FicWad

Chapter Eleven
In which pain can end or begin with a kiss

"Don't move!" scolded Ginny quietly. "You'll only make it worse."

"Well, I have to /breathe/," said Draco, shifting on the floating stretcher and giving a sudden groan. "Where the hell's Pomfrey?"

"She left ages ago with the other teachers. I think your team mates saw her."

"Who cares about /them/?" exclaimed Draco. "I just sodding dislocated my shoulder and it's lucky I'm not dead..."

Ginny's face went from flushed to ashen when he said this and Draco's voice died down.

"Anyway," he continued, in a slightly disheartened tone. "She could've at least had a look at me..."

Ginny remained silent as she walked alongside of him and Draco glared at the slowly darkening sky. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to think back to when he'd just regained consciousness...

The first thing he'd been aware of was the warmth. It'd reminded him of that night in the Forbidden Forest, sleeping in the hollow tree... Then he had tried to raise his head only to be smothered in Ginny Weasley's vivid red hair. It hadn't been an entirely uncomfortable experience, and it had given him a certain amount of light-headedness to lose the feeling of the agonising pain in his left shoulder. Then she had started to mumble things against him that his fuzzy mind couldn't understand, making him want to grin at the absurdity of the situation.

It was then that she had looked up and said Potter's first name, which brought back the hollow tree memory once more. This had caused him to try to draw back, to which she hastily complied. And it was then that it had hit him that Potter had caught the Snitch and not him, and that Ginny was still in Potter's possession, and not his.

"Rotten reality..." he'd slurred to himself, vaguely making out that Ginny was trying to help him to his feet.

Suddenly he had felt himself falling...falling...and then landing...in a soft, floating stretcher. She had then performed some sort of charm on him to get rid of the fuzzy feeling in his brain, and then started to direct the stretcher slowly back towards the castle.

"So," stated Draco, craning his neck sideways to look at her.

Ginny remained silent.

"What is it?" he finally broke out, annoyed that she wouldn't even look at him.

"Why did you do it?" she whispered.

Her answer surprised him. It surprised him so much that he didn't even feel annoyed that she was answering his question with a question.

"Do what?" said Draco warily, suddenly regretting that she was now looking at him. He suddenly felt all hot and bothered.

"You wore it. The cloak," continued Ginny, who stopped and faced him. "Why?"

Draco's gaze flicked away from hers, finding himself suddenly unable to remember the words he'd said so often in his head whenever he'd mentally played out the situation.

"I don't know," he muttered. "I just...decided to wear it."

'Yes, but it nearly got you killed/," said Ginny desperately. "I didn't think you'd wear it in a /match/, I would've made the clasp stronger - I still don't see /why -"

"There doesn't have to be a reason," muttered Draco, finally willing himself to look her in the eye. "And it doesn't have to be complicated. I just... I like it... that's all."

Ginny swallowed at this and ran her hand over her face. "No," she replied, this time averting her own eyes. "It is complicated... and /you're/... you're complicated."

There was a long pause where Draco just stared at her, screaming at his brain to let his voice work. "How am I more complicated than Potter?"

Ginny's breath hitched and her eyes darted back towards him. The sun had just begun to set and his face was covered in the looming castle's shadows. "There's nothing complicated about Harry."

"Right," murmured Draco, " -besides the fact that our current Dark Lord wants to kill him, who, incidentally, has already tried to do so countless times, but, being Potter, has survived each and every time because he's the bloody Heir of Gryffindor..."

Ginny laughed softly. "The Heir of Gryffindor? Have you been reading those trashy Witch Weekly-"

"That's not the point," cut in Draco, though forgetting himself what the point was as Ginny's slight smile continued to linger.

"What?" said Ginny after a long pause, reaching the lit-up entrance steps and noticing that Draco was looking at her oddly. "Do I have something on my face?"

"What?" responded Draco blankly, tearing his eyes away. "I don't know. Probably."

Ginny frowned half-heartedly but paused at the great oak doors, turning to face him. "So... Do you want me to walk you to the hospital wing? Or..."

Draco's expression chilled somewhat. "If you want to get to your House's celebration party, go right ahead. I'm sure I can manage."

"That's not what I was going to say," said Ginny, running her hand over her brow. "I mean...I thought you might not want to get the Slytherins any more riled up..."

"Any more riled up than what?" asked Draco, with a frown.

"Oh..." mumbled Ginny, wishing she hadn't said anything. "It's just... you lost the... I mean... you didn't catch the...er..."

There was a long pause where Ginny fell silent, miserably wondering why she never seemed to think before she spoke.

"What makes you think I lost?" said Draco eventually, raising his eyebrows.

"What?" She frowned, her hand falling from the oak door as she glanced back at him. "Oh...I don't know...perhaps the lack of cheering Slytherins carrying you off into the sunset...and the obvious presence of me directing your stretcher towards the hospital wing..."

Draco stared at the Gryffindor before him, her untidy hair glinting almost scarlet in the setting sun. "Yeah," he said quietly. "And what makes you think I lost?"

Ginny stared back at him, that familiar rush of heat she'd felt when they'd touched at Christmas pounding in her ears. She felt herself take a step towards him before jumping violently as the entrance doors swung open.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy! There you are!"

Professor Dumbledore's smile wavered as both students shrank back, startled at the unexpected interruption. "Oh dear," he said. "Please excuse my rather rude behaviour but I must speak to you, Mr Malfoy. At once."

"Oh..." said Malfoy, staring at the Headmaster blankly. "All right..."

"Er..." Ginny mumbled, jerking backwards with her neck tinged a bright pink. "Well...I'll see you at the Ball tomorrow night anyway. I'm...er...I'm looking forward to it."

"What?" said Malfoy still blankly, as Ginny practically fled through the castle doors, the tinge of pink creeping upwards into her face. "Ball? What Ball?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at him and took control of the floating stretcher. "I assume Miss Weasley was talking about the Farewell Ball for the exchange students," he commented. "Now, let's get you to the hospital wing."

Draco muttered distractedly but continued to watch Ginny's retreating figure, his brow only unfurrowing as Ginny glanced back at him with an uncertain smile, before rounding the corner out of sight.

*

Severus paced up and down the hospital wing, impatient for Madam Pomfrey to return with balm for his bruises. He probably could've brewed the bloody thing from scratch in the same time it was taking her to fetch it.

He glared at himself in a nearby mirror, knowing that he wasn't really there for the balm...but to check if that stupid, fool-of-a-boy was all right. Well, it had seemed like quite a serious fall, and it wasn't as if he really particularly cared...but there wasn't any harm in just double-checking...

But the sound of Dumbledore's voice drifting up the stairs froze him mid-stride. The chance of Dumbledore sweeping in here...catching him checking up on Draco - not that he /was/, he told himself strictly. Just that...it might seem like that...especially to someone like Dumbledore... meddling sentimental fool that he was...

The footsteps grew louder and Severus panicked, whirling himself abruptly behind the bed curtains of a sleeping patient. Luckily the student continued to sleep peacefully, and Severus breathed a sigh of relief. Now nobody would ever know...

"Ah, Mr Malfoy," he heard Madam Pomfrey exclaim. "Young Mr Snape was just looking for you."

Snape added Madam Pomfrey to his Hate List and cringed at Dumbledore's reply of, "Was he now?"

There was a frown in Draco's voice as he answered. "What did he want?"

"Oh, just to see if you were all right I suspect. Poor thing made up an excuse about needing some bruise balm... I didn't really take him seriously and I suppose he just eventually left."

If glares could cut through linen, Madam Pomfrey would have dropped down dead. A furious eye found a chink in the bed curtains and Severus directed his glare at the two figures now manoeuvring Draco onto one of the empty beds. To his surprise, Draco didn't look even remotely scornful at the idea of Severus checking up on him, but instead looked vaguely disbelieving.

"Are you sure..." Draco hesitated after a long pause, "-he was looking for me?"

"Well, he asked after you," replied Madam Pomfrey, smiling at Dumbledore in a way Snape didn't like.

"But..." Draco frowned at the potion Pomfrey was measuring out for him. "Did you ask why? It's just... we haven't spoken since Easter and it seems highly unlikely..."

"Perhaps Mr Snape's head was hit repeatedly during the match?" suggested Dumbledore.

Draco scowled in response, though it could've been due to the fact that he was gulping down a nasty dose of potion Pomfrey had just handed to him. His scowl continued to linger however, as he finished wiping his mouth and glanced up at a waiting Dumbledore.

"I know you know about him," said Draco finally, unable to bring himself to really glare at the Headmaster so choosing to glare at the empty flask instead. "I know he's got a secret and he always used to see you about it."

Severus froze behind the curtains, hardly able to breathe.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in response. "Now that your shoulder is healed, Mr Malfoy," he said evenly, "I suggest we talk about yourself and not Mr Snape."

"I already told you I threw all his letters in the fire, /un/opened. I haven't anything else to tell you."

"I believe you," replied Dumbledore. "But I would also like to discuss future letters from your father. I believe that examining them could help us."

"You mean help you," said Draco stubbornly. "I don't want any part of it. If you want the letters, fine, take them. As if anymore would come anyway, being there's only a week left of term."

"I'm afraid I still need you to open them, Draco," said Dumbledore gently. "Else the Malfoy seal will destroy the parchment."

"Fine." Draco shrugged, pleased at how healed his shoulder felt. He shrugged it a few more times before testing his ankles. "Fine," he repeated, swinging himself gingerly out of bed. "Well...if that's all..."

"That's all," said the Headmaster, his face softening as Draco hurriedly folded up his broken cloak and placed it carefully into an inner pocket. "Thank you for co-operating, Draco."

Draco muttered an assent awkwardly, though turning before he reached the doorway to glance at Dumbledore one last time. "When you see Severus next..."

Dumbledore waited patiently but Draco continued to hesitate.

"Doesn't matter," Draco muttered finally, and turned to walk away.

His panic forgotten, Snape continued to watch through the chink in the curtains, the bruises on his head settling into a dull ache.

*

Severus rested an elbow on the banister of the moving staircase, staring down into the gloom below. The staircase stopped and he continued to the portrait hole, his steps faltering when he saw that the corridor was already occupied.

Ginny Weasley was sitting on the stone floor, her knees to her chest and her back against the wall.

"Hello," said Severus hoarsely, as Ginny turned her head abruptly. "Why aren't you at the party?"

Ginny could only stare at him, unable to believe that after three months of ignoring and avoiding her, Severus was actually speaking to her.

"I...er...I'm..." To Ginny's dismay, she felt a lump forming in the back of her throat. "I don't know, what d'you care?"

Severus stared straight back at her, putting his hands in his pockets before looking away. "I don't," he lied.

Ginny put her arms back around her knees, resting her head once more. She waited for the muffled celebrations to louden as the portrait door swung open, but the sound never came. Instead she heard the sound of material scraping down stone, and when she eventually looked to her right, the hunched-over figure of Severus was sitting down next to her.

There was a long silence before Severus spoke. "I suppose you and Draco are speaking then."

Ginny sighed and squeezed her arms tighter around her legs. "What do you want, Severus? Did Draco speak to you? I don't know what I'm doing here, honestly I don't. You can't just-I hate the fact-why do you-"

Severus looked at her, confused.

"You're jerking me around like I'm on a piece of string, Severus. Both of you! You don't include me, don't talk to me, act as if I don't exist for /months/. And now today, when there's only a few days left of term and I won't see you for months again - you come up to me all blas