Draco awoke in the middle of the night with a start. Breathing heavily, he looked to his side to check the time. It was two O'clock in the morning. He turned over and let out a long groan that tore my attention away from the shimmery surface of the lake that I was watching to pass the time during the night. Apparently, the mermaids could see me, and it was quite fun flirting with them as they swished their tails back and forth, giggling underwater and flipping their hair at me. Ah, how sweet, they were trying to grab my attention… Reminds me of the good ol' days.

Anyway, I turned to Draco and narrowed my eyes at his form lying on the bed. His aura floating around him seemed to turn into a thick green cloud. I rolled my eyes. Ugh, this boy has the flu again.

I flashed over to him, peering into his bed as I watched Draco turn around tiredly and allowed his head to fall back onto the pillow. Suddenly, he shot up and threw up over the side of his bed… right over where I was standing,

Mind you, it's not like the vomit touched me or anything, I mean, it went right through me. Doesn't mean I'm dead or blind. Okay, well technically, I'm dead, but you get my point. It's just as disgusting to watch him throw up as it is to have vomit spewed all over you.

I rubbed his back somewhat soothingly (I was still a bit grouchy over the whole vomit thing) and sighed, looking around at his dormitory mates. They all seemed to sleep soundly through the entire incident, thankfully. I nudged at Draco to Vanish the vomit before anyone could see his half-digested dinner all over the floor, before prodding him to go to the infirmary to get some potion or something for his temperature. Merlin, I could feel that heat from his body searing me like a poker fresh out from the fire being pressed into my non-existent flesh.

I followed him closely as he trudged slowly to the Hospital Wing, letting out a few groans here and there, feeling utterly sorry for himself.

"Oh lighten up, kiddo," I told him. "At least you could probably get out of class for the next couple of days". Draco seemed to cheer up slightly as my words translated into his thoughts.

He slowly walked into the infirmary, making himself seem more ill than he actually was and knocked onto Madam Pomfrey's door. I heard a shuffle from inside and hurried steps towards the door. Just as it flung open, Draco's face turned a sickly shade of green before throwing up once more.

This time, I thought delightedly, it was on Madam Pomfrey's shoes. She let out a small sound of disgust before shooting a Scourgify at her feet. I chuckled and let myself float around the room, examining the paintings of weird looking professors and nurses who have worked here in the past. I cringed as my eyes landed on a portrait of the ugliest witch I had ever seen in my life. She had a huge wart on her crooked, hooked nose and a caterpillar of an eyebrow.

Yes. One eyebrow.

Merlin knows why she looked so happy as she brandished a lethal looking needle at me.

"I-" Draco mumbled embarrassedly .

"Have the flu," Madam Pomfrey finished for him. "I can see that," she said dryly as she led him towards one of the beds lined up at the sides of the room. "You can join keep Miss Granger and Colin Creevey company. I believe that they've been terribly lonely for the past couple of nights. Visiting hours are only a couple of hours long per day, you know," she continued. She turned around to see Draco's horrified face as she forced him into a bed and spooned a mouthful of Pepper-up potion into his mouth as he opened it to let out a complaint. He choked and swallowed the potion, blinking rapidly as his ears let out shoots of steam.

"That potion should clear up your sinuses," I heard Madam Pomfrey say from behind me. "You shouldn't be in too much discomfort for a while, but I suggest that you stay in here for a couple of days so that you don't pass whatever virus you have to the other students.

"Come along here and take this bed," she sat him down on a bed next to a figure sporting a curly-haired mop lying under the covers. I could never mistake that hair anywhere. Hermione Granger.

"But Madam Pomfrey, this is just too excruciatingly painful," complained Draco as the steam cleared up. "It's bad enough I'm stuck in a room with two Mudbloods, no less, but I'm stuck in the Hospital Wing next to the Mudblood Granger? No can do, I think I'm going to go back to the Slytherin dormitories and sleep the rest of the night in there."

"Mr. Malfoy, you will do well to never mention that foul profanity in my presence again," she retorted in a clipped tone. Draco lowered his head angrily, moving it to face the other way. "This fever isn't so bad, Madam Pomfrey, can't I just go into my dormitory and sleep there?" he whined. I shook my head in annoyance before looking worriedly over my shoulder at the twelve year old brunette in the adjacent bed.

"Not if you want to attend class tomorrow while under that temperature," she replied, bustling about the room with a few potions. Draco sighed, defeated. He turned to his side and reached for a large packet of chocolate pieces that were lying on the table next to Hermione. Tearing the packet open, he reached inside and greedily munched on a handful. He glanced to his side, eyeing Hermione as she lay in her bed, unmoving.

"Wow, she sleeps pretty soundly," his thoughts popped into my head. I turned my attention towards him as he sat up and looked at her.

"What is a Mudblood like you doing in here, staining magical sheets with your filth," he sneered at her, hoping to wake her up with his taunts. He was growing bored quickly, and he always enjoyed a quick banter with the girl, no matter how sharp her jibes were.

Hermione on the other hand, didn't rise to the bait. In fact, she remained perfectly stationary.

Draco took this as an act of defiance and an attempt to get on his nerves. I wanted to smack that boy silly.

"What's wrong with you anyway?" he asked in another attempt to have somewhat of a conversation. Again, no reply. He narrowed his eyes at her, his temperature rising. "Ignoring me eh, Granger?"

No response.

"Oh yeah, Granger? I hope that whatever is out there getting those Mudbloods gets you too," he said cruelly. "In fact, I think you'll be next, after all, whatever took that Weasley girl did us all a favor in ridding the world of one more ginger haired nuisance, who knows, they might do us another favor and rid us of you too," he said, proud of himself for coming up with such a mean thing to say. He looked over to her once more to see if she had done anything in response.

She was still in the exact same position.

Draco frowned. Why wasn't she moving?

"Oh Merlin," he whispered to himself. "Is she dead?" I watched him look closer at her still form, his eyes widening in horror as he saw that she was not breathing. He scrambled out of his bed and over to her side, frowning as he poked her, trying to see if he would get a reaction out of her. She didn't move a muscle.

"Oh Merlin, I didn't mean it," he said frantically, wringing his hands as he glanced nervously around. I could feel his heart beating rapidly beneath his chest as his eyes settled on me.

"Do something," he pleaded suddenly. I looked at him, surprised. I could feel the guilt and horror pooling up in his stomach, tugging and clenching at his insides. I shook my head at him, trying to indicate that there was nothing I could do. She was neither my charge, nor my responsibility… or at least not yet. None of this was under any of my control.

He narrowed his eyes at me before running off hysterically to Madam Pomfrey's office yelling, "Granger's dead! Granger's dead! Somebody do something!"

A sleepy Pomfrey emerged from her office. I watched as her eyes snapped open as the boy ran to her and tumbled his words out as quick as he could, dragging her hand towards her bed. She ran towards Hermione and pointed her wand at her, waving it around in complicated maneuvers. A couple of sparks and colorful glows later, she turned to Draco and patted his hand.

"My dear boy, she isn't dead. You've mistaken her for being so; she's Petrified. Other than that, she is perfectly fine. We just have to wait for the mandrake roots to mature and she'll be back to normal," she informed him. He let out a small sigh of relief before going back to his bed. Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, goody," he said sarcastically. "Granger gets to live… Not that I cared or anything," he said hurriedly to the woman standing in front of him. She smiled sympathetically with a knowing look in her eyes.

I shook my head at him as Madam Pomfrey walked out of the room and into her quarters. He settled into the covers and turned around, his back facing the girl as she lay immobile. I could feel some emotion seeping slowly into his head as he couldn't help but feel some amount of worry concerning Hermione. I could not help but have a smile creep up onto my face as I felt the boy begin to develop some feelings to the girl who would grow up to be his wife one day.

Poor kid.

A/N: Okay, okay, I realize it's been four months since I've updated! But here you go! Leave a review please