He wasn't sure if it would help that he was wearing his pyjamas and not fully dressed if he got caught out of bed this late, but he had thought it best to take as many precautions as possible. He had his cloak on over the pyjamas for camouflage in the darkness and protection against the cold, as well as to conceal what he would be bringing back from the lake.
What he would be bringing back from the lake would hopefully be a piece of flesh from the giant squid. A piece of horrible, wet, slimy, stinking squid flesh, which he would have to dive into the lake and attack the squid to get.
He was not looking forward to it.
However, he reminded himself as he climbed over a rock to get to the narrow strip of sand by the water, it was needed for the spell and there was no other way to get it. There were other giant squids, of course, but for the spell to work properly the flesh had to be exactly two hours old when they poured a potion over it and threw it on the fire.
That did not mean that he liked the fact that he had been sent to mutilate the squid while Blaise and Pansy got to sit in the comfortable, warm, dry common room preparing the potion. He wasn't that much better than them at this kind of thing, surely?
"It will serve to test your skills," his father had said when they had met in Hogsmeade to discuss it.
What that meant was that his father hadn't been able to think of an easier way to get it. Draco really wished that wasn't the case, but his father was the most intelligent man he knew, and if he couldn't think of a way then there probably wasn't one.
This wasn't much of a comfort.
Draco shook his head as he took off his clothes and removed the knife from its concealed sheath in his cloak. Theoretically he could use a spell to cut the piece of meat out of the squid, but he had decided that the dagger would be faster and easier.
Picking up his wand with his other hand, he whispered "Lumos!" and stepped into the water.
It was freezing. Draco had to stifle a gasp as he waded in as deep as he could. Then he cast a Bubble charm on his head, gritted his chattering teeth, and dived.
He could hardly see more than a few feet ahead even with his wand. He wouldn't know that he had found the squid until he was practically on top of it, especially since all he had to guide him was the direction his wand was pointing, with no indication of distance.
Brilliant, he thought, kicking his legs. Just brilliant.
He had Quidditch practise tomorrow! He had booked the pitch for 7 am, which meant getting up at 6:15 at the latest if he wanted to fit in getting dressed, cleaning his teeth, having breakfast, getting down to the pitch and changing before then. He did not need to be hunting a squid in the middle of the night.
He had been training his team harder than ever in the last few weeks, they had to win their upcoming match against Ravenclaw or they would have no chance at all of winning the Quidditch Cup. In between all this and meeting regularly with Granger for... well, not really for the chess, anymore... Anyway, with all this going on he would much rather have been fast asleep in bed right now than in the middle of a lake.
Suddenly he felt something cold and hard wrap around his ankle.
He looked back, slightly alarmed, and was relieved to see that it was just a Grindylow. Draco twisted in the water and hit the beast's fingers hard with his wand, causing it to release its grip. He used the Avada Kedavra curse to kill it and kicked it away angrily.
Pesky sea creatures.
He swam on, becoming ever more agitated. So agitated, in fact, that he didn't notice that he had finally found the Giant Squid until he was face to ugly face with it.
The squid nudged Draco with its nose. Draco pulled a disgusted face and swam around to its side. Wrapping his legs around a tentacle, he raised the knife and cut into the squid's flesh as deep as he could.
The squid bucked wildly underneath him, trying to get him off, but Draco held on determinedly and tried to saw a piece out of its side.
He slipped and cut into his own arm, but after a few seconds of swearing he went back to the job. He had got this far, he wasn't going to swim all the way back without the thing he had come for...
And then the air inside the bubble on his head rang as he screamed because of the searing pain he suddenly felt in his shoulder.
He turned around, still clinging to the squid with his legs, and saw a long spear coming out of his shoulder. A merperson was hanging in the water a few feet behind him. In her arms was the dead Grindylow.
Oh hell.
That thing must be her pet!
The merperson, seeing that he spear hadn't done as much damage as she had hoped, rushed at Draco and pulled it out before he had time to react in any other way than screaming again.
The merperson backed away, obviously preparing to attack again. There was no time for Draco to use his wand; the only thing he could do was to twist away as the spear came at him again, so that it was embedded deeply into the squid's stomach instead of Draco's. The merperson took hold of the spear yet again and tried to pull it out, but it was in too deep. Draco took advantage of her momentary distraction to return to his very own piece of squid meat. He sawed at it frantically, trying to detach it from the rest of the squid before the merwoman gave up her attempts to retrieve her spear.
He almost had it when she attacked him again, beating him all over with her fists.
Then she bit him.
The shock of this caused Draco to start up and rip the rest of the piece of flesh off the squid's back. Recovering and realizing that his mission was accomplished, he hit the merperson in the face with his elbow and began to swim upwards as fast as he could.
He needed to see in which direction the shore was the closest, so that he could swim there as quickly as possible and hopefully not be caught up by the merperson or the Giant Squid. He dared not look down for fear of losing speed, but he knew that they were in hot pursuit, and he did not need any more injuries, thank you very much...
Finally his head broke through the surface of the water and he looked around wildly. He didn't waste his breath on a sigh of relief when he saw that the edge of the lake was only a few hundred yards away; instead he began to swim towards it as quickly as he possibly could, clutching the slimy piece of meat in one hand and his wand in the other. He seemed to have lost his knife in the fracas, but at this point he didn't really care. His shoulder hurt like hell as he struggled through the water, but he tried his best to ignore it.
He was almost there now... only a few more yards...
For the second time today he felt fingers close around his ankles, trying to pull him back beneath the surface. He kicked at them with his free foot and they let go. Turning around, he pointed his wand at the merperson. "Petrificus Totalus!" he cried.
The merperson froze. Draco finally allowed himself a sigh of relief as he swam the last few dozen feet to the shore.
The Giant Squid was nowhere to be seen. Draco closed his eyes and collapsed on the sand.
He was never doing that again.
He allowed himself a few moments to regain his breath before he stood up gingerly and performed a drying spell on himself. His shoulder hurt like hell, and he could feel blood trickling down his back. He only hoped Blaise or Pansy would be able to do something about it, since going to anyone else would certainly cause suspicion.
Wincing, he made his way back to where he had left his clothes. It was only when he reached them that he realized he had lost his knife.
Oh hell!
He deliberated for a moment, but soon decided that it was not worth trying to find it. It was a pretty nondescript knife, and it was unlikely that anyone would find it anyway, especially if it was drifting around at the bottom of the lake.
No, what he needed now was to get back up to the castle, deliver the meat and find some way to fix his shoulder. This being the case, he got dressed, sealed the piece of flesh in a special bag he had prepared, and tucked it into a pocket in his cloak.
The walk back to the castle was long, tedious and painful. He had to make a large detour around Hagrid's hut. He wouldn't have bothered, but the light was on, and that could mean that Dumbledore or one of the other teachers was down there visiting him and could come out any second. He couldn't afford to let any of them to see him in this state.
When he had finally managed to sneak through the door and into the main hall, he allowed himself a moment's respite from the agony of walking. He dreaded walking down the steps to the common room; it was sure to be agony. Still, he was going to have to do it sooner or later...
"Malfoy?!"
Draco spun around in shock, bumping his shoulder into a pillar because of the movement and hissing in pain. "Granger? What the hell are you doing here?!"
She crossed her arms. Draco noted that she was wearing her cloak and that there was mud on her shoes. She had obviously come from outside. Had probably not been far behind him, in fact.
"I could ask you the same question," she was saying. "What happened to your arm?"
"Nothing." He turned to leave.
"Malfoy, it's bleeding right through your cloak."
"I told you, it's nothing!"
"I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey."
"No!" He whirled around again. "Don't you dare."
"Why not?" She was clearly suspicious.
"It's... embarrassing?"
"More embarrassing than being hit in the face by a bludger during practise?"
"Yes."
She sighed. "Look, at least come up to the Room of Requirement. We can get some bandages or something."
"I'm not going all the way up to the seventh floor just for a bandage, Granger, okay?"
"All right then, you can wait in the prefects' bathroom while I go up there and get some bandages."
"Look Granger, why do you care so bloody much anyway? It's none of your business!"
Her eyes widened. "How could I not care after the things we've done together?!"
Draco shrugged, then instantly regretted it as a fresh wave of pain was sent through his shoulder. "I don't care."
"Yeah, well, you're you. Now are you coming or not?"
Draco weighed his options. If he refused, he would have to rely on Blaise and Pansy to help him with his shoulder, and quite frankly he didn't really trust them that much. It would also probably make Granger even more suspicious of him than she already was, which would be a bad thing in many respects. The others wouldn't need the squid meat for at least another hour. As long as he got back in time, going with Granger seemed the best option.
He sighed. "Fine, whatever."
Granger nodded and began to climb the staircase, slowing down when she realized Draco was in too much pain to keep up. Mentally, he marvelled at this; he certainly wouldn't have been behaving like that had their situations been reversed.
But it was... nice, that she would do that for him.
They reached the prefects' bathroom.
"Right," Granger said. "You wait in there. I'll be back in a few minutes." She squeezed his uninjured arm before sprinting on up the stairs.
Draco let himself in and sat down on the tiled floor. Carefully, he removed his cloak and pyjama top. Granger was right; they were covered in blood. He would have to clean them before morning or someone might see who shouldn't.
The wound in his shoulder was still bleeding, though it was slightly crusty around the edges now. Draco decided that he probably shouldn't touch it too much for fear of making it worse.
He only hoped it wouldn't be too painful for him to fly tomorrow. If Slytherin lost... if Potter won the Cup again...
Draco shuddered. He didn't want to think about it.
"Here..."
Draco looked up to see that Granger had returned, slightly out of breath, with various medical supplies.
She put it all down on the floor and sat down next to him. She made a funny noise in the back of her throat when she saw his injury.
"Malfoy, this is really bad."
Draco sighed. "Granger, for the last time, I'm not going to Madam Pomfrey. Just do what you can, I'll be fine."
"If you say so..."
She dabbed at his shoulder with something wet, making him hiss.
"I take it it's clear to you that I'll kill you if you breathe a word of this to anyone," he said, annoyed that she had made him show even the tiniest bit of weakness.
"Crystal clear, Malfoy."
She continued to dab. Draco wondered if she really thought he could kill her. Probably not. He wondered if he would have the opportunity to prove her wrong.
"Hand me that jar," Granger said, pointing to a small glass container holding some kind of translucent paste.
He did so. She took it, unscrewed the lid and began to rub it into the wound with her fingers.
If it didn't hurt so much, Draco mused, he might enjoy this...
But it did. A lot. Ow, he thought, gritting his teeth.
"Okay." Granger screwed the lid back on the jar. "Now pass me some of those bandages."
Draco complied. "You could get them yourself, you know," he complained.
"In case you've forgotten, Malfoy, it's you I'm doing this for. Lift your arm a little."
"In case you've forgotten, Granger, I didn't actually want you to do this for me." He raised his arm and tried hard not to make any kind of noise in response to the searing pain ripping through it.
"That's only because of your stupid Malfoy pride. I wouldn't be surprised if you died from it one day, if you really think it's more important than your health." She began to wrap the bandage around his shoulder.
"You just don't understand, do you Granger?"
"I don't much care to, Malfoy."
Granger moved back around to Draco's front so she could bandage him more easily. There was blood on her fingers, he noticed. His blood. For some reason that made him feel... strange. Actually, it was more the fact that she didn't seem to care that his blood was on her hands that made him feel... well, whatever it was he was feeling.
"There," Granger said, fastening the bandage. "That's the best I can do. Just try not to move that arm too much, okay?"
"Like this?" Draco grabbed her hand. It didn't hurt too much as long as he didn't move anything past his elbow.
Granger was obviously trying to look annoyed, but the hint of an amused smile managed to fight its way to her mouth. "Yes, like that."
"Hmm." He played with her blood-stained fingers before lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it. "Okay."
The smile was more prominent now, as Granger carefully lowered his hand again and shifted her position on the floor so she could kiss him on the mouth.
She broke away after only a few seconds and ran her hand down his good arm. "You should probably get some sleep," she told him.
"Nonsense! Malfoys don't need sleep."
Granger laughed. "I know from experience that that's a lie, Malfoy." She gathered the remains of the medicine and stood up.
"It is not. I only pretend to sleep."
"In that case, you do a very good fake snore."
"I do not snore!"
"If you say so. Chess tomorrow?"
"If I have time."
Granger rolled her eyes, but her smile was still firmly in place. "I'll see you then," she said. Then she left.
Draco sat back and sighed. Dealing with Granger was sometimes... unsettling. Especially when she smiled, and spoke in that certain tone of voice... it made him not mean some of the things he said in quite the way he intended to mean them. It was disturbing.
Another thing that was disturbing was that he still wasn't sure exactly why Granger "did those things with him", as she had so eloquently put it earlier. She surely couldn't be in it for the same reasons as him, she was a bloody Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake.
He didn't like not understanding her. It made him feel... troubled.
But right now he had other things to worry about.
He put his pyjama shirt back on and stood up, slinging his cloak over his shoulder. Then he picked up his wand and headed back down to the common room.
He arrived with ample time to spare; Pansy and Blaise were arguing over one of their instructions when he swept in, putting every effort into walking normally.
"Draco!" Pansy set upon him the moment she caught sight of him. "Tell Blaise it's arrowroot and not adderroot."
Draco took the parchment she shoved in his face and read it calmly. "Pansy, you idiot, of course it's adderroot."
Pansy went red with embarrassment. Draco held the parchment under her nose and pointed at the pertinent word.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
Draco brushed her idiocy aside as he reached inside his cloak and retrieved the bag with the piece of meat. "Voila!" he declared, tossing it onto the table.
"Ooh!" Blaise opened it eagerly, eyes aglow. "Oh Draco, was it terribly hard to get?"
"Not at all," Draco said, non-chalantly dropping himself on an armchair. "It was so easy, even one of you two halfwits could have done it. If we ever have to do anything like this again, you will have to have the honour." He gazed into the fire so as to appear distant and unconcerned. "It's beneath me."
Blaise and Pansy really did look honoured that he would entrust them with such a task, the stupid, gullible idiots. They obviously considered it a privilege to be asked to do painful, unflattering things in the middle of the night.
"Well, I'm glad to see things are running so smoothly," Draco said, rising from the chair again. "I trust you can finish the spell without me?"
Not waiting for the response that would surely be a whiny "no", Draco stood in front of the table and tapped the piece of squid meat with his wand. "Enumero," he said, and fiery digits appeared above it, slowly counting upwards.
He turned back to Blaise and Pansy. "You know what to do. Throw the potion on the fire when it says 1:59:55, and the meat when it says 2:00. Goodnight."
And with that he turned around and headed for his bed.