Chapter 6

It took Snape, Ginny and Draco two weeks to finally complete the antidote to the Dark Draught that had poisoned Hermione and Crabbe. Two weeks of short tempers, numb fingers and tired minds. Draco and Ginny had all of their classes to deal with, not to mention their upcoming examinations as well. Even though Ginny was in advanced courses she still had to come back for her seventh year, so while she focused on her final exams and seventh year preparation, Draco focused on his N.E.W.T.'s.

It was an especially bitter night when the antidote was finally created. The winter was proving to be a harsh one, and this night was no different, worse even. Ginny had been stirring the potion for what felt like forever. She knew better however, because she and Draco had been switching. But it still felt like forever. Stirring a potion wasn't the most interest thing ever. Seven clockwise stirs, one counter clockwise stir, repeat. Rather monotonous, really.

Draco was working on a transfiguration essay next to her. Ginny glanced over; he had his face scrunched up in concentration. An essay on conjuring spells as an entirety wasn't all too easy either. Ginny had finished hers about a week ago, while he had been working on the potion. She looked up at Snape; he was grading some first year papers with a scowl and look of disgust on his face. With a sigh, Ginny turned back to her notebook. Draco, Snape and her had been documenting every phase of the potion, so that it could be duplicated if ever needed. It felt kind of cool to help discover a new potion, she thought to herself. She looked back into the cauldron and let out a gasp, the potion was now very black in colour, dark as night. She couldn't help herself, she squeaked. Draco and Snape looked like they wanted to floor her.

"What is the noise about, Weasley?" Snape asked sharply.

"It's done!" She squeaked again. Snape quirked an eyebrow, but rose to approach the teens. Draco, in the mean time, gazed into the cauldron and noted the colour. He waited until Snape came over before he made his comments. Arriving at the pair, Snape too looked into the cauldron.

"Black as night, the exact opposite of the Draught of the Living Death." Draco noted out loud, marking it in their notes. Snape nodded,

"Yes, this does look about right, we might as well try it out on Granger and Crabbe." Ginny looked shocked at the idea of using them as test rats, but Snape just looked at her,

"There isn't much to lose." Finishing, Snape turned to go to the storeroom to get some vials, his cloak billowing behind him. Ginny, who had been quiet since her squeal, looked as though she could barely contain her excitement. Draco eyed her warily.

"Would you say something? You look like you're about to explode." He said watching her closely. Ginny took a breath, not wanting to anger Snape any further with her 'crazy antics'.

"It's just, I'm so happy!" She managed to choke out.

"Hermione is going to be fine, hopefully, right before the holidays, I might add. And it's just the pure satisfaction of creating an antidote to a dark potion." Her faced was flushed with joy. Draco nodded.

"It does feel pretty good to help create a new potion." He decided with a smirk. Any further conversation they may have had was cut short as Snape came back with two glass vials.

Glancing up at whoever had just entered, Madam Pomfrey was happy to see Professor Snape, followed by Draco and Ginny. She rose to meet them.

"Have you done it then?" She asked hopefully.

Judging from their appearances alone, Poppy was expecting good news. Ginny was smiling widely, Draco appeared to be quite pleased, and Severus did not look nearly as put out as he had lately. Snape nodded curtly and held up two glass vials of a black potion. Poppy immediately led them to Hermione, who was closest. Bustling around the girl, Poppy told the rest of them to give her some space. Draco and Ginny obliged willingly and stepped back. Snape was standing slightly closer with one of the vials in his hand. He was obviously looking to document what would happen and help if the antidote didn't work.

"I assume it must be taken orally like the original Draught?" Poppy asked absently, concentrating on Hermione. Snape let out a noise indicating that she was right.

When Hermione was fully prepped, Snape handed Poppy the vial. Taking a calming breath, she opened the vial. The strong smell of tar filled the air. Used to foul smelling potions, Poppy took no notice of it as she started the pour it down Hermione's throat. She guided the potion down to Hermione's stomach by running her wand along the outside of Hermione's throat, chest and eventually stomach, murmuring to herself. Once the potion was completely ingested, the four of them stood silently waiting for the potion to take its affect. Ginny unconsciously grabbed at Draco's hand in a mixture of fear and excitement. Even Draco was a bit nervous. The door to the wing opened again, but no one looked around to see who it was. Whoever had entered came over to stand next to Ginny.

"What's going on?" Harry asked softly. Ginny looked up to see Harry, Pansy, Ron and Millicent. She quickly explained what was happening without taking her eyes off of Hermione. The four teens that entered last quieted down, and everyone's eyes were on Hermione. It felt like forever, but one moment Hermione was lying deathly still, and then she began to stir. She let out a soft sound and blinked slowly. All in one moment, everyone moved closer and Madam Pomfrey started to examine Hermione.

"Stand back, the girl needs to breathe!" She called out to the teens. Snape was scribbling ferociously in his notes as Poppy called out different things. Hermione woke slowly and when she finally managed to open her eyes she started to look around. Her head was killing.

"Easy there dear, you've been a sleep for quite some time, try to stay still." Poppy said in a soothing tone.

"What's...?" Hermione started to say.

"You were poisoned." Snape said briefly.

"I was...what?" She looked quite delirious. Poppy and Snape ignored her and continued to check her over. Casting spells here and there. Ginny was squeezing Draco's hand so hard he thought she might break some bones. He leaned down to whisper in her ear,

"I need those hands, eh Weasley." He said shortly. Ginny jumped as if he had startled her. She released his hand immediately.

"Sorry," She murmured. He couldn't help but think that he missed her hand in his.

It hadn't taken them too much more time to bring Hermione back to one hundred percent. And naturally, Hermione had dozens of questions. Snape and Poppy got sick of it quickly and trusting that she was all right, went over to wake up Crabbe. Ginny and Draco took a seat on Hermione's right hand side, while Harry and Pansy stood behind Ron and Millicent, who took a seat on her left. Ginny eventually explained everything to Hermione, waiting patiently as she interrupted to ask questions. When Ginny finished, Hermione paused, taking it all in.

"So do you know who did it?" She asked softly. Draco shook his head 'no'. With a sigh, Hermione turned to get out of bed.

"Whoa, whoa where do you think you're going?" Ron asked, placing a hand on her arm.

"I've been sleeping for a month! I can't stay in bed any longer!" She responded gruffly. An argument ensued between the pair. Draco, Ginny, Harry and Pansy slipped out, deciding to leave the three of them alone. Poor Millicent.

Classes moved by swiftly, especially with the upcoming holidays. Everyone was in a better mood than they had been in September. Hermione and Crabbe were getting back into the swing of things. Dumbledore had opted not to bind them because they had so many classes to catch up with. Some people had been angry with this at the beginning, but it eventually passed.

One particularly freezing Sunday afternoon found Draco and Ginny engulfed in their homework in Draco's warm room. In light of the holiday season, all the teachers had piled on the work. 'Cheerless dolts,' Ron had referred to them as. Ginny was practicing her transfiguration quietly and Draco was writing a History of Magic essay. After successfully vanishing yet another one of Draco's random objects she leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes. Draco looked up,

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like those things back." He said slowly. Ginny looked upset and he didn't want to push her.

"I suppose I could practice my conjuring spells as well." She mumbled, not opening her eyes.

"Something wrong?" Draco asked, looking back down at his paper. Ginny opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Just tired, I'll be glad for Christmas break, I'll tell you that." She said. Draco nodded his agreement. Conversations between the pair had gotten somewhat easier. They had to put up with each other so much, and they discovered quickly that fighting the whole time got to be very tiring. Sighing again, Ginny opened up her Guide to Advanced Transfiguration and started to study the conjuring spells. She jumped slightly at the sound of Draco's voice.

"Only one more week Weasley, just keep telling yourself that." She looked up and smiled at him, before turning back to her work.

The last week of classes before Christmas Break was a long one. With the holidays in grasping distance, it was even harder for the students to concentrate. But the end finally came after 120 very long hours. Most of the students were heading home for the holiday, leaving Hogwarts quite empty. Ginny looked out the window, a seat of which she fought for, whimsically. She loved watching the landscape speed by at an incredible pace. Looking back into the compartment, she smiled. Such a strange sight to see. Ron and Hermione were arguing over something or another, but that wasn't so strange. Pansy was napping pleasantly on Harry's shoulder. Millicent was snoring loudly and leaning against the wall. Draco was sitting next to Ginny, reading a book of sorts. Very strange, any time a go it would be rare to see such a mix of students sitting in the same car by choice.

"No Ronald, there is no flying in any muggle sport." Hermione said with a sigh. Ron threw up his arms in exasperation, shaking Millicent slightly, but not waking her.

"Well then what's the point of it? What do you do then?"

"You run in most of them." Hermione said sharply.

"A form of exercise I'm sure you're not familiar with." Ron gasped at her reply. And the argument went on. Ginny got bored of listening to them after a while. Hermione, Harry, Pansy and Millicent would all be joining them at the Burrow for Christmas. Ginny was nervous in a way as to how her parents would handle having not only Slytherin's in the house, but a Malfoy as well. In another way she was excited, just to see how everything would turn out. It would be a Christmas to remember, that she was sure of. Beside her, Draco closed his book, and placed it back into his bag. He was quiet for a moment.

"So what should I be expecting of Christmas with the Weasley's?" He asked, turning to face Ginny.

"What do you mean what to expect? I'm sure it's nothing different from how you spend your Christmases, Malfoy. Joy-filled and such. With loads of presents and even more food." Ginny's eyes gradually lit up as she described Christmas at the Burrow with her family.

It sounded pleasant really, he could tell that she cared very much for her family and this holiday. She was very wrong about one thing, however. It was not the same as his Christmases. There really wasn't much joy or happiness. Everyone stayed out of everyone's way, which wasn't hard to do in such large of a manor. The family sat down to dinner together every night and ate in silence.

Christmas morning was probably the only slightly happy part of the entire ordeal. His mother tried to make it as pleasing as possible. Draco did receive loads of presents, but not those like Ginny described. He only got the best presents, nothing homemade. He continued to watch Ginny as she went on about her brothers and everything about them. From the way it sounded, it would be a very eventful Christmas, one he was sure he would never forget. Ginny finished her descriptions just as they pulled into King's Cross Station. With a smile, Ginny rose,

"Are you ready then, Malfoy? This will probably be your biggest feat yet!" She said with a laugh. He just grumbled and rose, it definitely would prove to be.

Author's Note:

So, I've gotten a few reviews, not as many as I would have like but that's okay, I suppose. To answer some reviewer's questions: oxygen deprived - have you read the whole story? Cause I explained it (hopefully well enough) in the first few chapters. Hope that helped :) veronica - thanks! And unfortunately you'll ahve to wait a bit more, I wanted to dedicate an entire chapter to the ferret in the burrow :) and finally Nightcrawlerfw thanks for the review! And here you go :)

Once again thank you to my amazing beta Ranger and my newest memeber to the Spellbound Beta Team Royko! So thank you to Ranger & Royko you guys are awesome.

As always REVIEW!

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