Notes: This is not the sequel to Think With Your Head Not Your Dick, but another story entirely.

Timeline: 1 year after the war ends (1999), begins in October

Genre: Drama/Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Suspense/Adventure

*Will be labeled under Drama/Romance

Warning: will seem quite dark for a while to some people, will possibly contain sex (depending on my choice with the specific chapter I'm looking at) and characters may at times be OOC. Remember, Hermione's deathly sick with cancer, she's not going to be quite as brave as everyone's grown to know her to be. However, she will not become a crying sap, and if she does I'll warn in advance :)

Yes, I am still continuing the Sex and Love series, and have several chapters planned out ahead of time now that I am publishing this, which is also planned, but only one chapter is typed ahead unlike Move Your Eyes Six Inches Up _

Summery: Diagnosed with a deadly rare cancer, spread throughout her body, Hermione has few choices for comfortable survival. It would figure that the only person who can save her life is the one person who would use the old slave deal.

School had been unkind to Hermione thus far. After being back only a month for her seventh year, she had already experienced many pains in her right mid-thigh at inconvenient times, something that had been very uncommon during the summer and had picked up in pain levels towards the beginning of school. That would figure, hmm?

At first, she had thought it was nothing more than cramps, but a month-long of nothing but pains that dropped her to the floor, she was sure it was something else entirely. Hermione Granger was not one to bow to pain-she had survived Bellatrix Lestrange's torture during the war, and had fought alongside Harry Potter. A few pains in her leg are nothing big, right?

Wrong. The pain that came when it decided to dropped her to her knees, doubled her over gasping and made her want a Cruciatus Curse simply so she knew where the damned pain originated from. She had already ventured down to the hospital wing once, having a lie made up about the cramps, and had downed some vile potion.

Needless to say, it didn't help her.

Now she lay in an abandoned corridor during supper, cringing in pain at her thigh, unsure how to make the pain slip away. This was more than just cramps, or bad muscles, but what? She had no idea.

Harry and Ron may not have been the smartest students in their year, but at least they had caught on to her strange behavior. It had been hard to see them really, considering that during the war, Gryffindor tower had been utterly destroyed, and repairs were taking far longer than expected. Nonetheless, Gryffindor students needed a place to sleep at night. With this fact heavy on her shoulders, the Headmistress had expanded dorms as best she could, in every way possible.

That is to say-head boy and head girl now shared one room, the luxury of the heads dorms being dropped sufficiently, and a large group of Gryffindor girls overtook the dorm that should've been Hermione's the moment she arrived.

Instead, she now resided into another room-the bedroom enlarged and split in half to accommodate both people sharing it and privacy, the small common room now shared by two people instead of one.

And what could make this worse? Having to stalk to the Slytherin Sex God's room, drop her things in the space separated by the thin wall that first day, ad then be promptly insulted by Malfoy himself.

War hadn't changed Draco as much as one would hope. He still had the over-arrogant attitude, he still strolled around believing that anyone who wasn't pureblood was unfit, and calling her a Mudblood every chance he got.

But, after all this time, that comment had ceased to hurt. It was just a word after all.

Hermione had pouted all day that first day, having learned how lucky Harry, Ron and Neville were to not only still be roomed together, but down in Ravenclaw of all places! Ginny was there too, and Hermione was even more irritated to find that she had gotten a room with Luna and some other girls from her house.

It was entirely unfair.

"This is a way to promote house unity," McGonagall had told her when she had gone to the Headmistress' office to complain-even if she hadn't quite thought it right. But it was Malfoy after all, she couldn't just take being his bloody roommate sitting down. "You and Draco are heads, it will be most appropriate to have you two room together, and will further promote house unity. No Miss Granger, there will be no switching rooms."

Well damn.

With the fact that she now lived with Malfoy aside, Hermione had other problems. The pain in her leg was making her slow lately, and she was often late to classes. Her points shrunk each day and she found herself terrified of losing her head role. The only thing that sounded remotely appealing about that, was that maybe then she wouldn't need to have Malfoy as a roommate.

Now she was lying in a corridor on her side, cringing in pain instead of being in the Great Hall, where her friends were probably worrying about her. Unable to get up and bear the pain, she simply laid there and hoped it would pass soon.

It seemed to only be getting worse.

Despite her current position she couldn't help thinking how utterly unfair it was that this occurred now. She hardly saw her friends anymore outside of class and meal times, due to her head duties, homework, and of course, this.

She groaned. The pain was subsiding, and in a few minutes she'd be able to stand up. Dinner would be over soon, and she'd have to return to her rooms to begin her mass amount of work. It was overwhelming really, even for her, and she liked to think that it was because of this irritating pain.

She almost laughed at herself as she lay on the floor. Pathetic really, Hermione Granger reduced to this pile of helplessness on the ground. What if someone saw her?

She groaned once more and pushed herself up into a sitting position, breathing deeply as she felt the pain slipping away-hopefully long enough for her to get back. When she felt she could bear it, she pushed herself up and magically brought her items to her, wincing as she began to hurry along the halls, passing the Great Hall entirely as dinner had only minutes left to it and she dashed to the room, hoping to find something desirable in the fridge that was up there.

The moment she reached the rooms door, she collapsed against it in dizziness, her head swimming from what she was sure had to be dehydration-what else would it be. Muttering the password she wandered in and dropped her things on the couch, before wandering to the fridge just as she had planned to quickly find her dinner, hopefully beating the pain in her hurry to sit down.

The door opened and clicked shut, and Hermione grimaced.

"Ah Mudblood, missed you at dinner. Thought someone might have finally done you in."

"I'm sure you'd like that Ferret, considering your inability to kill anything." She spun around to notice the darkness in his eyes.

"Careful Granger, or my hand may slip."

She nearly snorted. "Yes, I'm sure you have the balls to do anything terrible to me. I bet you'd love to Malfoy-to see me hiss in pain. Go on then-do your worst!" She leaned against the fridge, one eyebrow raised, waiting to see if he would attempt anything.

He shrugged, turning away from her towards the couch."Where's the fun in that? You already know its coming, I have to do it when its least expected."

She rolled her eyes, deciding to try to make her exit now that his attention was elsewhere on some sort of paper. She turned around and snatched an unappetizing chocolate bar from the cupboards before heading to the split bedroom, terrified that the pain would return at any moment.

Look at me, reduced to nothing but worry over some irritating pains in my thigh. Honestly Hermione! Get a hold of yourself before this takes over your life.

Funny how that thought passed through her mind now, as she made her way towards the couch and the room just beyond, after having been disabled by some pain in a corridor for a good hour. She frowned.

And then it was there. She hissed and leaned against the back of the couch closest to the bedrooms, Draco's head turning at the noise and rather annoying bumping of the couch.

"Whatever the problem is over there, do you mind? I rather prefer to not be disturbed while reading." He noted that she didn't bother with a reply, and instead buckled over a little further, hobbling over to the side of the couch and collapsing over the armrest on to the cushion in a hissing heap.

How undignified. He used his wand to levitate some muggle writing device in her direction to poke the unmoving girl in the arm. Her body shook very slightly, and the shaking truly bothered him.

Being selfish aren't we today Malfoy? Well, what else? I should never have to deal with her kind in close quarters like this, after all. "Granger, get up. You make a rather unattractive heap you know."

Hermione ignored his words and bit her lip, pressing her face further into the cushions of the couch as the pain surged through her leg. What the hell was this? And despite her horrible condition, Malfoy had the nerve to keep poking her with her own damned pen!

Draco didn't like being ignored, even by someone so low as her. "Get up already, your bum should never be in the air like that! It's terribly immodest for someone with your...credibility in the area."

Hermione huffed and flipped her head to one side, away from the cushion. "Sod off Malfoy, I don't have the time for you now." She pushed off the cushion to stand, and nearly buckled again as pain swept through her. She caught herself, noticing Malfoy's raised eyebrow as she hissed again, using the couch itself to take a few steps before letting go and swaying on her feet.

"Problems standing Granger? Has the weight of being a dirty Mudblood finally hit you?"

She ignored him, chocolate bar still clutched in her hand, deciding to return for her things later, and held her head up best she could as she took a few tentative steps. On her fourth, she buckled and went headfirst towards the corner of a table.

A rough grip on her arm stopped the collision and pulled her up into a standing position. Her body burned, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the disgusted sound of Draco Malfoy scoffing as he switched hands-this hand feeling like part of his robes were between their skin-to probably clean his other.

"Although its a wonderful idea to murder you now, I don't want an Azkaban sentence for being blamed for your damn death." He continued to grumble something she couldn't make out and hauled her body over towards the bedroom door, the separating wall just beyond it. Hermione unfortunately leaned into him for support, terrified at how flawed it was making her

.Doesn't he care at all that I'm nearly in tears? No, that would be asking too much. She struggled as they walked towards the right of the wall to her side of the divided room, Draco using his other hand to put some distance between their bodies.

"Really Granger, I don't think I've ever seen your head held quite so low."

Her eyes snapped up to him, her head following suit, just as they reached her bed and he shoved her on to it, taking a few steps back. She hissed when her upper thigh hit the bed, any contact bothering it immensely but at least now she wasn't trying to avoid putting pressure on to it. Rolling on to her side she took a shaky breath, noticing how the pain eased a bit now that she wasn't trying to support herself-all thanks to Draco.

"Sit up," he hissed, as he turned and left the room, Hermione glaring at his back.

It was nearly nine-thirty when Hermione opened her eyes, the pain gone at prior. She rubbed her eyes, noticing that her upper arm was slightly sore and assumed it was because of Draco's overly rough grip earlier.

She glared at the ceiling. This was pathetic. Obviously this was more serious than was first thought, and she needed to go see Madame Pomfrey before the pain returned and disabled her someplace terrible.

Perhaps Malfoy will aid me if I ask...ha! Doubtful, he'll throw me back in here simply because its most convenient and he could never be seen standing close to a 'Mudblood'. She sighed, getting up and stretching, grabbing her wand and pocketing the thin wood before walking out of her room. At the divider, she chanced a glance into Malfoy's side, and noticed he was absent.

Unsurprising.

She wandered into the living room, noticing again that he wasn't around. Probably out shagging some girl, poor thing. A mental image appeared in her mind of Draco and Pansy, and she shook her head quickly before the picture caused her to vomit, terrified that the word 'shagging' crossed her mind at all.

Mind whipped clean, she made her way to the portrait hole and left the common room, off towards the infirmary. She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully as she walked, considering what else this could be besides the damned cramps.

Hermione Granger had read more books in her short life than many adults ever would. Her mind was a supply of pure knowledge and she prided herself in that. However, Hermione had never really fancied anything about healing except what she needed to know, unfortunately having a rather weak stomach that had almost been the end of her several times during the war. Medicine and healing potions and such were not her specialty, nor was disease.

And at that moment, she was drawing a rather annoying blank.

The sound of footfalls drew her attention, and her attention, and she looked further down the corridor to see a male approaching her. It was past curfew, and if a teacher or prefect were to find her, saying she needed to go to the infirmary would only draw questions.

Perhaps I should work on being more sneaky. But what are they going to do, really? I am Head Girl.

But Hermione's confidence in who she was, died and turned into irritation as the moonlight reflected the platinum blond hair of the only wizard at Hogwarts graced with those kind of looks.

"I see you've regained the ability to walk," Draco drawled, stopping a few feet from her and leaned against the wall. "Good, because its unlikely that I'd help you again."

"Of course not Malfoy," she replied coolly, her composure at its best now that she wasn't distracted by her own leg. "I wouldn't want to lean against someone so utterly arrogant that you cannot even consider another's feelings of pain. I would never ask for your help."

He shrugged, his own composure as emotionally detached as ever. "Very well Granger, hold your head high." He walked towards her, and Hermione held her ground firmly. "You do it better when you're not whimpering as it is."

"I do not whimper!"

He smirked in the ill-lit corridor, remembering the sounds she'd made as he'd hauled her into her own bedroom. Nearly seductive, but would have actually had a real effect on me if she weren't so damn repulsive. "Lie to yourself if you prefer," he breathed, enjoying how she wrinkled her nose and fidgeted, "but I'll always know the truth. You whimper Granger, and if you ever do that in front of the wrong man you'll find yourself in a terrible situation."

"Sod off Ma-" she began, until she started feeling the dull pain in her thigh, and realized suddenly if she did not leave right that instant the he would witness her collapsed on the floor in pain, and she really didn't want him to see her in pain twice in the same day. "I must be going," she said through clenched teeth and tried to maneuver around him, only to find herself being blocked by his body.

"Now you're running for a good vocal fight? How very un-Gryffindor of you," he hissed, looking for a rise in her anger. She'd soiled his school robes with her filthy skin, he had all rights to make her angry and red.

If the circumstances were different, Hermione may have retorted with some sharp-witted comeback, but she could only focus on getting away from him and down the hall to Madame Pomfrey's before she collapsed like she always did when the pain hit its climax, and it was well on its way by this time. "Really," she hissed, any demand in her voice now gone, "I have to go." She tried to scoot around him again and he again got in her way. "Let me go!"

"You're not yourself lately Granger," he said simply, eyebrow lifted. "Crippled in pain earlier, no witty comebacks, you're almost as pathetic as that Weasel."

"Shut it," she hissed, placing her hand lightly on the wall which she was once again next to. "I don't have time for you now Ferret, so if you'll excuse me-"

She cut off her sentence and buckled, clutching her thigh and hissing in pain as she slid to the floor, her vision of Malfoy blocked by her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing this insufferable pain to disappear.

Draco raised an eyebrow as she fell to the floor, clutching at her leg. She was making a low sound, and he assumed it to be pain from her fetal position. "You were heading to the infirmary I suppose?"

She didn't bother trying to force out a response, just shook her head one and willed herself not to cry, positive that he would hold that over her until she died. "You might've mentioned that then. It would save me the bloody trouble of trying to escort you there myself."

Hermione's mind, amidst the pain, tried to decipher his meaning behind that. Draco Malfoy couldn't have any intention of helping her, could he?

Before she could possibly ponder that any further, she felt another cloth-covered hand jerking her up to her feet, and she whimpered in pain a bit, cursing herself internally for her sign of weakness. Her leg buckled under her and she slumped into the wall, avoiding him at all costs and inhaling sharply.

Oh Merlin, this hurts.

He grumbled, before speaking up to her. "If I pull you off that god damn wall are you going to sink again? I really prefer to not have to touch you."

She tried for a reply, but realized her pain was being withheld by the quietness of her lips and decided to nod, hating herself for admitting anything to the annoying prick but knowing that slumping to the floor again would be even worse.

He cursed, grabbing her shoulder rather harshly and spinning her to look at him. She clamped her eyes shut. "Open them," he hissed into her face. When she refused he shook her shoulders once and the small cry that came through her lips stopped him short

.Honestly, I can't be hurting her that fucking badly. It's in her god damn leg right?

He eased his grip but kept the firm grip on her shoulders. "Open your god damn eyes or I'll shake you again."

Hermione let her eyes drift open, feeling the hotness of a tear slip down her cheek in the process. Merlin, the pain radiating through her body was unbearable. Rarely had it ever coursed through her whole being, and never once as bad as now.

Silver pools glared at her, and he took a sharp breath through his nose to keep his anger controlled. "You ever tell anyone about this, and I swear you will regret it Mudblood."

She pursed her lips, and before she could voice her question he had swept her up into his arms, a disturbed look on his features and she settled in. The position hurt, and she hissed, another tear sliding down her cheek.

It just gets worse every god damn time. Hermione's head lulled back on his arm, her eyes closed again as she slowly felt him begin to move.

"Put your god damn cheek against my chest before your neck snaps off. I really don't want to have gone through all this trouble just to end up with a headless corpse." He gave her a rather hard shake and she snapped her head around to lean against him, the jostle causing pain waves to sweep over her.

The infirmary wasn't far, and Hermione was almost discussed with herself to realize the pain had been slowly dying as she lay limply in his grip. How mortifying.

The moment they entered the room, Madame Pomfrey was at their side.

"Good heavens! What's happened to her?" The witch flicked her wand and the large space lit, Hermione snapping her eyes shut at the unwelcome brightness. "Here Mr. Malfoy- here! Set her down on this cot."

Draco frowned, depositing the girl on to a nearby bed, her eyes shut and her hands clenched, bottom lip being bit upon. He glanced at her a moment longer, before turning on his heel to leave.

"Mr. Malfoy," the witch called after him, and he turned around to stare at her with a blank expression, "take a seat. I'm suspecting the Headmistress will wand a story about what's happened."

"She-"

"Not to me," the witch snapped, pouring some foul looking potion down Hermione's throat, who sputtered a little at the unwelcome liquid. "It seems Miss Granger is in no place to explain herself."

Draco scowled, pulling out a chair on the opposite side of the room from the infirmary's newest occupant, noting that some first or second year took up another bed further down, and appeared to have a trash can beside him. He wrinkled his nose.

The witch gave Hermione several more things before turning her attention back to Draco. "I'll go and tell McGonagall about the situation-please watch Miss Granger, she's in a rather awful state at the moment." Without waiting for his response the woman took off in the direction of her office.

His scowl deepened. He glared at Granger, who appeared either sleeping or numb to the pain, because she laid unmoving, breathing deeply.

If I had just left her to wine on the damn floor I wouldn't be wasting my time. I could be off with some innocent fifth year now, but no-she had to go and ruin any plans for the night. Those bloody professors will probably keep me for hours, for no fucking reason.

By the time the schools headmistress arrived, Draco had begun dozing in his chair. The gentle shaking of his shoulder both awoke him and brought his wand out immediately, aimed at Minerva, who looked less than impressed.

"Restrain yourself Mr. Malfoy," she drawled, looking at the sleeping girl across the room. "Do you have a story for me, or should I just go call your mother now?"

He nearly chuckled as he replaced his wand. At 18, there was no need to call one's mother when you're of age, that was an empty threat and she knew it. "I hardly have a story to tell in the first place. Stupid girl hasn't told me anything."

"And how, Mr. Malfoy, did she end up in that state of pain?"

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but the school nurse cut him off. "She's been down here once before, I thought she was having cramps but the way she came in tonight makes me consider other possibilities."

Minerva turned her attention to Pomfrey, and Draco noticed for the first time who else was in the room. Remus Lupin stood towards the door, his forever injured shoulder away from the hard surface. How the half werewolf had survived the war after the spell he took, Draco couldn't quite fathom.

Professor Snape stood closer to him now then the Headmistress, who focused on something the healer was saying. His godfather stared at him, the expression unreadable. Since the end of the war, Snape had taken his old job as Potions teacher back up.

Professor Sprout sat on a nearby bed, watching the group with interest and concern, Professor Flitwick hovering by her shoulder with far less interest, choosing to stare at a nearby wall. It finally dawned on Draco that it was the heads that were present, dealing with this issue. Bloody Brilliant.

"Would you please explain what happened Mr. Malfoy?" The Headmistress' eyes stared at him, her expression, much like Snape's, unreadable.

He shrugged. "I had been off dealing with some pointless mischief a few third years were trying to create"-which of course, was an utter lie-"and I saw Granger wandering down the corridor. We talked for a minute, and then she buckled to the floor and nearly started crying her eyes out." He wrinkled his brow. "I brought her here."

Minerva looked less than convinced that this was the truth, but nodded to him nonetheless, unwilling to waste time trying to get further answers from a stubborn source. "What do you propose we do with the Head Girl then Pomfrey?"

The healer glanced at Hermione, who appeared at ease at prior. "I don't have the tools here to correctly determine what's causing the pain. I would suggest sending her to Saint Mungo's Hospital for some tests that can hopefully discover what the cause of this is and give her some long-lasting pain relief."

The Headmistress nodded her head. "Very well. Mr. Malfoy," she continued, looking at Draco but not truly speaking to him, "will accompany her."

Draco's irritation pitched. "Headmistress, I-"

"No excuses Mr. Malfoy," she replied, looking at Hermione. "Consider this a Head Boy duty."She pulled out her wand and continued to talk. "You haven't much to complain about, this gets you out of class for at least tomorrow."

Saint Mungo's Hospital was a very irritating place. Immediately upon entrance two nurses scooped Hermione up and took her away for a few tests, leaving Draco with Minerva for company.

At least Draco could be thankful for his strong stomach, which after witnessing the scene they entered into upon apparation, he was grateful for it. Had he been weak in any way, his dinner would've met the floor rather quickly.

Hermione was gone, the Headmistress turned to him. "I trust you two to be civil for a few days-"

"You said one day-"

"Enough Malfoy," Minerva snapped, loosing her cool and forgetting the courteous 'Mr.' in front of the name. "Miss Granger is rather sickly and I need you to stay with her and let me know the details of her condition. Having the Head Girl in such a poor state is no small matter."

"Yes," he said curtly, "however, Granger does have friends-despite that number being obnoxiously small-that could be here in my place."

"I'm aware of that," she continued, staring at him, "however her friends did not make Head Boy did they, and could have a rather difficult time-saving their grades if they are gone to too long trying to attend to her. You though, seem quite good at your schoolwork, and I trust that you can easily make the assignments up."

He frowned. "And how long am I required to watch her?"

The Headmistress gave him a weary look. "As long as needed. I understand you and Miss Granger do not have a great history, but I ask that history be forgotten and you two move on with your lives. I would be truly upset if you killed her, or vise-versa."

Draco glared, sitting down. "I will not let you two fall behind," she continued. "If Miss Granger's stay extends you will go back to school, but a few days with your homework brought to you both would be fatal for neither of you."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Very well."

She nodded. "Good. Now, I must get back to school. I have other duties to attend to." She looked him in the eye. "And do keep me well-informed Draco."

He shuddered at the use of his first name. It was too weird coming from her. "Of course," he hissed, wishing to be done with the damned conversation.

Instead of replying, the Head of Hogwarts gave him a small smile and turned away to leave the establishment and head back.

Draco sat in a comfortable chair in Hermione's room, the witch staring at the wall in front of her, never once glancing at the boy who'd bothered to get her some help. Ungrateful.

A Nurse came in, petite with long legs and a chest that was supposedly hidden but unsuccessfully, even though the neckline was up by her collarbone. Draco gave her an appreciative smile as she walked in, and the girl nodded to him once, not letting him see whether she found him interesting too.

"Hello Miss Granger," she said dully, "how are you today?"

"There's no pain," Hermione replied lightly, flexing her fingers. "Whatever you gave me seemed to help."

The nurses eyes glinted sadly, and Draco wondered if Hermione noticed. A quick glance at her face told him that it was a no, and she appeared too caught up in wonder at what was plaguing her to pay any attention to those ever important minor details.

"Its a pain relief potion, however with what you have it wont last longer than a few hours, and as your guest has seen"-she glanced to Draco, whom Hermione only spared a vague flick of the head-"we have been giving it to you often." Draco nodded his head once.

Hermione wrinkled her brow. "Wouldn't stronger potions work longer?"

"With this, it has little effect."

"And what exactly is this," Hermione asked before the nurse could say anything further. She felt anxiety rising up in her, and a feeling of unneeded dread swept over her. But, she hadn't been told anything horrible expect that the simple potion wasn't working.

Yet.

The woman gave her a sad look. "You have Cancer Miss Granger, some type of bone Cancer to be exact."

Hermione sat quietly, Draco staring at her from the side. Her thought process paused in time, trying to take in what this woman was trying to tell her.

Cancer.

Bone Cancer.

She gulped.

Hermione certainly knew about cancer-her own uncle who had skin cancer for a while, but after treating it and life carried on. All her studying and all her thoughts had never lead her to believe it was bone cancer.

Which...as she thought about it, didn't make much sense.

"Its not my bones that hurt...its the muscles."

She nodded. "I was told you would say that. Certain types of cancer-and extraordinarily rare types at that-can shift between the muscles and bones, and from what our results show, that's what this is doing." Hermione tried to say something, but the nurse rose her voice to continue over her. "The Medi-wizard in charge of your health has an idea what this might be, however I'm not to tell you until we get more results which will arrive in the next few days."

"You're to return to Hogwarts-on absolute bed rest," the woman stressed, eyes looking deeply into Hermione's. "You do not leave your dorm until either myself, another nurse or the healer himself comes to see you. Your schoolwork will be brought to you each day by either Mr. Malfoy-"

"Unlikely," he cut in, glaring at the woman.

She glanced at him. "Healer Welsh has discussed these inconveniences with Headmistress McGonagall at length. You will either bring the Miss her daily work or you will be on watch each day, depending on what that day calls for. Her condition can change drastically in simply a few hours."

Hermione felt the lump in her throat, and looked at the young woman with a bit of hatred. She was speaking with Malfoy as though Hermione herself was not present in the space, and it gridded on her nerves. Hermione hated to be treated as though she did not exist. If you had something to say about her you could say it to her.

"I could have someone else bring me my things," Hermione cut in, looking at the girl with softer eyes that she hoped portrayed sadness and little eagerness to have Malfoy's help. "Really, I'd rather not have Malfoy touching my things."She sounded just as stuck up as he sometimes did, and the thought made her shudder.

"Afraid I'll loose a precious paper Granger," he asked, staring at the back of her head.

"Partially," she replied, still looking at the shook her head. "

It was not my decision, none of this is. I am simply a messenger." The woman pulled a new piece of parchment to the front of her collection held fast in her hands, and continued talking. "Bed rest, as I said, for several days until Healer Welsh says otherwise. No stressing yourself out, no walking through your dorm for long periods of time, no extended visits with anyone including Mr. Malfoy or any of your friends. You'll be sleeping a great deal of the time for these potions to set in."

The nurse set her collection of parchments down on a nearby table and looked at Hermione apologetically. "Is there anything else I can do for you at this time?"

The Gryffindor Princess looked back at her blankly. Her mind felt numb, and she didn't try to open her mouth and speak. Earlier, listening to her babble to Malfoy about his "orders" and such, she snapped vaguely from her trance long enough to say something, but the nurse's cool expression and the feeling of the blonds' eyes on her had once again brought silence.

She didn't want to hear this. She didn't want to be told she had cancer.

Cancer. Rare cancer.

She realized that the girl was talking to Malfoy now, but she didn't register what they were saying. She didn't want to listen, listen to them talk about her new restraint.

'Where's your Gryffindor courage Hermione?' Some detached part of her mind voiced.

"Its gone. Gone away. The cancer's going to take it, just like it may take me." The less helpful side of her mind spoke up.

'And so you're just going to wait around to die?'

Her thought process slowed. Death isn't scary, not really. All throughout the war she had been just outside the reach of death, but had been subjected to torture by Draco Malfoy's crazy Aunt Bellatrix. Death isn't a scary thing; the torture, the pain, the things that you'll miss out on for the rest of your life, well, that's horrifying.

"Miss Granger? Miss?" Hermione moved her eyes to look at the nurse, still trying to collect her thoughts. Panicking about losing out on life would do her any good. Besides, it's not like anyone had said there wasn't a cure.

No one had told her this was fatal.

"Unless that's what the nurse was telling Malfoy while I thought. I must pay more attention, get my head out of this swamp! I'm Hermione Granger, brightest witch of my age. I will absolutely not lose my head over something as undetermined as this. Just stay calm, the results will come soon enough. And when they do, I can start determining what I will have to do...whether they are good or not.'

"Miss Granger?" The nurse glanced at Draco, who raised an eyebrow at her. Did she expect him to know what was going on?

"Yes?" He turned his head to face Granger, who looked considerably paler then she usually did and her voice was notably quieter than normal. He raised a delicate eyebrow at her, wondering what she could be thinking right now.

After all, wizards didn't have much more success with cancer's then muggles.

Well, unfortunate wizards didn't.

"Two Auror's will be arriving in about an hour to escort you and Mr. Malfoy back to school. Both of you are to stay in the dorm room for at least today." She glared at Draco and he thought it almost made her less of an annoying, teasing bitch. "I was told to make sure that is perfectly clear."

Draco nodded once, looking at Granger, who for the first time turned her head, and gave him a real look.

The was absolutely empty. He shivered, at how utterly eerie that was.