Morning, Draco's POV:
Exhaustion was thick in his bones, so thick that he needed to use the wall of the shower in order to stand upright. Draco let the hot water beat against his head in order to try and distract himself from what he was about to do.
He wasn't even sure he knew where the Gryffindor Common Room was.
But he had a guess, and that guess was better than nothing.
Every morning he tried to shake off the feeling of dread that Granger's screams left him with. During the weeks that had passed he had been searching to see if they had any effect of Granger as well, only to find that they did. They were making her already small frame seem life much tinier, more delicate. He found himself captivated by how one person could be that tiny and survive.
Until she decided to smash forward into wards and then blow up a bloody wall. Honestly, how much more Gryffindor can you yet?
For the millionth time Draco wondered why she had been sorted into Slytherin. Thoughts that he, of course, could not pursue without questioning why that stupid barmy thrice cursed hat wanted to put him in Gryffindor.
Sometimes he felt like he was different, like nothing made sense anymore. Merlin help him but he was drowning in himself, and he had no idea what to do about it.
His thoughts weighed upon him heavily as he got ready, and hung with him still while he searched in vain for the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. He knew it had to be around here somewhere! Draco kicked the wall and began pacing, cursing vehemently all the while.
"Watch your language, young man!"
Draco must've jumped about a foot in the air, but to his credit he did not cry out. Instead he stood gob smacked at the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"We-were you there a second ago?" he asked, wondering if he had truly gone so far off the deep end that he hadn't seen the portrait.
"No." was her response. He didn't like the way she was inspecting him, his flesh grew bumps.
"Why weren't you, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Because at first I thought you were a Slytherin, but then I realized my mistake," she looked at his as though the answer should have been obvious.
"But I am a Slytherin!" he shouted, panic clouding his judgment. Was this whole bloody castle out to get him or something?
"No, you aren't. All of the paintings and ghosts know of your deal, Mr. Malfoy. Now. Those that you are waiting for will be out shortly, they are having words with the Headmistress at the moment. When you're ready to come to your rightful House, you know what to find me!"
And with that, the portrait was once again gone from his sight, leaving a terrified and incredulous Draco Malfoy staring bamboozled at an empty stretch of wall.
What the ever loving FUCK JUST HAPPENED?
But he didn't have enough time to digest everything that happened before the portrait was back, students were climbing out of it, and he was thrown against the wall and trapped there by a raving Daphne Greengrass.
Gryffindor Common Room, Daphne's POV:
"-in the hospital wing, but he should be able to make a full recovery within the next week. Had Miss Granger not gotten to him when she did, I have no doubt that I would be giving a very different announcement at the moment."
Daphne could barely hear what the Headmistress was saying over the roar of dread that was sounding in her mind. What if Astoria was part of this? Just because Daphne had been disowned didn't mean that she didn't care anymore. Astoria had already shown a huge support and interest in the Dark Arts, but surely she hadn't gotten so deep so quickly? The conversation continued around her.
"Which begs the question Prof- erm, I mean Headmistress," Potter corrected quickly. "How, exactly, did Hermione get through the wards? "
Daphne snapped out of it long enough so that she could hear the answer to this. The look on McGonagall's face was sheer brilliance- it looked like she had swallowed something akin to bubotuber pus.
The Headmistress walked back into the fireplace, but before she left she turned slightly and answered in a voice that was strained by either laughter or stress.
"Miss Granger decided to blow up the wall, Mr. Potter."
If Daphne hadn't been so concerned about Astoria, she was sure that she would have joined the rest of the Gryffindor's with laughter. Theo, in particular had fallen out of his chair laughing, and was now being giving some rather dirty looks by the Patil twins, who weren't laughing.
Potter and Little Red were smiling but it was clear that they were worried about Thomas, and Daphne decided that she had to know. So she flew out of the portrait about to run to the dungeons, knowing full well what a terrible idea that was, but was stopped short by the sight of Draco Malfoy standing right in front of her.
In her desire for answers she threw Draco against the wall and trapped him with her arms. He was stuttering.
"Did she do it Draco? Was Astoria part of it?" She asked fervently.
Draco's face closed and his mouth snapped shut.
"Damn it Draco, tell me!" Daphne hit the wall beside him in her desperation.
Why wasn't he telling her the answer? Why? Did that mean that her sister was part of it? But that couldn't be, she hadn't gone that far into the dark! Please, just no, this couldn't be happening! She heard people coming up behind her but didn't pay them any attention until Potter spoke up behind her.
"McGonagall said they didn't know who did it…"
Daphne groaned in frustration at his naivety. "Rule of being a Slytherin, Potter. Don't turn somebody in if you can get the revenge yourself!" she growled, but her eyes never left Draco's steely grey ones. "Drake, I've got to know, please. She's a total cunt but she's still my baby sister."
She couldn't believe it; her eyes were starting to fill with tears. She knew that because he hadn't told her Astoria was innocent, she was guilty. But she needed the words to be said in order to make it real.
"Take it up with Granger, Daph. She's the one running the show at the moment, believe it or not," he said coolly. But Daphne knew him better than that. His voice was rough, but if you ever wanted the truth from Draco, you just had to look for it in his eyes. And his eyes were apologizing. Daphne sobbed.
"C'mon, Daph, let's get you some breakfast," Theo said softly, trying to calm her down. He made her release Draco and began guiding her down towards the Great Hall, Longbottom in his shadow, guarding them.
Ginny's POV:
She felt sorry for Daphne, and made sure Neville went with them, but at the moment Ginny was a bit more concerned about what Malfoy was doing outside their Tower, and what he had meant by saying that Hermione was 'running the show'. Beside her, Harry asked her questions for her.
"What did you mean by that, Malfoy? That Hermione was running the show?"
She could tell that Harry was doing his best to be civil- no one knew how to handle Malfoy anymore. While those in the order knew he was never evil, he was still a prat and a ferret. He was also ridiculously uncomfortable, apparently, like he was second guessing coming up here in the first place.
"She's the one who wouldn't tell McGonagall who did it, so the punishment is up to her at the moment. It's just Slytherin politics," he shrugged, plainly deciding whether or not this was the moment to insult them or not. Harry was mulling this information over in his mind, and Ginny was getting tired of the silence.
"Why are you here, Malfoy? Bit far from the dungeons, don't you think?" she asked.
And then the strangest thing happened. So strange, in fact, that Ginny wasn't sure it had happened in the first place. Malfoy blushed.
The world had officially ended. She had been expecting him to hex her, not blush! And if that wasn't enough, he had even deciding to answer her question.
"Came to see you, actually, Little Red," he mumbled, deciding that he rather liked the way his shoe looked against the floor because he was giving it his full attention.
That name. Oh how she hated that name! Why in the name of Circe every Slytherin was adamant about using it, she had no bloody idea. She could feel her face coloring and had to exercise great self-control not to call him out on it. She couldn't let her temper get ahead of her yet, not when Malfoy was acting almost like a human being.
"What for, Malfoy? You've never had an interest in any of us before," Harry challenged. Ginny could feel him reaching into his robes to rest against his wand and rolled her eyes.
Tactless. Completely tactless.
Malfoy was beginning to turn to stone, she could tell. Soon he would just insult them and walk away and they would never know what was going on. Stupid boys. But he surprised her yet again when he bit his tongue and looked her straight in the eye.
Wow, his eyes are gorgeous!
"Granger's having nightmares. She's been having them every night since we've been back, and it's wearing her down. Also- she isn't eating properly," he deadpanned.
Ginny's jaw had dropped, he'd come here about Hermione?
Beside her, Harry was spluttering in disbelief, "Excuse me?"
Malfoy pursed his lips and glared at Harry before looking back at Ginny.
"The password to our common room is 'mandrake'. The Head's Dorm is located behind the portrait of the party, on the left. The password into it is 'true colors'. Grangers room is up the stairs on the right," he paused to take a breath, as if wondering whether or not he should continue.
Oh yeah, he is definitely regretting coming up here.
"If half the stories Thomas has told about Scarhead here are true, then he knows bloody well where the common room is and has a way to get you inside without being seen." His gaze flicked to Harry and he glared again, as if blaming him for childhood antics. "Just in case, most people are out of there by 11."
Without waiting for her response, he turned on his heal and walked down the corridor, the tension in his shoulders telling the truth about how hard it was for him to turn his back on people that could curse him into oblivion if they wanted. But she couldn't let him go that easily, not without asking him.
"Oi, Malfoy, why do you care?" she demanded.
"So I can get a full night of sleep without waking up to her bloody screams."
He hadn't turned around to answer, and now he was disappearing around the corner. She turned to Harry, who was wearing the same expression she felt she had upon her own face.
"What was that all about?" he wondered.
"Does it matter?" Ginny frowned, and worry for her best friend overcame her. "Hermione needs me, Harry. I'm going to need the cloak tonight. You did bring it, didn't you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at her question and rolled his eyes a little. Right. As if he would leave it behind.
"I'll give you the map, too. It took Ron and me forever to find that stupid entrance…"
As Harry nattered on, Ginny was left to contemplate Malfoy. He had given her access to Slytherin and access to his own dorm even! The way he was acting… it was as if the war had blown a heart into the bastard.
Draco Malfoy was up to something.
AN: I know it's been awhile, and I'm sorry! But things have calmed down a little bit, and I can guarantee another chapter by the end of this weekend, with plotting and mystery's and all other such nonsense that comes standard with Hogwarts. I had a hard time with Ginny's POV, don't think I did it justice, but I'm starting to get the hang of her.
As always, I love your reviews! They're the reason I keep writing, because if people don't review, I don't know if the story is being read. So thank you all, so much, and let me know if you guys have any ideas, questions, etc. And if you want to get seriously involved in the story, find me on tumblr! It's on my profile.
Beautiful-Liar13: I hope this was what you were thinking when you asked for Gryffindor response to the hospital thing. If not, I'm sorry!
Disclaimer: I do not own HP, I'm not cool enough.