I Beg Your Pardon, Potter?

Chapter 9

Draco jumped off of Harry and stared down at him in bewilderment. He had heard him mumble something but he was not sure what terrible jinx Harry had seemingly been trying to hit him with. He was glad the other boy had missed as he watched Harry curl into the fetal position, clutching between his legs. Hermione pulled out her wand and hurried over to Harry.

"Finite incantatum," she said, pointing her wand at the writhing boy. Harry stopped writhing and instead just lay still on the floor. "What did you do to him?" Hermione hissed, turning to face Draco. He backed away quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Nothing," he protested, still backing away.

"I'll get Pomfrey," Ron said. He turned and sprinted up the marble staircase. Hermione crouched down next to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. Harry was breathing hard, but whatever it was that had hurt him appeared to have stopped.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently. Harry shook his head.

"Ow," he said. Hermione snapped her head around and glared at Draco who had backed himself all the way up to the wall.

"Don't you even think about going anywhere," she said.

"I wasn't."

"Because you have to tell Pomfrey exactly what you did to Harry."

"But I didn't do anything. Harry did. He was trying to curse me." And in all honesty, Draco was a little hurt by this. He had thought they had been getting along quite well if the kissing had been any indication. But then, of course, Draco had to go and stick his foot in his mouth and insult Harry's mother. So, perhaps in a perverse way, Draco had done this to Harry. He sank down the wall to the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"S'true," Harry muttered through gritted teeth. "He didn't do anything. 'Mione, can you get everyone to go away?"

"Of course, Harry." Hermione stood up and began to disperse the small crowd that had gathered around them. Draco made to stand up, but Hermione glared at him and he stayed sitting. "I don't care that you didn't curse him," she said. "You did still hit him."

"I know,' he said miserably once the Entrance Hall was empty again. "I'm sorry." Hermione stared at him. "What? I'm sorry that I hit him. And scratched him. And kicked him." He paused and then realized how that did not in fact make it sound any better. "It was his idea," he added quickly. Harry groaned from the floor. "Alright, it was my idea, but Harry agreed with me." Harry groaned again. "Oh, shush Harry. It's true. We both agreed that we had to have a very public fight." He scooted across the floor until he was sitting next to the other boy. He put a hand gently on his arm. "What did you do? What horrible pain were you trying to inflict on me?"

"I wasn't," Harry said. "I was just trying to-" But his explanation was interrupted by the arrival of Madame Pomfrey and a small brigade of house elves, who picked Harry up and ran him up the stairs.

"Come along," Pomfrey said, gesturing to Draco and Hermione. They looked at each other for a moment and then they both followed Pomfrey and the house elves to the hospital wing like some strange, sad parade.

...

"Right," Madame Pomfrey said once Harry had been deposited onto a bed. "Potter, what is it this time? What scrap have the pair of you gotten into now?" She peered down her nose at Draco. "What did you do to him, Mr. Malfoy?" Ron, who had walked over from where he had been pacing when they brought Harry in, crossed his arms and glared at Draco in what he hoped was a menacing manner.

"I... nothing," Draco stammered. "I mean, I hit him, but I didn't do any magic." He pulled out his wand and proffered it to the nurse. "Here, you can check."