Thank you for choosing to read my story. Give it a few chapters and hopefully you will be hooked and if you liked this, I have written five stories in total so hopefully you will read them all –

Newest story is Legend

Also :

Chosen,

Pure

Better

Unity

All Draco and Hermione so have a read and leave a review.

Thanks.

OK, so here we go on my 2nd Draco and Hermione story. The story line is different to the last one but there will be lots of Draco/Hermione as there was before, first chapter sets out the story but Draco and Hermione are on the way, so keep reading...

"Ron? Are you alright?" Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, her face concerned.

"I don't know." Ron's hand was at his throat, his eyes glazed and his face pale.

"We should get you to the infirmary," Hermione said and helped him stand, "you should have gone much sooner than this."

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Harry and Hermione stood back from the bed while Madam Pomfrey bent over Ron's prostrate form. Hermione was scared, not just because Ron seemed to have rapidly deteriorated in the last few hours but also the fact that Daphne Greengrass and Gregory Goyle were both already here, suffering from the same symptoms as Ron but apparently in a much worse condition.

"Well, I'm afraid it's the same thing as the others," Madame Pomfrey said almost to herself "he'll have to stay here for now. You two wait here but stand over the other side of the room please." She waved them over to near the doors. She disappeared from their view and Hermione glanced at Harry worriedly.

A few minutes later the doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered in her usual brusque manner.

"What appears to be the problem, Poppy?" she asked Madam Pomfrey who was fussing over Ron.

"I have no idea what is causing this, Minerva." Madam Pomfrey looked distraught that she couldn't immediately diagnose the illness. "Also, I'm concerned about the rapidity they deteriorate. Miss Greengrass and Mr Goyle only came in here just after breakfast and they are both very much worse than I would have expected."

"And you have no idea what this may be?" Professor McGonagall asked her face worried.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "I am still looking, of course."

Professor McGonagall glanced at Harry and Hermione who were still standing by the doors. "Are Miss Granger and Mr Potter feeling unwell too?" she asked.

"No, they brought Mr Weasley in. I didn't like to send them back out into the school until we have established if this is contagious."

Professor McGonagall nodded her agreement. "Yes, you're right. Potter - Miss Granger...if you would like to take the two end beds over the far end and wait here for a while. Madam Pomfrey and I will need to establish if this is spreading before you can leave."

"Is Ron going to be OK?" Hermione asked her face troubled.

"I'm sure you can have confidence in Madam Pomfrey, Miss Granger but some things take a little time. This is just a precaution; there is no need to be overly concerned."

However, an hour and a half later Professor McGonagall's words were bearing no resemblance to the situation. Ron, Daphne and Goyle were all worse, Ron markedly so. On top of that three new patients had arrived, all suffering with the same symptoms. Lavender Brown was the first new comer and was put into the bed next to Ron. About 15 minutes later Neville was brought in, already looking very ill. Hermione jumped up to rush over but Harry pulled her back.

Seamus, who had brought Neville up to the infirmary, was told he would have to wait with Harry and Hermione.

"Do you two feel ill then?" he asked them.

"No, we're fine." Harry answered him. "Neville looks bad."

The third arrival was Ginny. Harry walked straight over before Hermione could pull him back. Madam Pomfrey chastised him but let him help her settle Ginny before he returned to Hermione and Seamus.

Professor McGonagall approached them and told them that she had sent for some items for them as they would have to stay here overnight.

An hour later, the three infirmary guests settled down as best they could in their allotted beds but none of them wanted to sleep, all worried about their friends. Madam Pomfrey had just settled all her patients and lowered the lights when the doors crashed open making anyone who was well enough sit up in their bed.

"Help! Quickly! He's really ill, I found him on the 7th floor hallway when he didn't come back to the common room."

Hermione immediately recognized the voice of Blaise Zabini and strained her neck to see if the new patient was who she presumed it was. Madam Pomfrey rushed to the aid of the new arrival, who, from the sound of his laboured breathing and the urgency in Blaise's voice seemed worse than any of the others. It was a good few minutes before she finally finished administering to him. She then turned to Blaise and instructed him to take a bed by the others.

"Is it Malfoy?" Harry asked him.

"Yes, he's really bad." For once Blaise seemed to be quite happy to answer in a civilised manner and Hermione could tell he had been affected by the state that Malfoy was in.

"What about you? Do you feel ill?" Hermione asked him and he shook his head.

They tried to settle down again but after Hermione had turned over and rearranged her pillow for the twentieth time she knew it was going to be a very long night.

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She was right. It had been a very long night, disturbed frequently by more patients arriving. By morning all of the patients seemed worse. Harry and Hermione paced nervously around, frequently enquiring about Ginny and Ron. However by far the worst affected was Malfoy and Madam Pomfrey was almost constantly tending to him.

"Malfoy seems bad," Hermione whispered to Harry so that Blaise didn't hear, "do you think he might...die?" she struggled to complete her sentence. It didn't matter it was Malfoy, that didn't mean she wanted him to die! Also, if he died then what might happen to Ron and Ginny?

Professor Dumbledore arrived with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. The three of them joined Madam Pomfrey in her office and sat huddled together. Hermione felt herself growing more and more anxious until she was about ready to burst in on them and ask them for some answers. It was concerning her that it was taking so long for any sort of a solution. She, along with nearly every other student at Hogwarts, had an unwavering faith in the Professors at Hogwarts and their apparent inability to solve this was very worrying.

"They're all Purebloods." Harry's voice broke into her thoughts and she turned to him.

"What?"

"The students who are ill, they're all Purebloods."

Hermione stared at the patients at the other end of the room. Harry was right! They were all Purebloods.

She turned back to him. "You're right! That can't be a coincidence!"

Before they could say anymore the office door opened and the teachers returned to the ward. Dumbledore approached them, his wise old eyes friendly and warm.

"Thank you for your patience. Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and I have been working through the night to get to the bottom of this. I have also had some very useful advice from St. Mungos. We believe that it will be perfectly safe for you all to return to school and we will be working on a solution to help your friends." Dumbledore used his familiar, vague term of phrase that left Hermione with a dozen questions.

"But Sir, do you know what's wrong with them?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not. We have some visitors arriving from St. Mungo's immanently and we have the greatest confidence they will be able to help." Dumbledore looked at Hermione's face and knew there were more questions to come.

"Sir, Harry has noticed that all the students who are ill are from Pureblood families." Hermione nodded towards the end of the ward.

"Indeed! Mr Potter is correct and we had noticed this too. It will be given due consideration. We have called all other students from Pureblood families to the infirmary just to be careful. That is why we think you all are safe to return to school. We will let you know as soon as we have any further news."

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The next few hours were the longest of Hermione's life. Her anxiety for Ron, Ginny and Neville was spiralling out of control and nothing was taking her mind off it. At 3pm they were all called to the Hall and Hermione actually held Harry's hand as she took her seat along with the rest of the school. The Slytherin table was noticeably empty having more Pureblood students than any other house.

Dumbledore was in his usual place at the front of the Hall. He cleared his throat and silence fell.

"I'm sure by now that you will have all heard about the illness that has struck down some of your fellow students. We have very gratefully accepted the help of two of the most experienced Mediwizards from St. Mungos and they have, thankfully being able to give us some advice."

Hermione held her breath and squeezed Harry's hand tightly.

"It appears that this illness is only affecting students from Pureblood families. It appears to only be affecting anyone underage. We have contacted the outside world and no adult wizards have been struck down. As yet, we have no answer why this is and we will obviously be continuing to look for the answers. However, in the meantime we do have a solution that will combat the effects of the illness until we can get to the bottom of the problem. It would seem that administering blood from a Muggle born wizard greatly reduces the effect of the illness, though not curing it completely. Any Muggle born wizard blood appears to have some effect but to truly help the Pureblood Wizard must have his or her blood matched to the best compatible Muggle born wizard blood. I realise this is a lot of information to take in. I am now going to hand you over to Professor McGonagall who will tell you our next course of action." Dumbledore paused allowing the students to digest this information.

A murmur spread across the hall before Professor McGonagall stood up to speak.

"We would request that you all return to your Common Rooms with the exception of any Muggle Born Wizard. We are going to test you for compatibility against our sick students and hopefully reach some matches. If we do not find a match for them all we will then commence tests on any Half Blood wizards who are willing to participate. I hope this is clear to you all, you may leave in an orderly fashion."

Hermione stood and with a final squeeze of Harry's hand went to the front of the hall with her fellow students born to Muggle parents. She had just one thought on her mind now and that was please let me be a match, especially to Neville or Ginny or Ron.

So, as always the first Chapter has to have a chunk of information included in it. Don't worry there will be lots of Draco and Hermione fun coming along very soon, so keep reading...and as always, please review.