Draco hovered above the ground on his broom as he tried to find the Snitch. He could see Hermione and Theo, laying on a blanket at a corner of the pitch looking up at what could only be black figures silhouetted against a dark blue sky. He'd left them with a thermos of hot chocolate - probably spiked by now, knowing Theodore - snuggled up to one another like puppies. He'd never known Theodore to be quite so physically affectionate with anyone, much less a girl, but the pair of them seemed to draw strength from one another in their mutual loneliness the same way he was made new by flying.

Ginny Weasley was swooping up and down the pitch. While he used stillness to try and find the Snitch, she flung herself through the air as if vigor alone could bring the thing to her. He turned and looked down the other direction, trying to spot any movement, any golden flickers, and there, hovering right at the end of the stands as if to hide itself, was the Snitch. He exhaled and began flying toward the stand next to the one with he Snitch in almost slow motion, lazy and unconcerned and still searching.

Ginny was not fooled.

She began racing at him, at the stand, with nothing held back. Her hair flew out behind her and the wind forced her clothing against her body, highlighting every curve, as Draco picked up the pace just a little. He watched her without seeming to as he did the arial equivalent of loping toward the wrong stand while she barreled down on him. When it was too late for her to change course, especially at the velocity she was traveling, he darted over to the correct stand and snatched the golden ball and crowed loudly right as Ginny crashed into the wall.

"Shite!" He flew down to the ground where she was cradling what looked like a broken wrist in her other arm as she lay on the grass. "Are you okay?"

She gave him a wan smile. "I'm fine, just…" She stood up and winced. "Maybe you could take my broom and have Hermione put it back in my room while I go to the Infirmary? I think this might need a little attention."

"Merlin, of course." Draco grabbed her broom and offered her his arm. "Do you need me to walk you up there?"

Hermione and Theodore had come running as soon as they heard the crash. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked. She looked at the way Ginny was holding her wrist. "You're not okay. Shite. I've never seen you crash like that. How fast were you flying?"

"Pretty fast," Ginny admitted as she made a face against the pain. "I'm fine, though. It'll be fine."

"Bullshite," Theodore said.

"It will," Ginny insisted, "I just need - "

"Draco, walk her up to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione ordered.

"Take her broom back," Draco said and Hermione nodded.

"I don't want her to know it was a Quidditch accident," Ginny said as they began to make their way across the pitch. "I don't want to deal with my mother asking about this and having a hissy fit I'm flying with Draco. I'll tell Pomfrey I was running in the halls and tripped."

Hermione was about to say that would never work when she stopped to reconsider. "It's a stupid excuse," she said, "but Pomfrey doesn't really ask questions."

"None of them do," Draco muttered. "Oh, you got turned into a ferret? Totally normal. Oh, you are suddenly pale and not playing Quidditch? Wouldn't want to ask if everything's okay until it's too bloody late to matter."

"In all fairness," Theodore said, "you're always pale."

"You can't remember where you were all last Saturday and there's red paint under your nails," Ginny said, looking at Draco. "Don't worry about it. Here, have some candy and write an essay."

They reached the door to the castle and Hermione gave Ginny a long, searching look. "It'll be fine," Ginny insisted. "It's just a broken wrist. She set a lot worse last year without asking any questions. She won't ask any questions about this."

"The longer we stand here talking, the longer she's in pain," Draco said.

Theodore nodded and summoned the blanket and thermos he and Hermione had shared earlier. "Do you need me to walk you up?" he asked Hermione, braced to walk her up to the lions against his own inclination if she so desired.

She patted him on the arm. "I know the way," she said.

Theo took a long swig from the thermos. "I'll see you in the morning then," he said.