I'm sooo sorry it took so long to update! I've been caught up with homework and just lazy and yadayadayada... Soo yeah :)

Also, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and I actually have an idea, so my updating may be even LESS constant! But I made this chapter just a wee bit longer for your enjoyment :) Hope you like it!

Draco didn't leave her bedside. From the moment he raced her out of the Quidditch pitch to the hospital wing, and throughout the rest of the day, he didn't move an inch from his spot on her right. Madam Pomfrey once attempted to get him to go to dinner and eat something, but a sharp glare cut her off, and she tutted and hurried away to her office instead. He smirked after her and against turned his attention to Kenzie.

She looked rather radiant. He was no longer ashamed to admit it. With her brown-blonde hair fanned out across the starched white pillow and her fair eyelids covering bright blue eyes, she looked angelic. But as his gaze went lower, his contented smile turned a bit sour.

Her cheeks, throat, the front of her torso and thighs, as well as arms were all painted black and blue with bruises.

"What's wrong with her?" he had angrily demanded once he'd laid her upon the small bed. The elderly matron rushed around with the speed of a five year old, checking everything she could. She didn't speak for almost a full minute, which drove Draco to a point where he cried out, "ANSWER ME, WOMAN!"

Madam Pomfrey had given him a reproving look, but responded as she removed Kenzie's Quidditch protection. "She has severe bruising all across the front of her body." She tenderly pushed two fingers along her chest, and reached underneath her limp form, doing the same to her back. A considering look crossed her face. "She also seems to have fractured her ribcage and spinal cord. Nothing too serious."

Draco's jaw had dropped to the ground, but Madam Pomfrey merely pushed it back in place and began to remedy what she could at the present time. Draco fell into the chair nearest her and simply stared at her as the starkest blotches of irregular color seemed to die down a bit. That was the only thing that kept him from throwing something at the woman who seemed to be prodding Kenzie in uncomfortable ways.

Much to his chagrin, he was bustled out of the hospital wing an hour after visiting hours ended. If he'd had it his way, he would've remained there all night, keeping his gray gaze on her forever. But it wasn't. Madam Pomfrey practically tossed him into the corridor and slammed the doors shut. He flipped the wooden entry the bird before stalking off, in desperate need of sleep, though he'd never admit it.

For being awake far too many hours, Draco overslept, meaning that he wasn't the first one to the doors the next day. But Rose, Annabelle, and Sam were another story. Madam Pomfrey was rudely woken by raucous knocking, courtesy of the three girls, all of whom were also screaming for her to open the bloody door.

As soon as it swung in the opposite direction, they all hurled themselves forward, ignoring the old matron's chastisements. Their quick footsteps brought them directly to the only bed in use. And they were all quite surprised to find that she was awake.

"Morning," Kenzie smiled weakly. All their hearts broke at the effort it took for her to be happy. But they braved smiles easily.

"How are you feeling?" Annabelle asked quietly. Kenzie shrugged, though winced at the pain the bruises set through her body. Like her muscles were gasoline and the nerves bouncing through were fire, hoping to burn her within. She hid the discomfort well, however.

"Alright. It wasn't too bad."

Rose glanced at the sheet pinned up by her bed, continuously changing her medical status. She shot her friend an unimpressed look. "You have a broken ribcage, spine, and bruises all over, and you say that it wasn't too bad?"

"Yep!" Sam sighed heavily, at the end of Kenzie's bed, hoping to blend in. As far as she knew, all her friends except Eryn were still angry at her for sleeping with Harry.

Speaking of Eryn…

"Sorry I'm late!" Eryn's loud, happy voice rang through the wing as she zipped in. Everyone's jaws dropped as she bobbed up and down next to Kenzie, looking thoroughly worried. "Oh my God, are you okay? Are you hurt too badly?" She noticed the staring. "What the hell are you looking at?"

"Um…Eryn? Kenzie murmured. She looked at her. "Your hair is kind of…pink."

And it was true. Eryn's once light blonde curls were suddenly a vibrant, flamingo pink. The ringlets and frizziness were the same, just much more…pink. It was a shock to say the least. Eryn shrugged.

"Yes, and…?" Annabelle didn't let her gaze flicker.

"Any reason why?" she asked slowly. Eryn repeated her earlier actions, although they lied. There were a thousand reasons why: mainly, the numerous changes outside her life being shoved into an internal change on her exterior, if that made any sense.

"None. I got bored last night, and dyed my hair pink." No one believed her, but they didn't push the topic. But of course, it was at that point that Kenzie noticed Sam. She glared a bit.

"Aren't we angry with you?" she snapped. Sam looked down at the ivory sheets, not daring to look her friend in the eye. If she did, she may break down. But, luckily, Eryn spoke for her. She wrapped a thin arm around the brunette's shoulder.

"I decided that it isn't Sam's fault. She slept with Harry, sure, but that's Sam! It's her way of dealing with shit! Why get mad at her for something that's in her makeup?" Everyone nodded in agreement to this. "Though I'm still pissed at Harry. Make no mistake about that."

Silence fell over the group of friends. But it was comfortable. And they all had certain somebodies on their minds. Of course, they would never admit it. Not even to each other. They might've been close, but they still had some boundaries.

"So…who won?" Kenzie suddenly asked, realizing why she was in the hospital. It was because of a Quidditch accident! She'd flown straight into a pole! An uneasy look passed through everyone, making her worried. "Who won?" she prompted more forcefully.

"Gryffindor," Annabelle murmured. Kenzie sighed heavily and let her eyes flutter shut for a moment. Of course. Bloody Gryffindor. Not that she was particularly mad at them for the win (after all, Rose and Annabelle were both part of it, and Rose probably contributed to the success.) It was simply the fact that her blunder most likely caused a sudden loss of a Chaser and a very hectic time.

Oh, and Draco also had to be replaced. From what she saw through half-shut eyelids yesterday, he hadn't returned to the Quidditch pitch. He hadn't laughed at her, kicked dirt in her face, anything showing disrespect. Hell, he brought her to the hospital wing! And all the kind acts were beginning to scare her…

…And delight her.

"Oh, my dears, I'm afraid that Miss. Thorne needs her rest!" Madam Pomfrey suddenly said, still in her dressing gown. All the girls nodded hurriedly and walked out of the wing, waving goodbye at their friend. Kenzie was left to drink two potions – one to mend her wounds, and the other to help her sleep – and head back to that dizzying darkness she'd learned to enjoy.

"What're you doing?"

Rose jumped out of her skin at the voice immediately behind her. Second time in two days, she noted bitterly. Turning around, she was faced with – who else but – Ron Weasley. His blue eyes looked a bit amused at her reaction, to which she rolled her own brown irises heavenwards and looked back down at her novel.

"No answer?" he continued. She counted to ten in her head.

"I'm reading, Ronald," she snapped. He smirked a bit.

"Ronald. You sounded like Hermione for a minute. You know, except for the fact that you aren't. You're blonde, and she's not. You wear glasses, and she doesn't. You hate me, and she doesn't. Well…" He smiled gently at this. "…not usually, anyways."

"Is there a point to your ramble?" she asked tiredly. In all honesty, she wasn't too interested in hearing Ron's drivel about God knows what. Even her novel wasn't fascinating her like it should've. Instead, Kenzie was on her mind. She was all bruised up in the hospital wing, knocked out so the medication she was taking wouldn't harm her, and so she wouldn't move about. It broke her heart…

Ron shrugged. "Not particularly. Just saw you sitting here, and thought to talk to you." She looked up just in time to catch his ears turn bright red. She felt something within her stir with pleasure at the sight which she caused.

"Well, thank you, b–"

"WON-WON!"

The piercing squeal of someone quite familiar rang through the air. Both Ron and Rose turned to see a mass of blonde ringlets bouncing towards then. In one swift movement, Ron was attacked by a pair of fair-skinned arms wrapping around his neck, and two glossed lips attacking his.

Rose quickly spun back so she was staring at her book once more. She had no interest in watching Ron and this ditz snog. Though the sounds weren't blocked out. In a moment, though, it stopped, and she heard the clearing of a throat. Rose composed her face to indifference and looked at the girl.

It was bloody Lavender Brown.

"Do you mind?" she asked, her voice dripping with sweetness that was so obviously artificial. Rose rolled her eyes and leaned back a bit into the wall.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I was here first, thank you very much," she snapped back. Lavender gawked at Rose before spluttering and shining big, doe-like eyes at Ron. He coughed uncomfortably.

"Um, we can go somewhere else," he muttered. Lavender glared at Ron, then aimed it at Rose, with much more hatred. Rose flipped her the bird, to which the latter girl shrieked and rushed off to the end of the corridor, waiting there until Ron finished talking to her.

"Sorry about her," Ron murmured. She stared at him.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Rose asked. He shoved his hands into his pockets, hoping to murder the awkwardness without speaking. When it didn't work, he replied.

"Last night, after the Gryffindor win, um…she sort of thought I did really well," he mumbled. "You were there, you remember, right?" She quirked an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"No, I wasn't. I don't like parties. I went to the library until late."

"Oh." Ron ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Well…this led to that, and one thing led to another, and it ended up with her and me getting together."

Rose nodded slowly, trying to let the information sink in. Yet it wasn't able to. It wasn't penetrating her mind. It just…wasn't working. Instead of letting it continue seeping into her brain, she snapped her book shut, rose from her place, and stalked off in the opposite direction of the fuming Lavender and dumbstruck Ron.

Eryn's silent treatment was actually succeeding. With every attempt Harry made to start a conversation with her, she would simply distance herself from him more and more, until it had been an entire week without her even making eye contact with him. It neared the end of November, and Harry couldn't focus in class, or on homework, or even on simple conversations without twitching to look at Eryn.

"It's working!" Sam gawked. Eryn didn't let on any satisfaction at Harry's constant discomfort. If anything, she couldn't care less. Or so she led everyone to believe. Inside, her heart was wrenching itself apart. She wanted desperately to stare into his emerald green eyes for eternity, stroke his raven locks, to simply say Hey to each other.

Then she would look at Sam, and remember everything would come rushing back. She remembered why she was putting them both through such torture, and she was positive that she wouldn't back off from this approach. It was working far better than she expected, and that was a pleasure in itself.

Until the night that her wall came crumbling down.

"ERYN!" Harriet Jones cried loudly as the group of friends were studying in the Hufflepuff common room. Annabelle hid her face hurriedly, and thankfully wasn't noticed. Eryn turned at her name, smiling gently at the girl.

"Yeah?"

"Someone's camping out in front!" Eryn looked at her strangely. "They say that they won't leave until they get to see you."

"How romantic," Sam giggled, elbowing her pink-haired friend. Rose and Annabelle agreed with the grin. Eryn rolled her eyes.

"Who is it?" she asked. All the other girls leaned in to listen to the culprit of interrupting their studying (though they agreed that this drama was much more interesting than any Divination homework).

"Um…Harry Potter."

Well? Did I mention that I stole that idea of camping out in front of the common room from when Snape did it with Lily, after calling her a Mudblood? ;) I love it

Thoughts? I liked it, actually, so hopefully you did too!

REVIEW! :D