24
Sarah POV
Despite Madam Pompfrey's protectiveness, I was out of the hospital wing in about three days. I'd only had one normal epilepsy seizure while I was there, and it left me really disoriented. It made me extremely nervous, and I made sure to take the emergency bottle of sedatives with me everywhere, even when I was surrounded by friends. Draco had come back to visit me, and we settled on a date to meet in the Room of Requirement. On that day, I told my friends that I would be gone for awhile, and when I'd assured them that I'd be fine, I headed out. My bag over my shoulder (I still had LOTS of homework to make up), I headed for the Room. Draco had told me to wrap the wall four times with my wand, and I did. Ten seconds later, the door materialized from nowhere and he quickly pulled me through. I raised my eyebrows at his rash act- it was like he was afraid I'd brought someone else. "Hi," I said cheerfully, moving past him into the room. I'd been out of the Hospital Wing for only a few days, and it was refreshing to be out and about.
"Hello," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, but it was also cautious. He followed me back to the area by the Vanishing Cabinet. There was a large oval rug on the floor that was well worn. The armchair I'd fallen asleep in waiting for him was still where it was, off the rug to one side. The Vanishing Cabinet stood at the long end of the rug, tall and imposing, but covered with an old dusty tapestry for now. All around us was mountains of trash, and a dusty golden chandelier swung gently overhead, half of its candles burnt out. With a gentle sigh, I sank down onto the rug, sitting crosslegged. Malfoy stood by the armchair, one arm over the back, looking slightly bemused as I dug out my homework and hunted for a quill.
"So, have you taken you Apparition Test yet?" I asked as I found the quill and hunted for the textbook I needed. My mission today was to keep the conversation light- like I would with a friend. I wasn't going to mention anything Dark at all unless he brought it up.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked, and I nearly snorted at his gentlemanly manner.
"Your Apparition Test? To get the license?" I elaborated, yanking the textbook out of my bag and flipping for the right page.
"I'm not old enough, and I won't be for the next test coming up." Was his reply, and he sat in the armchair, looking so austere that I thought this would be impossible. He always wore the fancy dress clothes of a 'higher ranking' wizard and he was sitting so ramrod straight that it looked uncomfortable.
"Bummer," I said, unscrewing my inkpot carefully. "I took mine right after Christmas."
"You're seventeen already?" He asked, sounding skeptical. I looked up, my braid falling down my shoulder and into my lap. Malfoy was now leaning forward slightly- I'd gotten him engaged into the conversation. Good.
"Yup. It's weird being older than everyone else. But once I was thirteen, I got to go to Hogsmade for half of my second year." I supplied more information, going back to the worksheet and scrawling my name. Silence fell, and I filled out a few more answers before looking up again. I could do homework with my friends, but only when they were all doing it, or had something else to do. Malfoy was just sitting there, leaning over his knees, watching me. "So…how are you?" I asked the standard conversation starting question and going back to the sheet.
"Fine, thank you." Malfoy said with a hint of stiffness and I snorted, throwing down my quill, making him raise his eyebrows.
"Let me just clear something up- you do know what a conversation is, don't you?" I teased lightly, and it worked. Malfoy scowled.
"Of course I do." He snapped back, and I almost snickered. He sounded incredibly defensive. Even better, he didn't get mad enough to throw me out of the Room so he could work on the Vanishing Cabinet.
"Then…" I made 'continue' motions with my hand. "Ask something, even if it's the weather, for Merlin's sake." He made an indignant noise but I went back to my worksheet. I let him fume for awhile, intending to continue the conversation if he didn't, but he finally asked something.
"Is a Mudblood's blood really brown?" He asked, and I blinked looking up. At first, I thought he wanted to insult me as a comeback, or that he was joking. But then I noticed that he looked a little embarrassed, but very serious. I instantly started laughing then, cupping my forehead with my left hand, marveling at his stupidity. Malfoy flushed and glared at me, but held my gaze until I quieted down. "I'm serious. That's what I've been told." He said quietly, and I realized that it'd been a mistake to laugh.
"Want to see?" I asked, drawing my wand.
"No!" Malfoy almost shouted, and I grinned, tucking it back up my sleeve. "That wasn't funny." Malfoy said, and when I looked up, he was scowling again.
"You were curious- but no, my blood is red, just like yours." I said, closing my worksheet into my textbook, screwing my inkpot's lid back on and getting to my feet. Giving Malfoy a tiny smile, I walked to the nearest pile of trash and started to walk around the perimeter of our little clearing, admiring all the junk that'd piled up in here. There were wigs, broken books, bicycles, broomsticks, clothing, you name it. I even found a cauldron that had warped to one side. From the farthest corner of the room, something reeked of evil, but that didn't surprise me. There were all sorts of strange artifacts in here.
"What's epilepsy?" Malfoy asked after awhile, and I quickly looked back at him, dropping the book I had in my hand, Advanced Transfiguration Theory. It slid off the pile and onto the floor. Malfoy didn't apologize for asking, he just watched me. It was slightly unnerving, and I hesitated for just a second. I was basing all of my hopes off of the fact that I could trust Malfoy. What if he went back to Bellatrix and told her everything about my new condition, courtesy of her?
"It's a disorder of the brain where energy is either blocked or forced into normal functions, and it causes a seizure." I said quietly, bending down to pick up the book again. I'd given him the same definition I gave Ron and Harry. Harry knew a smidge more than Ron did, but still, not a whole lot. I tried to downplay the whole thing so that they wouldn't worry, but I knew that once I had one in front of them they'd form new opinions.
"Does it hurt?" Malfoy asked as I flipped open the cover of the book and gazed aimlessly down the contents. The book wasn't even that old- and it was obvious that no one wanted it. Maybe I should take it. I thought, slipping it into the crook of my arm and walking back over to him, unsure how to answer his question.
"It's very disorienting." I admitted, dropping the book next to my bag with a thump, raising a tiny cloud of dust. "Sometimes it does hurt."
"You shouldn't have gotten epilepsy." Malfoy said in a hard voice, and I looked up. I couldn't say I was dreaming- he looked furious. "You don't deserve any of it." He said, his eyes flashing down to the bracelet on my left wrist, his left hand curling into a fist as he looked at it.
"What's done is done. If I could do something about it, I would." I said, unsure of what to say, my gaze stuck on Malfoy's steely grey one. Unable to look at him any longer, I went back to examining the trash around us.
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, and for a moment, I thought he was joking. I glanced at him. There was a kind of burning in his eyes, a protective, almost brotherly gaze that made me shiver slightly. I quickly looked down then felt panic leap in my chest when my fingers started to tingle- I'd been around Malfoy too long, I was too distracted to keep this seizure from coming. I spun and nearly ran into Malfoy, who'd come closer having seen me freeze. "Where are you going?" He asked, sounding slightly irritated as I brushed past him, ignoring his question from before. Not bothering to answer, I knelt by my bag and started quickly rummaging through it, getting more and desperate when I couldn't find the sedative. With shaking hands, I turned my bag upside down and shook it hard. With a tiny clink, the bottle fell out. I snatched it, but my trembling and now burning fingers couldn't get the cork out. Malfoy strode quickly over, now figuring out that something was wrong. He was just kneeling next to me, reaching for the potion when I choked. As usual, the world went dark, even though I could still hear. My head felt hot, and it pounded in strange, harsh rhythms as I gasped, whimpered and twisted, unable to control myself. Over the roaring, I heard Malfoy gasp and a strong arm caught me when I fell backwards, then gently laid me on the floor to keep me from smashing into it. A hesitant, cool hand rested on my forehead, and my body jerked into his touch. I heard him shifting around, and then my head was being held securely. It lasted for about a minute more until with a raspy gasp, I forced my shaking body to stop. For awhile, I just panted and breathed, cursing Bellatrix in my head before opening my eyes. It quickly became clear then that my head was in Malfoy's lap, and he was leaning over me, looking almost panicked. Too tired to be embarrassed, I closed my eyes and winced- everything around his head was spinning.
"Sarah? Are you ok?" He asked very quietly, sounding scared.
"Fine," I groaned, and went to get up. He let me roll out of his lap, but as soon as I staggered to my feet, I almost crashed into the chair. An arm caught me around the torso before I bashed my face in and held me up as the room whirled by. "I'm just so dizzy." I mumbled, putting my arm over Malfoy's to steady myself, not even feeling the burn. "Really, m'okay," I almost slurred, turning around and slamming into his chest. His arms encircled my back as I wavered.
"Easy," I barely heard him advise over my new headache. Resting my head and a hand on his chest, I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the dizziness to pass, trying not to think about how close we were. His arms were around my waist, a little low, but I was a too busy to complain, and with every breath I was inhaling his smell- it was surprisingly musty for one who was always so clean. I knew my back was shaking, and I could only hope that he didn't think I was crying. "You should lie down." He said quietly, and the noise reverberated through his chest. I took a huge deep breath then stepped back, breaking his hold and lifting my gaze. Malfoy kept a steady hand on my shoulder for a second, making sure I wasn't going to fall before dropping his hand.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." My voice cracked and he winced. I stooped and picked up the vial of potion. The cork was still in there tight, and I realized I should've just used my wand to open it. "That was my fault- I should've opened this."
"If you can't prevent it, it's not your fault." Malfoy said in an angry voice, and I knew that he was angry for me, not at me. A rush of gratefulness went through me- Malfoy cradled my head in his lap for Merlin's sake. He didn't just let me twitch around. "Would that potion have helped?" He asked in a forced calm. I shrugged, grimacing.
"Not really. It would make me relax enough to fall asleep for about half and hour. It's ok," I tried to reassure him, seeing how angry he still was, but it didn't work.
"Can I help? Do your parents know?" He asked, sounding slightly desperate, and I stiffened, looking quickly away from him. Like my parents would care- they'd hate me all the more because of it. My jaw locked as anger at my parents surged through me.
"They don't care. If I wasn't perfect they never would've loved me. The curse broke us apart, and the epilepsy will keep us that way." I said, venom permeating my voice. "Thank you for your concern, but I should go." I continued in a hard voice, cutting off anything Malfoy was going to say. I stooped, shoved my things harshly into my bag and fled past a confused looking Malfoy.