Chapter 4
Lock Down
It was as if everything slowed down. The kind of pace that made you angry because it was slow enough for you to stop the horrible event that was about to take place, but being frozen with shock and disbelief stopped you from even being able to breath right.
Pansy could not believe what was happening before her eyes. Hermione's wide eyed gaze as she realized she was going backwards down a long flight of stairs, her high pitched scream bouncing off the walls, her body that laid crumpled at the bottom of the staircase, Harry yelling for assistance, and everyone looking at the body covered in blood.
It didn't take long for Madame Pomfrey to make an appearance along with Severus Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore. Madame Pomfrey checked Hermione over quickly and deemed it safe to transport her to the Hospital Wing. She, Ron and Harry hurriedly left while Dumbledore and Snape looked furiously at the students standing around the crime scene.
Before Pansy even knew what was going on, everyone was glaring hatefully at her and she closed her eyes, knowing that this was not going to end well at all.
Shock. That's the only thing that raced through Ron's mind and body as he watched his girlfriend take a dangerous plight down the long staircase. The shock increased as she landed at his feet, blood pooling everywhere. He couldn't move; he could barely breath as he looked at her body, and he thanked the gods that Harry sprung into action.
Soon Madame Pomfrey showed up along with Dumbledore and Snape, after Poppy said it was ok to move Hermione, Ron finally got control over his mobile skills and helped them move Hermione to the Hospital Wing. He looked down at her, her face was slowly discoloring and there was blood on it, her eyes were closed and he wanted nothing more than to see her warm brown eyes gazing lovingly at him.
He hoped that he would be able to see those eyes again; he hoped that this accident wouldn't cost the caring girl her life. He hoped that if anything bad happened they kept Pansy away from him, because if Hermione died, he would kill the blonde and go to Azkaban with a smile on his face.
"Hermione don't leave me." He whispered.
To say Draco Malfoy was in shock would cause you to get one of the three Unforgiveables casted upon you. He was not shocked, because nothing shocks a Malfoy. Nothing. He was just watching in fascination as Hermione fell down the stairs. He had to admit that the fight between her and Pansy was entertaining, he just didn't know if he wanted it to end in a blood bath.
It seemed that Hermione's good reflexes were her downfall, had she not moved back she probably would only be sporting a bruise on her cheek. But then again if Pansy's hit had connected the impact would have forced Hermione backwards anyway, so when you think of it, she was doomed from the start. Maybe having a fight near a staircase wasn't such a good idea.
But the highlight of it all was Harry taking control of the situation, the way he barked out orders, made Draco wonder if he would do that behind closed doors with only his birthday suit on. Sure Draco liked being a top, but if Harry was fiery in bed, then he sure as hell would try and forget that the boy was a half-blood and bed him in an instant. But he is a half-blood, and he's also a Gryffindor. Keep him as my enemy and I'll keep my dignity. It's not like he's all that hot anyway, just a stupid hero, always wanting attention, always putting his stupid arse on the line for someone else. Hmm…he does have a nice arse…
"Please be ok, please be ok." Harry heard Ron chant over and over as he stood next to Hermione's bed while Madame Pomfrey started to check her over.
"Harry I may need your help with this, Mr. Weasley please find a seat while we work." Madame Pomfrey said as she pulled Harry closer to her and used her wand to draw a curtain around the bed.
"I'm still a trainee Poppy." Harry protested.
"You are one of my best trainee's. Now use your wand to sterilize your hands and lets get ready to see what's wrong with Ms. Granger." Poppy informed. While Harry did as he was told Poppy ripped open Hermione's robes and shirt. She made a clucking noise and started waving her wand over the damaged areas.
Harry turned and started checking Hermione's sides for bruises or broken bones. He touched a few spots that had started to discolor and used his wand to help him count how many bones were broken. "Her ribs are cracked, and she dislocated her hipbone, she has a few smaller bones over here that are broken as well, and if we don't hurry up we might not be able to fix them." Harry informed Poppy.
"Ok, you fix those, and I'll heal the ones on my side." Poppy informed.
"Ok." Harry said as she got to work, hoping against hope that they would be able to help Hermione; he would never forgive himself if something bad happened to her. "Don't worry Hermione, I'll have you fixed up quickly." He said to her as he started mending her ribs.
Dumbledore looked furiously over at the Staff that was all in his office. He had made all students report to their Common Rooms and the prefects; Head Boy and Girl were watching to make sure everyone stayed where they belonged.
"This is not acceptable! We tried hard to make sure these kids realized that they need to unite, they need to get along or we don't stand a chance with Voldemort." Dumbledore stated. All teachers flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name except Severus who sneered at the others.
"Detentions, group work, Quill Pals, we tried our hardest to get these kids to talk, but they just won't. What else is there to do Albus?" Professor Sprout asked.
"What we had been doing was subtle. The Quill Pals, they don't know who they are talking to. Detentions, they avoid each other like the plague, group work only makes them argue and fight more. There's something we're not doing and I don't know what it is. But before this day is over we will figure out a way to get these kids to work together." Dumbledore said as he sat down and conjured up tea for everyone, they would most likely be there for a while before anything was agreed upon and decided.
Three hours, three long hours had passed by and finally Harry and Poppy were finished. They walked out of the curtain and Harry sunk in a chair warily. Ron shot up in his seat and walked over to Harry and Poppy, concern clouding his eyes.
"She'll be ok Ron. We fixed all broken bones; we healed bruises and cleaned the blood. She has a minor concussion and she should wake up sometime tomorrow." Harry replied.
Ron smiled as he pulled Harry up and hugged him tightly. "Thanks mate." He said.
Harry smiled and nodded his head. "You're welcome Ron. Now get your arse over there and spend time with your girlfriend, me and Poppy are going to go to her office to file some stuff."
Ron nodded his head, patted Harry's shoulder and walked over to Hermione's bed. Harry and Poppy disappeared into her office and she smiled prasingly at her young pupil.
"You did good Harry. I told you that the training courses would be good for you." She said with a smile.
"Yeah. At first I only did it so I could keep my mind off of Voldemort, and now I'm glad I did. Maybe I can continue to take the courses when they start up in November."
"I think that would be a good idea Harry." Poppy replied as she signed a few of the papers on her desk with Hermione's name on it and wrote in everything that had been done to her. Harry helped Poppy and pretty soon all 24 papers were filled out and they put them in Hermione's file and cleaned themselves up with their wands.
"I'm going to go and check on Ron, see you later Poppy." He said hugging the mediwitch as he left the office and walked back over to his best friends.
Hermione's head hurt as she opened her eyes and looked around her surroundings. She was obviously in the Hospital Wing and the curtains around her bed were drawn to keep out the sun. She smiled wondering who did a thoughtful thing like that and she turned her head and her smile grew. Harry was curled up in a chair, his robe covering him as a makeshift blanket, and Ron was seated next to him, his head was leaning against Harry's shoulder, drool slipping out of his mouth.
She sat up and got dizzy really quickly, she groaned as she looked over to the table near her bed and saw a potion sitting there. She quickly drunk it and instantly the pain in her head vanished. "Ron. Harry." She called. She reached over and shook Ron. He quickly jerked up and wiped his drool from his face with his sleeve. "Ron how many times do I have to tell you that wiping anything on your sleeve isn't sanitary." Hermione said in a mock scowl.
Ron's head shot up and a smile graced his face. "'Mione!" He called as he pulled the girl into a hug and kissed her cheek.
"Hmm? What?" Harry mumbled sleepily as he opened his eyes and looked confusedly around the room. When his eyes landed on the bed he leaped from his seat and hugged the girl as well. "Hermione! Are you ok? Do you feel better? Does anything hurt? Want me to get you a potion?"
Hermione giggled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine Harry. When can I leave?"
"Umm…Poppy!" Harry yelled.
Two hours later Hermione was deemed healthy enough to leave. They made their way to the Gryffindor Common Room. It surprised them all when they saw everyone in the Common Room.
"Don't you have classes to go to?" Hermione asked when they Trio walked into the room.
"Hermione!" Everyone called. She was bombarded with questions but after she assured everyone that she was ok she re-asked her earlier question.
"Dumbledore is a little pissed about what happened yesterday so they delayed Breakfast. We don't get to eat until 9." Seamus replied.
"Yeah he made us all stay in the Common Room yesterday he had the house elves bring us food." Lavender Brown said.
"Which sucked royally. Right before we were chartered off to our rooms I saw Tara putting the moves on Padma once again. I'm going to wring that little bitch's neck if she tries anything!" Ginny said looking like she was an escapee from Azkaban.
"Gin I thought you talked to Padma." Harry said as he sat down on the floor and pulled Ginny down next to him.
"I did, but she still wants to be friends with the fucking Slytherin."
"I say Slytherins are nothing but deceitful bitches!" Neville said from where he was sitting on the stairs leading to the Boy's Dorm. He was swaying a little as he sat there and his eyes looked bloodshot.
"What the hell happened to Neville?" Ron asked.
Dean and Seamus started sniggering, but stopped when Hermione glared at them. "Well he was a little heartbroken after he found out Bulstrode had been playing him, so we gave him fire whiskey."
"You got him drunk!" Hermione screeched, going over to Neville and putting an arm around him.
"He's not drunk per say…he's just…" Seamus said trying to find the right words.
"He's bloody pissed! He has to be more drunk than Seamus was at the last Gryffindor Party we had!" Dean said with a laugh.
"I'm gone for about 10 hours and this is what you guys do? Someone get a sober-up potion for Neville." Hermione called.
"So he got drunk because Bulstrode fucked him over?" Ron asked, glee evident in his eyes.
"She fucked him over royally! He told us the whole thing while he was getting smashed." Seamus responded.
"Hey Nev, sorry but I have to say it. I told you so!" Ron said. Harry punched Ron in the shoulder and Hermione pinched his arm. "Ow! Stop the abuse you two!" He said with a glare.
"Oh please! If you wasn't acting like such an insensitive bastard!" Hermione said as she slapped his shoulder.
"I told him I'd say it! You see this is why Slytherins and Gryffindors should not try and be friendly with each other. It ends in disaster!" Ron said leaning against a wall, rubbing his shoulder and arm.
"Maybe the reason we're having these many problems is because we think that. If we continue to say that Slytherins and Gryffindors can't be friends, we're only setting ourselves up for trouble. I mean, come on you guys, we need to worry about the war, not petty rivalries." Hermione said as she took the potion from Lavender and gave it to Neville to drink.
"Hermione you can not be serious! Parkinson just put you in the fucking hospital!" Dean said.
"Yeah I know…and we were acting like children, we're all going to have to face the fact that Voldemort won't wait until we get over our childish rivalries, he won't wait until we all get along, he will attack this school and if we're too busy fighting each other, how will we fight the real evil?"
The Common Room quieted and everyone looked around warily, knowing that some of what Hermione had said was right. Some sitting in the room had loved ones ripped away by Voldemort and some had even gone up against Death Eaters. The weight of the situation finally got to them.
"Just don't expect us to be all chummy with them. We'll back down a little but they are still our enemies." Dean said.
The portrait to the Gryffindor common room opened and Minerva walked in, a stern look on her face. "You will all go to the Great Hall and sit quietly. The headmaster will address you all when everyone is seated. Prefects, lead the students downstairs." And with that Minerva turned and left the Common Room and the Gryffindors looked at each and followed after the prefects out of the common room.
Dumbledore stood in front of the entire school, looking about as angry as he rest of the Staff that stood behind him. His usually twinkling eyes roamed over the Great Hall, the twinkle absent, and his usually cool blue eyes were cold and stern. "What has been happening in this school for the past few years has got to come to an end. Lately the violence has escalated and the staff and me are not satisfied with the level of obedience to the school's rules. So from now until the end of the year every student will be assigned a partner from another house. And those of you who have been in the center of the fights these past few weeks will be expected to partner up with the person you cannot seem to get along with. The partnering will be assigned first thing tomorrow morning, and the rules are as follows: You and your partner will sit together in class, you will help each other with homework, you will spend every minute of the day with that person. All meals will be spent as well with your partner it is up to you to decide which table to sit at. There will be spells in place so you cannot turn your wand against your partner or act in any violent way towards them, so if you try, you will be expelled without further warning. Enjoy your meal." And with that the tables were filled with luscious food, as always. Most students ignored their growling stomach and turned to their table with questioning expressions.
Hermione was the only one to start eating at her table and they all looked at her as if she had grown another head. She didn't even bother to look up from her plate. "You know we deserve the punishment so don't even try to argue about it. It's all of our fault, and maybe this will help all of us in the long run."
"Hermione's right guys. We do deserve it." Harry replied as he also started to dig into his food. Ron didn't need any more encouragement and before long he was stuffing his face with everything that lay on his plate.
"Dumbledore has lost his fucking mind!" Blaise replied in anger as he glared at the Headmaster.
"I'm going to be stuck with the Mudblood! Great, just fucking great." Pansy said as she stabbed at her eggs.
Draco just sat there twirling his fork in thought. The rest of the year would surely suck and there was nothing he could do about it. He was going to be stuck with Potter, and he might as well get used to the idea, cause there was no way he was going to get expelled for hexing the shit out scar face.
A/N: Ok sorry for the late chapter, but a lot of things had been going on. This chapter may be boring but it will all get much more exciting in the coming chapters. Be patient with me they will get updated. See you in the next chapter, Peace!