Draco followed Harry through several twisting corridors and down nearly every staircase in the school...or so it seemed to someone who usually only went to the dungeons, the library, and classes. He didn't try to talk with Harry—that would have been useless considering his current state of mind. Draco hoped that Harry wasn't headed outside. It hadn't stopped raining all day, and now there was thunder and lightning crisscrossing the grounds. He gave up all hope of attending the rest of his classes that day. He, Hermione, and Harry were so far ahead of everyone else that it didn't really matter whether they showed up or not.
"He isn't going to fly in this weather, is he?" Draco groaned aloud. "I'm going to need my broom for that." Just then, Ginny came walking by him.
"What's going on Draco?" Her voice was full of concern. She'd never seen Harry run that fast.
"No time to explain now, Ginny. Just meet me outside in a few minutes, if you don't have a class, with a broom. It doesn't matter who's it is or what type. I just need one. Get one of his family members too, tell them to come out to the Quidditch pitch."He yelled as he followed Harry outside into the storm.
Ginny's free period happened to be that hour as well, so she hurried to her dorm to get the Firebolt that Sirius, Gawain, Molly, and Regulus had given her when she'd made the Quidditch team as Keeper. She knew Draco wouldn't ask for a broom if it wasn't important.
He found Harry in the air. Draco watched him get more and more reckless with each move. He knew Harry was a consummate flier, but this was going a bit overboard. "Harry, get down here! Stop this madness at once!" His cousin couldn't hear him over the thunder, but that didn't stop Draco, who was going to do everything he could to stop Harry from killing himself or being struck by lightning, from yelling at the top of his lungs.
Ginny came up to him and handed him her broom. "Here…Professor Snape doesn't have a class now or next period, so he's coming. Hermione's leaving isn't she?"
"Yeah." Draco's voice was hoarse from screaming. He immediately tried to stop Harry, using all of the spells he knew that wouldn't knock fliers from their brooms.
"Draco, stop it! Just let me go! I've lost every friend I started with. Why do you care about me?"
He had to try to knock some sense into this boy. "I care because you are my friend and my cousin. You are my best friend! We can't save her from the Death Eaters if you're dead! I'm not nearly as powerful as you are. I couldn't fend off as many. We're part of a team, Harry…we're family." Draco was drenched and it was getting colder out.
Back on the ground, Ginny was trying to explain to Severus what was going on. "I think it's something having to do with Hermione, Professor. Harry's gone mad, and Draco's trying to get him to come down. It's not working well, since Harry has Malfoy, Black, McGonagall, and Ravenwood stubbornness. Good luck trying to get him down, sir."
"Ginny, please go inside. We don't need you to catch a cold. Alert Poppy that I will be bringing both Harry and Draco to the Hospital Wing. Tell the twins to come out here if they're free, they may be able to help us. Oh, and take 50 points for Gryffindor." Severus got on his ancient Cleansweep 4, which he wasn't sure handled well enough for him to be up in this weather. "What's going on, Dragon?" Severus had come up with various nicknames for the three fifth years since they spent so much time with him. Harry's nickname was Snitch, and Hermione's was Dictionary.
By this point, Draco barely had enough voice left to manage a whisper. "'Mione's leaving. I told you about the letter, right?"
"You did. She's leaving?"There were things about this scenario that struck Severus as odd. He didn't say anything. It was no wonder that Harry had gone crazy.
"She chose her parents over the love of her life, the world she belongs in, and her friends. I think this is a ploy by Voldemort to separate us and pick us off one by one." They watched Harry take dive after dive.
"I'm inclined to agree with you, Dragon, but we can't force her to stay here against her will. We can send Sirius and Regulus to watch over her, though."
"Thanks. I can't take care of her and watch him at the same time." Draco started shivering. Severus had grabbed a cloak, but Draco was just in his thin school robes.
"Let's trade brooms. I was a decent flier in my day, and if I have a good broom, I can keep up with him. Don't worry; I'll it back to Ginny when I'm done. Try to hover beneath us, in case I have to do something drastic. You are going to receive major points for this, don't worry. Not that it matters…you may die of from an illness if we don't get you two in soon."
It took Severus and Draco another three hours to get Harry inside, with a little help from the twins, by which time the two fifth years were getting ill. "Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, you are going to stay with me tonight. You are not going to go anywhere alone."Severus cast strong drying charms on the three of them, though that didn't matter much. School was over by this point, and most of the castle was heading for dinner. "Dragon, go and see Poppy. I need to talk to Harry alone for a second or two."
Severus put his hands on Harry's shoulders. "I understand that you feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest. I know how it feels to have someone who you love with every fiber of your being leave you. I know how it is, Harry. I experienced that when I lost my sister. I did the same thing you did, only it wasn't raining that October day, or any of the November days immediately following that October day. It might not be the same kind of love that you share with Hermione, but it's still love. Love hurts sometimes."Severus pulled Harry into a tight hug. "But Harry, you can't forget that there are other people who love you. Draco would follow you into a pit of poisonous vipers. Your dad, Siri, Regulus, your nana, Minerva…they all love you. So do I, Harry. When your mum named me as one of your godfathers, I never thought I could love anyone more than I loved the Marauders, well except for Peter. But do you know what? I found out that I could love someone more than that, especially when I was entrusted with his safety. If you asked Sirius, he'd say the same thing. Don't hurt us just because you are hurting." Severus let him go, but put his arm around him and walked him into the Hospital Wing. It was going to be a very long time before he forgave Hermione for treating Harry like this, even if they found out that Voldemort was somehow involved.
Draco was sleeping soundly on one of the uncomfortable hospital beds. "He's utterly exhausted, Severus. What is going on here?"
"As soon as Harry joins Draco in dreamland, I'll explain it all to you, Poppy."
A/n: Almost 100 reviews! That's so cool! A big thanks to all of you who review regularly, and to those who don't review but are reading the story! You guys (or girls) are awesome!