Loss of Control

Chapter Four

"What do you think happened to her?" a voice whispered softly.

"I have no idea," a lower one answered.

Hermione's eyelids flickered slightly as she tried to place the two voices. Slowly she opened her eyes, the scene around her still hazy with sleep.

"Ron? Harry?" she murmured. She could the scraping of chairs as the two boys pulled themselves closer to her bedside. "Where am I?" she asked furrowing her brow in confusion.

She felt one of them take her hand. Squinting up, she could make out the raven hair and green eyes of Harry looking down at her in concern. "You're in the Hospital Wing, 'Mione," Harry said.

"What?" she murmured groggily.

"You were attacked," Harry said softly. "We found you yesterday afternoon, and you have been out cold ever since."

'Attacked?' she wondered, before dismissing the thought. "What time is it?" Hermione asked.

"It's about midmorning, Sunday," Harry replied promptly.

She could see the red of Ron's hair bobbing beside him. It was dark in the room and she was having trouble making out their faces.

"Is what Malfoy said true?" Ron asked her.

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Err - what did Malfoy say?" she asked tentatively.

Harry sighed beside her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "He said you lured him into the forest. He said you were taunting him, saying he was too afraid to enter. He supposedly went after you, afraid something might happen in there," Harry's voice was rising as he spoke, apparently getting angry at what Malfoy had said. "Next, Malfoy said he lost sight of you. Then just as you came into view he saw a shadow swing down from the trees and push you to the ground. He said he sent a Stunning Spell at the creature, but it just bounced off. But it was scared enough to scuttle away. Then he picked you up and carried you back to the castle. We found him just as he was entering Hogwarts."

Ron looked at her with concern. "Did that rat really save your life?"

Hermione was still trying to digest Malfoy's story. She couldn't really remember what had happened, only bits and pieces. "Err.." she started, memories coming back to her. She remembered the Imperious Curse, the pills, Zabini and Malfoy's fight, hands everywhere and then blackness. Hermione couldn't admit to them what had happened to her. She was the smartest witch at Hogwarts; she could take care of herself. "More or less," she admitted bowing her head.

She heard Ron expel a breath. "McGonagall said that if it was you'd get a detention for going into the forest. Malfoy got off the hook because he made it seem like he was the hero," Ron was livid with rage at the thought.

"Is what he said the whole story?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought fast, she couldn't let Malfoy off when she was stuck with a detention. "Well," she began, trying to stall for more time. "Err - he was the one who dared me to go in first. I don't remember how the fight started though. So I went just into the forest, and said he didn't have the guts to follow me." She began to speak faster as a story formed in her mind, "So he one-upped me and went further in. It just went back and forth like that. Then the last thing I remember is a sharp pain and darkness."

"You looked horrible when we saw you, Hermione," Harry remarked. "You had no robes on, and the top half of your blouse had been ripped open," he began to blush. "You had a terrible bruise on your chest, as well as one around your wrist. There was a gash on the back of your head and cuts all up your left arm."

"Are you sure Malfoy wasn't the one hurting you?" Ron said with a look of disbelief.

Hermione shook her head, wincing as pain shot through her at the sudden movement. "Malfoy isn't that cruel, Ron."

She lied easily to them - it was only a half lie anyway. The cuts on her arm and bruises on her wrist she had inflict upon herself. And Malfoy hadn't purposely cut her head.

"Of course I'm not that cruel," a voice drawled from the doorway.

Their heads shot up at the sound of his voice. Harry and Ron's eyes narrowed in rage at the obnoxious blonde Slytherin.

"Of course," Malfoy continued, "I'd have to touch that filth to do something like that."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry growled.

Malfoy merely began to examine his fingernails leisurely. "I came to talk to Granger, perhaps get a thank you for saving her life. Oh, and McGonagall wants to see you two."

"Whatever you have to say to Hermione you can say in front of us," Ron said boldly, standing up.

Hermione, still lying in bed, gulped audibly. "It's OK, Ron, Harry. Malfoy doesn't have the guts to do anything."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked looking back at her with a look of concern on his face.

She nodded back, forcing herself to smile reassuringly at him. Harry still looked doubtful, but he relented. The two boys gathered up their things and made their way towards the door.

Harry sent a look of contempt back at Malfoy as he passed him. "We'll tell McGonagall the whole story, Hermione," he said glaring at the Slytherin. "He'll get what deserves - don't worry."

When Hermione heard the Hospital door close after her friends left, she almost exploded in rage.

"Thank you for saving my life?!" she cried. "I wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for you!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Malfoy shrugged at her and casually took a seat in one of the chairs by the end of her bed. "I just wanted to make sure you went along with the story." He looked pointedly at her. "I could make your life a lot worse if you messed things up."

Hermione let out a hollow laugh. "Don't worry, I went along with your lie. Except I modified it so you don't come out looking like such a hero. If I'm going down, you're coming with me."

He looked at her in amusement. "So you didn't want to admit how helpless you truly are to Potty and the Weasel. I'm not daft, Granger, I know those marks on your arms aren't from some wild animal."

Subconsciously she pulled her arm close to her chest. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said looking away from him.

Malfoy let out a snort of amusement. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Mudblood. So it turns out Little Miss Perfect isn't so perfect after all," he remarked cocking his head at her.

"This is none of your business, Malfoy," she snarled at him. "If you breath a word of this to anyone, I will tell the Headmaster exactly what happened in the forest, no matter how helpless I look." Malfoy just nodded his head mockingly at her. "Get out!" she screamed angrily at him. "I don't have to explain myself to you!"

He obliged to her, making his way to exit. But he stopped in the doorframe, looking back over his shoulder at her. "You say that now, Granger," he muttered softly. "But you'll be back - they always come back." Then he was gone.