A/N:
Hi, new chapter! Here's a slightly weird one.
If you have any ideas/prompts for future chapters, feel free to leave a comment or send me a PM. I'm still working through some of you guys' requests, so bear with me as I try to find the correct opportunities to place them :)
As always, thanks for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy this story.
Ginny Weasley was sitting on her bed in the Gryffindor Tower with her curtains drawn, throwing darts at a dart board that was magically suspended across from her.
As it just so happened, the dart board was a picture of Daphne Greengrass' face.
She had set up her own scoring system; five points if she hit the cheeks, twenty-five points for the nose, and fifty for each eye. Ginny had stopped counting when she reached two thousand points, and really wasn't sure if that constituted winning the game or not.
She was pretty sure she had lost though, because she was in her bedroom throwing darts at a picture of Daphne, while Daphne herself was probably off having fun with Harry Potter somewhere.
"Oh Harry," Ginny sighed, putting the darts away and taking out her 'Harry Diary' instead. "Why did you have to go and choose that stupid blonde girl over me?"
She had been so sure that she would eventually catch Harry's attention, court him, and marry him, but those plans had been thoroughly ruined earlier that semester when he had abruptly started dating Daphne instead. If it had been anyone else, Ginny would have had the utmost confidence that she could steal Harry away, but Daphne was…impressive.
Ginny knew she was cute, but even she had to admit that Daphne was gorgeous. Ginny got good grades in school, but Daphne's grades were flawless. And while she was hoping that Daphne would get tempted astray by one of her countless other suitors by now, the girl was showing absolutely no signs of straying from Harry, and instead seemed to be following him around more zealously with each passing day.
Am I cooked? Ginny thought to herself, despair slowly seeping into her bones. Has Daphne won? Will I never be with Harry-
"No!"
Ginny slapped herself.
She wouldn't give up hope. To clear her mind, she flipped to the back of the Harry Diary, where she had arranged a small scrapbook filled with the few pictures that featured them together. Her particular favorite was one where they were riding the same broom, taken a few summers ago when he was teaching her how to fly.
Incidentally, Ginny already knew how to fly back then, but she had kept that a secret in order to spend an entire afternoon with him.
She lovingly stroked that photo and several others as she thought about her inevitable future with Harry, and slowly felt herself start to calm down. She took a few deep breaths, and refocused her mind.
She could do this.
"Just you wait, Harry," she said softly, closing the Harry Diary and tucking it gently into bed. "You'll be mine one of these days…"
"Achoo!"
"That is the seventh time you have sneezed since the start of dinner," Daphne observed. "Are you getting sick?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing – I'm probably just stuffy from the recirculated air in the train."
Possible Emotion Detected: Doubt
Daphne had been watching her boyfriend sniffle, cough, and sneeze ever since they had returned to Hogwarts that evening. No matter how she looked at it, he was definitely getting sick.
"You should go to Madam Pomfrey," she continued. "Or at least permit me to do a quick examination of my own. If you are developing an illness, it will be easier to treat if we catch it early."
Harry waved a hand dismissively. Something about having Daphne 'examine' him sounded kind of nice, but his head hurt and he wasn't mentally prepared to deal with that tonight.
"Don't worry," he replied. "I'll get to bed early and I'll be fine tomorrow."
"But you should take some medicine before you sleep, in order to-"
"I already told you, I'm fine," Harry persisted. "It's just a case of the sniffles."
Daphne stared at him for a long moment, to which he just smiled, gave her a thumbs up, and then coughed into his sleeve.
"Fine," she acquiesced eventually. "If you say so."
Daphne still had her doubts, but she trusted Harry, and decided to let the matter drop. He was a grown boy, and could make his own decisions.
When Daphne got to the Great Hall the next morning for breakfast, she found the place where Harry normally sat empty.
Possible Emotion Detected: Suspicion
"Excuse me," she said, approaching Ron where he sat with a few of his friends. "Have you seen Harry this morning?"
"Oh, hi Daphne," Ron replied. "Yeah, he came down with a fever last night and we had to take him to the hospital wing."
"..."
Possible Emotion Detected: Anger
Printing Thought Sequence: I knew it! Next time, I will make that stubborn boy follow my advice whether he likes it or not!
Ron shifted uncomfortably as Harry's girlfriend stared at him, and the air around her developed a distinct chill. While her expression remained neutral, he could somehow tell that she was angry.
Passively, Ron realized this was the first time he had ever spoken directly to Daphne, and he found her rather scary.
"Um, Daphne?" he started tentatively. "Is everything okay?"
"For you, yes."
Ron gulped. That sounded ominous.
"And what about Harry?" he asked. "Is everything okay for him?"
"We will see," she replied simply.
With that, Daphne turned on her heel and walked away, and Ron said a quick silent prayer for his best friend.
Harry watched with trepidation as his girlfriend pushed her way through the large double doors of the hospital wing and made her way towards where he lay in one of the beds. While Daphne never did anything without intent, she seemed particularly purposeful as she approached him, her school loafers making an oddly intimidating tapping noise on the floor as she walked.
"I'm sorry," Harry croaked the moment she was in speaking range. "I should've listened to you; I was definitely getting sick. I was hoping I'd be able to sleep it off in my room so I wouldn't have to-"
His words were lost to a minor coughing fit, and Daphne moved closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not speak," she said quietly. "Use your energy to recover your strength, not to make excuses for your poor decisions."
Harry glanced up at her from underneath the covers, which he had sunken into so deeply that only the upper half of his face was exposed. "...are you mad at me?"
"No. I forcefully overrode those particular thought sequences, as being mad at you while you were sick seemed unsympathetic. However, when you are fully healed, we will be having a discussion about the consequences of dismissing my advice."
Harry wasn't sure if he was relieved that she wasn't mad, or terrified at whatever that future discussion might entail. Either way, he'd take it, because it was stupid of him to stubbornly refuse Daphne's suggestions last night. He just really didn't like going to the hospital wing, and had wanted to cling to whatever misguided delusion he could that he might be able to avoid it.
"Did Madam Pomfrey tell you what the diagnostic spell revealed?" Daphne asked after a while.
"Yeah. It was a cold…that, um, became a fever because I waited so long to do anything about it…"
Daphne stared at Harry, and the boy shrunk further still into the sheets so that only his eyes peeked out the top.
"And how long will you have to remain here?"
"The matron's making me wait until tonight before she gives me the clear to leave," Harry explained. "But honestly, I'm already feeling good enough to-"
He was cut off by another coughing fit, and Daphne handed Harry the glass of water that lay on the small bedside table next to him. He accepted it with a grateful nod, and took a few sips to chase down the tickle in his throat.
"If the matron bids you to stay in bed until tonight, then that is what you will do," Daphne said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Now, I need to head to class, but I will check back in on you at lunch."
She made sure his bedsheets were smoothed and tucked into the frame, and then bent over to give him one last kiss on the forehead.
"Make sure to get some sleep," she instructed finally, before turning around and heading back out of the hospital wing.
Harry watched her go, and a new intrusive thought sprung unbidden to his mind.
Isn't she going to make a great mother?
Later that day, a different girl stood in front of the doors to the hospital wing.
Now's my chance! Ginny thought excitedly to herself.
Apparently, Harry had developed a fever last night and was now resting in one of the wing's sick beds; this would be her opportunity to strike her target while he was down. She double-checked her makeup in a pocket mirror, affected a cute pouty expression on her face, and hiked her skirt way past school dress code tolerances.
Perfect, she thought. With any luck, his fever has left him a little delirious, and I'll be able to prey on his deep-rooted carnal desires and seduce him. Then, I'll force him to take responsibility and he'll have to break up with Daph-
Before Ginny could finish silently monologuing her nefarious plan, she was hit in the back with a spell that froze her solid, and she fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
As Daphne entered the hospital wing, Harry was already sitting up in his bed, looking towards the door.
"Did you hear that just now?" he asked.
"Hear what?" she replied.
"It sounded like a crash coming from just outside the doors."
Daphne turned back towards the doors and closed them. "A small parasite had found its way into the school and I took the opportunity to neutralize it."
"Huh."
"Leaving that matter aside," Daphne said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," he admitted. "I'm still coughing a bit, and my temperature is a little too high, but I think I'll be good to go by tonight."
Daphne nodded, pleased, and opened up her school bag to hand Harry a few pages of parchment.
"These are my notes for the morning classes that you missed," she explained as he took the papers. "I will provide you with the second set at the end of the day. You may peruse the notes if you are feeling up to it, but otherwise you should continue to rest."
"Wow, thanks!" Harry said, flipping through the notes. They were much better than the ones he usually took in class, and he briefly considered asking her to make extra copies of her notes all the time.
That wouldn't be fair to her, or anyone else for that matter, Harry reminded himself a moment later. Besides, I can't have myself becoming a useless man and relying on Daphne for everything.
After a while, Harry looked up at the clock on the wall and turned to his girlfriend. "You should probably head back down to the Great Hall now if you don't want to miss lunch."
"I do not need to eat," Daphne said. "I would prefer to spend more time with you instead. Besides, I must remain here to protect you."
"Protect me?" Harry asked, confused. "Protect me from what?"
"Pests."
"I see…"
Harry didn't really get it, but he had long grown accustomed to Daphne's quirks and wrote it off as nothing important.
That wretched Daphne! Ginny thought as she sat in her afternoon Charms class. She ruins everything!
While she had no way of knowing who had hit her in the back earlier that day with a freezing spell, she could make a pretty reliable assumption.
What's her deal, anyway? I was just trying to take what's rightfully mine…
Ginny was barely focusing on the lecture, brooding angrily as she was, when an idea struck her.
Wait. If I'm in class right now, doesn't that mean Daphne should be in class right now too?
She forced down a smile as she raised her hand, getting Professor Flitwick's attention.
"Excuse me, sir!" she said. "But my tummy is starting to hurt. Can I go to the hospital wing to get it checked out?"
"Oh dear!" the little man chirped. "Why, of course! Do you need someone to help you, or do you think you can manage getting there on your own?"
Ginny faked a minor wince as she held her stomach dramatically. "I'll be fine, professor. I think I just need to rest for a bit."
With the man's approval, Ginny limped out of class, closing the door behind her.
Once she was a sufficient distance away, she straightened up her gait and headed briskly to the hospital wing; Daphne might have foiled her last attempt, but Ginny had outplayed her this time. All she would have to do is make some paltry excuse to Madam Pomfrey, and then she would have several hours alone with Harry to seduce him.
And once the boy was in her clutches, she would never let him go.
Feeling confident in her plan, a little skip found its way into Ginny's step as she made her way down the hallway. When the hospital wing door came into view, a smile broke out on her face.
Harry will finally be mine! All mine-
Her silent cheer came to an abrupt halt as she felt something grab her hair. Whipping around, she saw a little blue pixie giggling behind her.
A Cornish Pixie? Ginny thought, confused. What's one of those doing-
Out of nowhere, a veritable storm of Cornish Pixies crested the corner of the hallway and flew straight for her.
"What the- Ack! Get off me!"
Ginny tried to swat away the pixies, but their numbers were simply too great. Though by no means deadly, Cornish Pixies were very annoying, and as they tugged on her hair and pinched her cheeks, the sheer volume of them made the whole experience rather painful.
"Ouch! Stop that!"
She reached for her wand, but in the confusion, one of the pixies grabbed it out of her hand before she could cast a spell with it.
"Hey, give that back!"
The little pixie giggled maniacally and flew the other way down the corridor.
"You vile little imp!" she yelled angrily, chasing after it. "I'll get you for that!"
As Daphne walked coolly into the hospital wing, she found her boyfriend once again sitting up in his bed.
"Okay, for sure you heard that," he said when he saw her.
"Heard what?" she asked.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "There was an absolute ruckus outside the door just now! What was that?"
"Ah," Daphne replied. "Right. A lesser demon was being exorcized, and it was my great privilege to participate in its banishment."
Harry raised his other eyebrow as well. "You were exorcizing a lesser demon outside the doors to the hospital wing?"
"More or less."
"Okay…"
Harry didn't really understand, but once again, he decided to let the matter drop.
"So anyway," he said, looking up at the clock. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in class right now?"
"I finished my work in Potions ahead of schedule, and I was dismissed early today."
He nodded. That made sense. "So you came to visit me again?"
"Yes, but I brought something with me this time."
"Oh?"
Daphne reached into her bag and procured a small bottle.
"This is apple cider vinegar," she explained, holding it in front of her as if she was in a commercial. "Some muggles claim that it cures all illnesses."
Harry scrunched his nose. "Vinegar? What are you supposed to do with that?"
"You drink it."
He looked at the bottle nervously. "Um, Daphne? I'm not going to drink the vinegar."
"You do not understand," she replied. "You are going to drink the vinegar."
"What? No, I said I'm not going to- Oh. You heard me correctly, didn't you?"
Daphne nodded.
"You are going to drink the vinegar," she repeated.
As she approached him with the bottle, Harry started to shake. "No, Daphne, listen. I hate vinegar, I don't care what the muggles say, there's no way that weird apple stuff actually cures-"
Daphne pressed the bottle to his lips and he drank. The smell of the horrid stuff almost made him gag, and he choked a bit as the pungent, sour stuff trickled down his throat.
"Gah!" he exclaimed once he had swallowed it, sticking his tongue out in a repulsed manner. "That's disgusting!"
Daphne nodded. "It is."
"..."
As Harry watched his girlfriend, a thought slowly occurred to him.
"Wait, did you make me drink that because I didn't listen to your advice yesterday?"
"Many muggles swear by apple cider vinegar," she said evasively.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that all?"
"I may have gotten some vindictive satisfaction out of watching you drink the vinegar," she admitted. "But I also hope that it helps you recover faster so that you can get back to class sooner. I was very lonely today."
Harry thought that was a pretty sweet thing to say, so he neglected to mention the fact that with all the time she was spending in the hospital wing, they had still been with each other for the better part of the day so far.
Daphne put away the vinegar and they spoke for a little while longer, but before they knew it their time was up and Daphne had to leave.
"I will be back soon," she said as she lifted her bag off the floor, taking out the books she was going to need for her last class of the day. "And please remember that if anyone strange enters the hospital wing to bother you with unseemly requests, yell loudly for Madam Pomfrey."
"Uh, sure?" Harry replied, giving her a strange look.
While it wasn't particularly out of the ordinary for her, his girlfriend had certainly been saying some strange things today.
Ginny had finally caught the Cornish Pixie, recovered her wand, and flicked it hard in the forehead for good measure, but she still couldn't help but feel like she was the one who had been defeated.
Why is everything going wrong today? Ginny silently lamented. I just wanted to force Harry to take me as his wife…
She trudged back to the hospital wing even though classes were long since over, not even bothering to clean up her appearance which had been rather muddied while chasing pixies through the school grounds.
When she arrived, she peeked through the doors, and saw Daphne already there standing by Harry's bed. To cope with her overwhelming sadness, Ginny channeled all of her sorrow into rage instead.
More specifically, a rage so hot it could melt stone, directed entirely at one Daphne Greengrass.
Ugh! I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you! I wish you never came to this stupid school, and seduced Harry with your stupid face and your stupid body! He would've been mine if it weren't for you!
The couple seemed to be sharing a tender moment, and were probably about to kiss, so Ginny decided to intervene. Despite all of her previous failures today, she would not sit around idly while Daphne kissed her Harry.
Before Ginny could burst through the doors to the hospital wing, a hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
"Don't," a voice from behind her said. "Leave them be."
Ginny whipped around and saw Draco Malfoy, one of Harry's friends, holding her back. He was carrying a small basket with a couple of apples and an energy drink, and was clearly on his way to visit Harry himself.
"Draco?" she whispered angrily. "Why are you stopping me?"
"They're having a moment," he explained calmly. "It would be rude to interfere."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I've heard the rumors. Don't you have a thing for Harry too? Forget about being rude, we should be ruining their 'moment' before they start hooking up!"
Draco sighed like a parent trying to reason with a particularly unruly child. "True love is about wanting the best for someone, even if the best thing for them isn't to be with you."
Ginny stared at the boy. He was clearly trying to sound wise and enlightened, but the effect was lessened by the strange face he was making while he attempted to hold back tears.
"This is obviously bothering you almost as much as it's bothering me!" she exclaimed impatiently. "We should work together – we can come up with a plan!"
Draco shook his head, starting to get frustrated. "That's not what it's about! Of course it bothers me, and of course I want Harry to love me instead of Daphne, but I respect his decision and I'm trying my best to get over it!"
"Why try to get over it when we can just kill-"
The argument was broken up as an exceedingly infuriated Madam Pomfrey came up behind the two, swatting them both on the head.
"What in Merlin's name are the two of you doing bickering outside of my infirmary?" she scolded. "I have patients trying to heal in there!"
"They're not trying to heal!" Ginny screamed petulantly. "They're trying to hook up!"
Madam Pomfrey pushed open the door and saw Harry sitting calmly in bed, Daphne standing serenely beside him. Having disproven Ginny's accusations, she turned back to the girl, anger plain on her features.
"If you can't keep your voices down in my hospital wing, then you can leave!" she whispered furiously. "Now both of you, out!"
"But Madam Pomfrey-" Draco began to protest, but a look from the matron made him hold his tongue.
"Out! You can see Mr. Potter in a few hours when I dismiss him – but not a moment before then!"
Harry and Daphne watched their two chastened schoolmates walk away, their shoulders slumped.
"It was nice of them to make noise like that to warn us that Madam Pomfrey was coming," Harry said, turning to his girlfriend. "But it's a shame they got in trouble. I'll have to find a way to thank them later."
"Perhaps the best thanks you can give them is a bit of space," Daphne suggested.
"You think?"
"I do. And do not forget what happened the last time you ignored my advice."
Harry hadn't forgotten.
Trusting his girlfriend's cryptic advice, he resolved to give Ginny and Draco a bit of space in the future.
A/N:
Hi, did you like that chapter? I feel a bit bad for Ginny (and Draco, for that matter), but they're both resilient so I'm sure they'll land on their feet.
If you didn't like the chapter, feel free to tell me why. I'm always looking to improve as a writer, and/or steer this weird little fic in the direction you guys want to see it go in :)