Veela Love

Chapter Ten: The Fever

At around 4 am, Draco started to panic. Hermione was so hot it hurt for him to lay his hand on her forehead. The fever had come on so suddenly he knew it wasn't natural.

"Shit shit shit!" Draco carefully got up from under Hermione and grabbed his wand. Focusing on Hermione's warm smile, Draco whispered, "Expecto patronum." A large silver dragon exploded out of the end of the wand and flew out of the room. While Draco waited for a reply, he removed Hermione's covers and quickly pulled one of his t-shirts over her small frame. Almost instantly, it was drenched in sweat.

A stallion galloped into the room and with Blaise's voice said, "Take her to the hospital wing. I'll meet you there."

Trying to push down the rising fear, Draco gathered Hermione in his arms and ran.

Blaise and Ginny were waiting for him when he got to the hospital wing, and they threw the doors open.

"What in the world?" Madame Pomfrey cried, sticking her head out of her office.

Draco laid Hermione on the closest bed and stepped back, still holding tightly onto her hand. "I marked her," he whispered. Ginny and Blaise gasped. "And she was fine, but now... now I think she's dying. I can't feel anything from her in here," he thumped his chest.

"Oh no no no. Oh dear. Step back."

Logically, Draco knew that Madame Pomfrey wouldn't do anything to hurt his mate, but when he saw her wand raised, a growl escaped his lips.

"Draco, she has to get close to Hermione to help," Ginny soothed, putting a gentle hand on his arm.

Shaking his head, Draco nodded and took a step back. Eyeing him closely, Madame Pomfrey quickly went to work, waving her wand over the unconscious figure. Draco never took his eyes off Hermione.

"We have to get her cooled off. It'd be best if we all join into one cooling charm; she's much, much too hot. Do you three have your wands?" They all nodded. "Okay, on the count of three!"

The spell's kickback was so cold that it made all their teeth chatter, but Hermione seemed to relax slightly. "Now, we wait. You three may stay with her, but at breakfast time, Ms. Weasley and Mr. Zabini must leave. I know you won't be going anyplace, Mr. Malfoy. If anything changes, please come get me." She turned and went back to her office.

Draco took out his wand and made the bed bigger before climbing into it and gathering Hermione in his arms. He just felt better the more of her he was touching.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, taking a step closer to the bed.

Draco looked down at Hermione. "She let me mark her. She just announced we were going to do it, and I just... did it."

"She didn't want to think about it more?" Blaise asked.

Draco shook his head and looked over at his best friend. "I don't understand why, though."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Because Hermione already made her decision – she made it this summer."

"But it's me. I tormented her for years..." Draco trailed off.

"And you saved her at Malfoy Manor, and he gave Harry your wand when it mattered most."

"But -," he started again.

"But nothing. Hermione decided long ago to accept her mate, no matter who it is."

"She's something else, then," Blaise said in awe.

"She is. She's the absolute best." Ginny sniffed. "So she better fucking wake up."

Draco's arms tightened around his mate. "She will. She has to. I'll die without her."

"Literally," Blaise said.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Not what I meant, but true."

Ginny sat down in the chair next to the bed. "I have a captive audience in you, so I'm going to use it to my advantage. I don't like you, Malfoy –"

"Draco," he cut her off.

"What?"

"Call me Draco. You're my mate's best friend."

Tilting her head, Ginny truly observed Draco for the first time. "Okay, Draco, I don't like you. In fact, I actually dislike you. But I know what you are and what that means – you can't hurt your mate without hurting yourself. And Hermione seems to trust you. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because I want to see my best friend happy. But if you hurt so much as a hair on her head, I will hunt you down and murder you, Veela or not. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Draco nodded, never taking his eyes off Hermione.

With a softer tone, Ginny said, "You really care about her, don't you?"

"She's my mate," he said simply.

"No, I mean, your human side cares for her, doesn't he?"

"It's my personal opinion that he's been in love with her since he first saw her," Blaise announced.

"What?" Ginny and Draco cried in unison.

"You didn't have to listen to him go on and on and on about her for years, Ginny. I can say with complete certainty his human side feels for her as well."

"Hey! I did not go on and on about her!"

"He so did."

Draco just rolled his eyes and went back to playing with Hermione's hair. "Why are you here anyway, Ginny?"

The girl jumped at the use of her first name but quickly recovered. "Blaise called me."

At the look that Draco gave him, Blaise shrugged. "We're your human support team. It just seemed right to have Ginny here as well."

"Humph."

The three sat in silence until Ginny broke it. "How long is this going to last?"

Draco bit his lip. "I don't know. All I know is that when you mark someone, you inject your venom into them, and their body goes through a final change. It's a minimum of 12 hours, but there have been documented cases that took days."

"Creepy," Blaise commented.

"Hermione is strong; she'll wake up." Ginny sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as the others.

At dawn, Blaise asked, "How are we going to keep Potter and the Weasel away from her?" Draco growled. "As we see, he's not going to let them near her, and we don't really have an explanation as to why Draco's in her bed."

Ginny frowned. "I can keep them away for a day or two – it is the weekend. I'll tell them she's got the flu, and it's super contagious. They both have quidditch practice, so they'll want to be healthy. Give Hermione time to wake up."

"Thank you, Ginny," Draco said, his eyes back on his mate. He still couldn't feel anything from her, and he was scared. No, he was terrified. She had to wake back up. He couldn't live without her.