Disclaim Her: w00t! New chapter! I rock!
Chapter 22: Little Shop of Horrors
It was maybe half an hour before he came back, this time with the younger Malfoy in tow. He was right. Draco was practically wasting away. I hurried over to him, almost sickened by the odor of blood that surounded him. When I got to him, I grabbed his arm and lifted up the sleeve. I faintly heard Lupin gasp in the background as the deep gashes that covered his arm came into view. It was horrific, but I was more angry than horrified.
"You idiot! I told you not to worry!"
"No you didn't," he answered weakly. "You just told me not to kill myself."
"And this isn't killing yourself?" I snarled at him.
Lupin was lost. "Harry...you knew about this? And you didn't tell anyone?"
I glared at him. "What reasons would I have to give away another person's secrets?"
"This is more than just a secret!" Now he was getting mad. "He's hurting himself! You should have told someone!"
"It might be a big secret, but it is his secret," I said, gesturing at Draco. "I had no right to tell anyone."
"Excuse me?" Draco broke in, interrupting mine and Lupin's conversation about him. "I am right here. There's no need to act like I'm not in the room."
"You're right." And I resumed my earlier rant at him. "You idiot!"
Lupin supressed a snicker at the look on Draco's face.
"I told you, I don't want you to die. And this," I grabbed his arm, ignoring his grimace of pain. "is most definitely killing you." I took a deep breath. "I want you to stop."
"No."
"Why not?"
He glanced at Lupin, then back at me. I got the message.
"Lupin, get out of here."
He seemed reluctant, but he got up and walked down the stairs. I returned my gaze to Draco.
"So?"
"So what?"
"So, why don't you want to stop?"
"Why do you care in the first place? What happened to the 'we just get together and have sex sometimes' thing?"
"Goddamnit, I do care! It started that way, but it's something completely different now!" I stopped, then added, "At least to me."
Draco took a deep breath and was about to say something when there was a loud noise from down the stairs. It sounded like it might have come from the passageway. I gave Draco a look that said 'stay here', then I headed down, wand in hand, to see what was going on.
It was Ron. Lupin was there, and it looked like he had been trying to keep Ron from coming in. I was more than a little frustrated.
"Lupin," I seethed. "I thought I told you to get out!"
He at least had the decency to look a little guilty, and opened his mouth, no doubt to explain what he was still doing there, but I would have none of it.
"Don't say a word. Just get out. Now."
He took one last look, and slowly climbed into the tunnel back to Hogwarts. I remembered that Draco was upstairs.
"It's okay!" I yelled. "It was just Lupin being an idiot!"
Ron looked at me, having no idea who I was talking to. Draco came down the stairs, but stopped when he saw Ron. I sighed. This was too much. I just wanted to go to sleep.
"Allow me to introduce you," I said, ignoring their confused looks. "Ron, this is Draco. Not ferret. Okay?"
He nodded, and I continued. "Draco, this is Ron. Not weasel. Okay?"
He gave me a death glare, but nodded.
"Now, I don't want to hear any rodent or weasel related insults in my presence ever again. If I do, so help me god, I will kill the person who says it. Do you understand?"
They both nodded, though Ron seemed a bit reluctant, and I grinned.
"So, now that that's dealt with, what the hell are you doing here, Ron?"
He gave me a sheepish smile, and mumbled something under his breath.
"I'm sorry? I didn't quite catch that."
"I was worried about you, okay?" He burst out. "I've been trying to think of a way to get up here ever since you left, but I couldn't, so when I saw that the tree was already stopped I got in as fast as I could!"
I stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then, quite suddenly, Draco started laughing. It started soft, then continued upward until I could tell he was almost hysterical. I quickly got up and grabbed his shoulders.
"Snap out of it!"
He calmed down, but I could tell something was off.
"Draco."
He looked at me, though his eyes were a bit glazed and unfocused, and I could tell that he was not all there.
"What's wrong?"
He took a minute before answering. "I don't...know. I...feel kind of...wierd."
It took me only a minute to realize what must have been happening. I grabbed his arm and felt for a pulse. It was ridiculously fast, working to keep blood flowing through his body, though is was obvious by now that there was no longer enough left to sustain life. When I started to lower him to the ground, he collapsed.
"Shit."
Ron was confused. Though he could tell that something bad was happening, he had no idea what. I was worried, he could see that much, and that worried him. Meanwhile, I was searching through my newly acquired knowledge, searching for something, anything that might help.
"Ron. How many healing spells do you know?"
"A few, I guess. Why?"
I ignored his question. "Any blood replenishers?"
"Well, one...Mum used to use it all the time...but I don't know if I could do it right."
"Could it hurt someone if it's done wrong?"
"No! Mum wouldn't use any like that. Either it works or it doesn't do anything."
I could have kissed him.
"Okay, I want you to try it right now."
I gestured to Draco. Ron glanced from him to me. "But..."
"Don't ask questions! Just do it!"
He nodded, and started to work the spell while I attempted to heal the wounds on Draco's arms. They were even worse than I had first thought. I grimaced as they made a horrid squelching noise and started to heal.
Ron had finished the blood replenisher, and was staring at the slowly healing gashes.
"Did...did he do that to himself?"
I had expected the question, but I did not expect him to sound so worried.
"Yes," I said, felling for his pulse once more. I found it, and it was slowing down, but still not enough. "Cast that spell again. He still doesn't have enough blood."
Ron cast it, and Draco's pulse slowed to a much more normal speed. I sighed in relief, and sat back on my heels, only then noticing that I was covered in his blood. I shook my head, muttering to myself.
"I tell him not to kill himself, I make sure he knows where I am, and look what he does."
"Why did he do that to himself?"
I lifted my gaze up to meet Ron's, and answered truthfully. "I have no idea."
"But the...the...cuts...they weren't all recent! There were scars! How long has he been doing this?"
Remarkable, isn't it, how seeing someone in great pain can change your entire opinion of them?
"He's been doing it longer than I've been able to tell. He had scars when I first saw his arms in September, with the glamour removed. Beyond that, I cant' say."
Ron glanced at Draco's unconcious form, something like pity in his eyes. "He won't be happy that I know."
"No. He'll want to kill you just because you helped him. It's one of the strange things about pride. Makes you hate the only ones that care."
"What's going to happen to him?"
"I don't know. I'll keep him here until he can walk, but I don't have any food, so he can't stay."
"You don't have any food?"
"I don't need to eat. It all tastes like shit anyway. At least it does now."
Ron turned his attention back to me. "I just wanted to tell you what's been going on at the castle. Hermione..."
"Yes?" I stood up, completely alert. "Hermione...what?"
"She's been talking about you. When they found Snape, she started telling everybody that you killed him."
"And why would she do that?"
"I don't know. Then she started talking about you and Malfoy, but nobody would believe that. She's determined to see you go down."
"Stupid bitch."
"Hey!"
I smirked at him. "What, you don't agree?"
"I don't know what I think. I can't stand being with her anymore, though."
"I completely understand that."
"Look...I'll come back, okay? Just tell me when."
"I'll stop the tree from moving tomorrow night at ten."
"Okay then. I'll see you?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I'll see you."
Then he was gone, and I was left with only the half-dead Draco and the stench of blood for company.