Bad Medicine

Chapter Sixteen

She ran all the way to the hospital wing. She had forced herself to wait until everyone was asleep before she fled Gryffindor tower.

As the door silently opened, she reflected back on how many times she had been in the hospital wing. Usually to visit Harry, who had been in the hospital ward more than anyone she knew. Attacked by Quirrell/Voldemort, attacked by dementors, bitten by a basilisk, arm bones removed by an egomaniac teacher... the list seemed endless.

Curtains had been drawn around the beds for privacy, but the ward seemed largely deserted. Only three other beds were occupied and they were all far apart. Behind the second curtain she located Draco.

As soon as she saw his pale head on the pillow, she flung herself at him and held him tightly. She lay down next to him and pressed her head to his chest to prove to herself that his heart still beat.

"Mi?" she heard and raised her head.

"Thank God," she murmured. "I've been so worried!"

She planted her lips on his as if she could give her life force to him through a kiss. When she released him he said, "I missed you this afternoon."

"I would have been here if I could. I nearly came, anyway. I just didn't want to do that to you. Without your... knowledge."

"You're here now." His eyes closed and he sighed. He seemed very tired.

"I'm here now," she agreed and laid her head on his chest again. She could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady, beneath her cheek.

"I think they drugged me to help me sleep. Everything feels fuzzy. Pomfrey healed my skull, but a specialist from St. Mungo's will be here tomorrow to make certain I don't have any brain damage."

Hermione raised her head and looked at him wickedly. She peeled the covers back slowly to expose his nightshirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she started undoing the buttons. She kissed a trail behind her hands as they unfastened each button in turn. He gasped when she reached his navel and dipped her tongue into it.

"I don't think I'm quite strong enough for this torture," he protested hoarsely. She chuckled throatily and slid back up to lay her head on his chest again. His heartbeat was no longer slow.

"I find nothing wrong with your physical responses," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, so that was just a test?" he asked.

"Certainly. Very clinical. It had no effect on me whatsoever."

"Then why are you trembling?"

"How do you always know when I'm lying?"

"Because you're the worst liar I've ever known?" he suggested.

"No, that can't be it."

She sighed happily, snuggled even closer to his prone form and promptly fell asleep with his hands tangled in her hair.

She awoke with a gasp, partially aware that something had startled her. For a dizzying moment, she had no idea where she was. She raised her head and awareness of her surroundings returned with a jolt.

Goodness! What if they had tried to check on Draco during the night? The invisibility cloak only partly covered her. She glanced out the window. The faint light of dawn was tinting the horizon. She had to get back to Gryffindor tower!

She sat up and paused to detach Draco's fingers from her hair. As she pulled the last plait free she saw that he was awake. A pleased grin curved his lips.

"Thanks for staying," he murmured.

"I'll be back tonight, if you're still here," she promised.

"I'll count the moments."

She laughed without humor. "No, you won't. You'll have Pansy in here to take my place." She clapped a hand over her mouth, astounded at the venom in her voice.

"You're jealous of Pansy?" He sounded incredulous. She got to her feet and shook out the invisibility cloak.

"You're surprised?" she asked bitterly. "Yes, I'm jealous! I'm jealous of every instant she spends with you. When I see her sitting with you at breakfast I want to walk over and snatch her hair out of her head. When I see her holding your hand in the courtyard I want to turn her into a horklump! I despise her because she can be seen with you in the daylight, in the halls, in the classrooms, and I can only be with you in secret, in the dark, in... visible." She clutched the cloak. "And yet, I cannot completely hate her. I can't hate her for loving you, because I don't blame her for that. I understand how she feels." She took a deep breath and continued softly, "You see... I love you, too."

Draco's expression was one of pure shock. Hermione pulled on the cloak and fled.

They kept Draco in the hospital wing for the next three days, although Hermione could attest to the fact that he was quite well. Both nights she slipped in to join him and on the final night she barely escaped with her virtue intact. The modest flannel nightgown she wore under the cloak wasn't nearly so modest after his hand slipped under the hem and caressed a path up her thigh to cup her buttock. All the while his lips played havoc with her senses as they teased and tasted her mouth in a symphony of pleasure. She could hardly believe the things he could do with his tongue! Thank God she had cast a circle of silence around his bed so they could talk or the other hospital residents would surely have awakened to her animal mewls of pleasure.

She felt like a mindless creature of pure passion, alternately burning hot and ice cold as his hands stroked her skin. At once, she became aware that her nightgown was bunched completely beneath her breasts and Draco's hands were entering dangerous territory. In four more seconds there would be no turning back...

With all the strength left in her limbs she shoved herself off of him. She hit the floor so hard she bruised a hip and her teeth clicked down on her tongue with a snap. She stared at him, panting hard and tasting blood.

He sat up and looked at her.

"I thought you loved me," he said hoarsely. He sounded so much like the old Draco that she fairly gasped at the brutality of his words. She launched herself to her feet.

"How dare you use that against me?" she hissed.

He collapsed back onto the pillow and thrust a hand through his silvery hair with a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry."

She crossed her arms and glared at him defiantly.

"I mean it. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just... I want you so badly. It's making me somewhat crazy, I'm afraid," he said. He held out a hand to her. "Come back here."

She backed away warily.

"I should go."

He sat up again.

"Seriously, Mi. I'm very sorry." When she didn't move, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed in preparation to rise. "Don't make me chase you."

"I'm sure you can barely walk after three days in bed," she said practically, but took a few more steps backward.

"Then I'll fall and it will be your fault."

He placed his hands on the bed to push himself to his feet and she flung out a protesting hand.

"You stay right there!"

"Come here and I will."

"I can't. I can't trust myself around you! If you touch me again I'll completely fall apart." She clutched the cloak tightly in distress, bunching it in front of her like a shield. "I don't even know who I am anymore! All I can think about is you. I've become your mindless slave!"

Draco made a tsking noise.

"Mindless, hardly. You're constantly thinking," he said.

"Well, one of us has to!"

"Why?" he demanded. "Why can't you just accept what's happened between us?"

"What exactly has happened between us, Draco? We can't even put a name to our relationship! I've stupidly allowed myself to fall in love with you even though I know it can only lead to heartbreak and you... well, I've no idea what you feel for me, other than a most obvious case of lust! I sometimes think you want only to sleep with me in order to cure this unwanted curse of desire that you're afflicted with!" As soon as the words left her lips Hermione drew in a horrified breath. Draco was silent, which gave an appalling credence to her words. She felt suddenly, wretchedly stupid.

"Finite incantatum," she choked to end the spell of silence.

"Mi--" Draco began.

"Don't call me that!" she hissed and bolted before the tears could start.