Author's Note: This chapter takes place two days after the last one, so it's Friday. There is a longer note at the bottom because I wanted to just jump into the story. Here goes.

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine except for random ones and Professor Martin. Only the plot es mio.

Analyze This

"Aren't you bored?" Colin whined.

Ginny put her quill down and rubbed her eyes.

"No, actually, I'm having the time of my life. See, I figure that I'd better do a bunch of really long essays while I have the chance since I'm in counseling with a madman. Isn't that the way everyone spends their last days, Colin?"

Colin shifted on his side of Ginny's bed.

"Someone's grumpy."

Ginny only had so many sarcastic comments in her, so she settled for glaring at her companion. Sighing gustily, she picked up her quill once more and scribbled a few more lines on her Transfiguration essay. Looking over it one last time, Ginny blew over it gently to dry the ink and then rolled it up, taking care not to smudge it.

Then she thrust the parchment into Colin's hands.

"Finally finished! I've done Potions and this one; if there's anything else, bring it on." Colin was still and Ginny gave him a long look. "Well? Is there anything else?"

Colin grimaced and got up from his seat, mumbling about leaving his warm bed.

"It's hardly yours," said Ginny. "But if you want to trade places with me, I wouldn't mind…what is that?"

Colin heaved a large pile of papers onto the side of the bed that he had previously occupied.

"I'm 'bringing it on', Ginny. All of our new essays and assignments." Colin plopped back on Ginny's bed, joggling her relentlessly.

Ginny turned her back on the blond boy who was once more grinning lazily.

"Don't you people have any sympathy for the afflicted?"

Colin opened one of his closed eyes and mumbled, "Yeah, that's why I'm here…spending precious moments of my time…" he yawned "with you." Winking, he closed his lid.

Ginny twisted around and shoved a pillow over Colin's face. "Yeah…mmhm, sure…taking naps on my bed…" She closed her eyes for a second. "I…I feel…"

"Uh kun breeve!" came the muffled voice from under the pillow.

Ginny stood up quickly with only the smallest of winces.

"Exactly! Like I can't breathe!" She turned around to face him. "I…I'm going stir crazy in this room. I can't remember the last time I saw a wall that wasn't smeared in white!"

Colin gave Ginny an anxious look; his hair unkempt from being smothered.

"You'll get out tomorrow, Ginny. I promise you."

"That's what you said yesterday," Ginny moaned loudly. "And last time I remember, Gryffindor House colors weren't white on white."

Colin got up and put his hands on the redhead's shoulders.

"Stop whining!" Colin said, complaining also. "Anyway, it's not so bad in here; the white is kind of cheerful, in a very…sterile…clean way…"

An anguished moan sounded through the room from three rows away. "I'm dying!"

Colin looked very disturbed; Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. "Very cheerful," she said sarcastically.

A Ravenclaw first-year had broken his arm during his quidditch lesson the day before and had been very vocal about his situation since he arrived.

"Certainly sterile. Sort of reminds me of those photos we saw of a Muggle morgue."

Colin peered once more at the poor boy three rows away, "Yeah… 'cept everyone there was already dead…"

Another prolonged groan of agony.

Colin blinked nervously and pulled Ginny back over to her bed.

"D'you think we should be a bit quieter for the poor bloke? He sounds like he's had a rough night," whispered Colin.

"Life is pain!" Ginny snapped loudly. "We're in an infirmary, not a bleeding graveyard; if he wanted quiet he should've looked there."

There was silence from three rows away.

Colin gave Ginny a surprised look. "I'll remember that for you the next time someone hits a bludger through your head."

Ginny glanced away from him, contrite and Colin sat back on the pillow that Ginny hadn't used to kill him. While Ginny studiously looked away from him, Colin studied her appraisingly.

"See, I though that you might've wanted to stay here for a few more days so that Malfoy couldn't get to you…but it sounds like he's getting to you just fine…"

Ginny gave Colin a shrewd look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Colin's eyebrow rose. "You tell me, Ms. Have-some-sympathy-for-the-afflicted. Since when are you the type to yell at a man when he's down?"

"He's not a man," Ginny grumbled. "He's an annoying little boy."

"He's in pain!" Colin exclaimed.

"I can think of worse!" Ginny protested. "Like…like a sick kneazle…or…or a crying puppy…or something…"

"He's as good as that!" said Colin.

"Hey!" sounded a sniffly voice from three rows away.

"Pipe down, puppy!" Ginny shouted, pulling the hangings shut around the bed that she and Colin were on.

"Ginny!" said Colin, sitting up. "What's wrong with you? This is more than a mild case of irritability." Ginny leaned away from him and refused to answer. "Fine, I'll leave so that Malfoy can come and you two won't be disturbed."

"I'm not going to beg you to stay," Ginny said stoically.

The blond sat up.

"Colin!"

The door to the Hospital Wing suddenly swung open noiselessly. Instead of the visitor bringing good cheer, he was greeted with a frown from Colin and a scowl from Ginny.

"Looks like someone got rewarded for his good bedside manners," said Draco smirking. "If you're finished, Weasley and I have things we need to do. Begone, urchin."

Colin glared at Draco and slid off the bed slowly. Before he was off completely, though, he leaned back so that he could speak to her without the other occupant of the room hearing him.

"Looks like my time's up. I'll see what I can do to get you out of here. No more yelling at the other poor souls in here." Ginny nodded quickly.

"If you're done whispering sweet nothings into the Weasel's ear, I'd like you to leave, Creevey."

Colin's fists balled up as he walked out of the door. "I'll leave when I please, Malfoy."

"Yeah, sure," said Draco, closing the door in Colin's face. He walked over to the chair which had become almost become his chair in Ginny's room and sat down.

"There was no need to be rude," Ginny said, already angry. Draco hadn't even been in the room for ten minutes and already her blood pressure was rising. "But of course you never need a reason."

Draco waved his hand flippantly; he was obviously in his 'high-and-mighty' mood today. "I don't follow your rules, Weasley." He shut his eyes.

Ginny was not pleased. "Why is everyone falling asleep when they are supposed to be keeping me company?" she muttered.

Draco sneered. "You've forgotten yourself. I am not here to enjoy myself, like Creevey. I am not here to keep you company. I am here against my will, so please refrain from informing me about your failed sexual attempts with your little friend."

With every word that Draco uttered, Ginny could feel her anger augmenting.

"Colin is my friend, you vapid waste of hair dye."

"Oh, I'm so terribly hurt, Carrot Top." He looked at Ginny and put a hurt face on. "Nothing stings like recycled insults."

"I could say the same, Malfoy."
Draco frowned. "Aw, my comments on your love life not delivering their usual thrust?"

Ginny turned her nose up at him. "You're disgusting."

The blond only shrugged. "Don't knock me 'till you tried me."

Ginny laughed at that. "I think I've knocked you around plenty – ask your jaw about it if you've forgotten."

The icy glare that was sent Ginny's way almost made her want to recall what she had just said. Almost.

"Do you know what is so utterly sad about your life that frankly it's despicable, Weasley?"

Ginny gave him an even stare. "Go on, enlighten me."

Draco sat up and looked Ginny straight in the face.

"That hitting me was probably the best moment of your life. There will never be a higher point of your meaningless existence than the time that you hit me across the face. How terribly, terribly pitiful."

Draco faced Ginny until the effect of his words sink in.

"Now," he said when he was finished, "I'd like to return to my nap. Verbally sparring with you just takes so much out of me."

"Yes," said Ginny furiously, "let's not let little Malfoy catch the vapors. How lucky that you've got such strong constitution."

But Draco said nothing more, and Ginny was forced to spend the rest of the afternoon alternately staring at the wall, glaring with frightening intensity at Draco, and hoping that the Ravenclaw three rows away would make a noise – any noise – so that she could have someone to take her ire out on.

That only led Ginny to feeling even more frustrated with Draco…and admittedly herself. Her unusual complaining with Colin was merely a tool to achieve what she wanted. It was a rather annoying tool, but very effective.

Ginny had been longing to leave the infirmary ever since she woke up, but she was normally not the type to whine about it. What was done was done; and as she wanted desperately to play Slytherin in the rematch and whoop them unmercifully, it was imperative (as Madam Pomfrey refused to let her forget) that she be cooperative. That included the whole deal: taking her stomach turning potions, getting enough sleep to make the dead restless, and not saying a word about it (lest Madam Pomfrey hear someone dispute her practices).

Then Draco came to 'visit'.

Adding all of his infuriating smugness that could never be diminished, with the factor that he was easily aroused to anger, made Ginny want to be as far away from him as possible. And all that Professor Martin would tell Ginny is to find out his favorite Florean Fortescue ice cream flavor. How useful would that be if Ginny was busy combating her need to hex him?

Then there was the whole broom incident…

It still gave Ginny shudders to think about it. That was why she continually found herself provoking his anger even more in the past two days, although she told herself that she wouldn't after the first counseling session. Knowing what she did about Draco Malfoy, Ginny reasoned that he would try and use that night against her in any way possible; and so to reassure him that she was not some simpering little girl, she had to continually piss him off.

'It's hard to appear intimidating if I'm smothered underneath thousands of blankets and leaking potions out of my arse…' Ginny reflected, frowning. She frowned even deeper at the imagery that her thought had produced.

Taking one last look at Draco, Ginny fell asleep, trying to keep one eye open on the odd chance that Draco tried to catch her unaware.

All her hard work at being as annoying as possible with Colin better have been productive, or that little boy was going to really understand the meaning of scapegoat.

"Ginny, my hand's turning purple…"

The redhead in question looked down at her friend's appendage.

"Oh, sorry, Lark." She gave the dark-haired girl an anxious smile and then watched as Madam Pomfrey continued to bustle around her bed. The matron was making nondescript noises like 'hmm' and 'alright then…' It was getting on Ginny's last nerve. Many things seemed to be doing that lately. All she needed was her freedom back. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be flying outside right now…

"So…what's the diagnosis?" asked Ginny tentatively.

No response except for three questionable beeps from Madam Pomfrey's wand.

"No flying on a broom until Sunday. No running, no heavy loads, no heavy breathing – if that happens, come to me right away."

Ginny nodded succinctly. "Does this mean –?"

"No staying up late, don't eat too much sugar – it could give you headache. If you get one, come to me right away, understand?" Ginny nodded and opened her mouth to speak. A thermometer was stuck in it. "Hmm…" said Madam Pomfrey.

Lark grinned and Ginny glared at her.

"Keep your mouth closed, Missy," piped the thermometer in a squealy whine that grated on Ginny's nerves.

Lark shook her head. "Magic never ceases to amaze me."

"You too, Miss," whined the thermometer.

Lark looked away from the object in question mumbling something about 'magical objects not being impervious to everything'. Seeing as Ginny was able to understand that much of what Lark, said, it was just as easy for Madam Pince to hear her.

"She's fit to go!" said the thermometer. "Just needs to make sure her temperature stay down."

Pince took the thermometer from Ginny's mouth, admonishing Lark at the same time.

"I'll have none of that, Ms. Piston. My objects are very valuable and hard to come by. Vandalism of any of them would be highly punished."

Lark gave as apologetic a look at Madam Pince as she could. "Sorry."

The matron nodded briskly. She then looked at Ginny and sighed. "I suppose that I'll have to let you go..."

"Yes!"

Madam Pince gave Ginny another stern look, also looking slightly alarmed at Ginny's obvious relief.

"But at the tiniest bit of discomfort, a headache, or anything like that, you must come to me right away." She then began to rattle off the list of potions that Ginny would need to come back later for.

Sobering up a little, Ginny helped Madam Pomfrey remove the remaining bandages from around her torso.

"Really, though," she said to the mediwitch, "Thank you."

The older woman nodded impatiently and pressed her hand to Ginny's forehead fretfully.

"It's all right; that's what I'm here for." She watched Ginny and Lark walk away. "Remember," she called, "at the slightest inkling of any pain…"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," said Ginny, "I'll come straight to you."

 "Nervous much?" asked Lark once they were out in the hall, massaging her hand.

"Well, I didn't think that I was going to get to leave!" said Ginny defensively. Stopping and taking a deep breath so that Lark who was behind her almost ran into her back, Ginny threw her arms open. "Hogwarts! Dear Hogwarts, I thought you had forgotten me!" She was about to run down the hall when Lark grabbed the back of her shirt.

"It's not like we didn't try, Gin," she said, pulling the redhead beside her. "Remember, no running or anything like that. Or did you forget what that dragon Pomfrey said already?"

"She's not a dragon, Lark," said Ginny walking calmly. "And you did threaten to break her thermometer."

Lark crossed her arms. "That thing was a nuisance. Only someone like Madam Pomfrey would train their equipment to chastise patients. 'No fun! You'll develop an ulcer!'" she mocked. Ginny snorted. Sighing, Lark added, "I should've known not to say anything anyway. If ever I try to step 'out of line', I'm the type who always gets caught. No adventures for me."

"Yeah," said Ginny, looking at Lark earnestly, "because you really seem like the type to enjoy falling off a broom from dizzying heights."

Lark actually looked a bit scared of the idea.

"So where are we going anyway?" Ginny asked shifting topic. "Transfiguration or something?"

Lark looked amused.

"Are you that off schedule already?" Ginny shrugged. "It's almost time for dinner."

"Dinner?" Ginny said with surprise.

"Yup," said Lark nodding. "I came to see you on the break that I have after lunch because of Arithmancy." Ginny was disbelieving. "Check your watch if you don't think so."

Ginny shook her head. "My stuff's still back in the Infirmary; I believe you, though. I just can't see how the day's gone so quickly."

"Quickly?!" exclaimed Lark. "I thought it would never end! In my opinion we should already be in bed."

"Definitely not!" Ginny said fervently. "Any more bed rest and I'll go mad."

"It figures," said the dark haired girl. "All you've done is sleeping all day. When I came in to check on you, you were napping." Lark grinned. "I would have yelled at you to wake up and stop being lazy, but it seemed like you had been working pretty hard."

Ginny looked skeptical.

"Sure you were," said Lark. "You had your wand in your hand and everything. You must've fallen asleep doing Transfiguration homework or something."

Still chatting, the duo eventually reached the doors to the Great Hall and opened them up. Ambling over to their table, there was a massive uproar when they were noticed.

"GINNY!"

"The queen is back!"

"I thought she died and was buried in the Forbidden Forest…"

"She who is most high has been returned to her brethren!"

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting out?!"

"All hail Ginny, the Seeker of my heart!"

"Wanna go beat up some Slytherins?!"

Slightly dazed but appreciative of everyone who was welcoming her back, Ginny slipped into her niche beside Colin, Lark across from her.

"Did Seamus put Fire Whiskey in the pumpkin juice again?" Ginny inquired facing Colin.

The boy she just mentioned bounded up to her.

"Ginny, I'm ashamed that you would think such a thing."

"Whatever," she said grinning, watching as Lark tried to avoid seeming too interested.

"We're glad to have you back," he admitted. "It gives us an excuse to have a party in the common room tonight." He winked. Ginny laughed outright.

"Well, you have Lark to thank for breaking me out."

Seamus raised an interested eyebrow.

"Hey, hey, hey, what about me?" asked Colin, butting his was in. "It was me you went iffy on, like some kind of rabid house elf."

Seamus shrugged. "I don't think I'll want to thank you the same way I want to thank Lark." Colin and Ginny shared a laugh over Lark's bright red face. "See you at the party!" He practically hopped back into his seat.

"La-ark," sang Ginny.

"What?" said the blushing girl, looking up.

"Still want to help catch me up on the work?"

"Don't be silly, Ginny," said Lark. "You need your rest."

"And she'll get plenty of that at a wild party," said Colin.

Lark shrugged. "You said it, not me."

"Why didn't you tell me first that you were getting out?" boomed a loud voice from further down.

Ginny put her face in her hands and prepared to be chastised.

"Hello, Ron, how is N.E.W.T. revision going?" she asked.

"Terribly," he shot at her. "Because I've been worrying over my sister who's been in the Hospital Wing for days."

Harry snorted.

"And Hermione's been a great consoler," he said.

"Never mind that," snapped Ron. "Push over," he said to Colin. "There's a mate." Ginny rolled her eyes as he sat down. "How're you feeling?"

"Absolutely, one-hundred percent fantabulous," said Ginny.

Ron frowned.

"Really, Ron, stop attacking her," ordered Hermione. "Can't you see she's joking?"

"An interrogation is necessary," Ron told Hermione. "Ginny's usually this whacked when she's not sick; there's no other way to find out if her brains aren't rattled all over the place."

"I hardly think that Madam Pomfrey would have released Ginny had her 'brains been rattled', Ron."

"Well it's not like she's the most sensitive person…always shoving great chunks of chocolate down our throats…"

"My mistake," said Hermione with asperity, "I'd forgotten that you like to shove chocolate down your own mouth."

"Would you two stop bickering like five-year-olds for one minute?" said Harry despairingly. "You're driving all of us insane."

On the contrary, everyone looked quite amused.

"If there's one good thing about you being out, it's that I won't have to face that alone," said Harry, gesturing to his best friends.

Ginny leaned forward and patted the bespectacled boy on the hand.

"I think that you've done a great deed putting up with this in my absence," she said gravely.

"If only my nerves could say the same," said Harry, waving as he walked back to his seat.

"Now look what you've done," Hermione said goading Ron. "You've annoyed Harry, Ginny, Lark, and Colin."

"And I'm sure that you had no part whatsoever in that, Hermione," said Ron, standing up. "I'll see you in the common room, Ginny. Don't over-exert yourself at the party." He followed Harry back to where they had been before, still bickering with Hermione along the way.

"God, those three can be such a handful sometimes," said Ginny, picking at her food. She was in no mood to eat after slurping down restorative potions all day.

"Hey, Ginny!" shouted Sebastian Chintz from a few seats away. "Way to take one for the team!"

"Thanks!" said Ginny, smiling at him.

For the remainder of dinner, each member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team made their way to Ginny to thank her for her sacrifice. Ginny was grateful that they acknowledged her and seemed to miss her; all the same she found herself understanding how Harry felt – on a much smaller scale of course. It was odd to be thanked for something unfortunate happening to her.

Ginny was still mulling over that when she decided to head up to the common room. Seamus had left at least half an hour earlier, and Lark, wanting to be a good friend had not complained that she wanted to leave dinner – it was obvious, anyway.

As Ginny lagged a little behind her friends, someone came up from behind her and slapped her on the back none too gently.

"If it isn't our new celebrity, Weasel Queen," said the simpering voice of Pansy Parkinson.

"Jealous much?" asked Ginny, grimacing inwardly from Pansy's 'tap'. "I don't mind giving you an autograph."

"Why would I want that rubbish?" said Pansy, smirking unbecomingly.

"Because Pansy," said Ginny benevolently, "I'm sure that if you sold it to the right person, you'd get enough money to buy a life."

"I've already got more money than you could ever dream about," retorted Pansy. "Your grubby little hands are just itching to have it, aren't they?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes…yes…positively itching," said Ginny. She yawned widely. "Sorry, but I've got to go dream about stealing the money that you scrimped and scraped for."

"You go do that, Weasley!" Pansy said imperiously, not realizing that she had been moderately insulted and not taken seriously at all.

She returned to her Draco thinking about new insults that she could blast on Ginny the next day. Draco had seemed a bit pensive lately – at least more than usual – and Weasley bashing would cheer him up. If that didn't work, she could think of other ways…

And of course, being Pansy, she was very vocal to him about those other ways.

"Some other time, Pansy," said Draco with an air of great boredom. The strange thing, she reflected, was that he wasn't pretending to be bored. She hated it when he did that and was now able to detect when he was faking it.

"But Draco," she pouted looking far more attractive than she did when she was being nasty to Ginny, "you said that after the Quidditch match with Weasley. And I think that the other time is now…"

Putting a well-manicured hand on his chest, Pansy looked earnestly into Draco's gray eyes, hoping that somehow, her brown ones could enchant him into saying yes. And for a second, it seemed to work. Draco stared into Pansy's eyes for at least a full two minutes (she could hardly contain her excitement) and leaned down even closer. She could see his soft lips coming closer and closer to her own and she shut her eyes in eager expectation…and something came…only not what she wanted.

"Maybe. Another. Time, Pansy," he said, his face right next to her own. Sensing that Pansy might start wailing from his teasing – he knew that he was teasing her and relished in it – Draco continued. Taking her hand off of his chest he placed it in between his own hands. "See, I'm actually rather exhausted from meeting Weasley today."

Pansy's eyes flashed angrily. "Is that brat giving you a hard time, Draco?" she asked.

Draco smirked, forgetting for a second the image he was trying to portray. If Ginny was trying to give him a hard time, it was only because she wanted to give as much as she got from him.

"What do you think?" he asked instead. Pansy's eyes narrowed even more. "So, I think that it would be best for me to prolong our little encounter until I'm not feeling as stressed. I'd like to give you my full attention, and I can't do that with Weasley on my mind."

A slow smile slid along Pansy's lips. "I understand completely, Draco. And I can't wait." Giving him a small kiss on the cheek, Pansy hopped up and headed for her own common room. Halfway there when she was near the Gryffindor table, Draco saw her snapping at someone, though he didn't know why.

After another twenty minutes of watching Crabbe and Goyle play a rousing game of "who can eat more servings at dinner?"

Draco decided to head up himself. When he went past the Gryffindor table, he found out why Pansy had been so irked. The whole Gryffindor table was being unbelievably rowdy – more so than usual, which was completely disgusting. And as usual, Dumbledore had nothing to say about it. He found himself unable to even look at the wizened wizard for fear of sending a nasty curse his way. Lately, all of Draco's problems seemed to stem from one person – She-Who-He-Refused-To-Name.

He had only told Pansy half of the truth when she asked him about Ginny. He was actually feeling rather mellow after their meeting that day. Not that they had had any stimulating conversation after he verbally redressed her, but he had gotten a good nap out of the whole thing. If it got back to Professor Martin or Dumbledore that they often refused to speak to each other, he was half afraid that the old wizard would find some way to make him spend time with Ginny over the summer to finish their punishment.

The meeting after Ginny's broom comment (after which Draco found himself pounding his head against a wall for even coming that close to a Weasley) on Thursday was one of the most uncomfortable times that Draco had spent in his entire life. Neither one of them could even bring themselves to be malicious to the other; so the whole afternoon was spent with them sitting silently: Ginny in her bed and Draco in his chair. The only things that punctured the silence were Ginny's death glares. Ginny seemed to want to kill him by sheer force of her gaze; as if somehow he had forced her to want to…to…to what exactly, Draco didn't want to figure out. Draco could tell that Ginny was cursing herself for being enticed by him, and he was cursing himself for being the enticer…or whatever he was.

'At least today returned to some semblance of normality,' thought Draco, now far from the Great Hall.

Once more Ginny seemed absolutely infuriated by his sheer presence, and that was what he wanted. He remembered being completely thrown off by her comment on "everyone falling asleep when they should have been keeping her company". Did that mean that she wanted his company? Well, one thing was sure; he assured himself with each step, he wasn't there to comfort her. That was Creevey's job.

'And doing a damn good job of it,' Draco thought nastily.

Colin's ruffled hair and lounging on Ginny's bed was obvious evidence that he was doing more than giving her homework. And then the creepy little boy had the nerve to speak up to him; but doors are used for more than one purpose, Draco mused. They were perfect for shutting them in the faces of people like Colin Creevey.

In some ways he was glad that he had been so rude to Colin. It gave Ginny something to yell at him for. Now, Draco was certainly not being masochistic. It was something worse. He needed company. Her company. Because he would be damned if he was going to waste another afternoon just sitting on a chair and not even have the pleasure of watching Ginny's face redden and screw up with anger when he said something offhanded.

The afternoon sort of dulled off from that point though, Draco remembered. After he had closed his eyes, Draco listened to hear what Ginny would do. But after a few moments of her rustling around, there was complete silence. When he had opened his eyes slightly, he saw an image that was still implanted in his mind. Ginny had pulled the covers right up to her chin, and on closer inspection, he saw a tiny bud that was the tip of her wand sticking out of it.

Not realizing that he was smiling, Draco delved deeper into the image. It was as if she expected him to attack her at any moment, so she wanted to be ready. As if he would do that. (It was so much more fun when the person was aware of being attacked). Her hair had somehow managed to escape being trapped under the blankets, so it fell around her head in unruly waves. And her lips were pursed together tightly as if a hex was on the verge of bursting out at a moment's notice. He wondered what they would have said if they were relaxed, and not about to shout an insult his way. The kinds of things they might do…

The hand that wasn't clutching her wand was clutching the blanket for dear life. If they had been clutching his shirt instead, like they had so wanted to do two nights ago, how would it have felt…? Would it have been like that dream he had…?

And then he abruptly ended that train of thought.

He should not have come onto the Weasel like he had.

He should not have acted on a stupid dream.

He should not have had that dream in the first place.

He should not have to feel guilty for having one, lousy dream!

Draco groaned out loud from sheer frustration. One thing was certain.

He should have taken Pansy up on her offer.

The party was definitely in full swing.

Ginny was sure that if some of Gryffindor could swing off the ceiling, they would have.

The moment Ginny had stepped through the portrait, a great cheer rose; a huge crowd rushed forward and carried her over to a chair.

"Sit; relax yourself," had been her various orders, and she didn't mind complying. Any tiredness that she had felt vanished when she went to take her potions at the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey offered to let Ginny take them to her dormitory with her, but Ginny had declined. If she were given that responsibility, she would almost certainly have forgotten to comply.

Ginny banished those thoughts with another swig of butterbeer that Harry had nicked from the kitchens via Dobby and his elf comrades. The fizzy yet smooth drink was way too good, and the music blaring way to loud to think about medicines and bandages.

"Hey, Ginny! Get over here!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. One day Ron would learn manners; it was impossible that Hermione would let him loose on the world without training first. About to ask Lark if it was okay that she went over to talk to her brother and his friends for a second, Ginny decided against it. Lark was deep in conversation with Parvati. She was sure that it had something to do with Seamus, and cared to know about it, but being a little distracted only allowed her to pay attention halfway. Lark was frowning slightly, but she wasn't upset, so Ginny deemed it safe to leave the two of them.

Looking around for Colin in the madness, Ginny thought she might have seen the top of his blond head somewhere on the other side of the room chatting with a few other boys in their year.

"What's up?" Ginny asked Ron when she reached him.

He beckoned her to come closer with his hand. Harry was sitting across from him, and Hermione was sitting next to Ron on the floor with various papers spread all around her. A large foot stepped on one of them.

"You could watch where you're walking!" she shouted at the person's back. In the next minute a few drips of butterbeer splattered on them. Seeing the older girl about to spontaneously combust, Ginny looked nervously at Ron and wondered if she should intervene.

"Er, maybe this isn't the best time or place to be revising, Hermione," said Ginny cautiously.

Ron shook his head. "It's no good; she won't listen to a word Harry or I say."

"Well I told you to talk to Seamus and Dean about having a party tonight. There are more important things to do right now than…chugging down butterbeers and…and get down those stairs!" Hermione shouted at a sixth-year boy who was trying to escape upstairs to the girls' dorm. Harry and Ron sniggered at the very disappointed boy. Hermione huffed and turned her attentions back to Ron's sister. "Don't think that I'm not thrilled to have you back, Ginny – I really am. It's just that I wanted the party moved to tomorrow night, because tomorrow's a Saturday and that's fine for having fun."

"Only you would allot a special time for fun," said Harry.

"There is a time for work and there is a time for play. You two asked me to help you make a schedule for the N.E.W.T.s so that you wouldn't fall behind like you did fifth-year. And now you're slacking off. Don't ask me for help when you can't find time to revise for Potions," said Hermione calmly.

Ron glared at her. "Harry and I have allotted this time for Quidditch revision with Ginny. That's just as important."

The only response Ron received was a very loud snort from Hermione and the sound of her quill scraping the paper.

"Why don't we start the, er…Quidditch allotted…revision, then?" Ginny asked, looking at Harry.

He nodded and then gestured at the table in between himself and Ron. What Ginny had written off as a normal chess setting was actually much different.

Harry looked on with a pleased eye as Ginny admired the board.

"Like it?" he asked.

"It's great!" Ginny said honestly. "Did you get help from Fred and George?"

"Hem, hem," came a small voice by the floor.

Ron rolled his eyes and Ginny saw where she had picked the habit up.

"And Hermione too," he said.

Harry continued on. "Remember that nice little display Ron had in the beginning of the first Slytherin match?"

Ginny nodded. "How could I forget?"

"Right. See, after we came to visit you when you woke up, Ron and I were strategizing. The Slytherins really pulled a foul one on us, and we definitely don't want that to happen again."

Ron picked up the ball. "So Harry sent an owl to the twins asking how they had sort of programmed the figurines to act the way they did. And what they had done was enchant the snaky things to have all the nasty characteristics that Slytherins have, and the griffin all the ones that we've got. Fred and George made the griffin snuff the serpent, but it was also partially instinctual…see the whole thing is rather complicated…"

"It's not that hard," Hermione interjected. "Fred and George created synthetic knowledge using this really nice charm – I actually didn't know that they had that kind of magical discipline. I mean I figured that must have because of all the stunts they pulled –" Ron coughed. "Anyway they taught me the spell because they couldn't give up anymore of the griffins or serpents as they needed it for stock – their sales went higher after the Slytherin match. They gave us the 'shells' of the figurines, but I had to enchant them. Ron helped make some of figurines actually…his are the ones that look like green worms." Ron glared at her.

"Because I had this idea," Harry put in, "that if we made smaller versions of those things and put them on a chess board – also programming them with the knowledge that normal wizard chess pieces have ("Normal!" scoffed Hermione) – they wouldn't just go for attacking each other, they would play out a game."

"And so you could see the kind of strategizing that Slytherins use in a game!" This was from Ginny. "That's brilliant Harry!"

He blushed; he was never one to take compliments well, Ginny thought with a mental sigh.

"Er…thanks. So, you see, we have decided to impart some of the knowledge we've derived from this with you."

"Welcome back to the fold," said Ron gravely.

Hermione rolled her eyes. It seemed like she caught it from Ron as well.

The next two hours were spent strategizing with the 'Quidditch Twins' (Ginny dubbed Harry and Ron that as they were Quidditch fanatics and were also diabolical) with various butterbeer and snack breaks. Even Hermione decided to join in after awhile, and helped construct a couple of plays. Ginny thought that she saw Lark dance a couple songs with Seamus and Colin snapping away at them with his camera. She caught his eye across the room and he smiled shamelessly. Lots of people were going to be blackmailed after this…

Ginny cracked up when she saw a blown up picture of the Quidditch team hanging over the fireplace.

In the picture, Harry was proudly holding up a snitch that won the Cup in his sixth-year. The odd thing was that instead of Harry's unruly black hair and crooked grin, Ginny was smiling. Someone had placed her face over Harry. The heading over it said: Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor Seeker. Ron slapped Ginny/Harry on the back in the picture, and Ginny watched as she saw herself suddenly drop to the ground. She was extremely disturbed until she saw her picture self's hand pop up in the air, holding the snitch, a thumb's up on the other hand.

"Compliments of Fred and George," Hermione said exasperatedly, seeing where Ginny was looking.

"You're the only one that doesn't like it, Hermione," said Ron complacently.

"It's disturbing!" Hermione insisted. "Don't you think so, Ginny?"

Ginny gave Ron an amused look. "I was kind of concerned for a moment there when I just toppled to the ground like that."

"Your mother thought so, too," said Hermione. "That's why the twins sent it here. She forbade it at the Burrow when Fred and George tried to hang it up there."

Ron's mouth was open. "How do you know all of this?" he asked.

Hermione sat up a little straighter. "She sent me a letter informing me not to let it hang up, even if you begged."

"Then why's it still up there?" Harry asked over Ron's shouts of, "It's a conspiracy!"

Ron simply stared at her.

She looked rather uncomfortable all of a sudden and kept darting her eyes to and from Ron.

"Well… well Ron kept begging; saying that I was going to spoil your party, Ginny. And since he kept insisting I figured that it could stay up for just tonight."

"So you did it because Ron asked you to, right Hermione?" pressed Harry with a smug look on his face.

"I did it for Ginny," she said.

"I thought you said it would disturb her," said Ron, not understanding at all.

"Well it hasn't!" snapped Hermione. She went off to get a butterbeer, shooting a pointed look at Harry as she left.

"I'll never understand that woman," said Ron sitting back. "She makes no sense at all. Not ever."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not so sure about that, Ron. Maybe it's you who doesn't understand."

"What are you going on about?" asked Ron defensively.

Ginny sniggered. "We're saying that it's your animal magnetism that's got Hermione all-of-a-dither," she teased, putting on her mother's voice.

Ron's ears went red.

"You two've gone mad. That's just…just sick! Hermione's not affected by any animal's…magnetism…" he stammered.

"I'm not so sure about that," said Ginny evasively.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I hear that species Ronsadaftprat is rather persuasive when it wants to be…"

Ginny and Harry shot extremely amused looks at each other when they saw Ron trying to work out what Harry said. His entire face was red by then and he jumped up looking very agitated.

"You two've got issues! You're beyond any redemption!" And with that he stalked off, presumably to find Hermione.

Harry and Ginny fell apart completely when Ron walked away.

They couldn't look at each other without almost passing out from the hilarity of the situation.  It was made even worse when Lark came around with Colin offering some sweets.

"Sour-Face Gummy worms, anyone?"

Harry and Ginny took one look at the chess board and fell out of their chairs.

Lark was bewildered.

"Maybe you should take her up to bed…" Colin suggested.

Lark nodded. That seemed like a good idea.

A bit of an odd note to end it on, but I kind of liked it there. Anyway, my apology shall commence one line below.

Author's Notes: I decided to give a response to everyone who reviewed chapter seven because I really owe a huge thank you to everyone for not flaming me mercilessly. Erg. Not posting for as long as I did was terrible, and I won't even give any lame explanations, I'll just say that it won't go that long ever, ever again. At first, I had terrible writer's block, and didn't write anything. So I wrote a bunch of one-shots and posted those instead. Then I said, hey, I should get my other chapter fic up to speed, so I sort of abandoned it for this one. Once I got up to chapter seven in the other one, I vowed to come back to this story. And it's taken me a very long while, (I also battled against my sheer laziness), but I've finally got another chapter up. Sincerely, honestly, from the bottom of my delinquent heart, I'm very sorry, and I hope you guys aren't too angry with me. Saying that here are the responses:

KawaiiRyu I haven't given up. Partly because of your encouragement. I think that this has been the hugest case of writer's block (mixed with general laziness) I've ever had in my entire life. And I was wondering if it was worth it to continue, so thanks for your review. It made me wake up and realize that I was being stupid. I hope you like this chapter. Morgain Lestrage I'm glad you liked it. Sorry it took so long. jave56 Thanks! Kitti Malfoy Not as soon as you or I would have liked, but its here! shelly2 I'd also like to say thanks to you for your encouragement and reviewing. I hope this chapter was okay. Lee Wow thanks, sorry for the slow update. I'm glad you like the story! infiltrate the enemy fat kid Love your name. Sorry about Ginny seeming weak, but admittedly, I thought that it would be more realistic for her to feel at least a little scared rather than her being like, "I was almost killed, but to hell with that, I don't care!" Anyway, sorry this has taken so long. Hope you like it. DRUIDGIRL Thanks. I think that's part of the reason I haven't updated this story in so long. I didn't want to post anything if it was utter crap, so hopefully the level of crappiness is low. I like your name. Beauty Eclipsed I think Ginny changes a bit in this one too. Thanks for reviewing. kneh 13 I thought that while I was writing it! You cracked me up when I read your review. AnOnYmOuS­pErSoN Thanks a lot! The whole shirt thing though isn't supposed to be related to anything in the (canon) books; I made it up for the story. I can see, though, how it might have been confusing. Sorry about that. But thanks for reviewing. Pudding Speck Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Bitter Angel Thanks; sorry about the wait. I really like your name. I think I should make that a general heading for these responses; everyone's names are really original. Princess Punky Thanks! Scarlett8 Thank you! I love your name; it's the same as one of my best friends', and I've always loved it because of the whole double T thing. Really random, but yeah. Thanks for reviewing! Rockelle Thank you so much. I'm so sorry it's taken so long. I hope you like this one. Mare Tranquillitatis You're a very, very good speculator as you can see from this chapter. It's not going to play a huge deal, I don't think, but you were right. Thanks for reviewing. artemis moonshine I absolutely love your name. Your review made me laugh, sorry it's taken so long. WiDz Thanks! Trinitytzen Thank you so much, I hope that you haven't lost too much sleep. Isadora Thanks so much! cassie Sorry there were only 7, but hey, this makes 8!

And I think that makes everyone! Phew, that took awhile, but it was kinda fun, and I figure that I owe you guys at least that much. So sorry again for the delay. The next one will definitely not take as long as this one or you can put threats in your reviews. But please review! It's very motivating!

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