Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I managed to do a Thanksgiving special update! I doubt that I'll be able to update this Saturday, but I'll try to do it late at night tomorrow.
Anyways. In this chapter, we pick up almost exactly where we left off. It's the morning after Draco wakes up after getting hit with the Sectumsempra curse from Harry Potter.
Chapter Sixteen
"An owl came for you, Mister Malfoy," Madame Pomphrey announced the next morning.
I looked up from the books and notes my friends brought me after dinner last night and found the healer extending the letter out to me. I thanked her and took the note.
My hand shook as I slowly broke the wax seal of my family crest on the letter. What would it say? It would surely reprimand me for getting injured and not being able to kill Dumbledore. What else could it be.
The letter wasn't encoded. It was exactly as it read. There wasn't any underlying message.
Draco,
Are you alright? Madame Pomphrey wrote to us about what had happened and yesterday and that you were finally awake. If you are able to write to us, tell us what happened. Your mother and I were terrified when we had heard. We just need to hear what happened and how you're doing from your own mouth.
Father
Draco,
What really happened? Madame Pomphrey only told us that you were hit with an unknown spell in the lavatory.
But overall, what happened doesn't really matter. You are to put aside any work you have, and do as Madame Pomphrey instructs until you get better. No school work or extracurricular activities. Just rest.
I wish you the best, Draco. Please get better.
Mother
They wanted to know if I was alright. That was it. Not even Father wanted to know anything else.
One of the other school nurses passed by. "Excuse me," I called, getting her to pause and look back at me. "You don't know if it's possible for me to write back, do you?" I wondered, gesturing to the letter.
The nurse debated for a moment before nodding. "I'll get you a pen, ink and some parchment," she told me before walking off. When she returned, she had a thin roll of parchment, an old quill and a small ink well that she placed on the bedside table.
I thanked her and received a nod in response. I closed my books as she took her leave, then grabbed each of the items she placed on the table. I placed one of the thicker textbooks on the bed covers in front of me, unrolled the parchment on top of the book and carefully dipped the quill into the ink.
The letter would require a bit of code if I wanted to tell them exactly what had happened. Otherwise the letter would be all over the Daily Prophet if the owl delivering it was intercepted.
Mother and Father,
I'm doing better. I was unconscious for two days, but nothing bad has happened since. As for what really happened, well, it wasn't good.
I went to the Great Hall for breakfast, and I found Potter talking with the girl I had Cursed as a way to kill Dumbledore. She said that she couldn't remember who cursed her, but then she saw me and gave me an odd look, like she did remember me.
Before she could get any more suspicious, I left the Hall and went to the bathroom to wait until she had forgotten again. Little did I know that Potter had followed me. He made it clear that he suspected me of hexing her. He threw a stunning spell at me, and I returned it. The fight continued for several minutes until Potter rounded a corner and shouted a spell that I had never heard before.
When it had hit me, it felt like my skin was being shredded. I was bleeding from everywhere, and I thought I was going to die I started to black out after a while, but I think it was Snape that came. He kept repeating a different spell, but I had never heard of that one either.
I don't remember much after that.
Thank you for checking up on me.
Draco
I looked up from the letter in time to see Madame Pomphrey walk by. I called to her and got her to come back towards my bed. "I'm sure I'm not allowed anywhere near the Owlery or hot wax, so could you send this to my parents for me?" I mocked, still smiling from the fact that my parents wanted to know how I was.
"Yes, I will, Mister Malfoy," Pomphrey agreed with a smile, taking the letter from me and walking off again.
Later in the day, I had fallen asleep again but was woken up by a hand gently shaking my shoulder. I groaned in annoyance. This was the best I had slept all year. Who in their right mind was waking me up?
I rolled over and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I glanced to the bedside to find Potter standing next to me looking worried.
I gave him an incredulous look. What was he doing here?
"I'm just checking up on you, Malfoy," he told me, raising his hands in a pacifying gesture. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," I spat. Just because I know Potter didn't mean to hurt me, doesn't mean that I want him here.
"I know you're angry with me, but I wanted to thank you for not turning me in," he said, taking a seat on the nearby stool.
"I don't think you meant to hurt me," I whispered. "Did you even know what spell you hit me with?"
"No," Potter breathed, looking thoughtful. "I found it in an old potions book."
"You know who owned it?" I questioned, faintly hoping that I could figure something out.
"Not really," he answered. "The inside cover said 'This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince'."
"Who on Earth is the Half-Blood Prince?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. "And how could he create a spell like that?"
"No idea."
We both fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while until it became a bit too uncomfortable for me. "So, if you didn't know who came up with the spell or what the spell was for, why did you use it on me?" I questioned.
I knew Potter greatly disliked me and that he suspected either me or my family of causing every bad thing that happened in the school, but Potter has a strong moral code. I didn't think his hatred for me was so great that he'd use an unknown and dangerous spell on me.
Potter hesitated, making my heart beat faster in anxiety. Maybe I judged him wrong.
He took a deep breath, as if preparing himself to answer and muttered, "I-it was labeled 'for enemies' in the book."
"'For enemies'," I clarified, receiving a nod in answer. "Because of that Bell girl?" Potter nodded again. I sighed and told him, "I didn't Curse her. I don't even know her."
"Then why'd you try to stun me when I questioned you about her? You tense up whenever I even mention her," Potter interrogated.
It was my turn to hesitate. I had no answer. I could tell him that I was simply on edge, but then he would ask what I was nervous about. I could come up with something for that, too, but he might continue to press me. Potter was infamous for asking questions about things he shouldn't.
"Shouldn't you be in class, Mister Potter?" a low voice slowly interjected, saving me from having to answer.
I looked over Potter's shoulder to find Snape gliding towards us. Potter followed my gaze and stood up from the stool once he realized who was here with us.
"Actually, sir, I was on my way to see Professor Dumbledore," Potter corrected.
"Then I suggest you go and do that," the professor quietly ordered, raising a stern eyebrow at Potter.
"Yes, sir," Harry agreed before walking out of the infirmary.
"Are you feeling better?" Snape asked once Harry was fully out of the door.
"Yes, fine," I answered.
I glanced down at my sheets as Madame Pomphrey's half-remembered words came to mind. "What Professor Snape did saved his life."
Taking a short breath I mutter a quick, "Thanks."
"I had to, Mister Malfoy," Snape responded. "I came to your aid to fulfill the Vow."
I nodded, knowing that he would have no other reason to come and see me.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a save and wonderful holiday!