Chapter 6

Draco awoke the next morning to the sound of coughing.

Great. Granger was sick. She better not get him sick. He was mad at her. But more than that he was hurt. He thought they were becoming closer. Friends even.

He shook his head. What did he care anyway? He didn't need her as a friend.

He couldn't get over the way he'd found her in the bathroom a few weeks ago though. Blaise told him she was probably deflecting because she didn't want him to find out if Ron was abusing her. While he knew it sounded logical, he didn't want to believe it.

He wanted her to apologize for saying those things to him.

At the sound of another bout of coughing coming from the bathroom, he got out of bed and opened the door. "Merlin, Granger. Go get a pepper-up or something."

His amusement left his body when he saw her hunched over the toilet. She looked clammy and pale in an oversized t-shirt.

She turned around so he could see her face. Blood was dripping from her mouth, tears falling from her eyes. A hand clutched her stomach and she sobbed, "Draco…it won't stop."

She turned just in time to start coughing again, throwing up bile and blood.

Draco rushed over to her, his heart pounding. He pulled her hair out of her face. After a few minutes, she leaned against the wall and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, "I'm scared. Please. Please help me."

"I will. Of course I will. You're alright," he told her, even though he wasn't sure he believed it himself. She looked awful. Her skin had taken on a grayish undertone and when he held a hand to her face, he could tell she had a very high fever.

He cursed under his breath as she leaned into his touch. She was shaking. What the hell was wrong with her? Her breathing was irregular and she winced, clutching her stomach like she was having a pain spasm. She pushed herself up and began coughing up blood again.

He ran a hand through her curls, trying to calm her down. His own hand was shaking, fearing for her. What was he supposed to do? This couldn't be good. It had to be serious to be losing so much blood like this. Some kind of internal bleeding maybe.

"You're gonna be fine Hermione." He told her sternly. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."

She nodded and stood up shakily. She made it no more than three steps towards the bathroom door before she collapsed completely, eyes rolling back in her head. Draco caught her before she cracked her head open on the ground.

He scooped her up and patted her face gently, trying to wake her up. "Dammit."

He raced out of the dormitory with Hermione clutched tightly to his chest. He practically ran to the infirmary, kicking the door open violently.

"Help! Madame Pomfrey! Please help!" He shouted, laying her down on the closest bed.

Madame Pomfrey came racing out of her office, "Mr. Malfoy. What happened boy?"

He shook his head, "I don't know, she's been throwing up blood."

She cast a diagnostic spell on the unconscious girl covered in her own blood, "Internal bleeding. Concussion. High fever. Bruised ribs. Bruises…oh Merlin. Mr. Malfoy, did you and Ms. Granger get into a physical fight?"

"You think I did this? What happened? You're saying someone…I'll kill him. I'll kill that bastard." Draco snarled.

"Mr. Malfoy, whatever happened, we'll deal with that later. Right now I need your help. Go get me a fever reducing potion and a blood replenishing potion while I tend to her bruising."

Draco rushed into her office and grabbed the vials. He set them on the bedside table and watched the elder witch relieve her bruising around her ribs. She seemed to start breathing better after that. She cast healing spells over the girl and suctioned the blood from her stomach. When she was no longer at a critical risk of dying, she told Draco, "Take this wash cloth and clean her up, will you? I'm gonna grab her a fresh shirt to change into and grab some more potions to help with her recovery."

He did as he was told. He wiped the blood from around her mouth and then grabbed a clean rag to pat her forehead. She looked so small on the hospital bed. So close to death. He wondered how he had gotten so attatched to the girl he had grown up hating so much. They hadn't even talked for weeks and he was scareder than he had ever been. It scared him to see her like that. She still looked awfully sick, even though he knew she just needed to rest now.

She shifted in her sleep and tired eyes opened to meet his. "Draco…"

"Shh," he whispered, "Go to sleep, you're gonna be alright now. I promise."

Her eyes closed and he thought she passed out again but she whispered, "Thank you." before her head lolled to the side.