Canon Secrets (A Dramione Story)

Half-Blood Prince Pt. 5: Injured

Draco Pov

Draco's life was turning upside down before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not to be dramatic, but his father was forcing him to be part of a cult that most of his peers and most of the Wizarding World hated with a burning passion, the same cult was forcing him to kill his headmaster plus repair a magical cabinet so they could invade, and his girlfriend had broken up with him because of said cult.

He paced the hall, deciding finally that going into the Great Hall wouldn't be so bad as long as he didn't look over at the Gryffindor table. Pushing the door open, he walked up the middle of the room but stopped when he saw who Potter was talking to. Katie Bell had never really been on his radar until now except for in terms of Quidditch. When he had heard that she was the one who had been cursed -- not Dumbledore -- he felt guilt beyond words. Katie didn't deserve that, and he knew that he would have to try a more direct approach to the murder. Draco shivered; even that word didn't feel right.

Katie made eye contact with him and he saw some flash of recognition flit across her face. Potter turned around to see who she was talking to and as he saw Draco, he scowled. Draco turned around with the intent of getting out of there as quickly as possible but hesitated as his eyes darted over to the Gryffindor table. There she was, sitting and chatting with Weasley, talking animatedly with her hands. As if she sensed his gaze she looked up and flinched as she saw who was looking at her. She looked down at her hands and Draco's heart wrenched.

Not being able to take it anymore, he fled the Great Hall. As he hurriedly walked down countless hallways, his tie felt like it was strangling him and he reached up to loosen it. The action alone brought back the memory of the many times he had pulled an unsuspecting Hermione into the broom closet and snogged her senseless; her hands pulling at his tie and untucking his shirt.

He could feel the tears coming, even though he had sworn to himself he would stay strong. His chest heaved as he pushed open the lavatory door and walked up to the sink, putting his hands on either side of the porcelain surface. The familiar feeling of panic and despair he had been getting more and more of lately quickly set in. He yanked his jumper over his head; not even caring that his hair fell in his eyes.

Leaning over the sink, he turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on his face, trying to pull his thoughts away to where they were eventually going to end up if he knew anything from the past few times this had happened. He bowed his head again, feeling the weight of all the responsibility and threats the Dark Lord had put on him pressing into his chest.

He eventually couldn't help but think of Hermione with her pretty smile and kind eyes to help him try to calm down. Every time he had a panic attack, he resorted to thinking of her even though he knew he didn't deserve to. Thinking of her finally brought on the tears and they dripped down his face. His deep, shuddering breaths rattled his body and he knew that Moaning Myrtle was probably listening and gossiping to the other ghosts, but he didn't care.

"I know what you did, Malfoy." The voice cut through the air and he whirled around. "You hexed her, didn't you?" Potter asked, sure of himself. At first, Draco thought Potter was talking about Hermione but quickly realized that he was talking about Katie. The sight of Potter, so unempathetic to the obvious state of Draco, filled him with rage and he fired the first spell non-verbally. Potter ducked out of the way and went behind the stalls. He jumped out again and fired back, obviously trying to disarm Draco but just breaking the mirror behind him.

More spells were fired with the two boys dancing around each other, the water leaking from multiple pipes, and glass shards on the floor. Draco got on the floor and looked under the stalls, waiting for Potter to look down as well. When he finally did, Draco's spell almost hit home and would've put him in a full-body bind, but Potter jerked away at the last moment. He could hear Potter running behind the stalls, and ran down to meet him with another spell.

He rounded the last stall and had just raised his wand to yell Stupefy when Potter beat him to it. "Sectumsempra!" Draco didn't have time to comprehend that he had never heard that spell before the spell hit him and a feeling like a knife cut through his face and his chest throwing him backward onto the lavatory floor.

Moaning, he lay on the hard ground and knew he was dying. The pain was too much and everywhere. He smelled the iron tang of blood and felt the sticky substance on his face. He groaned in pain again and when he looked down, there was blood pouring from his chest as well. A door banged open and Draco groggily noted Snape's greasy black hair hanging over him and heard him muttering some sort of counter curse. The blood loss was starting to get to him and blackness started closing into his vision. His last thought was that he hoped Hermione would come to his funeral before he fell unconscious.

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As Draco slowly became aware of his surroundings, he knew he was in heaven. For one, he heard Hermione's sweet, sweet voice and felt her smooth hand holding his. "You'll be okay. Don't worry. You'll wake up soon and you can get out of this place."

"But I don't want to wake up or get out of this place because you're here," Draco wanted to respond but couldn't get his mouth to move. He felt her thumb rub circles against his hand and started to realize that maybe he was still alive. He was regaining feeling in his body and he could see the lights of the Hospital Wing through his eyelids. He squeezed Hermione's hand and she gasped and let go.

Draco internally rolled his eyes at her reward for him. He didn't want her to stop holding his hand and if he had known she was, he wouldn't have squeezed. "Madam Pomfrey!" Draco heard the squeaking of the chair against the floor and Hermione's footsteps back into the nurse's office.

A minute later another Hermione came back out with another pair of footsteps. He assumed they belonged to Madam Pomfrey, and his theory was confirmed when Draco felt her readjusting him on the bed and felt something that was obviously a Blood-Replenishing Potion trickle down his throat. "There. He can probably hear you and is aware of what is going on but won't be able to respond or open his eyes until tomorrow. I'll leave you two alone," Madam Pomfrey said with an air of finality. Her footsteps faded away and Hermione slid her hand into his again.

"Well, since she said you can hear me, I'll talk to you. First off, I can not believe what Harry did. He had no right to, especially since he didn't even know what that spell did. In regards to your medical condition right now, you're stable. If Snape hadn't been there, the slash on your face would have scarred and although the few on your chest definitely will scar, at least you won't have to worry about your face. Madam Pomfrey is giving you a Blood-Replenishing Potion every two hours because you lost so much blood and she won't allow any visitors. The only way I got in here is because Professor McGonagall gave me special permission.

"Anyway, I'm sure you are wondering why I'm here in the first place. I heard directly from Harry and..." Hermione broke off and started sobbing. She flung her arms around Draco's neck and buried her face in his chest. He felt a slight twinge of pain from what he assumed was one of the gashes but brushed it off, opting instead to pay attention to the smell coming off her hair. "Draco! I was so worried. I can't stop thinking about what could have happened if Snape hadn't been there. I know you probably don't want me here since I literally broke up with you!" Hermione was wailing now and all Draco wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and hold her until the world ended.

So he did. He slowly, slowly opened his eyes and lifted his arms; one to wrap around her waist and one came up to thread through her hair, keeping her head close to his body. "Hermione," Draco said softly.

"Draco," she replied wearily. Slowly pulling away, she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before slowly pulling away and resting her forehead against his. "I'm sorry." She stood up and backed away. Draco raised his arm feebly as if reaching for her but the energy he had already expended was too much and he passed out.

Oof, that was a downer. Well, on to Deathly Hallows. I'm currently in the process of re-reading the books so that's cool and yeah. Please comment and vote.

-Ms. Scarlet