Hey! For all of you who don't read the author's note (yes, I know. I'm sooooo boring) I put a challenge at the very end which most of you were too lazy to read. So here it is again. In the letter from Snape from last chapter there's a special messiage, to be revealed in the next chapter. I am NOT a matermind code writer, so it's short and really simple to find. Anyone who gets it right gets a virtual cookie...ummm chocalate chip.
His lips were now perilously close to her face. She could feel his breathing. Maybe as a child this would have made her knees go weak, but now she was only capable of one emotion. Fear. Raw, burning fear.
"Tom…"
"Yes, Ginny dear?"
"Leave me alone. I mean it." She had lost the frailness that had been evident only a moment before. In its place was a quiet confidence.
Much to her offense, Tom merely laughed. "You're never alone."
"Miss Weasley? Mr. Malfoy?"
She groggily shook her head. "Hmmm?"
The nurse put her hands on her hips and tried to give them a look of disappointment. Failing miserable she gave up the guise and smiled. "Is it really so boring here? Both of my pupils asleep!"
Ginny looked over at Draco, who certainly didn't look like he had just woken up.
Madame Pomfrey laughed. "You two may go now, I don't think anyone else will come in tonight."
"Thank you. Goodnight, Madame Pomfrey." Ginny said, distracted.
"Goodnight, dears. And good luck."
"Excuse me?"
"With the Quidditch game, of course. The first match is tomorrow."
How could she have forgotten?
"Thank you."
"You know the Quidditch schedule?" Draco asked.
"Why of course. Matches are always the busiest nights. Horrid sport if you ask me. Broken necks, fractures, sprained wrist…"
"Thanks for that lovely bit of encouragement."
She glared at him for a moment, as if decided whether he was mocking her or genuinely grateful. His face was completely emotionless. In the end she just smiled and said goodnight.
Between the sound of the pouring rain, Harry's "encouragement" and the weight of her Quidditch uniform, it was hard to be nervous. She had always loved the rain. It had something of a romantic value to it. Normally Ginny would have reveled at the chance to be outside in a storm such as this, but for playing Quidditch, however, it was not the best conditions. Not at all.
As if insulted by her thoughts a large bolt of lightning snaked across the sky. She shrugged off the rain and began to stretch. Harry's pep talk ("Bet that Slytherin scum or I'll have you doing drills until you can't feel your feet!") had finally ended and Ron appeared beside her.
"You'll be fine, Ron."
"Easy for you to say."
"Relax."
"Ginny, pull that hair back will'ya."
Her normally bouncing curls had soaked straight through and were reduced to a dripping mess. Still, she stubbornly refused to pull it back. She hadn't put her hair in a ponytail in nearly three years. There was no reason to start now.
"Hermione's in the stands."
"Great. I think I'm going to be sick."
"Ginny, mount up." It was Harry this time. She nodded.
Lee's voice boomed through the stadium, announcing Slytherin. After a few moments of cheers (or booing from the rest of the school) Jordan's voice called out Gryffindor and they all flew out to meet the crowd.
Unlike Ron, she had never had a problem with crowds. On the contrary, she enjoyed the cheering. Beside her Ron was gagging.
She briefly heard Lee's voice call out her name before all noise was drowned out. There was only the quaffle and the goal now. Nothing else mattered.
Below her Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the game begun. The rain was pouring down so hard now she could hardly see her teammates. She waited where she was. A flash of red to her left. Thank goodness for the bright uniforms they had to wear. Jennet, a fellow chaser, tossed the quaffle to her. She fumbled it slightly before securing it in her grasp and racing towards the Slytherin goal. A feint to the right, then to the left, then back to the right and into the goal. She smiled, but didn't pause to celebrate. The game was still going on, after all.
The crowd below her was still cheering dutifully. Could they even see from way down there? Doubtful.
Another angry clash of thunder interrupted her thoughts. Clinging slightly more tightly to her broom, she followed the quaffle down the pitch. The Slytherin chaser, decked in green, thrust the ball towards the goal, only to be stopped by Ron. Silently, Ginny cheered her older brother.
As if hearing her mental applause he made eye contact and threw the ball to her. It was wet and slippery, but she caught it, cradling it against her chest so that she wouldn't blunder. She passed to Jennet, who, with great agility threw the ball right pass the Slytherin keeper.
Marcus Flint was in possession at the moment, flying recklessly fast toward the goals. He pitched the ball in a great heave through the center goal. Ron visibly winced, as if expecting to hear a chorus or two of "Weasley is Our King". When no such thing happened, he smiled brightly and passed to Jennet.
Just then the booming voice of Jordan came on over the amplifier; "It's Potter and Malfoy, neck and neck. I think Harry's spotted the snitch. Go, Harry, go. Sorry professor." He added, then in a very unenthusiastic voice he added, "Oh, ah, and yeah, go Malfoy.
"They're close now. Only twenty feet above the ground." The whole world seemed to pause to watch the two boys fly in a full nosedive towards the ground. Closer now, only about eight feet above the ground. Harry was reaching. They were going to win; Ginny could feel it. The whistle blew, confirming her thoughts, just as Harry caught the Snitch, and as Malfoy hit the ground.
For a moment it seemed as if no one had noticed. The Gryffindors let out a deafening cry of victory while the Slytherins seemed to all collectively growl. It wasn't until a moment later and the blond boy still hadn't moved that the silence fell.
"Oh crap." Following her first instinct, not hesitating to think she had flown down to the ground and was at his side.
"Malfoy, are you okay?"
He groaned.
"You-" She pointed to Harry who was looking rather breathless and pale. "Go get my wand."
He stared, wide eyed, for a moment.
"Now!" She commanded. He ran to retrieve it.
Pointing it at Malfoy's crumpled body she whispered, "Mobilius."
His body rose off the ground.
"Malfoy, are you okay?" She asked again.
"I fell off my bloody broom. What do you think?" He said, somehow managing a sneer through his pain.
"I think I should just leave you here." She would have too if it weren't for that pesky little voice in the back of her head telling her that it would be wrong. Darn her conscience.
When she arrived in the infirmary, Draco's body in tow, Madame Pomfrey was in a righteous fury, denouncing the evils of Quidditch.
"In a storm no less! Mrs. Weasley, set him down here, and for goodness sakes you're dripping all over the floor!"
"Sorry."
"Aride." The nurse ordered and immediately Ginny found that her uniform was warm and dry.
"Thank you."
"Go strip off that ridiculous equipment and come help me."
She nodded and headed of towards the back room to remove all her Quidditch gear. As she walked away she heard. "Now this might be hurt a little…"
The words were strange and unfamiliar, but he found himself not caring at all, it was the voice that intrigued him. The deep alto voice was smooth and melodic, not at all like the high and displeasing voices he was accustomed to.
He slowly opened his eyes. For Draco Malfoy, it seemed like lately the world was full of swirling, clouds of color. So as he awoke, it was only natural that there was one over him.
The great red blur at his bedside slowly began defining its form until he could clearly see the outline of a female setting beside his cot. Her body was leaned over his, and he could smell a faint trace of vanilla. Her hand was holding a cool cloth to his head, fighting off fever.
"Am I in Heaven?" He asked, slightly dazed. But that didn't make any sense, because Heaven was not a place he expected to go. After a moment his eyes focused enough for him to see who his attendant was. "Oh no. It's Weasley. I've died and gone the other way."
She jumped slightly, clearly startled. "You're awake."
"Obviously. How long was I asleep?"
"You fainted after she gave you the medication."
"Malfoys do not faint."
"So you just up and decided that it would be a good time to be unconscious?"
"Exactly."
"Here." She pulled from the small table beside her a tray of food.
He ignored it; there was no way that he was going to eat hospital food. He ached all over and his head was pounding. His first impulse was to roll over and go back to sleep. His stomach, however, made its opposition clear with a loud, undignified rumble.
He thought he saw a small smile on the girl's face as he accepted the food.
"Don't you have any painkillers or something?"
She shook her head. "Sorry. You're spine fractured during the fall." She then gestured to a small bottle covered with pictures of backbones. He was too tired to read it. "That stuffs a bit new, doesn't react well with other medications." She explained.
He sat up a bit and coughed.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded.
"Pneumonia from the rain and cold." She said, holding the cold compress as explanation. "We'd treat you for it but…well, Madame Pomfrey didn't want to risk mixing the medicines. I got a kick out of reading the side-effects label though. You weren't planning on having kids were you?"
He choked.
"Kidding. Just kidding."
He glared. "What time is it?"
"Near one in the morning." Then, anticipating his next question she added, "It will be safe to give you painkillers by morning."
"Are you too cold?"
"No. It's hot, actually."
She handed him the compress and looked concerned. "You have a fever."
"Obviously."
She let him finish his meal in silence, having abandoned her post at his side for the moment.
Thoroughly exhausted from chewing, he rolled over and closed his eyes.
Quietly, he heard the voice again, a slight relief to the pain in his throbbing head.
It took him a moment to realize that the song was coming from her. "People are trying to sleep you know."
She blushed slightly. "Sorry. My mother used to sing to me when I was sick. It always made me feel better. I just… well sorry."
She stopped and for a minute the room was quiet. He felt a slight jab of disappointment at the silence. "I didn't say stop, you know." He said eyes half closed.
"Whatever you say, Malfoy." And once again the room was filled with her sweet voice.
"Ginny? Are you still down here?"
"Shhhhh…he's asleep." She whispered. "What are you guys doing down here?"
"We came to check on you." Harry whispered. "Where's Madame Pomfrey?"
"She left a couple hours ago. I sent her home to get some sleep.
"You need to get some rest, Gin."
"I can't, Hermione, he's burning up."
Ron frowned; he obviously was not concerned with how high Malfoy's fever was. He appeared instead distracted by the fact that his younger sister had spent the last few hours alone at the bedside of the Slytherin prince. He seemed almost afraid that the unconscious boy would somehow still be so impossibly good looking that even in his sleep he would somehow be able to seduce her. Not likely. Though Ginny did have to admit she liked him much better asleep then awake.
"How about this Gin, I'll keep him cool and you rest." Hermione said, taking custody of the cold cloth and guiding her friend over to a hospital cot.
"Okay, but only for a minute. Just to rest…"
"Okay Ginny." Ron said as he pulled the curtains tightly closed around the bed.
Stomach rumbling once again, Draco awoke in a foul mood.
The cold cloth was still firmly held on his forehead. He opened his eyes, fully expecting to see the Weaselette. It was not the redhead he saw, however. It was, to his horror, Hermione Granger.
"Geez, get off Granger. First Weasley and now you, I had a nightmare like this once."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
He looked around. He didn't see the female Weasley anywhere. Her brother and Potter, however, were unfortunately present.
"Is whole freaking Gryffindor house here? My gosh, I need painkiller. WEASLEY! WEASLEY, BRING ME MEDICINE NOW!"
"Shut up, Malfoy." Ron hissed.
"NOW WEASLEY!"
Suddenly a livid Ron Weasley's hand was covering his mouth. "Listen Malfoy," He whispered, "You will shut up now and let her sleep, you worthless prat."
"Sleeping on the job?" He sneered once Ron had removed his hand.
"She was up all night making sure you were alright. I would have just let you die."
"Ron! Don't say that." Hermione scolded, but even Malfoy could tell it was halfhearted.
"Aw gee, Granger, I didn't know you cared."
"I don't. We're not here for you, you know."
"Then why are you still here? I'd be much happier if you were gone."
"We're here for Ginny. She's much too kind for her own good. She's cares about everything. Even a pathetic little ferret like yourself." Ron said.
"I-" He was cut off by a loud, hoarse, scream.
"Ginny!" Ron was the first one at her side throwing away the heavy drapes. "Ginny, wake up. It's just a dream, Ginny."
She was awake now, sitting up, and from his place in the hospital cot Draco could see she was drenched in sweat.
"Ron…oh, thank goodness." She threw her arms around his neck. "It was so real."
"You're alright now." He smoothed her hair. Harry, looking slightly uneasy, put a comforting hand on Ginny's shoulder.
Ron untangled himself from her arms (Hermione taking his place in comforting her) and glared directly at Malfoy. The last thing he saw before Ron pulled the curtains closed once again was Ginny Weasely's tear streaked face.
Hi once again. Please review. It's my birthday (I am so not kidding) so make me happy and review or else. pulls out gun and aimes at random reader while happily singing 'It's my party'