23
Sarah POV
I'd been sleeping so well, I barely realized someone was lightly shaking my shoulder. Thinking it was my friends, I mumbled a curse and wormed an arm out of the cozy blankets and felt blindly for my glasses. A slightly cold hand pressed them into my hand. Still ridiculously sleepy (I probably hadn't slept off all of the sedative yet), I pushed myself up with a low groan and another swearword. I used a hand to sweep the messy bits of hair that had come out of my braid out of my face and shoved my glasses on. Even with my glasses, the world was blurry, and my body was still very warm and tired. Squinting, I took in the shape standing next to me. It was tall, mostly black, but with a pale blob for a face and blond hair on top of it. It could only be- "Draco?" I asked sleepily, my voice still raw and hoarse. His outline flinched. "What's wrong?" I slurred, sitting up straight and crossing my legs, rubbing at my eyes. His shape became clearer until I could actually see his face.
"I wanted to see- I-I wanted to ask you something. I know it's early, and you obviously aren't well," he continued to talk quietly but nervously as I curiously leaned over to look down the ward at the giant clock hanging next to the doors. It was about three in the morning. "and that being near me hurts, but, I had to talk to you."
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," I said, and then yawned behind my hand, terribly curious as to why he'd come to see me under his own steam. Could I have had such a great effect on him already?
"Please," he said, gesturing that I lean back, obviously not buying that I was ok. Gratefully, I pushed my pillows up and leaned back against them, tucking stray chunks of hair behind my ear in an annoyed fashion- there was a reason I always wore braids.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked lightly. Malfoy hesitated, then conjured a chair and sat, got nervous, stood, and then sat again. I waited patiently as he ran a hand hastily through his hair, rubbed his neck, played with his hands. He was clearly uncomfortable.
"I want to talk about Snape." He said quietly.
"Snape?" I repeated, trying to wake up. I was so numb I didn't even feel the burn from being near him. "You know that I can't say some things." I warned him, and he waved a hand in dismissal.
"Just now…he offered me protection if I wanted to leave them." He said. I took a deep breath, but he kept on, "I thought I could trust him, but what he offered, it was probably a test, I can't trust him with anything anymore. I wanted to know what you know about him, if you can." I let out the breath, looking at him for a second, starting to wake up. This was dangerous territory, if I couldn't trust Malfoy, and I told him things about Snape, would he totally blow Snape's cover? And even if I could trust him, any Death Eater could use Occlumency and pluck the information right from his head.
"Look, no matter what you think of Snape- he's probably the only one you can trust. He's the only one who can help you. I'd trust him wholeheartedly, and no one else." I said slowly, trying to express what I wanted while keeping all my agreements and not blowing Snape's cover.
"No one else? You wouldn't even trust Potter?" He asked, and I glared at him before lying back down and taking off my glasses.
"If you're going to be a prat then I'll gladly go back to sleep," I muttered, closing my eyes. For a second, I heard nothing, and then-
"Can I trust you?" It was very quiet and very guarded, but it definitely came from Malfoy. I cracked an eye, then pushed my glasses back up my nose. Draco was pointedly not looking at me, so I looked at the nightstand before I spoke again.
"I want you to; but, then again, I need to know that I can trust you too." I said softly, propping myself up with one arm. I looked at the sheets, and Draco at the floor for about a minute.
"You forgot this," He broke the silence, getting up, Vanishing his chair, and pulling my bracelet from Mrs. Weasley out of his dress pants' pocket. The poor thing was ripped right in half. "Reparo." He muttered, and it sewed itself back up again in green (no surprise), making a stripe down the patterned blue and purple. He handed it to me and I took it, twisting it back over onto my wrist, then pulling the bandage out from underneath it and crumpling it in my fist. My head was aching again, and all I wanted to do was sleep- but Malfoy, being all troubled, mysterious and slightly suspicious was here- and I found myself caring about him. Even if he was an arrogant prat, I didn't want him to kill Dumbledore; I didn't want him to end up like Wormtail or Regulus.
"Thanks," I replied, then frowned when I felt a prickling sensation starting in my fingertips. It was like pins and needles, but I'd just used my hands- they couldn't have been falling asleep.
"I'll go so you can sleep," He said, turning to go.
"Draco," I started, and he turned back around. "I want to trust you, and I want you to trust me. But if we both want it enough, it'll take work and equal sharing from the both of us. My friends know now to leave you alone, especially when I'm with you." Draco looked at me a second, his grey eyes flickering over me. I knew I looked like hell; pale face, messy hair, huge bags. But I honestly didn't care what he thought of me. All I wanted was for him to trust me. I wasn't going to go running to any Death Eaters. I spent all of my time fighting them back.
"You mean friends." He summarized, and I shrugged. He paused, obviously struggling with pride- I was Muggleborn after all, and a best friend to Harry Potter, his arch nemesis.
"You don't have to decide now. Just remember that I'm literally sworn to secrecy." I said to my fingers, rubbing them with a frown as the tingling became more pronounced. My left wrist was starting to ache again- the drugs must have been wearing off.
"What did you mean, when you said that your friends know now to leave me alone?" He asked, avoiding another one of my proposals. I resisted the urge to smile; he'd be a great politician one day.
"It's been hard, keeping the balance between my friends lately. I didn't know how to explain to them why I wouldn't talk about certain things, why I was leaving for long periods of time and not telling them where I went. Harry and Ron got so worried about me that we had an argument. Your aunt picked up on that and attacked me." I summarized and Draco leaned over the end of my bed, his hands turning to fists on the metal.
"Your last seizures were their fault?" He almost snarled, and I blinked, surprised at his reaction. Then I frowned. It was getting harder to concentrate on him- the tingling had turned to prickling, and I could hear my pulse in my head.
"No, they were Bellatrix's fault. Once I fought her out of my head, I attacked her back. That's why I had so many. We fought back and forth for a long time." I snapped at him, then raised the heel of my left hand to my head again, wincing. Merlin, my head hurt.
"What's wrong?" He asked after a moment of swallowing his tongue. I could tell he was still mad about how Harry and Ron had contributed to Bellatrix's attack. I didn't know why- but I intended to find out. Then I processed his question and it hit me. All of my symptoms were that of an upcoming seizure.
"I have epilepsy. I-I think I'm going to need Madam Pompfrey." I stammered, trying to take deep breaths and avoid having a seizure in front of Malfoy.
"What's epilepsy?" He asked, and I mentally cursed his pureblood wizard standing- of course he didn't know what it was. My breathing and heart rate increased suddenly, and I let myself fall off of my propped arm and back onto the pillows, hand still on my aching head.
"It's a disease of the brain—when bursts of displaced energy—make seizures. Unrelated to the mark," I panted.
"Since when?" Malfoy demanded, obviously missing the fact that I needed Madam Pompfrey. "Does it hurt?" He added, sounding concerned. Too focused on not having a fit, I ignored that comment, closed my eyes, and took a long, slow deep breath in, and then out. I did it again and the tingling started to die.
"You bloody prat," I growled halfheartedly under my breath. "I needed Madam Pompfrey." I opened my eyes and scowled weakly at him before rolling onto my side, suddenly exhausted again. As I was about to take my glasses off to sleep, Malfoy spoke.
"I could try it. Being friends. But we'd have to meet in secret, in the Room of Requirement."
"Bravo," I mumbled. "Come and tell me when later- I have a feeling I'll be here awhile." There was a pause.
"Give me your glasses then," He said, and I swiped them off my face with one hand and stuck it out into the air. Again, the slightly cold hand from before plucked them out of my hand for me. "Feel better," He said, but I was so sleepy, I still don't know if he actually said it or not.
"Night," I said in a garbled sigh before I sank into unconsciousness again. I slept a good long time, and when I did wake up, Madam Pompfrey instantly medicated me again and gave me a potions vial full of an emergency sedative potion, just in case. She informed me that the beautiful flowers sitting next to me were from my friends, and that they had visited while I was asleep. "When can I leave?" I asked, and she rolled her eyes, lowering her wand.
"When I say so." She sighed, exasperated, and walked off down the ward. I started out my unlimited free time by combing and braiding my hair by magic and freshening up. Considering that took about thirty seconds, I was instantly bored for the next hour and a half until I had another surprise visitor- Dumbledore.
"How are you, my dear?" He asked, sweeping down the ward and conjuring a squashy chair to sit beside me. I'd been sitting up in bed, legs crossed again and working on a worksheet for Ancient Runes when he'd strode through the door.
"Like it never even happened." I said with a smile, setting down my quill. That was a lie, and he knew it, but, being a gentleman, he didn't question me on it.
"Do you know the nature of the seizures, has Madam Pompfrey filled you in?" He asked, and I sensed the double meaning.
"I know I had, yikes, was it six seizures?" I started, and he nodded. I winced, but continued. "But that was only because I attacked Bellatrix back after I'd gotten her out of my head. We went back and forth for awhile, neither of us getting any information off the other…and Madam Pompfrey told me about the epilepsy." I finished in a softer tone, and Dumbledore's blue eyes seemed to see right through me as he studied me.
"You understand what it is?" He asked, and I nodded to the worksheet, noticing that I'd translated a rune incorrectly. "I'm deeply sorry for this turn of events, Sarah, but I know that you will pull through, as always."
"I've spoken to Malfoy. He knows. You know what I'm talking about." I changed the topic after a tiny moment of silence. "I offered it again, but all he did was ask me to leave, so I did. He's already been in to visit me here." Dumbledore shifted in his chair, pressing his fingertips together thoughtfully.
"He's seen it? The mark?" he elaborated, and I nodded once more. "I'm glad you've made the effort, Sarah. "I trust you've been careful in…explaining things." He said, and I gave him a look, making him chuckle and then ask, "Has Mr. Malfoy shown any reluctance, any emotion at all towards your offer?"
"He's been polite," I answered slowly, thinking back. "And he was certainly curious. But so far he's playing it by ear. I honestly couldn't tell you." I fudged a bit. I was still convinced that he came to see me for a personal reason, not because he was trying to learn more and report back to Voldemort. He'd gotten seriously angry when I'd told him about Harry and Ron's involvement in the seizures. I was taking into account that he hated them already, but he'd gone from curious to furious in a second- that was too good for acting. Did my mark and my condition make him squeamish? It was a mystery I had yet to solve.