As they waited for news on Hermione, Harry got checked out by a healer who gave him a potion to help ease a bit of internal bruising he'd been suffering from. Thankfully Harry's bruising wasn't as bad as Hermione's, so he'd been in no risk of collapsing like his aunt. Even so, it was just another display of the lax job Madam Pomfrey had done looking after the pair.

Also as they waited for news, everyone got themselves tested to see if they would be a match for Hermione if she needed a kidney. Since they were in the same hospital where Narcissa was still residing, Draco went to visit his parents and filled them in on what was happening. Lucius had immediately headed off to speak to Voldemort, Beth and Severus and he also volunteered to get himself tested in case Hermione needed a kidney. By the time Beth and Voldemort could go and see their daughter, everyone had been tested and they would just have to wait for the results. Although they were also waiting to see if such drastic treatment was needed as for the time being Hermione had stabilised.

By breakfast time, Draco and Harry still hadn't been able to see Hermione, so Severus had agreed to give them the morning off school. However, he'd still had to pop back to Hogwarts to sort a few things with McGonagall. During his trip back at school, he announced that all Potions and Dark Arts lessons were cancelled for the day, and he asked McGonagall to arrange for Madam Pomfrey to be in his office at lunchtime. He'd then left the deputy headmistress in charge as he'd returned to see his sister.

By mid-morning, Draco and Harry were allowed to go and visit Hermione. By this point, Beth, Voldemort and Severus had all been in to see her, so the pair were her final visitors of the morning. With strict instructions not to be too long, and not to get her excited, Harry and Draco rushed into the room where Hermione was lying.

"Hey," Hermione whispered with a weak smile as her boyfriend and nephew entered the room.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked, taking in the sight of his girlfriend. Hermione was lying in the hospital bed as pale as he'd ever seen her and it looked like it was an effort for her to even keep her eyes open.

"Awful," Hermione replied. "But thanks to you, I'm alive. You're my hero."

"Anytime," Draco replied with a grin as he leant down and gently brushed his lips against Hermione's forehead.

"Don't go feeding his ego, Hermione," Harry joked as he also gave his aunt a quick peck on the forehead.

"He is a hero," Hermione insisted.

"I know," Harry begrudgingly admitted. "I just don't like to dwell on what would have happened if you two hadn't been up to no good in the middle of the night."

"Speaking of which, your parents know we were in bed together," Draco warned his girlfriend.

"You told them?" Hermione questioned, her eyes widening in surprise.

"It was kind of hard to avoid," Draco replied with a shrug. "I did turn up to the hospital wing with you in my arms in the middle of the night."

"You could have come up with some sort of excuse as to why we were together," Hermione muttered.

"If I'd been thinking clearly, I'm sure I would have managed it. However, I was far more preoccupied with making sure you were okay," Draco replied. "I'll just have to deal with your father."

"Rather you than me," Harry said with a mischievous smirk.

"Shut it, Harry," Draco muttered, glaring at his friend.

Harry chuckled slightly, before turning back to his aunt. "So do you know how long you'll be in here for?"

"It all depends," Hermione answered. "Right now, I'm stable, but they need to run some tests on my kidneys. The healer was trying to play it down, but it sounded to me like he thought I would need a transplant."

"Well we've all been tested," Harry told his aunt. "One of us is bound to be a match for you."

"And I'm sure the others will all get tested when we tell them what's happening," Draco added.

"That's nice," Hermione said quietly as her eyes started to flutter shut.

"We should go," Harry said.

"Yeah, we should," Draco agreed as he got to his feet. Leaning over Hermione he gave her another kiss. "I love you. We'll be back to see you soon."

"We'll be here all the time," Harry agreed, squeezing his aunt's hand.

Hermione managed a small smile, but even before the pair had left the room her eyes had closed again. When Draco and Harry returned to the waiting room, Beth headed into Hermione's room to sit with her daughter. Draco expected Voldemort to join his wife, especially since Severus announced it was time they got back to school, but The Dark Lord remained in the waiting room.

"Draco, a word before you leave," Voldemort said.

"Come through the floo in reception when you're finished," Severus told his godson. "You'll land in my office."

"He'll be right behind you," Voldemort said as his son and grandson left the waiting room. Once he was alone with Draco, he turned to the blond wizard and found him anxiously biting his lower lip. "Don't worry Draco, you're not in trouble."

"That's a relief," Draco muttered, visibly relaxing.

"I just want to thank you for saving Hermione's life," Voldemort said.

"It was nothing," Draco returned.

"No, it was everything," Voldemort corrected. "I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to my little girl."

"I was just in the right place," Draco replied without thinking. However, the second he spoke he regretted his choice of words as he'd just reminded Voldemort where he and Hermione had been when she'd collapsed.

"I don't want to really dwell on that too much," Voldemort replied with a slight grimace. "I like you Draco, and it's only natural that things between you and Hermione will get more serious as you grow up. I'm hoping one day it might even become official between the pair of you. However, as much as I like you and approve of your relationship with my daughter I will not be happy if a pregnancy was to occur while you were both so young. Is that understood?"

"Yes, My Lord," Draco replied with a nod of his head. He got the message loud and clear, whatever he did he wasn't to get Hermione pregnant.

"Just be careful," Voldemort reiterated. "Now off you go back to school. I'm sure I'll see you later this evening, or tomorrow."

Muttering a goodbye, Draco rushed out of the waiting room as fast as his legs could carry him. Draco had expected more of a reaction from Voldemort, and he wanted to leave before the dark wizard decided he wasn't happy with Draco sleeping with his daughter. As it was, Draco felt he was lucky to just get away with a warning about safe sex. He wasn't going to push his luck and hang around in case Voldemort had a change of heart and decided he wasn't happy about his daughter being sexually active.

Returning to the reception, he used the floo to travel back to Hogwarts and as expected he landed in Severus's office. Draco was pleased to find Harry was waiting for him, and after Severus promised they could visit Hermione again that evening the pair headed off to grab some lunch.

As they headed down the castle, they found themselves caught up in the throngs of students going for their lunch. On the second floor they ran into the other Slytherins, and they were quickly joined by Luna, who was followed along the corridor by Ginny.

"No Hermione?" Ginny called as she passed. "Gone, is she?"

"She's perfectly fine," Harry replied. "No thanks to your brother. I swear if I ever get my hands on Ron, I'll kill him."

"You'll never get your hands on Ron," Ginny vowed. "If anyone's going to be killed, it's you lot. You should run, Luna. This bunch will only get you killed."

"Bugger off Weaselette," Blaise snarled, wrapping his arm around Luna.

"Give Hermione my love, we're all dying for her to get back," Ginny said with a smirk. "Not," She added with a malicious chuckle. "With any luck the bitch is gone for good."

"How horrible," Luna murmured as Ginny practically ran down the remaining few stairs and into the Great Hall. "I always thought Ginny was quite nice, but that was just horrid."

"People always show their true colours in the end," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Enough about that little madam," Daphne said. "How's Hermione? And what exactly happened?"

"Yeah, all we know is what Thomas, Finnigan and Longbottom were telling people," Theo added.

"And what were they telling people?" Draco asked.

"That you went rushing into Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night to wake Harry because Hermione had collapsed and was in hospital," Blaise answered. "When we heard the news we went to the hospital wing, but all Madam Pomfrey would say was that she'd been moved to a hospital."

"She's in the same one as my mother," Draco supplied. "Let's go and sit down, and we can tell you everything."

Even though Harry and Luna weren't Slytherins, the group just made their way over to the Slytherin table and settled down. As they grabbed some food, Harry and Draco filled the group in on what had happened to Hermione and what the situation currently was.

"Bloody Weasley, he needs sorting," Theo hissed angrily.

"I'm sure he'll get what's coming to him sooner or later," Harry replied.

"I want to be tested if Hermione needs a kidney or anything else," Daphne said, taking hold of Harry's hand.

"Me too," Luna said. "I'd like to help."

"We all would," Blaise agreed from beside Luna. "Just say the word and we'll all be there getting tested."

"Speak for yourself," Pansy huffed. "Sorry, but I'm not giving up a part of my body for anyone."

"Don't worry Pans, I doubt Hermione would want your kidney," Draco drawled. "Who would want something to bitter inside of them?"

Pansy glowered at Draco as the other Slytherins chuckled. With an annoyed snort when she got no support, she got to her feet and stomped off to sit further down the table. No-one bothered with Pansy's departure, and ignoring the bitter witch they continued to talk about Hermione and what they could do to help her get better.


C.O.T.D.


Less than five minutes after Harry and Draco had left his office, Severus was disturbed from his thoughts by a knock on the door. At first he was tempted to ignore it and just go and seek some comfort from Rosmerta, but then he remembered the meeting he'd asked McGonagall to organise. Remembering the shoddy treatment his sister had received from the school nurse, Severus stalked over to the door and pulled it open with a scowl. Standing on the other side of the door stood a sheepish looking Madam Pomfrey and a calm and composed McGonagall.

"Come in," Severus barked as he opened the door for the two witches to enter.

"You don't mind if I stay, do you?" McGonagall asked.

"Of course not," Severus replied. He waited until the two women were seated in front of his desk, before he stalked back to his own seat and settled down.

"How's Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Stable, but still critical," Severus answered. "We're awaiting further tests, but right now it's looking like she's going to need a kidney transplant."

"But she'll live?" McGonagall checked.

"No thanks to Poppy," Severus snarled.

"I did my best," Madam Pomfrey protested. "I checked her over, and she didn't complain of any interior soreness. Yes, she was in pain, but it was a weak version of the curse."

"Weak or not, it still caused significant damage," Severus argued. "You should have checked both her and Harry out thoroughly. The healers at the hospital were pretty disgusted that her bruising wasn't picked up. If it had been, this could have all been avoidable."

"I did my best," Madam Pomfrey repeated in a small voice.

"Well, your best nearly got my sister killed," Severus snapped. "It's just not good enough, and I cannot allow you to remain at your post. You have the rest of the day to pack your bags and leave the premises."

"Severus, just think about this," McGonagall pleaded as Madam Pomfrey burst into tears beside her. "Poppy has been at the school for years. She's a good medi-witch. We need her."

"What we need is someone who can do their job and won't brush students off if they don't happen to like their families," Severus replied. "My decision is final."

Stifling her sobs, Madam Pomfrey got to her feet and thanking McGonagall for her support she fled from the headmaster's office. McGonagall watched her go with a shake of her head, before she turned her attention back to Severus.

"You're making a mistake," She warned.

"She's incompetent," Severus snorted. "She's missed something that could have cost my sister her life."

"She didn't do it on purpose," McGonagall argued.

"Didn't she?" Severus returned with a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything else, because I have things to do."

"There is actually," McGonagall replied stiffly. It was very clear she didn't agree with how Severus was running things, and he could tell she was just dying to jump in and take charge. "The staffing situation. We're now in need of a school nurse, and Potions and Dark Arts need sorting. I appreciate Lucius's wife is ill and Beth's daughter is in hospital, but we have a duty to teach the students. We can't keep cancelling classes."

"As of tomorrow, classes will be back to normal," Severus promised. "Narcissa will be going home either tonight or tomorrow morning, so Lucius will be back teaching tomorrow. Since we're still unsure on Hermione's condition, I'm not so sure about Beth, but if she's not back I'll be taking her classes."

"And Poppy's replacement?" McGonagall asked.

"I'll get on it this afternoon," Severus vowed.

With her problems sorted, McGonagall had no choice but to leave the headmaster's office. The second she was gone, Severus leapt into action. The first thing he did was go back to the hospital to inform Beth that Madam Pomfrey was gone, and she could now handle things how she wished. He then set about sorting himself a new medi-witch, one who could start immediately, and then he had to think about Potions and Dark Arts. Even with everything that was going on, he knew he needed to keep the school running smoothly. After all, at the moment the dark had everything under control in regards to the power they were gathering in the wizarding world. The last thing they wanted was for a rebellion to occur because of problems at Hogwarts. Severus would have to steady the ship and make sure that no-one had anything to complain about in regards to the school and how it was run.