When the two reached the hospital ward, Hermione pounded on the heavy oak door. "Madame Pomfrey!" she called. "Madame Pomfrey, please wake up!"
After 5 long minutes, the door slowly edged open and the sleepy, grouchy face of the Hogwarts head nurse appeared. "What do you what?" she mumbled with a yawn.
"Please, Madame Pomfrey, Draco was attacked by some creatures and I think they might be poisonous."
Immediately, the nurse's face jumped to attention and all traces of sleep left her. "Come in," she said hurriedly as she reached over and switched on the light. Sleeping forms on the hospital beds murmured and turned in their sleep, some complaining about the disruptance.
Ignoring them, Madame Pomfrey led Hermione and Draco to a bed in the back of the ward. "Sit down," she said to Draco as she bustled around, gathering bottles of liquids and bandages. Draco's face had turned a sickly yellowish colour, and he was apparently in too much pain to even be his usual self, because he sat down without a word.
"What was he attacked by?" asked the nurse to Hermione as she started applying a dark green liquid to Draco's injuries.
"I-I don't know," stuttered Hermione. "They looked like scorpions with really really long legs and they were bright red and..."
"Mithions," murmured Madam Pomfrey to herself. "This is bad. He must be taken to St. Mungo's."
"What?!" exclaimed Hermione, hardly daring to believe her ears.
"Get the headmaster," the nurse snapped. "Tell him that this student must be brought to St. Mungo's immediately, and that he has been attacked by Mithions."
"What are Mithions?"
"GO!"
Hermione gave up, and did what the nurse told her. She ran as fast as she could to Dumbledore's office, ignoring the curious looks the portraits gave her as she hurried past them. When she reached the gargoyles that guarded his office, she said the password, ran up the spiraling staircase, and knocked loudly on the wooden door.
Moments later, Dumbledore's serene face was gazing down at her with a grave expression as she told her tale to him in a breathless voice. Before she had even finished relaying what Madame Pomfrey had told her to tell Dumbledore, he was gone. "Stay here until I return," were his final words as he brushed by her.
Gulping, Hermione tentatively walked into the headmaster's office. She sat down apprehensively on a soft, midnight blue armchair. Exhaling deeply, she tried to calm her thoughts, but they continued to race through her mind at the speed of light. Who was that man? What are those creatures? How could Draco's father know about all of this? Why does Draco have to be taken to St. Mungo's? Is he going to...is he going to die? As the last of these questions spun into her head, her throat tightened and tears formed behind her eyelids. Was it possible that he could die?
"No, I can't think like that," she said out loud to herself, trying to withold the tears. "He can't die. Dumbledore wouldn't let him."
"He most certainly would not," came a voice from beside Dumbledore's desk. Looking up in surprise, she saw the portrait of an old woman with a long nose smiling at her. The elderly witch wore a nightcap and a long, purple robe decorated with silver stars.
"Who are you?" asked Hermione, standing up and walking up to the portrait.
"I was the headmistress of this school three hundred years ago. Name's Penelope Thyle. Pleased to meet you, Miss Granger."
"How do you know my name?" Hermione inquired, surprised.
"Oh I know a lot of things," answered the portrait with a sly grin. "Look down, dear."
Hermione did so, and saw to her surprise that the allievrae lay spread out on Dumbledore's desk. Her curiousity overtook her and she kneeled down to stare into the pool of shimmering colours.
The image formed in the whirling liquid this time was different from the first one she had seen. Hermione leaned closer to it until her nose was nearly touching the substance, then watched with bated breath as the scene unfolded in front of her...
Hermione and Draco stood in their graduation robes by the lake. Fireworks exploded and other students cheered in the background, but the two of them appeared to be completely unaware of anything in their surroundings.
"Where was it you said you were going to?" Hermione asked.
"I'm going to London to work for the Ministry of Magic. Hopefully as far away from my father as possible," Draco responded.
"How are you going to manage that? Won't he be watching everything you do?"
"Possibly, but don't worry, I can deal with him." He said this with a smile - how alike Hermione it was to worry about him in everything he did.
"I'm going to miss you so much, Draco. I...I don't know what I'll do without you. I feel like I'm losing a part of me." Tears glimmered on Hermione's cheeks as she said this in a choked whisper.
"Maybe..." Draco started to say, but was cut off by one of his friends approaching and tapping him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Malfoy, come on they're going to set off the final firework. You've gotta see this one."
"Yeah, one sec," he replied. "I'm busy here, Jayl." His friend took the hint, and ran off. Draco chuckled as he turned back to Hermione. "Sorry about that," he said.
"It's okay," she answered, smiling at him. "What were you going to say?"
"Hermione...I've been thinking about this for a few months now. You know that I love you more than anything."
In the background, the chant of voices could be heard, counting down to the set-off of the last firework. "Three!" they screamed.
"I know, Draco. It's how I feel about you too."
"I wouldn't be able to stand not being with you either. So I've come up with a way for us to be together after today..."
"Two!"
"What is it?" Hermione asked, her voice barely audible. She looked up at Draco, and the expression on her face showed that she knew what he was about to say next.
"Hermione Granger," said Draco as he got down on one knee, "Will you marry me?"
"ONE!!!"
Fireworks exploded in the distance, forming the Hogwarts crest in brilliant, sparkling lights. Hermione fell onto the ground in front of Draco and started weeping into his shoulder. "Yes," she said, her voice trembling with happiness. "Yes I will."
Hermione pulled away as the scene dissolved into nothing, and the pool of liquid once again took on the wrapper form. As she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears, she found to her surprise that her cheeks were wet. After a moment of confusion, she realized it was because she had been crying as she watched the future play out before her eyes.
"Was that really the future?" she whispered to herself.
"It was indeed," said a voice from behind her. Hermione jumped, but then remembered that the portrait was still there.
"But I thought..."
"That it was supposed to show your happiest yet most heartbreaking moment from the future?" finished Penelope for her with a chuckle. However, her expression grew serious as she continued. "Yes, dear, it does that the first time. But the next time you look into the allievrae, you will see a flash of something that will happen in your near future, whether it be happy or sad. From that point on, everytime you look into it, the scenes you see will be from the increasingly nearer future, until you begin to see things that will happen mere hours or days later. Most wizards choose to throw away the allievrae once they realize what is happening, Miss Granger, and those who don't often turn insane. They begin to see things that will happen in other parts of the world ahead of time, disasterly events, and they can do nothing about it. Eventually they lose their mind."
Although the former headmistress's speech had shocked Hermione, she managed to say, "But how come I only see scenes that deal with me and Draco together then?"
Giving the younger wizard a thoughtful look, the portrait said, "I do believe you and Mr Malfoy are a special case. Because you both found and looked into the allievrae at the same time, then it will only show you events that happen to both of you."
"Then Draco will be okay. He'll live," said Hermione out loud in relief. Then another realization hit her - "So it's true. We are going to get married..." she murmured softly, looking down at the wrapper that lay on the table. "How can it be possible? I don't love him..."
"Are you quite sure of that, Miss Granger?"
Turning around, Hermione looked into the portrait's eyes. They stared back at her kindly and knowingly.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice quivering.
"I cannot tell you what you need to discover on your own. However, keep this in mind...never lie to yourself. Your heart will always tell you what you need to know. Look deeper, and you will see..."