Chapter 11
A Late Night Visit
Hermione lay drifting in and out of sleep in the hospital wing. The slante potion that Proff. Snape had forced her to ingest had tasted like bat guts and sprouts. Not that she knew what bat guts tasted like. It just tasted nasty. It did, however, make her feel a lot better. Madame Pomfrey had told her it was an old Irish potion used to promote good health. Madame Pomfrey had also told her that it contained a large amount of fire whiskey. Thank God for the Irish, she thought dreamily.
As she began to fall asleep, she heard a noise. It was very soft, so soft that she thought she was imagining it a first. Gradually it got louder. And louder. She could make out the sound now: it was laugher, a deep, booming laughter. She couldn't tell where it was coming from; it seemed to seep out of the very fiber of the objects around her. Hermione pulled the blanket up around her head. She wished she could transfigure herself into an ostrich. She could bury her head deep in the sand and hide from the world, or at the very least, hide from the laughter. Unfortunately, she couldn't and the laughter just got worse and worse. It began to fill up her head so that she could think of nothing else. A trickle of laughter escaped her lips. The trickle turned into a stream. Soon, she was drowned in her own laughter.
A/N: I tried to put a little star here but if it doesn't come up…this is a new part of the chap.
Malfoy had decided to give up trying not to think about Hermione. He just went with it. He had eaten his dinner alone and was now resting on his bed. His mind was consumed with Hermione.
"Granger" he corrected himself.
He could not start thinking of her as if she were a real person. That would just confuse things. Right now, he needed his head clear. There were more important things going on in his life than what was happening with Hermione. He just couldn't seem to keep his mind on them. He had to get her out of his head. There was only one way to do that.
A/N: another break
Malfoy crept out of his room as soon as it was late enough that bumping into anyone was unlikely. Even if he did, he could just say he was on prefect business.
He heard the laugher as soon as he stepped foot inside the hospital wing. It gave him shivers all down his spine. Malfoy, being who he was, had met some very nasty and downright evil people in his years. They had all some sort of quirk that had creeped him out, but this laughter…it topped them all. It echoed about around him, never coming from the same place.
He opened the door to the hospital wing to find Madame Pomfrey and Proff. Dumbledore bent over Hermione's bed. As he went closer, he could see that she was huddled up on her bed, echoing the laughter that was pouring out of the walls. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.
"What's happening to her?" he yelled over the din.
Madame Pomfrey turned around and started ushering him out.
"What are you doing her? You should be in bed! I'll be telling Proff. Snape about this! He'll be so…" she began but was cut off by Dumbledore.
"Madame Pomfrey, Bring Mr. Malfoy over here would you?"
Malfoy tried to mask his shock but he knew Dumbledore never missed a trick.
"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore began, "I believe you can help Miss Granger."
This time Malfoy didn't even try to hide his surprise.
"Me?" he asked incredulously, "How could I help her? She's lost it!"
Malfoy looked down at her and realized that even though he knew he couldn't help her, he wished he could. That scared him even more than the crazy laughter.
Hermione's shivering got worse and her hand fell to the side of the bed. Malfoy instinctively reached for it, but drew his hand back when he realised what he was doing.
Dumbledore cam up beside him.
"Do not be afraid Mr. Malfoy" he whispered.
Malfoy slowly reached out for Hermione's hand. He paused just a hairs breath away from it.
"How is this going to help?" he asked, still holding his hand away.
"I do not know if it will. But we can try."
Malfoy took her hand. Her laughing stopped. Her shivering decreased.
The laughter seeping out of the room increased until it began to fill Malfoy's head, just as it had Hermione's. Just as it was about to take over, Hermione opened her eyes. She looked at Malfoy, then down at his hand intertwined with her own. She blinked then looked back up at him.
"Thank you." She breathed.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Malfoy's head became clear. He stared down at her and felt the beginning of actual butterflies in his stomach. It was all too much for him. He snatched his hand away and wiped it on his hand on his sleeve, as if he'd touched something dirty.
"Thank you? Thank you for what?" he asked scathingly. "I'm the one that put you in here in the first place remember!" He gave his hand one last wipe on his sleeve and walked out o the room.