Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters. Just borrowing.
A/N: This chapter seems a little short, but I can't write for very long at one time without getting distracted, so here it is. Review please! Oh and I don't have a beta to read this over so there my be some grammatical errors here and there.
The Book Man
Chapter 2
I stirred groggily, surrounded by warm linen sheets and with the distinct feeling that I hadn't been out for long at all. The back of my hand ached dully and had become strangely stiff over my time unconscious, but the throbbing headache was gone and in a moment, I felt perfectly aware. My eyes fluttered open and I swung my feet onto the floor to stand.
"Ah. Feeling better are we?" Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office, looking agitated. "I wrapped that up for you to stop the bleeding, but Professor Umbridge forbid any healing beyond that, so I suggest you soak it in murtlap essence or something similar if you ever land yourself another detention." She pursed her lips and muttered something which sounded distinctly like "barking mad" and started sifting through potions until she produced the murtlap essence. "Keep that hidden. Like I said, you're not allowed... Professor McGonagall wanted a word with you in her office, you're well enough to go but be careful with that hand; don't want to start it bleeding again now do we. Off you go."
"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey." I called as I hurried out of the hospital wing and into the dark corridors. McGonagall answered her door immediately and ushered me inside, her lips quite thin and her nostrils flared.
"Mr. Filch tells me that you walked out of your detention at least three hours before I found you in that corridor. Explain."
My eyebrows came together in confusion. If what she was saying was true, then she had found me at around six o'clock in the morning and it should have been light out by now.
"Er, when exactly did you find me, Professor?"
"Half past three in the morning! What on earth were you doing out of bed at such a ridiculous hour?" She wasn't exactly yelling, but her voice exuded cold fury and disappointment.
"I left Filch's office at three: my hand..."
"That is not what Mr. Filch has told me --"
"But it's true! Listen, I had been cutting my hand open for hours and I told him that I needed the hospital wing! You don't think I did this on my own, do you?" I demanded, holding out my bandaged hand. The blood had seeped through in some places, staining the gauze with crimson blotches across the back of my hand.
"If you were on your way to the hospital wing, then what were you doing in the east corridor?"
"I got lost. Dizzy, you know?" McGonagall watched me for several agonizing seconds and then stood, indicating for me to do the same.
"You may go for now. I'll be speaking with Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake. And if I find that you didn't go straight to your dormitory, it'll be expulsion." I nodded, realizing that it was the best I could get from her, and went straight to Gryffindor tower, for once being a good girl. The Fat Lady was not happy.
"What's the excuse for waking me up at this time of night?"
"Sorry, I had detention.Mimbulus Mimbletonia."
"If you must," she grunted, and swung forward to grant me entrance to the common room. I trudged up the steep, winding stairs until I reached the fifth year girls' dormitory and fell onto my bed, fully clothed. Unfortunately, my unrestrained flop woke another sleepy student: Hermione Granger, who pushed aside her curtains and sat on the edge of her bed, a horribly expectant look on her face.
"What are you doing up so late?" she asked suspiciously.
I snorted and sneered, "In case you've forgotten, I got a week's worth of detentions just like Potter did and excuse mefor having no control over Filch's outrageous hours!" Hermione flinched and I felt a twinge of regret, but hey, it was fucking four o'clock in the morning and I was more than a little grouchy.
"But Harry got back hours ago, and he never mentioned you being in there."
"He's with Umbridge and I just said that I had Filch, so he wouldn't have seen me, would he?" I snapped, irritated. "I thought you were supposed to be bright." Hermione flushed but ignored the comment.
"Your hand -- so they're doing the same to you, I suppose. What does yours say?" I had no doubt about what she was talking about and didn't bother pretending.
"I will not disrupt class with pointless opinions. Right foul toad, isn't she?" Hermione nodded absently.
"Erm, about that -- I really wanted to thank you actually. For what you did. I can't believe the Ministry's being so stupid about this, they've got most of the world convinced he's just some mad liar and hardly anyone's willing to stand up for him anymore. So, thanks. And I am sorry about you're hand."
"Well... you're welcome, I guess. Night," I pulled the curtains shut and rolled over, prepared to sleep until Monday if it came to that.