Slowly, the man turned to face Harry.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked the stranger who was looking around nervously, trying to find some sort of escape route. Unfortunately, the only way out was through Harry and he didn't look like he was letting anyone get by him.
"Umm. . . what do you mean what am I doing here. What are you doing here?" Ron stuttered.
"Don't play those tricks on me. First, you don't want me to be friends with him. You go out of your way to ignore me because you don't like him for what he's done. Then he mysteriously gets hurt and no one saw what happened. Now I find my best friend standing over him, looking like a mad man! And you have the nerve to ask me what am I doing here. I care about him, that is why I am here," Harry yelled.
"If you would just give me a chance to expl. . ."
"What are you going to tell me? That you were just standing over him with your wand ready to attack him? Now that would be a reasonable excuse, that's what it looks like to me anyway. So, what is it? Come up with a better one than that?"
"No, actually I am in here helping Madame Pomfrey. I never told you and Hermione, but I have been helping out down here in the infirmary. I am training to be a medi-wizard. I was embarrassed that everyone would make fun of me."
"And where were you at dinner? Hermione and I were worried you might be sick."
"Down here with Malfoy, trying to keep him alive," Ron said, then he turned his back to Harry and continued fixing up Draco.
"So you mean to tell me that you aren't the one who attacked him?" Harry asked, still skeptical about Ron's excuse.
"That is exactly what I am trying to tell you!" Ron yelled. "Why is it so hard for you to accept that I am not the one that injured your precious boyfriend."
"Wait a minute. What do you mean my precious boyfriend?" Harry asked worriedly.
"The way you talk about him makes me wonder if you two are more than just friends."
"What makes you think that? Has Hermione said anything to you?" Harry asked, worried that Hermione might have told Ron about his and Draco's relationship.
"Hermione hasn't said anything to me, why?" Suddenly Ron had a feeling that his remark about Draco being Harry's boyfriend had more truth behind it that he had originally thought. "He is your boyfriend isn't he? I won't say it isn't going to bother me if he is, but I have to know."
"I guess you could call him my boyfriend. Don't say anything though."
"Even though I hate the guy I'm not going to hurt him just because you want to be friends or involved with him. That would be just plain stupid! And frankly I am insulted that you would assume that."
"How can I not assume that when I knock on the door and no one answers. Then when I come in, I see one of my best friends standing over someone that I care about, looking like they are about to murder him. What am I supposed to assume?" Harry asked angrily.
"You're right. If I had been in your situation, I would think the same thing. I'm sorry that you thought I would do something like that. Like I said before, I may really dislike Draco, but I am not going to use that excuse to try and kill him. Come on, you and I both know I can find a better way to waste my time than him. I do want to know something though Harry. Why do you like him? I mean of all the people here, why him? He used to be your enemy and now you are claiming to be in love with him."
"I don't know what it is Ron, I honestly don't. I just have this feeling like it is the right thing to do. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't but I do know one thing. I intend to find out."
"Like I said before Harry, I'm not saying I like it, but it is your decision. You know I am here for you anytime."
"So how is he?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"Well he is doing better than we expected. No one thought that he would make it through out the first couple of hours, but it seems that he is getting better. He keeps going in and out of consciousness. At the moment though he is unconscious," Ron said, moving to get more bandages from the cabinet.
"I wish I knew who it was. It really pisses me off that no one was around to see who could of done this. I am betting that it was either Crabbe or Goyle. It was either them, or another Slytherin. He was on his way to the Slytherin house when he was attacked, so it would make since for one of them to do it."
"But why would one of them want to hurt Malfoy? I thought that he was their 'leader' or whatever they call him. There only reason to hurt him, was that he was starting to hang around you, but he told them that it was all a trap anyway," Ron said, placing the fresh bandages over Draco's chest wounds.
"You're right they don't really have a motive to hurt him, but I don't know who else it could be. The only other people that I can think of that would hurt him is another Gryffindor. They would be the only other people that would know. And even then it would have to be someone who is close to us, because that would be the only way they would know Draco and I were becoming friends. They would have to have been close enough to hear our conversations. Or maybe someone told their Death Eater parent and then they wanted to teach Draco a lesson for being involved with me."
"Harry, you are thinking about this too much. If you aren't careful, you might end up in here for giving yourself a heart attack. You just need to sit down and chill. Dumbledore will find out who it is and everything will be ok," Ron said, leading Harry over to a chair.
Harry sat down and then quickly got back up.
"I told Hermione that I would tell her anything that I found out, and I have been down here for almost an hour. She is going to be worried. I will see you later Ron, I have to go," Harry said, making his way to the door.
~**~**~
Back up in the common room, Hermione was pacing around the room, waiting for Harry to tell her what happened. She just hoped that he had been able to see Draco, otherwise it he was not going to much fun to be around. She knew all he would do was sit there and ramble on because he didn't know what was going to happen to Draco. She was at the other end of the room, thinking about where Ron could be when the portrait hole opened and Harry walked in.
"Hermione, come and sit down," he yelled, motioning for her to come and sit in the big chairs in front of the fire.
"Well?" she asked as soon as she sat down.
"Well what?"
"Don't be stupid! Did you get to see him or not!" Hermione asked almost getting hysterical.
"Yes I got to see him. Although there was a bit of confusion when I went in there."
"Are you going to tell me what happened or are you going to make me guess?" Hermione asked, starting to get annoyed.
"Well it's not like I am going to keep you guessing!" and he was off telling her about Ron's mysterious disappearance and how he had walked into the hospital wing and Ron had been standing over Draco with his wand pointed at him. He told her that it was all a mistake and Draco was getting better.
"If he is unconscious, then why did Dumbledore say that he had woken up?" Hermione asked.
"I'm guessing at the time he was and now he in unconscious again. Ron said that he was going in and out of consciousness. They still don't know who it was that hurt him though. But Ron and I were talking about it, and we don't think that any of the Slytherins did it," Harry told her.
"They would be the first ones I would suspect. Why don't you think it's any of them?"
"None of them knew Draco and I were trying to become friends, remember? He told them it was all a trap so they wouldn't tell their parents."
"So who else could it be? Remember what Dumbledore said? Only a Death Eater would know that curse, and it is mostly only Slytherins that are Death Eaters," Hermione said, looking around to see who else was in the common room. She saw no one. Usually there are more people around, she thought to herself.
"I think that it could be someone from our house that overheard us and they are jealous, so they decided to hurt him. That is the only logical explanation I can come up with. Have you got any?" Harry asked Hermione, but she was still looking around the common room.
"Shush, I think that I hear someone moving around," she whispered.
"Is anyone in here?" Harry yelled out. No one answered. It was quite in the common room, too quite.
"I think we should quit talking about this for now, I still think that someone is down here," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair, enjoying the warmth from the fire.
"So where is Ron?" she asked in her normal voice, pretending that they hadn't noticed a thing.
"He is down in the hospital wing. He told me he hasn't been around because he has been training to be a medi-wizard, and he didn't want us to know because he thought that we would make fun of him. He should be up here soon," he told her.
"You have got to be kidding me! Ron training to do something! I wonder what he hit his head on!" Hermione laughed.
"He is actually pretty good at it, and he seems to enjoy it. I think that we should support him. I wonder how long he has been keeping this from us and how long he was planning on not telling us."
"Oh believe me, I'm going to support him. I just can't believe that he is actually doing this. I am really proud of him," she said fondly. She was slightly hurt though that he hadn't told her. She was his girlfriend after all, she had the right to know even if he didn't want anyone else to.
The two were chatting quietly about Ron and his new profession when in he walked, looking totally exhausted. He went over to the fire and collapsed into one of the chairs.
"What are you two still doing up?" he asked.
"We were just talking about you and Draco. How is he?" Harry asked.
"He's still unconscious. His wounds are healing nicely though."
"What kind of hex was it?" Harry asked.
"No one told me what it was, just what they wanted me to do to make him better," Ron told him.
"Well I think that is where we need to start then. First chance we get, we need to go to the library and start trying to see if we can find out what the hex is."
"You know I think we should go to bed. We need our sleep if we want to try and figure out who it was that hurt Draco," Hermione said, standing up and heading for the staircase.
~**~**~
After the three had left the common room, another figure stood up from their hiding place, careful to make sure the trio had really gone to bed and then they too made their way up to the dormitories.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked the stranger who was looking around nervously, trying to find some sort of escape route. Unfortunately, the only way out was through Harry and he didn't look like he was letting anyone get by him.
"Umm. . . what do you mean what am I doing here. What are you doing here?" Ron stuttered.
"Don't play those tricks on me. First, you don't want me to be friends with him. You go out of your way to ignore me because you don't like him for what he's done. Then he mysteriously gets hurt and no one saw what happened. Now I find my best friend standing over him, looking like a mad man! And you have the nerve to ask me what am I doing here. I care about him, that is why I am here," Harry yelled.
"If you would just give me a chance to expl. . ."
"What are you going to tell me? That you were just standing over him with your wand ready to attack him? Now that would be a reasonable excuse, that's what it looks like to me anyway. So, what is it? Come up with a better one than that?"
"No, actually I am in here helping Madame Pomfrey. I never told you and Hermione, but I have been helping out down here in the infirmary. I am training to be a medi-wizard. I was embarrassed that everyone would make fun of me."
"And where were you at dinner? Hermione and I were worried you might be sick."
"Down here with Malfoy, trying to keep him alive," Ron said, then he turned his back to Harry and continued fixing up Draco.
"So you mean to tell me that you aren't the one who attacked him?" Harry asked, still skeptical about Ron's excuse.
"That is exactly what I am trying to tell you!" Ron yelled. "Why is it so hard for you to accept that I am not the one that injured your precious boyfriend."
"Wait a minute. What do you mean my precious boyfriend?" Harry asked worriedly.
"The way you talk about him makes me wonder if you two are more than just friends."
"What makes you think that? Has Hermione said anything to you?" Harry asked, worried that Hermione might have told Ron about his and Draco's relationship.
"Hermione hasn't said anything to me, why?" Suddenly Ron had a feeling that his remark about Draco being Harry's boyfriend had more truth behind it that he had originally thought. "He is your boyfriend isn't he? I won't say it isn't going to bother me if he is, but I have to know."
"I guess you could call him my boyfriend. Don't say anything though."
"Even though I hate the guy I'm not going to hurt him just because you want to be friends or involved with him. That would be just plain stupid! And frankly I am insulted that you would assume that."
"How can I not assume that when I knock on the door and no one answers. Then when I come in, I see one of my best friends standing over someone that I care about, looking like they are about to murder him. What am I supposed to assume?" Harry asked angrily.
"You're right. If I had been in your situation, I would think the same thing. I'm sorry that you thought I would do something like that. Like I said before, I may really dislike Draco, but I am not going to use that excuse to try and kill him. Come on, you and I both know I can find a better way to waste my time than him. I do want to know something though Harry. Why do you like him? I mean of all the people here, why him? He used to be your enemy and now you are claiming to be in love with him."
"I don't know what it is Ron, I honestly don't. I just have this feeling like it is the right thing to do. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't but I do know one thing. I intend to find out."
"Like I said before Harry, I'm not saying I like it, but it is your decision. You know I am here for you anytime."
"So how is he?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"Well he is doing better than we expected. No one thought that he would make it through out the first couple of hours, but it seems that he is getting better. He keeps going in and out of consciousness. At the moment though he is unconscious," Ron said, moving to get more bandages from the cabinet.
"I wish I knew who it was. It really pisses me off that no one was around to see who could of done this. I am betting that it was either Crabbe or Goyle. It was either them, or another Slytherin. He was on his way to the Slytherin house when he was attacked, so it would make since for one of them to do it."
"But why would one of them want to hurt Malfoy? I thought that he was their 'leader' or whatever they call him. There only reason to hurt him, was that he was starting to hang around you, but he told them that it was all a trap anyway," Ron said, placing the fresh bandages over Draco's chest wounds.
"You're right they don't really have a motive to hurt him, but I don't know who else it could be. The only other people that I can think of that would hurt him is another Gryffindor. They would be the only other people that would know. And even then it would have to be someone who is close to us, because that would be the only way they would know Draco and I were becoming friends. They would have to have been close enough to hear our conversations. Or maybe someone told their Death Eater parent and then they wanted to teach Draco a lesson for being involved with me."
"Harry, you are thinking about this too much. If you aren't careful, you might end up in here for giving yourself a heart attack. You just need to sit down and chill. Dumbledore will find out who it is and everything will be ok," Ron said, leading Harry over to a chair.
Harry sat down and then quickly got back up.
"I told Hermione that I would tell her anything that I found out, and I have been down here for almost an hour. She is going to be worried. I will see you later Ron, I have to go," Harry said, making his way to the door.
~**~**~
Back up in the common room, Hermione was pacing around the room, waiting for Harry to tell her what happened. She just hoped that he had been able to see Draco, otherwise it he was not going to much fun to be around. She knew all he would do was sit there and ramble on because he didn't know what was going to happen to Draco. She was at the other end of the room, thinking about where Ron could be when the portrait hole opened and Harry walked in.
"Hermione, come and sit down," he yelled, motioning for her to come and sit in the big chairs in front of the fire.
"Well?" she asked as soon as she sat down.
"Well what?"
"Don't be stupid! Did you get to see him or not!" Hermione asked almost getting hysterical.
"Yes I got to see him. Although there was a bit of confusion when I went in there."
"Are you going to tell me what happened or are you going to make me guess?" Hermione asked, starting to get annoyed.
"Well it's not like I am going to keep you guessing!" and he was off telling her about Ron's mysterious disappearance and how he had walked into the hospital wing and Ron had been standing over Draco with his wand pointed at him. He told her that it was all a mistake and Draco was getting better.
"If he is unconscious, then why did Dumbledore say that he had woken up?" Hermione asked.
"I'm guessing at the time he was and now he in unconscious again. Ron said that he was going in and out of consciousness. They still don't know who it was that hurt him though. But Ron and I were talking about it, and we don't think that any of the Slytherins did it," Harry told her.
"They would be the first ones I would suspect. Why don't you think it's any of them?"
"None of them knew Draco and I were trying to become friends, remember? He told them it was all a trap so they wouldn't tell their parents."
"So who else could it be? Remember what Dumbledore said? Only a Death Eater would know that curse, and it is mostly only Slytherins that are Death Eaters," Hermione said, looking around to see who else was in the common room. She saw no one. Usually there are more people around, she thought to herself.
"I think that it could be someone from our house that overheard us and they are jealous, so they decided to hurt him. That is the only logical explanation I can come up with. Have you got any?" Harry asked Hermione, but she was still looking around the common room.
"Shush, I think that I hear someone moving around," she whispered.
"Is anyone in here?" Harry yelled out. No one answered. It was quite in the common room, too quite.
"I think we should quit talking about this for now, I still think that someone is down here," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair, enjoying the warmth from the fire.
"So where is Ron?" she asked in her normal voice, pretending that they hadn't noticed a thing.
"He is down in the hospital wing. He told me he hasn't been around because he has been training to be a medi-wizard, and he didn't want us to know because he thought that we would make fun of him. He should be up here soon," he told her.
"You have got to be kidding me! Ron training to do something! I wonder what he hit his head on!" Hermione laughed.
"He is actually pretty good at it, and he seems to enjoy it. I think that we should support him. I wonder how long he has been keeping this from us and how long he was planning on not telling us."
"Oh believe me, I'm going to support him. I just can't believe that he is actually doing this. I am really proud of him," she said fondly. She was slightly hurt though that he hadn't told her. She was his girlfriend after all, she had the right to know even if he didn't want anyone else to.
The two were chatting quietly about Ron and his new profession when in he walked, looking totally exhausted. He went over to the fire and collapsed into one of the chairs.
"What are you two still doing up?" he asked.
"We were just talking about you and Draco. How is he?" Harry asked.
"He's still unconscious. His wounds are healing nicely though."
"What kind of hex was it?" Harry asked.
"No one told me what it was, just what they wanted me to do to make him better," Ron told him.
"Well I think that is where we need to start then. First chance we get, we need to go to the library and start trying to see if we can find out what the hex is."
"You know I think we should go to bed. We need our sleep if we want to try and figure out who it was that hurt Draco," Hermione said, standing up and heading for the staircase.
~**~**~
After the three had left the common room, another figure stood up from their hiding place, careful to make sure the trio had really gone to bed and then they too made their way up to the dormitories.