A/N: Sorry at how short this one is. I just didn't feel it needed anymore to it. And special thanx to my mom for inspiring part of this story. She does wonders, and makes my food. And I would have had this up two days ago, but the servers were screwed up or something. It was being mean, and not letting me log on, or my friend to sign up. So yea. Should I do thank-you's at the beginning, or end? I'll do them at the end. And remember, you must review for a thank-you, no exception. Except for death-threats from my mom. So yes, on to the story we go!!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, yadda yadda, only plot, blah blah blah, y'all know the drill.
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Under the Moonlit Sky: Chapter Three; Pests and Promises
She woke up to Madam Pomfrey checking up on her. "Ah, Miss Parkinson, you're awake. Good to see you finally up." 'Finally?' she though.
"Um, excuse me ma'am, but what day is it?" She was only partially worried about how long she had been asleep anyway. It couldn't have been long, could it?
"Oh, it's Wednesday. After your encounter with the Gryffindors though, we were quite surprised you didn't come in looking worse." She tidied up her bedside table, as is her manner, and turned around and left. Pansy watched the spot where Madam Pomfrey had just disappeared through the privacy curtains, thinking about what had happened, and trying to remember why she was in the hospital.
Pomfrey returned a few minutes later with a tray of several goblets. Pansy was told they were to help cure her cross-jinx, but that didn't make them any easier to swallow. There was a green one that kind of stuck in the back of her throat, followed by an orange one that felt like fire going down. There were several others, for which she wasn't' looking, or tasting for that matter. The last one she recognized as a sleeping draught, and she queried to why she needed it.
"You need to sleep for the other potions to take full effect, so drink and have a good rest." With this Pansy couldn't very well say no, so she downed it and settled back into her bed while Pomfrey picked up all of the goblets and the tray and left.
'I remember now why I'm here,' Pansy thought to herself. 'We were just coming to see if Draco was okay after his fall, when the Weasels, the mudblood, and Potter were coming down the steps towards us. Potter decided to get in my way, and I was going to change him into the first thing that came to my mind and kick him away, but something hit me. That was on Saturday though. And Pomfrey just told me it was Wednesday. Could I have really slept for three days?' Pansy was still contemplating her sleep patterns for the past week, but all thoughts were cut short by a peaceful, dreamless sleep, that encompassed and claimed her mind.
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Ron was heading off to the hospital wing with Harry and Hermione to visit Ginny. It was the sixth day in a row, since she went in. It was finally Friday, and they had the whole weekend in front of them. Ron did not want to spend it with his sister though, even if she was incapacitated.
The three managed to get down to the hospital wing in no more than twenty minutes, since Ron was taking his sweet time, and Harry had no opposition against it. Hermione was the only one who was insisting they go there, otherwise the boys would have stayed in the Gryffindor common room playing chess the rest of the afternoon. Once they 'finally' got there though, according to Hermione, they just walked in and headed towards Ginny's bed, since it was not and irregular occurrence for them to be there. Luckily Malfoy had left on Monday, otherwise he would most likely still be in there, from a couple of other curses the trio had up their sleeves.
They made their way to the back of the room, where four beds were divided from the rest of the ward, making a small, personal space for Ginny and Parkinson to recover in peace. Of course, they had more private curtains around each of their beds, but they didn't need those up all the way around, and they could walk freely in the small area with out getting stared at or questioned. The move had been made on last Tuesday, since it was much more convenient and less questioning coming from people outside the two separate beds. This way, there were no distractions except visitors.
Hermione had gotten prior permission from Pomfrey that any of the three of them could just come in and visit during the normal hours, with out having to ask to get back there. They passed through the dividing curtains, to see the bed closest to them with the not-to-improved Ginny sitting on it reading a book, with only part of her curtain drawn to block Parkinson's bed from view. Next to her, on the far curtain side, were two empty beds in a row, and then Parkinson's, with the curtains drawn all the way around, from what they could tell. They had just got through when Ginny looked up and spotted them.
"Hey you guys. Hope I didn't miss to much in the last 24 hours," Ginny said sarcastically. "So, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, not much. You know, the usual. There was an interesting Care of Magical Creatures today. We were learning about Shreelers. They're a kind of big snail that change color. Pretty neat, actually." Hermione rattled off.
"Yeah, Lavender and Parvati were sitting there going 'Ooh, look at the beautiful colors' until one of them put their elbow into the trail. It was great watching them try to get her robes off without letting it pass through onto her clothes or skin." Ron interjected, leaving him, Harry, and Ginny laughing while Hermione had a disapproving look on her face.
"It is not funny. One of them could have gotten seriously injured," Hermione tried to get them to realize how dangerous that situation was, but failed miserably with them laughing even harder at Ron and Harry doing what looked to be a war-dance reenactment of the scene. Hermione just hmphed and sat down on the end of Ginny's bed, but finally letting a smile creep onto her lips.
All of the sudden the ruckus stopped. Ron stared wide-eyed towards Parkinson's bed, and moved his mouth up and down, as if speaking with a Silencing charm on him. Ginny slowly pulled back the curtains to see what Ron was looking at from her place on the bed. Next to Ron, Harry and stopped in the middle of throwing off imaginary robes when he turned and stood agape also. Hermione also made a small noise of astonishment when Ginny had pulled the curtains back enough.
There was Pansy Parkinson, coming out from what looked to be a private bathroom for the girls, looking thoroughly embarrassed, and extremely terrified. Her short hair that was normally well kept looked quite fuzzy, and at random intervals had bat wings sticking out, about six of them. On her face there were several angry looking boils, and her arms still seemed to have suckers on them. She immediately realized what was going on, and then dove behind the curtain so fast that she nearly tore it down.
Ron was still amazed at what he saw. 'That was Parkinson? Pansy Parkinson? We did that to her?' He was utterly flabbergasted at how she looked. 'Those were no simple curses, that was the real deal,' he thought to himself. 'I still can't believe we pulled of that.' After what seemed an eternity of Ron, Harry, and Hermione still gazing in shock where Parkinson had disappeared to, Ginny spoke up.
"You know, it's not polite to stare. I'm surprised you didn't see her on your way here when you brought me in. You must have been to caught up in my situation to notice I guess." Ron felt as though he were going to explode. He had never really been one for gossip, but now was the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on the most evil girl at the school. Ginny seemed to read his mind though. "You can't tell anyone though. We kind of promised each other that we would never tell anyone what the other looked like, and now that you've seen her, you can't tell anyone that you saw her. Just pretend it didn't happen."
"No, you can't tell us that we can't tell. This is the perfect chance to ruin her whole life! And we can't tell because of a stupid promise? That's not going to happen," Ron looked absolutely furious at what Ginny had said, but he didn't really mean it. He just didn't want to pass up the opening.
"It's okay Gin, we won't tell anyone." Harry had piped up to Ron's dismay, and Ron tried to glare daggers at him, but was kind of pathetic in his attempt. Harry just smiled to Ron, and turned back to Ginny. "Well, I think we should be going now. You've probably had enough excitement for one day." And Harry headed out of the curtain, sluggishly followed by Ron, who kind of waved a passing good-bye to Ginny.
Hermione stayed behind a bit, but Ron heard her tell Ginny 'Don't worry, I won't let them tell,' and came out through the curtain. The trio then decided, well Hermione decided for them, that it was a good time to go up and start their weekend homework before dinner.
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After Hermione, Harry, and Ron left, Ginny settled back down, and started reading her book again. It was an odd Muggle book, about a land the shape of somewhere in the United States, where the land was magical, and so were the people, but they didn't have wands. Instead each person had a special talent only they could do, and no one else could repeat it. And the vegetation and animal life were magical too. The people didn't make clothing items, because it grew on trees, and all you had to do was walk up and find something that would fit and you liked. It was a very peculiar book indeed, but there was a whole stack of the same series her dad had found in London on an excursion, and she took them for some light reading.
Ginny had been reading for some time, not realizing it had gotten to be close to 7:30. She was just in the middle of the third book, something about an old castle and someone traveling back in time, when something made a noise from behind the curtain that blocked off Pansy's bed. Ginny marked her place and set the book down on the bedside table. Since she had not fully gained her walking ability back, she just looked towards the curtain, and ventured a hello. There was no response for a minute, but then a very embarrassed looking Pansy pushed the curtain back a little, and stepped into Ginny's domain.
"Um, I just wanted to thank you. I heard you tell them not to tell anyone." Pansy spoke very softly and sincere, not anything like her usual screech. "Well, I guess I'll go now," and she quickly tried to take off back to her bed, but Ginny stopped her.
"Wait, it's okay. You're welcome. I was upholding a promise. Even though you may ridicule us Weasley's about not having money, we always stay true to our word." Ginny smiled softly, which made Pansy blush slightly in response. Ginny felt like she could stay right here, forever, and never leave. Just her and Pansy, it didn't matter if they were Slytherin and Gryffindor, or Parkinson and Weasley. They were just two girls right now in the same predicament, and it was nice having a companion.
"Well, better get back to my bed before Pomfrey comes in. She'll kill me if I'm up." Ginny smiled at Pansy's joke and laughed a little. "You do that, we don't want your skin hanging from a wall, now." Pansy looked slightly worried, but laughed when Ginny giggled at her own joke.
"Okay, well, night," Pansy said retreating to her side of the private ward. "Night," Ginny called, and picked up her book and began reading again.
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Thanx's:
Hacen: No, you cannot look upon the things I deem good, because you would have to be a god or goddess, like myself. LOL. Well, hope you don't die, cause I like this chapter. It's nice. And again, you're not getting pairings until I say so, and you find out in the story. Kk? Good. I await your next review.
Wonderland's Greatest fan: Moe, you know I don't hate you for falling asleep. And the chocolate thing did happen. Just I didn't have any chocolate. Damn. But yea. Can't wait for your story to be up. You know I'll review. Ooh, that circle was a sicky. We are twisted bitches. Wahahamay. LOL. Okay, better go!
So y'all, hope you like. And to my silent readers, I thank you anyway. Just cuz. I love you guys. that last thing was in Gir voice And, I'm off!! Hopefully I'll have the next one out soon! -betsy ( I love you!)