Heart in Agony

Chapter 13

"Don't fuck with me Blaise, I know it was you."

"Draco, how many times can I tell you it wasn't? I wish it had been though. She deserves it, the filthy wench."

"So you swear it wasn't you?"

"Jesus Christ man, why do you even care? She's just a stupid mudblood. Plus, she's part of the Gryffindor freaks squad."

"I don't care. I just...I just wanted to know."

"What's got into you? You've been acting really weird lately''

Draco didn't answer. The truth was that he didn't think that he had changed. He was still the same as he always had been, he was sure of it. He still hated Potty, Weasel and...Hermione? He didn't hate her, but that couldn't have made him change, could it? It wasn't as if he had suddenly turned into the fourth member of their pathetic little evil-hating team. Maybe it was the fact that he had to keep it to himself. Perhaps it was eating away at him because it was a secret. He turned to Blaise. Could he be trusted?

Blaise watched his best friend. They had been walking for a while since being dismissed from Potions. Blaise couldn't see what had annoyed Draco so much about the know-it-all's sudden illness. In his opinion, it was one of the funniest things he had seen since...well he couldn't think of anything funnier. That's not entirely true, but nothing recently had been funnier.

But then he remembered something. Draco had slept with her! Could he have feelings for her? He was just about to ask him when Draco turned around and put his hand on Blaise's shoulder, forcing him to stop walking. He then tried to drag him into a nearby storage cupboard but Blaise fought back with all his strength.

"Will you stop fighting me please! I just want to talk to you in private."

"No you don't. I know what guys like you do to innocent boys like me in cupboards!"

"What the hell are you talking about you psychopath? Just come with me, it won't take long"

"I don't care how long it's going to take, I don't want to be any part of it. Let me go. LET ME GO."

But Draco was stronger and managed to push his best friend into the small, dark space. He closed the door behind him and when he saw the panic in Blaise's eyes and realised that he was about to scream, he slid his hand over his near hysterical friend's mouth. This just made Blaise worse and he started making desperate bids for freedom by attempting to run past Draco. It didn't work.

"Your calling me weird and you act like this? Just shut the hell up and listen to me. Are you going to stay silent if I take my hand off your mouth?"

Blaise nodded and slowly Draco removed his hand. But as soon as he did, Blaise started screaming and shouting again and Draco had no choice but to punch him. It was the only way he could think of to get his friend to at least shut up. He drew his fist back and then sent it crashing into the other boy's face. The shock made him temporarily stop wailing and Draco saw his opportunity.

"You want me to do that again? No, I didn't think you would. Why are you overreacting so much? It's just a cupboard."

"I told you, I don't want to be any part of this. I don't care who you choose to sleep with but please, just leave me alone."

"You know?"

"Of course I know, it's fucking obvious. Just please, let me leave."

"You've gone out with some dodgy girls in your time but I never stopped talking to you over it."

"But that was totally different and you know it. What the hell is your dad going to say, Draco? You know he'll kill you. And if my dad hears that I was in a cupboard with a...a...I can't even say it. He'll think I'm one too."

Draco was starting to get really confused. He could see that Blaise would be worried about what Lucius would say, but his own father? He couldn't see how Mr. Zabini would think that Blaise was a mudblood if he spent time in a cupboard with Draco. Did he mean that he would think that Blaise was sleeping with one as well? But that didn't make any sense either.

"Yeah, Lucius will probably disown me but how will you get punished for it?"

"For letting you do it or something. Plus a gay boy in a cupboard with another boy doesn't look good."

"Your gay?"

"Hell no!"

Both boys were staring at each other in confusion thinking the exact same thing, "What the hell is he talking about?" Realisation slowly dawned on Draco but Blaise still couldn't quite get his head around it. He was still trying to work out why Draco had thought he was gay. Perhaps he had been giving out some sort of signal that he didn't mean to. Or maybe Draco could see something that he couldn't. Could he be gay? He tried to remember if it was possible to like girls if you were gay. He didn't think it was, though. He noticed that Draco was about to speak again and decided to act quickly. There was only one way for him to find out if he really was gay. He leant forward and kissed a startled Draco on the lips and just at the moment the door opened.

X-----------------------------------------------------X

Hermione opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around and realised that she was in the hospital wing. The only other person there was a boy, whom she was sure was a first year. He was sitting up in his bed reading and glanced up when he saw Hermione move. He smiled at her and leant forward, straining his neck to look at her.

"Excuse me, but what are you looking at?"

"I'm not looking at anything. I'm looking for some sign of why your in here. Like a cast or something."

"Oh right! I suddenly felt really sick in potions. I'd just drunk a potion, so that might have been why. How about you?''

"Fell off my broom. I'll be leaving soon, hopefully."

Just then Madame Pomfrey rushed in, closely followed by Snape. They headed straight for Hermione's bed and positioned themselves, one on either side. Snape was the first to speak and his troubled eyes made her uneasy. He was never one to openly worry about anything and a feeling of dread came over her as she waited for him to speak.

"Miss Granger, Madame Pomfrey and I are very confused about this sudden illness of yours. Have you ever suffered anything like this before?"

"No Sir. Well...I've been sick before, obviously. But it's never come on that quickly before. I'm confused though, wasn't it just a badly made potion?"

"That is what we suspected, but we have just come from the dungeons and after testing the potion, it was found to be perfect."

If Hermione hadn't been so bewildered, she would have been pleased that Professor Snape had said that her potion was "perfect". If the potion hadn't been faulty, then what could have made her sick? But Madame Pomfrey's voice broke in and interrupted her thoughts.

"Is it your time of the month, dear?"

Hermione was so horrified to be asked such a question in front of Snape that she was lost for words. He was looking at her intently and she really didn't want to answer in front of him.

"Miss Granger, would you please answer the question."

"No, it isn't."

"And when is your next period due?"

It was getting worse. She didn't want Snape to know when she would have her period. Knowing him, he would probably wait until he knew she had it and then announce it to the whole class, or give her a truth potion and make her tell them herself. So she moved as close to Madame Pomfrey as she could and whispered, "About a week from now."

But Madam Pomfrey didn't take the hint. In fact, she began speaking in a much louder voice than she had been before.

"You see some girls experience nausea around the time of their period so I suspected it could be that. However the severity of the case looks rather suspicious to me. Perhaps the potion had something added to it. A vomiting elixir or something similar? Would that be possible Severus?"

"Yes it is, but it would be very unusual for one of those elixirs not to show up when I tested the potion earlier. It would have to be a very complex potion that your average prankster just wouldn't go to the effort of making when there are several much easier versions which have almost the exact same effect."

"But Sir, if they have the exact same effect then why would anybody make the more difficult one?"

"The only difference is that the simple ones leave traces and the complex ones do not. Also, the more difficult variations have different side effects which you don't seem to be suffering from. I really don't think that is what could have happened."

Madame Pomfrey stared down at Hermione in confusion. She began muttering to herself and shaking her head. When Snape asked her what was wrong, she turned to face him and the confusion had turned to fear.

"She couldn't be that stupid."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"I will prepare the test."

"What test? What are you talking about?"

But nobody answered Hermione's question. Madame Pomfrey was over on the other side of the room looking for something and Snape had sat down beside the bed.

"Sir, do you know what she meant?"

"I think I do, Miss Granger."

"Well, what was it? Why will nobody tell me?"

"I just hope she is wrong."

"About what?"

"It's best not to worry you until we are sure."

X------------------------------------------------X

Harry ran along the corridor until he got to Gryffindor tower. He was so excited that he almost forgot the password, but as soon as he got through the door he started shouting for his best friends. He was bursting to share his news with them, as far as he was concerned it was the best news ever.

"RON, GINNY, HERMIONE WILL YOU GET DOWN HERE."

"Hermione's still in the hospital wing, mate. And what's with all this shouting?"

"Ron, you are never going to believe this. You are going to need to sit down."

"Well tell me then!"

"Right, well I was walking down this corridor and I was sure I could hear Malfoy's voice, but I couldn't see him. So I stopped and I was listening really hard to try and work out where it was coming from. Then I heard another voice, this time a quieter one, and I realised it was coming from inside a cupboard, right beside me. So I walked over and started listening at the door but I couldn't hear anything."

"Well I have to say that was the most interesting story you've ever told me Harry."

"I'm not finished Ron! So I opened the door to see if it was really him in there or not and you'll never guess what I saw."

"If this is Malfoy and a girl fooling around, I won't be surprised."

"It was Malfoy and that dark haired guy, Blaise, and they were...you know! KISSING!"

Ron's jaw dropped. He sat in silence for roughly three seconds and then his face burst into a wide grin and he started laughing.

"And he's made fun of us for being gay all this time."

"Ron, we're not gay!"

"I know that! But what I mean is that he's always said we were, but it was him all along."

"To be fair to Malfoy, he looked horrified. I think Blaise must have pounced on him or something."

"Just ruin the story then, why don't you! You could have just left that out."

"Nah, but think about it. Malfoy will be feeling so violated!"

"We need to go tell Hermione!"