Realistic Expectations

Chapter Four

Later that day, Harry was daydreaming about going out and playing quidditch, and being in his regular body when he heard someone stumble into the hospital wing. He tensed slightly, as Madam Pomfrey had just gone out to speak with Professor Snape and he was the only one in here.

He was tempted to peek past the curtains that surrounded his hospital bed to see who was there, as whoever it was had been muttering to themselves, but was now quiet. He wondered if they were badly injured and couldn't help the concern growing in him. Harry debated whether or not he should risk looking out, and then decided it couldn't hurt.

He didn't want to get caught by another student, while he still looked like a girl, but curiosity and concern got the best of him as the soft mumbling started up again, this time coming from the bed near him.

He shifted the white curtain back to have a look and the first thing he saw was the white blond hair of Draco Malfoy. His eyes trailed down Malfoy's face, taking in the many injuries he had and the bit of blood that matted the fringe of his blond hair to his forehead. It was fairly obvious as to why he had shown up in the hospital wing, as it appeared that someone decided to duel him.

There were boils covering his face, likely from a hex, and his nose appeared to be broken, and bleeding profusely. Harry wondered for a moment if these injuries weren't the result of a duel, but rather an attack by another student. It wouldn't surprise him, really, as most people had disagreed with the fact that Malfoy had gotten out of the war without facing many legal consequences. Many seemed to forget the fact that Harry was the one to make sure that was possible.

Malfoy started mumbling unintelligently again and one of his arms flopped around, hanging over the edge of the bed. Harry was confused for a second, as Malfoy was acting a bit strange and out of sorts, even for an injured person, but then he turned his head to the side and Harry caught a glimpse of his clouded and droopy grey eyes.

The blond had obviously been confunded, and Harry wondered how he had managed to make it to the hospital wing on his own in this state. Malfoy shifted his body and turned his head slightly more and Harry made a soft sound of surprise as the Slytherin's eyes suddenly focused on him, and quickly drew his curtains shut.

There was a soft noise of confusion on the other end, and Harry just hoped that Malfoy was still confunded enough not to recognize him.

No such luck though, as in the next second he heard a slurred, "Potter?" Malfoy drew his name out slightly, his voice laced with confusion and incomprehension, and Harry let out a breath.

Hopefully Malfoy would just ignore him and forget about this later. There was a sniffling sound and a small groan and then Malfoy spoke again, "Potter...Potter is missing...but it wasn't my fault..." he continued muttering about stupid and presumptuous fourth year Ravenclaws and a stupid Potter, while Harry sat on the other side listening in.

It wasn't very difficult to make out what he was saying, even though his speech was rather garbled and unstructured. Harry got the gist of it, and understood that someone had attacked Malfoy, and that said person claimed to do because of Harry's rather sudden disappearance.

Harry couldn't help but question what the professors had told the student about his sudden absence, because obviously, whatever they said had led at least some of the students to believe he was missing instead of just stuck in the hospital wing.

After a couple more minutes of Malfoy's delusional rant, there was silence, except for the labored sound of Malfoy's breathing and the steady pounding of Harry's heart. Green eyes peeked past the curtains again to see that Malfoy had fallen asleep, his mouth parted slightly and his blond hair in disarray around his injured face.