Before I start, I just wanted to say, I see y'all reading my chapters guys. If you're here, please leave a review, even anonymous. You don't need an account. It really does make all the difference, when I had my writer's block, I kept going back over and reading all the reviews again, and it helped me work through it. I know y'all probably think it won't make a difference, but seriously, even 1 new review makes me extremely happy. Anyway, thank you to those who left reviews before, and thank you in advance to any who might leave some in the future. Now, back to the story!

Chapter 13

It really was terrible weather to be playing Quidditch in. I was not envious of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams anymore. I was sitting next to Draco, though not close enough to touch, and he was pretending I didn't exist as he laughed at Harry Potter's obvious struggle to see in the rain. I sighed as Harry looked in vain for the snitch; I wouldn't be surprised if the match lasted all night, as I hadn't caught even a glimpse of the tiny golden ball since it was released. Eventually, Wood called a time-out that had both teams streaking to the ground, hoping for some sort of reprieve.

"What are they doing?" I muttered to myself, not even realizing I had spoken out loud. I saw Hermione tearing across the field, but couldn't make out whatever she did.

"They're probably taking a break because they're tired from flying around in this downpour," Draco said with derision.

I looked over at him, surprised to find him looking straight at me. "No, I don't think they're tired," I said seriously to his snarky comment.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the pitch. Whatever had happened seemed to lift the team's spirits, and Harry was looking around with renewed vigor. After a while, it seemed like the snitch was finally spotted, and both Seekers were streaking toward it, though I still wasn't sure how they could see it through the storm.

Before they could catch it, though, everything started to freeze over; not just the wet things outside, but my insides felt like they were freezing as well. I knew that feeling, and I looked around in horror to see several hooded figures moving onto the pitch, then just about threw up as the feeling intensified. I heard my parents yelling, the crash of a car, and blacked out.

When I woke up, I was in a bed, my head and stomach throbbing. I groaned, then felt around on my head; there was a giant knot on the back of it. I must've hit it when I passed out. I heard voices a few feet away, but it hurt too much to try to focus on what they were saying. It didn't sound like they were directed at me, anyhow. I sighed, then forced my eyes open to the white of the hospital wing. I just laid there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, taking inventory of all my body parts (they were all there, just sore). I sat up slowly and looked around to find Draco sitting in the chair next to me, with a look of concern plastered on his face, completely ignoring the other people in the room. He was soaked to the bone and had to be freezing, but he was making no moves to dry off or warm up.

"You probably shouldn't get up yet," he said with a frown, pushing lightly on my shoulder to force me back down.

I started nod, then stopped as a new wave of pain washed over me, and I noticed that I, too, was drenched and freezing. "How did I get here? There were dementors, weren't there?"

This time he nodded, finally glancing over to where a crowd of people were around Harry Potter, who looked like he just woke up himself. Which he probably did if he passed out from the dementors, too, which left me no doubts about how the Quidditch match turned out. Draco looked back at me and spoke quietly, probably hoping none of the Gryffindors had noticed him beside me yet. "You passed out again from them. Hit your head pretty hard on the stands. I'll be surprised if you don't have a concussion, but Madame Pomfrey will take care of it." He frowned again, then pulled the blanket from the end of the bad and wrapped it around me. "I carried you here without the umbrella, so you're dripping, and probably freezing. You need to get warm." I started to sit up to pull the blanket around me more, but he looked at me sternly, and I laid back down. "No getting up. What did I say before? Honestly, you never listen." His words were harsh, but he tucked the blanket around me more, and grabbed another off of the next bad to put over me.

I smiled at him, then remembered we were not alone in the room, which was now suspiciously quiet. I looked over to the group of people to find every single one of them staring; I flushed bright red, no longer cold. Draco looked to see why I had gone still. He blushed slightly, then coughed.

"Don't be fainting around me anymore, idiot," he said harshly, and got up to walk away.

I scowled at him. "Maybe just don't pick me up next time I do." I knew he wasn't going to be nice when he realized people were watching, but it still hurt. I might have been a bit bitter about it still.

"You should say 'thank you' when someone does something for you."

"You shouldn't be bickering with a girl who just passed out."

"I-" He looked caught off guard and sent a furtive glance over to the group that was still watching us; I reflexively did the same. "I just don't want to have to touch your filth ever again."

"You act like I want to have your slime all over me." I glared at him, hopefully getting the point across that this was quickly becoming less of an act.

"You should be grateful," he said, stubbornly.

"You should be..." I floundered. "...Not here," I finished lamely.

He quirked a brow at me and walked out of the room, not looking at the Gryffindor Quidditch team (plus Ron and Hermione) that was openly ogling us.

I flushed again as I looked at them. "Take a fucking picture, it'll last longer," I snapped. They were shameless, and it was their fault Draco had to put on that act instead of being cute and fussy over me.

The next morning, I was discharged by a reluctant Madame Pomfrey, with instructions to come back immediately if I felt even a twinge. She only let me go because I nagged so much that she claimed I was disturbing the other patients, though she had wanted to keep me for the rest of the weekend, like she was Harry. I didn't speak to him, though he was obviously looking at me like he wanted to say something, and walked out without a backward glance. I passed the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, who were walking toward the hospital wing again, obviously going to see the Golden Boy. All of them (except Wood, who looked like he hadn't slept at all) stared at me, some suspiciously and others curiously. I didn't spare them even a glance, and continued on down to the common room.

When I walked in, I immediately saw Draco, sprawled across a chair. Parkinson was on a couch close to him, practically leaning over it to be closer to him. I sighed, debating if I should even go over to talk to him. My internal debate was ended as he saw me and immediately got up to walk over to me. He said nothing, just grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs to his dormitory.

"Wha-? Draco, get off me!" I protested as I was yanked up the stairs.

He didn't respond until we were in his dorm room, he had told everyone to get out, and shut the door. Then, he came over to me and started feeling around the back of my head.

"Draco, I'm fine. No concussion, and the knot is practically gone," I said exasperatedly. I had just had to endure the same thing from Madame Pomfrey and I was tired of it. I slipped away from him and went to sit on his bed. "I probably could've left last night, but she wanted to make sure there wasn't a concussion. Also, if the knot was still there, feeling around on it probably wouldn't be the best idea."

He came over and sat next to me. "I was worried," was all he said.

I smiled a little at him. "I know. Thank you for carrying me there. I didn't even know you were that strong."

He shook his head, a trace of his cocky smirk back on his face. "You're just light and small. But, I suppose now you'll need to give your hero a reward."

I giggled a bit, and gave him a peck on the lips. "There you go. Your reward."

He pouted. "I was thinking about something a bit...more."

I laughed this time. "Oh, I know. But I wanted to talk about what happened at the infirmary." My expression changed from humorous to serious. "As soon as you saw we were being watched, you switched gears."

"You know why I-"

I cut him off, "Yes, I do. Let me bring up this, though. They were Gryffindors, and not one of them would've thought anything but good things about you if they had seen you caring about me."

He grimaced, "As if I need approval from Gryffindors." He said the name of their house like a curse word.

"That literally has nothing to do with anything that I just said."

"It does, though. You said they would approve of it."

I opened my mouth to retort, but stopped myself. "Are you being intentionally frustrating to avoid this conversation?" I eyed him suspiciously.

He fiddled with a stray thread on one of his blankets. "No, I just, I thought we had already covered this?"

I sighed. "I guess, but you know I'm not happy about that whole situation."

"Just try to be patient with me, yeah?" he asked, making puppy dog eyes at me while taking my hand.

"I'll try. Also, though, won't people be suspicious if we stay up here too long?" I watched realization light up his eyes. "You did practically tear my arm out of its socket in front of the whole common room."

"Fuck. Okay, okay," he looked like he was thinking. "You go down first, yell at me about, uh, something, and I'll follow."

"Yes, that's a very clear plan, no way that can go wrong at all." I rolled my eyes, letting sarcasm permeate my voice.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Well, no-"

"Then don't compain."