I knew who it was, but that didn't change my next action.
I conjured a bandage spell and tried to stop the bleeding.
I wasn't good at healing spells, but I knew how to take care of bleeding.
I pulled the ribbon of my bow from my hair and tied it tightly around his forearm.
I had to keep the bleeding at bay until I got him to Min.
"Malfoy," I addressed him.
No response.
"Malfoy," I repeated more forcefully.
Still no response.
His chest was still rising and falling but more and more slowly and less and less.
I had no time, I knew that, so I did the only right thing.
I picked myself up, casted a levitation spell on Malfoy and stood up.
I let him hover beside me so I could watch his breathing and ran as fast as I could back up to the sixth floor to Min's office.
Again and again I called Malfoy's name, hoping he would respond, but there was no response.
Without knocking, I stormed into Min's office.
The sight of me had to be terrifying, full of blood and an almost lifeless Malfoy hovering next to me.
Min looked at me with wide eyes and jumped out from here her desk.
"What happened?" she pressed out, taking over my wand.
She used her own wand to make the books disappear from the desk and slowly set Malfoy down on it.
"I was on my way to you and then I heard a scream.
I bumped into Nick and he led me to the prefects bathroom.
That's where I found him in his own blood.
I don't know what happened but his breathing was shallow and he wasn't responding".
I spoke quickly because I knew there was no time to lose.
"How much blood was there?", Min asked me surprisingly calm for the situation.
"I don't know. It was mixed with water but it was a lot."
I was completely distraught.
Min put a hand on my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.
"You go to the hospital wing now, get all the vials that say painkiller or stops bleeding from the cupboard on the right wall and come back as soon as you can."
She took a quick breath.
"And you need to try to calm down."
I ran a hand over my hair and felt two cat ears.
That was obvious.
I nodded quickly.
I really didn't care about the ears right now.
The only thing that mattered to me right now was getting those vials to Malfoy as quickly as possible.
I ran as fast as I could.
Completely out of breath and with my arms full of vials, I arrived back upstairs.
In the meantime, Min had cleaned Malfoy's arm and dried his clothes.
She was inspecting his arm when I stepped back into her office.
"Very good", she said, taking the vials from my hands.
She started reading the labels directly and opened one of them.
Carefully she tried to pour a light liquid from one of the vials into his mouth.
He groaned briefly and I was reassured that he was responding.
"It's not as easy as I first thought."
Min spoke slowly and calm, providing the perfect counterpoint to me who was still completely overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"I thought at first he had cut his aorta, that would explain all the blood but when I cleaned the arm, only a small cut appeared and it was in a place that wouldn't bleed like that."
Not the aorta, that was good, wasn't it?
But Min didn't seem to be done yet.
"He cut right along his dark mark. I think he wanted to cut it out."
I knew what that meant, I had read about it in the books after seeing his mark for the first time.
"If you try to remove the mark a curse is released that kills the bearer within 24 hours", I quoted the passage in the book.
Min nodded weakly.
"If not treated," she added, looking at me.
"It can be treated?", I asked, wiping a tear from my cheek.
I didn't know when I had started crying.
"It's a curse, if you know the counter curse and use it early enough the person affected can be saved", she explained in her teacher voice.
"And we know the counter curse?"
I was getting impatient.
Malfoy didn't have much time and Min was wasting it explaining things to me.
"Not yet but Horace has a book about counter curses, it should be in in his office.
I don't know what it's called, just what it looks like and roughly where it might be."
I nodded.
"Fine I'll get it", I said quickly.
"You stay here, come to rest and look after Mr Malfoy. I'll be back quickly."
"What if he wakes up?
Or if he's in pain? I'm not good at healing spells, what do I do then?"
Panic crept up inside me.
"The painkiller is working and the bleeding has stopped, the next step is the curse and then we have to deal with the blood loss.
You've done everything right up to this point.
You may not be the best at healing spells but you're good at taking care of things, just like your mom.
You can do this."
She looked deep into my eyes once more and then left me alone with my panic and Malfoy.
My mum was a nurse.
She always took care of everyone.
Whenever I was sick, she sat by my bed and read me stories and sang to me until I felt better.
I took a deep breath and then turned to Malfoy.
His chest was rising and falling more regularly now and his face no longer looked so distorted with pain.
I pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.
I just looked at him lying there as if he was just sleeping, as if he hadn't wanted to cut out his Dark Mark and as if there wasn't a killing curse inside him.
"Why did you do that?", I asked aloud without expecting an answer.
I just couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Didn't you know it would kill you?
Or is that why you wanted to do it?"
I was silent for a moment, pondering what was actually the reason for Malfoy's actions.
"Why were you here in the first place?
You should be at home with your family, with people who love you, not here at Hogwarts on the Headmistress's desk."
Now I was mad at him because his parents were certainly worried about him and on Christmas Eve.
"That was really stupid of you and selfish,
I'm sure your family is hugely worried about you", I hissed at him and it felt good to snap at him like I usually did.
It brought a bit of normality to this bizarre situation.
He groaned.
Instinctively I reached for his hand, held it tightly and slowly stroked it with my thumb.
"Easy Malfoy, it's alright, I'm here."
I placed my other hand on his forehead.
He was running a fever.
This had to be the curse. Hopefully Min comes back soon.
Mom's singing always calmed me down when I was sick or scared.
What did I have to lose?
So I started singing the first thing that popped into my head, which was not surprisingly a Christmas song.
"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace "
Malfoy visibly relaxed and I continued singing.
I only knew those few lines by heart, so I just kept repeating them when I reached the end.
I was about to start again for the fifth time when I heard the door behind me.
I turned around but still held Malfoy's hand.
Min was standing in the doorway with some books under her arm and looked like she was about to start crying.
"Didn't you find the counter curse book?"
"Yes I did," she said softly. "I heard you singing and you sound just like your mom and for a brief moment I thought she was here."
I could hear how sad she was when she thought of my mom.
She and my parents had been good friends before they died, which was why she was my godmother.
"I'm sorry," I apologised.
Min came up to me, put the books down and put her hands on my shoulders.
"Don't ever apologise for being like your parents again.
I thought I would never hear their voice again.
You just gave me the best Christmas present ever."
"Sorry," I said meekly.
I hadn't known Min had loved hearing Mom sing so much.
"You found the counter curse book?", I quickly changed the subject.
Min nodded and took one of the books she had brought from the pile and began to leaf through it.
"Here", she said, pointing to the open page.
It was a complicated counter curse and I could tell from Min's face that she was nervous too and despite being such an exceptionally powerful witch.
I had always envied her courage and strength but today was the first time I could see something like fear in her face.
For her the life of a student was at starke. The son of parents who had entrusted her with looking after their child.
If she didn't manage to lift the curse from him, he would die and she would blame herself all her life for not being able to save him.
Her face was concentrated and I was afraid to breathe too loudly in case it distracted her.
She casted the counter curse and yellow light came out of her wand and hit Malfoy.
He twitched and screamed.
It was a gruesome sight.
I gritted my teeth and hoped it would pass quickly.
It took maybe ten seconds, which seemed like hours, for him to stop convulsing and I sprinted to him to see if he was still breathing.
His chest was rising and falling slowly and regularly now.
His face was no longer contorted in pain and his left arm, which had just been red, looked as white as it should.
I sighed with relief and Min dropped exhausted into her chair.
The counter curse had taken a lot out from her and it showed.
"It worked", I said softly, smiling at Min.
"That was the hardest part but he's not out of the woods yet.
The after effects of the curses will last for the next few hours and will definitely not be pleasant.
I will have to keep an eye on him the whole time."
"WE will keep an eye on him.
We can take turns," I quickly replied.
"And we'll have to worry about his blood loss.
Blood is pretty peculiar, we can't do anything with spells there.
We'd have to get a blood donation for him", she reasoned aloud.
"It needs the same blood type, his parents would be a possibility but it takes too long for me to reach them.
We could try to apparate with him to St. Mungos but that could be dangerous for him.
The best thing would be to find someone in the village who has the same blood group as him."
"Or one of us," I added.
Min looked at me and nodded.
"How do you compare blood types?", I asked curiously.
"It's done magically, fortunately, because we don't affect the blood with it.
You prick your finger and the drop of blood is compared to another.
If the two drops are compatible they merge and glow, if they're not they don't glow."
"Okay," I said quickly and reached for my wand.
I made a pointed needle appear at the end of it and pricked my finger with it.
I let the drop float in front of me.
"Daisy, not so fast. It's not safe for you.
Giving blood is exhausting on the body and who knows what it's like for you."
"I won't be compatible, but we have to be sure.
You said yourself he doesn't have much time and I wasn't going to stand around here waiting."
A drop of Malfoy's blood flew slowly towards mine and when the two were only a few millimetres apart they stopped.
They spun around each other and then very slowly towards each other again.
They merged together and I held my breath.
Nothing happened for a long time and then the drop lit up.
First very lightly and then brighter and brighter.
I swallowed hard.
I really hadn't expected to be compatible with Malfoy and only now did it occur to me what that meant.
I would donate my blood to him.
My blood would flow through his veins.
My not pure blood through his pure blooded veins that were so important to him.
But what other choice did I have?
After all, I couldn't let him die.
Yes maybe he was the most arrogant, selfish and obnoxious guy I knew but that was no reason to let him die and on Christmas.
I would do it.
I would give him my blood but not for him but for his family and friends who would mourn him.
"I'll do it," I said to Min, nodding at her.
"But if he ever asks who the blood is from, it's from a pureblood wizard in the village."
"Daisy, donating blood is no small thing, are you sure you want to do this?
I'm sure we can find someone else who has the same blood type too."
"I'm the best and quickest chance he has.
I want to do this, only you have to give the permission", I stated in a firm voice.
Min nodded.
"Then roll up your left sleeve and sit on that chair over there."
I did as I was told and not 20 minutes later half a litre of my blood had run into a glass jar.
Min pressed a swab into my hand with which I pressed the puncture site.
Then she turned her attention to Malfoy, who was still asleep and breathing calmly on Min's desk and stuck a needle into the crook of his arm.
My blood slowly flowed into him and it was the absolute most bizarre thing I had ever seen.
This whole situation was so surreal that I had to remind myself a few times that this was not a dream.
Min set a large glass of water down for me.
"Drink this down, you've lost a lot of fluids."
I nodded mutely.
We both fell silent and just watched my blood dwindle in the glass vessel.
Only my stomach growling interrupted the silence.
I had had no sense of time at all until now, but my hunger told me that it must be late.
"We should take Mr Malfoy to our flat.
He can't stay here in the office and that way we can keep a better eye on him."
I didn't really like this idea but I had no other solution so I agreed.
Of course I had completely forgotten that it was Christmas Eve and that I had decorated the flat and it was only when Min opened the door and the smell of my baked cookies hit my nose that I realised it again.
Min slowly put Malfoy, who was levitating next to her, down on the sofa and then looked around the room.
"You decorated all this by yourself?"
I nodded.
"I thought you didn't want to celebrate Christmas without your grandfather?"
"I didn't really want to either but then I thought about Grandma and Mom and how sad they would be if I didn't celebrate Christmas."
Min gave me a hug, something she rarely did.
"I'm sorry this Christmas isn't what you wanted", she whispered, hugging me a little tighter.
No, I certainly hadn't wished for finding the boy who hated me, bleeding in the bathroom and then donate blood to save his life but that was the way it was.
This Christmas holiday would be different from what I had wished for, but certainly not boring.
