(A/N) "No darkness, no season, can last forever."

Draco

     "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

     A voice startled me, making me almost fall off of the windowsill. I turned to look.

     And couldn't tear my eyes away.

     If she was pretty in the daytime, she must be a goddess at night. The magic of moonlight and starlight combined made her look like an angel.

     "Yeah, really gorgeous." I murmured, but wasn't talking about the scenery. The stars were mere specks of dust compared to her. Even the shining moon dimmed beside this ethereal being. The mesmerizing movement of her lips as she named the constellations in the sky when all I could see were the stars in her eyes.

     "Hey, look!" she exclaimed suddenly, gasping and pointing. I whipped his head around, mildly alarmed, to see yet another constellation. I sighed. Hermione and her over-reactions. I could almost hear her grin. "This one is...thi...is..."

     I turned just in time to catch Hermione before she fell off the velvet windowsill. 

     Woah, what just happened?

     "Granger?" Her eyes were half-open and she seemed to be unconscious. "Granger! No, no, no, wake up, no..." I felt panic rising in my chest. "Shit, what do I do?" 

     I paced around the platform, wracking my brain. What did Mother do when I was sick? Well, she tucked me in, put a damp cloth on my head, and gave me some medicine... I didn't have any medicine at the moment, but I could do the other two. I rushed downstairs and came back up with a pillow, blanket, towel, and a bowl of warm water. After I made sure she was comfortable, I dipped the towel in the bowl of water, wrung it slightly, and lay it on her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered.

     "Draco..?" she murmured. "Ohh, it hurts..."

     "Shh," I said as soothingly as I could. "You're gonna be okay, just relax."

     l stayed that way for most of the night, changing the towel and trying to calm her down when she got fitful. It hurt my heart to see her like that, but I didn't know what else I could do. I could only be there and hope that this was going to be over soon.

     Hope.

Hermione

     I woke up drenched in sweat, sunlight shining through my eyelids, making me see red. I groaned, rolled over, and kicked off my sheets. My bed felt a bit harder than usual, but I didn't want to get off. School could wait a bit. Merlin, I feel like I just ran a marathon. Sore all over and sweaty, but I don't remember doing anything of the sort. Actually I didn't remember anything. The last thing I remembered was...

     My eyes shot open.

    I was not in my bed. 

    Or anywhere near it for that matter. 

     Pushing myself up and glancing around, slightly dizzy as my brain combed through what I could remember of last night. Windowsill. Constellations. Blurry. Then, sticky sheets and an unforgiving sun.

     It was a bit concerning, to say the least.

     It was mostly better now. All that was left of whatever happened was a dull, throbbing ache and a lot of sweat. It was still disgusting. My shirt stuck to my back, and I peeled off my sweater and ripped off my tie. Better, but not much. All I wanted to do was to run to the extremely fancy bathroom that was downstairs, but my legs didn't agree. So I just piled the sheets that had somehow teleported up here in a corner of the windowsill, sat there, and examined my surroundings that were mysteriously more messy than what I remembered. Half-empty bowls of water all over the place, small towels draped over everything that hung over the ground, and a random guy slumped in a chair.

     Wait, not a random guy.

     "Malfoy," I breathed. It all clicked together in my head. The bowls, the towels... he was taking care of me.

     Damn.

     A warm rush of heat spread from somewhere in my chest, warming me to the tips of my toes. Even my hair felt warm, which doesn't make any sense, but it does. It wasn't an uncomfortable heat; rather, the opposite. It was like some sort of magical plant, winding through my bloodstream, tiny golden flowers blooming everywhere and filling me with a fluffy feeling unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It was absolutely amazing.

     My eyes traced his figure of their own accord. The lean, pale frame that seemed to be carved from sugar-white marble, the slender fingers that curled around a still-damp towel, the white-blond hair that fell so beautifully yet effortlessly across his sleeping face, the crumpled Slytherin uniform that showed he hadn't changed. Then my eyes trailed to his face. The perfect slope of his nose, the pale, rose dusted cheeks, the lips, the perfect, arched eyebrows (jealous), the dark bags under those long-lashed, storm-cloud grey eyes.

     Those wide open, storm-cloud grey eyes.

     "It's not nice to stare, Granger," he drawled, his mouth forming into that smirk that annoyed me to no end.

     "Sorry," I tried to huff, but it came out hoarse and dry. I coughed and ran my tongue over dry lips. Something in his eyes shifted. They softened at the edges, angry storm-clouds now looking like the fluffy silver down of a newly-hatched chick. He blinked and looked around, his gaze landing on a glass of water, which he handed to me. I took it and gulped it down. 

     Wow. Water had never tasted so sweet, like sugar. I closed my eyes, enjoying the bliss as the cool liquid slid down my throat.

     "Where are your manners, young lady?" I opened my eyes. Way to ruin the moment. Storm clouds blocking out the sun again, mouth set in a stone-cold smirk.

     "Thank you, your highness," I rolled my eyes. This guy... one minute he was all feathers and felt and the next, biting frost. Ugh. Malfoy and his ever-unpredictable mood. I turned to look at the scenery outside when the glaring sun reminded me that I had missed at least the first three classes of the day. "Shoot."

     I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, wobbling slightly, my head spinning a little.

     "Do you need help? You don't look like you're on Earth at the moment," Malfoy called somewhere to my left.

     "I'm good, thank you," I said, grabbing onto the table to steady myself. My head cleared up a bit, and I blinked to clear the fog away. All better. 

     Then why was he staring at me like that?

     I looked down at myself, noticing the wrinkled uniform that I had slept in: the shirt creased, the tie undone. Why could he be staring like that? It unnerved me, to say the least.

     "It's not nice to stare, Malfoy," I said, hoping that my voice didn't sound as flustered as my feeling.

     "Okay..." he mumbled, not really listening. I rolled my eyes and walked down the stairs. Smoothing out my uniform, I opened the door and walked into the cold hallway.

     And realized that I didn't know where the heck I was.

     "Oh, come on!" I huffed, successfully this time, and turned on my heels. "Malfoy, you good-for-nothing bullfrog. Get your arse down here and take me to class."

     "Alright, alright, the good-for-nothing bullfrog is coming right down," he chuckled, making his way to the first level. "I was waiting for you to notice."

     "Mhm. Now lead the way to class or I'll hex you into oblivion."

     Malfoy gave me an as if look and, with a wave of his wand, produced a blindfold from thin air, which promptly twisted itself over my eyes.

     "Hey, ow! That's too tight!" I whined, pulling at the fabric that dug into my skin.

     "Fine. Put it on yourself," Malfoy sighed. I could practically hear the eye-roll in his voice. I pulled the blindfold off, rubbing my face and sighing loudly for dramatic effect, and began to put it back on. "Hurry up."

     "I'm trying!" I hissed. Tying a knot behind your head was harder than it sounded. 

     "Be sure you can't see anything," he called.

     Oh.

     Ohoho.

     Thanks for the reminder. I won't take it into consideration. I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from smirking. I wasn't even going to look until he told me not to. Fun times.

     I pulled the cloth a bit higher up my nose, so that I could see a bit, but no one else could see that I could see, if that made any sense.

     "Done."

     "Alright," Malfoy stepped in front of me. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, holding up seven fingers.

     "I don't know. I can't see." Wow, it was kind of fun, breaking the rules like this. I really admire those people who can keep a straight face without breaking a sweat, because I had to do some weird cough-sneeze hybrid to disguise my smile. He nodded (which I totally couldn't see) and took out his wand. I had to fight to not holler, because wasn't I supposed to be blindfolded? I waited until a tingly, shivery feeling came over me before yelping, "What are you doing?"

     "Calm down, Granger. Just an invisibility charm so nobody asks any questions," he answered, putting one on himself as well. Oh, okay. That made sense. I waited until I was sure it was over, and a bit longer, then nodded as if to say, "Lead the way."

     He took my hand (was that a blush? I couldn't be sure) and started walking. I concentrated hard on my surroundings. That one painting. This classroom. That door. Taking everything in and storing it in the cabinets of my brain for later use. He didn't seem to take any detours this time, mostly because we were so late for class, so we arrived in a third of the time I expected. He stopped me before we reached the door and took off the invisibility charms and blindfold. I blinked and opened my mouth to say something, but he shut me up with a glare.

     "What?" I said, but with my eyes so I didn't make any sound.

     Malfoy proceeded to do a complicated series of very fast hand motions that I could not make head or tail of. He finished with a thumbs up sign, (which was basically the only thing I could understand) straightened his posture, and walked into the classroom. I stood there for a moment before realizing that his actions were probably my cue to walk in after him, so I took a deep breath, and went in.

I'm so sorry for the super long wait! My personal problems should be sorted out soon, but until then, please bear with me! (。﹏。*)