Six Days

Six days. 6.

Six whole days have passed, and Draco hasn’t seen Harry Potter once. Not in potions, not in the library… not that Draco checked.  He hadn’t even seen him in the Great Hall for meals.

No one else seemed to have noticed, and Blaise was really getting fed up with Draco’s constant questions; “Have you seen Potter?” or “Where do you think he is?”

Draco had never been more concerned. Well, he probably has been. Either way, Potter had been missing for far too long. His general worry seemed to multiply each passing day.

Previously, Draco had noticed that Hermione Granger, one of Potter’s closest friends, looked oddly sick.

That did not make Draco feel any better.

On the sixth morning without Potter, Draco pulled himself out of his bed. He hastily got dressed and made for the Great Hall. Once he was seated, Draco glanced over to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Hope rose in his stomach, even though he tried to suppress it.

His practiced eyes scanned directly to where Potter usually sat. The seat that was normally occupied by messy hair and green eyes had been filled with a bouncy fifth year. Draco sagged in his seat. Still no Potter.

He flicked his eyes to his toast, eying it with distaste. He really didn’t feel like eating anymore. Draco moved his eyes back to the Gryffindor table.

Hermione, who was sat to the side of the fifth year, muttered something and stood. Without even thinking, Draco stood as well.

He watched as Hermione walked along the side of the long table and out the door. Grumbling a goodbye to those sitting next to him, Draco scurried after her.

He ignored Blaise and Pansy’s confused calls, quickly leaving the Great Hall. He saw a flash of bushy brown hair disappear around a corner at the top of the stairs. Draco hurried to follow, going three steps at a time. He saw Hermione walking briskly down the corridor.

“Hermione!” Draco said, louder than he meant to. She jumped about a foot into the air, turning around. Her eyes were wide.

“Yes?” She squeaked, her voice a much higher pitch than normal.

“Um… I was-” Draco paused, wondering if he really should ask. She stared at him curiously. “Wondering where Harry was.” Draco blurted before he could stop himself.

She gawked at him. Draco was about to snap a ‘what,’ but Hermione spoke before him. “D-did you just call him… Harry?” She voiced.

Draco’s face burned. “Er, no... obviously a mistake.” He scolded himself. Hermione’s shock wore off, and she was now looking at Draco oddly.

The silence before Hermione spoke was much too long.

“Meet me by the library after potions, don’t worry about lunch.”

With a nod, Draco ran off to Transfiguration.

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Draco somehow managed to keep his focus in Transfiguration, barely able to sit through a half lesson with Slughorn. His Bicorn Horn was not crushed finely enough, but Draco couldn’t bring himself to care.

Throughout the lesson, he had made eye contact with Hermione loads. She’d only raise her eyebrows and focus back on her cauldron.

Draco watched as Hermione stood, and said something to Slughorn. The stout man waddled over to her cauldron, nodding in approval and clapping her on the shoulder.

She vanished its contents, and left the room.

The anticipation Draco was feeling multiplied as he watched Hermione leave.

Once the class was dismissed, Draco hauled to the library. He got there in record time, panting. He leaned against the stone wall, catching his breath. A few moments later, Hermione appeared from the library. Draco jumped, straightening up.

“I’ve just told him you’re coming,” She said simply, turning and entering back into the library.

“What? He’s not in the library, is he?” Draco asked, trying to seem casual. He had checked in there before, so he knew that there was no way he could be inside.

Hermione gave a flippant scoff. She led Draco into a back corner of the library, a section Draco had only been to once or twice in all his time at Hogwarts.

She seemed to be looking around pretty often, taking a complicated route that Draco was having trouble following. The library was quite large, but the route seemed a bit overly complicated.

Hermione stopped abruptly, and Draco didn’t catch himself in time. “Sorry!” He exclaimed, after running into Hermione. She hushed him moments after.

“Be quiet, will you? We don’t need all of Hogwarts finding out.” She whispered, talking fast.

“Finding what out, Hermione?” Draco asked, keeping his voice quieter this time. Hermione sighed. Glancing around once again.

“He’s ill.” She said simply.

“He’s ill?” Draco repeated, not believing it. “Really? Couldn’t Pop- um, Madame Pomfrey fix him up in moments?” Draco said. He had gotten quite close to the head healer at Hogwarts. His frequent visits, for reasons Draco would rather not say, allowed them a friendship.

Hermione gave him a searching look, similar to the one she gave him when he first asked about Harry’s whereabouts.

“Well, it’s sort of complicated…” She trailed off, and Draco gave her a look to say tell me. “Er, no one has ever really seen the illness before. They don’t really understand what it is, and it would be too risky to try to heal it. It could get worse. He’s in a lot of pain-” Draco’s stomach clenched. “And there isn’t anything they can do just yet.” She said, looking to the ground. Draco instantly understood her sick appearance.

“A-and why don’t people know?” Draco asked quietly, trying to not ask too much. Hermione really didn’t seem too stable right now. She was worried sick for her friend.

“The group is very small. It was decided to keep it private. If people did know, then there would be panic. Knowing you could be at risk of an unknown and painful disease isn’t exactly a comfort.” Draco nodded at Hermione’s explanation.

There was a short lived silence.

“So, why are we in a library?” Draco muttered.

Hermione gave a hint of a smile at the question.

She turned to a bookshelf, and Draco turned too. Hermione started pulling the tops of spines of seemingly random books from the shelf out an inch, then pushing them back in. She must have continued for about fifteen seconds, before she stopped. She pushed one book on the bottom most shelf in. Once she let go, the book pulled itself back into its original position. Draco watched as she reached her hand up, knocking on a wooden bookend a few shelves up. She took a step back. Draco quickly followed.

Nothing happened.

Draco looked to Hermione, about to ask what all of that was for. However, the bookcase suddenly shifted. Draco stared. The bookcase almost looked to be swaying in a breeze. Draco watched, his mouth agape, as Hermione peeled back what had been the bookcase.

She had revealed a small room with light grey walls. There was a small painting of a sunflower suspended on the wall next to a white table.

Draco snapped his mouth as Hermione took his arm and pulled him inside. She dropped the curtain, along with Draco’s arm, and traced her hand in a small circle along the back. Instantly, in hardened back into a solid wall.

Draco laid his hand against the cold bricks. He shook his head. How they managed to think of this was beyond him.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” She asked. Draco managed a nod. “Well, he’s through there,” She pointed to a door that Draco had not noticed before. Draco didn’t move.

“Is it… bad?” Draco stumbled, letting his worry show.

“He’s in a lot of pain… and it doesn’t really look too good.” She spoke, her voice shaking slightly.

“O-oh.” Draco muttered stupidly.

He moved to the door, and pushed it open. Pushing back his hesitation, Draco entered.

He gasped at what he saw. The person in the bed was certainly Harry, but he looked beyond horrible. His face was red and blistering all over. He was also covered in bruises and cuts. Draco winced.

“That bad?” Harry croaked from the bed, reaching up to straighten his crooked glasses.

Draco choked. “Yeah.”

Harry snorted, his face contorting in pain moments after. Harry weakly gestured to a metal chair that had been pulled to the side of the bed. Draco’s hand was shaking as he sat.

There was silence for 22 seconds, Draco was counting.

“Er, how are you?” Draco began, even though the question itself was incredibly dim.

“It hurts,” Harry hissed out, closing his eyes. Before Draco could stop himself, he rested his hand on Harry’s. Harry’s eyes shot open, and he stared at the hand in disbelief. Draco’s face reddened, and he guessed that Harry’s would have too, if it was not already so red from the blisters. Draco cringed at how painful it looked. He did not remove his hand.

Harry was still staring. Draco cleared his throat, and green eyes met Draco’s. Draco couldn’t help almost choking on air. Aside from being pain filled, Harry’s eyes were shockingly beautiful. Harry’s stomach grumbled faintly.

“Have you been eating?” Draco asked, voicing one of his many concerns.

Harry shifted slightly, gesturing to a tray of sandwiches on a table to the side of where Draco sat. “‘Mione’s been bringing ‘round lunch and dinner.” Draco looked at him questioningly.

“Breakfast?” Draco wondered aloud. Harry shook his head.

“Makes it worse.” Harry grunted.  Draco frowned.

“What have you been doing?” Draco inquired, realizing that he shouldn’t be asking all these questions. They weren’t exactly making things less painful for him. Harry reached for a sandwich, and Draco did as well. Their two hands stayed awkwardly connected.

Harry made a movement like a shrug. “Reading, Hermione’s been requesting some good books,” He said truthfully. Draco could tell that even though he enjoyed reading, he missed his usual days.

Before Draco could hold his tongue, he blurted out random titles of books he had read and enjoyed in the past.

Harry grinned. “I appreciate the sentiment, Malfoy, but I can’t exactly check them out,” He said, gesturing to the room around him.

Draco blushed, taking some bites out of his sandwich to calm down. “Right… I could, um, get them?” He rushed out, steadily becoming more and more embarrassed.

“That would be great.” Harry smiled.

Draco heard a knock on the door. The two of them looked to the door.

Hermione opened it, leaning in. “Next class starting soon Draco, you’d better leave soon.” Draco nodded, and Hermione closed the door.

“Okay.. um, I should go,” Draco said, standing up.

“Bye, Malfoy.”

“See you, Potter.”

Once Draco exited the small room, Hermione was giving him the same odd look that she had given him earlier. There was silence for a few moments.

“C-could I come by again before dinner?” Draco asked shakily, blushing. Hermione smiled at him.

 “Knock twice on the top left brick to leave.” She said to him. “And I’ll be here.” Draco gave her a grateful smile.

“Thanks Hermione,” Draco said as she nodded, and entered the small room where Draco had just been.