my slytherin

in the hospital wing

The first thing I think when I reawaken is, f**k, my head hurts. I slowly open my eyes and, once they finally focus, I realize that I’m staring at the ceiling of the hospital wing. Wait, how did I get here?

       I reach up and feel the thick, white bandage on my forehead. Then I look at my hands and see that they’re covered by the same bandages.

       I’ve just started to peel them off, curious as to why they’re bandaged, when Madam Pomfrey bustles over and pushes my hands back onto the covers. “Don’t take them off yet, you silly girl! I’ve had enough trouble with him over there, don’t even get me started…”

       She stalks away, grumbling to herself quietly. I turn my head to see who she meant by “he” and, to my disgust, see Draco Malfoy lying in the bed next to mine.

       He has a cut on his cheek, and one arm is covered with bandages. “What are you looking at, periwel?” he snaps, catching me staring at him.

       “Nothing,” I retort automatically. “Why are you here?”

Malfoy snorts, then says, “Because I was saving your sorry ass. Big mistake, that was.”

       “What are you talking about?” I ask slowly, trying to recall the last thing I remember before I blacked out. The cauldron pieces and burning potion had been heading straight for me, but then—but then…

       I turn to him incredulously, and my head feels woozy but I’m too shocked to notice. “Wait a minute, you’re the one who pushed me out of the way? When the cauldron exploded?”

       “Unfortunately.”

       “…this is a joke,” I reply after a moment, staring at his smirking face. “You hate me.”

       At this, he laughs out loud. “That’s true, periwel. I don’t know what came over me when I pushed you out of the way, believe me.”

       “But—but…why did it even explode?”

Malfoy’s face darkens and he snaps, “Blaise was just being an i***t and gave you the wrong powder. He knew it wasn’t the right one, but he didn’t think it would actually explode.”

       “Oh…” I trail off, unsure of what to say to this. We sit in an awkward silence. until madam pomfrey walks in.                

   “Well,” Madam Pomfrey pats the bandages on my head and says, “Mr. Malfoy, you are free to go. I healed your arm fairly well, but you—“ she points to me, “—must stay over night. Head injuries can be especially dangerous, and I refuse to take any chances.”

       Malfoy turns to smirk at me as I groan. Crap, spending the night in the hospital wing is not my idea of a good time.

       Pomfrey moves to Malfoy’s bed in order to take all his bandages off. As soon as she’s done, Malfoy shoots off the bed and walks quickly to the door.

       I glare at his retreating back while Pomfrey changes my bandages. Lucky bastard.

       Pomfrey’s just replacing the old bandages with new ones when Slughorn walks in, looking very flustered.

       “Miss periwel, are you alright? I heard the explosion, but I was much too far away to possibly do anything to help.” He smiles down at me finally and continues, “You’re very lucky Mr. Malfoy was there. From what I saw, those cauldron pieces surely would have killed you.”

       I stare up at him, starting to feel sweaty. “What? But…I thought it wasn’t that serious.”

       “It certainly looked serious from where I was standing. The table behind you two was completely destroyed—took me nearly an hour to fix it!”

       I look down at the sheets, feeling extremely confused. Malfoy really did…save me. I shake my head, telling myself that it was probably just a split-second thing, that he probably hadn’t even thought about it.

       “Well, you seem to be in good hands.” The professor smiles down at me once more and pats my hand gently. He then adds jokingly, “Now, I expect to see you in my class on time tomorrow. No exceptions, you know!”

       As soon as Slughorn’s gone, I sink down in the bed and pull the covers up to my chin. I’m so confused. One minute Malfoy’s insulting me for being an i***t, and the next he’s saving me? I close my eyes, thinking how I’ll probably never be able to figure him out.