Chapter 8

"Ron, what are you doing here?" Harry asked, helping his best mate out of the bushes. Ron stood up straight and wiped off the loose leaves and branches.

"I came to help you, of course. You didn't think that I was going to let you have all the fun now did you?" Ron said, a grin on his face. Harry glared at Ron.

"I told you not to come," Harry said, still glaring at his friend.

"Harry, I'm your friend. I'm not going to let you do this alone," Ron said seriously.

"Is Hermione with you too?" Harry asked sternly, glancing at the bushes behind Ron.

"Yes!" a high-pitched voice shrieked behind Ron.

"And me!" another voice said. There were grunts and squeals but finally two bodies emerged from the bushes. Harry groaned and sat down on a boulder. He had not planned on anyone coming, especially not Ginny.

"I told you guys not to come," Harry moaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Harry, we're not going to let you do this alone," Hermione said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What made you think we would?" Ron asked.

"I don't want you guys getting hurt. This is my battle and mine alone. I don't want any more people hurt," Harry said firmly.

"We're your friends, Harry," Ginny said in the same tone. "You can't boss us around. We are going with you. We won't let you do this alone; I won't let you." Ginny stomped her foot on the ground to emphasize her point.

"No!" Harry said, standing up and facing Ginny. Ginny just glared at him. "I won't let you get hurt. I promised myself that I would never let you get hurt because of me," Harry said more softly.

"We know how to fight Harry," Hermione said softly. "We've done it before."

"I'm not going to let you take that chance," Harry said, gripping his wand tighter in his hand. "I won't let you." Slowly Harry raised his wand and pointed it at his three best friends.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, shock written all over her face.

"You wouldn't," Ginny dared him.

"I'm willing to do anything to keep you guys safe," Harry said, gripping his wand tighter till it felt like it would break in half.

"Come on guys," Ron said, grabbing Ginny and Hermione's arms. Harry could barely stand to look at the hurt and shock written on his face.

"No," Ginny said fiercely, whipping her arm out of her brother's grip. "Don't do this Harry! Stop being the hero and just let us help you!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"Just go Ginny," Harry whispered, tears forming in his own eyes.

"Come on Ginny," Ron said more forcefully, grabbing Ginny's arm again and dragging her to the bushes. Hermione just followed in shock, hardly believing Harry would do such a thing.

"Good luck," Ron said before he disappeared in the bushes behind his sister and Hermione.

As soon as Harry was sure they were far enough that he could relax, he collapsed on the boulder and started to cry into his hands. He hated doing that to his friends but he refused to let them get hurt because of him. They were his friends and he was protecting them. He was protecting them.

I know I've had this headache for quite some time. I don't know why I know that but I do know that I've had it for awhile. The whole pounding in the head thing gets kind of old after awhile. I just wish Madame Pomfrey would give me something to cure this headache. She's a nurse isn't she? Isn't she supposed to treat me and give me medicine? I'm starting to wonder if she was even trained to be a school nurse.

I woke up from my fainting spell on the white linen sheets in the Hospital Wing. I don't know how I got there but I did know that the bright lights were only making my headache worse. So here I was staring at the tray of food in front of me and wanting to vomit. Madame Pomfrey had placed the tray in front of me, told me to try and eat something, and then walked off. I didn't get any medicine or anything.

A breeze blew in from the window and the aroma of the food wafted over and into my nose. This time I really did vomit, but just in my mouth. I shoved the food away, causing the food to splatter on the ground.

"What are you doing Ginny?" Madame Pomfrey asked when she came out of her office due to the clamor I had just made.

"That food is making me sick," I told her simply, laying my head back against the stiff pillow.

"You need to eat something, Ginny. You need to get your strength back," Madame Pomfrey said sternly, picking up the tray. I watched her wave her wand and the splattered food appear on the tray again. She set the tray on the bed next to mine.

"I just ate at lunchtime. I should have plenty of strength left from then," I said. My stomach suddenly growled in protest, contradicting me.

Madame Pomfrey laughed. "Well your stomach says differently. Besides, lunch was almost ten hours ago."

I stared at her. "Ten hours ago? How long have I been out?" I shrieked. I looked out the window across from me just now noticing the dark sky and moon.

"Obviously long enough for it to be almost midnight," Madame Pomfrey said, taking the tray from the bed and walking back to her office.

"Why are you still up then?" I shouted across the Wing.

"I'm taking care of you, Ginny. That's what I do," Madame Pomfrey said, sticking her head out of her office. She came back a few minutes later with a glass of water and two pills, one white and one purple. "The white pill is for your headache and the purple pill is for your stomach. Drink all of the water," Madame Pomfrey said, giving me the pills and water.

I stuck the pills one at a time in my mouth and swallowed and then drank the rest of the water. I laid back down on the stiff pillow as my eyes began to droop.

"You cheat, that's a sleeping potion," I murmured sleepily before my eyes fell for good. The last thing I saw was Madame Pomfrey grinning as she walked back to her office.

"Ginny!"

Light pierced my closed eyes and I slowly began to drift back to consciousness. The first thing I noticed was that my headache was gone and my neck was sore. I hate the Hospital Wing pillows. They're so stiff and uncomfortable.

"Wake up!"

I slowly opened my eyes, still feeling the effects of the sleeping potion. At first my vision was blurred but slowly it became clear and I saw Anna sitting on my bed staring at me with concern.

"You're awake!" she shrieked as she wrapped her arms around me. I groaned as the pain in my neck increased.

"Yeah, you kind of woke me up," I groaned, rubbing my neck.

"I'm sorry, but I was so worried. You didn't come to dinner and then I didn't see in the common room at all. Don't scare me like that!" Anna said, hitting my lightly on the arm.

"I was coming to dinner but I sort of got tied up in the hallway," I explained, last nights events slowly coming back to me.

"I hope you don't mean that literally," Anna said.

"Of course I don't."

"So what happened?" Anna pressed.

"Draco apologized," I said quietly, still trying to remember exactly what happened.

"What?" Anna said, disbelief written all over her face. "He apologized?"

"Yeah, he apologized for Pansy. Then we got in this argument about how he would never say something like that. It was really confusing. And then he said he would never want to hurt me like that. What's that suppose to mean?" I asked, sitting up in my bed. Anna scooted more onto the bed and got more comfortable.

"It almost sounds like he likes you," Anna said slowly.

"What?" I shrieked in disbelief. Where did she get an idea like that?

"It's just a theory," Anna said quietly.

"It's a pretty ridiculous theory," I said, sitting back against the bars of the bed.

"Well, I don't know. He is the one who brought you here. If he was true Slytherin, he would have just left you," Anna said.

"He's the one who brought me here? He brought me to the Hospital Wing?" I asked in disbelief again.

"Yeah, that's what Madame Pomfrey told me," Anna explained.

"He was just being nice for change," I said quietly.

"If you think about it," Anna said, "he's been nice a lot lately."

"Yeah, whatever," I shrugged.

"Visiting time is over, Anna, you need to leave now," Madame Pomfrey said, sticking her head out of her office.

"Yes, ma'am," Anna said, and then she said to me, "I'll see you tomorrow ok? Just think about." Anna got up from my bed and walked out of the Hospital Wing. Yeah, I'll think about it. I'll think about how Draco was probably just being nice because it was a bet or something stupid. I'll think about how I was going to get him back.

A/N: alot of dialogue this chapter and not a whole lot explained. It's mainly a filler chapter. The beginning's long so i couldn't get into too much in the main part. Hopefully some stuff with be explained next chapter, not the major stuff but some stuff. REVIEW!