Veela Love

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Not-So-Triumphant Return

            The day Hermione was to go back to school, she woke up and immediately felt off, more so than she had since the attack. She'd been able to feel the emptiness her memories had left behind, caverns left empty after they'd been ransacked. But today, she felt lethargic to the extreme. Immediately snapping at Ginny for being too loud, Hermione apologized profusely.

"It's okay, Hermione," Ginny said tentatively. Hermione could tell Ginny didn't want to set her off again.

"No, it's not. I'm just feeling off today; I'm sorry."

Ginny wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders and pulled her close. "It's all going to be alright, Hermione."

For the first time in her life, Hermione was dreading her classes. In almost every single one of them, Draco sat right next to her, feeding off their bond. Her steps slowed the closer she got to her first class until Ginny was practically pulling her along. Keeping her eyes firmly on the ground, Hermione shuffled to her seat. Before sitting down, she looked up to find... that the seat next to her was completely empty and that a small note lay on her desk.

I figured you didn't want to see me. Don't worry, I won't be in your classes anymore.

All my love, Draco

Hermione dropped the paper as if it had burned her. Ginny picked it up and read it, her face getting redder and redder by the word.

"That slimy git – what an idiot!"

"I'm relieved," Hermione cut in.

"I know you are! That's half the problem!"

"Are you two done?" snapped Professor McGonagall from the front of the room.

"Yes, ma'am," the girls chorused, sitting down in the two empty seats as one.

Hermione tried to focus on the lecture, but the pressure in her temple was quickly turning into a throbbing headache. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and jumped – she hadn't realized McGonagall had approached her desk.

"Ms. Granger, it appears you need to go to the hospital wing."

Hermione grimaced. "No, I'm alright, Professor, really."

McGonagall looked down her nose at Hermione. "That wasn't a suggestion, Ms. Granger. Ms. Weasley, Mr. Zabini, please help her up there."

Hermione stood, wobbling slightly until Ginny and Blaise steadied her on each side. "This is completely unnecessary," she groused as they made their way down the hall. "I'm perfectly fine."

"No offense, Hermione, but you look like crap," Blaise put bluntly.

"Thanks, Blaise. Ever the charmer," Hermione said dryly.

"Well, he did manage to charm me, somehow," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Not sure how he did that, though."

"It's my animal magnetism – grrrrrr," he growled. Hermione bit back a laugh, and Ginny gagged.

When they made it to the hospital wing, Blaise let go of Hermione and took a step back. "I'm going to go tell... you-know-who."

Hermione was so out of it that for a split second, she thought he meant Voldemort. When she realized he only meant Draco, she frowned. "No. He doesn't need to know."

Blaise shifted uneasily but didn't say anything. Finally, Ginny butted in. "Hermione, let him go. He's going to find out anyway if he hasn't already. He is your mate."

Shuddering at the awful word, Hermione turned away from Blaise. "Fine. But I don't want to see him."

Ginny let go of her arm and went to Blaise, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and whispering something in his ear too low for her to hear, not that she cared at the moment. A stabbing pain had started behind her left eye, and her vision began to fade in and out on that side. "Ginny?"

"I'm right here, Hermione," Ginny said, grabbing her arm again. "I'm right here."

They made their way through the doors and were immediately ushered by Madame Pomfrey into an empty bed. Hermione slipped trying to climb into it, her vision fuzzy, and would have fallen had Madame Pomfrey hadn't flicked her wand and floated Hermione the rest of the way into the bed.

Sinking into the soft mattress, Hermione groaned.

"What's wrong with her?" Ginny asked.

"Hush, child, let me work," Madame Pomfrey said, waving Ginny towards a chair next to the bed. With a scowl, she sat.

After several minutes of waving her wand over Hermione, she sighed. "Exactly as I thought. Ms. Weasley, may I have a word?"

Confused by what Ginny had to do with her condition, Hermione watched the two step outside of the hospital wing. A few seconds later, a loud bang of someone hitting the closed doors rang out, spiking the pain in Hermione's brain. Raised voices could be heard from outside, but Hermione had a hard time placing any, as they all seemed to be yelling simultaneously. Without warning, silence fell, and a disheveled Madame Pomfrey entered the wing again.

"What -," Hermione started.

"Don't you worry, Ms. Granger," Madame Pomfrey cut her off, going to the locked cabinet and waving her wand to unlock it. She grabbed a bottle and hurried over to Hermione, shoving it into her hands. "Dreamless sleep. After everything you've been through, you've simply overdone it. You just need some rest."

The voice in the back of her head whispered this seemed off, but Hermione ignored it, taking the vial and downing it in one go. She just needed the pain to stop.

It took only a few seconds for her to slip into a painless sleep. The last thing she heard was a door opening.

When she woke up, she felt like a new woman, all traces of pain gone. She bounded out of bed, scaring Ginny, who was asleep in the chair next to her. "I see you're feeling better," Ginny yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

Blaise pulled back the curtains around Hermione's bed, levitating a tray filled with enough food for all three of them. "Glad to see you survived, Hermione," Blaise grinned.

"Survived? I was just a little exhausted. Madame Pomfrey said it's to be expected after... well."

Diving into the food as she found she was ravenous, Hermione missed the concerned glance Ginny and Blaise exchanged.

When they were done, Hermione checked her watch. "Oh good, I have enough time to take a shower before charms."

"Err, Hermione?" Blaise said gently. "It's Saturday."

Hermione's mouth fell open. Confused, she said, "But yesterday was Wednesday."

"No, yesterday was Friday. You've been asleep since Wednesday," Ginny explained.

Opening and closing her mouth a few times, it finally clicked in her head. It was so obvious she didn't know how she'd missed it before. "The bond. We'd been apart for too long. It wasn't my pain I was feeling; it was Malfoy's."

"Very good, Ms. Granger," Headmistress McGonagall said, entering the curtained-off area. "And regardless of what problems you may have with your mate, I can't have students dying on my watch – it looks bad." She sniffed.

"But -," Hermione said.

"But nothing, Ms. Granger. Figure it out."

Knowing McGonagall was right, Hermione hung her head in defeat. "Yes, Headmistress."

"Now go find your mate. And you two," she rounded on Blaise and Ginny, "I need to have a word with you."

At the fierce look on her professor's face, Hermione scurried out of bed and out of the room. She didn't need to ask where Draco was. It felt like an invisible thread was pulling her towards him.