Draco checked his appearance one final time before leaving the boys dorms. He was off to see Hermione, and as usual he wanted to look his best for his girlfriend. Hermione had now been in hospital for almost a week, and there was still some doubt about when she would be released. At the moment the healers were doing all they could to avoid her having to have a transplant, but it wasn't looking good. Fortunately, everyone's tests had come back and both Severus and Harry were a match. Severus had already made the decision that if the worst happened and Hermione needed a new kidney, he would be the one to provide it.

On the plus side, Hermione was stable and in no danger of losing her life, even if she did require a transplant. Narcissa had also been discharged from hospital and was recuperating at home. Lucius was back teaching, although he spent every spare moment he had checking on his wife. Beth had taken a few days off after Hermione had first been admitted to hospital, but she was now back teaching, although she was still visiting Hermione quite regularly so Severus covered at least one of her classes each day. As for Draco and Harry, they just tried to get through the days without Hermione so they could visit her on evenings. Fortunately, they'd been allowed to go and see Hermione every evening, with Draco also popping home to check on his mother every couple of days as well.

"Are you off to see Hermione?" Blaise asked Draco as he entered the common room.

"Yeah," Draco replied. The Slytherins were also keen to see Hermione, but so far her visitors at the hospital had been restricted to family and the Malfoys.

"We've got something for you to give her," Daphne said as she picked up a basket from beside the chair she was sitting on and placed it on the table.

"What is this?" Draco asked, examining the basket which was overflowing with sweets, fruit, flowers, get well cards, books, magazines and various trinkets.

"We've all added something to the basket just to let Hermione know we're thinking about her," Theo said.

"Well, almost all of us have contributed," Blaise muttered, giving Pansy a pointed glare.

"I didn't know what to add," Pansy responded with a shrug. "We're hardly the best of friends."

"You don't need to be the best of friends to add something," Blaise argued. "Luna doesn't know Hermione that well, but she still added to the basket."

"I don't have anything to add now, do I?" Pansy huffed.

"I'm sure Hermione will appreciate what is here," Draco said as he picked the basket up. Truth be told he thought his girlfriend would prefer not having anything from Pansy, as Hermione had made it clear on more than one occasion that she disliked the Slytherin witch.

"Just make sure you give her our love," Daphne said. "Oh, and remind Harry we're going down to Hogsmeade together at the weekend."

"Believe me, he doesn't need reminding," Draco chuckled. "You're all he talks about Daph. He's definitely smitten."

Leaving a smiling Daphne and his other friends down in the dungeons, Draco headed up to Gryffindor Tower to meet Harry. Since his venture into the lion's den the password had been changed so Draco couldn't just enter Gryffindor Tower. Not that he wanted to go into Gryffindor Tower again as he'd only done so in the first place because they had an emergency. Instead, he was happy to wait outside until Harry appeared and then they would head to Severus's office so they could floo to the hospital together.

Draco had barely arrived at Gryffindor Tower, when a frowning Professor McGonagall swept into sight. McGonagall's frown deepened when she spotted Draco leaning against the wall directly opposite The Fat Lady's portrait.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Mr Malfoy?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm waiting for Harry," Draco replied, making no attempt to move along.

"I'm sure there's somewhere else you can wait for him," McGonagall tutted. "Move along, Mr Malfoy."

Rolling his eyes at the fact McGonagall was clearly trying to avoid saying the password in front of him, Draco took his basket for Hermione and moved further down the corridor. As such it meant he couldn't hear McGonagall when she said the password, but the second the door to the common room swung open, he heard an awful commotion. Switching positions so he could see into the room more clearly, Draco saw the commotion was Harry and Ginny having a slanging match.

Ever since Hermione had been taken to hospital, Ginny had been making constant snide remarks. Both Draco and Harry were reaching the ends of their patience with her, so Draco wasn't surprised to find that Harry had finally snapped. He just thought Ginny was lucky that Harry hadn't hexed her so badly she ended up in hospital herself.

"Ginger tart," Harry shouted, as he stomped out of the common room.

"Mr Potter," McGonagall called after him. "Do not walk away from me."

"It's Snape," Harry snapped as he turned back to McGonagall. "And she should be the one in trouble, not me. She started this, she always does."

"Now is not the time for such things," McGonagall said. "I'll speak to you later, Mr Snape."

"Suit yourself," Harry muttered as he turned back around to face Draco. "What have you got there?" He asked as he eyed the basket in his friend's hand.

"A present for Hermione," Draco answered. "All the Slytherins and Luna have put something in. So what's McGonagall doing in Gryffindor Tower?"

"I don't know," Harry replied with a frown. He'd never found out what McGonagall had wanted as she'd walked in when he'd been arguing with Ginny and she'd just broken the argument up when he'd stormed off.

Turning back to Gryffindor Tower, the two boys watched with curiosity as McGonagall emerged from the common room with Ginny in tow. McGonagall had her arm around Ginny's shoulder, although the redheaded girl looked totally bemused by the whole thing. Obviously McGonagall hadn't told her what she wanted from her as she hurried her out of Gryffindor Tower and down the stairs.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Harry asked with a mischievous smirk as he turned to his best friend.

"The end of the weasel?" Draco questioned with a smirk of his own.

"With any luck," Harry replied. "Let's go and see Hermione. Grandpa might know something."

With the hope that they would receive good news from Voldemort as well as seeing Hermione, the pair all but ran to Severus's office. When they mentioned McGonagall taking Ginny away, Severus played coy, but both boys noted his knowing smirk. With their hopes even higher than before, the pair flooed to the hospital and along with Severus they made their way to the waiting room nearest to Hermione's room. When they arrived at the waiting room, they found Beth and Voldemort sitting in the room with concerned expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Harry demanded. "Is Hermione okay?"

"Hermione's fine," Voldemort reassured his grandson. "She's in her room, waiting to see you and Draco."

"Then what's with the long faces?" Harry asked. He knew something wasn't right, and he was determined to find out what before he visited his aunt.

"Hermione's going to need the transplant," Beth said, looking towards her step-son. "The healers have just been briefing us, and they've done all they can for her. Without the transplant, she won't survive."

"Let's start making arrangements then," Severus said in a firm voice. Giving one of his kidneys to his sister seemed like a fair price to pay if it meant he didn't lose her.

While Severus, Beth and Voldemort set about making arrangements with the healers about the transplant, Harry and Draco headed off to see Hermione. As she'd been since arriving at the hospital, Hermione was lying in bed. While she didn't look quite as pale as she'd had upon her arrival, she was still missing her spark. The most animated she got was smiling at the two boys and giving them both hugs.

"I take it you've heard about the transplant," Hermione said as both boys gave her wary looks.

"We have," Harry confirmed. "Are you scared?"

"Of course," Hermione admitted. "If this doesn't work I'm in trouble."

"It'll work," Draco reassured his girlfriend. To be honest, the alternative wasn't something he even wanted to contemplate.

Hermione nodded, trying to remain positive. As she did so, she got her eyes on the basket Draco was carrying. When Draco saw her eyeing the basket curiously, he placed it on the bed beside her.

"A present from the others," He told her. "Aside from Pansy, everyone has chipped in with something, even Luna."

"Why didn't Pansy add anything?" Harry asked with a frown as Hermione picked through the basket.

"Because she's a jealous cow," Draco replied. "She tried to say it was because she wasn't close to Hermione, but it was really because she doesn't care."

"As if I'm bothered," Hermione said. "Make sure you thank the others for me. I appreciate all of their thoughtful gifts."

"Speaking of gifts, I was hoping Grandpa was going to give us one," Harry said, suddenly remembering about Ginny. "Before we left school, McGonagall was taking Ginny somewhere. We're hoping it means Ron is gone."

"With any luck," Hermione replied. "Although I would have loved to have taken care of him myself."

"Join the club," Draco chuckled. Both he and Harry had spoken about how they would have loved to get rid of Ron themselves, but they understood why Voldemort had taken a different route in disposing of the redhead.

Ten minutes later they got the chance to find out what was happening as Voldemort, Beth and Severus entered the room. Although before they could discuss Ron, Beth filled the teenagers in on what was going to happen with Hermione's transplant. Basically, the transplant would take place the following week, with both Severus and Hermione then needing a few weeks rest. Hermione would then have to rest for a while longer before she was fit and ready to return to school.

"When will I be able to go back?" Hermione asked with a frown. At this rate she was going to need homework brought home for her to keep up with the work.

"If all goes well, you'll be fit enough to return after Easter," Voldemort replied.

"Easter?" Hermione protested, his face dropping at the thought of being stuck in hospital for months.

"Yes, Easter," Voldemort replied with a nod. "Not a moment before, and there will be no arguing over the matter. Although after the transplant, you'll at least be able to come home to recuperate."

"At least that's something," Hermione muttered.

"It's not all doom and gloom," Voldemort said with an amused chuckle. "I did receive some good news today."

"What's the good news?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Alecto and Amycus conducted an experiment for me, and it turns out weasels can't swim," Voldemort said with a smirk.

"What happens to them?" Harry asked.

"They drown," Voldemort replied. "After first suffering a great deal of pain."

Draco shared a triumphant smirk with Harry and Hermione over the fact that Ron was gone. Now all they had to do was get rid of the rest of the Weasleys and Order and their lives would be peaceful.


C.O.T.D.


Like her husband, Beth knew lashing out against people who upset them wasn't the wisest of moves. That was why she hadn't instantly dealt with Poppy Pomfrey after she'd been sacked from Hogwarts. Thanks to school records she knew exactly where the medi-witch lived, so she took her time in coming up with a plan to kill the witch. On the day they discovered Hermione would definitely need a transplant, Beth decided to act. Returning to Hogwarts with Draco and Harry, she headed down to the Potions classroom and quickly brewed up a lethal potion which couldn't be detected in the bloodstream. Once the potion was ready, she left the castle and headed to the small cottage which Poppy Pomfrey called home.

By the time Beth arrived at the cottage it was after midnight and the cottage was in complete darkness. Luckily Beth had dressed for the occasion and she was virtually invisible as she snuck around the cottage, checking out the security. While the security was fairly reasonable, it was no match for a dark witch like Beth and within half an hour she was inside the home of the medi-witch.

Inside the kitchen, Beth seriously debated slipping the potion into some liquid or some food that Poppy would eat or drink the next day. However, she wanted to see the results of her handiwork for herself. She didn't want to just leave the potion and wait for the results, she wanted to witness the death of the witch that had missed her daughter's injuries and could very well have gotten her killed.

Pouring a glass of water from the sink, Beth slipped the colourless potion into the drink and carried the glass upstairs. She easily found Poppy's bedroom, where the medi-witch was sleeping happily. Placing the glass on the bedside table, she pulled out her wand and roughly shook Poppy until she was awake.

"What's going on?" She sleepily mumbled.

"I thought I'd come and say hello," Beth said in a low voice as she situated herself at the bottom of the bed.

Instantly Poppy was alert as she shot up in bed. Beth chuckled at the witch's horrified expression as she realised just who was standing at the bottom of her bed.

"Beth," Poppy stuttered.

"What's wrong, Poppy?" Beth asked with a chuckle. "Scared?"

"No," Poppy replied in a shaking voice.

"I don't believe you," Beth replied. "You sound a bit shaky."

"I'm fine," Poppy replied. Glancing to her side she found a glass of water on her bedside table, and picking it up she gulped down its contents to help with the dryness in her throat.

"Now you're fine," Beth said with a smirk. She hadn't expected Poppy to drink the water of her own accord, but it saved her a messy job trying to get the medi-witch to bend to her will.

Poppy frowned, but didn't get a chance to say anything as she suddenly began to struggle for breath. As Beth stood at the bottom of the bed, smirking at her, she began to realise her mistake. She hadn't brought a glass of water to bed with her, meaning Beth had to have placed it there.

"Why?" Poppy croaked.

"Why? Because your negligence almost got my daughter killed," Beth spat. "Because of you, my little girl is lying in a hospital bed waiting for a kidney transplant. You should have stopped all this. You could have if you'd done your job. Now I'm doing my job and punishing you for causing my daughter unnecessary hurt."

By the time Beth had finished her speech, Poppy was gasping for breath and clutching at the bedsheets as she tried to catch her breath. Sadly for the medi-witch, she couldn't get her breath and she began to turn a nasty shade of blue as she struggled to get oxygen to her lungs. At the bottom of the bed, Beth watched emotionlessly as Poppy finally keeled over and breathed her last.

Quickly checking the witch was dead, Beth removed the glass she'd brought to the bedroom and returned it back downstairs where she rinsed it and returned it to the bench where she'd found it. Double checking she'd left no evidence of her presence, she then slipped back out of the cottage and apparated away, leaving Poppy Pomfrey's dead body for someone else to find.