Ron stirred from his sleep as he became aware of a loud moaning, and instantly turned his eyes to first Hermione and then to Harry, then frowned as neither of them made the sound. Disappointment was evident in his posture, what for a brief moment had been light and tensed now relaxed again, his shoulders slouched and that sad face-expression again covering his features.
At that point his eyes walked to the door to find that it had been opened by madam Pomfrey; who carried a semi-conscious Draco Malfoy on a levitating stretcher. It appeared that Malfoy had some sort of jinx thrown at him as his back was arched in such a position that he couldn't turn it back. It appeared to be utterly painful and the moaning just had to come from Malfoy.
Ron had to fight smugness from showing itself on his face as he didn't want madam Pomfrey to throw him out of the Hospital wing, but was having a hard time winning the battle.
Actually he was a tad disappointed when Malfoy was placed behind curtains yet he heard madam Pomfrey's exclaim of worry.
"My oh my, whoever did this to you doesn't want you to get rid of this easily." The rest of her words Ron couldn't hear - they were uttered in a lower tone as she had regained her normal voice. Though in a few seconds madam Pomfrey withdrew the curtains and Malfoy looked somewhat less in pain in his position on the bed, still in that awkward pose but seemingly without hurting. Ron was not happy.
Apparently there was no cure at the moment, but Ron heard her tell Malfoy that there would be one done in the morrow.
It went maybe two moments after that madam Pomfrey had left the room before Malfoy turned his gaze into the shadows and nodded slowly.
"OK, you can drop the spell now.
Almost at once he could move freely, and he stretched his shoulders for a few seconds before rising from his bed, moving towards the Gryffindor trio. Ron wondered whom he had spoken to, but turned his gaze to the two who lay in the beds next to him.
"What are you here for, Malfoy?" He asked wearily. "Enjoying how much he suffers? How far you have driven him?
The strange thing about Ron's words was that they were not spoken in anger, just without any emotion at all, as if he no longer gave a damned about it.
"Not that it concerns you, weasel, but I want to see how he is doing. I care for him.
"Oh, but I bet you care for him. In the same way you broke his heart and caused all of this.
Malfoy looked as if he had been slapped in the face, yet Ron remained sitting and watching his two friends, not even bothering to look at Draco.
"You don't understand it at all," Draco murmured.
"No I don't, and frankly I don't give a rats ass about it. All I care about is that you caused this and is standing here and doing no good while you should be begging him for forgiveness, telling him how much you regret everything that happened and wish that he was here with you.
With those words Ron actually looked at Draco, who at first looked a little puzzled by the redhead then to shake his head.
"You mean that I, Draco Malfoy - should be asking for forgiveness when there is nothing to forgive?" The cold and sneering voice was not at all what he had planned, but then again, his inner had its own weird ways of playing tricks on him.
"Yeah, and if you don't I suggest that you get yourself out of here before I show you out, head first.
Malfoy looked completely stunned by this, stood for several seconds before he shrugged his shoulders, stealing one final glance at Harry before spinning his heels towards the exit.
"Fine." He had almost walked out the door when he momentarily paused to look back in. "Tell him to choose the darkness. Just do it." There was an intensity in his words that made Ron look at him for a moment, see the feelings inside of the other boy, and in the next instant it was all gone.
With those words he left, and Ron's eyes were wider than ever, then shrunk rapidly as he shrugged his head in a disbelieving way.
"Bloody nutcase.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"That was surprising," a voice mumbled near Draco's left ear as he passed the first hallway and turned into the next.
Nearly jumping Draco looked to his left, then to the right and back to the left, wondering where the voice had come from. Then he became aware of the shadow near a window a few feet ahead of him and he locked his gaze there.
Standing slightly leaned back to the wall, arms crossed over her chest and the head lightly tilted to the side she looked as if she was studying a very curious painting, and somehow her posture made him stiffen in his tracks. He should have heard her pass him long ago; not to mention seen her or even felt her presence.
Then again, she only viewed herself when she wanted to.
"What should I have done, really?" Draco shrugged his shoulders and tried to get rid of the unease he felt at her sneaking up at him.
"Perhaps you should have done such as the Weasley boy suggested. In my ears that sounded quite sensible due to that Potter is still in command of hearing everything that is said in his presence.
This made Draco drop his jaw completely and stiffen to the point of that he seemed petrified. When he regained control of the shock he looked at her with cold ice in his eyes.
"Why couldn't you have said that earlier?
She now smiled - a dark and sinister smile that told him everything.
"Oh, did I not?
"Moranna, don't tell me that you have been playing with me." The chill in his voice should have been enough to cool out every volcano on the planet, but it had no effect on the girl who just smiled wider.
"Fair enough. But then I will not tell you of the effect your words had on the boy.
And in the next instant he knew she walked to leave, but he managed to grab a hold on one of her hands, just to withdraw it quickly as he saw what was in her eyes.
Victory.
"Just tell me," he said shortly, trying to cut out the anger and worry from it.
She turned her eyes away from him and towards the window, watching the sky grow just a little lighter before her eyes.
"Funny, is it not, that the sky is as darkest in the hour before dawn? When the night seems endless the sky suddenly bursts out with light.
With those words she headed for the dungeons, and he knew better than to try and stop her. But he followed her closely, annoyed about that she spoke about weather when he wanted to find out about Harry's state.
"Moranna, stop playing games with me. Tell me!" He pleaded.
She suddenly stopped, and he found himself being a few steps away from Professor Snape's classroom. She looked at him with the ghost of a smile playing in the corner of her mouth.
"Oh, but I have told you.
And then she disappeared behind a hidden door, closing it shut before he had the chance to see how to open it or even stop her.
He cursed in a low tone, aware of that he had just been ruthlessly tricked. The groan he had been trying to quench during the entire evening finally made its way through his throat and echoed all the way back to the Slytherin house as he walked there, knowing he could do nothing more at the moment.