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"They're lucky to be alive Minerva," a hushed voice could be heard in the darkness.
Draco groggily opened his eyes and then wished that he hadn't, With his eyes now opened, he was fully awake and he flinched as a wave of pain washed over him, Squeezing his eyes shut he sucked in a deep breath and willed the pain to go away. Lucius had trained him to ignore the affects of pain. After a few more deep breaths, the pain was far enough from his mind for him to open his eyes again.
The room was dark; a few rays of moonlight were shining through the window. He was trying to remember what had happened to the curtains that he had around his four-poster when he realized that he was in the hospital wing.
"The Headmaster has been notified?" the hushed voice whispered again, Draco knew that it was Madame Pomfrey.
"Of course Poppy," a new voice, that of Professor McGonagall, answered her. "He went with Hagrid to catch that infernal thing. I imagine that he will be very interested in just what Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy were doing out there."
"Why did they bring that wretched thing here a nyway? I know that Hagrid has a soft spot for monsters but this is going a bit to far." Madame Pomfrey sounded rather vexed
"There was little choice in the matter Poppy, they had to bring it someplace for safe keeping until it could be properly disposed of and Hagrid is the only one that could handle such an abomination." Professor McGonagall said softly.
Draco could barely hear Professor McGonagall as her voice became more hushed, but at the mention of that beast, Draco started to remember the events that led him to the hospital wing. The walk out to the hut, the manticore, the attack, and something else, warm brown eyes filled with an emotion that he couldn't quite place. If Draco's father had been anyone other than Luciue Malfoy, he would have had no problems recognizing the emotion to be concern.
"The Mudblood," he hissed. She had been there, but why? He remembered how she had ... what had she done? The pain was starting to fog his memory again, "She saved me," he remembered out loud. An odd warmth seemed to flash through him for a moment, but he dismissed it as simply being a side effect of all the pain.
The voices had stopped and a sudden light shone across the bed. Madame Pomfrey bustled into the room, Professor McGonagall on her heels.
"You shouldn't be awake Mr. Malfoy," the nurse said softly as she came to his side. "You must be quiet, I don't want you to wake up Ms. Granger."
Draco carefully turned his head to look at the bed besides his. He found that moving caused a great deal of pain but years of experience let him hide it from the watchful eyes of the nurse, Sure enough, he could see Granger's bushy hair spread out on the pillow; framing her dead-white face.
"What's wrong with Granger?" His voice sounded harsh as it passed from his cracked lips. He couldn't remember her getting hurt.
"Ms Granger broke her wrist and suffered several broken ribs, one that punctured her lung." Madame Pomfrey's tone was trying to stay neutral.
"Will she be all right?" Draco was just as shocked that such a question could come from him as Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were. They both turned to look at each other, the nurse's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Yes, both you and Ms. Granger will be fine." The nurse told him, "however, you'll both need to stay here in the hospital wing for a few days. The poison should have killed you, but the manticore was too young to be lethal."
"What I want to know Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall was now glaring at him darkly, "is just what exactly were you doing down at Hagrid's Hut?"
"I...," Draco looked at Professor McGonagall's face, then glanced towards Granger again. "Gran...I mean Hermione and l had a few questions for Hagrid about his next Care of Magical Creatures lesson."
