On Storm Tossed Seas

Chapter 5: Monday Night

"She is going to be just fine." Hermione heard a voice cut through the fog in her mind.

"But, what happened?" questioned a second voice.

"She stepped through a false step," the first voice answered.

A new voice piped in. "How does that happen by stepping into a false step? Neville steps into them all the time. I fell into one myself last year."

"She must have been moving quickly, and some of those false steps have deeper holes beneath them," the first voice, which Hermione now recognized as Madam Pomfrey, explained.

"Well, when will she be better?" Hermione recognized Ron's voice this time.

"As you can see, I have had to remove the entire lower jaw structure. When she awakens, I will give her a draught of Skele-Gro, and then it's just a matter of time."

She heard a sound of empathy coming from the vicinity of the left side of her head. "I hope it won't be as painful as having to regrow all the bones in my arm." She now recognized that Harry was the third voice.

Her head was pounding, and her mouth felt strange. She tried to remember what had happened. She recalled hearing the voices talking about a false step, and her jaw missing. She couldn't understand what they meant. She moaned from the pain that she was suffering.

"Hermione?" Harry crouched by her, gently taking her small hand into his. "Can you hear me?"

She tried to turn her head, but something was preventing her mobility, so she tried to open her mouth to speak, but her mouth wouldn't obey her brain. Finally, she forced her eyes open, the low light causing her to squint. She made out the face of a concerned Harry looking down upon her.

"Don't try to talk, just squeeze my hand if you hear me." She squeezed his hand as hard as she could.

"Mr. Potter, if you don't mind." The figure of Madam Pomfrey firmly pushed Harry to the side. "Hermione," she said, picking up the hand that Harry had been previously holding, "I need you to squeeze my hand once if you understand me, and twice when you don't. Do you understand?" She waited until Hermione gave her a single squeeze. "Good. Mr. Malfoy--"

At the name of Malfoy, Ron interrupted. "Malfoy, what the hell were you doing with Malfoy?" Hermione moved her eyes to the right and saw his red face. "Of all the--"

"Mr. Weasley! If you can't keep quiet, I will have you thrown out of here. What is important is not who Miss Granger was with, but what she remembers from last night." She glared at him until, contritely, he stepped back, out of Hermione's peripheral vision. "Now, as I was saying. Mr. Malfoy brought you in here late last night. Do you remember that?" Hermione squeezed twice. "I thought you might not. You were unconscious when he brought you in. He said that you had stepped through a false step, do you remember that?"

When Madam Pomfrey mentioned the false step again, it all rushed back to her; the sound of something shattering; the intense pain that followed; the voice, his voice, that she heard; Draco grasping her arms; she couldn't recall anything after that. She closed her eyes and gave Madam Pomfrey a single, hard squeeze.

"He said you were unconscious before he was able to get you out of the hole, is that true?" She waited for the single squeeze. "It is probably for the best that you were." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Apparently, when you fell into the false step, you're lower jaw hit the stone stair above it, shattering it." Madam Pomfrey held Hermione's hand a little tighter, feeling it tremble. "I have had to remove the lower jaw and teeth. Now that you are awake, I will be able to give you the Skele-Gro potion to regrow your jaw. Because of the pain involved, I will be also be giving you a Dreamless Sleep potion."

There, she paused. She allowed Hermione the time to process what had been told to her. After a few moments, Hermione opened her eyes, and looked into the kindly face of Madam Pomfrey. She gave a single squeeze of her hand to indicate that she had heard and understood. Madam Pomfrey gave a curt nod of her head, released Hermione's hand, and produced a potion bottle.

"You must drink this all, then I will give you the sleep potion." Hermione swallowed the first bitter potion, followed quickly by the second. As her eyes grew heavy, she saw the concerned faces of Ron and Harry looming over her. There was something that she needed to tell Harry, but, before she could remember, the dreamless sleep potion carried her away in its comforting embrace.

When Hermione awoke, the room was dark and quiet. She could feel a dull, deep throb in her jaw. Carefully, she reached up to touch her face. She quickly discovered why she had been unable to move her head. Some type of contraption was holding her head, and jaw, in place. Gently she probed her new jaw. It felt squishy, and, as she touched it, pain erupted across it. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain. Slowly it ebbed, and she could feel tears on her face.

Trying to ignore the dull throbbing, she thought back to last night. Why had Malfoy come to her aid? If he hadn't, she would have been found the next morning by someone else, wouldn't she? Did Malfoy actually have a heart underneath that cold exterior? The sad look on his face in the classroom flashed into her mind. Perhaps he did have more to him than she'd ever given him credit for.

A new thought occurred to her, it was Monday night; that meant she had missed the first day of their sailing class. With a groan she wondered how far she'd be behind. Even though she sailed often with her Grandpa, she wasn't certain if that would help her in this class. She hoped that she'd be able to get out of here soon. She didn't want to fall behind in the rest of her classes, either.

She closed her eyes, preparing to get some more rest, when they popped open in horror. She had left the Invisibility Cloak, Harry's Invisibility Cloak, in that classroom. How could she have been such a scatterbrain? Harry would kill her. Well, maybe not kill her, but he certainly wouldn't be happy with her. There had to be someway to get it.

She felt around the contraption for any release mechanisms. Finding a promising button, she pushed it; she heard a popping noise and felt the slight pressure around her face give. Cautiously, she tried to sit up. She managed to do so, but her head violently protested. The entire room seemed to turn itself upside down.

Hermione forced herself to remain seated, reasoning that the room would eventually right itself. After a few moments, it did just that. Taking a deep breath, she stood, gripping the bedside table firmly with her hands. Standing wasn't as bad as the sitting had been, but she wasn't sure how she was going to get any farther. The classroom, where she was headed, was on the opposite side of the school; but she had to try.

Before she took another step, however, it occurred to her that her clothing seemed rather lightweight. Looking down she saw that she was dressed in a crisp, white gown. The thin material stopped abruptly six inches above her knees. She couldn't wander around Hogwarts like this. Looking around she saw her own robe hanging on a hook on the other side of her bed. Carefully, holding herself up on the footboard of the bed, she maneuvered herself towards the hook. Quietly she removed the robe and slipped it on over the gown.

Taking a deep breath she straightened up and turned around. She felt stronger with each step she took, and her confidence grew. She would have to be careful, but she was determined to make it to the classroom to get that Cloak. As she reached out to push back the white curtains that encapsulated her temporary room, she froze her ears straining. She thought she had heard the door to the hospital wing click closed.

Finally, deciding it had been her imagination, she cautiously pushed aside the curtains, and stared into the murky darkness of the room. Everything was silent. She took a step forward, and ran into something. Falling hard, she looked around to see what she possibly could have hit. She didn't see a thing. She started to push herself up with one hand, rubbing her backside with the other, when she was definitely sure she had heard a noise.

"Whose there?" she hissed into the darkness, pausing in her attempt to get up. "I know you're here." For a long moment she heard nothing; then Malfoy materialized in front of her. She gasped slapping her hand over her mouth. As she did so, pain blossomed across her face; tears welled up in her eyes. She had forgotten that she was still regrowing her jaw.

When Draco saw her eyes gloss over in pain, he reached down, and scooped her up into his strong arms; he carried her back to her cot. Gently he laid her down smoothing her bushy hair back against her head. The desire to lay down with her, wrap his arms around her, and hold her was almost too much to bear; he fought the feeling, and, instead, kept smoothing back her hair.

The pain finally diminished. She looked up at Draco. "Why are you here?" She stared quizzically into his gray eyes.

"I-I-you left Harry's Cloak behind last night. I figured you might want it." He said this as he held up the Cloak.

"You-you brought the Cloak?" Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. Why in the world would Draco bring it to her? If he knew she had left it, why wouldn't he have taken it himself?

Awkwardly, the two students waited. Draco realized that he was still stroking Hermione's hair; quickly he drew back his hand, his gaze meeting Hermione's. She didn't appear angry that he had touched her; it almost looked as if she were sad that he had removed his hand. Without saying anything he folded the Cloak and placed it between the bed and the bedside table.

"So, does it hurt, much?" He tried to make his voice sound natural.

"Only when I touch it, otherwise, it's just a dull throb." She couldn't figure out what to think about Draco. She wasn't sure why he had brought her the Cloak, and why had he been stroking her hair in such an intimate way? Worse, why did she want him to do it again?

"Well, I'm going to go." He stood and smoothed his robes. As he turned to go, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning his head, he looked down at Hermione.

"Wait." 'What am I doing?' she thought. "What did I miss in class today?"

Draco, strangely relieved that she had asked him to stay, turned back around and sat on the edge of her cot. "Not much. Dr. Branefeld spent the first hour with us and gave us an overview of what we will be doing over the next few months. Basically, we will do a lot of bookwork first. You know, things like learning what to call the different parts of a ship; what all the different types of knots are called; sailor terminology. Then we will eventually go out to the lake and sail in small two man boats where we will put a lot of our classroom knowledge into action." He paused, suddenly noticing that his fingers were intertwined with Hermione's. He met her eyes; she gave him a small smile.

He fought his initial urge to pull away, instead giving into that inner voice, and gripping her hand a little tighter.

"Is that all?" Hermione felt strangely comforted holding Draco's hand. She didn't know why, but it felt good.

Draco tore his eyes away from her searching gaze. "Well, after he left, Professor Sinistra had us open ::The Anatomy of a Ship:: and we worked through chapters one and two. We have homework; of course, he have to work on it together."

"Mr. Malfoy! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be out of your dorm." He turned to look up into the flashing eyes of Madam Pomfrey.

"I-I just wanted to check on Gr-Hermione," he stammered, pulling his hand from Hermione's grip. Hermione stifled a smile at the way it felt when she heard her name on Draco's lips.

"Well, you've checked on her. Now, go, before I take points away from Slytherin."

With a last look back at Hermione, he shrugged, and turned to leave the room.

"And you, young lady, why are you wearing your robes?" Without waiting for an answer, she helped Hermione back out of the robes, and gave her another dose of the Dreamless Sleep potion. After Hermione was tucked properly back into bed, including being strapped back into the contraption, her eyes slid closed, and she tried to keep an image of Draco out of her mind.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Stalking down the dark hallway, Draco clenched and unclenched his jaw. If he didn't know better, he would swear he was deranged. Then again, maybe he was deranged. That was the nature of being deranged; not knowing that you were.

As he reached the dungeon steps, he paused. Turning on his heel, he headed back the direction he had come. Careful to blend in with the shadows, he maneuvered his way to the classroom. Entering the still bitterly cold room, he let go a long sigh. Pulling his robe tightly around him, he moved through the moonlit room to the window.

Looking out on the desolate nighttime grounds of Hogwarts, he let his mind wander. It felt so good to be alone; it felt so good to not have to pretend. He had been acting for so long, he didn't even know who he was. Crabbe and Goyle, his faithful bodyguards, were just that, bodyguards. They expected Draco to behave in a certain way, just as he expected them to behave in a certain way. It was a simplistic relationship; it was a tiring relationship.

What was even more tiring were the thoughts plaguing his mind, and, dare he believe, his heart? When she had unexpectedly shown up in this room last night, his heart had leaped into his throat. Out of habit, he had insulted her. It was their version of a simplistic relationship; a relationship that he was tiring of. It took energy to insult her; energy he needed to mask the conflict he was feeling.

The slap; that had done it. It propelled him from uncertainty to action; but then her eyes had filled with tears. His heart had pounded with a hitherto unknown ferocity. When she had begun to weep, he felt a tug of--guilt? He wasn't sure; he'd never felt guilty before. His attempt at comfort, brusquely refused, was understandable.

Watching her storm out of the room had brought him a strange mixture of relief and sorrow. Relief that she had left; sorrow that she had left. Abruptly he stood and began to pace the length of the room, the echo of Hermione's scream still reverberated in his mind. He shuddered when he recalled her deformed jaw. It made no sense to him why he should have reacted in such way. He'd seen worse; he'd done worse.

He thought he had come to his senses that night, when the thought of what his father would say entered his mind. He had been determined to replace his mask and move on. But then he had found that damn Invisibility Cloak. Instinct told him to keep it; it would come in handy. Then that voice, that new voice, strongly suggested he return it.

All day Monday he had been plagued over what to do with that Cloak. He hadn't intended to give it back, not even when he went to the hospital wing. He had told himself that he was just going to check on her. The Invisibility Cloak would allow him to get there, see her, and get back without anyone, especially Hermione, seeing him.

He hadn't been prepared to see her out of bed. When she ran into him and fell, he had wanted to grab her. But he froze. Not until she spoke did he decide to reveal himself. His heart lurched when he remembered the pain in her eyes after she had smacked her still healing chin. Then he went and held her hand? What was he thinking? He continued to pace, these thoughts flooding his mind.

As he passed by the window again, he paused. Once again he was struck with the absolute serenity that the moon cast onto the empty Hogwarts' ground. He wished that he could gather up that peace and instill into his own life. A derisive laugh escaped his throat. Peace, what was wrong with him? He had been bred by, and for, strife. Peace was to be the furthest thing from his mind. He leaned against the windowsill; an escaping tear brought him out of his thoughts.

With horror, he reached up and roughly wiped at the offensive tear. 'Look at what that Mudblood is doing to me!' he thought, angrily. He pushed himself from the wall, casting a long glance back out the window, before leaving; he had made his decision.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Hermione awoke early on Tuesday morning to sunlight streaming through the high windows in the hospital wing. Gingerly, she reached up and felt her jaw; she didn't feel any pain. She carefully worked her jaw. It was stiff, but felt fine.

"Good morning, Ms. Granger." Madam Pomfrey pushed back the curtains and handed Hermione a bowl of porridge. "Eat this, please, and then you are free to head back to your dormitory. Your jaw will feel a bit stiff for the rest of the day, but, other than that, you're perfectly fine. Please watch those false steps, I don't want to see you in here again." Madam Pomfrey smiled at Hermione, and then turned to move to another student's bed.

Hermione quickly downed the bowl of chunky, sticky porridge, wishing it were bacon and eggs. Putting down the empty bowl, she stood up, removed her hospital gown, put on her school robes, and turned to leave. As she stepped away from the bed, she remembered Harry's cloak. She reached down to pick it up, and felt a warmth rise in her cheeks. He had held her hand.

As quickly as the thought entered her mind, she shook her head. What did it matter if he had held her hand? He was Malfoy; just Malfoy. Son of a Death Eater; egotistical prat; insufferable pureblood. Gathering the Cloak carefully in her arms, she marched purposefully out of the hospital and headed to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hermione!" Harry's face lit up when he saw her walk through the entrance to the tower. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." She gave him a warm smile, handing him his Cloak. "Regrowing bones; it's really not much fun, is it?"

He grinned back at her as he folded up his returned Cloak.

"Did you find what you were looking for in the library?" he questioned.

"Yes. I shoved the book I found into a secret corridor. Oh, here's your Map. Thanks for letting me borrow it, and the Cloak." She pulled the Marauder's Map out of the inner pocket of her robe, and handed it to Harry who shoved it into the folds of his Invisibility Cloak while muttering that it was not a problem.

"Hermione!" Ron screeched, flying down the stairs, and skidding to a halt next to Harry. "You're back."

"It would appear so."

"Good, because I need some help on my Transfiguration homework."

Harry gave him a sharp poke in the ribs with his elbow.

"I mean, how are you doing?" he said, his ears turning pink.

"Much better, thank you."

"Good, I'm glad, really I am, but, I still need help with my homework," he pleaded.

"Well, I can't help you with it now. We have class in an hour and half, and I still have to get myself cleaned up and have time to eat a real breakfast."

"Madam Pomfrey gave you the porridge, huh?" Harry grimaced. Hermione nodded and returned his grimace.

"But what about my homework?" Ron whined.

"Ron, if you are going to insist on doing your homework at the last minute, you'll have to learn to suffer the consequences. I'll be back in a while." Hermione then turned and ascended the stairs to her dorm, leaving a gaping Ron behind her.

"Can you believe it? Doesn't she even care if I fail Transfiguration?"

Harry hid a grin, and headed up to his dorm to put away his Cloak and Map, leaving a frantic Ron at an empty table trying to figure out his homework.

Thirty minutes later a freshly dressed Hermione, a grinning Harry, and a fuming Ron exited the tower and briskly walked to the Great Hall.

"Pass me some more of that bacon," Hermione motioned to Ron. He handed her the plate and she pulled a handful off.

"Whoa, slow down with the eating there. You act like you haven't eaten in weeks." He placed the significantly lighter plate back on the table.

"Well," Hermione managed between bites, "it almost feels that way." She followed a bite of bacon with a swallow of cranberry juice. "I haven't had a decent meal since Sunday. And Harry can confirm that Madam Pomfrey's porridge is nothing to be proud of." Harry nodded his confirmation as he poured himself another glass of orange juice.

"So, you told me that you found a book and hid it. What was the book about?" Harry generously buttered a raisin bran muffin and took a large bite.

"Well, it's about the Island, I think." She put her fork down and reached for the platter of eggs, piling a generous helping of the yellow mass on her plate. "A wizard was saying how he was scared that he wouldn't be able to get off the Island and that he was afraid." She paused to take a bite of the eggs. "But that was a far as we got, before Filch showed up."

"We?" Harry's eyebrows knit together.

"Huh?"

"You said 'we'. Who are we?"

"I didn't say we," she protested, her face visibly flushing as she realized her error.

"Actually, you did," confirmed Ron, picking out a particularly sticky cinnamon roll from a large platter.

She looked across the table at Ron. "Did I? I didn't mean we. I--," her voice faltered as she caught Draco looking at her from across the room. He glared at her, mouthed 'Mudblood', and turned back to a conversation with a fellow Slytherin.

"Hey, Hermione?" A hand waved in front of her eyes. "You okay?"

She shook her head, and turned to look into the emerald green eyes of Harry. "Yeah, I-I guess I'm still just a little tired."

"Okay, if you say so." Harry didn't sound convinced.

"It's time to head to class." Hermione abruptly stood, picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Ron and Harry to get up.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"I just don't get it! Why is it so important to be able to turn a book into a turtle?" Ron complained as the three students moved through the crowed halls after Transfiguration. He had managed to give his book a tail and four legs, much to his chagrin.

"It's not that the actual turning of a book into a turtle is important, Ron, it's the process that is important," Hermione patiently explained. Ron never had particularly enjoyed Transfiguration. "So, how did class go on Monday morning?"

"Oh, it went well," Harry said. "Dr. Branefeld is an interesting guy. He gave us a run down on the class. We're going to go sailing in two man boats in a few months."

"I know, isn't it exciting?" Hermione enthusiastically said.

"What do you mean, you know?" questioned Ron. "We just told you."

She realized her slip, and tried to cover it up. "I know that, Ron. I-I just figured that we would have to get out in boats. And Professor Sinistra did say that we would be moving outside to the lake late in the semester."

Ron and Harry looked askance at each other, Ron shrugging his shoulders, as if to say, well, she is bloody smart.

"Well, look who it is, the Mudblood, Potter and Weasel," Draco, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, drawled as the trio turned a corner.

Ron glared at Draco as he stepped in front of Hermione. "What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" he spit.

"Once again, I must hunt down Granger to set up a time to complete our homework." He gave a nonchalant shrug. "I would swear she was trying to avoid me."

"You know that she was in the hospital wing all day yesterday, Malfoy," Harry stated, stepping up to stand by Ron, effectively blocking Hermione from view. "After all, according to Madam Pomfrey, it was you who brought her to the hospital wing." He narrowed his eyes at Draco. "Just how you happened to be around when Hermione hurt herself is interesting. Come to think of it, Hermione doesn't remember much about the whole accident. Maybe you had a hand in it," he growled.

"I don't have any idea what you are talking about, Potter. Why would I ever help a Mudblood?" He gave Potter his best Death Eater glare.

"Are you saying that Pomfrey was lying to us?" Ron questioned.

"No, but she was probably mistaken. If Mudblood Granger was injured, why would I lift a finger to help her?"

Ron, hands balling into fists, was ready to let fly, when Hermione stepped forward, grabbing Ron's arm.

"Let me talk to him," she muttered darkly. Without waiting for any protest from Harry or Ron, she pushed between them. "You know, Malfoy, you are truly despicable. You and I both know that you took me to the hospital wing. I am truly sorry for you that you can't admit doing a good thing." She glared at him for a moment before continuing. "As far as our homework assignment goes, I will meet you in the library tonight after dinner. The sooner we get it done, the better." Hermione gave him a last glare, grabbed Harry and Ron's hands and pushed past Malfoy and his goons.