2 Kids Who Are Not Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

The House Cup

Hours later, the hospital wing doors clanged shut behind Hermione and she broke into a run. Panic was rising like bile in her throat and threatening to seize control of her limbs, but she held it off by concentrating extremely hard on what she had to do. She must find Professor McGonagall, and then she must go to the owlery. Two simple steps, and then it would all be over. However, she'd scarcely rounded the corner toward the grand staircase when something caught her shoulder. She recoiled at once, heart hammering, searching frantically for the source, but try as she might, she couldn't see anything.

"Who's there?" she demanded, doing her best to sound firm and intimidating. Quite suddenly, Draco appeared out of thin air in front of her. Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, eyes alight. "Are you stupid, or just completely mental?"

"Where--what--how did you do that?" she demanded breathlessly, willing her heartbeat to slow.

"I'm not telling," he said obstinately. "I told you not to go down there." She opened her mouth to insist, but shook her head and cleared her throat.

"Well, as long as you're here, do something useful," she said briskly. "Find Professor McGonagall and tell her Harry's gone after him--she'll know what it means. I've got to get to the owlery." To Hermione's surprise and extreme annoyance, Draco rolled his eyes.

"Don't try to be coy with me," he snapped. "Any idiot would know what that means. And I don't have to fetch McGonagall, she's already on her way." Hermione frowned, startled.

"What?"

"Yeah. And if you're on your way to send an owl to Dumbledore, don't bother. He's probably already back by now, and I'm sure he knows everything." Not for the first time this evening, Hermione found herself completely stunned.

"How on earth d'you know all of this?" she asked, after a moment.

"Because I came out here to try and stop you," Draco told her, and for the first time, he sounded a bit sheepish. "But I ran into McGonagall and Snape. I knew I was too late because they were obviously really panicked about something. They didn't even punish me for being out, just told me to go back to bed and ran off. I overheard McGonagall telling Snape she hoped Dumbledore was on his way, and then I reckoned you'd probably end up here so I came up to wait." It took Hermione a few moments to make sense of everything Draco had said, but soon, something struck her.

"Hang on--you said you ran into McGonagall...and Snape?" Draco looked slightly confused.

"Yeah, why--" he broke off, and his face cleared. "Oh, for god's sake, not this again! I told you from the beginning it wasn't Snape, and if anything, this proves it." Hermione felt the icy tendrils of dread worm their way into the pit of her stomach.

"Draco...if Snape is with McGonagall...then who's down the trapdoor with Harry?" For a split second, Draco's expression shifted from confusion to mild panic, then cleared as he shook his head slightly.

"Does it matter? I mean, he's being rescued, isn't he?"

"Yes, but from who?" Hermione insisted. Draco made an exasperated sound in his throat.

"Who cares?" he snapped. "What are you going to do, run off and try to save him yourself?"

"Well, of course not, but--"

"Then for once, just let someone else handle it!" Draco interrupted. "You've already risked your life once, isn't that enough?" He looked more afraid than annoyed now, and Hermione was struck by a sudden jab of affection for him. After their ill-fated adventure in the Forbidden Forest, sneaking out at night could hardly have been a decision he made lightly; he'd only have done it for something extremely important.