BREATHE -draco malfoy

twenty.

"Harry, that's Katie."

Ana was sitting at the Gryffindor table, sipping on pumpkin juice and reading the Daily Prophet next to Ron, Harry and Hermione. She glanced up, almost spitting her juice back into her goblet. They hadn't seen Katie since she was cursed and, while Professor McGonagall had told them she was doing well, she was walking down the aisle to the front of the hall, looking completely normal. Harry got up then, rushing over to Katie. Ana opened her mouth to protest before realizing that she had no real reason, or at least any reasons known to her friends, to not want Harry to talk to Katie. Even though they all knew exactly what Harry wanted to talk to her about, Ana tried to ignore it, sitting quietly and acting like she wasn't watching them.

"Oh my God," Ron muttered. Ana looked up for a second, then did a double take. Draco had strolled into the Great Hall and had caught the attention of the three of them at once.

"He looks...ill," Hermione commented quietly, bending over the table to talk in a hushed whisper. And Hermione was right. Draco's shirt was untucked, his hair less neat than usual. But his face was what worried Ana. He wore a look of horror, his eyes widened and trained on Katie Bell from across the Great Hall. The dark circles under his eyes had grown darker in the past couple of days since Ana had met him on the Astronomy Tower, the night he had told her to stay away.

Harry had noticed Draco as well. But before he could go over and tell him off, Draco stole a quick glance at Ana, his fearful eyes searching for her like a lifeline among the other students. Ana looked at him curiously, as if to ask him what was wrong. But she got no answer to this unspoken question. Draco turned, hurrying away from the Great Hall, exiting as quickly as he had materialized. Harry followed soon after, and Ana stiffened. She didn't know what Harry was hoping to accomplish by following Draco out. There was no way that Draco would tell Harry what was going on, as Draco hadn't even told Ana, even when her innuendos were staring him right in the face.

"I have to go," Ana said, not stopping to wait and see her friend's reactions. But Hermione, as Hermione always does, was looking at Ana quizzically, trying to sort out what was going on using only her brain power. But the situation was too complicated for even Hermione to figure out.

Ana hadn't planned on coming across the scene. But as she was passing the girl's lavatory, she heard loud crashes and banging from inside. Her stomach lurched, as she knew that this was the place that Draco liked to go when he was upset. Maybe Draco had even expected Ana to follow him, but was rewarded with a short, skinny, brown haired wizard with cola bottle glasses instead. Ana rushed to the doorway of the lavatory, looking around for Draco. By the time she had spotted him, though, Severus was shoving past her, rather aggressively, and standing in front of the gory scene.

Draco was laying in a puddle of water, caused by a burst sink pipe that lay in the background, spewing water all around. Ana was at some distance, but she could just make out the slashes of crimson bleeding through Draco's white shirt. He was whimpering in pain, and not in the fake way that he had whimpered when he was attacked by Buckbeak during their third year. This was the real kind, the agonizing-to-watch kind. Ana stood, shell-shocked, frozen in the doorway. A tidal wave of anger rushed through her, especially when Harry walked hurriedly past her and out of the bathroom, not even pausing to look her in the eye.

"Severus," Ana said in a stunned whisper to her uncle as she walked further into the girl's bathroom. She stared down at Draco's bleeding chest, terror coursing through her. "Severus, help him!" Ana begged, unhidden terror in her voice.

"OUT," Severus demanded, watching Ana as she crouched down next to Draco. Severus watched, unsurprised, as Ana took Draco's face in her hands. Her stocking-clad knees were soaked by water and probably bruised from where she had banged them hard on the floor, trying to get to Draco in a hurry. Draco looked up at her through a haze of pain, and Ana pushed a wet, blonde mop of hair away from his eye.

"I. said. OUT!" Severus said again, more aggressively this time. Ana's head snapped up. She shook her head, looking at Severus incredulously. Severus removed his wand from his robe and Ana's eyes widened. She stood up in a hurry, not wanting to face Severus' wrath. He had never been aggressive to his niece or harmed her in any way, but Ana's childhood fear of him led her to her feet. She stood some distance away, still not willing to leave Draco, even when she thought that Severus was about to attack her. Severus bent down and did what he had actually removed his wand for.

"Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur."

Ana watched as Severus fixed Draco, finally letting out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. When he had finished, Severus stood, addressing someone that was standing behind Ana, lurking in the doorway.

"Miss Parkinson. You and Anastasia will escort Mr. Malfoy to the infirmary at once," Severus said.

"Where are you going?" Ana snapped angrily. Her uncle had been ignoring her long enough and now he was just going to leave an injured Draco to her and Pansy Parkinson? But Severus just turned, talking to her in a hushed whisper as Pansy leapt to Draco's side.

"If you know what is good for you, you'll stay quiet," Severus hissed at her. "I am going to speak with Professor Dumbledore."

It was the most that Severus had spoken to her in months and it gave Ana little in the way of answers. But he walked out of the door, his black robes hitting the side of the wall as he went. When Ana turned, Pansy Parkinson was sitting by Draco's head, stroking his hair. A rush of jealously overcame Ana, but she ignored it, as Draco wasn't really hers anymore. Not since he told her to stay away from him.

"Come on then, you heard uncle dearest," Pansy said, her voice choked. Ana had never talked to Pansy much, but by the look in her eye, she knew not to argue with her. Together, her and Pansy hoisted a barely-conscious Draco to his feet. Ana shifted uncomfortably, wrapping Draco's arm around her shoulder. He had stopped bleeding and had definitely stopped whimpering. In fact, he didn't look injured at all except for the blood stains on his white shirt and the fact that his face was as white as a snow bank. Draco didn't say a word, or even acknowledge what was happening, as he was about to pass out. They walked him out into the corridor and were continuing on towards the hospital before Goyle showed up in front of them, taking Draco's other arm from a struggling Pansy Parkinson.

"Christ, what the 'ell happened to him?" Goyle asked Pansy as he and Ana guided Draco to the infirmary.

"No idea. Snape was doing some spell on him when I came in," Pansy said. She was strolling down the corridor, close to Goyle, and shot a glare across Draco's chest, right into Ana's eyes. Ana ignored her. She didn't care about the opinion of some Slytherin girl, especially when Draco was in need of medical attention.

"Your uncle couldn't have helped us carry?" Goyle asked, giving Ana a feverish, slightly humorous glance.

"He was too busy. Out for blood, I guess," Ana breathed, trying to keep her tone light even though she was shaking with worry for Draco. Apart from seeing Draco in such a state, she was nervously thinking of what could possibly happen to Harry now that Snape had witnessed the attack. Goyle rewarded Ana with a snort and they finally arrived at the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey took Draco from Ana and Goyle, laying him down onto one of the hospital beds. Ana lingered for a minute, just standing a few feet behind them. But soon, Blaise and Crabbe arrived and Ana took this as her cue to leave. The Slytherins were looking at her oddly, as if wondering why she was still there. She thought about explaining to them how much Draco meant to her, but she knew this would be a terrible mistake. She gave Draco one last look, making sure that he was breathing and that he would be taken care of. Her heart almost leapt into her chest.

Right there, hanging off of the hospital bed as Madam Pomfrey started doctoring Draco, Ana swore that she saw a faint, barely visible black smudge on Draco's arm underneath his soaked-through white button down that clung to his skin. Right on his inner left forearm.