Draco and Hermione sat together as they ate their breakfast, seldom noticing what they were eating. Hermione suddenly noticed that Draco’s bandages were off and wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before. She tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
“You got your bandages off?” Hermione asked, smiling in relief. Draco let out a short laugh.
“Yeah,” Draco replied while scraping the burnt off his piece of toast. Hermione raised her eyebrows.
“That’s it? It doesn’t hurt anymore and you don’t need to stay in bed?” she asked curiously.
“Umm…” Draco began, wondering whether to tell Hermione the truth.
“Draco...” she said warningly.
“Madame Pomfrey took the bandages off.” Draco said, smiling unconvincingly.
“Draco!” Hermione said again, hitting his arm lightly.
“Alright, alright! She took the bandages off but she told me to stay in bed because of how sore the cuts were going to get,” Draco surrendered. Hermione sighed and frowned at him.
“Draco, cuts like that can get really serious if they aren’t tended to properly. Now, I know that isn’t all she told you. Pomfrey’s more careful than that. She probably told you to put some diluted phoenix tears on it every night, and she got you permission to stay out of school for at least two more days.” Hermione explained formally. Draco listened to her open-mouthed.
“How did you know that?” Draco asked, shocked.
“Because I read,” Hermione stated and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. Draco slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“I’ll be fine,” Draco murmured, kissing the top of her head.
“I’m not so sure. It was horrible. I turned you over on your back when you were unconscious, and there was blood all over your chest. I didn’t want to touch you because I thought I’d hurt you more. I saw Nearly Headless Nick who was in one of the halls near us and I yelled at him to stay by you while I went to get someone. I found Dumbledore walking around and he came to help. He picked you up right off the ground and looked at you for a moment. There was blood dripping from your arm and back, chest and face. He said, just by looking at you he could tell that if whatever hurt you got to your lungs it would take more than a trip to St. Mungow’s. He told me not to worry, even though you were hurt. He knew what was going on, I guess. I don’t want to know what would’ve happened if you got hurt here.” Hermione said, putting her hand on his heart to finish the sentence.
Draco held the hand that was over his heart in place and squeezed it comfortingly. Hermione lifted her head to look at him and shifted uncomfortably.
“Draco, what cut you in the first place? Stair steps can’t do that much damage, ” Hermione asked, wearing a worried expression.
Draco closed his eyes; he didn’t want to tell her. Hermione sensed his hesitation and kissed his cheek lovingly.
“You can tell me.” She whispered.
“The rose I gave you… was in the chest pocket on the right side of my robes. Because I fell so many times, the box caved in and the rose shattered under my weight. Ruby's kind of sharp when broken,” Draco let his explanation paint itself from there. Hermione's eyes became wider.
“Then, it’s my fault. If I hadn’t come it wouldn’t have happened,” Hermione said, and her eyes became distant.
Draco swiveled in his position and held Hermione’s shoulders.
“It isn’t your fault.” Draco said sternly. Hermione didn’t answer; she was staring at the ground, shaking her head slowly; not really believing what Draco said.
Draco pulled her into tight hug. He felt his chest throb with the pressure on his wounds. Hermione knew this and gasped.
“It’s okay,” Draco said soothingly.
“No, it’s not,” Hermione replied sadly. Draco put a hand on her cheek and felt blessed for having someone who cared about him so much.
“I’ll take the medicine that Pomfrey gave me,” Draco said, hoping that it would be enough.
“You'd better,” Hermione said, nodding her head fervently.
It was maybe twenty minutes later that the rest of the student body filed in the Great Hall. The students did double takes when they saw Draco and Hermione, they were pointing and snickering, and talking in rude undertones. Hermione glanced at Draco nervously. Draco took no sign of noticing them; he didn’t really want to.
“Draco?” Hermione asked uncomfortably. Draco turned his attention to Hermione, and when she pointed, he saw the crowd that they were attracting.
“Ah...” Draco stated. Hermione was looking at him and smiling in an apologetic way.
Draco smiled questioningly, and raised an eyebrow. Hermione was shocked when she saw his facial expression. He looked…well there is no other way to explain. He looked devilishly handsome. Hermione furrowed her brow for a moment to get her focus on what she was about to say.
“I’m going back to the Gryffindor table, whatever I say next, don’t take it seriously,” Hermione said apologetically, and got up from the table.
“Okay”“ Draco began.
“YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I DESPISE YOU! YOU’RE JUST AN INSIGNIFICANT BLEMISH IN THE FACE OF HUMANITY!” Hermione shrieked, her face became red as she felt eyes upon her. Draco looked at her open mouthed, and then he got the idea and shut it quickly.
“Right…err…I mean, RIGHT. YOU’RE A LITTLE…ANNOYING…uhh…THING. NOBODY…uhh…likes you?” Draco said uncertainly. Then, realizing that his retort was pitiful, he took out his wand with a flourish and sent a shower of green sparks towards the wall behind her. The whole school was watching now. Hermione smiled; it was a good addition.
“Whatever...” Hermione said in convincing anger and swiveling around, she stalked off.
The student body glanced at Draco and Hermione and then went back to their own business. Draco kept stealing glances at Hermione during the remainder of the breakfast, and she him. Breakfast was dismissed half an hour later and everyone gathered his or her books to begin the day.
Transfiguration, Divination, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and Charms went on as usual. Potions, however, was a different story. The students noisily put their cauldrons and ingredients out on their tables, and waited impatiently for Professor Snape. Harry and Ron had sat far away from Hermione at breakfast, but now they were sitting loyally next to her.
“I missed you both at breakfast, where were you two?” Hermione asked Harry as she got her notes out.
“We didn’t want to ruin any mushy moments between you and the ferret,” Ron replied out of turn.
“Excuse me, didn’t you just say you were okay with Draco and I?” Hermione asked.
“I didn’t just say it. I said it in the morning, that was like, a million hours ago!” Ron snapped. Hermione looked at him questioningly.
“We didn’t want to disturb you so I went and sat with Neville and Dean. Ron sat with Seamus and Ginny. Ron didn’t want to sit by me either...maybe because I’m okay with you and Draco and he’s not.” Harry informed as Ron steadily began to turn a deep red. Hermione patted Ron’s shoulder comfortingly.
“This is so stupid. There’s probably more than a thousand boys in this school and you picked Malfoy?” Ron snapped. Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes.
“No. Look, Hermione...” Ron said seriously and turned Hermione’s chair around so that she was facing him.
“You can’t pretend that nothing’s going to happen. I’m not worried about Malfoy hurting you; I’m worried about the other Slytherins hurting you. I’m worried about what will happen to you if Pansy Parkinson finds out. What if Lucius Malfoy gets word of it? The Death-Eater’s, what if they find out? His own son has feelings for a Half-Blood. That’s the kind of thing that Malfoy’s dad loves to finish. He’ll have you killed, Hermione. He’ll have you both killed. Azkaban won’t keep him from destroying any of you once," Ron stopped to ready himself, "once Voldemort’s fully back in power. Lucius Malfoy’s hatred for Half-Bloods runs deeper than his love for Draco, his own son. If you think it’s going to be happily ever after and fireside kisses, than you’re mistaken. Am I the only one that sees the severity of this?” Ron asked fiercely.
Hermione knew that Ron’s words were truthful and only meant to help her see what she was walking into incase she didn’t know what was there.
“If I didn’t know that, Ron, I wouldn’t be here. If I didn’t know that it might end up horribly, I’d be in another house. Sometimes you have to have faith in things you can’t see. Our fate is written, all of ours is. I would know if it was the wrong decision. You and Harry know that if Draco can protect me I’ll be the safest person in the world. Draco knows that if I didn’t have you guys as my best friends that in the end I’d die a miserable person. If I can’t have you all by my side than I wouldn’t know what to do.” Hermione replied and Harry placed a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. Ron looked in Hermione’s eyes for a moment and then nodded.
“You’re right… as always. But be careful,” Ron said and smiled. Hermione threw her arms around Ron’s neck and then she did the same to Harry. Ron blushed, and Harry smiled in gratitude. Suddenly the classroom doors were thrown open, and Professor Snape walked inside.
“Good. You have everything out. Here are the instructions for the Gillius Potion." Snape said as he walked towards the chalk board. He waved his wand over it and a set of instruction appeared.
"The Gillius Potion, for starters, will help you breath under water for as long as six hours. Its potency is that of magnificent because mostly male, warrior mermaids donate the ingredients. If you did any studying over the weekend, you would know that you do not have any of the ingredients. I took the liberty of providing them. Tell me, what part of a mermaid is donated to the school for this purpose?” Snape asked monotonously. Hermione’s hand was the first to be raised followed by, well, no one.
“Someone from Slytherin house? No? Then, someone who is not a know-it-all?” Snape asked, ignoring Hermione’s hand. Draco raised his bravely.
“Mr. Malfoy?” Snape said, relieved. Everyone turned to look at Draco.
“I believe that the answer will be found out if you let Miss Granger speak.” Draco said smartly. Everyone’s eyes widened and their eyebrows were raised. Snape cleared his throat and looked at Draco in a shocked manner.
“I do not let students answer me in that way, Mr. Malfoy. Five points from Slytherin house.” Snape said with much difficulty. Harry and Ron stared open mouthed at Draco. Draco glanced at them and then returned to whatever he was doing before. Hermione nudged Ron and Harry.
“Told you so.” Hermione said triumphantly. Ron shut his mouth and returned his attention to a blank sheet of paper. Harry laughed in an unbelieving manner and began to twiddle his thumbs.
The rest of Potions class went on as usual, except there were no volleying insults from the Gryffindors to the Slytherins. Inside, Draco felt good, felt more human than he had three days ago. The dark cloud hovering over him had broken away and Draco wasn’t a lonely island anymore.