Disclaimer: I hate how repetitive disclaimers get…but anyway, JK Rowling owns everything, except Lori.
A/N: I'm so happy with the reviews I've been getting. I just want to thank these people: Katzi, ye ye, Ailia, NiMiBabe, Alice Philemon, DMalfoysMistress, and The Dragon's Angel. It's been awhile since some of you reviewed because I left the story unfinished for awhile, so I hope you come back! Please? *puppy dog face*
Chapter Six: All in White
Draco barged into the hospital wing with Ginny carelessly in his arms. She didn't quite know where to put her arms (she refused to have them around his neck; no, she was glad he was helping her, but touching him any more than she needed to was unnecessary) so she kept them uncomfortably near her stomach. Draco didn't seem to have a problem carrying her, for he was rather strong (and muscular, Ginny thought, while pressed up against his firm chest).
"Ow!" Ginny cried while Draco accidentally knocked her head into the doorframe. "Watch it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry; did I hit your head?" Draco said sarcastically. Ginny made a face and looked towards the end of the hospital where Madam Pomfrey was. Madam Pomfrey quickly scuttled over and inspected Ginny.
"What's happened?" she asked, peering at Ginny's swollen ankle.
"She…er, fell," Draco lied. He wasn't about to go tattling that they both fought in the dungeons.
"Well, put her here," Madam Pomfrey said, pointing to an empty bed.
Draco almost tossed her onto the bed, but thought better of it when he realized her ankle was actually broken and might cause even more pain. He placed her gently on the bed, much to Ginny's astonishment. He looked up at Madam Pomfrey and she dismissed him, thanking him for his help in bringing Ginny to the hospital wing.
It's not as though Ginny wanted a long farewell from Draco, but a tiny goodbye would have been nice. She watched him turn and leave without so much as a glance, not expecting him to turn around. Wait, what was Ginny thinking? This was Malfoy – disgusting, annoying Draco Malfoy – he who was probably already in league with Voldemort.
But, Ginny thought, he did carry me up from the dungeons. And he didn't throw me on the bed, which was sweet.
Ginny let her mouth curl into a small smile and leaned back into the pillow just as the hospital wing door opened. She looked towards it, expecting to see another student that had gotten sick, but it was the very boy she was just thinking about, holding her wand.
"You dropped this before, I forgot the give it back to you," Draco said gruffly. He placed the wand on the nightstand and turned to face Ginny. He looked as though he was going to say something, but he merely nodded shortly and left.
Ginny took that as a goodbye, and said softly to the empty room, "Thanks."
Draco walked along the corridor alone, thinking about what had just happened. He had carried – carried! – Ginny Weasley all the way up from the dungeon, where they had fought and where – damn. He had forgotten why they were fighting in the first place. Ginny knew; she knew that he and his father were involved in Harry's alteration. He softly cursed to himself. Ginny was like a plague to him. Everywhere he went, she seemed to be there too. Draco stopped and shook his head. He just called her Ginny. Since when did he call her Ginny?
Since she called me Draco, he thought unwillingly. She's not as – Draco's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he found someone was blocking his path.
Draco looked up and found it was Harry. "Move, you bloody idiot," he snarled.
Harry sneered. "Stay away from Ginny. I'm warning you."
"Why, because you care about her so much? You act as though she's not there," Draco stated calmly. Whoa, did I just defend her?
"I don't care how I act around her. I just want you –" Harry said, shoving Draco, "to stay away from her."
Draco looked down at his chest where Harry had pushed him. "Don't touch me."
"You mean like this?" Harry taunted, shoving him again.
"You asked for it, Potter." Draco balled his fist and swung it at Harry's face, striking him and knocking him down. He stayed on the ground, glaring at Draco.
"I'll get you for that, Malfoy." Harry stood and stalked off.
Draco shook his head. When the potion said it was going to completely alter Harry, it meant it. He had never seen Harry so… sadistic. Draco continued down the hallway to his common room and muttered the password. As he entered, he saw numerous faces stop and stare at him. Pansy jumped from her seat and rushed over to Draco, a nasty look on her face. She seemed disgusted. She stopped within a foot of Draco, still standing at the entrance.
"Draco, I've just heard! I've been telling everyone that the nasty little weasel had you under a spell, isn't that right?" Pansy whined. "I mean, you obviously wouldn't ever voluntarily touch her. But carrying her? In your arms? I didn't believe Crabbe and Goyle when they came up here and started babbling about it, and I knew that you would tell the truth. So tell them, Draco." Pansy gestured to the room full of Slytherins.
"I carried her to the hospital wing," he said shortly. Without another word, even with Pansy's vain attempts to convince him to "really" tell the truth, or at least explain, Draco climbed the stairs to his dormitory and collapsed on his bed, without changing.
* * *
Ginny ran after Draco in an enormous maze, calling his name over and over again. She was frightened of being lost in the maze, but Draco wouldn't stop. Suddenly, he halted and turned, smiling broadly, gesturing her over. Ginny returned the grin as well, and hugged him intimately. Draco wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist and whispered in her ear, planting small and sweet kisses on her lips between hushed words. Ginny sighed, knowing that he was there, and he would always be there…she was contented, and happy…
Ginny woke in the hospital wing early the next morning. She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she had been thinking of something and couldn't remember what. Disregarding the feeling, she hopped out of bed and thanked Madam Pomfrey warmly before leaving for breakfast. She had wondered if anyone wondered about her absence. Ginny waltzed into the Great Hall in a surprisingly good mood. The feeling in her stomach still wasn't gone, but her good mood covered it. She took a seat at the nearly-empty table and began to eat, waiting for Hermione or Ron to come down and eat.
A few minutes later, Hermione drifted in, sleepy-eyed. She obviously had not gotten a lot of sleep last night. She slumped into the chair and nodded at Ginny, acknowledging her presence at the table. Hermione rested her head on her hand and slowly ate her food.
Ginny swallowed the bit of egg she'd been eating. "What's the matter, Hermione?"
Her speech was cut off by a wide yawn. "Ron and I were up most of the night researching…spells, curses, potions…anything that would have made Harry act the way he is. We didn't find anything, and Madam Pince shooed us out of the library before we could look for other books. We had to take the few we had up to the common room. Where were you last night? I didn't see you."
Ginny shrugged. "I was in the hospital wing. Broke my ankle."
Hermione gasped. "Oh, Gin, are you okay? I'm so sorry, if I had known I would have come and visited you in there. How'd you get to the hospital wing if you had a broken ankle?"
"I'm fine, and someone helped me there. Carried me, actually." Ginny smiled. The thought of Draco being nice warmed her heart, considering that he was usually cold. The fact that a cruel person can have a few kind moments was hopeful.
Ginny glanced over at Draco across the room. As she looked at him, the feeling in her stomach grew, and she remembered why she was feeling the way she was.
Draco wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist and whispered in her ear, planting small and sweet kisses on her lips between hushed words…
Ginny must have made a strange face, because Hermione started snapping her fingers in front of Ginny's dazed face and called her name. Ginny shook her head to snap herself out of her trance and stuttered that she was fine, just a little tired. Hermione accepted that response, since she was exhausted, and finished eating. She excused herself and said she had to wake Ron up since they had early Charms classes on Mondays.
Ginny watched Hermione retreat and pushed her plate out of her way. Resting her face in her hands, with her elbow propped up on the table, she stared at Draco. She remembered the dream fully now – the running, the holding, the feeling – and it was creeping her out. She had never really thought about him in any romantic way, because of his obvious cruelty to Harry. Even though her crush on Harry was over, she still cared about him and despised anyone who insulted him. Draco happened to be on that list, so Ginny did everything she could to either avoid him or shoot back an equally stinging comeback whenever he decided to torment her.
Draco stopped eating for a moment and glanced up, causing Ginny to quickly look away, but he knew she was looking at him. He watched her for awhile after that, seeing her petite figure stand from the table and briskly walk out of the Great Hall. He tossed his spoon back into the nearly-empty bowl of soggy cereal and left without a word to the other Slytherins. Truth be told, he hadn't spoken to them all morning, considering the rumors flying around in the House about Ginny and him. Pansy was the only one trying to get Draco to speak to everyone, and tell them what happened. Draco had nearly yelled at Pansy to stop bothering him, but he merely glared whenever she was nearby.
Draco strode out of the Great Hall and decided to get to Charms early, remembering that he had Charms with the Gryffindors. Great, now he'd get to see Potter. He slid into his seat and waited for the other students to file in, stopping to watch Hermione and Ron shuffle in together, whispering urgently to one another. They glanced around, apparently looking for someone, and looked upset when they couldn't find whatever they were looking for. Draco casually glanced around and realized Potter wasn't in the class. So that's what they were looking for – Potter. Figures, he thought sardonically.
"Is everyone here?" Professor Flitwick said unexpectedly, startling Draco out of his thoughts. Flitwick clapped his hands together. "Good. Now, today we'll be working on some difficult charms, so be prepared to be a little drained after class. Okay, here we go. The charm is used mostly for cooking…" Draco stopped listening to Flitwick and rested his head on his hand. He was so tired, as he had spent most the night tossing and turning, trying not to think of Voldemort, his father, Potter, and…Ginny. Why Draco couldn't get her out of his head, he didn't know. She annoyed the bejesus out of him and she was a Weasley. She's a sniveling little red-haired twit who was the little sister of a bunch of oafs, including that gangly Ron, Draco forced himself to think. Right. That's what she is. Though…she was so slender and small, and fit right into his arms when he carried her up to the hospital. Not that he was thinking about it or anything, he just noticed it. Draco shook his head and tried to concentrate on whatever Flitwick was talking about.
"Ron, I know you're mad, but you've got to talk to me about him," Hermione whispered, attempting to charm a teapot to boil by itself.
"No," Ron said shortly, whacking his teapot with his wand furiously.
"Stop being so stubborn!" Hermione hissed, grabbing his arm to stop him from banging on the teapot. "I haven't seen Harry for awhile, and I'm getting worried."
"I don't care where the hell he is. He can go jump in the lake as far as I'm concerned," Ron muttered, throwing his wand down on the table and glaring at the teapot as if it had offended him.
"Ron Weasley! You take that back!" Hermione whispered, shocked. She shook her head when Ron didn't answer. "I'm just worried, okay? Can you at least say something so I feel better?"
Ron stopped glowering at the teapot. "Hermione, look. Harry's gonna be fine. If he's lost or something, Dumbledore will find him and fix his…bad temper…" At those last words, Ron started to grumble again, but caught himself. "I'm sure it's nothing. We'll all have a good laugh at this in the end. That is, if Harry smartens up and apologizes."
Hermione frowned. "He will." She looked at the table next to hers and saw Draco gazing off into the distance, apparently deep in though. "What's up with Malfoy?"
Ron shrugged. "I dunno." He cast a glance at him. "He's got a funny expression on, though." Ron scrunched his nose up and added, "Sorta looks like he's got some nasty constipation." Hermione and Ron chuckled at this, and received a chiding from Professor Flitwick about "wasting valuable time doing nothing but giggling."
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Hermione and Ron picked up their books and walked out the door, laughing and talking. They were just about the climb the stairs to the common room when a commotion at the front door caught their attention, and they spun around.
Harry was being led away tightly by two men in white jumpsuits. He was kicking and yelling, screaming out and cussing at the two men. Dumbledore had a very grave look upon his face and was speaking to a woman in a similar white suit. He was shaking his head and seemingly arguing with her. Finally, the woman turned and motioned the men to bring Harry outside, handing them a Harry-sized white jumpsuit that read "Patient" on the back. As they turned around, Hermione and Ron could see words written neatly on the back of their white jumpsuits.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
"Harry!" Hermione cried from the top of the stairs. Dumbledore quickly looked at Hermione and Ron rushing down the stairs, looks of panic plastered on their faces as they watched their best friend being led away to a hospital.
"Professor, what's going on?" Ron demanded, alarmed.
Dumbledore looked very grim. "I'm afraid Harry needs to be kept under observation for a little while at St. Mungo's. His behavior, if you have noticed, has been quite strange. I've seen to him myself, and can find nothing wrong with him, curse or potion related. Some other teachers have insisted we call for…assistance," he explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a letter to write." Dumbledore whisked away, leaving Hermione and Ron utterly perplexed.
"I don't believe it," Ron said softly after a few seconds.
Hermione let out a little squeak and flung herself on Ron, letting out a rush of speech in one breath. "Oh, Ron, what are we going to do? I knew there was something seriously wrong with Harry! I should have gone to him before, with Ginny, but we didn't! Oh, Ron…"
Ron was so startled by Hermione's rib-crushing embrace that he stood stiffly for a moment before relaxing and hugging her properly. Years before, when Hermione hugged him, he'd only pat her on the head or stand, waiting for her to let go. He'd only recently learned that hugging wasn't as weird as he'd previously thought, and embraced back. Hermione let go, and looked at Ron in the eyes sadly. For the first time, Ron realized how truly beautiful Hermione was, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally…He tore away his gaze and dropped his arms from Hermione's shoulders.
Ron sighed. "Well, you said he looks good in white, didn't you?"
* * *
A/N: I had such fun writing the Ron/Hermione moments. Especially the last line. Anyway, please review, because then I will update more often…tempting, no?