"Lumos," she muttered. The wand's tip lit up and she blinked once more adjusting her eyes once more. Crookshanks lifted his head up to look at her in confusion. He was curled up at the foot of the bed, and apparently he'd not been woken up like Hermione had. He laid his head back down while Hermione looked around her room.
Her eyes were wide, as she was sure that something was in her room, something must've woken her up. Her eyes darted here and there, looking for signs of someone else in her room. She curled her body around the side of the bed and looked underneath it. Nothing there. She pushed back the bed sheets and stood up. She crawled under the bed and scooted herself to the other side of it. She peered out and looked around once more. Nothing on the other side.
The lavatory... She pushed herself out from underneath the bed and crept toward the opened lavatory doorway. She jammed herself against the wall, took a deep breath, then quickly whirled around the corner.
In reality, there was nothing there, but to Hermione, a dark shadow loomed before her.
"Who are you?" she demanded of the shadow. "Show your face."
The shadow said nothing, only towered before her.
"If this is your idea of a joke once again, Malfoy, then you need to give it up. Clearly you can see that I don't find this funny in any way..."
The shadow moved forward, moving toward her.
"Stay where you are!" she yelled at it, moving backward.
Crookshanks, who had jumped down to investigate what it was that Hermione was doing, rubbed against her leg and looked up her, his eyes questioning the situation that he couldn't see.
"Crookshanks," Hermione addressed the cat, not removing her gaze from her imaginary shadow. "Run," she whispered, falling to the ground unconscious.
Draco awoke to light shining in his face. He kicked at his bed sheets, sending them flying off of him. It was a childish thing to do, he knew it, but it was something that he'd done since he was a boy, something that he tried desperately to hide away from the rest of Slytherins when he'd lived with them. Now that he had his own room, he could do it without worry. He stretched, his hands lightly hitting the wall as he pushed his arms outward. He sighed, then yawned contently as he rolled over and scratched his left side.
He got out of bed and crossed his own bare room to his lavatory. He turned on the shower, then urinated while it was warming up. He was ready for classes, and was looking most forward to potions, since it was rumored to be the hardest class N.E.W.T. level wise. He took his shower, thinking about everything that he was looking forward to. When he was finished, he wrapped a crisp, white towel around his waist and went back into his room to get into his robes. He pinned his head boy badge onto the front of his robes and proceeded out into the common room.
He'd expected to see Hermione sitting on the couch, ready for her own classes. The common room was empty however, and something inside him told him that something wasn't right.
Then he heard it, loud meowing coming from down the hall.
Her door was shut and he wondered why she hadn't gotten up to let her cat out herself. He walked down the hall prepared for an angry, sleepy Hermione to fling her door open at any time to shut up the cat, but as he crept closer, it seemed less and less likely that she would do such a thing. He opened the door slowly and Crookshanks ran out, rubbing against his legs and dashing back and forth between them. Draco peered his head into the room.
Her bed was messy, but otherwise there appeared to be no sign of life within the Gryffindor's room. He noted then, that the layout of the room was the same as his own, just with different colors and symbols decorating it. He stepped into the room and Crookshanks ran around the bed.
"Granger?"
He heard the cat meow, but nothing of the head girl. He walked around the bed, prepared for anything but what he found.
From the looks of things, Hermione had been attacked. Draco looked around him nervously, and checked everything, including the lavatory before attending to Hermione. She was sprawled on the floor, her wand had rolled out of her hand and lay underneath her bed. Blood encircled part of her head. Upon closer inspection, he deducted that she hadn't been attacked, but rather had fallen. What had caused her to fall abruptly, he didn't know, but he did know that she'd given herself a nasty head wound upon impact with the floor. He held his hand under her nose, checking for signs of breathing.
He was partially happy when he felt the rush of air against his hand, but couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into the super smart girl that lay in front of him. First the incident on the train... now this... it was highly unlike something he'd thought would happen with her.
"Granger!"
The girl in front of him didn't even flinch at the sound of his voice. Instead her lips curled into a smile, but she remained on the floor, eyes closed. He was unsure of just how much damage might have been caused by her fall, so rather than risk it, he decided to run and get someone who could help her.
He ran from the room then, Crookshanks trailing not far behind him. He ran out the doorway, through the common room, through the entrance hall, down all two hundred and thirty-seven stairs, through eight corridors, all the way to the Hospital wing. He was desperately out of breath, but couldn't help but be happy at the fact that his stamina was still the same shape as it had been the last year during Quidditch training.
"Mr. Malfoy? What on earth-"
"It's Granger!" he shouted at Madame Pomfrey. "Something's wrong. Blood. Won't wake up. Didn't know what to do."
Madame Pomfrey's eyes were alert now. "Where?" she demanded.
"Head's tower. Her quarters." He gasped for air and clutched to his sides, which now ached.
To his own amusement, Madame Pomfrey had taken off at a sprint. "Get the headmaster!" she yelled as she turned a corridor.
Draco began to jog this time, he jogged four corridors, went up a flight of stairs, down three more corridors and bumped into McGonagall.
"Mr. Malfoy. As head boy I'd expected-"
"It's Granger. Get the headmaster. Heads tower." His breath was ragged now.
"Right away, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall turned and jogged down another corridor, leaving him alone.
He collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
He couldn't understand why he was doing it, but it seemed like the right thing to do, helping Granger. He may not like the stuck up know-it-all, but that didn't mean she deserved to be left alone in a puddle of her own blood. Things were definitely different with her this year, and he was determined to find out what it was.
He watched as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore jogged past him, going back in the direction that he'd just come. He pushed himself up, then, at a slow walk, he began to follow them.
End of Chapter Six and Comments- - -
A/N: I'm not J. K. Rowling. I don't own any of the characters, if I did, I'd live in a mansion.
What's going on with Hermione? And is Draco getting softer toward her? Find out in chapter seven of Paint Me Blood Red.
Thanks for the comments you lovely people you. You know who you are winks. Without you I'd be sobbing in a corner eating a truck load of chocolate.