Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing HP fanfiction because I would know what happened next anyway.

Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Blaise/Ginny

Summary: Blaise wakes up to a nasty surprise. Hermione and Ron fight. Ginny offends Hermione, and Blaise schemes.

In Which Ron Continues To Be An Unmitigated Arse

Blaize's eyes fluttered open.

"W-where am I?"

"In the Hospital Wing." The reply startled him, and he saw that Ginny was in a bed to his left.

"What happened?" he asked groggily, sitting up and stretching.

"You tried to finish your potion too quickly and didn't stir 7 times clockwise before adding the mirthwood. It exploded. You and I were closest to the cauldron and got the worst of it. We've been asleep for a week." Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously as she finished. Blaize's mouth dropped open.

"A week?" he asked in disbelief. It was then that he noticed the open books spread across her blankets and the quill in her hand. She motioned to his right. Turning, he stared, horrified, at the large pile of books threatening to topple off of his bedside table.

"Homework." Ginny grinned wryly. Blaize moaned and took the first book off the pile; Charms. The assignments he had missed were written on a piece of parchment stuck inside the front cover.

"Ahh, you're awake." Madame Pompfrey said.

"So, can I leave?" he asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, dear. A few of your classmates tried leaving directly after waking, and, well..." Madame Pompfrey motioned to three beds near the other end of the room; all 3 occupants featured various bandages and slings.

"They all suffered fits of narcolepsy." the nurse explained as Blaize cast her a confused look. "Hannah fell down a flight of stairs and broke her arm, Gregory fell into a crate of angry Fire-Breathing Snorkblasts and Emily fell asleep during Potions, ironically, and got a facefull of InstaWart Potion."

"So...no stairs, Snorkblasts or Potions? I can live with that." Blaize grinned. The nurse chuckled.

"You're staying put."

--10 minutes later-

"Hey, Weasley." Blaize said.

'What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Potions homework. I loathe essays." Ginny glared at the parchment.

"I can help...if you give me something in return." Blaize raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrow as well. He grinned.

"Pervert." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I meant!" Blaize sighed.

"Then what did you mean?" Ginny asked.

"About the Draco and Granger problem."

-

"They did what?" Ron shouted angrily. Madame Pince shot an agry warning look towards them, but Ron didn't notice. His freckled cheeks were flushed and he stood, hitting his fist on the table for emphasis. Hermione rolled her eyes. She had gotten over it. She knew Ron would react this way...

"It's over, okay?" Hermione said. "Can we just do our homework now?" she asked, nervously opening her Transfiguration book. Now Harry stood. His deep green eyes were narrowed, and Hermione could see concern behind the hatred there.

"No, we can't do our homework, Hermione. You were assaulted."

"You're making it out to be bigger than it is." she retorted. Harry took a deep breath and sat down. Ron remained standing, giving her an incredulous look.

"Why are you so calm?" he asked, anger still tainting his voice. "This is Malfoy's fault, I know it is."

"Oh, and you know everything, don't you?" Hermione said. She was getting angry.

"How can you defend that nasty little ferret? He's done nothing but taunt you and try to kill Harry since the first day here. He's a Death Eater, probably. And you've been getting chummy with him. That's what really confuses me. I bet it's some sort of trap, and he's just using you to get to Harry! Pansy was right, for once. You shouldn't be hanging around him." Ron was shouting again.

"Shut up!" Hermione stood and yelled in Ron's face. He looked taken aback.

"Keep your nose out of my business. It's not as if I'm joining You-Know-Who, I'm just talking to him. It's a little hard to avoid, you know, since we share a dorm. We're not going to elope or anything, okay? Stop acting as if you know everything there is to know about it and don't you dare tell me who I can and cannot speak to. In fact, I'll make it easier for you; as of now, I am not speaking to you." She slammed the book in front of her shut and picked up her things.

Ron grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, what is the matter with you? I'm trying to help! I'm trying to understand why you're stabbing Harry and I in the back!" Ron shouted.

"Ron, do not get me in the middle of this." Harry said angrily, storming from the library past several confused 3rd years, who peeked around the bookcases to watch the fight. Hermione jerked her hand from Ron's grip.

"Bite me." she said. Slamming several books down onto a table next to Madame Pince, she ran from the library, ignoring the librarian's angry screeches about the treatment of her precious books and nearly tripping as she flew up the stairs, holding back the tears threatiening to burst forth.

-

"You're not seriously expecting me to do that."

"It's not that hard, if she's really your best friend, she'll understand." Blaize said matter-of-factly.

"I am not going to-" Ginny was cut off by the Hospital door flying open. Hermione dropped her things onto the floor next to Ginny's bed and sat down, swiping at her eyes.

"Your brother is an unmitigated arse and a git and a nosy, bossy...nosy jerk!"

"Oh, no, Mione, what did he do this time?" Ginny asked.

"I t-told Harry and Ron about the Slytherins assaulting me in the c-corridor, and they got angry, and I told them to calm down, and Ron was yelling at me that I was getting chummy with Draco," Hermione sniffed, Ginny's eyebrows raising slightly at the use of Malfoy's first name, "and that it must be a trap and Pansy was right, and that I was stabbing him and Harry in the back!" Hermione finished, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. Blaize watched on with mild interest, realizing that it would be harder than he thought for Ginny to carry out the plan, simple as it may have been.

"I'm sorry, Mione. Come here." Ginny pulled Hermione into a hug. As Hermione sat down again, Ginny cast a 'I told you so' look at Blaize.

"Ron is stupid, just ignore him. And Harry..."

"Harry wasn't really that mad at me, just at those Slytherins for threatening me. He's mad at Ron as well." Hermione said.

"Well, at least we have that on our side. Ron can't rope Harry's support into his argument now." Ginny sighed. Blaize cleared his throat meaningfully, and Ginny shot him an angry look before taking a breath and turning back to Hermione. "But maybe if you backed off of Malfoy a little..." she began. Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Great, here we go." Hermione scoffed. "What is the problem? As I told Ron, it's not like we're going to elope or anything. We share a dorm, it's a little unavoidable, and we are NOT getting chummy." Hermione stood up and gathered her things. "Goodnight. 'Night to you too, Zabini." she nodded to Blaize, who nodded back. Ginny waited for the Hospital door to shut all the way before cursing under her breath.

"My stupid brother. Now she's upset, and she thinks I'm on Ron's side. I blame you." Ginny said the last part pointedly at Blaize.

"Don't look at me, I'm not a ventriloquist. You said it of your own accord. I just...prodded." Blaize stated airily.

"Well, stop prodding. I'm not going to get wrapped up in this."

"I'm worried about Draco."

"What could you possibly be worrying about?" Ginny asked.

"His reputation."

"Ahh, I knew it." Ginny glared at him.

"Not that way. I don't particularly care. He's my only good friend, and has been so since kindergarten. It's the other Slytherins I'm worried about. They'll tear him apart." Blaize said softly. Ginny's gaze relaxed as she saw concern creep onto Blaize's features.

"Their Prince is breaking a huge rule; associating himself with a Gryffindor outside of duels. He's been neglecting them, in their eyes anyway. Their leader has stooped to a new low and they can't take it. I'm afraid of how they might take it out on him; the alienation and rude remarks he'll be able to handle when it starts, but some of the others might handle their anger in more violent ways."

"What do you propose to do, then?" Ginny asked.

"Let me sleep on it." Blaize sighed. It's strange how easy conversation comes with the Weaslette. She's not so hard to talk to. Maybe I can talk to Granger myself...Draco won't listen to me, I know that much. Blaize turned away from the lamplight and slowed his breathing, but his eyes remained open, staring thoughtfully at the sliver of moon he could see through the window closest to his bed.

Ginny flicked the lamp off and pulled the covers to her chin. Blaize- I mean, Zabini, is really worried about Malfoy...it's not that bad, really. Hermione's right, they're just talking, it's nothing big. It's just the first time any of us have really talked civilly for extended periods of time to a Slytherin, and with Draco Malfoy, no less. I still can't forgive him for the Mudblood comments, but besides that, I don't know him...perhaps Hermione sees something that we don't.

Ginny sighed. I'm too tired to think about this. And with that, she slipped into sleep.

-

The portrait banged open, making Draco jump and drop his History of Magic book. Grumbling, he found his place again as Hermione clambered through the portrait hole and angrily swept into her room. Her books hit the floor, thunk, a creak as she flopped onto her bed, thump thump as her shoes were kicked off of her feet, and a muffled screaming rippled through the common room.

Draco jerked her door open. Hermione looked up from the pillow she had been screaming into, her face flushed and her hair slightly more wild than usual.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I heard screaming." Draco said, leaning against the door frame.

"That's right. I was screaming into my pillow to save your precious eardrums." Hermione said sarcastically. Draco smirked.

"I'm touched. My eardrums are quite valuable." he joked.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy." Hermione said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards a little before she sighed and put her face back in her pillow. Ron is such an idiot. But I don't know why I let him upset me so much. I guess I'm just a little stressed right now. Hermione shivered a little, feeling strange. Like someone was watching her. Lifting her face up, she saw that Draco was gazing at her with a strange look, like he was contemplatin something.

"What do you want?" she asked a little more harshly than intended.

"Why were you screaming?" he asked. Hermione sighed.

"I'm just...I got into a fight with Ron, not that it's any of your business, really." she said. Draco's eyebrows raised a little with mild interest. That would explain the slamming and screaming. I wonder what that idiot has said this time. He can never keep his mouth shut, the hot-headed weasel. Draco decided that relaying these thoughts would help in some way.

"What did that idiot say this time? Hot-headed weasel doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut." Draco scoffed. He was surprised to see Hermione give him an angry look as she brushed her hair out of her face. The red had faded mostly from her cheeks, leaving a pretty shade of pink across her face, and her dark brown eyes sparkled with remnants of tears. Despite her hair, which was sticking out at strange angles, Draco noted that she looked slightly...dare he say it, pretty. You are NOT having these thoughts about Hermione Granger. Great, just what I need, another conversation with the stupid voice in my head. I think I should be worried, but it's got a point. Yes, I do. Oh, shut up. You have to admit...as cliche as it sounds, Hermione's pretty when she's angry. That's it, you need therapy. I do NOT. I realize that having conversations inside my head with an disembodied voice is odd, but I am NOT going to a shrink. Suit yourself, loverboy. You used her first name again. Shut up. Go annoy someone else. I can't, I'm your conscience. Damn.

"Don't talk about Ron like that. He can be a little hot-headed sometimes, but don't call him Weasel." she said.

"Sorry. Tell him not to call me Ferret and we'll be even." Hermione smirked at that.

"I can still call you Ferret, though." she said. Draco snorted. "But it'd be hard to tell him, as I'm not speaking to him right now." she continued.

"Why not?"

"I don't see why you care, but... I told Harry and Ron about Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy accosting me in the corridor last Saturday and they got angry. I told them to calm down, and Harry did for the most part, but Ron took it to new levels. He was yelling at me that I'm getting...chummy with you, and that he thinks I must be insane to talk to you. He also said, basically, that Pansy was right to threaten me and that I was stabbing him and Harry in the back by speaking to you civilly...if that's the word for whatever we have. I wouldn't call it friendship." Hermione said. Draco shrugged.

"I suppose it's just a civility, a peace of sorts. It's not bad. Saves me the trouble of thinking up new insults." Draco grinned.

"Oh, yes, you had a wonderful array. Mudblood, Mudblood, Know it All, and Mudblood." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Back to your story." Draco said.

"Oh, and Ron called you a nasty little ferret." Hermione said, a small grin creeping onto her face.

"How dare h-"

"Don't start, I don't want to talk about HIM right now. I'm sick of him." Hermione said, putting her face back into her pillow. Draco struggled to take his gaze away from her and took a deep breath, preparing himself for a new level of civility.

"Well, if you, uhmm, need to talk about anything, you can come to me, I guess. But not all the time. And don't expect to be able to cry on my shoulder or anything." Draco said quickly before closing the door. Hermione sat up and stared at the closed door. Confused thoughts flew through her mind as she threw her jeans onto the floor of her closet and pulled on a pair of oversized black pajama pants and tied her hair back into a messy bun.

Picking up a large book from her floor, some parchment and a quill, she slipped quietly into the common room and sat at a mahogany desk near one of the large bookcases that she hadn't noticed when she first saw the dormitory, keeping her gaze trained on Draco. He was leaning against one of the dark blue armchairs near the fireplace, the fire crackling loudly as his eyes ran quickly down the lines he read.

She saw his gaze flicker up to her as the chair she sat in squeaked a little and quickly turned her attention to her book, pretending that he hadn't just caught her watching him. Picking up the quill, she began to write where she had left off on her Defense against the Dark Arts essay,- Kingsley, the auror, was their new teacher, and a good one at that -the only sounds in the room the crackling from the fireplace, the occaisional crinkling of a page being turned, and the quill scratching against the parchment.

Hermione wasn't really thinking about the essay; her hand was writing words while her mind contemplated different words said by the solemn boy on the other side of the room.

For the second time, Hermione tried desperately to forget the electricity she had felt as their gazes locked.

- REVIEWS -

pinkicing101: this story is pretty good so far. can't wait till your next update!

Thanks! Neither can I. ;

HeLl HaVe No FuRy LiKe A wOmAn: O Its starting to heat up between Drakie and Hermy hehehe Love the name of the chapter Bloody stroke of genius and I like the interaction youve got going between Blaise and Ginny somehting seems to be going on ther ; Oh now I cant wait for the next chapter your an evvil author making me sit glued to my comp screen when I should be studying for my gawd blimey A Level ; Oh well Love the story loads and loads : : : : :

Thanks! Hehe, I'm evillll.

xx.just. hey, great story! i dont normally like hermione/draco stories (they annoy me), but this one's actually really really good! you have me converted lol Keep up the good work! Ash xx

Yes!! Now I'm converting people! WOOT! I love Hermione/Draco, it's odd, I just can't stop writing with that ship. : Thanks so much!

meenajon: good chapter. Keep it up!

Thanks!

Golden Angel71: I LOVE IT! PLZ UPDATE SOON!

Oh, wow! Thanks!

meenajon: good job there...off I go now...

Uh, thanks! Again!

Thanks to all my reviewers:

pinkicing101, HeLl HaVe No FuRy LiKe A wOmAn, xx.just. Golden Angel71, meenajon (x2)

Charlotte