Accepted (Drarry/Pansmione/Linny)

Chapter Nineteen - Draco

Author's Note:

Nice.

Draco sighed heavily. Hermione looked so helpless - which she was. The professors had all agreed that Hermione shouldn't be released from the charm that kept her limp until Pansy returned from the lake, just to be safe. Draco had been told the whole story with everyone else when they brought in Ginny, Luna, and Hermione. Gods, if he had hated poachers before, he despised them now. According to Luna, everyone had gotten out of it alive, but Pansy had been seriously injured and the mermaids were caring for her. So, until Pansy came back, Hermione would lay limp in the Hospital Wing.

Draco had been cleared to hobble around a few hours ago, but he knew Hermione was still conscious in there and he didn't want her to be alone. He had, however, insisted that Harry still go to the reserve Seeker tryouts, and Ron had gone with him to cheer him on, so Draco was alone with what might as well have been Hermione's corpse. Tracey and Millicent had stayed for a little while, but they decided that it would be best for them to be at the lake when Pansy came back so they could tell her where Hermione was. Luna and Ginny had left as soon as they were cleared, which was understandable if what he had researched on his own was correct. A major shake to the bond would have left both of them feeling pretty vulnerable and uneasy for a while, so it was probably best that the two spent some time together to fix that.

"Mister Black, keeping Miss Granger company?"

Draco nodded. Professor Dumbledore stopped in front of Hermione's bed and gazed down at her. His eyes held none of the strange twinkle they always seemed to before.

"When do you think she'll come back?" Draco asked. "Pansy, I mean."

"I'm not sure," Dumbledore said. "Mermaids don't tend to communicate with humans very often. They don't like us, as you can imagine."

That was fair, really. Even humans who weren't poachers weren't always nice to mermaids. Freaky as they may be, mermaids could be nice, but the freaky aspect tended to overrule the niceness for a lot of people. Again, fair, but still.

"From what we do know, mermaids are very pack-oriented, so to speak," Dumbledore continued. "As a half mermaid, Pansy's health will be the village's top priority. Hopefully she will be able to return soon. It would be a shame for Miss Granger to miss a large piece of her second year."

"She's going to be upset if she even misses a full day," Draco said. "We have a Charms project due next week that she wanted to spend today working on."

"I'm sure she needn't worry," Dumbledore said. "She may very well be the brightest witch in your year."

"She definitely is," Draco said. "She's stupidly smart."

The doors to the Hospital Wing burst open. Harry and Ron ran inside, seeming very excited - but Harry was also caked in mud. They paused when they saw the Headmaster.