by Angelkatt
 
 

Chapter 1
 

You know, it wasn't his fault. Potter had been so unreasonable, whining and being so self-involved.
Draco just felt like he needed to kick Harry off of his little cloud. I mean, who really cared about
that stupid Hagrid's newest pet problem, Weasley's latest woes, or whatever it was that got him into
that daze of thought? They had a Quidditch match! Those Gryffindors were up against the best team,
and their seeker wasn't even paying attention!

Well, Draco Malfoy couldn't miss a grand opportunity just like that. The spectators were busy
watching the other end of the field, since the snitch was nowhere in sight, and Potter was drifting idly.
If he could only get enough speed, he could easily knock Potter off that broomstick... Make
everyone laugh at the Gryffindor champion.

It was a good idea, I suppose. Well...at least it probably would have worked if Angelina, the
Gryffindor Chaser, hadn't zoomed by. Don't worry. Our Draco didn't slam into her. They were hardly
close. It's a different story about the Bludger though. You can let go of your breaths, because that
missed Draco by an inch too, but the oafish troll on a broom slammed into him full on.

"Ugh..." Draco rolled onto his back, then noticed the sharp pain in his right leg. He wasn't sure of
the condition of his left leg, since Goyle was sitting on it. "Aahh! Geroff!" he attempted to push the
idiot, but only ended up twisting his leg.

"Ow! Someone help me!" Someone did help Goyle up but the look on their face was not one of
sympathy for Malfoy.

"Mr Malfoy, just what did you think you were doing?" Professor McGonagall sternly asked.

"Well I...hey! I'm in need of some medical attention here! I assure you my father will get word of
you letting me suffer while you ask me questions!"

"Oh calm down boy." Madam Pomfrey arrived to load Draco onto a stretcher and floated him to
the infirmary after taking a while to look at his leg. The nurse ignored Draco's complaints and
hummed the whole way there. Finally, he was placed onto one of the beds.

"Aren't you going to fix me?"

"I have orders to wait. Now, lie still." she tried to feed him some foul smelling potion.

"Get that stuff away from me..."

"Now now, Mr Malfoy. It'll help you get better and lessen the pain I'm sure you're feeling." Albus
Dumbledore appeared at the door. "You seemed to have broken your leg in that little stunt of yours."

Draco frowned at this information. "Why can't you just heal it?"

"Because it seem as if you injured yourself trying to hurt someone else."

"That's a lie! Who told you that?" he quickly defended.

"I actually trust Professor McGonagall to tell me the truth Draco," Dumbledore replied patiently.
"And there were also some eye witnesses who claim you were on the verge of attacking Mr. Potter.
Are you saying you weren't?"

Of course I wasn't trying anything on purpose! This is Quidditch, sir. People get hurt. I was only
doing my job as a Seeker." he proudly explained.

"The snitch wasn't out yet."

"...Oh...right." he racked his brain for another plan. "Well, it's not like Potter even got hurt. I mean,
which one of us is sitting in a hospital bed? Huh?"

"Nice try, but such intentions to a fellow classmate is intolerable." He almost seemed happy telling
Draco this. "I'm afraid you must be punished. I do hope you'll learn your lesson from this."

"But what..." Draco started but the Headmaster already left. He had nothing else to do then to think
of what his punishment could be. Detention? He could easily get out of that, so it wasn't a problem.
Banned from the next Hogsmeade weekend? Eh, he could live with that too.

Draco sat there, quite pleased with himself, because he couldn't think of anything Dumbledore could
do that would inflict any suffering on his part. And that was when Hermione came in.

She stopped at the doorway and looked in uncertainly, like she thought she went to the wrong place.
Then, avoiding Draco's glare, she scanned the rest of the infirmary, searching for something.

"You're my punishment, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know what it is you want to do to me, but as long as it's with you, I know it's bad."

"Wow Malfoy. Do you always talk such nonsense? No wonder only Goyle and Crabbe hang
around you. They don't understand anything anyway." Hermione frowned. "What are you doing
here?"

"Well, genius, I like the view." he answered sarcastically. "I broke my leg in the Quidditch match.
What does it look like?"

"Well, Mr. Sarcasm, I wasn't at the game. I was in the library, researching for a paper, when
Professor McGonagall asked me if I could help someone in the infirmary...so here I am. Too
bad I can't seem to find anyone worth helping."

"Oh, ouch. Straight to my heart."

"Why am I still here? You are the most--"

"No, you just--"

"How on earth does that--"

"Children please!" Minerva McGonagall sighed in exasperation at the sight of the two. She turned
to face Dumbledore, who was now beside her. "Headmaster, do you really think it's wise to do this?
Five minutes and they're already bickering."

His eyes twinkled with glee. "Which is why I think it's a good idea."

"WHAT is?" Draco and Hermione simultaneously inquired and then instantly glared at each other.

"Professor McGonagall and I have discussed your...behavior towards some of the students, Draco,
and we have decided to try something different than the regular punishments."

"Um, sorry to interrupt sir, but should I leave?" Hermione didn't think it was any of her business
what Malfoy had to endure.

"Actually, I would prefer you to stay, seeing it involves you too." Again, Draco noticed, she did
that frowning thing. She sure made it obvious when she didn't understand something.

Dumbledore waved his hand in the air and an odd chair-like contraption appeared.

"What is that supposed to be?" Draco looked in disgust at the thing.

Hermione stifled a laugh as she figured out the punishment. "Don't you know, Malfoy. I suppose
not. It's a wheelchair. A muggle object that help people get around when they can't walk. For
example, if they had a broken leg."

His eyes widened as this information dawned on him. "Absolutely not..."

"I'm afraid you have no say in the matters of your punishment. It's not that bad, you'll have Miss
Granger for company."

"What did I do?!" Hermione blurted out but quickly shut her mouth, embarrassed about her
outburst.

"Oh dear, it's not meant as a punishment for you. We were hoping you would be able to help
Draco around, seeing he probably wouldn't be capable to handle the situation by himself."

"Hey!" Draco started but was easily ignored.

"Why can't he just use crutches by himself?"

"You see, Draco here seemed to have sprained his left foot in addition to breaking his right leg."

Hermione tried some more. "But it still doesn't make sense. There are other students who can
help him who are in the same house and classes as he is."

"Yes," Professor McGonagall continued explaining. "But they don't have your experience or the
time without falling behind in their studies. Since you're already ahead in everything, you were
our first choice. Of course, if you don't want the extra credits, we can easily give the job to
Katrina Redaisy."

"Oh no." She answered quickly. "I'd love too."

This baffled Draco to no end. She was given a choice, and she actually chose to work with
someone he knew she disliked and knew also disliked her.

"Fabulous! Now we shall leave the two of you alone and figure things out. Come Minerva,
you must join me for tea."
 
 
 

Chapter 2