Chapter Nine: Awakenings

The room was pitch black and dead silent, interrupted only by the occasional snort from the boy on the bed. Hermione rolled over and sighed. "Ginny, are you awake?"

"Of course. This floor is so hard."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. Her mind filled with hundreds of thoughts, and she couldn't decide which to vocalize. Should she discuss the Draco problem with Ginny? Or ask her about her reconciliation with Harry? Or maybe even tell her about the wand?

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Yes?" Hermione replied, relieved that she wouldn't have to start the conversation.

"I need your advice."

Hermione heard Ginny move around, probably sitting up, and wished that she could see something. With absolutely no windows, the room was so dark. She reached for the wand to do a lighting spell, but decided against it. It would have to be her secret for a little longer. "Ask away," Hermione said, also sitting up.

"I don't know what to do about Harry. You may have noticed that we sort of reconciled."

"Yeah," Hermione admitted.

"Well, I don't know what to do about it. I'm so glad that we're friends again, but it's really hard to trust him after all this time. I mean, looking back, he was really mean to me, even after I apologized. He said that he's sorry, but somehow the words seem empty, and that's not enough to make me be able to completely accept him again."

Hermione chose to remain silent, listening to Ginny as she shifted again.

"But then again that's exactly what happened before, but the other way around. You know, I broke his trust big time, said I was sorry, and he didn't accept it. Now he's the one who apologized and I can't accept it."

"Did you express all this to Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.

"No, I can't. Our relationship is so fragile, I don't want to say anything that would set him off."

"That's no way to live," said Hermione, reaching over blindly to find Ginny's arm, which she patted reassuringly. "How can you have a real friendship, or even something more, if you feel like you're always walking on broken glass around him?"

"I know, that's another thing that worries me." Ginny sighed. "I guess we just need time. You know, time to get used to each other again, time to slowly mend the wounds and rebuild our trust in each other."

Time. Hermione fingered the wand. She could buy Ginny all the time she wanted. As much as she wanted out of this place, she had to wait. She just hoped that it wasn't too much time Ginny wanted.

"So," Ginny said, "what have you been up to today?"

Hermione thought about the kiss, the chase, the fall, the wand, and the curse. She was glad that Ginny couldn't see her grin as she nonchalantly commented, "Oh, nothing much.

Draco Malfoy opened his eyes stared at the high ceiling of the library. His head was aching. He blinked and groaned. How long had he slept? He furrowed his brow. In fact, he couldn't remember ever going to sleep in the first time. He forced himself to sit up. Harry was sitting not too far away from him, scrounging through the red bag. Draco stood and walked over to him.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," commented Harry. "You sure slept a lot."

"Shove it Potter." Draco sat and snatched the bag away from him.

"In fact," continued Harry, "you were out cold when I came out of the room, and that was like seven o' clock. And now," he checked his muggle wristwatch, "it's eleven in the morning. That's sixteen hours. What were you up to yesterday?"

Draco furrowed his brow and thought hard. "I don't remember."

Harry laughed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a hangover."

"Well you sure are chipper today," Draco muttered.

"Patched things up with Gin," Harry said cheerfully.

Draco frowned. For some reason, the thought of Harry and Ginny together really bothered him. But at the time being, he focused on figuring out what had exactly happened the previous day. He remembered being bored, really bored. So bored that he had tried to read.

"And then I realized that it was just silly to hold onto a grudge like that..."

Harry was apparently relaying the story of his reconciliation with Ginny, but Draco ignored him. He had decided to chase after the Weasley girl again, for a little fun, but she had gone to check on her brother. Harry had followed her. That must be when they made up, as Harry was now explaining.

"It was so weird, just like that night last summer when it all started. But this time, I wasn't going to mess it up."

So Harry had went after Ginny, Draco mused ignoring the story. That left only...Hermione.

"The mudblood!" exclaimed Draco.

"Excuse me?" asked Harry, looking perplexed. "I was talking about Ginny. She's pureblood. Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course not, now shut up," muttered Draco as he strained to remember. He had decided to seduce her, the mudblood, just for kicks. He had chased her, literally. She had run into a table, and it was so hard to not laugh at that. He had pulled her to her feet and...

"Draco?" Harry was waving a hand in front of his face. Draco swung a fist in his direction, and Harry sat back down. "Whatever," he muttered, and continued to eat.

Draco went back to his thoughts. He had kissed the mudblood. Surprisingly, it hadn't been all too repulsive. But it wasn't anything like kissing the Weasley girl. There was something else there, something more than physical pleasure, a type of electricity that he had never felt.

"Back to the mudblood," Draco told himself, getting off his tangent and back to his investigation of what exactly had happened to cause him to sleep for sixteen hours.

"You've gone nutters," said Harry, grinning.

Draco ignored him. They had kissed, then she pushed away. She had been so pissed. He tried to go after her again and she had stopped him.

But how?

Draco's memories ended there. They kissed...she pushed away...he advanced on her again...and then he woke up on the library floor at eleven o'clock a.m. It didn't make any sense.

The bookcase suddenly swung open and the girls walked out, yawning. Harry grinned at them. "Morning, 'Mione. Morning Ginny."

Ginny sat next to him and gave him a sleepy smile. "Good morning Harry." Draco rolled his eyes, and couldn't deny the pang of jealousy he felt in the depths of his stomach. "I'm starving!" Ginny reached in the bag and passed it to Hermione.

Draco's eyes followed the bag from Ginny to Hermione, and he stared intensely at the mudblood. She held the answer. "Granger," he said firmly, "what happened yesterday?"

Hermione dropped the bag. Draco was glaring at her and Harry and Ginny were looking confused. "I..." she stuttered, "I, uh..." She jumped to her feet. "I have to go to the bathroom," she said softly, and ran back behind the bookcase. Draco also sprang to his feet and ran after her.

"He's been acting odd all morning," explained Harry as Ginny shook her head. He reached out and covered her hand with his. "So, how did you sleep?" he asked gently.

Ginny went stiff at his touch. She looked into his eyes and felt a strange sense of panic. Things were supposed to be comfortable with Harry, not like this. She just wanted things to be like they were before this whole mess. But instead it was intensely awkward.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, frowning. She couldn't tell him. What would he say? Instead she just shook her head again and forced a smile.

"Sorry. In fact, I slept awful. That floor is so hard."

Harry laughed. "Now you know how us guys feel, we've been sleeping on the floor all week!"

Ginny also laughed, and hoped that Harry couldn't tell how fake it was.

"Oh no you don't!" Draco just saw Hermione's dress disappear behind the bathroom door as it began to close. He rushed forward and stuck his foot in, preventing the door from slamming.

On the other side, Hermione was wide-eyed. Just great, she thought. Now she was trapped. Draco pried the door open and walked in, closing the door behind him. The bathroom was small, and there was barely any room to move with the two of them stuffed in there together.

Hermione backed against the wall, but Draco didn't move. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was thinking deeply. Hermione took a deep breath and tried to reassure herself. There was no way he could remember what happened, she had been sure of that. But just in case, her right hand slowly slipped down to where the wand was concealed.

"Granger," growled Draco, and she quickly withdrew her hand, "what happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione as innocently as possible.

"You know what I mean. What did you do to me?"

"Well," Hermione said cautiously. She wasn't sure how much he remembered. "You chased me, then kissed me..."

"Yeah, yeah," Draco waved his hand, "I know all that. But afterwards, when you pushed me away, what happened?"

"Umm, well, I pushed you away but you didn't get the hint. You stepped forward like you were going to try something again. So I...punched you."

"You punched me?" asked Draco incredulously.

"Yup," Hermione grinned.

"But you're so little," protested Draco.

"Oh get over it," muttered Hermione, "I'm so tired of this machoness." She tried to shove past him, but he blocked the door.

"It isn't about machoness. It's about logic. And it isn't logical that you-all five feet two inches a hundred and ten pounds of you- could knock out me- all six feet three inches a hundred and eighty-five pounds of me."

"Muggle martial arts," Hermione grinned, "they work wonders."

Draco's mind raced. Muggle martial arts? He had heard before that muggles had achieved great physical feats without magic, is that what she was talking about? Well, it made sense...sort of. If she had been able to knock him out, he would have stayed out for awhile. Maybe even sixteen hours. He shrugged, but didn't protest any further. If she had knocked him out before, she could probably do it again. And he sure didn't want another splitting headache.

"Well, good enough for me, catch you later Granger." He quickly left the bathroom.

Hermione laughed and closed the door after him. He had bought it! She went over to the sink and began washing her face. A glance in the mirror revealed the repulsing dress she was wearing. She sighed. She had just put this dress on yesterday, after she decided that her clothes were dirty again. And now they were soaking wet. She had forgotten how long thing took to air dry. One doesn't consider such things when they have magic to take care of things.

"Magic, of course!" Hermione withdrew the wand and pointed it at her clothes. But she stopped. She didn't want to be careless and get caught. She unlocked the door and slowly opened it. Poking her head out of the door, she was confident that no one else was around. Without bothering to close the door, she pointed her wand at the uniform and said the spell.

"Hermione, is that you?" The voice came from the bedroom. Hermione dropped the wand and swore. Quickly, she snatched it up and stuck it back inside her dress. "Hermione?" the voice repeated.

She froze. That wasn't Harry or Ginny or Draco. No, it was...

"Ron!" she exclaimed, running back into the room and throwing her arms around the disheveled redhead on the bed.

Awkward was rapidly becoming the word of the day, Ginny mused as she looked from Harry to Draco. She was glad when Draco had returned to the table, because it took the pressure to act casual around Harry off her. But it added an extra element of awkwardness.

On one side sat Harry. She wanted to be with him, maybe she even loved him, and had since she could remember. But things were weird with him now. He had been so cruel to her, and she had closed herself off to him. Suddenly all the walls were down and it was as if she was expected to act like nothing had ever happened. But she couldn't. She longed to get over it so they could have some sort of a healthy relationship, but she wasn't sure if it was entirely possible.

And on the other side was Draco. He had been her enemy since day one, primarily because he was Harry's enemy, but he had never been anything but nasty to her. But then all of the sudden he was after her, probably because there was nothing else to do in the library. However, after attempting to seduce her he had dropped the act and gave her advice. And for the first time, she felt that she saw the real Draco Malfoy. And now she was completely confused, dealing with feelings she had never felt before, directed at a Malfoy of all people.

The boys definitely felt the awkwardness, too. They sat glaring at each other the entire time, and no one said a word as the three sat at the table. Suddenly, the bookcase opened again and Hermione came out. "Harry, come quick!" she exclaimed. "Ron's up!" Harry sprung up and ran after her, but the other two remained stationary.

"Harry?" said Ginny disbelievingly. "What about me? I'm his sister for Merlin's sake, and she just ignores the fact that maybe I would want to see him too!"

Draco snickered but didn't say anything. Ginny was suddenly hit with the realization that it was just the two of them. Once again: awkward.

"So," said Draco, trying to sound indifferent, "you and Potter, huh?"

"Yeah," Ginny's eyes dropped down to the table. "I guess."

Draco's eyes lit up. "Guess? You don't sound so confident." He didn't like how his heart had suddenly started beating so fast nor the fact that he actually cared.

"No, I didn't mean it that way." Ginny didn't know what to say, but she did know one thing. Draco Malfoy was bad news. He had only showed interest in her because there was no one else to fool around with. She had been a tool the whole time, she tried to tell herself, he was just using her. Even when she had thought he was being serious and vulnerable, he was just scheming the whole time. Or so she tried to convince herself. "I took your little advice," she said coolly.

Damn, thought Draco. He had forgotten about that whole conversation. He had actually told her to reconcile with Harry. Even worse, he had opened up to her. His face hardened. "Yeah, that's right. Good for you. Well, I hope you're happy," he stood and started walking away.

Ginny looked at his back, and for some reason felt the urge to cry. She didn't know what to believe. Was it an act? For some reason, she didn't think so. That look in his eyes...it was the same look as that one time in the bedroom. It had to be real. "Draco?" She stood.

He stopped but didn't turn around. What did she want now? He heard her walking up behind him and started a bit as he suddenly felt her hand on his arm. Her touch was so light, almost like she was afraid to touch him. "Don't turn around, don't turn around," his mind ordered. He knew that if he turned around he wouldn't be able to stop the following events.

Was it love? Maybe, maybe not. But whatever the emotion, it was stronger than reason. Whatever this feeling was that caused his blood to run warmer and his head to spin, it told his brain to shut up as he turned and met her eyes with his.

She didn't know what she had expected to see in his eyes, but it certainly wasn't this. Ginny's breath caught in her throat as she stared at him. It wasn't an act, it couldn't be an act. Not even the greatest actor could force himself to look like that, she told herself. Suddenly she was scared. She had never felt like this before.

"I'm no good for you," insisted Draco. He was surprised at how weak his voice was. He tried to pry his eyes away from hers, but he couldn't. "I don't know what you're expecting from me, what type of an image your mind is forming, but with me what you see is what you get. I am not a good person. And, as I said, I am especially not good for you. You'd be better off sticking with Potter."

"I know," said Ginny softly. Strangely, that was half the appeal. She moved her hand down his arm and intertwined her fingers with his. She exhaled loudly and closed her eyes as she stood on her tiptoes and brought her face nearer to his.

"Ginny...Draco?" Draco dropped her hand, Ginny gasped, and they both turned to see Harry standing near the door to the bedroom. "I'll kill you Malfoy!"

Before Ginny could even scream, Harry had run across the room and jumped on Draco. Ginny couldn't tell whose fists were who's as the arms blurred together. As boys rolled on the floor, Ginny didn't know what to do. She cared about both boys, and didn't want to see either one of them hurt, especially on account of her.

So she did something totally irrational. She walked over to the brawl and jumped right in the middle of it. The boys continued fighting and she struggled to push them apart. Suddenly a fist came forward and hit Ginny square on the face. She yelped and her arms dropped and she fell back, hitting the floor hard. Both boys stopped their slugging and stared.

"How long was I out?" Ron grinned at Hermione.

"To tell you the truth, I don't exactly know!" She laughed. "But you sure missed a lot!"

"I did? Harry seemed happy when he was in here, and then he said he was going to go check on Ginny. What's up with that?"

Hermione's smile widened. "Well, they patched things up and I think there's kind of together now." Ron let out a whoop and Hermione laughed again. "But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. They still have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, well at least they're talking now. That will make life easier for all of us."

"Uh huh," Hermione agreed.

"What else did I miss?" asked Ron, "has Draco been behaving? Last I remember, he was harassing Ginny."

Hermione giggled. "Draco sure is a piece of work! He seems to have left Ginny alone for the time being at least..."

"That's a relief," said Ron. But the look on Hermione's face told him that his relief was a little too hasty. "Wait, you don't mean...he didn't try anything on you, did he?" Hermione just laughed harder. "Why that little..."

"Ron, it's okay," said Hermione between giggles, "I fended him off on my own. Besides, I don't know why you care."

"I do care, Hermione," Ron covered her hand with his. His head was still spinning and a dull pain coursed through his body. Under any other conditions, he probably would not be saying or doing what he now was. "I care more than you know."

Surprised, Hermione looked at him. His face was turning as red as his hair and he quickly looked away. Smiling, she threw her arms around him.

Ron went rigid. "I...uh...you...uh...we..." He finally brought his own arms around her. "I do care," he repeated, "it just took me awhile to admit it."

Hermione pulled away and smiled. "Yeah, six years! Well, I guess some things are worth the wait."

"It was you."

"No way, the bruise is on the wrong side of her cheek. You were on her left, and that's where she was punched."

"Look at that shiner! You're the one always calling me weak. There's no way I could have hit so hard. You're the one with all the muscles."

Draco smirked. He did have a point. "Okay, yes you are scrawny Potter, but it doesn't take too hard of a hit to make it turn purple like that, especially when it's right on the eye."

"Malfoy..."

"Could you two just shut up for a minute?" Ginny was tired of hearing them argue over who had hit her. It sure didn't help the ringing in her ears. She slowly tried to open her left eye, but it hurt too much. "Ouch," she cried, cupping her head in her hands.

Draco pushed Harry away and walked towards Ginny. Harry sprang up and jumped on his back.

"Not again! Would you two just grow up? I'm going to go and see my brother, who I haven't seen conscious in a few days, and Hermione, who may know something to do for this eye. She was raised by muggles, after all." She walked behind the bookcase.

"Get off me, Potter," Draco pushed Harry away and hurried up after Ginny. Harry got to his feet and followed.