Author's Notes: Chapter 16 is now running! I got a lot of responses last time about Dumbledore, some people seemed even quite annoyed that he was so OOC (out of character) but 1) I did warn u all before and 2) well u will quickly understand why in the next chapter.

But for now chapter 16 is up. Its about Draco visiting Abigail in hospital and being a prick! They also talk about Hermione... And there's some Quidditch bits at the beginning – so what'd'ya think? Who's gonna win; Gryffindor or Slytherin?

Thank you for all the reviews, I even don't mind flames as long as its justified! Enjoy and review!

..~**~..

Chapter 16

Focus, focus on the match! Come on, find the damn Snitch!

Draco watched the air like a hawk, trying to catch a glimpse of gold, whilst his mind kept drifting away.

Come on! Potter's not here today! Slytherin can win this!

He watched as the Weasel girl scored once again and the Gryffindors went wild in the stands.

That's 60-20 for Gryffindor! Come on, all you have to do is find the –

At that instant, the Golden Snitch whizzed past him and flew towards the crowd. Reacting instantly with instincts honed by years of practice, Draco zoomed after it at great speed. The Gryffindor seeker, noticing it too suddenly lunged towards the stands and followed Draco.

But it was too late, the Gryffindor was too far away to catch up and Draco's outstretched hand was mere inches from catching the Snitch. He shot past the stands, keeping his trained eye on the Snitch, which abruptly swerved and fell at great speed towards the ground, obliging Draco to follow it at neck-breaking speed. If he didn't catch it soon, he would have to abandon the chase or crash for certain to the ground.

Come on, just a little bit more – Got it!

His hand clasped firmly around the flying golden ball and he swooped dramatically back up into the air, causing the audience to gasp and then the Slytherins to cheer and applaud wildly.

The Slytherins had won; the match was over. They had beaten Gryffindor.

..~**~..

Draco was left alone in the changing rooms after the match. He had taken his time getting changed, appreciating the silence around him. It had been wild after he had caught the Snitch, but now most of the Slytherins were back in their dungeons, celebrating their victory. Draco, however, had other things on his mind, or actually, another person in mind.

He hadn't seen Hermione at the match today and his mind kept wondering where she could have been. He got his answer as he heard someone creeping up on him from behind. Turning around abruptly, he grabbed the mysterious aggressor by the collar and slammed the person in the lockers.

"Dammit, Malfoy!" Hermione shouted at him.

Realising who it was Draco let go instantly. "Granger? What the hell are you doing here? And why were you creeping up behind me?"

"I was scared someone else might be in the locker room," she retorted, suddenly catching a glimpse of his naked torso.

Draco smirked as he realised that she was staring at his body. "This seems familiar," he whispered.

But seeing her distressed face, he knew something had happened. "What's wrong?" he asked, frowning deeply at her anxious eyes.

"Malfoy, Abigail's in a coma," she blurted out in a panic. "Harry found her in the Great Hall, unconscious and when I went to see her, Snape wouldn't let either of us in. He won't tell us anything; only a Slytherin can see her. We don't even know if she's alright!"

Tears began to well up in her eyes as Draco looked stunned in return. Grabbing his black shirt, he slipped it on and temptatively put a hand on Granger's shoulder.

"Don't cry, Granger," he breathed out closing the gap between them. If she started to cry now he wouldn't have a clue as to what to do next. He always left his mother or Pansy alone when they started crying. In the end, he had no idea how to comfort them or how to comfort anyone.

"Come on," he ordered, leading her out of the changing rooms. They walked silently back to the castle and through the corridors until they reached the hospital wing. Snape was at the door, apparently guarding it.

"Stay here," he told Hermione, sitting her down on one of the benches in the hall.

"Professor Snape," he greeted.

"Draco, congratulations for the game," Snape said in return. "Are you here to see Miss Serpent? Madame Pomfrey will let only you in for the moment, seeing as you're Head Boy and Slytherin."

Draco nodded and Snape opened the door to let him in. Draco stepped inside and noticed several other students also in bed. He looked around hurriedly for Abigail and spotted one of the beds with its curtains drawn, closing it off from the rest of the hospital wing. As he made his way over, Madame Pomfrey suddenly called out to him.

"It's about time you got here, Mister Malfoy," she said harshly. "Honestly, as Head Boy, you should have been here an hour ago! But at least you're here now."

"What happened?" Draco asked.

"I have never seen anything like it," the school nurse whispered anxiously. "The girl is incredibly thin and suffering from some sort of anorexia. It is not very common in the wizarding world and Miss Serpent's case surprised me. If Mister Potter had not found her in time, Merlin knows what might have happened to her. She woke up for a bit after we stabilised her, but she has fallen asleep again. I do not understand how her friends or teachers had not noticed her illness before. Her physical appearance is enough to alarm anyone. Had you not noticed it yourself?"

"No," he lied.

Madame Pomfrey eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds, but she lead him to the bed nonetheless. "You may only stay a few minutes with her as she is still asleep. These next weeks are going to be very hard for her so I recommend that you visit frequently and help her feed herself. She needs someone by her side, someone who she may count on and who will make sure she eats."

She paused, looking intently at Draco. "I'll leave the curtains drawn," she finished, leaving him by himself.

He thought about what Madame Pomfrey had just told him and paused. Maybe he wasn't the best person to take care of Abigail, maybe someone like Hermione or Pansy would be best. He would have to tell Pomfrey when he left.

Opening the curtain slowly, he stepped in confidently. Behind it, Abigail was fast asleep on the bed; her skin had gone pale and her limbs looked very skeletal. He looked at her with a frown on his face, appalled by her appearance and the numerous magical potions lying on her bedside table.

Seeing her in such a state made Draco feel sick. It reminded him awkwardly of Voldemort's victims, those who were kept for fun and starved to death. It had often happened in his own mansion, in the dungeons although Draco had refused to attend such gatherings.

Damn it, Abigail! How could you have done this to yourself!

He noticed her stir and meant to leave, but her eyes fluttered open and she noticed his presence next to the bed. Her dark eyes were dull and lifeless and her face showed signs of exhaustion. However, Draco did not pity her. Even if pity had been in the Malfoy nature, to him Abigail deserved no pity as she held sole responsibility for her current state.

"What are you doing here?" she spoke in a feeble voice.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. Do I need a reason?" he answered haughtily with a smirk.

She stared back at him, her face devoid of expression.

"How do you feel?" he asked politely.

"Fine," she lied.

"Pomfrey said it's a good thing Scarhead found you in time."

"Harry," she corrected him flatly. "Is he here?"

"No," he told her, but seeing the disappointment in her eyes, he added. "He wasn't allowed to. I'm the only one Pomfrey allowed in."

"Oh."

He hated seeing her like this, but it angered him as well. How could she, a Serpent and a Slytherin - he wasn't sure which was more important in the grand scheme of pride - let herself become so weak, slowly kill herself? Why hadn't she done something about it before? Why hadn't he said anything about it before? Maybe he just didn't care for her either, like everybody else. After all, his father had taught him to be that way; cold and selfish.

"I'd better go. You need to rest, I'll be back tomorrow."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco."

It was the first time she had called him by his first name. He nodded and made to leave, but instead she called him back.

"Could you - could you please not let Blaise in? Please?"

He nodded again and left her, closing the curtain behind. As he walked out of the hospital wing, Hermione came rushing to him, inquiring over Abigail. Potter was leaning against the wall, behind her, listening intently to Draco's response.

"She's fine," he said quickly, waving away Hermione's myriad of questions and took his leave for the Slytherin dungeons.

..~**~..

The next morning, Draco was having breakfast alone and thinking about the previous day. He couldn't understand why it had bothered him so much to see Abigail in such a state. He had seen worse working for Voldemort, many of it his own handiwork, but he didn't know what to think about this sort of human suffering. In some weird way, he felt guilty that he hadn't done anything about it before, but on the other hand, he still didn't feel any pity for her. The problem was that he didn't understand why Abigail had let herself starve like that and it was so hard for him to help her. Never before had he helped someone in his life, but never before had anyone in his entourage suffered like this. He didn't even remember ever going to hospital to see any of his Slytherin friends when they were sick. Granger was right; he really was a selfish bastard!

He picked at his waffles, deep in thought, and finally decided that it wasn't up to him to help Abigail; he had no reason to. Besides, if he didn't help her, Granger or the Weasel girl would; it wasn't as if she didn't have anybody else.

But suddenly, as he reached his decision, having finished his breakfast, an incredible pain shot through his head accompanied by a loud screeching noise; a voice!

Draco! Help me!

Looking around the Great Hall, he realised no one else seemed to have heard it. Not many people were around so early in the morning and the students who were up continued eating their breakfast as usual, paying no attention to him. The voice hadn't come from someone in the hall; it had been inside his head!

Draco suddenly froze in his seat. He didn't know of any spells that could make wizards or witches speak in someone else's mind, therefore what in Salazar's name had just happened? Was he going mad? Had it all been his imagination? Maybe it was simply lack of sleep or the constant pressure he was under that he caused him to hallucinate.

But something else bothered him. The voice had seemed familiar to him, he recognised it, knew it from somewhere. Standing up from the Slytherin table, he walked out of the Great Hall, struggling to remember who the voice belonged to.

And then it hit him - Abigail! It was her voice that had shouted in his head, and without hesitation he ran off to the hospital wing, forgetting all about his previous decision to leave her to Hermione.

As he reached the infirmary, he heard shouts coming from inside. Opening the door cautiously, he suddenly felt something collide into his chest.

It was Abigail.

"Malfoy!" she exclaimed, looking panicked. She was only wearing the usual white hospital gown and her usual sleek black hair looked messy and wild. "Thank Merlin, I knew you'd come! Pomfrey's gone nuts! They want to keep me here for the next two weeks, but I'm fine, I'm fine - tell them I'm fine!"

She spoke very quickly and out of breath, her dark eyes wide with dread, but before he could answer her, Pomfrey and Snape appeared behind her and dragged her back to her bed by her arms.

"Now stop this fuss, Miss Serpent! It's for your own good!" Pomfrey scolded her, whilst tightly holding onto her arm.

Snape, on the other hand, looked beyond annoyed. "Miss Serpent, if you continue this tantrum, I will be obliged to take points off Slytherin. And trust me, you don't want to make me take off points from my own house!"

They pushed her back on the bed and Draco noticed that Snape was summoning invisible binds around her limbs. Seeing the pleading look on Abigail's face, he decided to say something.

"Madame Pomfrey, surely you don't need to strap her to the bed," he argued, approaching the hospital bed.

"I caught her smoking this morning, Mr Malfoy," the nurse replied, looking at him sternly through her glasses. "And ever since she woke up, she's been trying to escape the hospital wing."

"But she looks better," Draco admitted, noticing that Abigail had recovered her brown complexion and overall looked a lot healthier. He was actually glad to see her full of energy rather than feeble and tired like the previous day. "I'm sure you don't need to keep her here for another two weeks!"

Madame Pomfrey pulled out a wand from her pocket. "She has been using glamour charms on herself last night to alter her physical appearance. Merlin knows where she learnt them, but believe me when I say that she is far from well!" With a flick of her expert wrist she stripped away the glamour charms, revealing the painful apparition that had caused Draco to wince yesterday. Draco looked hopelessly back to his Head of House, but Snape merely shook his head at him. Hearing the thrashing and writhing intensify behind them, Draco spun around and watched as Abigail helplessly tried to free herself from Snape's binds.

"Let me go, you old hag!" she shouted angrily. "You have no idea how ridiculous this is; I'm perfectly fine. I don't need your help!"

Draco winced at the insult, feeling both Pomfrey and Snape's anger escalate a couple of notches. Pomfrey's face had turned crimson at her words and Draco decided that it was best to keep his mouth shut.

"Now you listen here young lady," Pomfrey commented hotly, "you will stay where you are until you are fully recovered and I don't care if it takes days, weeks or months!"

The school nurse took a few steps forward and pointed her finger menacingly at Abigail. "You are suffering from one of the most dangerous forms of anorexia – a completely unconscious aversion to taking care of yourself, which is consequently very difficult to treat! Until you admit it and eat your meals three times a day, I will not give you permission to leave the hospital wing!"

She stomped off into her office, slamming the door behind her and Draco then turned to Snape, who shook his head and marched off in the same manner out of the infirmary.

"If I had known that you were such a baby, I wouldn't have come," Draco finally taunted, lifting his eyebrow amused.

"Well, since you were no help to me at all, you can leave now," Abigail said glaring back at him, unamused.

She wriggled on the soft bed, trying to make herself comfortable although the straps kept her down firmly. Her bedside table had been cleared of all bottles, giving way to an empty tray of food. At least she was eating again.

Draco's smile soon faded giving way to his trademark emotionless smirk as he suddenly thought about the voice inside his head.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"What?" Abigail answered casually, avoiding his silver gaze.

Draco didn't miss a beat. "Your voice in my head."

He took a step closer, peering into her eyes. He was already thinking about the future, about his future - if she ever opened up to him. If she ever told him more about her magic, taught him her secrets; then he would become his own master as he had always wanted. He would curse Voldemort and his father to hell for everything they had put him through and then, he would do what ever he wanted with his destiny.

"Family secret," she retorted, holding his stare.

"Why me?"

"Who else?"

"There are other people who care about you," he corrected her. "Granger, Weasel girl, Potter."

"Are you saying you care about me too?" she asked puzzled.

Draco stepped up to her, towering over her figure. His silver eyes continued to bore into hers.

"My offer still stands." His voice dropped lower. "I can give you the one thing you desire the most, but in return you must tell me about some of your secrets."

Abigail's stare turned icy. "Get out."

Draco smirked down at her and turned away, ready to leave. He knew that any second now, she would shout out say -

"You don't know what I want!"

Bingo!

"You've already told me – friend," Draco replied slyly.

"But – but I didn't think that was possible! Even you don't have that sort of influence!" she exclaimed from her bed.

"We shall soon find out then," he finished as he started to walk out.

As he made to leave the hospital wing, Abigail suddenly shouted out across the room from her bed. He was startled to hear that she was continuing their conversation, but he soon turned around as her words hit him.

"Why are you so interested in the Serpent books?" she demanded curiously. It didn't seem to bother her that other students were around, though most were sound asleep or drugged with potions.

"Is it because of him? – Voldemort? Is it him that's driving you to discover what you can about them?"

At her words, Draco paled. How dare she speak his name in public, especially to him? And how dare she guess that fact so easily? He quickly walked back to her bed, closing the curtains around her.

"Never say his name in my presence," he warned her dangerously.

"Why, are you scared of him?" she taunted him.

He glared back at her, but quickly added, "No, but I don't want people to have the wrong idea."

Abigail snorted at his words. "Oh come on, everybody knows you're a Death Eater."

She stopped abruptly as realisation seemed to hit her and she suddenly smiled to herself. "Is that what you were arguing about with Granger?"

Draco froze at her words.

"Is she trying to save you from the Dark side?"

His eyes darkened in anger as she continued to speak and she quickly stopped, noticing the sudden change in his face.

"Who's Granger to you anyway? You still haven't explained that," he whispered to her dangerously.

Abigail shifted her body weight uncomfortably on the bed as she spoke, but she felt a glimmer of satisfaction that Blaise had kept her secret. "And I have my reasons not to."

As she settled down again, she stared into Malfoy's eyes for a while before she spoke up again.

"You should stay away from her," she cautioned.

"Why?" he asked amused.

"Because you've already harmed her enough and it will lead to no good," she reminded him, with a worried expression on her face.

He turned away from her uneasy. "You're talking nonsense. Nothing will ever happen with the Mud-"

"You already admitted it once," she cut him off. "So what are you going to do about it? I bet she's already asked you to join the other side."

Draco's head snapped back at her.

How the hell does she know all this?

"Is that what you're going to do, Draco? Join Dumbledore, go from one leader to the next?" she demanded.

He broke from her gaze betraying his answer.

"I thought not," she added.

Abigail looked at him with compassion as her dark eyes bore into his own. She seemed to read him like a book. "You're better than that Draco. You don't need Voldemort or Dumbledore, you can be so much better than that. You're the Dragon after all."

"What?" Draco asked.

Did she say the Dragon?

"Never mind," she quickly answered. "But just think on what I said. You don't need anyone to decide for you; you must decide for yourself what your own path will be."

He looked at her silently for a while before leaving. It was weird how Abigail continuously surprised him, either by her words or actions. It was like she knew what was going to happen, what he was supposed to do, when he obviously didn't have a clue. However, she hadn't told him anything new, she had only spoken out loud how he felt deep inside.

But what about Hermione? Was it true that he shouldn't see her again? Could it be true that she was doing all this only so that he would switch sides? Was she possibly only playing with him like he had done with so many others? Was it all just a fraud?

..~**~..

Next chapter : Hermione talks to Draco on where they stand... no R rating yet ! Abigail gets a letter about her mother and u guys learn more about Dumbledore!

Also look out for the next chapters as... more action from the Serpent and the Death-Eaters, more from Voldemort and most important... mushiness definitely coming up between DH. It does take some time but hey... we all know its never that easy to get with someone!

There will be a definite R-rating sometime soon, hopefully. Also, I have recently planned out future chapters and this fic should go on for another 10 chapters at least! Joy!

Your reviews make my day, so you know what to do! So click on the review button!