Fire and Ice

The Mudblood, Pure Blood and Blood Traitor

I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill that Evenry Valence if it's the last thing I do.

Sprinting through the corridors, Draco burst into every classroom he could find, looking for his once-potion partner. Stumbling into a girls bathroom, he used his wand to open every cubicle door in order to see if Valence was hiding in one.

Where are you? Wherever you're hiding, I'm going to find you...

But where would she be? She tried to kill Ginny twice, and failed both times.

Third time lucky.

"No," Draco whispered, before shuddering to a halt in his sprint and heading for the opposite direction.

If Valence really wants to kill Ginny, what better way to do it when she's vulnerable, powerless, alone, and unconscious?

Please please please be okay, Draco thought repeatedly as he raced to the Hospital Wing. His platinum strands whipped his forehead as he sprinted, his athletic, fit build allowing him to run faster than Chimeras hunting for prey.

As he flew through the doors of the Hospital Wing, Draco nearly blanched when he saw a brown-haired girl bend over Ginny's limp, sleeping body.

"Stupefy!" Draco roared, pointing his wand at Valence. Instead of feeling victorious and relieved, however, Draco froze in shock at the sight of Hermione Granger crumpling to the floor.

"Shit, shit, shit," Draco muttered, racing towards her broken body, her bushy hair fanned around her neck like a furry necklace. "Urr.... enervate."

Granger stirred, rubbing her neck. She blinked rapidly when she saw a concerned and slightly-sheepish Malfoy staring at her. A long time ago, Draco would've left her lying on the floor for some unsuspecting bystander to find. However, Draco held out his hand. Granger ignored it and hauled herself up, speechless.

"I didn't mean to stupefy you." Draco muttered, avoiding her eyes. Granger didn't say a word, she only glared.

"I thought you... err... were trying to hurt Gi- her." he said, pointing at Ginny.

What was the matter with him? Draco is rarely this inarticulate, yet here he was, stumbling over his words in the presence of a mudblood.

Speaking for the first time, Granger said "I understand. I was guarding her, actually."

"Guarding her?" Draco repeated incredulously, and rudely. "I stupefied you and you didn't even try to defend yourself!"

"It wasn't me who I was trying to defend, you git." Granger hissed. "And," she added, standing up straight, "I did succeed. When you busted through, I cast a spell on Ginny that has surrounded her in an Untouchable bubble, the Sleeping Beauty, if you will. If you were Va- if you were anyone trying to hurt her, you wouldn't be able to. Try," she offered cockily, waving her hands towards Ginny.

Draco slowly shook his head at her and stepped towards Ginny. Her hair, once alive with coppery crimsons and flaming scarlet, lay dully and lifeless against her pale complexion. Her chest rose and fell with short breaths as she slept on.

Reaching out, Draco completely forgot that Granger was watching. Slowly stroking Ginny's face, Draco sighed. Ginny was okay.

A loud humph! broke Draco out of his reverie. He turned to look at Granger, whose arms were folded.

"Stop touching her, you horrible prat! You shouldn't even be able to touch her!" she exploded, taking her wand out and flourishing it in agitation. "I'm sure I did the spell right.... no... I'm the only... of course!" she suddenly cried to herself. Shaking his head, Draco ignored her and continued to stare at his reason for being.

Once again, Granger pulled him out of his train of thought. "The Sleeping Beauty spell only allows people to touch the sleeper, who the sleeper loves. So I did do the spell right!"

Draco froze as Hermione continued to voice her thoughts. Shit shit shit.

"Her family would be able to... friends, Harry, Ron... but that means..."

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ginny loves YOU?!"