"How is he?" She figured this was a safe subject to bring up with the stony boy beside her. Malfoy had his hand fisted around his wand as he worked on an intricate spell. She had already decided that under no circumstances would she bring up the kiss. Absolutely not. It was far too confusing and made her feel far too many things. But Theo...Theo was a safe subject. Both of them were clearly invested in his well-being, so it was a relatively practical approach to conversation.
"Fine." It was essentially a grunt. Still broody, then. Brilliant. Hermione gave a long sigh.
"I didn't know he was having an episode that morning. I'm sorry I pulled you from him." It had been five days since the day she ended up in the infirmary. Five days since she tried to cut out her pain. Five days since Malfoy pressed his lips to hers– no, she would NOT think of that. And it had been five days since she and Malfoy had spoken. Frustrated, she had sent an owl to request his presence in the lab to resume their research today. Surprisingly he had acquiesced. Although by looking at his current mood, she had a sneaking feeling that Theodore had a hand in Malfoy's appearance.
"I know." He finally responded. Hermione risked a glance at him. His eyes were firmly focused on the lab table in front of him. She didn't have a good view, but she assumed he was occluding. Heavily.
She tried again. "And I'm sorry you found me. I never apologized for that. I know you've seen far too much bloodshed in your lifetime. I didn't mean to add to that."
His wand clattered to the table and he muttered a curse under his breath. "Shut up, Granger."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
She turned back to her microscope.
Determined to ignore him if he insisted on being so difficult, she squinted into the eyepiece. Once again, she was examining a sample of Theo's blood. For the first few weeks, it was just a jumbled mess of cells. Thankfully, Malfoy had recently developed a spell to strip the blood sample down and separate the cells into groups of likeness. Today she had a slide in front of her labeled 'Unknown bacillus'. Malfoy hadn't had the muggle scientific background to properly identify the species, so it was up to her.
With a flick of her pointer finger, Hermione rotated the fine adjustment knob to clarify the image. There they were–a clump of adorable little bacilli. A few years ago, she had read up on various staining techniques, and the plan for today was to figure out which one worked. First up was one of the basic ones: the Gram Stain.
She silently prepared the reagents, including iodine, crystal violet, ethanol, and fuchsin solution. Hopefully, after applying the stain some results would be visible. Minutes passed, and she risked a glance over at the Slytherin boy. He still faced away, back muscles tense. She rolled her eyes and peered at her slide. Nothing.
"Stupid slide!" She grunted in frustration. Malfoy didn't deem her interruption worthy of his attention. She muttered some rather colorful curses concerning Salazar himself and his intolerable pureblooded friends. She'd have to try a different staining technique then. She tapped her pointer finger on her lip in thought. If the Gram Stain didn't work, that meant this species of bacterium was acid-fast. Perhaps the Smithwick method then?
"Accio acridine orange," she murmured. The dye flew into her outstretched hand and she reorganized her materials. She flicked her wand at the muggle microscope, transfiguring the normal light into an ultraviolet source. She had a sneaking suspicion this particular bacteria was pompous and needed some extra attention. Quite like someone else she knew. Her eyes darted again and caught Malfoy sneaking a glance her way before facing the wall again. Her lips turned up in amusement. Not as uninterested as we seem, are we?
Without turning, she snapped to get Malfoy's attention.
"Granger, did you just snap at me like a dog?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she waved him over without taking her eyes from the ocular lenses.
"Fascinating..." The bacilli were taking to the dye quite nicely.
Malfoy sighed behind her and sauntered up to her desk. "What is it." His voice was flat, but she was too distracted to care. Her mind was sprinting, sorting through all of the common bacteria she knew to be bacilli. The rod-shaped bacterium looked eerily familiar. Almost like...
"Merlin." She whispered. She jerked back and smacked the back of her head on Malfoy's chin. He gave a dignified yelp of pain before tackling her to the ground.
"What the hell, Granger!" She could only gasp in surprise at the suddenness of being knocked flat on her back. She blinked stupidly into his grey eyes and realized belatedly that he was, in fact, occluding. His grip tightened on her arms as he frowned down at her. "Must I repeat myself?"
She shook her head and pushed him off of her. "Come here." Hermione's voice was hardly louder than a mumble, but he followed her to the microscope. She beckoned for him to hurry, and shoved his face down to the lenses. "Look," she commanded. For once, he didn't argue. After a moment, he cleared his throat.
"Granger dear, this is a lovely yellow shade you've cultured, but I'm not quite sure how this helps us."
"This is a Smithwick test."
"Yes?"
"On an acid-fast bacilli."
"And this is significant, why?"
She sighed in frustration. "Well, I'm not going to pretend to know everything–" Malfoy gasped in mock horror, "--but there is only one acid-fast bacterium that glows yellow under UV light in a Smitchwick test." She paused and looked over at Malfoy expectantly. Irritatingly, he looked unimpressed.
"And? Do you care to share with the class?"
She took a deep breath. She really hoped she was wrong. Really, really hoped. "I believe our sample is a form of mycobacterium." He simply blinked at her. Microbiology was not often brought up in wizarding education, pity though it was. Before he could ask any other questions, she wanted to be certain. "We need an Interferon Gamma Release Assay. Give me a moment."
Hermione rushed out of the small lab, leaving a befuddled Malfoy behind. She needed to find Madam Pomfrey, and quickly. Surely the older witch would know how to get her hands on the equipment she needed. After locating Madam in her small office, Hermione made her obscure request. The matron argued back and forth with her for a few minutes, but after Hermione slid over a sheet with her recent data and hypotheses, Madam Pomfrey gave in.
"If the headmistress comes down here demanding to know why so many school galleons were used, I'll be forwarding her to you." Hermione nodded eagerly and bounced on the balls of her feet as she watched Madam send an order request via owl. "Come back tomorrow evening. The assay should be ready for you then."
When Hermione re-entered their makeshift lab, she saw Malfoy burying his nose in a textbook. He looked up sharply when he heard her approach.
"You know, you're pretty rubbish at explaining anything. I had to check this grubby book's glossary to find out what a mycobacterium was."
"Just because I bought the textbook used doesn't mean it's rubbish." Malfoy's nose crinkled and if possible, his frown deepened even more. She couldn't help but giggle. The poor boy looked absolutely violated.
She went on to explain they were waiting on some equipment to arrive and would have to postpone running more tests until tomorrow. Then she tried to fill in any holes in his knowledge of mycobacterium as well as various staining techniques. Malfoy was fascinated with the prospect of UV lights and kept poking at the one she had transfigured. Finally, she had to tell him to stop out of concern for his burning skin. Although he never dropped his mental walls, he did seem to relax a bit after a while, and she was grateful for it. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she had begun to rely on their friendship, as well as Theo's.
Around eight o'clock, she cleared her throat once more. "Erm...Malfoy?"
"You called?"
"Yes...well, about earlier this week–"
"Just forget it, Granger." He was looking at the ground, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. She wanted to reach for him but quickly squashed the idea. Instead, she gathered up equipment to put away.
"I can't forget it." She flicked off the microscope. "I can't forget it, Malfoy. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to you, but it was a big deal to me. For a second there...I lost hope. I let myself get too angry, feel too alone, and then I made a self-destructive decision and left you to pick up the pieces. And I'm so, terribly, sorry." She felt a cold hand wrap around her elbow and guide her to set down the glass slides she was cleaning vigorously. He gently led her to a chair and knelt to be at eye level. A beautiful crack of blue sliced through his irises. He didn't speak but brushed his thumb along the line of her jaw. After a moment, she closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.
Somehow, this was enough. In this moment, she understood that she was seen. That when he said to forget it, he didn't mean that he didn't care. He meant that he wasn't angry with her; he meant that he had been frightened. He meant that as long as both she and Theo were alright, he was alright, and it was enough. She felt herself smiling.
Malfoy pulled away and straightened up to his full height. He had an unreadable expression on his face. "Theodore is waiting for you tonight. He would be delighted if you would visit him." Without another word, the sliver-haired boy slipped out of the laboratory, leaving Hermione gazing towards the door.