A Reason To Be

Well Draco Malfoy had spent quite a lot of time in the hospital wing for the last few months, and now he was going to spend a little more time there for entirely different reason. After she had berated Draco and Severus for hours, Madam Pomfrey had insisted that the young man remain in the hospital wing until she was positive he was alright. When he had fainted, Hermione tried to call for help. Eventually Madam Pomfrey had come in and found Hermione awake and Draco passed out in the chair beside her. Now he occupied the bed next to hers. Hermione was not released right away; she had to regain the use of her legs and arms first. It would not take long but she was still forced to stay. Harry and Ron were beyond thrilled. They were in the hospital wing the moment they heard and rushed to her bedside. Hermione did not remember anything about the Draco finding her or her first few minutes of consciousness and neither Harry or Ron cared to ask if there was something that influenced her waking up.

Draco slept for most of the following day. When he was awake he claimed it felt like elephants were waltzing in his head. His head never stopped pounding and he was reaching his breaking point. He could not take much more pain.

“My fucking head is fucking killing me!” Draco bellowed unpleasantly. Even though he was quite loud, Hermione was a heavy sleeper.

“Such language Mr. Malfoy.” Draco heard a cold, indifferent voice say from somewhere near the door. Severus walked over to Draco’s bedside, receiving a hateful glare for his trouble.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK, Severus!” Draco countered, letting his irritability take over his mind. Snape frowned back at Draco and narrowed his eyes.

“If you enjoy speaking to a teacher in such a manner, perhaps you would also like to serve a detention?” Snape threatened smoothly. Draco merely rolled his eyes and then squeezed them shut in effort to relieve his pain somehow. He was not in the mood to speak to anyone, let alone argue with them. He was having trouble even thinking clearly with his head in so much pain.

“Fine, fine. Give me a detention! I don’t give a damn!” Draco replied impatiently. Severus had come to see how the young man was doing, though it was very improbable that he would ever let on about it. He really had no idea what the after effects of the potion would be. Obviously he was glad to see that Draco was still breathing, and he did feel a tiny twinge of pity for the youth. After a moment, Snape left again as quietly as he had come. It was blaringly obvious that Draco didn’t want any company. The use of the Mind’s Door draft had caused him a form of head trauma, which was why he was confined to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had assured Draco that he would be fine after a while, the bad news being there was nothing they could do for the pain until it passed.

“Poppy! Please just kill me! End it now!” Draco wailed to the mediwitch. Much to his dismay she did not kill him, though she did bring a cool, wet rag to place on his head. Now he was just laying there motionless, the cloth draped over his forehead and eyes. Hermione had awoken to hear the young man’s groans of pain. Hermione hadn’t said anything to Draco. Except for when he was groaning about the pain she could never tell if he was asleep or not. She glanced over to his bed and watched his chest rise and fall steadily.

“Malfoy?” Hermione asked tentatively in a quiet voice. He did not move an inch but she heard his voice a moment later.

“Yes?” His voice sounded so tired. As if it took an immense amount of energy to even speak one word.

“What’s wrong?” She asked equally as quietly. Draco had to think about it before he answered.

‘What do I say; I can’t tell her the real reason why I am like this.’ He thought to himself. After a moment of silence he replied to her question.

“Stress…I don’t handle it well.” He said. Hermione thought it was an odd answer but didn’t press the issue any further. She frowned and shifted in her bed uncomfortably.

“I hate this bed.” Hermione whispered to herself, she had not intended for Draco to hear her but he did.

“I’m sorry, why don’t you crawl into mine and see if it’s any better?” Draco said smoothly. She looked over and saw he had lifted the corner of the wet rag just enough to let one eye peer over to her.

“As tempting as that sounds, I’ll have to decline.” Hermione giggled. She could see that beneath the cloth, Draco’s mouth had formed a sad frown.

“Pity… You can’t blame an incredibly good-looking fellow for trying.” Draco replied wearily. Hermione smiled at his response.

“Never too hurt to flirt, Mr. Malfoy?” Hermione inquired with sass. Draco had returned the rag to its place over both eyes and remained still but still offered an answer.

“I recall telling you that Malfoys do not flirt.” Draco replied. Hermione snorted at this comment. The two sat quietly for a few minutes until Hermione had an idea. She looked around but could not find what she was searching for.

“What are you looking for?” Draco asked. When she looked over at him it didn’t seem he had moved at all. Hermione shrugged and kept looking.

“My wand.” Hermione replied.

“It’s in the drawer.” Draco answered. She was not sure how he would know that but upon opening the drawer it was indeed there. She reached over, picked up her wand and shut the drawer.

“What do you need it for?” Draco asked curiously. At first all he heard was a mischievous giggle, which was somewhat disconcerting.

“I’m not going to get in bed with you but I’ll do the next best thing.” Hermione said in an amused voice. Her reply caused curiosity and a little worry to rise up in Draco. He lifted his rag again and glanced over to her. Just then she muttered some enchantment and his bed began to move. This surprised Draco greatly. He soon realized she was pulling his bed over to hers. The motion had caused pain to flare up in his head but he said nothing. He laid his head back down on the pillow and pressed the cool cloth to his forehead. Hermione brought his bed right up next to hers, the mattresses were practically touching. When she looked at what she could see of Draco’s face she immediately felt bad.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make it hurt more.” Hermione said softly. She really did feel bad. She had only done it to get a laugh out of him; she thought he would have enjoyed it. Draco still remained motionless and quiet.

“I know.” Draco whispered back. It hurt like hell but he was close to her and she had brought him there of her own free will. That was consolation enough. Hermione looked at him and saw how much pain he was in. From beneath the rag, she saw a tear run down the side of his face. Hermione felt absolutely horrible. She reached over and gently grasped the hand at his side.

“It’ll be ok.” Hermione whispered reassuringly as she squeezed his hand in hers. A moment later she felt him gently squeeze back.