In Sickness and In Health
It was that period after the Valentine's Dance and before spring where the whole school was afflicted by colds, coughs, and in general not feeling well. These combined with fevers kept Madame Pomfrey on her toes, doling out remedies for the stuffed noses and hacking coughs that plagued the hallways. Nearly every class, for every student year had someone missing during the next three weeks. Even the teachers weren't 100% well and the weeks seemed to drag on for students and teachers alike.
Hermione had managed to kick a cold, only to give it to Harry who passed it onto Ron since they shared the same room who must have given it to Ginny when he was talking to her about Samantha's dance.
Ginny sluggishly gathered up her Potions notes and texts and dragged herself out of Snape's class room. Something didn't feel right; her head was aching, she was hot all over and she felt if she didn't lie down, she would collapse where she was. A few days ago she had felt the beginnings of a cold but today was ten times worse.
Rubbing her forehead with her fingers, she didn't even notice Draco standing outside like he usually did to catch a few words with her. He actually reached out, grabbed her arm and stopped her, causing the other sixth years around her to suddenly turn around and stare at them, only to be pushed forward by the other students trickling out of the class.
"Are you ok?" he asked immediately, seeing how pale she was. She shook her head and leaned up against him, not caring who saw them.
"I feel like shit; I'm going to bed," she mumbled into his chest and felt his arms go around her.
"I'll take you up."
"No, Snape will get mad if you're late. I can manage," Ginny forced herself to stand up and looked at him…or both of him.
"I don't think so," Draco threw his bag on to the table nearest the door, causing Snape to turn around and see the two of them. Draco put an arm around her, knowing she would protest vehemently if he tried to carry her.
"Let me at least get you to Gryffindor Tower."
He supported her with an arm around her waist until they reached the portrait and there he saw Maggie talking to someone from Hufflepuff. Her eyes widened when she saw Ginny so pale and practically clinging to Draco…very out of character for Ginny Weasley. The Hufflepuff watched the whole exchange intently.
"Make sure she gets to her room and gets some rest. Come get me if she gets any worse; I'll be in Potions," Draco said commandingly and Maggie nodded silently, taking Ginny's bag and following her into the portrait and up to their room. Maggie helped Ginny out of her robes and threw a pair of shorts and t-shirt on her bed, made sure she got into bed and said she would be up to check on her. Ginny nodded, mumbled a thanks and immediately fell asleep.
An hour later, Maggie left her studies in the common room and went up to check on Ginny. Susan had just walked in from class and followed her roommate up the stairs, hearing the latest on Ginny Weasley.
Ginny was sprawled out in the shorts and t-shirt she managed to change into but they were both stuck to her with sweat and her sheets were twisted, looking like a hippogriff had been thrashing around. Maggie walked in and felt Ginny's head.
"She's very hot."
"Should we get Pomfrey?" Susan asked.
"One of us should get Malfoy, since he asked; then one of us should probably go talk to Pomfrey," Maggie suggested, nibbling her finger and staring down at an unusually still and pale Ginny. Susan didn't say anything.
"Fine, I'll get Malfoy," Maggie said and they walked quickly out of the room and down the hall, hurrying through the portrait.
Maggie stood outside the Potions room, dreading the interruption…she had already figured out what she would say but she knew Snape wouldn't be happy with the interruption.
She quietly opened the door and the room was filled with partners talking over cauldron's…Snape just happened to be standing by the door and glared at her.
"I have a message for Draco Malfoy," Maggie said her eyes scanning the classroom.
"Malfoy!" Snape called and Draco looked up from near the professor's desk, his eyes lighting on Maggie. Snape jerked a thumb back towards Maggie and walked up towards the front row, where Hermione was busy over her cauldron. Draco came over and slipped out with Maggie.
"Ginny's worse; Susan went to ask Pomfrey what to do, but you said you wanted to know…," Maggie let her voice trail off.
"I'll be right there," Draco said crisply, walked back in and grabbed his books then followed Maggie up to the tower, not caring that everyone's eyes followed him out the door. Hermione frowned and wanted to see what was going on, but knew class would be over in a few minutes, so she grudgingly stayed behind.
"Can you find her brother? He'll want to know," Draco asked Maggie who nodded, knowing he was probably at lunch with Harry.
Draco hurried towards the portrait, startling a group of third years when he said the password; being Head Boy he knew all the passwords and they jumped aside as he walked through, creating silence in his wake. He walked quickly up the stairs, silently charming the stairs to not turn into a slide, creating many open mouthed gazes from the students still in the common room.
He opened the door to what he knew was Ginny's room and walked in, sighting her on a bed by the window. He called her name and saw her turn towards his voice, eyes closed. If possible to be pale and flushed at the same time, she was. He got down on his knees, resting his hand against her head not really needing to touch her to feel the warmth she was radiating.
"Ginny," he said again and she moved her head a bit.
"I'm hot," she mumbled, not being able to see past the fog of her own ailments she didn't fight him on anything he was going to say or do.
"I'm taking you to Pomfrey," Draco stood and scooped her into his arms not hearing any protests out of her, cementing the thought in his mind that she was truly sick.
He ran into Hermione in the common room who was visibly shocked to see him carrying Ginny. He explained in a curt tone what he was doing as Hermione followed him out and down the corridor, meeting Susan on her way back.
"Madame Pomfrey is ready for her," she ran back and held the door for them to walk into the wing.
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Ginny laughed as his arms picked her up and cradled her against his chest, stepping through the doorway into her bedroom.
"Put me down!" she demanded wiggling in his arms.
"No way, took me forever to catch you."
"I'll be good, I won't run or hex you or anything," Ginny felt him pause by the bed where he laid her down, keeping his arms on either side of her as he sat next to her on the edge of the bed. She glanced up at him and he smiled, but something wasn't right.
"Why are YOU here?" she questioned, struggling to sit up.
"Because you asked me too," his voice turned from playful to puzzled. He leaned in to kiss her and she put a hand against his chest.
"Why are you going to kiss me?" his face was inches from hers and his eyes searched her face slowly.
"Because I'm your boyfriend and that's what we do," he said softly and before she could stop him his lips were on hers. She froze knowing this wasn't right, but when his hand reached up to brush her hair away from her forehead, then trail down to her neck she gave in, wondering when on Earth she became Harry Potter's girlfriend.
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Draco brushed his fingers across her forehead, pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes as he sat next to her on the bed.
"When will the fever break?" Harry asked looking at her then Madame Pomfrey, conjuring up a chair for Ron who walked in behind him. Ron sat down heavily after seeing how pale his sister was. He wasn't sure how he felt about Malfoy sitting with them, but after hearing how they were glued to each other's sides at the Valentine's Dance, he knew he wasn't going to be able to stop what had started on it's own between his sister and the Slytherin.
"Fevers can last anywhere from hours to days. I'll keep her here; she drank a glass of water for me so as long as she stays hydrated and the fever doesn't get much higher she won't need to go to St. Mungo's," Madame Pomfrey conjured up a cold, wet cloth and set it on her forehead, pressing down lightly.
"Should I call my parents?" Ron asked quietly, not sure what to do. He felt Hermione's hand rest on his shoulder.
"I don't think there's a need; she isn't the first one in here for this fever that's going around, but I'll leave it up to you," Madame Pomfrey said, then turned to another student who walked in sneezing continuously.
Draco looked down at Ginny, wondering how someone could radiate so much heat and not explode, he wasn't used to seeing her so still, so pale and quiet and realized that it disconcerted him a bit. He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and he turned his head towards it, seeing Hermione standing next to him. She pulled her hand away quickly, not used to getting his attention that way but he hadn't heard her call his name.
"Did you eat lunch?" she asked quietly and he shook his head, knowing what she was going to ask next.
"I'm not hungry," Draco said just as quietly, meeting her brown eyes and she looked at him for a bit, her eyes searching his face then nodded.
In that moment, he respected her for not pushing the issue as many other people would have done, telling him to 'go get something to eat', 'Ginny would be fine', 'he needed his energy' -- on and on anyone else would have rambled. Hermione turned from him, walking back to Harry and saying she was going to go get something to eat since she hadn't eaten. He nodded and she kissed Harry then gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out the door.
Ginny twitched in her sleep and made a noise, causing all three of them to jump and look at her.
"She's really out of it," Ron leaned forward and looked at her, hearing her say something like, "Why?"
"Hermione said something about having hallucinations when fevers get this high; maybe she's dreaming something," Harry offered, shoving his hands in his robe pockets. He hated to leave her, but had his NEWT level Magical Creatures class; one of the few that he had and Draco didn't.
"Ron, we have class in a few. Are you coming?" Harry asked and saw Ron hesitate.
"She'll be fine here…," Harry started.
"I'm done for the day; I'll let you know if anything changes," Draco said shortly glancing at Ron. Ron agreed reluctantly, bent down and kissed his sister's cheek noticing how hot she still was and walked slowly out the door to class.
A bit relieved he was alone now Draco moved off the bed and sat in the chair Ron had vacated, pulling it closer to the bed and letting his hand rest on top of hers.
"Draco," she said so softly he wasn't sure if he had thought it so he leaned in next to her and said her name back to her. She turned her head slightly, her auburn colored eyelashes a bright splash of color against her white cheeks.
"Go eat," she whispered tiredly, sounding as if every word took all her energy out of her.
"I'm fine. You rest," he said, taking the cloth and flipping it over to the cooler side. She sighed something that sounded like "bastard" and he smiled and shook his head as she fell back asleep. Madame Pomfrey checked on her, saying she was no better, no worse and with Draco's help managed to get Ginny to drink some water.
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Ginny felt someone throw her into the lake and she came up spluttering yelling at her brothers, Fred and George.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because we felt like it," Fred said.
"And it's so hot, a swim would do you and us good," George jumped in after her, spraying her with water. She shoved some back at him and soon all three of them were chasing each other like they were kids, pulling each other down under the water, taking turns jumping in and rating each other's splashes. She wasn't sure how much time had passed but soon they dragged themselves up and laid down on the cool grass in their bathing suits.
"I'm famished now," George said shaking his head so bits of water sprayed on Ginny.
"Go eat," Ginny advised then realized she was hungry too. "Come on, let's go see if mum has any sandwiches," Ginny stood up and started walking towards the house, hearing her brothers talking behind her.
She had no idea how much time had passed from her swim but the next thing she knew she faded into her house, upstairs.
She was suddenly back in her room, kissing Harry and realizing she liked it. His glasses were off and she ran a hand through his hair, feeling him taste the inside of her mouth. She felt strange as his hand moved from her waist up her side; he felt different, not as heavy, thinner and then she realized that this wasn't supposed to happening with Harry. She pushed at him until he broke off the kiss and his green eyes met hers, not blue like they should have been…
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The day passed by uneventfully with brief moments of lucidity and one crazy conversation with Hermione about buying Christmas gifts for her brothers. Hermione went along with the conversation amused at how real Ginny thought it was that they were shopping. The boys had gone to eat dinner and Draco finally joined them, now hungry after skipping lunch. Hermione had seen Madame Pomfrey and even Blaise trying to get Draco to leave and eat at lunch time, but he remained stubborn. Hermione understood; she had sat with Harry for days after he defeated Voldemort and couldn't bring herself to leave him. She briefly wondered what Draco was going to do when it was time for curfew…if she knew him, he would sleep in the chair next to her bed.
Hermione sat there as Ginny became quiet, falling back to sleep and fiddled with the engagement ring on her hand, thinking about her wedding that was going to happen on Harry's birthday, wondering how she was going to plan a wedding and study for NEWT's at the same time. Looking up at the clock she was surprised to see it was after eight…she wondered where the guys had gone. She had hoped they managed to distract Draco from spending another six hours sitting at this bedside.
"Harry," Ginny said clearly startling Hermione from her reverie.
"Ginny, Harry's not here," Hermione said gently, patting her friend's hand, feeling how warm she still was.
"Go away, Harry. It's not me," she mumbled and Hermione wondered what Ginny was talking about. Ginny reached up and pulled off the cloth, throwing it to the ground and now Hermione knew she was dreaming.
"Stop it!" Ginny said forcefully, turning onto her side, tensed for a moment then relaxed as Hermione talked her through whatever dream or nightmare she was having. She heard the door open and saw the three walking in, their hair messed up and she knew they had been flying on their brooms. As if on cue, they all smoothed down their hair as they made their way towards Hermione.
"She's dreaming," Hermione said before anyone could ask and she smiled slightly, "about Harry it sounds like." Harry looked surprised, then embarrassed at the same time.
"Don't worry Harry, sounds like she's mad at you."
Ron actually laughed, "Nothing new there."
He walked over to his sister and brushed his lips across her temple, feeling that she was still warm. Before he could pull away, her hand came up to his face and he froze, feeling his friends' eyes on him.
"What?" he asked quietly to Ginny, not used to her acting so loving, even if she was dreaming.
"Thank you," she whispered so he could barely make it out. Reaching up he pulled her hand away from his face and held it, wondering if she was awake or not. His thoughts were answered as she opened her eyes very slowly and stared right at him.
"For what?" he whispered back, his face next to hers.
"Draco," she breathed and confused he looked over his shoulder and saw Harry and Draco standing at the foot of her bed, Hermione was off to the side next to Harry giving Ron time alone with Ginny.
"What about him?" Ron asked turning back to her; he saw her blink sleepily and felt her other hand come to his cheek then drop.
"Liking him," she said staring at him as if challenging him to do otherwise. Ron wasn't sure if he did like him, so he just nodded which seemed to make her happy and he saw her eyes flutter closed as she fell back asleep. He straightened up and laid her hand on the bed.
"What did she say?" Draco asked and Ron looked at him, knowing he couldn't tell him all of it.
"Just "thank you" for…something," he said vaguely and whether Draco took that to mean Ron didn't know what he was being thanked for, or if he was intentionally being vague, he didn't let on.
"I have to go do some homework before bed, then do rounds…I'll cover yours," Hermione nodded at Draco and she could feel Harry brush her hand, surprised at her gesture.
"Thanks," Draco said for the first time ever to Hermione. She nodded at him then asked Ron if he was coming since he had homework too. Pulling himself up out of the chair he squeezed Ginny's hand, told her he would be back and followed his friends out the door, after a brief "see ya" to Draco.
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She stood rooted to the ground, wanting so much to run out of the castle, but knew the doors were locked. She had tried them already.
She could see him out there falling off his broom. She thought it should have been Harry…he was the one who was supposed to be fighting Voldemort, not Draco.
She pounded at the window, trying to get someone's attention, briefly wondering where everyone was. Shouldn't the entire school be in here with her?
She yelled his name, but no sound came out, he was going to die if she couldn't get to him…why wouldn't anyone let her out? She felt hands grab her shoulders and pull her away from the window, telling her it was ok.
She called his name again, this time crying and fighting the hands that pulled her from the window. Someone opened the door and took her outside into the cool air. She kept wondering where Draco was, why wasn't anyone bringing him to the hospital wing? Someone set her down on the ground and she thrashed against them, feeling despair welling up inside her, knowing he didn't make it if no one was saying anything to her. She looked around but it was so dark, she couldn't see anything. She yelled for Hermione wanting to know where Draco was…she saw a flash of bright light and blinked furiously through her tears as someone wrapped a blanket over her…
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Draco shot out of his chair at the first mention of his name. He heard panic in her voice and Madame Pomfrey must have heard her yell too, because she came hurrying over in a dressing gown.
"Draco!" Ginny sat up and her eyes were open, wildly looking around not recognizing anything. She attempted to turn around, almost falling off the bed in the process.
"I'm here," Draco sat next to her, righting her in the bed, and Madame Pomfrey waved her wand over Ginny, telling him the fever was breaking, she was hallucinating and they needed to try and keep her from falling off the bed. Together they pushed her down and Ginny fought back. Used to wrestling with her brothers she was strong and managed to wrestle an arm free, grabbing Draco's arm, calling his name again, tears streaming down her face.
"What is she thinking?" Draco asked slightly panicked and Madame Pomfrey shook her head.
"Hermione! Where is he?" Ginny cried trying to push herself up and Draco could feel her shaking, seeing sweat break out as the fever broke. He pulled up a blanket and Madame Pomfrey let go of her shoulders as Draco's hands held her down firmly.
"I'm going to get a calming draught, she might need it when she gets up. These hallucinations are very real to them and this sounds like a nightmarish one," Madame Pomfrey looked pointedly at Draco and walked quickly to the back of the wing.
It was dark, well after two in the morning as Ginny cried out again, saying something about it being so dark. Draco muttered "lumos" and the bedside light clicked on softly glowing around them.
"Draco," Ginny moaned, crying harder than he had ever seen anyone cry, he let his grip ease off of her shoulders and her hands came to her face as she said his name over and over. He had no idea what she was dreaming about him, but it wasn't good. He moved closer to her calling her name.
"No, someone needs to get him. Let me go!" Ginny screamed startling Draco as she sat up. She screamed so loudly she woke up another student at the opposite end of the wing.
Wrapping his arms around her he held her tight feeling her sob. He rubbed his hand up and down her sweat soaked back murmuring her name, telling her it was ok, that it was just a dream. As Madame Pomfrey appeared around the corner he felt Ginny start to relax, hiccupping into his shoulder. He felt her arms go around him and heard her mumble something. Gently he pushed her away from him and looked down at her. Her eyes seemed focused, her face flushed, tears still on her cheeks.
"I didn't hear you," he used his thumbs to wipe off the tears.
"Is this a dream?" she placed a hand on his face as if seeing if he was real. Fresh tears formed in her eyes and Draco quickly shook his head.
"No, I'm real, you sitting here in the hospital wing is real. Whatever you were just seeing wasn't real. I'm here, you're ok," he said firmly seeing her eyes widening.
"Miss Weasley, I have a calming drought for you," Madame Pomfrey said quietly and Ginny shook her head, wiping her tears away, the feeling of seeing Draco fall to what she thought was his death still hung heavy in her chest. But she knew this draught would knock her out and she didn't want that right yet. Quietly, the healer backed away making her way to her other patient.
Ginny put her hands to her face and began crying softly, then felt Draco gather her to him.
"What were you dreaming?" he asked quietly his voice shaking a bit after seeing her so out of control.
"You. You were fighting Voldemort, not Harry and I saw you fall. No one would let me go see if you were fine. They kept holding me down, then it got dark and I couldn't see anything, and then I thought…I thought you were dead," her voice cracked as she spit out the last word. He pushed her away from him and looked into her bloodshot eyes.
"I'm here, right beside you," he said softly, then leaned in and kissed her, feeling her arms go around his neck as she cried and kissed him back, tasting her tears as her mouth opened against his. Pulling away to catch her breath she ran a hand through her hair, then looked at him.
"What time is it?" she asked as if realizing no one was making any noise for the first time.
"About two in the morning. I brought you here before lunch," Draco explained, handing her a tissue and letting her fall back against the pillows. She wiped her nose and her eyes not caring how she looked at the moment.
Madame Pomfrey walked back to them.
"I'm going to take this back, then come help you wash up and clean your sheets."
Ginny nodded, feeling drained and closed her eyes, then let them open again to find Draco looking at her.
"I don't want to sleep again," she said shakily and saw him move closer to her.
"Your fever broke so you should be ok. I'll stay here, next to you," he took her hand and brushed his lips across the back. Ginny smiled at him.
"Promise?" she really didn't want him to leave, thinking what it would be like if she woke up from another dream like that and saw he was gone.
He nodded then gave a small smile, "I don't say things I don't mean."
She nodded and closed her eyes, feeling herself fall blissfully into a dreamless sleep, not even aware of Madame Pomfrey changing her gown, use a cleaning charm on her bed or was she aware of Draco climbing in next to her, gathering her to him as he dozed next to her, curtains drawn around them.
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She stretched feeling resistance against her legs and was so comfortable she didn't move. She knew that she was in her room recognizing the familiar smell and feel of her sheets. She opened her eyes and saw her sketch pad sitting on her desk, closed, still charmed against her brothers out of habit. She remembered what she had promised Draco.
"I don't say things I don't mean," echoed in her mind and she reached out and grabbed it, then turned on her back, startled to see Draco lying in bed with her, asleep on his back. She held the book above her and opened to the first page: a picture of all of her brothers, sans Percy, in Quidditch Robes. She remembered searching the house for pictures of everyone who played Quidditch then drew them into a picture, like they all stood there ready for the picture to be taken. She added herself in the front, shorter than the rest, the snitch at her side, a Quaffle on the other side.
Flipping through the pictures of her family, her friends one by one she heard Draco stir next to her. She shut the sketch book and turned to him, his blue eyes half open but looking at her. She silently handed him the sketch book and he raised a hand and slowly took it from her. Opening it, he flipped to the first picture and quietly she laid her head on his shoulder as he slowly flipped through the pictures, neither one saying anything…
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Ginny's eyes flew open seeing Draco's face so close to hers on her pillow, then seeing the yellow curtain drawn around her bed. She could hear voices in the hall, the sunlight that shown from the window told her it was morning. She felt weak, but fresher than she had the night before. She was wrapped in Draco's arms and couldn't move, not that she wanted to. She relived the dream in her head, of giving him the sketch book; her mind and heart were telling her it was time to share that with him. She made a promise to herself as soon as she was out of here and back to her good old self she would fish it out of her trunk and find the right time to share it with him…all of it.
Hearing Draco sigh in his sleep brought her back to the present. As much as she wanted to stay like this, she knew he had classes to get too. She leaned over and touched her lips to his, feeling nothing at first, then his arm tightening around her and felt him wake up, kissing her back. She pulled away and his eyes opened.
"It's morning. You need to get ready for class," Ginny said quietly. He nodded and yawned hugely. Untangling himself from her he sat up obviously tired. He saw Ginny suddenly recline back against the pillow as the world swam in front of her as she tried to sit.
"You ok?" he asked her watching her close her eyes for a moment.
"Yea, just a bit dizzy. To be expected I guess," she felt him press a glass of something into her hand and she drained the glass of water. Opening her eyes she saw him sitting there in his wrinkled robes he never took off, his hair messed up, dark circles under his eyes which weren't fully open yet and she realized she never loved him more.
"I do need to go change," Draco began apologetically watching her gaze run over his robes. "Then, I'll..,"
"No," Ginny said firmly, "You need to go to all your classes. I'll be fine," Ginny looked at him as he stood up and stretched then ran a hand through his hair. Not feeling the need to argue with her he bent down and kissed her forehead.
"I'll come when I can; I'm done around three today," he said and squeezed her hand and then started to pull the curtains back.
"Draco," Ginny said and he turned towards her.
"I am really glad you aren't dead," she said a smile at the corners of her mouth.
"Me too," he smiled back and pulled the curtain shut behind him. It wasn't long after he left when Madame Pomfrey came in and checked her over, giving her some fruit and juice for breakfast, which Ginny gratefully took and finished. She nestled back under the covers, still smelling Draco on her pillow and she drifted off yet again, in to a dreamless sleep.