Chapter 15

When the bulk of the students had been shooed out, Ron had reluctantly returned to Gryffindor tower with the others. Ginny noted that he hadn't gone back over to see Harry again before leaving. Blaise had practically had to be removed from the room bodily, though finally relenting. Pansy put her arm around him, leading him out.

When the others were all gone, Ginny felt eyes on her. She looked over, seeing Harry glaring at her as Pomfrey finished up on his ribs (three of which she had fractured with one of those wild kicks). The majority of the damage had been repaired, but he still had a lot of bruising on his face. She stared back at him defiantly.

"There." Pomfrey said as she finished, handing him a small green bottle. "You'll be a little tender for a few days. Nothing strenuous, that kind of thing. Take a capful of this every four hours until it's all gone. It will help with the bruising. Superficial ones I can take care of, but those are much too deep for the simple spells." She stood, "Well, I'm done with you." She said shortly. Though she hadn't said anything on the matter, her cool manner towards him made it clear she held him responsible for Draco's condition. She wandered off to her office without another word.

Harry got up, flinching slightly as his ribs twinged. He walked over, standing a few feet from Ginny, glaring accusingly down at her as she continued to hold Draco's hand. "How could you?" He hissed angrily.

"How could I what?" She asked coldly, staring back at him unflinchingly.

"You betrayed me and you betrayed your HOUSE!" He said in a low, menacing growl.

Her cheeks colored angrily. "I certainly don't owe YOU any allegiance, and if anyone betrayed their House, it was YOU Harry Potter! Where is the Gryffindor courage, bravery and honor in attacking someone who is already badly wounded? That was the most cowardly thing I've ever seen a Gryffindor do! Maybe that Sorting Hat got it wrong!" She growled back with venom.

"You're going to regret this day!" He hissed threateningly.

"No. I won't." She said angrily, "You pull anything like that again and I will be more than happy to kick your miserable arse in front of the whole school all over again!"

He growled in anger, his hand lashing out to strike her, but he suddenly found his wrist in a painful grip.

"Touch her and I swear they'll never find your body!" Draco said in a strained, but threatening voice, eyes still closed.

Harry pulled his wrist out of Draco's grasp and Draco's arm fell back limply onto the bed.

"What are you still doing here Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked, coming out of her office with a tray of supplies to replenish what she'd used from her shelves.

He growled down at Draco, then stormed out. Ginny just watched him go, seeing Hermione waiting outside when he opened to door. Harry just pushed roughly past her, continuing on down the hallway without so much as pausing. Hermione looked shocked, but followed after him.

Ginny felt cold inside. She couldn't seem to get the look in his eyes out of her head. His normally warm and smiling brilliant green eyes had held a look of almost inhuman loathing and barely contained rage. It was something she'd never seen in Harry before, and it made her feel unexplainably frightened.

She shook it off and looked down at Draco, forcefully putting Harry out of her mind. "Draco?" She asked hopefully, stroking his cheek.

"No..." He said softly, his voice losing a little strength. He blinked his eyes open.

She felt a trill go through her. "Darien..." She said wonderingly as she looked into the rich brown of his eyes. She took his hand in hers again, smiling down at him warmly.

Pomfrey hurried over, hearing their voices.

He swallowed a couple of times, looking around a bit dazed, "What am I doing here?" He asked, fear creeping into his voice, "Where's Draco?"

Ginny's eyes widened in fear. "Isn't he in there with you?"

He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. "What happened to him? I can't wake him!" he said with an edge of panic, "I don't want to be alone again..."

"It's ok... we think he should recover... he's just been without sleep for so long..." She said placatingly.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming some. He was finding it harder than expected to clear his mind and think straight. After so long without a body, he wasn't used to all of the input it was thrusting into his consciousness... especially the pain. He glanced over at her, "What happened?"

"He was hurt in the Quidditch match... didn't you know?" She asked, surprised.

"I'm not usually aware during the day... I only see through his eyes sometimes at night... Today..." He said, looking as if it were difficult to remember, "I think... we talked... yes... he visited my grave... so I was strong enough to talk to him... I warned him. I told him I couldn't keep this up..." He winced in pain as he shifted, jarring his shoulder. "What did he do to us?"

"Bludger to the shoulder..." Ginny said morosely, "It was aimed at me... he flew in the way so it wouldn't hit me dead on..."

"Oh..." He said softly, "In that case I guess I can't blame him... I would have done the same." he said offhandedly as he gazed around the room.

She blushed, dropping her eyes and stroking his hand unconsciously.

Pomfrey had been eyeing Darien warily through the exchange. "Well... whatever your name is... since you seem to be in charge of the body at the moment, I have some potions I need you to drink."

He gave a little nod. "Hurry then... I'm not sure I can keep him going much longer... I'm very weak during the day..." He said, his eyes drooping some even as he spoke.

Pomfrey took him at his word, quickly pulling out half a dozen bottles. Ginny and Pomfrey ended up having to do most of the work, Ginny propping him up and holding his head steady while Pomfrey poured dose after dose of medicine down his throat. He cringed when she brought out the bottle of Skelegrow, but drank it down without protest, despite the obviously disgusting taste. When she was finished, she carefully recapped all of the bottles, setting the ones he'd need more of on the bedside table for later.

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Tired... and starving... as usual with him..." He said a bit ruefully, his voice sounding fainter.

"Well that is definitely something we need to take care of!" Pomfrey said, hurrying off briskly. She returned surprisingly quickly with a large bowl of oatmeal. "We'll start on something easy..."

Ginny ended up feeding it to him. She had only gotten about two thirds of the bowl down him before he turned his head away.

"No more..." He said in a anguished voice.

She set aside the bowl, "What's the matter?"

"Pain is one sensation I didn't miss..." He said, letting out a little groan.

She sighed. The regrowing of bones was said to be a very painful process. Luckily, as of yet, she hadn't had to experience it herself... and from the people she had seen going through it, she never wanted to. "Maybe you should go back to sleep, or whatever it is you do..."

He was quiet for a moment, then let out a sound of frustration. "I can't... he has settled too deep to take over and our body won't let me go... I appear to be stuck here..."

She looked him over worriedly, "Is there anything I can do?" She could see the muscles in his neck tightening and relaxing as the waves of pain flowed over him.

"Hold me..." He replied in a hoarse whisper, his pained brown eyes staring up at her imploringly.

Ginny looked up at Pomfrey. Pomfrey rolled her eyes. "I'll be in my office, out of sight and completely oblivious to whatever might be happening in here. Fetch me if you need me..." She said, hurrying off.

Ginny shot a grateful smile after her, then kicked off her shoes and doffed her Quidditch robes, slipping into the bed beside him.

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Ginny woke as a hand gently shook her shoulder. She looked up, surprised to find her brother leaning over her. She glanced over. Darien appeared to have fallen into a fitful sleep. She shifted up, careful not to jar him.

"You missed dinner..." Ron said softly, indicating a large basket of food he'd brought and set on the chair beside the bed.

"Thanks..." She said gratefully.

He crouched beside the bed, looking her over with concern. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked seriously.

She didn't need to ask what he meant, "Yes." She said without hesitation. "There's a lot more to him than you know... especially now..." She said, looking down at Draco's sleeping form and smiling.

Ron digested that for a minute, then slowly nodded. "Ok... but if he hurts you..."

"He won't. I don't know how I'm so sure, but I am." She said sincerely.

He sighed and nodded again. "Ok... it's your decision I guess..."

She smirked at him. "You certainly didn't seem this accepting with any of the other guys I so much as smiled at..."

He smiled ruefully, "Ya, well you didn't make that great of choices. I knew how much those boys bragged about conquests and compared notes on how best to con their way into a girl's knickers!"

She smirked. "And you don't think Draco does that?" She asked with amusement.

Ron snorted, "I doubt he needs any pointers on the subject." He said ruefully, "But... then again... none of those guys ever protected you like he did..." He said, his voice becoming more serious, "Harry must have been blind if he thought Draco got in front of that bludger any way but on purpose. He streaked over so fast I thought for sure he'd caught sight of the snitch... then all but stopped between you and the bludger... and he was looking at the bludger too, so there's no way it was coincidence... I knew what he was doing before it even hit him... I just couldn't figure out WHY..."

Ginny blushed and dropped her eyes.

"No mystery now I guess." He said with a little smile.

She ran her fingers through her hair self consciously as she glanced over at Draco, then quickly sought to change the subject. She really didn't want Ron asking how they'd gotten together. "So... has Harry forgiven you yet?"

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes. "Not bloody likely. He has all of Gryffindor against me now... at dinner I felt like a bloody leper... nobody would even sit anywhere near me."

Ginny's cheeks darkened with anger. "They can't honestly agree with what Harry did!" She said, shocked and dismayed.

Ron sighed again. "No... I think very few do... but he apparently pointed out that I had sided with the Slytherins. Right or wrong, you know what the rest of the House would think of THAT..."

She sighed deeply. She did indeed know how they'd react... and she was sure she'd be getting the same treatment, or actually, most likely much worse... she'd actually physically defended a Slytherin... and injured the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in doing so! She was social toast and she knew it.

She looked over at Ron's morose expression. "So... I'm guessing Blaise is who you were going to see the other night...?" She asked with a little smile.

He blushed brightly, shifting uneasily, "Um... ya... well... him and Pansy actually... but it was him who asked me..."

She giggled, "I guess you're finally over Harry!"

He looked up at her sharply, his eyes wide with surprise. Just how many people knew about his crush??? "Um... ya... I mean especially now I guess... I've never seen him like that..."

"So..." She said, steering him back to Blaise, "Are you two going out now? Or three..." She asked curiously, a little smirk on her lips.

Ron dropped his eyes. "I don't know what it is between us... I mean... I know I've never felt this way about someone before... but with his reputation... I don't know if I was anything more than a distraction to him... maybe even a bet..." He said, his voice aching, "I mean he seems much more keen on Draco..."

They looked over as Draco started shaking slightly. After a moment, soft chuckles became audible. After a minute he managed to contain himself, "Blaise's our best friend... nothing more..." He said in a soft, amused voice.

"Our?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Well... Draco's best friend... and so by association I guess I consider him mine too..." Darien said, opening his eyes.

Ron shot to his feet, nearly stumbling as he backed up a few paces.

Darien looked over at Ginny curiously, "Why do I keep getting that reaction?"

She smiled, "Your eyes... Draco's eyes are pale gray, but when you're there they are dark brown..."

"Oh..." Darien said, smiling, "That would explain it... I should have expected it really... the eyes are the windows to the soul after all..."

Ginny smiled at him, then looked over at her brother. This was getting tiring to explain. "This is Darien. He's a spirit that... kind of lives inside Draco's body as well... but Draco is out cold, so I guess his body pulled the other spirit to the surface to take over..."

"No..." Darien said softly, "Actually our body was on it's own for a while there. It couldn't draw me out during the day... Until Harry threatened you that is. Reflex pulled me to the surface then. I'd never let him hurt you..." He said, reaching up and caressing her cheek.

"Harry did WHAT?" Ron growled angrily.

"He was being quite rude and threatening... then he tried to strike her." Darien said evenly.

"Why that little..." Ron ranted furiously.

"Ron!" Ginny said placatingly, "Listen... he was probably just still out of sorts... I mean when I looked into his eyes... he seemed... I don't know..."

Ron's eyes went wide. "You don't think... I mean Harry got him out of his mind at the end of last year didn't he?"

Ginny went cold inside. It was a definite possibility.

"You mean Voldemort?" Darien asked curiously.

They both flinched at the name.

"How did you know about him?" Ginny asked. Voldemort hadn't been around THAT long.

"I just know he's a royal pain in Draco's arse and planning on enslaving him or something... Where the bloody hell does he get the right to enslave people?" Darien asked angrily.

"He's the 'Dark Lord'." Ron spat disgustedly, "Thinks he is the greatest wizard that ever lived and that he should rule everyone and all... just some conceited, megalomaniacal prat if you ask me!"

Darien let out a little chuckle, "Sounds like it... fancies himself an equal to Voldermortist does he? Well, he was taken care of easily enough, and if this man has half the arrogance, he will go down just as easily."

Ron blinked, "Voldermortist?"

Darien looked at him in surprise. "Don't they have History of Magic anymore? Voldermortist was the evil 'Dark Lord' that tried to take down Merlin. Enslaved the minds of good people, and bribing the bad to do his bidding, but Merlin got him in the end of course... simply paralyzed him and fed him to the beast of the lake."

Ginny rubbed her arms, feeling goosebumps rising on her flesh. The way he spoke of enslaving minds... there were a lot of similarities...

"Well, that's great and all... unfortunately, the 'Merlin' who's been prophesied to take down THIS Dark Lord is HARRY!" Ron said in exasperation.

"Bloody Hell..." Darien muttered with a groan. "We're in deep shite."

"Tell me about it. If my SISTER can take Harry, he has no chance against You Know Who..." Ron muttered irritably.

"Your sister...?" Darien asked, looking at Ginny.

Ginny blushed brightly, "Um... after Draco was hurt by the bludger... Harry was being a prat and kind of hit him in the shoulder... that's when he passed out... and... I may have overreacted..."

"Overreacted!" Ron snorted, then looked over at Darien, "She beat seven shades of shit out of him!" He informed him with a hint of pride creeping into his voice.

Darien laughed, wincing at the same time, but unable to stop himself. When he'd calmed a bit, he reached up and pulled Ginny down, kissing her soundly.

She sighed happily into his kiss, deepening it eagerly.

After a minute, Darien broke the kiss, then kissed her forehead. "No more of that... at least not while your brother is here..." he said mirthfully, a little blush creeping into his cheeks.

She glanced down and blushed as she saw a slight tenting to the blanket. "Um... right... Ron brought food." She said, sitting up quickly and 'casually' tossing her side of the blanket over him (which of course conveniently obscured the problem)

"Ya... there's plenty in there for you too... figured you'd be hungry. I heard the others saying you hadn't been eating much lately..." Ron said, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed anything.

There was a little amused snort. "That's an understatement!"

Ron turned and blushed as he saw Blaise walk up behind him. Blaise looked Darien over, noting the eyes. "So it's you again is it? How's Draco?"

"Sleeping I think..." Darien answered, shrugging his good shoulder.

"Well, in that case, here's your chance to cram some food down his throat." Blaise said with a little smile.

"My thought exactly... Thank Merlin it's finally DARK!" Darien said as Ginny set the basket on the bed, starting to look through it.

"How's the shoulder?"

Darien shifted it tentatively. The wince was only a shadow of what it had been before. "Think it's almost there... At least that stabbing, splintery feeling is gone now... that was absolutely wretched..."

"I can imagine." Blaise said with a commiserating smile.

Darien looked up as Ginny started setting the food before him, "Oh, and can you look after Ron for us? Seems the other Gryffindors are being prats to him."

Blaise looked over at Ron's blushing face worriedly, "I was afraid of that. They aren't threatening you or anything...?"

Ron shook his head. "Just avoiding me really... at least for the moment."

Blaise sighed and nodded. "Good thing they didn't see US..." He said, his eyes dropping, "I'm sorry about that... I was just so worried..."

Ron flashed him a little smile. "It's ok..."

"He seems to think you like Draco better than him..." Darien said, amused.

Blaise's eyes went wide and darted over to Ron. It was obvious by Ron's downcast eyes and blushing cheeks that it was true. Blaise sighed, "Ron... me and Draco... we're just friends... I mean I care about him... probably even more than I care for my own family... but... we're not... like that. He's just my best mate..."

Ron blushed deeper and gave a little nod.

Blaise sighed and stepped over to stand in front of Ron. He reached out and lifted his chin, forcing eye contact. "Listen... I'm always going to feel for Draco... to love him in a way I've never loved anyone before... but I love him as a very dear friend... what you and I have... I admit I don't really know just what we are to eachother quite yet... but it's something I'd very much like to pursue..."

Ron looked at him, his eyes glassy with unshed tears, not sure what to make of that. Then Blaise leaned forward and captured his lips, kissing him deeply. Ron quickly forgot about his uncertainties.

After a few minutes, Darien cleared his throat loudly. Ron and Blaise broke apart, both blushing brightly.

"Could you boys perhaps find a room?" Darien asked with a smirk.

A brilliant smile lit across Blaise's face, "Yes... I believe we could..." He looked over at Ron. "You head out. I'll wait a few minutes and then meet you there. Wouldn't want you to catch any more grief for being seen walking with a Slytherin."

Ron smiled eagerly and nodded, giving Ginny and Darien a last wave before hurrying out of the room.

Blaise looked down at Darien again once the door had closed behind Ron. "So... Draco's ok though... right?"

"I think so... I can't wake him, but he's been so long without rest... I knew when he crashed it was going to be hard..." Darien said worriedly.

"Um... how long...?"

Darien looked thoughtful. "I have no idea... maybe hours... maybe days... I certainly hope it isn't days, because I'm far too weak during the day to care for the body on my own... I'm strong enough now, but only just barely, and only because it's dark."

"Once the bones are done mending you can have strengthening potions... will that help?" Ginny asked eagerly.

Darien thought about it. "I don't know... I guess it's worth a try..." He looked down eagerly as Ginny took the lid off a bowl of beef stew, "But for now I'll be satisfied to feed us properly before he gets back in charge." He said with a rueful smile.

Blaise grinned. He was starting to like this spirit, despite his trepidation, "Well, I'll leave you to that then... I have... some things to tend to..." He said with a smirk, strolling out with a little spring in his step.

Darien looked up at Ginny, "If your brother wants to be in a relationship with THAT one, I certainly hope he has a LOT of stamina. Blaise is a walking libido!"

Ginny laughed, "Maybe Pansy can help him out." She said merrily.

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A/N - No, I am NOT trying to ditch Draco and just use his body. Draco will be back and in control... but he needs a little nap right now :) Ok, perhaps a not-so-little nap, but temporary at any rate. Just thought I'd reassure you so you didn't worry about him :)

## Info on Voldermortist is from mugglenet dot com (can't seem to do actual web addresses on here so I spelled it out), Check it out. There is some VERY interesting info up there! ##

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