Summary: Harry tries to protect Ginny from Malfoy and ends up spending time in the infirmary contemplating his crime. Companion piece to Undone (The Sweater Song); this is a one shot full of H/G fluff! Read and review please.

A/N: Since people liked Undone so much, I decided to do a sequel. Format much the same as Undone, and I am hoping for lots of reviews to soothe my ego! Lyrics from Buddy Holly by Weezer.

Disclaimer: Don't own them. But if they weren't fictional I'd want to be Ginny's best friend!!

Buddy Holly

Don't you ever fear, I'm always near.

I know that you need help.

Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit.

You need a guardian.

Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours.

Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine.

Woo-hoo, and that's for all the time.

The problem was, he wasn't sorry. That was why the stupid punishment was taking so bloody long. He wasn't one whit sorry for what he'd done. In fact, given the opportunity, he'd do it again. And he knew that at the other end of the infirmary, Malfoy was feeling the same.

Just thinking about it gave him a vicious sense of satisfaction. Rage had driven him with a matchless adrenaline rush and he had taken Malfoy down, delivering a hard punch straight to his jaw. The harsh click of Malfoy's teeth slamming together had mixed with the sound of their bodies hitting the floor as the blonde boy struggled to fight back. The fight had lasted nearly five minutes, until a harassed-looking McGonagall had separated the two with a well-placed charm.

Malfoy was by far the worse off, his jaw nearly broken and his body covered with bruises. Harry had gotten off nearly clean, a black eye and skinned knuckles the only sign of his temper. He ran a finger over the knuckles now, hissing in a breath at the pain and remembering Malfoy's shocked look as he hit the ground. He frowned as he remembered another face too, white with anger and a glint of fear.

Ginny. He closed his eyes and let himself think of her, a luxury he seldom allowed himself. A different kind of pain now assaulted him and he swallowed. Ginny Weasley, with her cheerful personality and long, low laugh, her bright red hair spilling over her shoulders and her bright brown eyes looking...looking right through him. He forced his mind away from the thought and concentrated again on the events leading him to his incarceration in an infirmary bed.

He had been angry before, so furious it threatened to rip him apart from the inside. But he didn't think he'd ever been as angry as when he'd seen Malfoy cornering Ginny outside the Potions room. This did rip him apart, feeling like claws against his chest as he saw the boy snatch Ginny's books from her arms and speak to her in a low, teasing voice, keeping a cruel grip on her wrist.

Harry saw again the way the fifth-year's shoulder blades pressed into the stone wall behind her; saw the paleness of her skin as she faced the older boy with defiance, eyes slitted with anger, though he knew she was afraid. Afraid and alone except for him.

He barely even remembered running across the hallway, taking Malfoy's shoulder and turning him around, slamming his fist into the boy's insufferable face. It was all a blur, Ginny's stricken expression becoming Malfoy's stricken expression as Harry attacked.

In the distance, a clock chimed midnight and Harry came back to himself suddenly. He looked down, surprised to find the sheet of parchment in his hand crumpled from his fist. He lay it down and smoothed it with a hand, ignoring the scrapes on his knuckles with effort as he picked up his quill. His mind went back once again to the fight.

McGonagall, nearly shaking with anger as she faced the boys in the hall, had been so furious. "A fight worthy of Muggles," she had said, and it was not a compliment, "deserves a Muggle punishment." She had then delivered their penalty: Harry and Malfoy had to write each other an apology letter while spending the night in the infirmary for their injuries.

Harry put his quill to the parchment. Dear Malfoy, he began. An image of Ginny's face flickered behind his eyelids as he blinked. The cuts on his hand burned as his fingers bent around the shaft of the quill. He gave the other end of the infirmary a nasty grin. I'm sorry you aren't more hurt. Sincerely, Harry Potter. He added a little flourish to his name and nodded in satisfaction.

Just as he put the quill back into its holder, the infirmary door slid open and a figure slipped inside. Harry watched quizzically as the figure tiptoed over to his bed and held up its wand, muttering "Lumos!" under its breath.

Her breath, Harry saw, as Ginny's face was lit by the halo of glowing light from her wand. "Harry...are you all right?"

He had been, Harry thought desperately, until she'd arrived. He was suddenly aware that he was in his pajamas, his hair was sticking up everywhere, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut and a fantastic shade of purple. He adjusted his glasses self-consciously.

"Er...yes. I'm fine. How are you?"

Ginny sat in the chair by his bed and sighed, not meeting his eyes. She felt so stupid, coming here and bothering him when it was her fault he was stuck in the infirmary in the first place. He looked so adorable, in his pajamas, with his hair sticking up everywhere. His eye looked terrible, and she longed to trace her fingertip around it and ask him if it hurt. She stifled the thought.

"I'm fine." Suddenly she looked up, her eyes blazing. She was furious with him, had been furious all day, for being stupid enough to get hurt on her account. "How could you do that?" she demanded, leaning forward and forcing him to meet her eyes. "How could you do something so stupid?"

"Stupid?" Now Harry was getting angry. "Excuse me if I wanted to protect you! I was just trying to help you out!"

"I don't need a guardian, Harry. I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself!" Harry looked at her, at her big eyes and face flushed with anger and nearly groaned. He knew she wasn't a little girl anymore. She would never be 'Ron's little sister' to him ever again. He looked away, fighting the pain that brought his heart to his throat and choked him mercilessly.

Ginny was feeling much the same. As he looked away she studied his profile, beating down the helplessness that filled her. She had no right to him, really. No title of girlfriend, or even a friend, to hold him to her. He wasn't perfect, she knew that, but he was so handsome and gentle and wonderful and she kept hanging around. One day, one day he would fall in love with some other girl and she would be left alone and shattered.

"Why did you do it, Harry?" she asked, more to herself than to him, her anger gone. "Why did you have to get in trouble like that?"

He looked at her again and saw her eyes were wide and vulnerable. Somehow she looked more upset than she had when facing down Malfoy, and his insides twisted in self-hatred for causing her pain. "I couldn't take the look on your face," he answered quietly, honestly. "How could I see him do that to you and not react?"

"I can take care of myself." She protested, but her voice lacked conviction as she remembered Malfoy's insults, his hand on her arm holding with bruising strength.

"I know you can." Harry admitted. He set aside the parchment and folded his hands nervously. "I know...but I wanted to take care of you."

Ginny's head snapped up. "Why?" she asked, her tone more than simply curious. It was haunted, and it dragged the truth from him.

"I always want to protect you. Take care of you. I want...to help you. To make sure you're happy."

"Why?" it was a whisper. Harry slipped out of the bed and knelt in front of her, looking up into her eyes, which were swimming with tears.

"I know we're young, Ginny, and I know it seems stupid, but I think...no, I know... I know I love you." A little squeak came from Ginny's lips and he drew back a little. "But I know you don't...I mean...I'm sorry." Too fast, you wanker, he remonstrated himself.

Ginny caught his hands as he backed away and pulled him up until his face was very close to hers. He sucked in a breath as her finger brushed his sore knuckles and she let him go.

"Did you mean that?" she asked, fighting the little sliver of hope that was cutting at her heart.

He nodded. She bent down and touched her forehead to his, her tears falling on his cheeks. She laughed, her long, low laugh that Harry loved so much.

"Oh, Merlin," she murmured, close to his ear, "what did I ever do to deserve this?"

Harry tilted his face up and pressed his mouth to hers, the best answer he could give her, trying to transmit his love and admiration for her in a single, intimate touch. She responded with fierce passion, and he finally broke the kiss for air. They smiled shyly at each other.

"I love you too," she told him. He stood and sat back on the bed, then pulled her into his lap and gave her another soul-searing kiss. When it was over, she pulled off his glasses and set them on the table beside the bed. Kissing her fingertip, she traced the discolored skin around his eye tenderly.

"Does it hurt?" He smiled and thought about the question for a moment. Then he looked into her eyes and replied.

"Nothing hurts anymore."

Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours.

Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine.

Woo-hoo, and that's for all the time.