kind of bad not doing any work."
"Don't worry about it." Malfoy replied as he rustled some papers that Harry couldn't see. "I just wanted to apologize, Hermione, for what I said and for reading your note –"
Harry couldn't take it. He pushed his way through the row of plants, getting a stick sap all over his robes and tumbled at Hermione's feet as he tripped over the large pots the plants were in.
Hermione jumped as Harry rolled forward, stopping himself before he bumped into her legs.
"What is going on here?!" he demanded as he got to his feet.
"Harry?!" Hermione started, sounding a little surprised and angry at the same time. "What are you doing?"
Harry glared at Malfoy. Malfoy looked too innocent.
"What's with you flirting with my girlfriend?" he bellowed, causing everyone else in the greenhouse to stop what he or she was doing and look up at them.
Malfoy stepped back, looking as surprised as Hermione.
"Flirting?" he spat back, as if he couldn't believe he was being accused of such a thing. "Are you mad, Potter? On something?"
Harry was too enraged at the thought of Malfoy making moves on Hermione, so took a step forward, fists clenches at his side.
"Harry – you were eavesdropping on us?" Hermione said, sounding a little betrayed.
Harry didn't pay attention to the hurt in her voice as he went on.
"Calling my girlfriend by her first name? Since when were any Slytherins on first-name basis with Gryffindors?" he spat.
Hermione, tears brewing in her eyes, pushed Harry aside.
"Wait a second!" she said, and Harry thought she was breaking them up, but she wasn't. She looked over at Malfoy, teary-eyed. "Did you just say that you read my note?"
Malfoy looked like a cat caught in a food pantry. "Yeah?" he started slowly, the whole class watching them. "I thought you knew."
Hermione started crying.
"Out loud?" Malfoy nodded hesitantly. "You are so inconsiderate!" she wept as she looked up at him, staring directly in his eyes. "I can't believe you! After all you just said!"
She turned on her heel and started out of the greenhouse without her umbrella, back towards the castle.
"Hermione! Wait – I..." Malfoy started, but stopped when the door to the greenhouse slammed shut. He sighed, letting his shoulders drop. "Great." he said angrily as he glared at Harry. "Now look what you did."
"I did?" Harry spat back, not believing that this was being pinned on him.
Professor Sprout hurried over to Harry as Malfoy picked up his bag and umbrella and left the greenhouse.
"Oh dear! Potter – I thought you knew enough not to touch anything I didn't instruct you to!"
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Professor, I think I have a lot more important things to worry about besides some stupid sap from a plant."
Professor Sprout gave him a grave expression.
"I'm sorry, Potter, but that's not just any plant sap, dear. It's Algorith Sap – and it's poisonous."
The rest of the class gasped silently, sharing hushed conversations. Harry looked down at the crimson sap and felt his stomach leap.
"Poisonous?" he started as Professor Sprout nodded.
"We best get you up to the Hospital Wing. You'll want to get that off of your arms before the boils start to appear."
Harry felt a bit faint as he was ushered out of the greenhouse.
"Boils?"
"Yes, Potter. I'm afraid you won't be doing anything for the rest of the day."
Harry groaned. What else could go wrong?