A/N: This took me loads longer than it meant to because I went on vacation for a week to this cool beach resort somewhere else up in Florida. Sorry for the long wait once again. Enjoy!
Chapter 26: A Grim Situation"Madame Pomfrey, something's happened to Hermione, I need your help!" Draco exclaimed, setting Hermione on one of the beds.
"Not her again," Madame Pomfrey muttered as she made her way to the fainted girl. "What happened this time?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I need you to check her for possible poisoning," Draco said, pulling up a chair.
The nurse tapped Hermione's left arm with her wand and drew a small sample of blood. She attached it to a strange machine with a clock-like figure attached to it. Instead of numbers, it had strange symbols attached to it.
Hermione's blood sample glowed blue for a moment and one of the clock's hands moved to a circular looking shape.
"Right you were, Mister Malfoy," Madame Pomfrey said with a serious face. "Her blood contains traces of a strange…toxic herb concoction it seems. Extremely rare, this one. It will keep damaging her white blood cells, which will give her no strength to fight back the sickness. Without an antidote…well, let me just say things are looking grim for Miss Granger."
Draco stayed silent, a blank expression on his face. He stood up slowly and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.
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'I will not lose her, not after we've come this far. Someone's done this and there's going to be blood to pay if they don't un-do it,' Draco thought angrily to himself as he strode down the corridors.
Upon reaching the Slytherin common room, he found who he was looking for. Pansy was in a corner giggling with some other Slytherin girls.
Draco briskly walked up to her and slammed her against the wall, causing a few of the other girls to gasp.
"What the fuck did you do to Hermione, you bloody skank!" Draco shouted.
"It bothers you that much, now, does it?" Pansy said smoothly. "I'm sure you're father would be delighted to know of your feelings for the mudblood…"
Draco narrowed his eyes at her before roughly letting her go. Without so much as a word or a glance, he turned on his heel and left.
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Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had been informed on Hermione's condition.
"What would she be doing with Malfoy in the first place!" Ron exclaimed as the group made their way to the Hospital Wing.
"She wasn't WITH him, he just very luckily happened to find and save her during his rounds," Ginny quickly lied, as Ron continued his insignificant rants.
Harry was silent. He was caught in a concentrated gaze, focused on nothing in particular. As they reached the wing, Harry stopped abruptly.
"You go ahead, Ron. I need a word with Ginny," Harry told Ron.
Once her brother had entered the wing, Ginny turned to her boyfriend.
"What's the matter?" Ginny said, taking his hands in hers.
"Gin, you're Hermione's best friend. I know there's something going on that she doesn't want me to know about," Harry said softly.
Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one leg. "Harry, maybe you're just imaging things. It's probably all the stress of being Head Girl. Maybe you might like to talk to her?"
Harry sighed, "I tried that, but we never got around to it. Maybe I'll try when she gets better."
"If, Harrry." Ginny added quietly.
"No Gin," Harry said angrily. "No matter what happens, we will find a cure. We have to."
Ginny sighed and pulled Harry into a hug. She prayed that her troubled boyfriend was right.
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Draco burst into the dungeons, his wand extended.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HERMIONE!" Draco yelled at Seamus, who was sitting against the wall.
"N-nothing, the poison was j-just supposed to make her p-p-pass out!" Seamus stuttered.
"WELL SO MUCH FOR THAT! SHE'S ON THE VERGE OF DEATH!" Draco threw his hands up angrily, causing Seamus to cringe.
Seamus' eyes grew wide. "But it wasn't supposed to kill her! Pansy said it would only knock her out! Lying bitch!"
"And it took you this long to figure that out?" Draco snapped angrily. He let out a frustrated groan and stormed out of the room, back to the Hospital Wing.
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Draco entered the wing to find Harry, Ginny, and Ron standing near Hermione's bed, all looking solemn. Ginny noticed him coming and quickly distracted the two other boys enough to leave.
Draco took a seat next to Hermione and sat in silence, gently holding her limp hand. He brushed a brown curl out of her face and behind her ear.
"Oh, Hermione," he whispered to her. "I'm so sorry, my love, so sorry. I promise you, if it's the last thing I do, I will save you."
He brought her hand to his lips and held it there, kissing her gently.
Just then, he heard Dumbledore's voice.
"Mister Malfoy, a word?"
Draco quickly stood up and followed the old wizard just outside of the wing.
"Now Mister Malfoy, I am certain you have been informed on Hermione's current condition, and it is looking very austere," the Headmaster told Draco.
Draco stood silent, not wanting to believe what was going on.
"However, we have been informed that there is an antidote," Dumbledore continued. "Unfortunately, it is just as rare as the poison itself. In order to create an antidote, as you know, a sample of the original toxin is needed."
'There's still a chance,' Draco thought anxiously to himself. 'We can still save her.'
"I can get you the sample, Headmaster," Draco said.
"Would you prefer my assistance, Mister Malfoy? I'm not too sure about Miss Parkinson, but Mister Finnigan shouldn't be too difficult," Dumbledore grinned.
'Wait, how did he know?' Draco thought, bewildered.
"Thank you, Headmaster, but I think I can manage it myself," Draco replied politely.
"Very well, suit yourself. My best of luck," the wise wizard bowed slightly before returning to the Hospital Wing.
Draco sighed. There was still a chance to save Hermione. He had come too close to losing her before, and it wasn't going to happen again.
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A/N: This chapter is short, but it has to end here, or it would become two chapters in one. The next one will be much longer because a lot is going to happen. 'Till then, my faithful readers!
Kiaroxmysox: To answer your question, since I didn't add too much detail to that whole bit, there weren't too many people around anyway since most of them were out and about since much earlier. The few that were probably weren't paying attention, since they were occupied with their own dates. Luckily though, no one saw them, I can assure you of that ;) Also, with the whole 'going slow' thing, I've tried to make things go slow for the two since it would be very OOC if I had Hermione and Draco fuck in the second chapter. This way, the romance/love builds and it's all the more special when things happen. The whole chain of events in the entire story all leads up to the MAIN plot—but I've said too much already. :)