Hermione smiled. She told him, “Thank you. Meet me in the library on Saturday at eight in the morning. Eat breakfast first.”
Malfoy looked at her, confused. “I thought you would want to start right away.”
“I made you look crazy, the least I can do is give you a couple of days of peace before taking up all your free time. I’ll see you in the library on Saturday. Bye, Malfoy.”
Hermione turned and walked through a wall. She didn’t know what she would do in the meantime, but she would get the help she needed in a couple of days.
Hermione strode into the library at seven-thirty. She wanted to look at book titles before Malfoy came in. She wouldn’t be able to use him as long as she wanted (all day and well into the night). After seeing a few books that looked promising and memorizing their location, Hermione saw that it was 8:03 on the clock in the library above her favorite table. She looked around for Malfoy and found him after two minutes (it would have been shorter had he not been looking for her as well).
“There you are!” Hermione exclaimed, and then instructed him, “Follow me.”
Malfoy did as he was told, hoping not to be in here too long. She pointed to several books and he took them from their proper places.
“Can you read all this in one day, Granger?” Malfoy asked after she pointed out the twenty-seventh book (but hey, who’s counting).
Because of all the books, Malfoy had made four stacks, each going up to his waist.
After handing Malfoy another book, Hermione replied, “Of course, these will be done by lunch.”
Malfoy gave her a skeptical look, but took one stack to the table she led him to. He made three more trips to get all the books. Once he settled down in a chair, Hermione immediately started.
“All right, Malfoy,” Hermione instructed him, “Take Obscure Magical Maladies and open it to the index.”
Malfoy followed instructions and when she leaned over his shoulder, he felt immediately uncomfortable. ’Probably just being too close to a Mudblood,’ Malfoy thought to himself.
Hermione’s voice brought him out of his reassuring thoughts. “Turn to page five-hundred and sixty-three.”
He flipped to the page she had specified. The chapter was titled Spirits Leaving the Body. Hermione’s eyes quickly darted over the two open pages.
“Turn,” Hermione directed him.
Malfoy followed her orders again. Soon he was able to tell when she was done and they fell into a rhythm. When lunchtime rolled around Hermione had already looked through twenty-seven of the books. Hermione was about to look through the last when Malfoy’s stomach growled loudly.
“I guess its time for you to go to lunch,” Hermione said, slightly distracted as she was contemplating what the last book had meant.
“No, I’m fine really,” Malfoy insisted, but his voice was followed by another loud rumble.
“Go,” Hermione told him. “I need time to pick out more books.”
Draco quickly got up and left to eat a quick lunch.
Hermione sighed and continued looking for books. She found many more, but if all the books were like the ones she already found, she would be stuck. ‘Hermione! Don’t think that!’ she told herself, ‘If you do, you’ll never get back. You need to keep your hopes up.’ She shook off all her worries and continued searching. As Hermione was looking at a title, Magical Mysteries Throughout History, she wanted to read the back to find out if she needed it. She would have to wait for Draco to get back in order to read it. In the meantime, she decided to glare at the book for having a vague title, having nothing better to do.
Malfoy hurried back to the library and looked around for Hermione. What he saw made him burst into laughter. Hermione looked as if she was having a staring contest with a book.
Startled at the laughing, Hermione turned to look and see whom it belonged to. ‘Of course, it has to be Malfoy, since no one else can see me, idiot,’ she thought to herself. ‘Plus, who else would catch me doing something embarrassing like glaring at an inanimate object?’ she thought, blushing as she realized how stupid she must have looked.
Draco wiped tears from his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this hard. He thought to himself, ‘I also can’t remember the last time someone so smart did something so stupid.’
“Are you done?” Hermione asked angrily. She did not like being laughed at.
“Just about,” Draco replied, still chuckling.
“Good. Now, get down this book so that I can read the back,” she ordered him while pointing at the cause for her embarrassment.
Malfoy reached for the book and turned it so she could read the summary.
Hermione growled and said to no one in particular, (well, maybe the book, but she wasn’t going to say that to Malfoy), “That’s absolutely no help at all. Open it up.”
Malfoy did as he was told and opened to the index, knowing that that was what she wanted. He was about to turn it around to show her when he saw she wasn’t there. He looked around and was surprised to see her standing...in him. He stared at her momentarily until she looked at him in return.
“Oh, sorry,” Hermione apologized, blushing yet again. “I was just impatient to find if this book would help or not. It won’t, so you can put it back.”
Draco walked toward the bookshelf, partly to put up the book, partly to get farther away from Hermione. It was creepy for her to be in him. It made him think things that shouldn’t be thought about a know-it-all Mudblood.
Shaking this off, he looked toward where Hermione was standing and saw she wasn’t there. Turning around, he saw her at the bookshelf behind him.
Hermione showed him a bunch more books and Malfoy carried them back to the table they had used earlier. Instead of just turning the pages for Hermione, Draco opened up his own book and started searching.
Confused, Hermione asked, “What are you doing?”
Malfoy looked up and replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Helping.”
Hermione stared at him a moment and replied, “Thank you, Draco.”
Surprised, Draco asked, “What did you call me?”
“Malfoy. I called you Malfoy.” Hermione said quickly, trying to reassure herself as much as Drac…Malfoy.
“No, you didn’t. You called me Draco,” insisted Draco.
“So what if I did?” asked Hermione, trying to sound unruffled.
“Nothing. It’s just weird, Hermione,” said Draco, attempting to sound equally calm.
“No, that’s weird,” said Hermione, confused. “Why are you calling me Hermione?”
“Same reason you’re calling me Draco,” answered Draco, shrugging.
Hermione smiled. This meant a truce between them, at least until she was back to normal.
At least, that’s what she hoped it meant.
They continued researching until it was time for Draco to go and eat dinner.
Hermione said, “Have a nice dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow, same time.”
Draco replied, smiling, “Tomorrow.”
“We’ve been researching a month,” Hermione complained.
“Believe me, I know. I haven’t done anything but research,” Draco groaned.
“I think we’ve read the whole library on anything remotely relating to this topic.”
“Probably.”
“I’m never going to get back to my body.”
“You will. Don’t give up. I’ll think of something.”
Hermione looked at Draco with a sad, puppy-dog look. She looked as if she might start crying.
Draco said the first thing that came to mind. “Let’s go check on your body.”
Hermione looked at him as if he were crazy. “What?”
“You heard me. Let’s go,” said Draco, beckoning.
He had already started walking, so Hermione had no choice but to follow. This would be the first time she saw her body since the day that she had...died? She was so scared that she began to shake. Draco turned to look at her and stopped.
“Are you okay?”
“Yea, I’m fine. Just a little nervous,” said Hermione, looking scared.
Draco continued walking, although a little slower, with more frequent glances at Hermione. Soon (too soon for Hermione’s liking) they reached the Hospital Wing.
“Are you ready for this?” Draco asked, worried about Hermione, who looked as if she might have a nervous breakdown any minute.
“Yea, I’m just a little scared,” Hermione replied honestly. “I’m scared that my body won’t be any better, and I’ll be stuck here, in between living and dead, forever.”
“Your body will be better. Trust me,” Draco told her reassuringly.
She did trust him. He was the only human contact she’d had for the past month. No matter who it is, you grow on them, even your ex-enemy.
He pushed open the door to the Hospital Wing and asked Madam Pomfrey if he could see Hermione.
Madam Pomfrey asked Malfoy, confused, "How do you know about her?"
Draco replied, "I saw her the night after the Quidditch game and when I had those injuries from falling. Don't you remember?"
Madame Pomfrey crossed her arms and replied, slightly annoyed, "Yes, I remember, but I thought you didn't."
"Ummm," Draco started nervously.
"Well, you already know, so you might as well see her," Madam Pomfrey said hesitantly.
He and Hermione walked over to her bed, and he pulled back the curtains. Hermione gasped. She was completely healed, except for the spirit and body being separated, but other than that, she was perfectly fine. She smiled at her lifeless body. This meant she was recovering, therefore, she might return to her body without magical help.
Draco was speechless seeing her. It was incredibly strange to see two Hermione’s. It wasn’t as bad anymore, now that they were, dare he think it, friends?
Draco suddenly got an idea.
“Hermione, turn around.”
Confused, Hermione did as she was told. Draco picked up her hand and held it. Hermione looked at her hand, confused at the warmth suddenly coming from her hand.
“There’s something weird with my hand. It suddenly feels warm,” Hermione told Draco, still with her back to him.
“Turn back around,” Draco told her, not letting go of her hand.
Hermione turned as he asked and saw him holding her hand.
She cried out in utter happiness, “I can feel you! This must mean I’m getting better. I’ll probably be back in my body in no time. We won’t have needed the library!”
Draco gently placed Hermione’s hand back on the bed. He then called out to Madam Pomfrey, “How is she?”
Madam Pomfrey walked closer to him and replied, “She is in perfect health...”
At this Hermione smiled wider and her hopes soared.
Madam Pomfrey continued, “... however, I can’t figure out why she won’t wake up. Watch.”
She pulled out her wand and spoke clearly, “Ennervate.”
Nothing happened. Hermione’s body didn’t stir.
“This is what confuses me. Ennervate only doesn’t work when the person is too terribly injured, which she isn’t, or dead. But she isn’t dead either. I’ve given her every potion I have that would wake her, but none have worked. I can’t figure out why.”
By the end of this speech, Hermione looked as if she were about to start crying. Draco noticed this and knew he had to get Madam Pomfrey to leave (otherwise if he tried to console her, Madam Pomfrey be very confused).
“Thanks, but could I be alone with her for a little while?”
Madam Pomfrey smiled at the Slytherin. They needed more house unity, especially during times like these. “Absolutely. But you have to leave in ten minutes.”
Draco nodded and Madam Pomfrey left. He quickly turned his attention to the shell-shocked Hermione.
“It’ll be okay,” Draco told her.
She looked up at him with watery eyes. “No, it won’t. We’ve already searched the whole library.”
“We haven’t looked in the restricted section.”
“I have. There isn’t anything that could be of any use.”
“We’ll just have to look again,” Draco insisted. He wasn’t going to let her give up hope.
“We’ve already looked again. And again. And again! We’re not going to find anything.”
At this point she started sobbing.
Draco hated tears. He knew there was no other choice.
“We’re going to see the Headmistress.”
Hermione looked up at him, tears still running down her face. “What?”
“You heard me. We’re going to see the Headmistress,” Draco replied insistently.
Hermione looked at him, nonplussed. “What can Professor McGonagal do?”
“I don’t know. That’s why we’re going to see her. Because I don’t know what to do, and you’ve given up on the library. This is our last chance.”
“Our?” Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.
“Your. I said, ‘Your’,” Draco replied hastily.
“All right,” Hermione said. She had finally stopped crying and started wiping the tears away.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Draco ushered her out of the Hospital Wing, fearing that staying in there longer would mean more tears.
They walked to the Headmistress’s office. They stood outside by the gargoyle for a moment before Draco took a deep breath and hesitantly knocked on the gargoyle. He knew coming here might make him look as if he had gone insane, but he needed to do this.
The gargoyle leapt aside as a muffled ‘Come in’ was heard. They both stepped onto the spiraling staircase. The ride up seemed to last an eternity, both dreading what was about to occur. He again knocked on the door right outside Professor McGonagall’s office. This time a clearer, ‘Come in’ was heard.
Draco opened the door and they both stepped through. Proffesor McGonagall looked at him in surprise.
“Mister Malfoy! What do I owe this encounter to?”
Draco replied hesitantly, “I have a problem...”