(a/n: heya, just me checking in, lol. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Your reviews make my day...seriously. So, the thing about Ginny's attacker, and the events that led her to the hospital wing obviously took place while she was unconscious. But I know what happened. If I write a sequel to this fic, there's a place for that in there - who her attacker was and how she got to the hospital wing. there's also a place for some other stuff I don't explain in here. Which leads me to the question...should I write a sequel? I have a fair amount of material in my head, but not too much. It'd be much fluffier than this is, mostly for that reason. So what do you think? yay? nay? indifferent? don't read the author's notes?)

Chapter Eighteen, Topic of Discussion

"Clouds are comin,
Air gets heavy,
Looks like trouble on a rainy day.
Sun starts sinkin,
Can't see my shadow,
Looks like trouble on a rainy day.
Holes uncovered,
Walls will crumble,
All spells trouble on a rainy day..." -'Rainy Day', Guster

Ginny stirred when she felt a breeze come through the window. She shivered a bit, and felt Draco's hand slip out of her grasp. She wanted it back, holding his hand comforted her. She heard the window click shut and smiled, then felt her blankets being readjusted.

"You don't have to do all that you know," She whispered with a smile. Silence greeted her, and if she didn't know any better she would have thought she was talking to herself. She opened her eyes to see if she could see him, but he was still under his cloak.

"You can come out now," she said softly, trying to figure out where exactly he was. Then she saw his cloak fall to the floor. She smiled up at him as best she could, but his face stayed hard and unreadable. He sat down beside her bed, on her left, and held her hand again. She finally got up the energy to move, and she turned her head to look at him.

"Thank you for staying," He made eye contact with her for just a second before looking down, still refusing to speak. She wanted to talk to him, for him to talk, but he seemed to ignore all her tries.

"Could I have a glass of water?" She asked, and he immediately stood up and found her a glass. He filled it with water and put it on her bedside table, and helped her sit up. Once she did, she took a sip of her water and felt much better. She sighed and smiled, and laid back down.

"Thank you." He took his seat again. She didn't know what to say, or do. She was glad he was here, but she wanted to know that he was ok. She looked over at the window, and the sun was already up.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked. He looked her in the eye, but still didn't answer. She nodded and he looked back down.

"Draco, you should go to bed, get some sleep." This time he didn't even look at her.

"It's not your fault." She said softly. He looked up at her, and this time the icy facade with the brick walls was all gone, and she saw a flash of pain, anger and disppointment twist his face.

"Stop it, it's not." She urged, "I was stupid, it's my own fault." He squeezed her hand, "No, Draco, I'm serious. I yelled at him and made him do it." That did it, Draco's face looked enraged. His entire presence oozed with anger and hatred, but he didn't move a muscle.

"Calm down," she whispered, "I'm ok." She felt a bit silly having an entire conversation with a silent Draco, but knew that he really did prefer not to talk at the moment. He was still seething, but his walls had gone back up. She cleared her throat and found a bit more of her voice. She closed her eyes again,

"How long was I out?" There was a pregnant pause, and silence filled the air.

"Six hours." he whispered. Ginny was surprised, she didn't think she'd been tortured for that long.

"Wow." She sighed, and looked back at him. "Were you here the entire time?" He nodded. She let him slip back into his brooding silence, and she just closed her eyes. She breathed deep and focused on her energy. If she was sitting up when her family got there, they might not fuss nearly so much. Might.

Sure enough, Ginny was sitting up by the time her family arrived not one hour later. Everyone fussed. Even Bill fussed. Bill had never fussed over anything in his life, as far as Ginny knew, but he fussed over her. Her mother fluffed the pillows while her father got her another glass of water, while every brother within fifty miles of Hogwarts went to get her something to eat. Harry went with her brothers, and Hermione just sat by her bed, unsure of what her place was in this whole mess. Throughout it all, Draco's hand was still holding hers, and even if she couldn't see him, she was glad he was there.

"So, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked timidly while the chaos that was the Weasley clan reigned throughout the hospital wing. Ginny smiled,

"Much better. Still just tired, but better." She answered.

"Good." Hermione paused, watching everyone running around. "They look like chickens with their heads cut off, don't they?" She said amusedly. Ginny giggled,

"They sure do."

"Listen...Ginny...we're all so sorry," she said honestly. Ginny just smiled and shook her head.

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"We should have been watching out for you."

"And I should have been watching out for myself. It happened, I'm ok, it's over. I'll be fine in a few days, I just need to rest."

"Alright, but if there's anything I can do..."

"I'll tell you." Ginny finished for her. She spent most of the morning in bed, with her family surrounding her. When they all went off to get something to bring back to eat, she turned to Draco, who was still sitting next to her, holding her hand.

"Go eat." She ordered. He took off his cloak for a moment and looked at her.

"I'm serious, Draco, it won't do anyone any good if I have to take care of you as soon as I'm better because you're starving and sleep deprived. Go eat, then go back to your room and take a nap. I don't want to see you back here until at least eight o'clock tonight." He squeezed her hand, kissed her on the cheek and walked out without a word. She didn't know what to do with him, or why he was being so...silent.

She spent the rest of the afternoon with her family, who kept her entertained with the newest Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, and some of the older ones. Hermione got a classmate of Ginny's to give her the notes for the day, and Hermione copied them for Ginny. Later on that afternoon, Ginny called Hermione over to her bed - her parents wouldn't let her get out of it.

"Can you do me a favor?" She whispered.

"Sure, what?" Ginny looked at her hands.

"Could you go get my necklace for me?" A sly grin crossed Hermione's face, and she waltzed out of the hospital wing without another word. Ginny blushed and giggled. Soon, Hermione was back and slipped the small box to her without anyone noticing. Ginny put it under her pillow, and decided to look at it later, when everyone was gone. It had stayed under her pillow for a month, and now that she wasn't going to sleep in her bed, she at least wanted something to remind her of it.

After she ate dinner, and against everyone protests, Ginny got out of bed. She was sick of being trapped in it, and wanted to stretch her legs. She promised she'd stay in the hospital wing, though, so she went over to her side room and pulled out her potion ingredients

Everyone seemed to follow her in, but it wasn't a large room, so it became cramped pretty quickly. Ginny threw a look over her shoulder to see a group of redheads watching her.

"Can I help you?"

"We just want to watch you, make sure you're ok, dear," her mother said. Ginny gave her an amused smile.

"I'm just making a potion, Mum. Although maybe I should make you a Calming Draught, or a Draught of Peace? Then maybe you could just calm down." Her mother just gave her a worried expression.

"I don't want you doing anything that difficult at the moment, Ginny. Just...do something easy."

"Mum, I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do, sweetheart."

"Alright, that's it. I need to concentrate - everyone out!" She wasn't about to be patronized in her own territory, even if she was supposed to be weak. Being patronized was over the line, and she wasn't going to put up with it. She mimicked Madam Pomfrey, and ushered everyone out despite their protests, and shut the door behind them. Instead of making a Calming Draught, though, she decided to make more of the potion she made for Draco.

She concentrated on the stirring and the measuring, and before she knew it, she heard the door open and shut. She sighed in frustration, without even turning around.

"I thought I asked you to stay out there and let me do this, please." She said, utterly frustrated. No one said anything. She turned around to see who it was she was talking to, but didn't see anyone. She looked at the door curiously, but shrugged and went back to her potion. She began to stir it again.

"What are you doing!" A voice right next to her cried. Ginny almost screamed, but caught herself, and it came out as a gasp. Draco dropped his cloak and glared at her.

"What are you doing?" He repeated forcefully.

"Merlin, Draco! You could have at least let me know you were here! I thought I told you not to come back until eight..." She looked at the time, it was seven thirty.

"What. are you. doing." He repeated through gritted teeth.

"Making you more of that potion." He glared at her.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Make more - don't." His tone was firm and low, any lesser witch would have cowered.

"That's ridiculous." Ginny scoffed, "I haven't made it for months, you have to be running low. You need more." Draco just glared,

"I don't want any more."

"What are you talking about? I thought you said it worked."

"That doesn't matter, I don't want you making any more."

"I don't unders..." but before she could even finish that sentence, it clicked in her head. "What about the next fight?" She said with a challenging eyebrow raised.

"You're not going."

"I love how that's a command, and not a request." Ginny said sarcastically. Draco just glared, and went to start cleaning up her ingredients. "Hey!" She interjected, "Stop it! Draco, stop it! I'm not done yet!" He ignored her and just kept cleaning up. After he put all her ingredients away, he pointed his wand at the cauldron to empty it. Without even thinking, she smacked his wand hand and pushed him away. He glared at her.

"I would think your hair would be enough. I would think you'd be happy that we're trying to keep you out of this now - me and your family. I would thik you'd want to stay back now." He hissed, and if she didn't know any better, she would have been scared. But this was Draco, not only would he not hurt her, he wouldn't stop it unless she put a stop to it.

"Draco, stop it." She said firmly. "Wait...what? My hair? What about my hair?" She pulled a lock in front of her face, it was still red, still the same length, still there. She got confused until she saw a strand of white. Her eyes widened as she practically ran to a mirror that hung on the other side of the room.

When she got to the mirror she screamed. Draco lunged and threw his invisibility cloak on just in time, as her family kicked in the door.

"What? Ginny? Are you alright?"

"What happened?" Questions flew in from every direction, but Ginny barely heard them. She was staring intently at her hair in the mirror, which now held a thick streak of white towards the front. She ignored all the questions, and started playing with her hair. Pulling it back, putting it up, examining each strand of white for a semblance of the vibrant red it once was. She shook it out, brushed through it with her fingers, and still ignored everyone in the room. Her Mum and Hermione came over and stood on either side of her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded forcefully. Hermione looked at her feet, and her Mum put a comforting arm around her.

"We didn't know how to," she said softly. Ginny kept playing with her hair, trying to figure out whether or not she liked it. She would absolutely have preffered not having it, but the more she looked at it, the more she liked it. It seemed to give her hair a uniqueness that she, as a Weasley, never had.

"I kind of like it." She said, still staring into the mirror. She shrugged and went back to her potion as if nothing had happened. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, but she tried to ignore them.

"You can all go back to whatever you were doing now," she urged, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"So you're ok?" asked Ron.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just...surprised is all." Ginny went back and saw an empty cauldron. She didn't want to alert her family to it, so after she ushered them out again, she shut the door and locked it, putting a silencing charm on the room.

"DRACO MALFOY YOU SHOW YOUR FACE THIS INSTANT!" She yelled to whoever could still hear her. She waited for a moment, and then she saw him stiffly drop his cloak back on the table before sitting down. "What did you do that for?" she demanded, "I worked really hard on that!"

"I told you," he said, too calmly, "I don't want any more."

"This is too much, you're unbelievable! Why can't you just keep on...doing whatever you were doing? It was working! I was happy, and able to help, and you didn't worry about me! Draco!" He glared at her.

"It obviously didn't work too well." He said bluntly.

"Draco, I'm fine." She pleaded, "Look at me! I'm ok. So what if a piece of my hair is a little off? Hair grows back, and I like the white anyway!"

"Did you like the process that got you that white?" He sneered. She stopped.

"Well...no...of course not...but,"

"But nothing, this discussion is over."

"This discussion is NOT over!" She stamped her foot, and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to sit by and watch you suffer!" He didn't respond, and so she sat down in a chair next to him. "Please, just understand what I'm trying to say," she pleaded, "You're the only one who's ever understood, please just understand this."

"Red, I can't understand this. I can't understand why you're willing to risk your life for something so meaningless."

"It's not meaningless," she said, unsure of whether or not she even believed that herself anymore.

"It is meaningless. The entire history of the world is power struggles, this one just happens to be a little more defined. The good guys - you, - versus the bad guys, - me. It's meaningless, because as soon as it ends, another one will start. Don't get mixed up in this,"

"I'm a Weasley, Draco, I'm going to be mixed up in this whether I like it or not."

"Red, you can get out of it. I don't understand why you won't."

"Because it's not fair!"

"Life's not fair." He echoed her words, and they stung her probably as much as they'd stung him that night so long ago. She hung her head and tried not to cry.

"I know," she said softly, "but I can't sit here and wait for you to come back, wondering if I'm ever going to see you again. Every time something happens, every time he calls you...every time...I'm just going to be sitting here in the hospital wing, or at St. Mungo's, waiting to see you or someone in my family come back, bloody and near death. How can I live waiting for that? How do you expect me to just sit and wait patiently? I would go crazy if I had to do that!" Her tone had become more forceful, and now she was defiantly staring into him. "I'm not going to sit on the sidelines while I watch you all suffer and die! I'm not going to wait with bated breath for someone to come back on a stretcher, or worse! In a casket!" She stood up and went back to her table, and began getting out her ingredients again.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making your potion whether you like it or not. You're going to take it, and you're going to use it, and I don't care what you say." She said firmly. She knew how angry he was, and she knew that he was only angry because he was just as scared as she was, but neither of them knew how to express that very well.

"Red," he growled, "this is never going to end unless you put a stop to it."

"Draco," she faced him again, "this is never going to end no matter what I do. It's like you said - it's all about power struggles. Once Voldemort is gone, it's going to be your father running around, killing people, trying to bring him back. Then once he's gone, it's going to be someone else who thinks like him, trying to carry on his legacy." She spat, "It doesn't matter what I say, think, or do, so why not just let me help!" They stared each other down for a moment, until Draco turned on his heel and threw on his cloak. She saw the door open and shut, and assumed he left. She screamed, in frustration, anger, fear, sadness...she was just so overwhelmed with emotion she didn't know what else to do. So she screamed. She was glad she'd put that charm on the room or the people outside would probably have thrown her back into her bed.

She concentrated on making the potion again, but just couldn't focus. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Draco, their fight, and everything he said. She couldn't believe he wanted her so far on the sidelines she wasn't even allowed to make a stupid potion. She hoped he'd get over that soon, but she wasn't really sure.

She was so lost in her thoughts, and so unable to focus, that she accidentally put a few ingredients in in the wrong order. Instead of turning a murky brown, the potion turned a violent shade of yellow and began to bubble. Before Ginny even realized it, the blast knocked her back onto the floor. She groaned and rolled her eyes - another explosion. The entire back wall was blackened and her cauldron looked like it was about to fall apart. The potion was gone, completely, and Ginny's face was covered in soot. Even the ceiling had some black on it.

She grumpily undid the silencing charm and marched out of her room. Her family nearly all died when they saw her, and the state of her room, but she didn't even bother listening to them. She climbed into her bed and under the covers. She just wanted to sleep, but her mind wouldn't stop racing. She needed to go talk to him, but she wasn't even sure if he'd want to talk to her. She wanted to take a hot shower, or go flying...do something to clear her head, but Madam Pomfrey put everything but sleep under the category of 'overexertion', and her patients weren't allowed to overexert themselves.

She woke up the next morning anything but refreshed. She grumpily got up and went back to her dormitory to take a shower, without saying a word to anyone. She also ignored them and went to the Great Hall for breakfast - she wasn't going to miss any more classes just because some of her hair was white.

The morning went by slowly,she not kept noticing the sideways glances she was getting from her classmates. Now she knew what Harry must feel like whenever something big goes down - everybody stared at her, but whenever she looked back at them they looked away, always whispering to their friends. She even caught a couple kids pointing at her. She decided it would be best to ignore it, but it was hard to ignore.

Lunch was worse than breakfast had been. At breakfast, people were shocked to see her, but by lunch the shock wore off and they were in full-gossip mode. The worst were the Gryffindor girls. Ginny could hear Parvati and Lavender talking - not whispering - about her from her seat only ten feet away from them. After only three bites of her sandwich, it was too much.

"You know I can hear you, right?" She called out casually to the pair of girls who froze immediately.

"What?" asked Lavender.

"I can hear you. And everything you're saying." Lavender and Parvati both looked down at their food, blushing. They ate in silence for the rest of the meal. But no one else did. Ginny figured she couldn't just make an annoucement to the whole hall, so she just stormed out.

Potions that afternoon was a quiet affair. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched Ginny closely, but because they were there, no one dared talk about her. Draco wasn't talking to her, though. There was a stony silence between them the whole period that she just couldn't understand. She was too worked up and overwhelmed to deal with his crap at the moment, so she just let it slide. She wanted to just get the day over with, and maybe tomorrow she wouldn't be the topic of discussion.