All Harry Potter Characters don't belong to me.
The Source - Chapter Twenty-Five
"Speaking"
<Thinking>
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Draco won the bet, so Ginny had taken him to one of the other Holy Passages, as promised. She ended up taking him to the Passage of Character and she made sure that the curtains were covering all the mirrors. She didn't want them to reveal her thoughts to him and I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted his thoughts to be revealed to her either.
"Well that passage would have been interesting, if you'd only let me actually see a mirror," Draco said while he and Ginny were walking back to his room from the passage. Ginny was getting annoyed because Draco had been going on about it for ages.
"I told you already, Malfoy, I don't want you knowing what I'm thinking and I'm sure you don't want me to know what you think either, so keeping the curtains closed was wise."
"What about the mirror of Hate then. I don't mind letting you know about what I hate." Draco suggested.
"But I don't want you to know what I hate. Now will you drop it already?"
"Couldn't you have shown me another passage which was more interesting?" Draco whined. Ginny sighed.
"I wasn't supposed to show you any of them in the first place. You're lucky you've seen three already."
"Why aren't you supposed to show me? And how did you find them in the first place anyway?" Ginny was losing her patience but still remained calm.
"I can't tell you. You don't need to know, so stop asking. You know I won't tell you anyway." Draco frowned.
"It's not very fair that you can know everything about me when I know absolutely nothing about you."
"You already know more about me than anyone else has ever known," Ginny said sadly.
Draco sighed again. There was no use arguing with her. She would always have an excuse.
They reached the main staircases and then went their separate ways. Ginny went up to the towers and Draco went down to the dungeons.
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It was the beginning of March now, which meant it was the beginning of spring. The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was in two days so Draco took his team out to the field to practice.
He and his team reached the field and saw the Gryffindor team already there. Draco told his team to wait for him on the side as he went to talk to Harry, the Gryffindor captain.
"Potter!" he yelled.
Harry turned his head around and saw Draco walking towards him.
"Malfoy," Harry said back. "What are you doing here?" Draco frowned.
"That was what I was going to ask you. We've already booked the pitch for today." Harry frowned.
"But Ron said it was free." He then called for Ron over his shoulder. Ron heard Harry calling him so he made his way over. When he saw Draco he immediately scowled.
"Yeah, Harry," Ron said.
"I thought you said the pitch was free today?"
"Well it is now," Ron said confidently and then took a piece of paper out of his robes and handed it to Draco. Draco read the note and crunched it up in his hand.
"You slimy git," he growled. Harry was confused.
"Hey, what's going on, Ron? What was that note about?" Ron had a smug look on his face as he was staring at Draco.
"Nothing really, just a note from McGonagall telling Malfoy here, to get off the pitch so we can practice." Harry was shocked.
"So they did book the pitch first?" he asked.
"Of course we did, Potter," Draco said, "I don't care what any teacher says. We booked the pitch first so we're not leaving." His tone was lethal and was aimed at Ron.
"Come on, Ron," Harry said while putting his hand over his friends shoulder. "They did book it first, we'll practice tomorrow."
Ron shook Harry's hand off his shoulder. "No, Harry. We have permission from the professor, so bugger off, Malfoy!" Ron yelled. Draco got angry.
"Make me, Weasel!"
"I will," Ron yelled and then pulled his wand out. He aimed it at the quidditch box and the lid snapped open so that the bludgers went flying out. He used his wand to control one of the bludges and sent one flying towards Draco's head. Draco saw the bludger coming and dodged it easily.
"If you want to play Weasel, then we'll play," He growled and then took out his own wand to control the other bludger to fly towards Ron.
The two boys sent the bludgers flying around everywhere trying to hit the other person. Harry and Hermione yelled at them to stop while everyone else on the pitch was too busy dodging the dangerous balls to do anything to stop them.
Madam Hooch came out to the pitch and saw that the two boys were trying to hurt each other.
She blew her whistle loudly and this got the attention of everyone on the pitch. Draco and Ron were also distracted by the sound so were each hit by a bludger. Ron was hit on the back, up near the neck and Draco was hit right in the stomach. Both boys fell to the ground moaning in pain and their teammates went to attend to them. Madam Hooch shook her head in disgust.
"Alright, some people help take the both of them to the Hospital wing, now."
Hermione and Harry slung Ron's arms over their shoulders and dragged him in the direction of the castle. Two of Draco's team members also slung his arms over their shoulders and started taking him back to the castle.
They walked past Madam Hooch but she stopped them for a moment. Both boys were moaning in pain and had scrunched up faces.
"Because of such atrocious behaviour, the both of you are suspended from the up coming match."
Both Ron and Draco's eyes bugged out. They wanted to protest but the pain didn't allow it.
They all reached the hospital wing and walked through the doors. Once they stepped in, Ginny rushed towards them immediately.
"What happened?" Ginny asked Hermione as she gestured for her and Harry to put Ron on a bed.
"Hit by a bludger," Hermione answered quickly.
Ginny just nodded and then left to show where the two Slytherin's should put Draco.
"Where you hit by a bludger, too?" Ginny asked Draco softly. Draco just nodded as he hugged his abdomen.
Ginny used her hand to gently move one of Draco's hands away from his stomach so she could see, but Ron's voice made her stop.
"Ginny, why aren't you treating me? I am your brother," he said grumpily.
"I'm coming," she yelled to Ron. Ginny then sighed and pulled a blanket over Draco's curled up body.
"I'll be back soon," she said to Draco and he nodded.
Ginny strode over to the other side of the room where Ron was and started attending to him while Hermione was explaining what had happened.
Ron wasn't injured that badly, but he kept on complaining about a headache so Ginny gave him a potion and then sent him out of the hospital wing.
While Ginny was treating Ron, Madam Pomfrey had gone to attend to Draco and was still not finished. There was a lot of squabbling coming from them so Ginny walked over to see what was happening.
Draco was lying on his back and was holding his shirt down over his stomach. Madam Pomfrey was trying desperately to push Draco's hands away so she could lift his shirt and attend to his bruises but he refused.
Ginny stood next to Madame Pomfrey and looked at Draco and then back to Madam Pomfrey.
"What's the matter, Madam?" she asked. Madam Pomfrey released a big sigh.
"Oh Ginny, it's good you're here. You can attend to Mr. Malfoy for me," she said and then went back into her office.
Ginny gave Draco a questioning look.
"What?" Draco said defensively and then relaxed his hold on his shirt. "She was very rough and made the bruises hurt even more."
Ginny just shook her head and moved Draco's hands away from his stomach.
She lifted his shirt up and saw the big purple patch in the middle of his nicely toned stomach. She pressed her fingers on it and he winced.
"Sorry," she said. She then went into the back room and got a container of cream out.
She sat down on the chair beside the bed and then started to apply the cream onto the bruise.
Her touches were feather light and with the help of the cream made the pain slowly ease away. Ginny moved her hand away and looked at Draco.
"Does it feel better?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks," he said softly.
Ginny smiled and then stood up. Draco pulled his shirt back down and sat up on the bed.
She put the lid to the container back on and then sighed. Draco looked up at her.
"What happened, Malfoy?" Ginny asked concerned. She wanted to get both sides of the story but was quiet sure that what Hermione said would be pretty true.
"It was just an argument that went a bit too far, that's all," he said coolly.
"I don't think any argument is worth missing a match for," Ginny said harshly. Draco groaned.
"Damn, Hooch said I was suspended from the game."
"And so is Ron. If you had just followed the professor's orders then you wouldn't be in this mess."
"Why should I? It was your git of a brother who was the idiot and went to the tea…" Draco didn't continue because Ginny had started to walk away.
"Hey, I'm still talking, you know," he called out.
"I know, but I don't want to hear it," Ginny called back "You can go now; your bruises will heal in no time."
Draco grumpily got out of bed and stomped out of the hospital wing.
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Draco was still in a grumpy mood when Ginny came to his room that night. She placed the bottle of medicine on his table and was starting to walk out again. Draco got up quickly from his seat and blocked her path.
"Hey, can't you listen to what I have to say?" Ginny crossed her arms over her chest.
"If it is insulting any of my family members then I don't want to hear it." Draco frowned.
"I was not insulting your brother. I was merely telling the truth. He's not exactly perfect you know and he is a bloody…" Ginny held her hand up to silence Draco.
"I don't care what you think about Ron. I just don't need to hear it. I know he's not really great but he is still my brother and if you insult him anymore I might do something to shut you up. Don't force me to do anything to you, Malfoy." Draco groaned in frustration.
"Why do you have to be so bloody protective of him? I really don't understand. He's not even worth your trouble."
"What Ron is worth to me is not your concern. Just don't say anything bad about him in front of me and then you'll be fine." Draco grumbled to himself,
"Fine."
"Good," Ginny said, "I have to go now." And then she left his room.
<Stupid older brother Weasley. Don't know how he can have a sister like her when he's such a big, fat prick. Doesn't even appreciate what she does and only ignores her anyway,> Draco thought angrily.
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Today was the day of the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. All the stands were packed full of people and Draco was sitting on the side bench down on the pitch waiting for the game to start. He had been looking forward to this match because he wanted to beat Harry and get the snitch first, but now that was impossible.
Someone came and sat down beside him and Draco looked to see who it was. He was shocked to find it was Harry.
"What are you doing here, Potter?" Draco asked. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to play?" Harry smiled.
"I won't be playing today, Malfoy. I convinced Madam Hooch that since I am captain then I should be responsible for the actions of my team members. Therefore I should be the one to be punished."
"Why the hell did you do that?" Draco said incredulously.
"Well this game means a lot to Ron so I thought I'd help him out and let him play. Plus, it wouldn't be a very good game without some worthy competition." Harry said while looking at Draco and smiling. Draco smiled slightly back at him.
"Didn't know you were so competitive, Potter?"
"Well, some healthy competition makes life more interesting. Don't you think? It's a pity we couldn't play a good game together though." Harry said sadly.
"Maybe we could organise a small match of our own then," Draco suggested. Harry immediately brightened up.
"You name the time and place, and I'll certainly be there."
Draco smirked, "Sure."
They sat in silence and watched as the players were flying out into the pitch. Harry then took a small container out of his robes and opened it.
Draco leaned over and looked in the container.
"What is that?" he asked. "It looks like plastic."
"They're contact lenses," Harry answered him. "I use them so I can see without my glasses when I play. Fred and George did something on them a couple of day's ago and said it would help me win so I just wanted to test them out now and see what they meant."
"How would a piece of plastic help you win, and where do you put it?"
"I don't know how it would help but it goes into your eye."
"What! You have to shove that piece of thing into your eye?" Draco cried out.
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt. You want to try one?" Harry asked and passed the container to him.
Draco just looked at it disgustedly.
"You aren't scared are you, Malfoy?" Harry teased.
"No," Draco yelled and then took the container from Harry. "Ok, so how do you put it in then, Potter?"
Harry took one of the contact lens out and then placed it on the side of his eye; he then slid it in slowly. Draco mimicked Harry's actions and the contact lens went into his eye. Surprisingly it didn't hurt and he still saw things normally.
"Hey, Potter, why do I still see things clearly? Shouldn't I see things that are blurry?"
"The Healer placed a spell on them so they adjust to make your vision clear only if you need it, so anyone can wear them and see things clearly."
"Well I still don't see how a piece of plastic in your eye can help you win." Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I don't know either. Maybe they didn't do anything and was just joking around. Typical behaviour for Fred and George."
They were sitting on the bench quietly watching the game when halfway through; Hermione came down to see how Harry was going. She went down from the stands and was at the edge of the pitch on the grass. She called out to Harry to get his attention.
Harry turned to look at Hermione when he heard her voice and then his mouth dropped open. He blinked a couple of times and then closed his left eye. His right eye, which had the contact lens in, could now clearly see Hermione wearing a really nice outfit. It was made up of a black mini skirt with high heels and a tight red tank top. The outfit was a bit revealing, but she looked stunning.
Harry managed to close his right eye and open his left eye, which made him see Hermione blurrily so he put his glasses on while his right eye remained closed. This way Hermione was wearing her normal plain school robes.
Hermione was standing in front of Harry now and was looking at him strangely.
"Is there something wrong with your eye, Harry?" she asked.
"No, nothing's wrong with it. What are you doing down here anyway Hermione?" Harry managed to say.
Hermione wasn't paying attention to Harry now because she was feeling uncomfortable at the look Draco was giving her. Harry remembered that Draco had the other contact len in his eye so he slammed one hand over Draco's left eye.
Both Draco and Hermione were shock by the sudden action.
Draco was struggling to get Harry's hand away from his eye and Hermione was also trying to pull Harry away from Draco as well.
"Get your hand away from me, Potter," Draco growled as he was yanking at Harry's hand.
"Yeah, Harry," Hermione reasoned. "What are you doing covering up Malfoy's eye anyway?"
Harry kept his hand firmly in front of Draco's left eye and turned his head to look at Hermione with only his left eye open. "Nothing Hermione. It's a guy thing. Maybe you should go back up and watch the game, I'll talk to you afterwards alright?"
Hermione heard the urgency in Harry's voice so she didn't question him and turned to leave.
"Alright then. I'll talk to you later, Harry," she waved goodbye and went back up.
Once Hermione was out of sight Draco was able to pry Harry's hand away from him.
"Bloody hell, Potter. What are you trying to do? Pop my eye out?"
"No, I was stopping you from looking at Hermione in an improper way. Now give me back that contact lens."
Draco was straining his neck upwards trying to look at Hermione again and Harry got pissed. He pushed Draco back down onto the bench roughly.
"Give it back now, Malfoy, or I'll rip your eye out!" Harry growled.
Draco sat back down again and removed the lens from his eye. He didn't really want to see Hermione in that outfit again; he was just doing that to annoy Harry.
Harry took his contact lens out and put both contact lenses back into the container.
"It was a nice surprise the twin Weasley's gave you?" Draco commented while chuckling.
"Shut up, Malfoy. If Hermione ever finds out about his she'd kill the both of us."
"Don't fret, Potter. If you don't tell and I don't tell, no one will know. Though the Twin Weasley's seem to already know about your little crush on Granger."
Harry grew red in the face and remained silent. Draco laughed at Harry's shyness.
"I can't believe that you can dare to face Voldemort but are too scared to admit you like Granger."
"There is a lot at stake if I admit I like her," Harry said defensively. His tone then changed to one of curiosity. "And what's with your sudden change, Malfoy? Is it the influence of a special someone."
Draco just frowned and Harry prodded him some more.
"So who was that person who pulled you back down to earth?" Draco was confused.
"What do you mean, Potter?"
"Well someone had to pull you back down from the planet ego you were on. Who was it anyway? I'd love to meet the person who could influence you so dramatically." Draco smirked.
"Even if she was standing right beside you, Potter, you wouldn't even know her. I hardly even know her myself."
All the people on the stands then suddenly erupted in cheers and both Draco and Harry looked up into the sky. The quidditch match had ended and they were waiting for the commentator to announce the scores.
"And Gryffindor wins, beating Slytherin by ten points with a score of 250!"
Draco stood up first, followed by Harry. They looked up into the sky once again and saw their team members flying down towards their captains. Draco then turned to face Harry.
"Congratulations, Potter," he said.
"Thanks, Malfoy."
End of Chapter Twenty-Five. Thanks for reading and I Hope you Review.
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