Author's Note: Wow. 10 Chapters. Insanity! OK, just so I can upload more chapters, this will be short. Ginny is unconscious, possibly in a coma (?), and don't you all just want to kill me? Some Ron and Harry action, HAHAHAHAHAHA...well, you'll get it later. Hermione's there of course, but she knows a bit more than they do... And prepare yourselves for angst! Eww...sappiness. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not mine unless it looks like it should be. Der. Getting tired of these nuisances...
Puffy Red Eyes
Chapter 10: The Romantically-Ill-Fated Ginny Weasley
Draco and Snape continued on down the corridor, which seemed to Draco to be spitefully growing longer and longer, as if to smirk at the fact that they could take Ginny from him. Draco was about to just snatch Ginny and run her to Madame Pomfrey when he recognized the familiarity of the hallway- Potter had sent him here many times.
Finally, they were at the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey came rushing out to meet them.
"What's happened, Severus?" She asked, looking suspiciously from the pale, limp, unconscious Weasley to the pale, drawn Malfoy hovering next to her. She knew as well as anyone how the Malfoys and Weasleys got along, or rather, didn't. She'd had to counter curses and stop nosebleeds and mend broken limbs more times than she'd like to remember because of the Malfoy-Weasley wars.
Snape frowned. "You know, Poppy, I'm a bit hazy on the details. Perhaps Malfoy here can elaborate." He gestured to Draco.
Madame Pomfrey glowered at Draco. "What have you done to her?" She snapped. She happened to like Virginia Weasley very much, she was an attentive student in her class, and made fairly decent grades.
Draco stepped back startled. Snape waved his hands. "No, no, Poppy, it wasn't him. He found her. Seems she fell down a flight of stairs, although we're still trying to figure out details." He said, glancing pointedly at Draco.
Draco sighed. He didn't blame everyone for getting the wrong impression; he and the Weasleys simply didn't get along. Save for Ginny, and he'd already done a pretty good job of putting her through a lot of pain.
"I'm not quite sure what happened myself, but I have a vague idea. Gi-Weasley was late for breakfast this morning, and I-" He stopped. None of this would make any sense unless he told them the truth.
"Okay." He said, taking a deep breath. "Over the summer, Virginia and I met a few times. We sort of…I don't know, hit it off, and before we knew it we were a couple." He couldn't help but grin weakly as Madame Pomfrey's jaw dropped.
"Anyway, we were on the train up here when Pansy Parkinson threatened me. Well, not me, but she threatened to hurt Virginia if we didn't split up." He licked his lips. "I told Virginia. She shrugged it off, didn't seem to care, and so when we got back-"
Madame Pomfrey cut in. "This sounds long and complicated. Why don't we get Miss Weasley in one of the beds, and then you can finish your story." She said, still staring at Draco as if he'd sprouted horns as she hurried into her office.
Snape levitated Ginny onto the nearest bed. Madame Pomfrey came back into the room, carrying hospital clothes. "If you men don't mind." She said, pulling the curtains around the bed as she changed Ginny.
"Good lord!" She shrieked. Draco jumped up, but Snape held him back.
Madame Pomfrey came back out, tears in her eyes. "That poor girl." She said simply, moving off to get her potions and wand.
Snape and Draco leaned over Ginny hesitantly. They both grimaced and Draco felt sick.
The hospital gowns covered her chest and legs, but her shoulders, lower stomach and calves were visible; all of them brutally cut and/or bruised. It looked like she had not only fallen down the stairs, but been taken back up and thrown down again several times.
Madame Pomfrey came back in, her wand ready and several glasses of potions of different colors on a tray, which she handed to Snape. "Thank the gods you fixed a new batch of that Debruising Potion. Looks like we'll bloody well need it." She said, taking a yellow liquid from the tray. She opened Ginny's lips and poured the contents of the glass down her throat.
The magic took effect quickly. As they watched, Ginny's more prominent bruises and cuts (including the one on her head) glowed bright yellow, and faded away, leaving purple skin in the case of bruises, and tiny white scars in the case of cuts.
Draco stared down at her sadly. Her skin was covered in swelling bruises, sores, cuts, scrapes, and everything in between. Her right eye was turning purple and her lower lip had split, and was swollen. Her eyes closed, she looked angelic and helpless, which did nothing to soothe Draco's accumulating feelings of guilt. Draco looked at her opposite hand.
This time, he really was sick. Dashing past Madame Pomfrey, he barely made it to the bathroom. He came back out again, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
Snape glanced at him questioningly. Draco pointed at Ginny's right hand.
It wasn't surprising he hadn't seen it at first; it was half-covered by her robes. But it stood out now. Snape peeled back Ginny's sleeve. It was wet with blood still flowing thickly.
It no longer looked like a hand. It was twisted in a most improbable fashion, 90 degrees to the left. The wrist bone had snapped so forcefully that the broken end protruded from the bloody skin on Ginny's wrist. The sight of Ginny's bone coming through her skin made Draco feel sick again.
Snape himself looked revolted and significantly paler.
Madame Pomfrey bustled back over and gasped. "Dear mother in heaven, what happened to this child?" She breathed. "I can't fix this easily. I'm going to need help." She turned to Draco. "You, boy. You're not going to be sick again, are you?"
Draco swallowed, then shook his head.
Madame Pomfrey nodded. "Good. Get over here."
Draco slid over to Ginny's bedside.
Madame Pomfrey held up Ginny's wrist. Her hand flopped about helplessly as she nurse surveyed it completely. "Well, it's not too bad." She muttered.
Draco closed his eyes, not wanting to think about what 'too bad' would look like.
Madame Pomfrey rolled up her sleeves and brandished her wand. "Right. I'm going to need you to push her bone back in the skin, and back into place."
Draco paled. "Push-push it-in?" He stammered.
Madame Pomfrey glared at him. "Can you handle that?" She growled. Draco glared back at her. "Yeah." He murmured, grasping the bone in his hand.
She nodded. "Good. You know where it's supposed to go? Good. Now when I say 'go', I want you to push it back in. Ready? One, two, three…go!"
Draco pushed the bone back into her skin, feeling it align properly with its fellow bones. He pushed it until he could push it in no further. Madame Pomfrey waved her wand, and a spark of blue shot towards Ginny's wrist.
Draco shuddered as her heard Ginny's bones grating together. And then, it was over.
Madame Pomfrey held up Ginny's hand, inspecting it. It no longer faced the opposite direction, and it fell forward like it should. She tested it a few times, moving it back and forth, and in small circles.
Draco sighed in relief. Madame Pomfrey began attending to Ginny's smaller wounds.
"So boy, you were saying?" She prompted, making a large bruise on Ginny's side disappear.
Draco closed his eyes. "Right, when we got back to Hogwarts last week, Virginia had a little run-in with Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. After that, I told her to steer clear of them and always walk with someone." He stared down at Ginny.
"She obviously forgot." He whispered.
Snape stood up straight. "Students from my house! I will not tolerate my students physically attacking students from other houses." He fumed.
"I will see to it that Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, and Miss. Parkinson are punished, if not expelled!" He roared.
"But you can't."
They all jumped as Ginny's weak voice penetrated their conversation. Her eyes were open, at least her left eye was; her right eye was swelling.
Snape hurried to her side, followed closely by Draco.
"Would you like to tell me why exactly I can't punish the students who did this to you?" He asked, unbelievingly.
Ginny smiled softly, but grimaced as her lip split anew, blood blossoming forth.
Madame Pomfrey reached down and patted her lip dry.
"Thank you. You can't punish anyone because I don't know who pushed me." She said simply.
Snape stared at her. "From what I've heard, Miss Parkinson and her friends have already threatened to do you harm. How many other enemies do you have in this school?"
Ginny's eyelids fluttered, and it was obvious that she was fighting to stay awake. "It probably was one of them, but what if it wasn't? It wouldn't be fair. At least don't do anything drastic. I promise I'll tell you if they bother me again, but…" She trailed off, her eyes closing as she fell into a blissfully deep sleep.
Draco scowled. "She was just nearly killed, and all she can think about is whether or not it's fair if they get tossed out of school?" He fumed.
Snape looked apoplectic. "She has a point. Still, I can take off thirty points each for threatening another student. And they can forget about seeing Hogsmeade this year." He said viciously, still shaking his head at one of his best students, who was beginning to grow on him, and indeed, Malfoy as well.
Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "She's a pure child, this one. Such a pity." She wiped Ginny's forehead with a cool cloth. She proceeded to pour several liquids down Ginny's throat again. Draco watched, anger burning inside him.
Madame Pomfrey stood back and shook her head. "That's the best I can do for now. This girl is going to have a hard day. She's got fractures to mend, swellings to stop, and cuts to heal." She shook her head again and stormed off to get some bandages.
Draco pulled a chair up to Ginny's bedside as Snape left, muttering, and sat down. He looked up and down her beaten body. "Why didn't you listen to me?" He whispered, putting his hand on top of the freshly mended one on her chest.
"GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF MY SISTER!"
Draco sighed. Oh damn.
Ron rushed into the room, followed by Harry and Hermione. The two males of the party looked properly shocked and disgusted. Hermione looked unsure.
Draco squeezed her hand one last time and stood up to face them. Well, Ron's fist anyway. Draco staggered back under the force of Ron's blow, holding a hand to his nose.
"Shit, Weasley! What the bloody hell was that for?" He cried, tapping his bleeding nose with his wand. The blood disappeared, but Draco's nose still hurt.
Ron was livid. "What do you mean, what was it for? You shove my sister down a flight of stairs and now you're sitting here holding her hand? What the hell?"
Draco arched an eyebrow. "First off, I didn't shove your sister down the stairs. Quite the opposite, really. And I should hope I'd be holding her hand, seeing as how I'm her bo-"
"Rescuer." Hermione cut in, giving Draco a warning look.
Draco looked on the verge of correcting Hermione, but thought better of it.
"Yeah, Weasley. I found her." Draco sneered.
Harry stepped forward. "It's pretty easy to find someone if you know where you left them. No teachers in here now, Malfoy. Did you do it?" He snarled.
Draco gave them a pained look. "No, you moron, I didn't do it. I don't see why you idiots aren't down on your knees thanking me."
Ron stepped forward. "Because you're a Malfoy. I don't need you to look after my sister, that's my job. We don't want anything to do with you or your father. He should have been locked up from the beginning, after what he did to her." He said, nodding at Ginny.
Draco was puzzled. What had his father done to her? He vaguely remembered his father saying something about the Weasley bitch ruining his master's plans, but he couldn't quite remember what it had been about, something about the Chamber of Secrets.
Something Ron said clinched in Draco. He looked up at the fuming red-head, and snarled back. "You can look after her? I find that hard to believe. Where were you when she was lying at the bottom of the stairs, draining away? Why didn't you notice that she wasn't at the breakfast table? When would you have finally realized she was missing if Werner and I hadn't found her? When she was lying somewhere ten times worse, dead? Good job taking care of your little sister, Weasley." He growled, crossing his arms over his chest and turned his back on them.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked back and forth to one another. Hermione bit her lip. "Malfoy." She said, hesitantly.
Draco whirled around. "What?" He drawled.
Hermione shifted her weight from one foot to another. "Isn't there something you want to tell them?" She asked.
Draco smirked. "Yeah. In fact, I have two things to say to you. Sod. Off." He swiveled around and sat back down in the chair beside Ginny's bed.
Harry and Hermione held Ron back as he tried to lunge for Malfoy. Unfortunately, Madame Pomfrey walked in at that moment, holding a glass of light blue liquid.
"Gracious! I have patients to take care of and a girl who needs rest. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in my ward." She said, shooing Ron, Harry, and Hermione out of the hospital wing, Ron still beside himself with rage.
Draco couldn't help but grin. Taunting the Weasleys and Co. was becoming more enjoyable and easier by the day.
Madame Pomfrey sat Ginny up. She was looking much more human now, although her face and arms were covered in bandages. "I need to make sure she doesn't sleep for too long. If she has a concussion, sleep can be fatal." She explained, emptying the glass down Ginny's throat. She stepped away, and glanced back at Draco.
"She should wake up in a few minutes. If you would stay with her; she'll wake up for a few minutes, then she should drop back off again. Just make sure she's okay. If she has any trouble, come get me. I have to go tend to another patient. I do wish the girls would stop trying to hex their freckles off." She smiled fondly at Ginny. "This one tried to, a few years ago. Wasn't too bad, compared to some of them." Muttering about students going to extremities to achieve perfection, she stalked off.
Draco turned back to Ginny, who was beginning to stir. After a minute, her hand opened and closed and her eyelids flickered open for a second, before closing again as she groaned sleepily. She put her restored hand to her head, where a large bandage was over the tiny scrape that had been her huge slash.
"Gods, what a headache." She muttered, finally opening her eyes completely.
She stared uncomprehendingly at Draco for a few seconds. Then the events of the past few hours came rushing back. "Draco!" She hissed, sitting up rapidly, only to fall back on her pillows, wincing.
Draco sat up in his chair, trying not to look too concerned. "Well, nice to see you're still alive, Weasley. You do realize you're not supposed to walk down the stairs on your head, don't you?" He jeered as she felt the bandage on her head.
"Wha-what happened?" She asked thickly.
Draco frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me. When you didn't show up for breakfast I- eh- your Werner friend got worried and sent me out on an expedition to find you. Which I did, lying at the bottom of the stairs."
What he couldn't tell her, or even begin to describe, was the wrenching twinge he'd felt in his chest when he'd seen her sprawled out on the floor, as if dead. What he couldn't explain were the emotions that had run through him in the following time; horror, fear, anger, horror again, and an overwhelming sense of regret and guilt.
Ginny's brow creased. "I woke up late…the common room was empty…everyone was down at breakfast…I left the common room…the halls were clear, so I decided to go on my own…I took the back staircase…and…" She frowned. What had happened after that?
Her eyes darkened and Draco was startled to see her fists curl up into tiny balls.
"Someone pushed me." She snarled.
Draco nodded.
"Did you see who it was?" He asked, none too gently.
Ginny paused, staring into his unfathomably deep eyes. Usually completely unreadable, they mirrored anger. She opened her mouth, shut it, then shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry." She mumbled feebly, staring down at her hands folded in her lap.
The misery in her voice softened his scowl slightly. He took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb along the back in tiny circles. "Weasley, you have nothing to be sorry for, besides going out by yourself, and that's not even entirely your fault. You were pushed down a flight of stairs. If anyone's sorry, it's me." He hesitated.
She picked her head up. "Why? You didn't do anything either." She cocked her head.
Draco sighed and took her one hand between his two. His gaze followed the long, slender fingers, up and down each one, landing on the angry red welt where her bone had been protruding earlier. His face set.
"I'm sorry, Weasley. I really am. But I think we should stop…seeing each other." He finished, waiting for her reaction.
At first, Ginny's heavily medicated mind didn't fully comprehend what he'd said. When it did, her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach. Her mouth had a bitter, metallic taste to it. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. What she was lacking in verbal communication, she was making up for in tears, which her eyes were producing rapidly.
"Why?" She croaked, her hands shaking.
Draco groaned inwardly. He did not need her to cry right now. If she started crying, he couldn't be held accountable for his actions. Trying not to look at her face, he stared down at her hand in his.
"Because of those damn Slytherins. Weasley, you don't know them. Especially Pansy. She'd kill you if she saw a good reason to. And the two of us together is apparently a good motive for murder."
Ginny pulled her hand from Draco, forcing back tears. She swore to herself that she wouldn't cry, not in front of him.
"Is that why, Draco? Really. Be honest." She said quietly.
Draco sighed exasperatedly. "What do I have to say to make you understand?"
Ginny put her finger under Draco's chin, her cool touch forcing him to look into her eyes, which were respectively dry, but agonizingly poignant.
"Tell me you don't care about me. Forget Pansy and the rest of them, I don't give a damn about them. But look me in the eye and tell me I don't mean a thing to you. Tell me you don't ever want to have anything to do with me again. Tell me to go to hell. Tell me to rip my heart out and hand it to you so you can take it when you go, because if you tell me that, honestly, I'll believe you, and I'll let you go without another word." She said, breathing heavily trying to stem the flow of sobs that were welling up in her throat.
Draco gazed intently in her coffee-colored eyes. Don't make me do this. He thought. She didn't back down, she just kept staring at him balefully. He breathed in deeply.
"I-I don't care about you." He stammered, and focused on her cheek, right below her eye; finding this easier, he continued. "I don't give a damn about you." He said softly, then continued more harshly. "You don't mean a thing to me, you never did. I never want to talk to you or even set eyes on your repulsive face again. I'm probably going to have to incinerate my entire wardrobe to get rid of your filth." He smirked at her, though one glance at her face caused him more pain than he thought it was possible for her to create.
She was trembling unstably, though she'd still refrained from crying.
"Seriously, Draco?" She whispered, praying he'd tell her no.
Draco nodded and forced an insulting sneer on his face. "Go to hell Weasley." He said, and stormed off.
Ginny didn't sob. She didn't scream, or moan, though she desperately wanted to. She simply sat, upright, staring down at her hands as tears coursed down her cheeks, splashing onto the front of her hospital clothes.
"You forgot to take my heart with you, Draco." She whispered, to no one.