A/N: Huh, apparently getting married and finishing your last year of college and trying to start your own business really takes up more time than you'd think! My apologies. I'll be better, I promise!
I'm in Gryffindor?
Whose Team Are You On?
As the week went on, Hermione and Draco had seen some major improvement to Draco's attitude. By Wednesday morning, he hadn't called her Granger (or any foul name) in two days and would only refer to her as Hermione. Draco was even charming toward Ginny who had become somewhat fond of having him around because he never failed to put Ron in his place when he was acting up, which always saved her the trouble. Draco doubted that he would ever be (or would ever want to be) on a first-name basis with Ronald Weasley, but the name-calling had stopped on both ends. Harry was willing to pretend to get along with Draco for the sake of Hermione, but he had a hard time believing that anything could ever change him from being the selfish git he knew was just below the surface.
By Wednesday Afternoon, Hermione had finally convinced Draco to try out for the Quidditch team that Friday. She even went with him down to the field to watch him practice. Ginny had volunteered to help him that morning and by four o'clock the three of them were at the field, Hermione sitting in the stands, and Draco and Ginny broom in hand. Ginny smiled reassuringly at Harry. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get your fair chance with Harry. He's not stupid enough to try anything funny with all the other people around."
"Thanks, Ginny." Draco replied, not quite believing her. If Harry really didn't want him on the team, there was no way he would let him. "Right then, let's get this over with…." He kicked off on his broom and shot up in the air and headed toward the middle of the field flying about 20 meters above ground.
Ginny followed behind him, the quaffle in hand. "Okay, now the key to being a good chaser is to always know where your opponents are, where the bludgers are, and where your teammates are. And, of course, where the quaffle is." This was very different from being the seeker. When he was the seeker all he had to do was avoid the rest of the game and look for the snitch. This would take a lot more teamwork. Something that would be hard for him to do as a Slytherin on Gryffindor's team.
"Right. So know where everyone and everything is at all times. Got it." Draco said, feeling slightly put out. Sure, he had played chaser before, but never in a school match. This would be quite different and it would be hard for him to remember which side he was on. Only too easily would he take the quaffle from the Gryffindors and hand it over to the Slytherins without even realizing it. Draco mentally slapped himself. You're a great Quidditch player. Just because you're on a different team, doesn't change the fact that you can win. Just concentrate, idiot!
Ginny threw him the quaffle just then. He saw it out of the corner of his eye about a second before it hit him in the face. His reflexes told him to reach out and grab it and he did so. "Well done!" Ginny cheered! He could hear Hermione cheering from the stands as well. "I didn't warn you or anything. See, you have natural reflexes. That'll get you far." She smiled as Draco returned the quaffle to her. "Right then, for real this time. I want you to zigzag with me across the pitch and we'll pass it back and forth. Always pass when there's the smallest distance possible between us. Got it?"
Draco nodded in agreement and the two took off across the field. They moved like synchronized dancers, Hermione noticed. Streaks of blond and gold (Ginny was apparently happy) whirled past her. She didn't even see the quaffle move, but apparently they passed without fail because she saw as Draco slowed down at the last second at the far end to throw the quaffle through the center hoop.
"Excellent!" She called as they retrieved the quaffle and flew back toward her. "That was brilliant! You two work beautifully together!" She smiled and hugged Ginny who landed next to her. When Draco landed on her other side, she instinctively went to hug him as well and then thought better of it. She dropped her arms that were awkwardly clutching the air and cleared her throat. "If you keep that up, you'll get on the team for sure!"
"Thanks, Hermione," Draco said, breathing hard. It had taken a lot of concentration to maneuver with Ginny, watching her and the quaffle and making sure to stay on track. He knew it would be even more difficult with 5 more teammates on the field as well as 7 opponents. "Again?" he asked, turning to Ginny.
"Again." She responded with a smile. As Draco took off on his broom, Ginny turned toward Hermione and winked at her. "He's going to be just fine."
They practiced for two straight hours, moving more and more synchronized each time. By the time the sun started to set and they were going to call it quits for the day, Draco had gone a full 45 minutes without losing sight of the quaffle once.
As they landed on the field, Hermione came down to meet them, her face pink from cold and her voice horse from cheering so much. "You both played so well together!" She smiled and gave them both high-fives. "I'm really impressed on how quickly you caught on, Draco. It looked like you had been a chaser all your life"
Draco smiled and his cheeks started to turn red. He played it off as being cold and suggested that they went inside for dinner. When they got to the Great Hall, Draco didn't even look at the Slytherin table to search for his friends; he immediately sat down between Ginny and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and started serving himself some food. He offered Hermione the ladle and as she took it from him, their hands met. Her hair flashed navy blue and then back to gold. Draco glanced at her hair momentarily before going back to eating his food. Hermione flushed brightly when she saw her hair change colors. She suddenly stood up.
"You know, I'm not all that hungry, I think I'm going to go to the library again." She said as she walked toward the exit. Draco watched her the whole way, feeling bad and embarrassed at the same time. He wasn't sure how to react toward the feelings he was starting to have for Hermione. As Hermione walked out, he saw Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise Zabini follow her, grins on their face.
Draco excused himself from the table to follow them into the Entrance Hall. He walked so quickly and stared straight ahead that Ginny got concerned and followed him out the door. Draco looked around the Entrance Hall but saw no trace of any of them. He quickly dashed up the stairs that led toward the library and got to the landing just in time to see his three best friends circling Hermione with their wands pointed directly at her. Blaise had performed Petrificus Totalus on her and she was on the ground, unable to move a muscle.
Her hair had turned brown, which if Draco recalled correctly meant fear. Crabbe had a malicious grin on his face as he turned to his comrades and asked, "What should we do with her?"
Blaise was about to respond when Draco stepped into the clearing, making himself visible. "You should let her go."
The three boys looked startled when they realized they had been discovered and then relaxed when they saw it was Draco. Blaise looked at Draco, his eyes narrow and he took a few steps toward him, away from Hermione. "Let her go? Come on, Draco. She's a filthy mudblood. Don't tell me being with the Gryffindors has softened you?"
Draco glanced at Hermione and then back at his three best friends as he assessed the situation. They had attacked Hermione when her back was turned. That was very low, even for a Slytherin. He had more pride than that, which is what he told them. "It's pretty low to attack a defenseless girl with her back turned. Even for you." He said through gritted teeth. He hated seeing Hermione lying on the ground like that and hated himself for hating it. "What was your plan exactly? Going to curse her and stuff her in a closet? What would that accomplish?"
"You've been spending far too much time with the mudblood, you know that? We thought we'd take care of your little problem for you since you don't seem to have the courage to do it yourself. You should be thanking us." Blaise said through gritted teeth.
"Thanking you? You're going to get yourselves expelled. Is that what you want? You really think she's worth that?" He was trying to make himself come off as nonchalant, but the harder he tried, the most desperate he sounded.
Blaise saw right through his attempts and laughed. "You have feelings for the mudblood, don't you? You've been completely whipped by her and the rest of her Gryffindor gang. I expected more from you, Malfoy. It hasn't even been two weeks and you're already standing up for them against your best friends! It's time for you to decide. Whose team are you on? We saw you practicing Quidditch with the Weasley girl. Thinking about trying out for the team? Going to turn against the Slytherins? Your family? All for a filthy mudblood? You really have changed, Malfoy." Blaise spat on the ground next to Draco's feet and turned to face Crabbe and Goyle. "Come on, guys. Malfoy's not with us anymore."
As Blaise reached the others where Hermione was, he smiled an evil smile at Draco. He pointed his wand at Hermione's face and said, "Enjoy looking at her now. Furnunculus!" Boils appeared on Hermione's face and she let out a silent scream, her eyes bulging.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco yelled, his wand pointed directly at Blaise. Ginny had just arrived on scene and yelled the same curse at him. Blaise was blasted back in a statue and knocked unconscious. Crabbe and Goyle took one look at the pair, knew they were no match, and ran the opposite direction. Ginny sent her famous bat-bogey hex after each of them and hit them each square in the back of the head. They fell to the ground, grabbing their faces before getting back up and running off.
Draco ran over to Hermione and performed the counter spell. Tears were running down her face as she sat up. Ginny rushed over to them and put her arms around Hermione. Hermione began to sob into her shoulder, trying to hide her vulnerable state from Draco. Draco turned away, letting her have her moment without interruption. After a few minutes, he quietly suggested to Ginny that they get her to the Hospital Wing so that Madam Pomfrey could take care of the boils.
Draco and Ginny helped lift Hermione off the floor and, with their support; she made her way to the Hospital Wing. Her hair was rapidly changing between black, orange and brown before it finally settled on green "mixed emotions". (A/N: for a reminder of what each color represents, see chapter 5). When they reached the Hospital Wing, they set her down on the nearest empty bed and went to get Madam Pomfrey. Before explaining the situation to her, Draco asked Ginny if they could possibly leave the names out of it. He may not have approved of their actions, but he knew it would be much worse for Hermione and himself if he ratted them out. Ginny agreed only because she knew what could happen to Hermione if she was the reason three Slytherins got expelled. They agreed to say that they found her in the hallway like that didn't get a chance to see who was behind it.
After explaining everything to Madam Pomfrey, she didn't seem to believe their story, but didn't persist because she knew Hermione needed her attention more than she needed facts. She examined Hermione's face and told everyone that it would be simple enough to cure, but Hermione would need to stay the night. She also questioned why on earth Hermione's hair was green. Ginny explained the situation quickly and then asked if she had any way of fixing it. "How about a wig?" Madam Pomfrey suggested with a small smile. "Unfortunately I'm not sure what can be done for this. You said it was your brothers who did this? There's really no telling what they used… However, I will do some research and get back to you. Would you mind if I took a small lock of your hair to test some things?" Ginny nodded and Madam Pomfrey went to grab scissors. When she returned and snipped a few inches from the back of Ginny's head, the clippings immediately turned back to her originally fiery red. "Oh dear," Madam Pomfrey said. "Well, unfortunately the problem seems to be internal and not just on the hair… once your hair is removed, it goes back to its original state which means I can't test it."
Hermione and Ginny both groaned and a few more tears came out of Hermione's eyes. She was way too emotional right now to get any more bad news, Draco realized. "We should let Hermione get some rest." He said to Ginny and when she looked at Hermione and saw the tears flowing silently from her eyes she agreed. "Do you want us to get you anything? Some food or something from your room?" Draco was being very considerate, something that surprised Ginny, Hermione and Madam Pomfrey. She had healed Draco enough to know that this was not normal behavior for him. Really, he just felt responsible for what happened to her and wanted to do anything he could to make it up to her.
"I wouldn't mind a book." Hermione said, trying to smile. I've got one that I was reading sitting on my bed. Would you mind…?"
"Not at all." Draco smiled kindly (a very unusual look for him). "I'll be right back."
He and Ginny left the Hospital Wing to go grab the book from Hermione's bed. After retrieving it and bringing it back to her, they both said goodnight and left her to get some rest.
"Do you think we should tell Harry and Ron?" Ginny asked arching her eyebrow. "I don't think they'd take it very well. They'd want blood."
"Are you going to be able to keep a secret from your boyfriend and brother?"
Ginny shrugged, "I'll manage. But if your 'friends' ever come near any of us again, I'll go straight to Dumbledore." Her eyes looked malicious and Draco didn't doubt what she'd do for a second.
"Deal," he agreed. "And after tonight, I'm not sure 'friend' is the right word to use." He sighed. I think I'm just about out of friends at this point."
"Nah, you've still got one." Ginny smiled and nudged Draco with her elbow. "Well, goodnight, Draco!" She said and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Goodnight, Ginny." Draco said. Yeah, tonight was definitely a night of firsts… Draco thought. Friends with a Weasley? Not a part of Slytherin anymore? This is going to take some getting used to. He sighed and shrugged and headed back towards his room on the sixth floor. He had never felt more alone and confused in his life. And yet, he was happy….