Chapter Nine

"Hey Pansy!" Millicent ran up to me, beaming. "How was your birthday? I didn't see you at all yesterday."
"It was great... thanks so much for your present, that was really sweet."
"No problem. So what did you do all day?"
"I spent it with Harry..." I said, dancing on my tippy-toes and fidgeting with my hands happily.
"Oh." She paused.
"Yeah... we had breakfast together, and then we rode a hippogriff, and walked around the lake talking..."
"You didn't come back to the dorm last night." She said suddenly, cutting me off.
"No..."
"And there's been rumors that you... you and Harry... you know."
"Yeah."
"Are they true?"
"Yeah."
"Wow." She said, somewhat shocked.
"He's a really amazing guy," I informed her, feeling a bit defensive.
"Yeah..." she trailed off, a strange emotion in her voice.
"What's up?"
"You're just... so lucky. I've never even been kissed."
"Aw, Milly... you've got plenty of time left. Someday, you're gonna meet that perfect guy that's been out there waiting for you you're whole life."
"You think?"
"I know."

This cheered her up reasonably, and we headed back to the common room linking arms.

"Oh my god." I stopped short at the sight in front of us. Ron Weasley was levitating an unconcious Harry in the air as fast as he could, followed by Dean and Seamus, looking very anxious.
"Oh my god!" I ran towards them. "What happened?!"
"Malfoy." Ron spit his name out like venom.

"Oh my god..." I said for the third time, a lump of hard guilt settling in my stomach. Draco had warned me... he told me to back off. But I thought he would hurt me... I was prepared for that... I never thought he would hurt Harry. I let out a quiet moan of despair and raced after them.

We reached the hospital wing and Madam Pomphrey saw to him at once, making tsking noises with her tongue as she got him settled in a bed and examined the damage. There was blood gushing out of his head, various scratched across his body, and his left arm was bent at an odd angle.

"Cracked skull and broken arm... nothing else seems to be too serious... assuming he wakes up soon. He'll have to stay here for a spell."
The boys were casting worried looks amoung themselves.
"What if he doesn't wake up soon?" I blurted out.
"It is possible that the inury to his head induced a coma... we'll just have to wait and see. He's probably just knocked out. We'll let him sleep it off, to ease the pain."
"I'm staying here till he wakes up," I said, sitting down beside his bed and taking his hand.
"Well... so am I," Ron said, sitting down on the opposite side. "Dean and Seamus... could you go tell the girls? They'll want to know what's happened."

"Sure, man." The two guys walked off, and Millicent followed, leaving Ron and I alone with Harry.

"So..." I said awkwardly, tapping my fingers on Harry's bedside table.
"So." Ron retorted, eyeing me quizzically.

"Listen," I said. "Um, since you're Harry's best mate and all... well, I don't want you to hate me." I knew I should shut up, but I kept on going. "Harry is a really, really great guy and I would never do anything to hurt him."

"Pansy, I-

"No, let me finish. I know I don't have the greatest rep, but I feel like I'm changing. I seriously am trying to be a better person, okay? It's mostly thanks to Harry, actually."

"I don't-

"Wait. I used to be a bitch. I'm really not anymore. I have no friends, except for Millicent. They all ditched me because of who I'm becoming. But I don't really care. That's how much I love him. Okay?"

I finished my speech, and stared expectantly at him.

"Listen, I don't hate you. I mean, I used to. I'm sorry about that whole shouting at you in the hall. But I've figured that Harry is a good guy. And if he... erm... well, if he likes you this much that you can't be that bad. Okay?"

"Okay." I said, blushing a bit. "Thanks."

"Yeah. No problem."

We were silent again, but things weren't quite as awkward.

Harry's POV

"Wait- I think his eyelid just flickered."
"Seriously?"
"Nah, he's out cold."
"Wait, there it is again. I think he's waking up!"
"Harry?"
"Harry, you alive?"

I forced my eyes open, and squinted up at my foggy surroundings. Five blurry faces squinted down at me. I grabbed for my glasses and peered up at them.

"Harry! Oh, Harry, thank goodness!" Hermione swooped down on me and kissed me on the cheek. I felt Ginny squeeze my hand as she beamed down at me.
Pansy leaned in to kiss me, and wrapped me in a fierce hug. Tears glistened on her flushed cheeks. "Harry... thank god... thank god.." she murmured.

"You gave us a scare, mate," Ron said shakily.
"Yeah, glad you're okay," said Dean, squeezing Ginny's shoulder and kissing her forehead. Apparently they were back together now.

"How long was I out?" I asked groggily.
"Nearly a week!" Hermione exclaimed.
Suddenly a fierce pang of hunger tore through my body.
"Ohhhh... god I'm hungry." I moaned.

"Here you are dear..." Madam Pomphrey bustled over and handed me a steaming bowl of soup. I gulped it down eagerly.

"So... what happened?" I asked. The last thing I remembered was flying... and falling off my broom.
"Well, we were playing Quidditch," said Ron. "And Malfoy thought it would be a laugh to come and knock you off your broom. Foul git."
"Oh.." I murmured, slurping up the rest of the soup.
"Harry, I'm so sorry..." Pansy whispered, tears misting her hazel eyes.
"Don't. It's not you're fault," I smiled up at her, squeezing her hand.
"Yeah, it's really not," Hermione agreed, smiling at her reassuringly. "Malfoy's a prick."

I grinned at her appreciatively, glad to see my friends were trying their best to accept her.

"So can we bust him out now?" Ron asked Madam Pomphrey hopefully.
"Mmm..." she frowned at his wording, but checked me over quickly. "I suppose."

"Great!" Ron nearly pulled me out of the bed in his excitement. "Let's go down to the kitchens and get some butterbeers from those darling elves."

"Sorry... we're gonna have to pass on that," Ginny said apologetically, as Dean wrapped his arm around her. "We've got plans... catch you guys later, okay?"
"Bye Gin," Hermione waved as the couple set off in the opposite direction. Ron, Hermione, Pansy, and I continued down to the kitchens.

We were seated by an excitable Dobby who bustled off to fetch us our butterbears.
"Harry... Pansy... Ron and I both think it's really great you guys have found eachother." Hermione said, beaming. "We are fully supportive of it."

"And... well, here's the thing mate," Ron said, slipping an arm hesitantly around her shoulder. "Me and Hermione are going out too."
Hermione grinned at him and they proceeded to kiss... and flush a deep red at this public display of affection.

"That's great you guys, really." I said beaming at them. So that's why they were so suddenly supportive... Well, even if they did have ulterior motives, it was still really nice of them.
To be honest, there was a small voice in the back of my mind wondering if I would become a third wheel. But I supposed this wasn't nearly as bad as the shock I had given them when Pansy and I first started seeing eachother...

Seeing that Ron and Hermione were now fully engaged in a furious snogging session, I turned to Pansy and grinned at her. She cocked her head and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling with life. She reached out her arms and wrapped her arms around my neck, leaning in close. Her lips touched mine softly, and then harder...

As we kissed away the afternoon, with my two best friends sitting across from us doing the same, I felt completely at peace and satisfied with the world. This is the way things were meant to be. It was so clear, so beautiful, this life I had.

The sound of the doors slamming open caused us to break apart in surprise. As we looked towards the kitchen entrance, we saw Millicent Bulstrode stumbling backwards, wrapped around the neck of and passionately snogging... Seamus?
Pansy clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide in surprise. Hermione and Ron were gaping with open mouths.
"Seamus?" I asked slowly. The couple broke apart at once, blushing furiously as they realized they had been putting on a public display for us and the whole house-elf staff.
"Oops..." Millicent murmured.
"Come on, let's go," Seamus grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

We stared at eachother for a moment, then burst into laughter and resumed our kissing. It seemed that life would never stop surpising me.