Hermione barely heard her alarm go off as she groaned in pain. Her whole body felt heavy and exhausted and sore. She slowly and painfully rolled over to her side, shutting off the alarm with all the strength she could muster. She fell right back down on her back, groaning as she opened her eyes. Her nose was all clogged up and she felt absolutely horrible.
The cold finally caught up to her.
And she felt like shit.
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at the ceiling. She didn't feel like moving nor did she feel like getting out of bed. Her body was aching, her head was pounding, her nose was red and runny, and she felt gross and sick. Letting out a deep sigh, she slowly tried to sit up but fell back down on the bed. "Ouch," She moaned out as she pulled the covers over herself. It was a strange feeling. She was hot - her body felt like it was on fire, yet when the covers were off, she instantly grew goosebumps from the sudden cold. "Oh no," She groaned out, turning to her side.
She was incredibly sick.
And she was all alone.
"I need to get up." Hermione whispered to herself, desperately attempting to keep her eyes open. But her eyelids had something else in mind. They kept weighing down as if someone was deliberately pushing her eyelids back down for her to sleep some more. The sound of the rain hitting her window only made her want to throw up. "Stupid rain ... stupid Ron ..." She mumbled under her breath, burying her face into her covers as she groaned.
But then, there was a knock at her door, which only made Hermione roll her eyes.
"Coming," She tried to shout but realized her voice was hoarse and barely a whisper. She tried to scream but nothing came out. "Oh my god," She said, mustering with all her strength to get up. She slowly rolled out of bed as she knocks grew louder and more urgent. Hermione made her way out of her bedroom and over to the door. She unlocked her door and opened it.
It was Pansy.
"Pansy," She said, which only came to be a whisper.
"Oh my bloody hell, you look horrible." Pansy stated with shock.
"Thank you," Hermione cocked up an eyebrow. "I don't feel too good, either."
"And you sound just as bad,"
"Are you going to keep insulting me--"
"I'm sorry, you're right. Can I come in?"
Hermione nodded, closing the door behind Pansy. "Uh, what brings you here? How did you know where I lived?"
"It's not hard to find out where Hermione Granger lives, there are about a hundred reporters staking outside. I suggest you apparate or floo your way over to places, you'll die out there." Pansy stated, perusing the flat. "How are you?"
"Sick," Hermione stated as she collapsed down on the couch. "If you want some tea ... the kitchen's over there. I'm sorry,"
"No, you're fine. How did you get so sick?" Pansy asked, walking over and sitting down on the couch.
"I, uhm, two days ago I was in the rain for a while."
"Oh, I see. Oh, you poor thing. And you live all alone, there's no one to care for you." Pansy frowned as she stared at the girl in front of her. "How are you holding up? After ... everything."
Hermione scoffed lightly as she let out a dry laugh. She regretted it because her throat began to hurt. She coughed and cleared her throat, shifting in her seat. "There's nothing I can really do, is there?"
"I-it isn't that bad, you know--"
"Everyone thinks I'm a slut after Malfoy's money. Yeah, it's not that bad." Even though she whispered, the sarcasm that followed was dripping off of her tongue like venom.
"Okay, so it's bad. But Blaise and I - and I'm sure Weasley and Potter are doing everything to help clear things up. Draco's been --" Pansy stopped immediately, casting Hermione a wary look to see if she's made a mistake. "Uhm, he's been ... clearing things up."
Hermione sighed as she looked down at her fingers. "Uhm, how is he?"
"H-he's good, doing a lot better than you. Well, actually, maybe not. Narcissa is furious with him and ... he's going to get married to Astoria Greengrass." Pansy admitted with a grimace. "God, I hate that bitch."
Hermione took in a deep breath at the sound of the news as she nodded slowly. "Oh." That was all she could say. How was she supposed to feel? She felt empty. "Oh," She said again, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Wh, when's the wedding?"
"In exactly a week." Pansy replied, leaning back on the couch.
They sat in silence for a while. "Oh," Hermione finally said again. "Well, looks like Astoria got what she wanted, huh."
"Poor Draco,"
"Yeah, poor Draco." She said, furrowing her eyebrows as she felt her heart drop. "Uhm, what are you doing here, Pansy? I really appreciate you visiting me but ... why?"
Pansy awkwardly cleared her throat, sitting up straight. "Well, believe it or not, I was worried about you. I know, I should be mad at you. Draco told me the truth and I should be mad because you two lied to me but ... I'm not mad at you, at all."
"Why? You have every reason to be mad at me."
"Because, at one point or another, I thought you had feelings for Draco, too. Real, genuine feelings for him." She claimed calmly, staring at Hermione. "Do you? Or was I just ... just assuming, guessing?"
Hermione gulped hard as she thought about her question. And frankly, she didn't know the answers. "You must've seen wrong."
Pansy nodded as she sighed. "Well, I'm sorry for assuming things."
"You know, I'm not really feeling well. I think I'm just ... going to go back to bed."
"Of course, of course. I'm sorry for barging in here like this. Feel better, Hermione." Pansy said with a small grin as she walked out of the flat, leaving Hermione alone.
Hermione sighed, getting up slowly. "He's getting married?" She asked herself and simply stood there for a while. She shook her head, walking back into her bedroom.
---
"Mother, I understand you're angry, but that isn't the answer." Draco sighed as he sat down on the couch, shaking his head. He had been fighting with his mother for an hour and he was getting tired of it.
"Well, maybe you should've thought about that before you did that." Narcissa snapped at him, sitting calmly in her seat. They were sitting by the fireplace and just like the blazing fire, their eyes both held the same blazing passion and anger.
"But marriage? Really?"
"Do I have to repeat myself, Draco?"
"Fine, I'll marry someone. But I'm not going to marry that bitch,"
"Draco Malfoy!"
"What? Mother, Astoria Greengrass is a manipulative bitch who tried to ruin my life. Have you not heard a word I said ten minutes ago? She lied - to you and to Rita fucking Skeeter."
"Okay, so what? You're going to marry someone else? Who?"
Draco opened his mouth to reply but something stopped him. Who? Who was he going to marry? "I'm going to marry Hermione!" He shouted, staring straight into his mother's cold eyes.
Narcissa broke out into laughter, shaking her head. "Oh, what's the lie this time? Is she pregnant? Did you actually fall in love with her?" She asked with an amused smile, staring at Draco. When he didn't reply, her smile disappeared. "Draco, are you out of your mind?"
Draco sighed deeply, rubbing the side of his face with frustration. "I fell in love with her, I bloody fell in love with her and now ... and now she won't even look at me."
"I told you, Draco, anyone but her."
"Well, I love her now. So I'm telling you, I'm not going to marry the girl who ruined Hermione's life."
"I don't think you have much of a choice, Draco."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, getting up and throwing his hands in the air. "I always have a choice!"
"I told you that the wedding is next week, and that's final."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Oh, I wish I was."
Draco clenched his jaw as she glared at the ground. "Are you really going to do this?"
"Yes," She snapped at him coldly. "And stay away from the reporters, don't say anything to them."
"Well, we'll see about that. Goodbye, mother." He spat angrily, walking out of the room.
Narcissa flinched at the sound of the front door slamming. She let out a deep breath as she placed a hand over her forehead.
---
"You're still getting married to her, huh?" Pansy asked her friend with a small smirk.
"Why do you look so happy?" Draco hissed, sitting down on the couch as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "It's been a long day."
"It's only one in the afternoon."
"Shut up, Pansy."
"You know, I'm pretty tired myself." Pansy said, walking over and sitting down beside him. "I went over to Hermione's place today."
Draco opened his eyes as he looked over at her. "You did?" He asked. Pansy nodded in response. "And?" He asked again, dying with curiosity. "How is she?"
"She's sick, very sick. She can't even speak - it comes out in a whisper. She said something about being in the rain two days ago or something like that. I don't know, but she looked absolutely dreadful."
"She's sick?" He asked, his face softening. "Well, did you do something?"
"No, we talked for about five minutes and she very politely asked me to leave. I wish I could've done something."
"Pansy--"
"I told her you're getting married." Pansy stated, looking at him. "She didn't say much."
"Well, obviously, she doesn't care. I scared her away when I told her I loved her, I don't think she really cares, Pansy. She wants nothing to do with me."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Pansy mumbled and sighed. "You know, I'm such a damn good friend. My wedding's supposed to be sometime next week. But Blaise and I pushed it all back two weeks. We had to resend all of our invitations and everything."
"Why?"
"Because, you're our friend - not to mention Blaise's best man. We can't have a wedding if you're going to be dreadful and all grumpy. It's supposed to be a good day - the best day of my life, I don't want you to ruin it with your frown and sobs." Pansy said, getting up.
Draco cracked a smile as he got up. "Well, thanks."
"I should get going, are you going to be okay alone?"
"I'm going to go out."
"Where?"
"To Potter,"
"Harry Potter?" Pansy asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Someone needs to take care of Hermione."
---