CHAPTER 7
A/N: Chapter seven redone because it was a crappy chapter and I am an idiot. The first part stayed the same.
()()()()()()()()()
That is the last Ginny remembers as she wakes in the infirmary, a scream and a blur. Someone is holding her right hand. Who? She feels a hand on her head, stroking her hair. Draco? Harry, she's almost certain and absolutely not pleased. She opens her eyes to harsh light, and then proceeds to cover them with her left arm. How long has she been out? A couple of hours? A couple of days? No longer than that surely.
"Good. You're awake."
"What time is it?"
"Five in the evening."
"How long?"
"About a day. You fainted from exhaustion, or stress more like. You hit your head when you fell though."
"My ankle feels funny."
"They usually refer to that as pain. You sprained it. Got a good few bruises as well, but the important thing is that you didn't break your neck or cause yourself any other injuries." Ginny knew that prim voice. No, oh no, why!
"Go 'way, Hermione." moans Ginny.
"Ginny"
"What do you think gives you the right to be here anyway? Where is Ron?"
"Ginny, don't get excited. Please, don't get excited."
"You love to kick me when I'm down, don't you, Hermione?"
"Just listen to me. I know what I did was wrong. I got caught up in what I thought was something good. That is was something worth †something worth risking your friendship over. That was a big mistake. I really, really, really messed up, and I realize that now. Things aren't the same without you being my friend. I miss you. Why can't we just be friends again?" Hermione finishes in a whine that was uncharacteristically childish.
Ginny put her arm down, and glared at Hermione against the light. "Because you stabbed me in the back."
"You forgave Harry." Hermione reminds her and Ginny didn't know how to respond. After a minute, Hermione lets go of Ginny's hand and walks out casting Ginny one last hurtful look, and Ginny prefers not to think of how well Hermione can make a good point.
"Ginny!" Harry and Ron enter the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey registering Ginny a potion, most likely for the pain that she feels or will feel. Upon seeing the two beaming Gryffindors, Madam Pomfrey rolls her eyes and sighs knowing that Ginny needs her rest and she'll have time getting the boys out.
"Fifteen minutes. No more." She snaps and bustles into her office.
"Hi." Ginny greets them as they take seats next to her bed.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Ron asks. Harry takes her hand, and she so wants to forget all that she has realized to be true and stay with him in false happiness.
"Fine. A little tired."
"Should we leave?" Harry asks.
"No, I'm fine. We're all a little tired, aren't we? I'll live. Did I miss anything?"
"Snape and Dumbledore lost a bet with McGonagall and Flitwick so they had to belly dance on the head table at lunch yesterday." Ron says with a light in his eye.
"And in reality?"
"Life's been boring without you, sis." he sighs.
"Of course. Now why don't you tell me something I don't know."
"So you really feel okay?"
"I feel fine Ron, honest, but can I talk to Harry alone, for a little minute?" Ron looks at Harry for a moment and turns to his sister.
"Yeah, sure." He backs away from the bed and gets up to leave. "I'll just wait for you in the corridor. Okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, Ron." They waited until Ron was out of hearing range before looking at each other.
"What's up, Ginny?"
"Hermione paid me a visit earlier. In fact she was just left no less then 3 minutes before you came."
"Look, when Hermione and I met the other day, we weren't –" Ginny cut him off raising her hand.
"I know. I was being stupid. What I want to say was that Hermione came in here earlier, and she said something that made me think. I forgave you, but shunned her and that was wrong of me. The truth of the matter is that we're all a bunch of hormonal teenagers and I should have expected it but Hermione and I are closer than that. We mean more to each other than any of this. So the next time I see her I'm going to apologize and hope I that she smarter than I wasn't."
"That's great, but why couldn't you say that in front of Ron?"
"Well, there's more. Harry," and the tone of her voice lets him know what's coming.
"Why?" It shows in his eyes and voice that she needs to say no more and he knows, but can't understand.
"Why else, it wasn't meant to be."
"'Wasn't meant to be' my arse. Give me a real reason."
She takes in a great breath, "Because – because it's not right. Because the first time it was fine and dandy, and perfect and expected, but the second time it was all lost and it can't be gained back. And it's not you're fault, and Hermione's, and it isn't mine. It's just the way it is."
"You're wrong." Harry's eyes becoming hard.
"Don't tell me that. I'm not. It's true and –"
"I love you."
"You don't... know what love is. Not fully, not now. We were great friends and we were infatuated and we were lost and we were forced and if you don't see it now, you will soon."
"You didn't just that." But she had, and it hurt her as much as it had him. A part of her regretted everything that came out of her mouth in the last five minutes and wanted to take it back and another part of her knew – or at least hoped – it was the right thing.
Harry got up with enough force to knock the chair down, standing stiff and rigid he walked out leaving her to finally let the tears she had been holding back forward.
Eleven o'clock finds Draco creeping in the shadows. Earlier that day in Herbology Draco overheard Harry and Ron talking about Ginny being in the Infirmary. Only catching a part of a sentence here and there, he didn't know why she was there, and he was afraid to admit he was worried. So he resolved that he would visit her that night and try to quell his fears.
Which brings him to now, standing outside the closed doors of the infirmary and wondering if he ought to enter or go back to bed. It's really not that difficult of a decision however, because his worry and curiosity overcomes his barely-there good boy instincts.
In a moment he is creeping inside making sure nobody notices his entrance. Madam Pomfrey, of course, is not present, and there are only two occupants of the hospital wing tonight, both of their beds highlighted by a lamp on the nightstand beside. There is what seems to be a third year in the bed closest to the door on the right and Ginny is laying six beds down on the left. He keeps his steps slow and quiet not wanting to wake anyone. It's seems to take forever to reach her side. Each step feels more and more awkward, and when he is finally at her bedside he finds that he doesn't know quite what to do now.
Ginny's on her side, one arm on her side the other by her face and her blanket is up to the middle of her calves. Draco can see her left leg is wrapped and she has a bruise on her cheek and shin. He can't resist the urge to stroke a strand of her hair.
"Go 'way, 'Wheezy," she mumbles and she takes a blind, sleepy swipe inches from her face.
"Wheezy?" he asks amusedly, barely above a whisper. She opens one eye and casts a glance about before letting it land on Draco.
"Draco?" both eyes are open now looking at him
"Maybe."
"What are you doing here? What time is it?" she asks turning to lie on her back and pulling the blanket up to her nose.
"A little past eleven. Really, Weasley, are you so modest that you don't want me to see you in nightclothes?" he whispers.
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?" he laughs. Her cheeks grow vaguely pink in the lamplight.
"Well... I have... I have morning breath." Draco laughs and wonders if she could possibly look any cuter than she does right now. Well maybe if she removed the blanket obscuring half her face.
"I'm sure it won't kill me."
"Better safe than sorry. How did you know I was in here?"
"I heard Potter and your brother. Didn't hear how you made it in here though. Are you all right?"
"Oh, I'm fine, a sprained ankle and a few bruises. Nothing life threatening."
"What happened?"
"Awful kind of. I fainted at the top of the stairs. Rotten luck."
"Really."
"Yeah. I'm a free tomorrow, though. I get to miss morning classes. Not that I'm too thrilled about that. Combined what I've missed with what I haven't had the will to do lately and I've got a lot of work this weekend. It's ridiculous the amount of homework we've been given."
"Yeah. It's too bad about this weekend though. Hogsmeade is Saturday."
"It is?" Ginny asks wondering how she could have forgotten. "Oh, right. Aw." No doubt about it she would have to wait for the next one.
"It's a shame really. I was rather hoping you'd like to come with me." Well, that wasn't so difficult was it? Yes. Yes it was.
Ginny froze. She hadn't expected that one. Oh, how she wanted to go now. No. Work†could wait. No, Harry. She had hurt him enough it would be a kick in the balls to go out with Draco just a couple days later, even just as friends. People talk. But when would she get another chance? She was definitely feeling the urge to puke and whine at the same time.
"I'd love to, but I can't."
"Right. Don't want to fall too far behind in your school work right." Was it just he or did he sound like a spoiled brat. Well, that he was.
"It's just that I broke up with Harry today and I don't think anyone would take it well if I were to go off with you so quickly. Even just as friends, people get the wrong idea. But I'd really like to go with you."
If you really wanted to you would, he thought.
"It's all right, I understand." he tells her and standing up to leave. "I'd best be off. You need your rest."
"Yeah," Ginny mutters wanting to kick herself.
"Goodnight," whispers Draco.
"Goodnight." Ginny half whispers half calls, and he turns back to give a half-hearted smile and wave. And all she wants to do is sleep, so she could avoid thinking about how awful this day turned out to be and she didn't even have to leave the hard cot of hospital bed.
Draco walks through his dormitory past sleeping mates and into the bathroom where he then deems it safe to slump his shoulders in defeat.
A/N: I'm sorry I really had to change it for better or worse, I couldn't stand what it was before. I hope you liked this one better and if you didn't than I hope you understand that I couldn't stand the last chapter and I'm an idiot.
