Chapter 14
They suddenly heard a dull "Twang!"
The next few seconds seemed to pass in a blur. Draco, without even realizing it, jumped in front of Hermione.
A knife, its sharp end glistening in the wan light, arced down towards the pair.
Draco was, however, no fool—he had no intention of being stabbed in the heart. Gripping Hermione tightly, he hurled them both to the side—but not quickly enough.
The knife embedded itself in the flesh of his arm.
Draco fell to the floor, a sleeve of his robes darkening with blood.
Hermione climbed to her feet and went to his side. She winced at the red substance dripping forth from his clothes.
"Malfoy. Are you alright?"
Draco glared at her. "Are you stupid? Get this thing out of me!"
After glaring back, she removed the knife. Slowly calculating the arc of the knife, she moved towards the place where she thought the weapon might have originated.
Twang.
Luckily, Hermione heard the sound, and rolled out of the way.
Draco dragged himself over to where the second knife lay. Then he noticed something.
"It's a trap. There's some sort of wire stretched across the floor, and when someone steps on it/touches it, it somehow releases a knife."
Hermione crouched on the floor and with her eyes followed the path of the wire. "Of course. Shockingly simple, but often, the simplest plans are the most effective. But this is a Muggle method. Why would they bother…?"
She suddenly remembered that Draco had been wounded.
"Malfoy, we need to get you to the hospital wing."
"Oh, thank you for remembering," Draco quipped sarcastically. He raised his wand and disabled the traps.
"Can you stand?" Hermione asked.
Draco, despite the stinging pain, managed to smirk. "Why, you want to carry me?"
"In your dreams, you jerk," Hermione shot back.
Draco picked himself up. "Yes, O Bossy One, I can stand."
They made their way to the hospital wing.
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"MADAM POMFREY IS GONE?" Draco screeched.
"She went to have a cup of tea," Hermione reported, grinning, from the note Madam Pomfrey had left. "She'll be back in fifteen minutes."
"What am I going to do? Bleed to death here for fifteen bloody minutes?"
Hermione sighed. "Wait here. I'm going to get something from my dormitory."
"Hey!" Draco called, but she had gone. With a sigh, he sat down and tried to twist his sleeve into a bandage.
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Hermione returned a few minutes later, a jar of white stuff in her hand. She stopped and cringed at the sight of Draco's soiled robes.
"Take off your robes and your shirt. I need to be able to clean the wound properly."
Draco got a glint in his eye. She glowered at him.
"You want me to stuff this jar down your throat, Malfoy? Get your mind out of the gutter."
He obliged. "You're looking at something rare and precious, Granger. Enjoy it while you can."
"Yech. Blech," was the witch's reply. "Oh—gross."
For she was looking at the wound in all its vile glory. Blood was smeared all over Draco's arm, and more was pumping out from the cut, which was a bit deep.
"Disgusting," she muttered. "All right; I'm going to treat you the Muggle way. It'll be a bit painful…"
"No!" Draco cried.
"OK, if you want to wait…ten more minutes for Madam Pomfrey, then please, be my guest."
Draco thought that over. He had lost a considerable amount of blood already…
Fortunately, the school nurse kept a supply of antiseptic and cotton around. Hermione grabbed them and began cleaning the gash.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Draco shrieked.
Hermione slapped him, hard, on the back. "Quit your yapping and take it like a man."
As soon as the wound was cleaner, Hermione uncapped the jar and started applying its contents to the cut.
"Yiiii! That's cold!" Draco leapt up.
"Sit down!" she snapped.
Draco finally acquiesced after Hermione started drawing out her wand, and as he did so, he felt a curious sensation.
"My cut…"
"Not quite so painful anymore, is it?" Hermione finished. "I told you—this stuff works wonders."
"Not bad, this salve," Draco mused as he studied the jar.
"It works for acne, blisters, mosquito bites—pretty much anything you can imagine." Hermione plucked the container from Draco's grasp and smugly recapped it. "Funny how great good old-fashioned Muggle medicine can be."
"Where do you get this? I can't believe a bunch of cave dwellers like your kind could discover something like this!"
Hermione stiffened, and she gave him an almighty whack on the skull. When Draco turned to snap at her, he noticed that her face was sad. "It was my great-uncle's special concoction."
"If I show this to the Healers—come on, Granger, you'd be famous!"
"You can't!" she burst out.
"Why not? We could make that relative of yours famous too."
"It wouldn't matter, because he…died last year." Hermione's eyes turned watery. "This was the very last jar of salve he made before he…went. He gave it to me."
"Oh. Ummm…" Draco wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't everyday that your sworn enemy confessed to you that someone she was close to bit the dust.
Saying "nyah, nyah, nyah, good for you" was certainly not an option.
"This is his secret to keep," Hermione concluded quietly.
"Oh. Ummm…my condolences." It was the best he could think of.
Just then, the door opened and in walked Madam Pomfrey.
"What are you two doing in here?"
Hermione quickly hid the jar behind her back.
"I accidentally cut myself," Draco supplied. "And you weren't here. Luckily, I was intelligent enough to find myself the septic tank and clean myself up."
Hermione burst out laughing. Madam Pomfrey blinked.
"I think you meant antiseptic," the nurse finally corrected kindly, but right after that a snort of laughter escaped from her lips.
"What's so funny?" Draco asked.
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A/N: The medicine is based on a real-life salve, made by my great-uncle, who died last year. Kudos to him, wherever he may be…
I THANK THE LORD FOR EVERYTHING, INCLUDING…
My reviewers:
Peanutilover- Here you go. :)
BlackWolf-of-the-sea- Thanks:) I don't know what Inuyasha's about, could you tell me:)
Cold-eyes-for-you- Thanks:)
Delayed Action Ninja- Thanks:) I hope you'll like this…
Sissified- Thanks:)
Alcapacien- As much as I want Legolas to be in here, sadly, he's not, so yep, not a bow. :D Yeah, if that boggart showed my best friend dead, I'd be completely freaked out too.
Sacagawea- Blame his gentlemanly upbringing… :))
Ehlonna- Thanks:)
Crimson Girl- Well, canon shows that Draco can be a bit of a wimp, and I'm not fully letting go of that. :evil laugh: Thanks a ton for staying with me—you won't regret it. I hope…
Goodybad- Thanks:) I wanted to show that Hermione has grown up from caring about grades and now worries about more important stuff. :) And fear not because…
Next: No HP fanfic is complete without Quidditch…and no Quidditch scene is complete without a little H/G… ;)