A/N:

SORRYYYYYYYY! Seriously, I am so sorry. You guys are the best and I love you, so you deserve better than my lack of updating :( Anyway, chapter nineteen.. Whoa.. Hope you like it!

DensiShine – xlittlemissfangirlx – Angel-Lily-Snape – Livelifedreaming – past decembers – Drkness'sDaughter – Mrs. Theodore Nott – Rosanaa – Nightshadeprincess567 – Nikki2202 – The-Profesor – Jen103.

Chapter nineteen

Harry and Ginny were more than pleased over Ron's acceptance of their relationship. And so was Hermione. She could now again talk to both of her friends at the same time without them tearing each other apart.

The four of them walked together to breakfast the next day. Many people turned heads at the sight of them and sure some rumours were flying around, such as Ron pairing Harry up with his sister in order for him to have Hermione on his own, and Hermione being heartbroken over her friend Ginny dating Harry whom she also fancied. All rubbish, of course.

They were discussing Saturday's Quidditch finale -Gryffindor and Ravenclaw- as Hermione noticed a student at the table she hadn't seen in a while.

"Harry, look," Hermione whispered as they entered the hall. Harry followed her gaze and found Katie Bell further down the Gryffindor table talking to one of her friends.

Before Hermione could stop him, Harry marched down to Katie.

"Katie, glad to see you back! Do you think you can play with us on Saturday?"

Harry felt selfish for asking so quickly.

"I think so, yes," Katie answered. She didn't look as if she had the energy though.

"How are you-"

"I know what you're going to ask me, Harry, but I'm sorry; I don't remember who cursed me," Katie said and then rushed off, leaving a confused Harry behind. She had probably been asked a lot.

Harry turned around to walk back to his friends, but did in that second spot Draco Malfoy entering the Great Hall. He looked a mixture of furious, concerned and scared. He had black shades under his eyes -it was hard to tell whether they were from getting punched or lack of sleep.

As soon as Draco saw Harry looking at him, he turned around and nearly ran out of them room he had just entered. Harry took a deep breath and then ran after him. He wanted to know what it was Draco was up to, why he had been so secretive -more than ever- lately and why he looked so bad. It wasn't out of pity but curiosity.

Harry could see Draco a bit ahead of him in the corridors. Harry didn't try to hide the fact that he was following him, because he had a feeling Draco already was aware.

After a minute or two of walking fast Draco turned left and went into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry wondered, what Draco was doing there. He himself hadn't been inside the room since his second year, but he had seen Myrtle around a few times.

Harry approached the bathroom with slow, sound-proved steps.

A noise he was used to hear from that bathroom sounded -sobbing. Though, it was rather different. Myrtle's sob was in a high note, and this one sounded as if the person hardly ever had cried before. There were short moans in-between.

Then the sobbing drowned in the words that Moaning Myrtle spoke. Harry was too far way to hear exactly what she was saying, but it sounded as if she as comforting the person crying.

Harry entered the room and saw Draco leaning over a sink. He had taken off his jumper and was now only wearing his black trousers and a shirt nearly the same shade of white as his pale skin. He was defiantly the one crying, Harry was sure.

Over the sink an old, rusty mirror was hanging. Draco looked up and could see Harry's face in its reflection.

Draco instantly turned around and held his wand up as a weapon, and without a word he threw a Nonverbal spell at Harry who too had his wand up, ready for a a fight.

Harry barely missed the spell. He locked himself into one of the toilet boxes, bent down and crawled under the boxes. He felt the adrenaline kick in his blood. He had no idea what Draco's next move was or if it was strong enough to kill him.

Harry took a deep breath, then pecked out to see where Draco had gone. Right in front of him Draco was pointing his wand at Harry. He did not look as if seeing him dead wouldn't please him. Harry felt shivers all the way down his spine. This could be his last breathing moment. On the other hand, Draco had in no way guts enough to kill Harry. Especially because Voldemort would kill Draco and his family if he did so.

"Crucio," Draco said nearly as a whisper. Harry just escaped. But he had already imagined how big the pain would be if the spell had hit him.

Draco ran away from the boxes and over to the mirrors. A spell cast by Harry exploded the sink tap in the middle of the room and several of pipes. Water fled all over but none of the boys seemed to notice it. They were busy throwing spells at each other.

When Harry got tired of avoiding spells and haunting Malfoy, he remembered a spell he'd seen in his Potions book -the one the "Half-Blood Prince" had written in. He hadn't tried it out on anyone before because the words For Enemies was written above it. Hermione didn't recognize it, or at least would not admit.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry yelled at Draco who all of a sudden fell back over. Harry took a step closer to get a better look at what he had just done.

It looked as if Draco's chest had been flung open; blood flooded all over his white, wet shirt, and into the water that now was at least one inch. His hair was a mess, but Harry was sure that wasn't because of his spell.

Draco was screaming and moaning in a low voice.

Harry felt helpless but didn't regret his actions. He had no idea how to help Draco, and neither knew if he wanted to. A voice in his head wanted him to turn his back and leave, but another voice wanted him to get help.

"Draco, you all right?" Harry asked. It was the first question that came to his mind when he decided to follow the latter voice.

"Do.. I... look.. all right?" Malfoy moaned. Harry shook his head. He could see the stupidity in his question.

Harry looked deep into Draco's piercing blue eyes. He'd never taken time to notice the beauty of them. A feeling fled into Harry's chest. It was a feeling he'd felt before, but never around Malfoy. Only around Ginny and Cho...

"No, of course not. I'm-"

But Harry was cut off by Professor Snape who seemed to randomly have passed the bathroom. He stormed up to Draco as was he his own son, and knelled next to him in the water.

"What. Have. You. Done?" Snape gasped but still remained calm.

"It wasn't on purpose -I swear. I didn't know the spell, I just-"

but once again Snape cut him off.

"Don't ever use a spell you don't know the consequences of, Potter," Snape spat. He sure enjoyed this moment where Harry had made a mistake, and he actually had proof.

"Get lost," Snape said, addressing Harry, but his gaze was now upon Draco's blood-red chest. There nearly wasn't a white spot to see on his shirt.

"Vulnera sanentur," Professor Snape whispered. His wand travelled a bit above Draco's chest, and slowly healed the wounds Harry's spell had caused. The bloodstains stayed on though.

Harry took a final glare at the two, and then did as Snape had told him to; got lost.

"Harry, where did you go? Is it true that you sent Draco Malfoy to the Hospital Wing?" Hermione whispered during their Defence Against the Dark Arts class later that day.

Harry was surprised how fast the word had gotten out. But as Dumbledore had once said to Harry "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows."

Harry was avoiding Snapes gaze, and had kept his mouth shut until now.

"I followed Draco into Myrtle's bathroom. You won't believe me, but he was-"

"I see you dared to show up, Mr. Potter," Snape said as he for the third time that day cut off Harry whilst speaking. "Rumour has it you've gotten yourself a detention with me," Snape said. Harry felt relieved that one detention was his punishment -he could handle that. "This Saturday," added Snape with extra pressure on "this". He perfectly well knew what was happening Saturday.

"But Sir, Saturday is-"

"Quidditch. I know, Mr. Potter. You've been using that excuse ever since you got here." Harry could sense a bit of laughter in his voice. "And what have happened all those times?"

Harry was about to answer that he always got the detentions anyway, but Snape just walked away and left Harry with an open mouth.

"Yes, that rumour is true," Harry whispered to Hermione.

"This is it. We're doing it," Ron revealed with a nervous smile on his lips. It was just before Dinner, and the trio were for some reason standing outside the Great Hall.

"What is it we're doing, Ronald?" Hermione asked. She looked very confused, and Harry was glad he wasn't the only one who didn't understand what Ron was talking about.

"Not we as in us three, Hermione," Ron sighed, as was it obvious. "Pansy and I."

"Oh, I see." Hermione did not seem comfortable about the situation. "What are you going to do then?" She frowned her nose.

"Making our relationship public," Ron explained. In that same second Pansy arrived alone.

"Ready?" she asked Ron. You could tell she too was nervous. That was a very rare moment.

"Indeed."

And before neither Harry nor Hermione could ask questions, the two of them had entered the Great Hall -hand in hand.

Many turned their heads as the couple passed them, and whisper began flying around.

Hermione saw how some peoples jaws dropped. And as the Slytherin table realised what was going on, the real drama begun. Most Slytherins turned their heads at Draco. They all remembered that they'd been dating just last year.

"Getting it on with the Weasel, Parkinson?" a brave Hufflepuff yelled which made the rest of the hall break in to laughter.

Pansy stopped up. It was as if she'd been jinxed, and first now realised where she was and what she was doing. She gazed at the people starring back at her. You could tell that she wasn't very comfortable with the unwanted attention. She turned her face towards Ron, and had big regret in her eyes. She shook her head and whispered the words "I'm Sorry." And before anyone could sink in the fact that they were a couple, Pansy had stormed out of the hall.

Ron stood behind more red in the face than his hair.

Protests filled the air as Harry revealed his detention to the Quidditch team just before their practice.

"They can't do that!" Ginny exclaimed.

"It's Snape," Harry explained to his girlfriend.

"Then we're one man short. We can't cast a new player before Saturday, Harry! Don't you think they can make an exception?" Katie asked. It was her first practice back.

"It's Snape," repeated Harry. That sentence explained a lot.

"We can play one Chaser short. It's been done before!" Ginny suggested, but the rest of the team shook their heads. They were aware that they were doomed. Loosing to Ravenclaw wouldn't be the greatest thing they did -but it was better than loosing to Slytherin.

Other useless suggestions escaped the players lips. Harry didn't catch half of them, but he also knew that in the end it was up to him to make a decision.

"I think I've found you a Chaser," a voice spoke from behind which made the team shut up. They all found Hermione Granger in their sight. She was in her full Quidditch uniform. Harry had to admit that it suited her. He had never before seen how well she looked in it. She was meant to play Quidditch, she just didn't know.

"Get on the field," Harry commanded with a smile.