Unfogging a Cloudy Past

Everything spun back into view as I brought my weakened grip to the newly found gash in my forehead. And all too suddenly, the night's recent events came painfully rushing back to me, but for some deranged reason, it seemed distant. Orange flash. Insufferable heat. Darkness. It didn't make sense. Wait, none of this made sense, where am I? Who am I?

Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Malfoy? Are you awake?

I looked up only to find a surprisingly young woman standing above me with a slightly moist piece of cloth in her clutches. She looked weirdly familiar, like I'd seen her many times before. I'm trying hard to concentrate on remembering, but to my dismay nothing's coming.

Umm... Excuse me. But who is Mr. Malfoy?

Draco, I don't have time for silly little pranks. I have patients to attend to.

Then she stormed away, mumbling furious complaints of low salary and other various problems, leaving me as, if not yet confused, a very confused person. I attempted to look around, noticing for the first time the mirror on the table in front me. I slowly brushed my hand against the rough surface of the oak table and picked up the mirror.

I gazed into it, mesmerized by the person winking back at me on the other side. The long whitish blonde strands swiftly graze his face as he waves back at me. My eyes quickly shift to the three buttons on my armrest as I ignorantly stumble upon them. I hear an enormously irritating clicking noise and then abruptly my world feels like it's getting smaller. And before I know it, I'm gasping frantically for air. I'm screaming for help, in between large fits for air.

Then the same lady I had seen before reaches for my mouth and pulls a sticky gum like substance off of it. Air races into my lungs. She carefully inspects my bluish face, and then hurriedly sends me off to a dormitory, as she said.

After about half an hour, I found myself surrounded by these outrageous gray walls, and filled with a considerable amount of navigation problems. And yet, somehow, it felt vaguely natural. I stumbled up a staircase that seemed to twist and turn. I turned my head slightly to monitor the traffic behind me when.... BANG.

~*~*~~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~ Hermione's POV ~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~

What the heck was that? I bent down to observe my lowly offender. There, buried under my various masses of books, lay Draco Malfoy. DRACO MALFOY!! What was he doing near the Gryffindor girls' dormitories. I picked up my books and quickly made a dash towards the library. Five minutes into my fast-paced walk, I noticed the silence behind me. There was no loud, sneering Malfoy behind me calling me indecent names and flashing his famous Malfoy grin. Something must be wrong. Despite a total vengeful part of my body's warnings, I went with my instinct. He must have been hurt.

When I arrived, it was to anything but my relief to find his unconscious body in the same horrifying place where it had fallen. Panic crawled through my veins, and I picked up the body and dragged it my dormitory. It didn't matter that I was about to break a Hogwarts rule or that I was helping my worst enemy. All that mattered was getting him conscious and quiet when this was over.

Sluggishly, I walked up the stairs under the intense weight of his body, hoping not to sir his rest. When, finally, we reached the comfort of my room, I laid him out on the bed, and started my pretentious pacing. After a while and a few burn marks in the floor, I decided no one had to know. No one ever had to know. Although keeping Malfoy's mouth closed was another task at hand.

Hours passed and I watched him hoping he'd open an eye at least. And in doing so, I noticed things about him that had never seemed to register before, the way his chest only moved slightly every two breaths, and his lips and eyes blended together so harmoniously. He looked nearly angelic in his sleep. Too bad he was such a devil every other time. Sometimes I wish--

And then his eyes fluttered open, and I clasped my ears, prepared to get the worst Malfoy fit ever, but it never came. Slowly, he sat up and looked at me. He mumbled a few words, but because I couldn't hear him, I asked him to speak up.

"Are you an angel?" he muttered.

Oh my god! I had led Malfoy to go insane. Instead of answering, as I'm sure he probably expected, I ran out of the room. I needed time to think. I needed time to hide!