15.

Um, I'm really sorry about miss-naming Ginny. Except I'm too lazy to go back and find all the times I've done that. So from now on she will be: Ginny. Ok? Also, when I was thinking about any other mistakes I may have done, I realized I said that Draco's eyes are green, and I'm pretty sure they're grey. (or are they blue…? GAHHH!!!!) So I'll refer to that fact corrected, that they're grey.

Also, I want people to understand that the reason Hermione is unstable emotionally is because she has kind of been left out in the dust. (I'll be getting into it more and more in the later chapters as I go on..) She is always the support, the strong one, the knowledgeable one. People always go to her for advice (Ron asking how to propose, Neville asking her to the ball, her students...etc.). She knows that they mean well, but they've all gone on with their lives in relief that Voldemort is gone, but haven't considered that the "strong one" may not be as strong as she seems. When Draco starts to slip up mentally, they kind of make a matching pair. I guess.

Also, someone pointed out that Hermione would not technically be known as a "doctor"or a "medi-wizard"(something I made up for my own purposes by the way). For the sake of my sanity, and the story, let's all agree to pretend that wizards have an equivalent to an MD. Ok? -.-;

Oh. And something nice happens in this chapter, kind of.…blush

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Draco stared at the image of the palomino centaur before him.

"You're not real. I'm hallucinating again." He said calmly, though his voice cracked. He padded over to his bed, and sat down on it with a loud noise, his hospital gown scratching his bare bottom and back.

"On the contrary Young Lord Malfoy. I am very much indeed here. The stars told me that I would need to be present to help you." Firenze said not moving, and crossing his arms over his bare muscled chest.

"Did the sodding stars tell you that I would be lying here on all these damned drugs and half out of my mind with these damn dreams, practically insane, and full of these urges to …do the wrong thing."

"It is strange Young Lord. How a person's character may suddenly change." The centaur said quietly in his dreamy tone, cocking his head to the side. "At some point, many people may want to do "the wrong thing". What is wrong feels too pleasurable to be an evil. And then, something happens to snap the mind." He said straightening his head once again. "And you are human, thus a more delicate and fragile mind-"

"I almost killed her." Draco said interrupting the centaur's talk. Firenze squinted his eyes, and seemed to be looking at the ceiling. Draco knew from experience that the centaur was seeing the stars and consulting their wisdom. He sighed out loud.

"Yes. It appears you almost did. But you didn't. Why?" Firenze finally asked quietly, opening his eyes.

"I can't really remember. But I think I almost strangled her. She's got some ligature marks on her throat." He answered dully.

"Ah." Firenze suddenly said. And he did something that he had never seen him do before. Firenze grinned.

"You will be all right. But only if you change."

"NO! I can't!-"

"You misunderstand. Do not worry. You will know when."

Draco felt his vision blur. He angrily wiped off a tear, and when his vision cleared, he could see that Firenze was gone.

"Oh, I am insane." He whispered to himself. He started lowly laughing, and increased in volume until a nurse came into give him another shot of Mugwump Essence to calm him down.

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Hermione dropped the clipboard on the front desk, and thankfully grabbed a cup of pumpkin juice was sitting on the snack tray in the lounge. She was dead tired, and for some reason she felt empty. She had been able to release all but one patient, a boy who had set his broom on fire, but even he was making good progress. So why was she so melancholy?

She dropped herself onto the same couch in the hallway, and held the cup thoughtfully. She felt a tear slip down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. Not wanting to explain her self to a passing nurse or one of her students. She took a few breaths to calm herself.

She was nervous as hell. Dumbledore had called her into his office last night, to explain that he knew what had happened, and that Draco would be taken care of properly. When he was finally cured, they could finish their sting operation. Until then, she, Fred and George (sad yet funny, she could only think of them as one unit) and Neville would be setting up a sting operation plan for the wedding. But that was weeks away. And her mind was in riot, and she felt empty inside. She was a mental health medi-wizard, and recognized the first signs of depression when she felt them.

"Get a hold of yourself." She sighed, finishing the drink, and throwing it in the nearby trash bin.

As she got up, she stopped suddenly, and squinted at the observation window in front of her. She realized who the patient was, and felt herself get cold. She strode forward, opened the door and simply stared at the patient. She felt the blood drain from her face, and crept quietly into the room.

She stood dumbfounded. This was what he had meant by being taken care of? She lifted the chart from the front of the bed, and gasped. Three dosages of Mugwump Essence in the past day alone.

"Draco. What is going on with you?" she whispered

She let out a small scream, when his grey eyes suddenly shot open.

She stumbled back a little, but she crept a little closer when she realized that his glassy eyes showed he was still literally high on his drugs.

"Draco?" she cleared her throat and asked him again. "Draco? Are you feeling all right? I'm sorry; I didn't realize you were in here. I'm sorry I-"

"Stop apologizing." He said in an oddly quiet, but drug slurred voice. Hermione petered off, and stood awkwardly wondering whether she should inform the others of where he was. But Dumbledore may have wanted him to remain in the hospital without any disturbances. Confused as to what she should do, she gave a sigh of frustration.

Slowly, he lifted an arm up, one that had endless pricks from the needle, and hesitatingly, she walked toward his prone body. Mugwump Essence tended to make patients groggy and their thoughts muddled. He suddenly grabbed her hand, and she gave a gasp of surprise.

"You don't have to worry anymore. Not anymore. Not anymore." He said in a croaky sing song voice. He ran a finger in circles over her palm, and around the top of her hand.

Spreading her fingers, Hermione caught her breath as he pressed his much larger palm to hers. His skin was deathly pale, even for a member of the Malfoy clan. She couldn't help herself from staring fascinated at the green-blue veins that ran over the strong bones in his hand. The silence in the room was deafening.

"Draco…you have to let go" she whispered in as a soothing voice as she could muster. She didn't want him to slip into one of his rages. Nervously she shifted her weight to walk away, when suddenly the hand he pressed against hers grabbed her wrist and pulled her sharply forward. She fell into a sitting position on the bed, her body leaning forward. A few gingery brown strands of hair wisped around her chin as they escaped her twist from the motion. Her heart was in her throat. Should she call for a nurse…?

"Don't." he said a little more firmly, still whispering. "Don't talk. Don't apologize." He said. His eyes still had the glazed look, and she was a little frightened. He turned her wrist over, and traced a vein that ran down her arm from the pulse point with long finger. She nervously held still, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

"See, here…" he said rubbing the inner wrist where her normally peach toned skin was just as white as his. "Here, we're the same. The same skin. The same hue, blood wanting blood…"

She tried to pull herself up, but he was strong, and held her in an iron grip. He pulled her back into the half leaning position.

"I want yours. The blood. The tears. I want it all." He said staring into her eyes. Hermione felt herself go cold at the words. His eyes were frightening, a hard icy gray.

As she leaned over to push the call button for the nurse on duty, Draco suddenly placed his hand on the back of her head, dipped it towards him, and kissed her.

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A.N.- MWAHAHHAHAHA!!! Who was expecting THAT?!?!?

Ok, all you probably were.

And excuse me, but I'm no good at "love" scenes myself. I hate when it's all melodramatic or over done. (ie. "their tongues intertwined..…their lips were seared in heat….blahblahblah")

Tell me what you think. And the plot WILL go forward, I promise…-.-;

Teaser- consequences….and planning reaches a head….