This might be the longest chapter so far: it's about 14 pages, or 6500 words. I really didn't like it at first, but then I did some POV editing and it flows much better. There are a few very important scenes in this chapter, Starring all the main characters with a cameo by a certain vampire mentioned in previous chapters. Sidenote: sometimes I notice that in the document, spaces between words disappear. It is not because I do not know how to type or because I don't think they should be there. Just ignore the fact that certain words that should not be one somehow are, and it will all work out fine. Please read, and especially review, and tell me what you think. Not that I actually go back and change things, I just like to know.
P.S. I was reading through this and realized I would have to push the rating updue to nudity, sex, implied sex, sexual references, and a tiny bit of language. So I guess it is now rated M, though it barely needs to be. Also, the title I picked out of the text has little to do with the plot of the chapter... or does it? It could, depending on how you read it.
The Negative Side
Back and Forth
Rumors abounded for an entire month after Hermione and Draco had kissed in front of the entire Hogwarts population. Most were fairly ridiculous, like the one that Hermione was pregnant with Harry Potter's child and had recently had sex with Draco Malfoy to pass it off as his. Hermione, Harry, and Draco had laughed for about an hour after Ginny told them of the rumor. Not at all shockingly, Ginny had joined in.
It was one week before Easter break when Katie Bell surprised a tomato-red Harry at lunchtime. Draco and Blaise were at the Slytherin table with Millicent Bulstrode, leaving Harry and Hermione alone with the other Gryffindors. Ginny was nowhere to be found. Harry caught sight of Katie in the entrance of the Great Hall and attempted to shrink to a much smaller size.
Hermione, noticing his embarrassment, turned to see Katie coming toward them with a huge smile. She called out, "Harry!" and waved enthusiastically. With slightly less enthusiasm, Harry waved back.
"What's Katie doing visiting you, Harry?" Hermione asked, controlling her voice carefully. Harry just knew that she was trying not to laugh, and this made him feel slightly spiteful.
Harry shrugged, a bit of a plea in his face, before he pasted on a grin and turned to Katie. "Hello, Katie. How are you?" he asked as she slid into the seat next to him. "Feeling better?"
"Better than usual, now that I'm here," she replied. Then, strangely, she giggled. "I'm so glad I got here in time for lunch. I miss Hogwarts food so much lately. I haven't had a quality meal in weeks."
"So, what brings you here, Katie?" Hermione asked, and then patiently waited until the older girl had finished chewing.
"I came to see Harry beat Slytherin one last time. I couldn't pass it up. Especially since he's told me that you guys are friends with Draco Malfoy! I wonder what that will look like. Neither of them will be trying to knock the other off their brooms, it will be quite interesting."
"I don't know about that," Hermione said. "Their arguments may be friendly but they can get fairly intense."
"Hermione, shut up. Unless you want me to start on you and Draco."
Hermione shut up.
In the locker room on the morning of the match, Harry pulled on his gloves with slightly shaking hands. He was not exactly sure why he was so nervous. Perhaps it was the last Quidditch game he would ever play at Hogwarts, or that he was not used to playing against his friends in a serious game. Whatever the reason, his pep talk to the team before they left the changing room lacked any real pep.
Ever the observant one, Ginny approached him as they walked out. "You okay, Harry? You look as though you're about to face a Hungarian Horntail."
He flashed her a small, amused smile. "I'm fine. I think I just need to get up there. I always feel better once I'm in the air."
Ginny nodded. "I know what you mean. When you're flying, it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. You don't have to think about anything else, and you don't want to… You should hurry up a bit, Hooch is waiting for you."
Harry shook hands with the Slytherin captain without even looking at her. He heard her sniff as though insulted, but he ignored her. He listened instead to Madame Hooch, who had just given the order to mount brooms. A moment later, he was rising into the air, and he had left his nerves on the ground.
As Ginny took off down the pitch with the Quaffle under her arm, Draco hovered over to Harry. "So what's she doing here? Providing a little after-game party for you?" Draco suggested, something like a leer distorting his features.
Harry reached out and punched him. He looked over where Hermione and Katie were sitting. Draco punched him back, and Harry drifted a few feet to the left. He moved back, rubbing his arm. "That was harder than necessary."
Draco gave him a pointed, withering look. "That's your Snitch arm, isn't it?"
"You bastard, you're trying to sabotage me!"
"My parents were married before I was born, Harry. Therefore it's inaccurate to call me a bastard. You could have said 'git', a perfectly serviceable word-"
"Fine. Shut it, you git." When he looked at Draco, they were both grinning. Harry began to circle the pitch, keeping his eye open for a glint of gold, the other on his foil. This started a strange back-and-forth taunting between the two of them. Whenever they passed each other in the air, they could not resist commenting.
"Idiot!" Harry called jovially over his shoulder.
"Maniac!" Draco shouted back.
Strangely enough, Harry found that trading insults in the air lifted his spirits. Soon enough, he was looking for Draco almost as much as he looked for the Snitch.
"Pansy!"
"Impotent!"
"Fuckwit!"
"Spawn of Evil!"
Harry heard a bit of the commentary during which he learned that the audience could hear them. He laughed, more amused than he had felt for quite a while. Streaking past every few minutes, Ginny scored quite a few goals for Gryffindor.
The Slytherins were eighty points down, and though they scored about two out of ten shots, Gryffindor would not let them close the gap. Proud to bursting of his team, he swerved to trade a look with Katie. He wanted her to be as proud of him as he was of himself. It seemed that she was.
On impulse, Harry flew into the stands. Katie and Hermione had chosen seats in the front, and Katie leaned a little over the edge as he drew close. They smiled at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking, and Harry inched closer. He glanced around the pitch and at last found the Snitch, glittering across from him. Draco, oddly enough, was making his way toward Harry instead of the Snitch.
"I saw it a moment ago," the blond boy said when he reached the stands, "and I could have won the game for us. I thought it would be more fun if we raced. It's not as much of an accomplishment for me to win if you're distracted."
"You still think you can beat me? Give it up, Malfoy."
"Little you know, Harry." He winked at Hermione. "Ready?" He leaned forward on his broom.
Harry, without thinking, locked lips with Katie, then turned and prepared for the end of the match. "Ready."
Both of them sped off toward the distant hint of gold, flittering near the edge of the pitch. It was not moving as much as usual. It occurred to Harry that the Snitch might be tired, and he would have laughed if he had not been concentrating so hard on the race. He had no room in his mind for anything but the thought of that small winged ball clutched in his hand. He knew he could win. He had beaten Draco at this so many times before, and many other Seekers as well. He could do it again.
They shot ever closer, next to each other the entire way. When the Snitch became truly distinguishable, Draco and Harry began to wrestle with one arm each while keeping the other on their brooms to steady themselves. Trying to unsteady the other enough to push him off course, they had a brief but fiery battle. A Bludger swooped down on them before they would let go.
Draco arced wide, but he regained speed quickly and Harry saw him closing in on the Snitch. He pushed forward on his broom, putting all his will into making it go faster, and hoped it would be enough. Too late, he realized that they would collide. In the moment he had before they would smash into each other, he stretched out his hand and felt it close over something small and solid.
But they did not crash. Harry pulled his Firebolt up in the last second, and the tail of his broom brushed Draco's shoulder. In another half-minute, Harry had landed and been forced to the bottom of a Team Victory Pile. At last, he managed to emerge. The only ones left were him and Ginny. They were joined shortly by Katie, Hermione, and Draco.
"Another Gryffindor victory! No one doubted how this would end," Katie laughed. "No offense, Malfoy."
"Oh, none taken. I never expected I'd beat Harry."
Hermione gave Draco a sensual-looking hug and an even better kiss. "You were great. If your opponent wasn't Harry, you would have won for sure."
"Hey!" Harry protested. "No hug for the victor?"
"Draco needs comforting. He's sensitive about these things, you know." She did not have the chance to say any more. Draco led her by the hand around a few corners, supposedly to find a more private scene.
Katie followed them into the changing room. "I miss this," she sighed. "I didn't really want to leave Hogwarts to begin with, but we all have to grow up sometime. Quidditch, though, I wish I could have kept forever. We had such an incredible team."
"We really did," Harry said. "Obviously we're still doing well, but those first three years were more than I could have hoped for when I got here. Except for Oliver's crazed obsessiveness, that is."
"Right," Katie agreed with a smile.
Ginny slipped out a few minutes later, leaving Katie and Harry to occupy themselves.
The next morning, Katie woke Harry early to say goodbye. After a short kiss, he went right back to sleep. Their activities the night before had kept him up late. At last, he felt rested enough to head down to breakfast. He tried to train his face into the emotionless mask he had so often seen on Draco, to no avail. A smile persistently adorned his face.
The others were already well into their food by the time he arrived. He piled his plate with bacon, eggs, and toast before he even looked at them. All eyes were turned toward him. He adopted as innocent a look as he could muster and said, "What?
Draco became quite irritating over the next few weeks, bothering Hermione about sex until she seemed tempted to give in just to shut him up. When no amount of coaxing, whining, mocking, begging, or full-body massaging got Hermione to say yes, Draco settled into a sulk. "I cannot believe that Harry 'the Boy Who Lived ToEmbarrass Himself In Front Of Girls' Potter got shagged before me."
At this, Hermione looked up from her books. "You're a virgin, Draco?"
"Well, yes. What kind of slut do you think I am? Nevermind, don't answer me."
"I don't think you're a slut, Draco, I just know you're a Slytherin. That's a whole other level of sexual promiscuity."
"How would you know? You've never been in our dorms."
"Well, just look at Blaise. I know he was with at least half the girls in your House in one way or another at some point in the past. Now that he's got Ginny 'I'll Do Anything At Any Time' Weasley, he has no need for Slytherin girls."
"Does she tell you about their sexcapades? That's just wrong."
"What?"
"Blaise hasn't told me a thing concerning that, the fucker."
"Draco, I know that you'd love to sit here and talk about this until the hippogriffs come home, but this is the library and I want to finish my homework sometime today." Draco pouted for a while, then left. If it was going to take this much effort to get Hermione into bed, he could hardly see the point.
One rare morning when each of them sat at their respective House tables, Draco became convinced that Hermione was the meanest person alive. The first time it happened, he thought he was just seeing things, but when it happened again three minutes later, he was so surprised that he dropped his fork in his lap. And again, in another three minutes, he saw the same thing. Hermione had cast some kind of spell, Draco deduced, the result of which being that he saw her completely nude for five seconds every three minutes. By the time breakfast was over, he had dropped his utensils numerous times. Hermione was watching him all through the meal, wearing a sly grin.
The next time he had to see her was during Potions. After Snape had given his usual start-of-class lecture, Hermione calmly went to work on her potion. She sauntered as slowly as she could to the store cupboard, carefully selecting her ingredients. Draco felt hot and had to remove his tie and undo a few buttons of his shirt. As she chopped, ground, and stirred, she shot stealthy glances in Draco's direction. He tried to ignore her nakedness, but he felt an erection growing against his will. She had sat at a table in front of his, so he could not just keep his back to her as he worked.
His hands, becoming less reliable every moment, repeatedly dropped ingredients and tools as he tried to do his assignment. The other students could not help looking curiously in his direction, and Blaise, who had chosen the table behind Draco's, hissed at him to concentrate. Draco tried to glare at Hermione; however, his timing was poor, and he almost kicked over his cauldron.
"Malfoy! I do not tolerate such disruptions in my classroom, as you well know," Snape barked.
"Sorry, sir. I'll try harder not to be distracted," Draco replied, his eyes downward.
Hermione snorted. Snape whirled on her and held a staring match with her potion. Draco would have loved for her to be told off, but as usual Snape found nothing amiss. Disappointed, he tried as hard as he could not to cause an explosion.
Draco took a grip of Hermione's arm as they headed to lunch. "You are pure evil, my love," he said in her ear.
A slightly insane laugh issued from her until they sat down, this time at the Slytherin table. Before anyone had joined them, Draco spoke again. "Now, what could possibly have possessed you to do such a thing to me? Have you entirely lost your compassion?"
"Oh, it was only a joke, Draco. Don't worry, the spell only lasts for one day."
"A day, Hermione? It feels like it's been weeks already. Do you know why I could barely work?" She shook her head innocently. "I had a boner. The whole time."
"That was all it took?" Hermione returned, her voice low but her tone exclamatory.
"You do not give yourself enough credit. You are the sexiest woman I've ever known."
Blaise and Pansy sat next to them at that moment. "Is that why you love me?" Hermione asked him.
Draco adopted a seductive half-smile. "No, but it helps."
"What helps?" Pansy wondered.
"Nevermind, Pansy. It's nothing," Draco dismissed the question. They filled their plates and had a normal lunch. Five minutes in, Bianca, Harry, Ginny, and Neville had been tacked on to the group.
A cluster of second years walked by them, a cheerful bunch consisting of Slytherins, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs. They appeared to be as good friends as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been for so many years. Draco felt a swell of pride in his chest, and it was quite a pleasing feeling. There would always be those who held fast to their prejudices, but so many were now embracing acceptance. The separation of purebloods from all the rest had greatly diminished because of Draco and Blaise's efforts.
He attempted to catch Hermione's eye, but unfortunately he did so just as the spell took effect again. Clenching his jaw, Draco excused himself from the table and took a walk by the lake to relieve what felt like a fever in his entire body. As long as he stayed out, however, he could not seem to get rid of that most inconvenient arousal. He decided to take a bit of a swim.
He did not strip down, but he did remove his robes and shirt. In only his pants, he forged into the lake and dove under. Taking care to remain close to shore and not disturb the giant squid, Draco floated back and forth in the cool water for a while. When he had finally relaxed, he emerged. He headed back toward the castle, dripping wet and carrying the bundle of his robes under one arm.
He had prefect duty that night, a completely unfair circumstance. Seventh year prefects hardly ever had to do night patrols. That task usually fell to the fifth and sixth years. He supposed they wanted to free up more time to study for N.E.W.T.s. Why he had been given prefect duty this night, with the test looming close, was unfathomable.
Draco did not bother to pay attention as he stalked through the castle, muttering inwardly about the injustice of it. He was sure that quite a few students were getting away with very disreputable activities, but he was taking a stand. Instead of taking note of anything around him, he thought about Hermione. The spell she had cast could only be described as evil. For hours he had been tortured by the numerous fleeting sights of her naked body. He wished he could hate her for it, but he made a point to separate love and hate with a thick, thick wall.
Being a part of the Malfoy family, rich, cold, and amoral, had taught Draco all he needed to know about hate. It had taken someone like Hermione to teach him what love was. The brief interaction with his mother at Christmastime had pushed his education along considerably. He knew, after this odd learning process, that real love could not coexist with hate toward any particular thing. He knew that if he let them combine, the person he had worked to become would disappear.
So, instead of hating Hermione for being cruel, he settled for a scalding annoyance.
At eleven o'clock he finished and returned to the Slytherin dorm. Few students were still in the common room, and those who were only glanced at him as he entered. The Slytherins who remained in the common room this late were usually the ones who kept more to themselves. Draco took little notice of them as he passed on the way to his bedroom.
Darkness met him inside, but before he could touch the lights, by either physically or magically, they flared on by other means. His eyebrows furrowed warily and his hand went to his pocket, where he kept his wand. He did not have much time to imagine what might be happening. As soon as his hand touched the smooth wood of his wand, he spotted Hermione. All thoughts were driven from his mind.
"Are you going to stand there staring, or are you going to join me?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," he replied, "all the blood has rushed to a different part of my body than my brain." Rational thought had pretty much fled by then. Hermione was lying in his bed, between the sheets. She was holding the top sheet over her chest with one hand, and one of her legs was covered while the other was entirely exposed. All of her that he could see was very, very naked. "So you're not wearing anything at all?"
"Come here, Draco."
"You've been refusing me for so long, and suddenly… well… this. Did something happen that I'm not aware of?"
"I just realized that there is no reason to wait. I love you."
His lips turned up of their own accord. He could finally have what he'd been wishing for. Trying not to seem desperate, he began to undress. "How did you get in here, by the way? Did I tell you my password, or was it someone else?"
"Blaise let me in. He was very accommodating." She winked.
Draco shook his head.Fully unclothed, he slid into bed next to her and drew her close. "Just you and me. If we bring anyone else into it, my head might explode."
"Oh, but we haven't even begun," Hermione murmured, her face an inch from his. Draco could not stand it any longer; he grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers, then began to explore her mouth with his tongue. While he did this, he felt her hand in a spot where it had never been.
"Hermione," he whispered, pausing only for a moment in their activities, "are you sure this is what you want?"
She smiled. "I'm sure. Now stop talking and give me orgasms."
Harry read through Katie's most recent letter for the thirtieth time. He had not received any correspondence from her for almost two weeks, and he missed her more than ever. Between work and Quidditch, she barely had time to think about visiting, let alone spend the night or write a letter. Harry had sent her a letter every day, only because he did not know who else to talk to.
The last time he had felt this lonely must have been the summer before second year, when Dobby had stolen all of his mail. When Blaise and Draco had joined their circle, Harry had seen it as an opportunity to find less time to be lonely. These days, Hermione and Draco were disappeared nearly as much as Blaise and Ginny, and when Hermione was around she tended to spend all her time on homework. He sometimes hung around with Seamus, Dean and Neville, but those he considered to be his closest friends were more or less occupied. And Ron was… walking toward him at that moment.
"Ron?" Harry wondered.
Sitting near him, Ron swept the common room with his eyes before turning back to Harry. "Hermione hasn't come back tonight, has she?"
"No. It's pretty late, I guess. She must be with Draco for the night," Harry speculated aloud, wanting to be as blunt as possible. Ron did not deserve sugar-coating.
"I'm worried about her. Not because of Malfoy, but something else. Have you noticed that she takes a lot of walks by herself?" He waited until Harry nodded. "I followed her one time. She went into the Forbidden Forest and met with a creature that apparently lives there. It looked close to human, but I'm pretty sure it was a vampire."
"Hermione has been meeting a vampire in the forest?" Harry repeated. It did not sound like something she would do, but she had not been quite herself this year. She still got her perfect grades and studied more than most students, but most other aspects of Hermione had altered severely. Harry suspected that Draco was somehow the culprit.
"I don't know what to do about it, Harry, but I think that she shouldn't be going into the forest alone. If she got into trouble, no one would know until it was too late. If you care about her, you won't let her go by herself again."
"What am I going to do about it, Ron? I can't control her, and I can't keep track of her every minute of the day. If she decides to go unescorted into a dangerous place, I can't exactly stop her," Harry responded, annoyed. "Anyway, you're the one threatening her boyfriend in deserted corridors. Why don't you be her shadow?"
"If I did, she would hate me," Ron answered, shaking his head. "I can't be the one to do it."
After a minute of silence, Harry sighed. "I have noticed Hermione, sometimes, coming from the Forbidden Forest. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I've suspected that she was hiding something."
"Why didn't you do anything about it?" Ron asked.
"It's called trust, Ron. There's a word it wouldn't hurt you to learn. Maybe you just like holding grudges, but Draco really is our friend and really would be yours."
Ron shook his head again. "My brothers would kill me even if I did want to be friends with Malfoy. As it is, I don't, and I don't see how you could ever forgive him. He's said things about your family-"
"And we've said things about his. Maybe while you're looking up trust, you can check forgiveness as well. Nothing he has ever said was so hurtful that it should stop us from being friends." When Ron said nothing, Harry decided to go for another angle. "And what about Ginny? Are you planning to ignore her for the rest of your life? Do you think your brothers or your parents will disown her, like they did with Percy?"
Ron glared. "You have no right to bring that up."
"None of us are doing anything wrong. Draco and Blaise have caused most of the Slytherins in the school to completely denounce Voldemort." Ron flinched, but only a little. "They've done as much for our side as you ever have."
"How can you say that? I fought beside you. I was knocked unconscious by a twenty-foot chess piece when I was eleven years old – for you!"
"Draco is the reason Voldemort has lost nearly all future supporters. Without them, he'll be much less of a threat. People like him can't function without followers."
Ron stared at the floor. He was wringing his hands gently, and his left foot tapped on the stone in a quick tattoo. He did not deny that Draco Malfoy was helping or that Harry was right to count him as a friend.
"Ron, if getting knocked out by a chess piece would prove to you that I still want to be your friend, I would gladly do it. You were the first friend I ever had."
"I'm willing to do the same, Harry. Really. I didn't mean that I blamed you for it."
Harry's confusion condensed into coherent words, finally. "Then why are we still fighting?"
For a while, neither of them spoke. Suddenly, Ron held out his hand to Harry, who took it. They shook, but when Harry would have dropped the other's hand, Ron held them together. "It's going to take a lot for me to forgive Malfoy," he said quietly, "but I don't think it's quite that hard to forgive you."
As Hermione left Draco's room, early enough that he had not yet awakened, she gave him one last sidelong smile. She wished she could have stayed in his arms forever, but she had put off visiting Erik for too long. She would not have time later that day, and if she did not leave early enough then she would be late for class. That would be unacceptable.
The Forest was still somewhat dark, due to the clouds overhead and the early hour. It was likely to brighten up in the afternoon. It was light enough to see her way, but Hermione still felt a little nervous. She knew that many hostile creatures lived there, and the presence of the sun typically kept many of them away.
Apprehensively, she drew her wand and held it out before her. If something did jump out at her, she would be ready with a spell. She had been practicing for N.E.W.T.s, which meant that her reflexes were better than normal.
She had nearly reached Erik's clearing when she heard a rustling behind her. She turned and called softly, "Erik?" The sound had been outside of the area to which he was bound, she realized, and it could not have been him.
"Hermione, is that you?" Erik's voice asked. Turning again, she saw him coming toward her from the clearing. She took a few steps before she was grabbed from behind and dragged backward. Erik ran for her as much as he could, but when he reached the edge of the spell he was blocked. He growled at her attacker, "Couteau, let her go."
Hermione's eyes widened. She knew from Erik's stories what this vampire was capable of. She had dropped her wand when he grabbed her; she had no way to fight him. She struggled, even though she knew it was futile. A vampire would have strength far beyond hers.
A menacing laugh broke from her captor. "This is what makes you weak, Erik. She does not matter. The blood of mortals only runs through her, not the strength of our kind. These humans you wish to preserve are barely alive at all. Stop caring for them now, and you can be free. I miss our adventures. Together, we could tear whole towns apart."
"Until someone with enough power killed us both," retorted Erik. "Your way can never be mine, Couteau, and you must learn that this will not change. If you did wish to change my mind, this is not the way to do it. Let her go."
"I think not. Even as you will not change, I also remain myself. My way is the way of the kill, the taste of blood, the look on your face when I kill someone you care for." Hermione gasped and tugged at the arms holding her.
"Couteau!"
With one hand, Couteau brushed her hair from her neck, while he held her to him with the other arm. Hermione felt tears of fear pricking behind her eyes. "Erik," she pleaded in a strangled tone. He looked on as Couteau's fangs pierced her neck. She cried out as she felt the blood in her veins rush toward his bite. Hermione's vision swam. Her legs weakened, and her brain felt fuzzy. She felt herself be pushed forward, and she thought she fell into Erik's arms. After that, the world was black.
Draco sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning, hoping that Hermione would be there. When he had woken, she was already gone. It was disappointing to feel the empty space beside him instead of a warm body. He wanted to berate her for it.
Hermione was not there, but Bianca, Harry, Blaise, and Ginny were. Surprisingly, Ronald Weasley sat only a few seats down, instead of at the end of the table as usual. He and Harry continually exchanged glances, which suggested to Draco that they had reconciled. He had wondered how much longer they were going to go on ignoring each other.
"Ginny," Ron said suddenly. Not just his sister, but all of them responded by looking at him. He reddened under their collective gaze. "Er, could you pass the butter?"
Ginny did so with a smile. Blaise kissed her cheek near the ear, which probably did not do much for Ron's mood. However, he did nothing in retaliation. He must have decided to be civil, quite an accomplishment for someone like Weasley.
"Do any of you know where Hermione is?" Draco asked when she had not shown up fifteen minutes later.
"No, I haven't seen her all morning," Harry answered.
"As far as I know, she hasn't been in Gryffindor Tower since yesterday just after dinner," Ginny added. "We all figured she stayed with you."
"Yes, but she was gone when I woke up." Draco was worried now. It was one thing for Hermione to be absent the morning after their first time together… or rather, first several times. It was another thing for her to disappear without a word to anyone. "Maybe we should check the library. There's a good chance she's there."
On the brink of standing, Draco paused when Bianca spoke. "She's not there."
"Bianca," Blaise said, "you know where she is?"
"Trouble. Something is going to hurt her. Something from the trees. It will come out at her," Bianca told them. She looked directly at Draco. "You should go after her."
For a second, none of them moved. Draco was paralyzed. He repeated her words in his head to get his body to move. They all stood at once. "Ginny, please stay with Bianca," Blaise requested. She seemed about to protest, but he repeated, "Please," and she sat down again. Blaise, Ron, Harry, and Draco all bolted from the Great Hall, Draco in the lead.
"Harry, do you have the Marauder's Map with you?" Ron asked him.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't show the whole forest. It just shows the fringe. I think she's a bit farther in than we would see." Harry's speech was clipped due to the shortening of breath that accompanies running.
"No need to talk, boys," Draco said. "Just follow me."
Somehow, he knew where he had to go without thinking. He ran so fast that branches whipped his face continuously. The stinging did not fade; Draco suspected that he was bleeding a little, but he did not care. He had to reach Hermione. If he was too late, it did not bear thinking of.
Their destination did not evade them. In no time, though it seemed years, they found a spot near a clearing where a dark figure bent over a limp body. The figure looked up as they approached with impressive speed. He was clearly a vampire, and Hermione had blood on her neck. The creature had been holding her, but he let go as they came closer. Ron shot spells at it, causing it to growl and run, but Draco went straight for Hermione.
He touched her face gently. Her skin was cold, but when he checked for a pulse it came through clearly. "She's alive, but not for much longer if we don't hurry back," Draco said to the others, gathering her swiftly into his arms.
"We'll get back in time. We can take turns carrying her if we have to," said Harry.
Not wasting any time, they took off again. They must have set a record, for they broke the trees in mere seconds. Draco was tiring himself by sprinting for so long carrying Hermione, but the seconds it would take to transfer her to someone else's arms could cost them. Ron suggested that he could take her, but Draco merely shook his head and kept on. As long as he was touching her, it could still be all right.
By the time they reached the castle, all four were already out of breath. Ignoring their own welfare, they pushed on, bearing Hermione at breakneck pace all the way to the infirmary. Harry reached the door first and held it open for Draco. Madame Pomfrey, ever-aware, bustled out of her office almost as soon as the door was opened.
"Gentlemen, this is a hospital wing and I have patients who need quiet… Oh, Merlin, not again!" she exclaimed. "Put her down on this bed. Quickly, now!" Draco placed Hermione as carefully as he could onto the bed. Madame Pomfrey hovered over the unconscious girl, examining her with a sweep of her wand. "She's lost quite a bit of blood, but she has no other injuries. Do you know what happened?"
"Vampire," Draco managed to gasp. Now that Hermione was in the hands of a capable healer, the four men were attempting to regain their breath. It was a difficult feat, considering how far and how fast they had run.
Madame Pomfrey had summoned a bottle from across the room, and spoke to Draco. "Do you mind holding her up while I pour this down her throat, Mister Malfoy?"
Draco obliged immediately. "Blood replenishing potion?" It was not truly a question, but Madame Pomfrey answered nonetheless.
"Of course. Ah, that should do." Draco set Hermione's head back on the pillow. Madame Pomfrey touched her wand to Hermione's neck and closed the wound in an instant. "Now, let me look at those cuts. How did you get these?"
"Running through a whole lot of trees," he responded glibly. With a stern look, the nurse healed whatever minor affliction Draco had acquired, then turned back to Hermione. "Madame Pomfrey, how much longer will she be unconscious?"
"Quite a while," the woman answered. "I doubt she will awaken until tonight. Possibly tomorrow morning. Therefore, I suggest that you boys get to class. It's already halfway into the period by now. Out, now. You can do nothing to help, and there is no reason for you to be here."
Reluctantly, they all trudged from the infirmary. Draco stood staring at the door after it was shut, not wanting to stray far. Eventually, Harry came up to Draco's side. "We shouldn't just stay here, Draco. We have class."
"The fact that you even remember that right now shocks me," Draco responded sharply. He started to pace impatiently. Without realizing it, he brought out his wand and began to twirl it between his fingers. "What could she have been thinking, going into the forest? She's supposed to be intelligent."
After a tense moment, Harry volunteered, "Draco, it seems that Hermione has been doing this for quite a while, meeting with a vampire. Probably the same one we saw."
Draco's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I was the one who followed her and found out about it," Ron said. "I only talked to Harry last night."
"I was going to tell you. I just didn't have time before Bianca mentioned the whole trouble thing." Harry's face was apologetic. Draco let it go, but did not say so. He paced some more, and hours seemed to pass during which no one said a word. "Draco, really. We should go to class."
"You can go to class," Draco said. "I'm not going anywhere."
To stop his feet from moving, he sat on the floor directly across from the door. Unsurprisingly, none of the others left. Harry and Ron had been close to her for years, and Blaise was one of the most loyal friends Draco could name. He would not have left either Hermione in her unconscious state or Draco in his distraught one.
Time inched by, but no word came. Few words were exchanged. Draco, for his part, barely moved. He willed the door to open, hoping that Hermione would wake up simply by his thinking it. This did not seem to have much effect, but he kept it up. Persistence was an old friend of his.
At the same moment as Draco realized that he was almost falling asleep, the infirmary door opened. Madame Pomfrey stood looking down at them for a few seconds, her mouth set in a stern line. "Honestly, the four of you are being just a bit ridiculous." Before any of them could respond, she sighed and said, "Hermione Granger is awake. You can come in and see her if you'd like."
…TBC…
