Harry was still baffled by the Time-Turner's power when he and Hermione sat down in the Forest. From where they were, they could see the Whomping Willow clearly. They had seen Ron being dragged in by Sirius in his animal form and then, they had seen themselves going in. After that, Lupin came. Harry shivered, thinking about what was going to happen just after they would leave the Shrieking Shack. He mostly felt bad for his teacher.
Now, they had to wait. They had to wait for Snape to come in and wait to see themselves get out of the passage again. It would be long, but they had no choice. They could hear Buckbeak, not far from them, but no other sound for now.
After a while, they finally saw Snape's shape approaching the tree. He had noticed the cloak they had left outside of the passage and Harry slowly shook his head. That's what had made him able to sneak into the Shrieking Shack without being noticed.
Harry heard Hermione gasp and he looked at the scene again.
"What?" He whispered before he noticed Malfoy. What the hell was Draco doing there? He was running but stopped when he saw his teacher. Actually, Snape and Draco both looked as surprised as Hermione and Harry were.
"I should have thought about it, shoot!" Hermione whispered and Harry didn't understand.
"What do you m-"
"Shhh!" She said as she put her hand against Harry's mouth. Not capable of making another sound, he listened to the newcomers too. Hermione was a bit nervous. Harry would probably know about Draco's secret, now. And at the same time, she didn't care, she was too worried for him. During that faithful night, she had totally forgot about him, too much had happened. But Lupin had turned. She should have known. Draco had to go to the Shrieking Shack too, because that's where he was hiding too, wasn't he? Soon, her fears were confirmed as Snape and Draco seemed to be arguing, Draco had to go in the Forest.
"Calm down? Calm down? I was waiting for you, I thought I wouldn't even be able to take the- I thought you wouldn't show up, that- And you want me to calm down?" Draco was almost shouting. Hermione knew everything he wanted to say. He thought that he wouldn't have been able to take the potion. After all, Lupin hadn't taken it. Hermione closed her eyes for a second, remembering her teacher's transformation. It had been horrible. And she had seen him in his werewolf form. Was Draco looking exactly like that? And was it that painful for him too? She opened her eyes again.
"You cannot go in there tonight." Snape told Draco. Finally, Hermione removed her hand from Harry's mouth. He was now too shocked to be able to say anything anyway, even to notice that his mouth was free again.
Draco was panicking, looking at the tree and at his teacher, not able to stay still. And that's when Snape told him he had to go in the Forest. Hermione bit her lower lip and Harry just blinked, still trying to process all those new information.
Hermione could see how afraid Draco was looking. Harry too, but he wasn't able to think about that. He was barely able to accept what it all meant. And at the same time, it just made so much sense. It was obvious.
Obvious. Hermione had known all this time. Harry looked at her. She was still looking intently at Draco and seemed extremely worried.
"I'll come and find you first thing tomorrow, I promise you. You just find a safe place. Now, Draco. Run."
Harry heard Snape but he was still looking at Hermione. He heard Draco's footsteps getting faster and a bit louder as he entered the Forest not so far away from them. Hermione was following him with her eyes until he disappeared between the trees and in the darkness. Then, Hermione saw Snape take the cloak and watched him walking in the passageway before she finally looked at Harry, who was still staring at her. He was still trying to think about all of this, about what it all meant. About what Draco's life must be like, why he was so close to Snape, about Draco and Lupin's relationship. About Draco's injury in the beginning of the year and how sick he was looking, how tired and kind of older he was looking.
About why, in the end, maybe Malfoy could bring himself to truly talk to Hermione. And why she really didn't want to tell on him or even discuss it with Draco himself. Harry could understand, it was too big for her to share this secret, even with her best friends.
The silence seemed to go on for hours, even though only a few minutes had passed. Hermione didn't say anything, she had to let Harry think about all of this. After a while, he seemed to be able to use his tongue again.
"So... Is that... I can't believe it..." He whispered.
"Trust me, I couldn't either, I found out because of Snape's class," Hermione whispered back, looking down for a second before she met Harry's eyes again. "Harry, you can't tell anyone," she said.
"I wasn't planning on doing it," he said as he looked at the trees behind them. Maybe they should leave sooner than they had originally planned, since he would turn there. Would he be able to smell them? Would he attack them if he could? He was suddenly feeling a bit insecure.
"You need to promise Harry, even if you're angry at him, even if he's really mean with you, don't get your revenge by revealing this, he's had a rough year already..." she said. Harry pursed his lips as he looked at Hermione for a few seconds. He wouldn't. It sounded tempting but at the same time, he knew that no matter how many opportunities he would have, he wouldn't say it.
"I promise," he said. Hermione gave him a shy smile and glanced at the tree again. "But wait, now that I think about it," he added. "That howl we heard, the one that drove Lupin away from us, remember?" Harry asked, thinking about the first night they had lived before going back in time. When Sirius and Lupin had faced each other in their other form, what had saved Sirius and Harry was that howl. Lupin hadn't been able to resist to go see the other wolf. Had it been Draco? It seemed plausible. Or maybe it wasn't just because it was the howl of any other wolf, but because it was Draco's. They had spent the whole year turning together, apparently, could werewolves become... friends? Harry shook his head a bit, it was too weird.
"It might be... Do you know what it means?" Hermione said. Harry frowned a little, tilting his head.
"That... They might have fought in the Forest? What if one of them is... hurt?" Harry said, not to say the word "dead". Hermione blinked.
"I was going to say that it meant Draco saved your life," she said quietly, now not able to get the image of a hurt or dead Draco out of her head. She didn't know if Lupin was bigger or stronger. Harry swallowed.
"Sorry..." he muttered. "But we didn't have the time to see if they were coming back to the castle, the night wasn't over," he whispered.
"I know... I guess... I guess we will see," Hermione said, trying with all her strength not to think about it anymore. But she couldn't, her heart was beating really fast now.
"Maybe it's not the case, you know," Harry said directly, knowing that Hermione was worried. She couldn't hide it and even if he hated Draco, he would hate to learn he was dead because of all of this. And he wanted even less for Lupin to get hurt or killed either. What if Draco was actually more dangerous? If they were lucky enough, it wouldn't be the case. "Remember what Dumbledore told us. That more than one innocent life could be saved, maybe he wasn't just talking about Buckbeak and Sirius," he said, trying to sound full of confidence. Hermione looked at him and gave him the same shy smile she had given him a few minutes before.
And they kept waiting in silence.
They both suddenly stood up as they saw themselves getting out of the Whomping Willow. They were still hiding as they watched what had been happening to them a couple of hours before. It was just a matter of minutes before Lupin's transformation. Harry saw himself hugging Sirius while Hermione couldn't stop but glance at the sky and at Lupin again and again, knowing that Draco was somewhere behind them, far away, waiting to turn. She couldn't stop thinking about how terrified he was looking. Was he so afraid for every full moon, or was it just because of this unusual night? She couldn't help but grab Harry's arm as she looked at Lupin again.
They were both focused on his transformation and unconsciously, they were also trying to see if they could hear Draco. They didn't know how far away he was. But hearing Lupin, they were almost certain that maybe he would scream loud enough for them to hear him too, not that the thought was reassuring in any way.
Then, it started. Sirius turned, tried to defend everyone and Harry saw his past self following them.
"Nothing's happening," he muttered.
"It will, Draco will... It will happen," Hermione said. But they couldn't hear anything. "He will save you," she muttered.
"He's not doing anything!" Harry said as he tried to move forwards. Hermione grabbed his arms and pulled him backwards before she came in front of him. Harry was shocked when he heard her howling like a wolf.
"What are you-"
"Shut up!" She said before she did it again. Lupin had stopped moving and was listening, his head turned in their direction. So, it hadn't been Draco after all.
"Thanks..." Harry whispered before he grabbed her hand. "Nice move, now he's coming!" He said. They both turned around and started to run as fast as they could. Harry couldn't help but think that Draco might have heard them too. They were stuck in the Forest with two werewolves chasing them. They weren't that lucky, in the end. But he had also thought that Hermione's idea was good at first so he couldn't really blame her. For now, they had to hide. They kept running, their lungs burning, before they stopped behind a tree, holding each other. Harry could feel how Hermione's body was shaking, she was terrified. They stayed in silence, trying to breathe quietly. They couldn't hear anything for now. But soon, they knew Lupin was there. Or was it Draco? They couldn't tell.
They moved a little to the side as they heard the werewolf approaching. They had no chance. Harry was shaking too. Had they sent themselves directly to their death by going back in time?
They stopped moving. The werewolf had stopped too, sniffing the air. Harry and Hermione's jaws were clenched hard as they glanced at it. It was on their left, not that far away. They didn't move but they were giving themselves false hopes. Of course it would see them. The werewolf slowly turned its head. Hermione and Harry stepped back. Harry was holding his friend as Lupin approached fast, ready to attack, to kill them.
They heard some noise, a growl and soon, Lupin was thrown on the side because of the creature that had jumped on him. Again, Harry and Hermione had moved backwards, almost falling. Another werewolf was attacking Lupin. But he was a bit different. His hair were way lighter. Apparently, their fur was the color of their natural hair. This werewolf was almost white. He was also smaller than Lupin. And he seemed to be very aggressive. But Lupin was too. They had rolled on the side because of Draco's weight when he had jumped on Lupin but Draco was already standing again and he couldn't help but turn towards Hermione and Harry.
They were hoping that he had taken his potion and that it meant he wouldn't attack them but Hermione knew better. Hermione knew that even with the potion, humans weren't safe at all. Everything was actually happening very fast and they barely had the time to register that Draco was coming for them before Lupin got up too.
It seemed like Draco had been distracting enough for Lupin. Draco had angered him. Harry and Hermione saw him stand up again and jump on Draco. It was his turn to attack, apparently. Hermione couldn't move, she was frozen on her spot but Harry knew what to do. It was their chance. Unfortunately, it meant that their fear might be true. Maybe one of them wouldn't make it through the night. What was sure was that they might be badly hurt. Harry grabbed Hermione by the arm and started to run. They could hear Draco and Lupin's growls behind them but they couldn't waste more time in the Forest or Sirius would end up caught and kissed by the Dementors. The last thing they heard was a more high-pitched sound coming from one of the werewolves.
They abandoned Draco and Lupin, knowing that they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway if it wasn't getting killed.
.
It had been a very long night and they weren't out of trouble just yet, not with Snape around. But at least, they had saved Sirius from his dreadful faith. They stayed in their bed all morning and left the hospital around noon. There was almost no student left in the castle. The exams were over and almost every students had left for a last visit of Hogsmeade.
Harry had hurried to go to Lupin's office, his heart beating fast. His teacher was there, reassuring him. He seemed to be fine. He gave Harry the map back as well as his cloak. But Harry's mood changed pretty fast when he learned that he had resigned because Snape had revealed his secret.
"But, you're not the only one-! Why should you leave?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. Lupin tilted his head, considering Harry for a while.
"It's not the same."
"Why? It's unfair, you can't leave."
"Yes, well, not a lot of things are fair in life, Harry, I supposed you knew that." Lupin said calmly, still emptying his drawers. "About that... Did you see Draco?" He asked, not looking at Harry anymore. Harry clenched his jaw and looked away for a few seconds before he glanced at his teacher again.
"No, I didn't. But you're here, so, I s'pose he's somewhere in the castle. Or at Hogsmeade with his friends."
Deep down, Harry knew he wasn't believing that himself.
"I doubt it," Lupin said, looking down. Draco should be in the hospital wing so Lupin's fear were more or less confirmed. He was afraid Draco hadn't come back. He hadn't killed him, Lupin was sure of it, but Draco had run away at some point and he hadn't followed him, hurt too. His body was still hurting, Draco hadn't been soft at all with him, but he hadn't been with Draco either.
Draco would probably hate him after that. But Lupin wasn't angry at Draco. His body was already destroyed and if it hadn't been for this attack, he would have killed Harry and Hermione. "Can you do me a favor?" Lupin asked, hoping Draco wasn't still in the Forest.
"Yeah, sure."
"If you see him... Can you ask him to come and see me? I need to talk to him," Lupin said, finally looking at Harry. He didn't know what was this expression on Lupin's face but Harry didn't like it. It seemed to be a weird mix of sadness and exhaustion. Harry took a few seconds before he answered.
"Yeah, alright."
If Draco wasn't coming soon, Lupin would go in the Forest by himself.
"Are you ok, Hermione?" Ron asked as he looked at his friend. Hermione was quiet now that Harry was back.
"Lupin's back, but..." She said quietly. Harry understood, not Ron. They hadn't said anything about Draco, they didn't know how to talk about it, they didn't know if they should. Hermione thought it was best to keep that part secret for now, but Harry was dying to tell his best friend. Still, he had promised Hermione the night before, so he didn't know what to do.
"What's it about?" Ron asked, glancing at Harry. Not able to lie to Ron, he looked down.
"We need to do something," Hermione said. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Do we?"
"Harry!" Hermione said, "I know you're angry Lupin has to leave but don't take it out on him."
Ron, still next to them, crossed his arms. "Thanks guys, I don't feel pushed aside," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. Hermione glanced at him, looking sorry.
"We can't..." She said. Ron stared at her for a few seconds before he looked at Harry.
'"Even you?"
"I'm sorry," Harry said. He really was, all he wanted to do was to tell him the truth.
"Yeah, yeah, right," Ron said as he waved his hand. Hermione looked at Harry.
"Harry, please help me. Or I'll go alone," she said.
"No, you can't, why-" he stopped, letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine. But it's the only time I'll do something for him."
"So, can I come?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry and Hermione said, turning their heads at the same time.
"Just make sure Snape doesn't know where we're going," she said.
"Where are you going anyway?"
"In the Forbidden Forest," Hermione said, confident. Harry sighed again and Hermione pushed his arm. "You're so insensitive. If you think about it, he saved us," she said. It was hard for Harry but he had to admit it was true. "I'm sorry Ron but... With your leg, and there wouldn't be enough space under the cloak."
"I get it," Ron said, shaking a bit his head, frustrated. But he knew she was right.
"We can meet at the hospital. I don't know for how long we will be gone but..."
"I'll wait for you there," Ron said as they walked down the stairs. He glanced at the Great Hall. "But first..." He said, a little smile on his lips. Hermione shook her head and Harry smiled a little. When he turned his head, he saw Pansy in front of the stairs leading to the dungeons. He frowned and elbowed Hermione as Ron walked towards the Great Hall to go eat. Hermione stopped and stared at Pansy, who hadn't noticed them. She was looking worried.
"She's not at Hogsmeade..." Hermione whispered, knowing Pansy hadn't missed a single trip there. "She knows. She's waiting for him," she said.
"Wait, you can't be sure," Harry said as he stopped Hermione.
"But it makes sense. She must have found out, or he told her, maybe that's why they stopped talking, look at her," Hermione said. Pansy was staring at the big doors, like she was hoping Draco would walk in any second now. Harry pursed his lips and glanced at Hermione. "We need to let her know, don't you think?"
"She can know when we come back," Harry said. Hermione rolled her eyes, turned around and walked towards Pansy. Harry sighed and followed her anyway. Finally, Pansy noticed them as they were walking towards her. Hermione stopped in front of her.
"And what do you want?" Pansy asked, disdainfully.
"Have you seen Draco?" Hermione asked, not minding using his first name. Harry stared at her and Pansy looked a bit surprised.
"Why would you need to see him?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I just need to make sure he's there, I don't need to see him," Hermione said as she nodded towards the stairs. Pansy hesitated. Should she lie? Hermione probably didn't know about his secret, right? She wouldn't know where he was if she said no. After all, even Pansy didn't know. He had talked about the Shrieking Shack but was he still there? He was supposed to be in the hospital. Pansy was now always going there to spend some time with him after a moon ever since they started to talk again. But that morning, when she went in the hospital, she had seen the trio and had left right away. They seemed to be asleep but she didn't want to risk being seen there. She had looked around for Draco before leaving, though, and she hadn't seen him. So, she thought he either didn't go there because of them, or he had already left, again because of them. She had even checked his dorm but he wasn't sleeping there so she guessed he wasn't back yet and now she was waiting for him, a bit worried, she couldn't help it. It was later than usual.
Hermione and Pansy stared at each other for a few seconds as Harry was beginning to get impatient.
"Hermione," he said shortly, waiting to go.
"He's not there, is he?" Hermione asked Pansy. She didn't answer. "You know, don't you?"
"How did you-"
"I figured," Hermione whispered as she took a step towards Pansy, getting closer as two Hufflepuffs were leaving the Great Hall. "Pansy, if he's not there, he's... look," Hermione sighed, "Go take some clothes for him."
"What?" Pansy and Harry said at the same time. Hermione elbowed her friend.
"Look, we are on the same side here, we want to help him," Hermione said. "He needs help. Help from all of us. Go grab him some clothes and give them to us."
"I want to come, do you know where he is?" Pansy said quickly, too worried to let her hate towards Harry and Hermione drive her. "I want to help him," she said.
"Why don't you wait for him in the hospital? We will bring him back there," Hermione said, actually sympathetic even though she couldn't accept Pansy's demand. She couldn't let her come. There wouldn't be enough space under the cloak for all of them and it would only make them slower anyway.
"No, I- let me come with you, is he hurt?"
"We don't know but... he's in the Forest. You want to help him?" Hermione asked and Pansy nodded right away. "Give us his clothes and stay near the hospital. I promise you we only want to help him. When we will come back, we will directly go there." Hermione said. Pansy slightly shook her head.
"Fine," she said reluctantly. "But I'm only listening to you for Draco," she said before she walked away to go to the Slytherin's common room. Harry and Hermione waited, a bit anxious. She came back quicker than they thought she would. "That should do it," she said as she handed the clothes to Hermione.
"Thanks," Hermione said.
"Shut up and just leave, move!" Pansy said, annoyed, before she walked towards the stairs to go to the hospital wing. Harry and Hermione, finally alone, put the cloak on and left the castle to walk towards the Forest.
.
"Let's go there," Hermione said, pointing at the place they had been waiting at the night before. Everything had happened near that place, if they had to search for Draco, they would begin there. They found the spot where they had been hiding and they started to walk in the Forest, keeping the cloak on them. They found the place where they had tied Buckbeak before Lupin had come in the Forest. When they had run away, during Lupin's and Draco's fight, they had taken Buckbeak with them and the rest was history.
"I think we ran this way when Lupin came," Harry said, pointing in a direction where he could see some footsteps on the still humid ground. He was pretty sure they had been made by them and they could see them pretty clearly thanks to the light. They weren't deep in the Forest yet, the sun was still able to let its light go through the leaves. They followed the footsteps they could find on their way and ended up finding the place they were looking for. It had happened there.
There weren't any more of their footsteps, there. Instead, they could see traces of the fight between Lupin and Draco. Even some trees had some marks because of their claws. The dirt on the ground only let appear vague shapes, it was very messy and, for Hermione's great despair, there was some blood on the scene. She wasn't surprised, but still. She could see it on the leaves on the ground. Those not covered by dirt had drops of blood on them and she also discovered some spots on the floor that seemed darker than the rest because of the thick liquid. Hermione quickly removed the cloak and approached the stains on the ground.
"Hermione, come back under it!" Harry said as he approached her. They weren't supposed to be in the Forest, not only because it was forbidden but because of the many creatures living there. It was too dangerous. He quickly crouched next to Hermione, putting the cloak above her. Hermione's anxiety was only growing inside her stomach.
They stood up again and began to walk, following every single hint of Draco's passage they could find. Harry could feel how tense Hermione was and he wanted to reassure her.
"Lupin wouldn't have been so calm if he had... you know, I'm sure he's gonna be fine," he said. Hermione had thought so too but when Harry had told her everything Lupin had said and what he had asked, she had been worried. He didn't know where Draco was either. Maybe he had thought Snape was taking care of him. Or maybe... no, Lupin cared about Draco. He would have looked for him. Maybe he just thought he had come back in the castle by himself too.
"Wait, is that..." Harry said, looking at something on the ground.
"It's his tie!" Hermione said, recognizing the Slytherin tie. "Maybe he turned not that far from here."
They had the feeling they weren't going to find anything else when, after what seemed to be fifteen minutes of research, they found one of his shoe and a sock near it. Hermione wanted to call after him but it was way too dangerous. Still, at that point, it seemed like he really hadn't gone too far in the Forest before transforming, probably because he couldn't see anything at the time. They kept walking, Harry a bit worried that they wouldn't find their way out. But Hermione was not only worried, she was determined. She wanted to find him and she would, even if Harry had to leave her alone.
They didn't know how long they had been walking when Harry stopped Hermione. They had almost missed him.
"What?"
"He's there!" Harry said as he pointed at two legs they could see behind some tree which was lying on the ground.
After the fight, Draco had hidden there. Even in his other form, he had been confused, hurt and tired because of the fight and the potion. So, he had run away and had found this spot. He had lay behind the trunk and licked some of his wounds before he had fallen asleep, exhausted.
Again, Harry stopped Hermione when she was about to run towards Draco.
"Don't-!"
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, impatient. Harry stared at her for a second before he took the clothes from her hands. Hermione went pink. "Hurry up," she whispered. Harry nodded and removed the cloak before he almost ran towards the spot where Draco was lying. But before going past the tree, he stopped and walked way slower. He was hoping he wouldn't find him dead. He was hoping that he wouldn't find him too badly injured either.
"Please be asleep, please be asleep, please be asleep... Please don't be dead..."
He was asleep. Harry walked carefully towards him and when he walked past the tree, he saw Draco's chest moving up and down. But he also saw blood. He saw cuts. He saw a bite. Harry's heart was beating very fast as he walked past Draco. He was on his left side, his face facing the tree, and Harry kneeled behind him. He put the clothes next to them and put a hand on Draco's shoulder, shaking the body carefully.
"Malfoy, come on, open your eyes," he whispered, like he didn't want to disturb him. He also didn't want to be heard by anything else that might be around. Again, he shook the body, a bit harder. "Come on, wake up."
Draco moved. He moved his head, grimaced and let out a little moan before he opened his eyes. There wasn't so much light, which made it easier for him to open them.
"Malfoy, come on," Harry whispered. It was a few seconds before Malfoy realized who had woken him up and who was talking to him. He wanted to move but his body was hurting all over.
"P-"
"It's fine, don't talk," Harry said, actually feeling a bit bad for Draco. "We're here to help you."
"We?" Draco asked with a broken voice as he looked around, still very confused. "Who- What... How did you...?"
"We'll talk later," Harry said, staying really calm not to stress Draco out even more. "You're hurt," he whispered, looking again at his body.
"No kidding," Draco mumbled, actually really embarrassed to be found like this. He just wanted to hide somewhere, to make him stop looking at his body. He didn't even mind being naked, he just didn't want him to look at his wounds. Draco slowly rolled on his back, looking at the leaves high above him and he tried to remember most of his night.
Snape had asked him to go in the Forest, he had turned and then he had smelled humans. He could remember that. But before he had been able to reach them, he had heard something. At first, he had recognized Lupin's howl. But then, there had been another one and he hadn't been able to resist. But when he had seen Lupin, he didn't know what got into him. Maybe it was because of the smell of the humans, maybe it was because he had been nervous and angry to have to be in the Forest, to feel like even Snape was abandoning him. He was just furious, that night. He had been destructive and had attacked.
He could remember the fight and he suddenly wanted to cry. He clenched his jaw as he tried to straighten a little. Harry directly put a hand on his back, where he wasn't hurt, and another one just under his elbow, trying to help him sit. But putting his hand on Draco's arm made Harry's fingers meet the old scars from his first encounter with Lupin. It made Draco remove his arm from Harry's grip a bit suddenly. Harry had felt the injury, he knew it wasn't because Draco didn't want his help.
"Sorry..." Harry muttered. He would have never imagined saying that to Draco before that day. Draco only grimaced and, glancing at his body again to see the damages, Harry noticed the bite. Not the fresh one on his shoulder. The old one, on his right side. The one that had changed him. There were some drops of dry blood on it but he could see it clearly. It wasn't the only thing there. It looked like he had scratched it, but in his human form. Harry wondered if the scars were staying even when werewolves weren't in their wolf form because it looked like those marks had been created by Draco's nails, not claws. They weren't that visible, actually, since it had been because of his fingers, but still, he had scratched the bite so much he had hurt himself and sadly, Harry knew it wasn't because it had been itchy. He was pretty sure it was because Draco couldn't bear having this scar on his skin, reminding him his condition every day.
One moment of panic, of weakness, one moment of self-loathing and he might have lost it. Yes, Harry hated Draco, but just imagining him doing this was making him feel bad for his enemy. He knew how much Lupin hated being this way, Draco was probably feeling the same. Was it why he was so mean with everyone? Harry swallowed and glanced at Draco's face, noticing that he was staring at him, not looking happy about what Harry was doing.
"Keep looking and I might just do the same to you," he said coldly. Harry blinked. He knew Draco would never do something like that, well, not consciously, and that it was just a defense mechanism, but still.
"Er- I've got some clothes for you, we're going to walk you back to the hospital, I'm going to help you," Harry said as he stood up. He glanced at Hermione, who was still waiting a few feet away, holding the cloak tight against her and biting her lip, clearly nervous. Harry, at first, showed her his thumb to make her know that it was ok. He directly saw Hermione's body being a bit more relaxed, when she had been so tense a second before. Then, he waved at her to ask her to turn around before, again, he helped Draco getting up.
"I can... get dressed by myself..." Draco muttered, not looking at Harry, even more embarrassed than before. Harry pursed his lips, took the clothes from the ground and put them on the trunk next to them.
"We'll wait for you over there, take your time," he said. Draco was hoping that by "we", Harry meant that Lupin was with him. He didn't dare look behind him, though. Deep down, he knew it wasn't him. If so, he would have come alone. Or he would have been the one helping him, not Potter. No, Lupin probably hated Draco at that point, he probably didn't want to see him right now. Draco felt bad, still not looking at Harry as he walked away. He just hoped it wasn't Weasley.
Then, he slowly dressed up, his injuries hurting him and he thought about the night again. He tried to remember who were the humans he had almost attacked. He could remember the smells, the shapes, but he couldn't put a face on them just yet. After his pants, he put on his shirt but didn't close it. It was already dirty because of the blood on his skin and he didn't want to be in something too tight, he didn't want to hurt himself more but he still wanted to have his chest and back covered.
Draco closed his eyes and sighed, not wanting to face Harry again. Still, he walked towards him. Looking at the ground, he walked past the tree, his injured feet hurting him. He looked up at Harry, who was whispering with... Draco's heart skipped a beat as some memories came back in his mind when he saw Hermione's face. She had turned her head as soon as he had started to walk towards them and she was staring at him. Draco's body became really tense as he took a step backwards, his hands reaching his shirt to hide his chest. He remembered. He had almost attacked them. His heart was beating so fast that he wondered how they could not hear it.
"Draco!" Hermione whispered as she took a few steps towards him. Again, Draco moved backwards and stopped her from touching him.
"Don't-" he said, meeting her eyes, a shaking hand raised in front of him. She couldn't approach more, he wouldn't let her. "Please, don't," he muttered, holding back tears.
"I-I'm glad you're... fine," Hermione said, knowing he wasn't really fine. He seemed to be badly injured but at least, he was standing. He was a mess, hiding his chest with this dirty shirt, his feet were dirty and injured too, his hair were as untidy as Harry's and he was pale, looking sick and exhausted. She was keeping some space between them, as he apparently wanted her to. She could understand. He probably had never wanted them to see him like that. Even just to know about him. For some reason, Draco slowly nodded at her words. He was still confused, sad, tired, hurt, and he just wanted it to be over.
It was the end of everything anyway. She knew. Potter knew. He could have killed them the night before. Potter would tell everyone, he would have him expelled, he would ruin his life. What were his parents going to say? They would regret having saved him and let him live in the manor with them in the first place. His heart was still beating so fast that it made his head spin. Hermione showed him what she had in her hands but it took a moment for him to understand what it was.
"Come with us under this, we're going back in the castle, Madam Pomfrey will take care of you."
Draco took a deep breath. He glanced at Harry before he met Hermione's eyes again. He didn't have a choice anyway.
.
The way back to the castle was not only very awkward, but uncomfortable as well. Draco had a lot of difficulties and ended up accepting to rest against Harry. He put an arm around his shoulders and Harry around Draco's sides, hoping he wouldn't hurt him as he helped him walk. Hermione was busy with the cloak, keeping it above them and making sure no one could see them. They were lucky that most of the students were at Hogsmeade.
Draco felt kind of relieved when he felt the cold floor of the castle on his bare feet once they were back. He would be able to rest soon. He wasn't complaining, it was already shameful enough to accept Potter's help, so he was staying silent. And oddly enough, his main preoccupation was for Hermione not to see his injuries and scars.
The feeling of relief didn't last long when they started to climb the stairs. Even with Harry's help, Draco was tired and hurt. Because of his feet, every step he was taking was hurting him. Soon, he was panting and thought he was about to cry when Harry asked if he would be able to continue. But he wasn't about to cry because of the pain this time, just because of the shame. He was so embarrassed. He whispered that he was ok and just kept walking with them. It's only once in the hallway leading to the hospital that Hermione removed the cloak, they were alone. Draco couldn't wait to find a bed. The cloak in one hand and the other coming on Draco's other side to help him too, they walked towards the hospital, soon seeing Ron waiting for them. If Draco had the strength, he would have rolled his eyes, seeing Weasley's face.
"What the hell happened to him?" He asked, his eyes wide open.
"Nothing concerning you," Draco said, hoarse. Hermione glanced at Draco and Harry shook his head, looking at Ron. He would know later, Draco didn't need them to talk about that now.
"Open the door," Harry said and Ron directly did it, walking in the room, followed by the unlikely trio.
"Draco!" Looking up, Draco discovered Pansy. She had been sitting on one of the beds, apparently waiting for him. She walked quickly towards him. "Draco, are you ok?"
She was looking very worried. Harry let go of Draco, who seemed to be able to stand still and Hermione ended up doing the same, glancing at Pansy. Draco, again, hid his body behind his shirt as he nodded.
"I'll survive," he said, walking slowly towards the bed Pansy had been sitting on. She directly helped him to walk, only looking at him. It didn't even cross her mind to thank Harry and Hermione, she was way too worried for that.
"What is going on here?" They heard a voice say behind them. "By Merlin, what happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey said as she quickly approached Draco, mainly seeing the blood on his shirt. Draco clenched his jaw as he looked up at the matron. Now that he was sitting, he thought he would at least have a few minutes to catch his breath, but his day was not over. "Come on, show me!"
"Yeah, alright, just..." he mumbled, annoyed. He just wanted to sleep, was it too much? He glanced around. "I want them out," he said, suddenly a bit cold. Ron grimaced, Harry only stared at him and he couldn't tell what Hermione's expression was because he didn't look at her. He glanced at Pansy, who was sitting next to him. "She can stay," he said, nodding towards her. Pansy gave him a shy smile, gently pressing his arm before she looked at the nurse. Madam Pomfrey sighed and turned around.
"Well, you heard him, out of here, go," she said quickly before she turned around again. "And you, remove that," she told Draco. He rolled his eyes and when he saw the others turning around to leave, he finally removed his shirt. Pansy put her hand in front of her mouth not to gasp and Madam Pomfrey approached more to take a look at the wounds. "What happened?"
"I-" Draco began. He glanced at the door. The others were leaving and he looked down. "I did that to myself," he said, not looking at anyone anymore. He gritted his teeth, carefully avoiding to look up, knowing Madam Pomfrey was probably not believing him. He had a scratch on his back and a bite on the shoulder, she would clearly know that he didn't do that by himself. But Draco also knew that she wouldn't ask more questions.
"He did it himself?" Ron asked after they had closed the door. They had left just after they had heard Draco say that. "What- I mean, he-"
"Lupin did that to him," Harry said as he crossed his arms.
"Harry!" Hermione said, hitting his arm.
"What, do you want me to lie? With what he saw?" Harry said before he turned to look at Ron again. "We've got some things to tell you."
.
They waited to be back in the common room and alone to tell Ron about Draco being a werewolf. Hermione explained how she had discovered it, way earlier that year and that it was how she had discovered it for Lupin too. Then, they talked about what had happened the night before. Ron really wanted to know how Draco had looked like. He had seen Lupin and had been really scared. Hermione didn't say anything, thinking about the events again. She had been terrified, she had told it to Harry. And she wasn't able to speak about it in details just yet. But Harry did describe Draco like he could.
"He looked like Lupin, really, expect for his size and his fur... It was... Weird," he just said, not really knowing what words he could use.
They kept talking about it for a while, Ron asking many questions and Harry told what had happened in the Forest before they had brought Draco in the hospital. He couldn't believe Lupin had actually done that to Draco, and that Draco had probably hurt their teacher too. That he had been there this whole time. That he had been a werewolf this whole time.
Then, Hermione spoke again, at last. She asked Ron to promise he wouldn't tell anything to anyone.
"Why should I promise that?" Ron asked. "He's gonna have to leave, that'll be great!" He said, smiling at Harry.
"Ron!" Hermione said as she stood up. "You're so insensitive!"
"Oh, because Malfoy is sensitive?" Ron asked, stunned. "I don't remember him being that nice when he was calling you a- Why are you taking his side anyway?"
"I'm not taking his side," she said, frustrated. "I'm just saying-"
"That we should be nice with him after everything he did to us?"
"You can't tell anyone, do you even imagine what it will do not only to him, but to Lupin?" She asked as she looked at Harry.
"Lupin is leaving anyway... " Harry said, more quietly as he was thinking about it.
"That's my point!" Hermione exclaimed. "Lupin is leaving! What do you think he will do? Nothing! You know about the legislation, Hogwarts was his only chance and Snape ruined it! Draco will have nothing left, do you think about what could happen with his family?"
"I already can't believe he can stay with them as a-" Ron said, still not able to say that Draco was a werewolf. It was way too weird. "I guess they won't have a problem with that. They're ridiculously rich anyway, he doesn't have to work, what's he going to do later? Like you said, there's the legislation, the Ministry probably knows about him. He's not going to work."
"It's more than that and you know it, Ron. And I'm sure you're too good to live knowing you've ruined his life." Ron was actually already rethinking his decision. Because Hermione was right, and at the same time... It was so tempting.
"You're exaggerating, it's not going to-"
"Everyone will know. Everyone. Why do you think there's this kind of legislation against werewolves? People hate them. It's pure bigotry. His friends will know. Their family's friends will know. They're all about blood-purity, what do you think will happen? He doesn't deserve that."
"He doesn't deserve-? Of course he deserves it! And what about his friends? Parkinson knows and she doesn't seem too annoyed by it!"
"Harry!" Hermione pleaded, not knowing what to do anymore.
"To be fair, Draco deserves-" Harry began, quietly again. He wasn't sure telling everyone was a good idea either, but like Ron, he was tempted.
"You promised, Harry!" Hermione said. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone! He doesn't have to pay because of his parents' actions, because you hate his father or because you two hate him, he doesn't have to pay when he didn't decide to be like this! Why are you guys acting like this? And I'm not talking just for you, he's stupid as well! Look at what all your stupid fights are creating, you're really thinking about doing this to someone? It's disgusting!" She was almost yelling at them, on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe it, they couldn't do something like that. Even if she wasn't feeling the way she was for him, she wouldn't be able to handle this decision calmly.
"Hermione, calm down now," Ron said as he got up to face her. "We're talking about Draco, not... Neville, I mean, it's not like-"
"What if we were talking about Neville?" Hermione interrupted him. "What if we were talking about, I don't know, Fred, or George, or Ginny? Would you like for them to be expelled and treated like nothing for the rest of their lives because of this? You shouldn't even consider this option, that's sick!"
"We won't, ok?" Ron said louder. "We won't tell anyone, fine! Calm down, now, geez."
Hermione couldn't believe it. She shook her head, sighed and walked quickly towards the stairs to go to her dorm.
"I'd better go see Lupin, he will want to know about Draco..." Harry said, very uncomfortable. Ron sighed too and decided to go with Harry. He knew Hermione was right, and Harry knew it too.