"Now, now girl, stop crying. It's not so bad." Madame Pomfrey tutted gently as she examined Lavender's face. "Ms. Granger took the brunt of it I think."
Hermione was worriedly sitting on the bed next to Lavender. "Will she be all right? I can't believe I was so stupid to do that."
Madame Pomfrey began to tenderly dab a little bit of some dark blue cream onto Lavender's face. "There now, all better. You only got burned a little bit. It will all be cleared up by lunch. You, on the other hand," she said turning to Hermione, "you need to keep these bandages on until tomorrow morning."
Hermione looked crestfallen, "that long? But I have homework to do."
Madame Pomfrey gave Hermione a penetrating gaze; it was unusual to have students complain about not being able to do their homework. "I'm sure you'll make do." She said finally after deciding that Hermione was not, in fact, pulling her leg.
Hermione turned to Lavender again, "are you all right? I'm really very sorry."
Lavender, who had finally managed to stop crying, looked at her with wet, red eyes and said in a shaky voice, "it's all right Hermione. I'm the one that tripped into you."
"I know, but Snape was right, I shouldn't have been measuring the lotus root over my cauldron. I know better than that."
And she did know better than that. Hermione knew all the safety rules when it came to Potions. And measuring your ingredients away from heat was foremost on the list. But she had been distracted, had been distracted ever since she had come into the classroom. Ever since she had let him catch her eyes, and then it was too late, he had her. Hermione had spent the rest of the class with faintly flushed cheeks, shaky hands, and what felt like a thousands butterflies fluttering about in her stomach.
She couldn't be sure, but Hermione could swear that someone was watching her throughout most of the class, and she could easily guess who that person might have been. But Hermione hadn't dared turn around to see. For as long as she didn't look, she wouldn't know for certain. And not knowing seemed much safer than the possibility that Draco Malfoy was watching her, and remembering.
"Well I'm done with the two of you." Madame Pomfrey's voice pulled Hermione out of her internal ponderings and back into the hospital wing. "Now you remember what I said, Ms. Granger, you keep those bandages on. You needed more ointment than Ms. Brown did and it won't sink in if it's exposed to air."
Hermione nodded wordlessly and stood up. She looked at her hands; they were covered in thick white wrappings. Things always seemed to happen to her hands. It was as if fate knew that the only true torture for Hermione was to somehow keep her from doing her class work. And as she gingerly tried flexing her fingers, Hermione knew that there wasn't any way she'd be writing tonight. Even without the encompassing weight of the bandages, moving her stiff fingers caused more pain than she would care to repeat.
Lavender and Hermione parted ways at the stairwell above the entrance hall. Lavender was intending on using her afternoon off to mix together some of her Mavis' Magical Makeup with a bit of Hannah Abbot's muggle blush, supposedly this created quite an interesting combination that Parvarti swore could be seen from almost a kilometer away. Hermione personally couldn't understand why you would want to glow like a traffic light, but she was getting along with Lavender far too well to actually say so. Hermione did politely refuse the makeover that Lavender eagerly offered and decided to take a walk around the lake instead.
A light spring breeze drifted across the crystalline water of the lake and Hermione was pleased that it wasn't cold. In only a few short months they would be taking their OWLS. Hermione grimaced, she could be using this time to study for them, but no, she had to go and blow up a cauldron.
