Clara Diggory, Girl of Secrets - a HP fanfic

Chapter 14 - Follow the Spiders

Ron's POV

Both Dumbledore and Hagrid were gone now. Dumbledore had been suspended by Lucius Malfoy and the school governors, and Hagrid had been taken to Askaban, because of his record. With Dumbledore gone, now everyone was terrified - even the Slytherins had stopped making fun of the situation, now that one of their own had been attacked. Even Malfoy was quiet and worried, not at all his snarky self. I wasn't sure why - I mean, he was sort of friends with Clara, but he wasn't best friends with her, was he?

Oh, who knows.

No one was allowed to visit the hospital wing any more, but I just felt like I needed to see Hermione, just to be there for her.

For some reason, it was like Hermione's absence had affected me even more than Harry - even though I teased her a lot, I realised that she meant a lot to me.

It was about half one in the morning, and everyone else was asleep. I crept out of bed and over to Harry's trunk, praying that he wouldn't wake up as I opened it. I grabbed the invisibility cloak, hoping Harry wouldn't mind, put it over me, and snuck out of the dormitory and the common room.

The hospital wing doors were usually locked, but when I got there, they were open, just slightly ajar. I slowly walked in and saw Malfoy sitting by someone's bed - Clara's. I was about to whip the cloak off and confront him, when I noticed he was sniffing - almost as if he was crying. I paused, confused.

"Crabbe and Goyle are just idiots, like you said," He was whispering. "Zabini's not as dumb as them, but he still doesn't understand. And now Dumbledore's gone, and everyone's panicking."

Why was he worried about Dumbledore being gone? His father was the one who got him suspended.

"When I wrote to Father saying that you were Petrified, I didn't expect him to do that. I mean, surely getting rid of Dumbledore would be the worst thing to do?"

There was a pause.

"Oh, bloody hell, what am I doing? It's not like you're going to answer. I wish you could wake up - I wish you could tell me who did this, so I could hex them into pieces."

I smiled, despite everything. Who knew Malfoy cared?

"No one gets why I'm so worried, but everyone knows I am. Even Weasley's caught on."
Well, thanks.

"Why were you even inside? Did you figure something out? What am I saying, of course you did - you're one of the cleverest girls I know, you and Granger."

Was he complimenting Hermione now?

"Zabini's almost got it figured out; about why I care so much. Hopefully he won't tell you when you wake up."

I frowned. Why did he care?

"I'm glad you can't hear me, through all of this. Bloody hell, if you figured out that I like you, I'd just about die. Bloody hell, why do I keep on saying bloody hell?"

My eyes widened. Draco liked her?

Clara?

And...

And Draco?

WHAT?

I think at that moment, my brain was just going AASSDFGHLJLMXMXSKEKND.

Draco smiled sadly, then leant over and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know why I do that, it feels weird," He whispered. "I hope they find a cure soon. Night night, Clara."

I realised with a jolt that Draco had gotten up and was about to walk into me, and backed up into an empty hospital bed. Malfoy froze.

"Is there anyone here?"