Chapter 8

Hermione glanced uneasily at Draco the next day. The two of them were sitting in Arithmancy, waiting for Professor Vector to dismiss them. Draco had a look of pure irritation of his face as he jotted down notes.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, the headmaster would like to see you both," Professor Vector finally announced.

Hermione tossed her books and parchments into her bag. Draco strode past her briskly and as Hermione reached the door, he let it slam shut in her face.

Hermione took a deep breath as she opened the door again and followed the arrogant Slytherin outside. They kept a respectful distance from one another as they walked, and only when they were considerably far from the classroom did they move about a fraction of an inch closer together.

"I'll cover the hallway," Hermione announced when they reached the Divination classroom.

"Fine, I'll go check Potty's next classroom." Draco didn't want to argue—he simply wanted to get this over with.

Hermione still have more than ten minutes. She tried to do some homework (the teachers had already started loading them down with it) but she somehow just couldn't concentrate.

Suddenly, she heard the clatter of a wand on the floor. Wielding her own wand, she hightailed it to the classroom Draco was scouting—and found him entangled in some vines. The plant looked vaguely like Devil's Snare, but was not quite it.

Hermione aimed a tongue of fire at the plant. It recoiled slightly, but its grip on Draco did not loosen. Hermione began to panic as the green vines tightened around her Slytherin partner's windpipe. She threw out every jinx that came to mind, but they hardly had any effect.

OK, what else are plants weak against? she thought desperately.

Then she remembered something she'd seen on TV.

Bugs, she decided. She quickly did a spell that transformed one of the tables into caterpillars. It was complicated Transfiguration, even for her, but she managed it.

She was shocked when the caterpillars began eating away at the plant with amazing speed. In a matter of seconds, Draco, blue-faced, landed on the floor, gasping for breath.

"What on earth was that?" he rasped.

Hermione lowered her wand, suddenly exhausted.

Both of them rested wordlessly for a moment. As Draco lifted his head to take a breath, Hermione noticed that his neck was red and raw with abrasions.

"You need Madam Pomfrey," she remarked.

"How weak do you think I am?" Draco snapped, apparently not the least bit grateful that she had just saved him from certain death. "A few scratches won't kill me."

Hermione struggled to keep cool. "Fine. It's your neck, certainly not mine."

Draco, with visible effort, stood and rescued a small amount of plant. "Interesting."

"It must be some sort of new hybrid," Hermione said. "I've never seen it before."

"The Dark Lord's got himself a Sprout."

"Excuse me?"

"A Herbology expert. Look at how perfectly the different plants were blended together. It was strong and very healthy. Only someone who really knows plants could do such an excellent job." Draco coughed and gingerly touched his throat.

Hermione noticed something leaking from that throat. Something sickly green.

Then he fell suddenly to the ground. His lips became dry and chapped, blood leaking from them. Hermione barely had to move closer to see that he was burning up with fever.

"'A few scratches won't kill me.' Stupid git," she muttered as she levitated him up and to the hospital wing.

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Madam Pomfrey answered the door rather quickly when Hermione knocked. By then, Draco was a bit delirious, and had started mumbling nonsense about house-elves.

"Mm…grff…house-elf in my toilet…gotta flush…house-elf in my porridge…grumble…marmalade…"

Hermione and Madam Pomfrey both blinked.

"All…right then. You may go back now, Miss Granger. I'm sure the Divination class is winding up by now," Madam Pomfrey told Hermione. "I'll take it from here."

Hermione nodded and returned quickly. The door had been thrown open and students were streaming out. Harry and Ron spotted their best friend and headed over.

"What brings you here?" Harry asked good-naturedly.

"Professor Vector let us out early," Hermione replied. "I thought I'd pop over. So how's the old bat?"

The trio started down the hallway, chatting cheerfully.

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Hermione saw Draco return that evening at dinner. He looked better—his fever appeared to have passed. He lowered himself onto the bench at his table and began wolfing down his meal.

Hermione returned to her own food and her own crowd, who had not noticed Draco's return.

"I have never relished this day more," Ron was saying. "No Malfoy!"

"I hear he got himself landed in the hospital wing," Dean quipped. "Serves him right."

"I hope he landed in a vat of undiluted bubotuber pus and won't be back 'till next month," Ron said hopefully.

"Or slipped on a banana peel, broke his leg, had Lockhart fix it, and has now lost all his bones," Harry added.

The boys guffawed at that image, and Hermione managed a wan smile.

"'Mione? Something wrong?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head. "It's nothing, Ron."

As she lifted another forkful of food to her mouth, Draco caught her eye, lifted his chin, and gave her a curt nod.

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A/N: I was supposed to have updated this chapter on January 28, in honor of my best friend Pannikittypiggyphant's birthday, but due to circumstances, I wasn't able to… Also, let's just pretend that Harry and Ron managed to stay in Divination.

AS ALWAYS, I THANK MY LORD GOD FOR EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR ME

And of course to my dear reviewers:

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Next: The first DADA lesson…what happens to the Boy-Who-Lived?