Draco Malfoy and The Half-Blood Prince (BOOK 6 of 7)

Chapter 29-Storytelling

"So this is the notorious Vanishing Cabinet," Hermione commented as she ran her fingers over the silver handle. After Draco explained how they fixed the cabinet, she frowned. "Well, that's odd. You repeat the same spell over and over again? Surely there must be another way."

"Perhaps after Hogwarts is over you could invent a better way," Draco suggested. "I actually completely forgot it had been fixed since I found out."

"How do you know it works?" Luna asked. "Before we had a chance to check if the bird was alive we had to go to Dumbledore's and then you were in the Infirmary until earlier today."

Draco suddenly went silent but couldn't managed to keep the smirk off his face.

Hermione groaned. "Draco, what did you do? Why were you in the hospital wing again?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything. Potter, on the other hand..." he trailed off for dramatic effect.

"What did Harry do?" Suspiciously eyeing him, she said, "You didn't try to put him through the cabinet, did you?"

Draco feigned hurt as he replied, "You think so lowly of me." Maybe it wasn't a good time to mention that the thought of shoving Potter through the cabinet had crossed his mind. "Well, I was in the hospital twice, actually. The first time was Christmas and it was for the curse."

"I swear you've spent half the year there because of your bloody curse," Hermione muttered.

"Guess who else was in the hospital?" Luna said. "Ronald." She explained the incident with the love potion and the bezoar and the mead. "He finally broke up with Lavender, though," she added.

"Good," Hermione said. "I don't think I could've stomached anymore of their sick and sappy puppy love."

"Don't you want to know how the broke up?"

Now it was Luna's turn to be suspiciously eyed. "Not particularly, but fine. How?"

"Ronald said your name in his sleep when Lavender came to visit him in the Infirmary."

At this, both Draco and Hermione burst out laughing, and Luna giggled along.

"Oh dear, I don't want to have to deal with that now," Hermione finally said. Turning back to Draco, she said, "I still need an explanation."

"Well," Draco began, scratching the back of his head, "Potter found the book I used to fix the cabinet in this very room and noticed that though you were missing, your cat and your trunks were still here."

"Where did he think I was?"

"Dumbledore told them that you went into hiding with your parents but since he wasn't very careful, a ton of evidence of your stay at Hogwarts still remained. Anyway, when he found the book, it led him right to me. He followed me to the bathroom and demanded to know what I had done to you and what I was doing with the book, and of course, he attacked me—"

"WHAT?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Are you just joking?" She turned to Luna for verification. "He's just pulling my leg, right?"

Luna shook her head and let Draco continue with the story.

"I fought back, of course, but I was in a very bad place mentally—"

This time it was Luna who interrupted him. "Hermione, your capture took a serious toll on him. Not only because you were gone, but because he thought he could have prevented it and none of us had any clue where to begin to look for you."

Draco nodded in agreement. "So Potter took advantage of my instability and although I used Incarcerous on him, he used one of Snape's own spells against me and it basically cut me in a million places and I bled out."