A/N: I had planned on this chapter being a lot longer than it turned out to be. So here is chapter 20..sorry it isn't longer....I will update again ASAP!!!!!!
Chapter 20- Mackled Malaclaw
Lunch passed. Afternoon classes passed. Harry didn't care. He still paced outside the curtain. Ron joined him after Potions and he had left for lunch and offered to bring Harry something back. The offer was refused. After dinner had passed, (and Ron was still absent) Harry was starting to wonder if he would ever know what happened to Hermione, when Madam Pomfrey emerged from the curtains. When she saw him, she looked surprised.
"Are you still here? Have you been here all this time? Oh, Dumbledore'll have my head for sure, you being out of class."
Harry remained silent for a few moments. Then he said, "What's happened to her?"
"Well, I don't know if you should know--"
"Please Madam Pomfrey! I've been waiting all day!"
"All right then. If you must know..." she looked at him skeptically for a moment, then continued.
"It seems Miss Granger has come into contact with-- well eaten actually-- a specimen called Mackled Malaclaw."
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Well according to 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', the Mackled Malaclaw slightly resembles a lobster. It is grey and has green spots. It's bite will give you up to a week of unluckiness, but eating it is much worse."
"You mean Hermione ate some?"
"Well, that is my guess. When it's flesh is eaten, the eater suffers from a terrible green rash and an extraordinarily high fever. In Miss Granger's case, unfortunately, she has also suffered a mild concussion from when she fell. Now I must go back. The dressings on her head have to be changed every few hours. She lost a lot of blood."
"Please Madam Pomfrey, may I help?"
"Yes! Go downstairs and eat something!"
"No, I mean something to help Hermione! Could I help change the bandages on her head?"
"Potter, she's still unconcious and unfortunately, the rash has spread. It's not contagious, but she looks a sight."
"That's okay. I just want to help her to get better more quickly."
Madam Pomfrey hesitated. "Well.... I suppose. But you must be very careful!" She led him behind the curtain, and what he saw made his heart freeze for his friend. She would have a long recovery. Although she seemed to be restingpeacefully, her usually peachy skin was now covered in a terrible acid green rash that slightly resembled the texture of moss. She shivered and he reached out and tucked the blanket more snugly around her.
"I would've expected you to want to leave when you saw it. She must be important to you," said Madam Pomfrey.
"She is," Harry said. "Ever since Cedric died..." He felt the mediwitch stiffen at the sound of Cedric's name, so he stopped abruptly. What he had been going to say was that ever since Cedric had died, he had been clinging to his friends a lot more, in case... well, he hadn't wanted to think about it until now.
"Will she be okay?" he asked.
"I hope so. This is, unfortunately, the worst case I've seen in years. I have a feeling the meat may have been rotten. Tell me, what did she eat today? Here, you go over there and hold her head up while I unwrap this bandage from her head." as he followed her instructions, he thought about what she had eaten at breakfast.
"She had a biscuit, jam, eggs and bacon.... the bacon! I remember that it smelled funny and Ron thought so too, but she didn't listen and ate a whole bunch! Could that have been it?"
"It might have but the house elves couldn't have done it, they don't hold grudges against anyone...well except Peeves perhaps. Besides they never leave Hogwarts, where could they have gotten any?"
A hot, burning anger filled Harry to the throat. "Malfoy," he said quietly.
"What did you say Potter?"
"It was Malfoy. He was standing next to our table at breakfast. He was leaning over a dish and then pulled away when we came up. He did this, I'm sure of it."
"Surely not. A student? No..."
"But he hates Hermione. He would do anything to get her out of here. And besides, you know who Hermione is right? She's Merl--"
"Yes Potter I know. I will have this checked out immediately by Albus. There might be some truth in what you say. I'm going to go get more antiseptic. Unfortunately, this head injury can't be cured by magic."
"What about the rash?"
"It takes a while to heal, even with magic. And in Hermione's case, it might take longer. Like I said, her's is the worse case I've seen in years. Her fever is close to 105. We just have to wait for it to break and hope for the best. Now I want you to go back to Gryffindor tower. Goodness knows you could use some sleep!"
"I'll just stay until you get back with the medicine, alright?"
"Potter--" she began, then relented. "Alright, but then you must go back to your dormitory, understood?"
"Understood," he replied glumly. She turned her back and swished around the white curtain. He turned around to sit on the edge of Hermione's bed. He took her hand in his and brushed beads of cold sweat away from her forehead. Her face looked calm, and he reached out to touch her once peachy colored skin that was marred terribly by the dreadful green rash. Madam Pomfrey came back in quietly, and looked sadly at the teenager hunched mournfully over his fallen friend. When he didn't look up, she left again as quietly as she had come.
***
Half an hour later, Ron came noisily in and stopped short when he saw Harry.
"Harry, you look terrible. Don't you think we should get back to the dormitories?" Harry looked up at him and shrugged.
"I guess,"he replied, and stood slowly. Ron came over and stroked Hermione's hair.
"We'll be back tomorrow, Hermione," Harry said. He bent down and lightly kissed her disfigured face. Ron grinned at Harry, then quickly wiped it off his face as he straightened up. As they left, Ron said,"D'you really think she can hear you?"
"I dunno. Maybe," Harry replied. Ron, having nothing to say didn't press on. He sensed that Harry didn't feel like talking.
When they reached the common room, Harry and Ron pulled out their books to get to work on their mound of homework. Ron caught Harry up on what he had missed and Harry wrote the day and all of the homework from each class on it for Hermione. He knew she'd be frantic if....when she woke up. Since the two boys didn't talk very much, they both finished surprisingly quickly and headed to bed. Although Harry heard Ron's snores almost immediately when they dropped into bed, he stayed awake for awhile and when he did drift off, his sleep was filled with nightmares. He kept dreaming of a dark place where he was wandering in what seemed like a maze, calling, calling for someone. He woke up drenched in a cold sweat. He settled back onto his pillows and attempted to sleep, but his head was filled with worries of Hermione.
Finally realizing that he would never get back to sleep, he pushed back his comforter and got out of bed. After slipping into his Invisibility Cloak, he walked out of the dormitories and snuck into the hall. He had only wanted to walk around a bit to clear his head, but he found that his feet carried him to the hospital wing. After popping his head in to see if Madam Pomfrey was about, he slipped in and darted to Hermione's bed. The Invisibility Cloak slithered to the floor. After sitting on the edge of the bed, he reached out a hand to hold hers.