Torn

Draco woke from a dreamless sleep and sat up. Thank God he'd had the good sense to sneak down to Snape's office and swipe that hellebore - otherwise he might have had to wake up to another shaking by Goyle and Crabbe. He sighed and swung his feet over the side of the bed, his toes barely brushing the cold floor. He sat there for a moment and stared at the walls of his room. He wished they didn't live in the dungeons, and that he had a window, but wishing did him no good now. He stood and went to his dresser, where he examined himself in the mirror. There were grey circles beneath his steely eyes.

"Merlin," he muttered softly, as he pulled his clothes on. The snores from the other boys in the room told him that they were still sleeping, which he was grateful for. He didn't think he was in any kind of mood to put up with their stupidity this early in the morning. He slipped his robe on, and then pulled his comb through his hair.

A little tingle of excitement passed through him as he realized that today was the first day of the Quidditch season. Thank Merlin, he thought, rubbing his eyes. I need a distraction. His eyes fell on the rolled-up parchments of his potions essay, and a vague smile crossed his face even as his eyes darkened. Her eyes had been so surprised, hadn't they? Well, she should feel honored that he'd even sit down at her ruddy table!

He grabbed the essay and shoved it into his knapsack, then made his way down to the Great Hall without waking his friends. For the most part, the large room was empty. There were a few stragglers between the Ravenclaw (ruddy know-it-alls) and Hufflepuff (lousy do-gooders) tables. He let his eyes drift to the Gryffindor table, and gave a start.

There she was, sitting at the table alone, reading through what appeared to be her homework. That wasn't what had startled him, though - from where he was sitting, the sun shone in behind her, lighting up her hair and making it look for all the world as though she was on fire. He blinked and swallowed hard, trying to shake some sense into himself, but when he looked back at her, it was the same. Her hair was spread out around her shoulders, tumbling freely, and shifted slightly when she moved her head. He watched, mesmerized, as she raised a china teacup to her lips and sipped. Her pinky was extended delicately, and if he hadn't known that she was a filthy, muggle-loving Weasley, he would have sworn she was an angel of fury come to deliver him.

He shook his head again - what had gotten into him lately, with all his thoughts of angels and hell and the devil? He grabbed a piece of toast and began to butter it. He had just raised it to his lips when Pansy lowered herself onto the seat next to him. He groaned inwardly and sunk his teeth into his food, chewing slowly and thoughtfully so he would have an excuse not to talk to her. She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. She repeated the gesture several times, until Draco began to think that she was a fish out of water.

"Was there something you wanted to say to me?" he asked coldly, not looking away from his food. She hesitated, and then put her fork down.

"Draco, are you unhappy with me?" He almost choked on his morning tea; he was so startled by her question. He sputtered, and then wiped his mouth delicately with a napkin before turning stony eyes to her.

"You've been spending too much time around that Bulstrode cow, Parkinson. Her stupidity is starting to rub off on you."

"I was only asking because of the way you reacted to me last night in the library," she said, her face burning. "You just let me leave like that, and then you didn't even come back for almost an hour afterwards!" He shrugged, trying not to come unglued and smack her stupid, which was what he really wanted to do.

"I had an agenda of my own to follow."

"An agenda that includes the Weasley whore?" she snapped angrily. He arched a pale eyebrow and eyed her face thoughtfully.

"Why, Parkinson, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous."

"I'm not playing, Draco. I have friends who told me you sat down with her and talked to her! They said you didn't raise your voice or insult her or anything!"

"Then your friends are as sadly blind as you are," he said, his eyes flashing like mercury. "Why don't you take a look at her wrist, Parkinson, and see how well I like her? Or I could just show you myself, couldn't I?" His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it. She gasped and turned surprised eyes to his. His face was granite; cold and hard and relentless. She struggled for a moment, and then stopped. He yanked her closer so that her nose was touching his.

"Don't ever question me about my personal business again, do you understand?" She nodded, eyes wide with fear, and he released her wrist. He went back to eating as though nothing had happened, and she jumped up and ran from the Great Hall before he could see her tears.

"What got into her?" Draco didn't look up as someone else took Pansy's seat.

"The fear of God," he responded dryly.

"What has God got to do with you?" Zabini asked. Draco raised his eyes, annoyed.

"And just what was that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"I just meant that you and God do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the same room," Blaise said, his lips curling into a wicked smile. Draco's fingers itched to slap that smile off of his face. So he thought he'd said something witty, had he?

"You'd better hope and pray that God and I do belong in the same room, Zabini, or you'd be facing the alternative." Blaise's hand faltered slightly above the plate of biscuits before he finally took one and placed it on his plate. He turned and gave Draco a strange look.

"Are you feeling alright, Malfoy?" Draco slapped his hands on the table and pushed himself up angrily.

"Why is everyone so bloody concerned about my well being all of a sudden?" he asked, his eyes flashing. He grabbed his knapsack and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Ginny had been reading her Potions essay over for the millionth time that morning, trying to find any errors she could before Snape found them. Suddenly she heard loud voices raised from the opposite side of the room, and looked up in mild surprise to see Draco Malfoy having a row with one of his housemates. She watched in disbelief as he grabbed his bag and left. How odd, she thought, letting her essay drop to the table. I didn't think Slytherin ever fought amongst themselves, just with other people.

She was mulling it over and sipping at her tea when she felt someone sitting down beside her. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat as her ginger eyes met with jade. He smiled as he sat down, and she felt herself smiling back. She looked around him, but Ron and Hermione were nowhere in sight.

"Where are they?" He grinned and took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"I think they're a bit ... ah, embarrassed, as it were," he said. She laughed.

"You're kidding! They honestly aren't coming down to breakfast because of last night?" He nodded. "That's ridiculous! They barely even touched, and it wasn't on purpose or anything!"

"Well, you know how Hermione is," Harry said, shrugging. She nodded and sipped at her tea again, and they watched silently as the Great Hall began to fill with students. She saw Harry cast a dark glance towards the Slytherin table, then looked down and pretended she hadn't been watching him.

"So what's your first class today?" he asked, trying to distract himself. She sat down her teacup and exhaled slowly.

"History of magic," she said, looking bored already. Harry stifled a laugh.

"Not exactly the best thing to start off a Monday morning, is it?" he asked sympathetically. She gave him a wry smile.

"To say the very least," she nodded. "And you have double potions with the Slytherins this morning, is that right?" He nodded and arched an eyebrow at her.

"How did you know?"

"Harry, I made an art out of watching you a long time ago," she said, blushing. He grinned, even though the same blush spread across his cheeks. "Sorry," she said, looking sheepish.

"S'ok," he said, trying to stop smiling as he ate his breakfast. He didn't know why it had taken him so long to warm up to her like this; she was enchanting! Even when she blushed she was the most wonderful thing Harry had ever seen. They finished their meal, and then rose together, still chatting about Ron and Hermione. Harry walked Ginny to Professor Binns' classroom, and she turned nervously to him as she stood in front of the door.

"I'd better go in," she said, pointing behind her at the classroom. He nodded, and then kicked the toe of his shoe against the floor. Should he kiss her? She made the decision for him and pecked him on the cheek before turning and practically running into the classroom. He wore the same goofy grin all the way to the dungeons, where he took his usual seat between Hermione and Ron. They both looked at him strangely.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked. He blushed, and Ron's eyes widened.

"No. Oh no, no, no!" he said, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. He grabbed blindly for his wand that was resting on the table. "Obliviate, Harry, I mean it!" Harry laughed.

"What in the world are you going on about, Ron?" she asked, looking annoyed. Apparently things were back to normal - or whatever was considered normal for them, Harry thought.

"Harry and Ginny!" he said, his mouth twisting in horror. Harry covered his mouth with his hand to prevent himself from howling with laughter, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What about Harry and Ginny?"

"Ron doesn't like hearing that his sister has kissed someone," Harry said softly, blushing furiously. Hermione's mouth dropped open and the giggles poured out before she could stop herself.

"Was there something you wanted to share with the class, Miss Granger?" A cold voice asked from the front of the room. It was enough to silence all three of them. "No? Then may I suggest that in the future, you discuss Potter's love life before coming into my classroom." Harry wished he could sink underneath the table. He was so embarrassed that he missed the evil looks he was getting from a certain Slytherin.

"Now, I believe I assigned a project last Monday. Please move and sit next to your partners, and we'll begin the presentations." Harry sucked in a nervous breath as he moved next to Ron, and Hermione beamed as she took her place beside Neville. Draco and Pansy sat together, as did Zabini and Goyle, and Crabbe and Bulstrode. Seamus and Parvati were together, as well as Dean and Lavender.

"Something tells me that this isn't going to be a very fun presentation, Harry," Ron lamented. Harry was quite inclined to agree with him. They watched in silence as Seamus and Parvati demonstrated their project, an aging potion. Harry and Ron laughed hysterically at the sight of Seamus sprouting a full, grey beard like Dumbledore's.

Dean and Lavender had chosen a more complex version of the forgetfulness potion, and the Gryffindors all rolled with laughter as Lavender forgot her name, her whereabouts, and the fact that Dean was her boyfriend. He tried to hold her hand after their presentation and was the prompt recipient of an open-palmed slap on the cheek.

Zabini and Goyle created a hair-raising potion. Snape reluctantly took points away when they realized that Goyle's hair was too small to make it stand on end, and Zabini refused to drink it. Harry supposed he was afraid that something might happen to his shoulder-length brown hair.

Crabbe and Bulstrode claimed to have perfected a love potion over the week. When Snape sneered at them and asked them both to drink it, they blushed furiously. Millicent put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from getting sick, which caused the Gryffindor half of the room to erupt in raucous laughter.

Hermione looked like she was ready to jump out of her seat by the time it was she and Neville's turn. She went into so much detail about the wit-sharpening potion they'd created that people started to yawn, and Snape had to threaten to take points away if she didn't wrap it up expeditiously. Harry sighed nervously. It was now down to two pairs - he and Ron, and Draco and Pansy. He felt his stomach bottom out when Snape barked at him to present first.

Harry handed Ron the vial of liquid that he'd been carrying in the folds of his robe, and Ron opened the small container of power that he'd been carrying. When Snape saw the ingredients they had, he slowly began to inch towards his desk at the opposite end of the room. Ron gave Harry one last warning look as he poured the powder into the liquid. Hermione's eyes widened, and she grabbed Neville by the collar, pulling him under the desk with her.

Harry ducked just in time to miss the sputtering drops of potion that were popping out of the cauldron. The rest of the class seemed to take Hermione's cue, and ducked under the desk. Seconds later, a loud explosion was heard, and smoke filled the room. Harry poked his head up to see Snape glaring at him.

"A poor attempt at exploding fluid, Potter," he said, sneering. "And now my classroom is a mess. I trust that you and Weasley will have no problems staying after to clean it for me." Harry's voice had suddenly deserted him, and all he could do was nod dumbly.

Malfoy and Pansy brushed themselves off, then moved to the front of the room to present their potion. Harry's head snapped up when Pansy announced that they'd done the Draft of Peace, and he blinked. That was a fifth year level potion; why were they doing it in their seventh year? Draco didn't seem to be very interested in presenting. He sat rigidly on the edge of the table and crossed his arms over his chest as Pansy spoke, giving her no support.

Harry's eyes bored a hole into the side of Draco's skull as he remembered the splotches on Ginny's fragile wrist. How dare he lay a finger on her? He wasn't worthy of touching Ginny - he shouldn't even look at her, as far as Harry was concerned. As though he felt Harry's train of thought, Draco turned and caught him glaring. The intensity in Potter's stare surprised him momentarily, and then he smirked. Harry imagined several different ways of removing that smirk from his face, and one of them involved a dull set of pliers.

Class had been dismissed, and Harry was gathering his books and shoving them into his bookbag when he heard a slight rustling behind him. He swiveled around to find Malfoy smirking at him again.

"What's the matter, Potter? Did you want to say something to me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Harry hissed. "You'd better stay the hell away from her."

"And who exactly is 'her,' Potter?" Draco asked lazily, inspecting his fingernails. Harry clenched his fists, and Hermione bit her bottom lip. Harry was in no mood to be trifled with, but she wasn't about to give Malfoy a warning - he deserved whatever was coming to him.

"You know exactly whom I'm talking about," Harry said, his scorching eyes directed at Draco. "And if you ever so much as look at her the wrong way again, so help me Malfoy, I'll have your head for it."

"Do you think, Potter, I mean really think, that you can save her from whatever fate lies in store for her?" Draco asked, leaning towards Harry and staring intently at him. Harry didn't hesitate to give him his answer. Hermione gave a tiny squeak and buried her face in the front of Ron's robe as Harry's right fist made contact with Draco's jaw with a sickening crunch.

"Harry, we'd better go, before Snape gets back," Ron warned, his eyes darting around. Draco was on the floor on his knees, staring at Harry in utter surprise. He lifted a pale finger to the corner of his mouth, and when he drew it away, it was tinged with red. He licked it with the tip of his tongue, and then laughed evilly.

"You've just made the biggest mistake of your life, Potter," he said, rising to his feet. "Aside from being born, I mean."

"And how is that, Malfoy?" Harry asked, his hand itching to strike again already.

"You're going to regret the day you ever met that little bitch," Draco snarled. It was more than Harry could stand, and with a strangled cry, he launched himself at Draco. Hermione clutched Ron tighter, until he pushed her aside to help Harry. At first he tried to drag the two enemies apart, but when a misplaced blow from Draco landed on his arm, he began pummeling the fair-headed boy as well. Hermione stood frozen to the spot, unable to look away, and wondered how she was going to call Snape back to end the fight without landing them all in detention.

She closed her eyes and pointed her wand shakily at the three bodies tumbling around on the floor, and hoped her spell would hit the right one. She took a deep breath and muttered "Petrificus Totalus!" When the scuffling stopped, she opened her eyes a crack to see why. She breathed in relief when she saw that her spell had hit the right person, and Harry and Ron were struggling to their feet.

"Blimey, Harry," Ron said, taking in Harry's state of disarray. "I'll never worry about my sister's honor around you again." Harry shot him a bloody smile, and they rushed to grab their things. Hermione looked back at Malfoy and bit her lip again.

"What are we going to do about him? We can't just leave him here like this!" Harry and Ron stared at her.

"And why the bloody hell not?" Ron asked incredulously. "He'll rat on us first chance he gets. We might as well give ourselves a head start!" Hermione shook her head and moved towards the stilled body on the floor. She bent down and pointed her wand at him, then muttered something softly before getting up and retrieving her things. When they'd gotten back to the common room to clean up, Harry shot her a funny look.

"Hermione, what exactly did you do down there?" he asked, wiping his face with a corner of his robe. She shrugged and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you," Ron said, shaking his head. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I did do something," she said, fingering the tie she wore.

"Well?" Harry looked at her expectantly. She sighed.

"I wiped his memory," she said quietly. Harry's jaw dropped, and Ron froze.

"You can work obliviate?" Harry asked, amazed. She nodded. "But why would you even bother to learn that spell, when we're not supposed to do it?" Ron glared at him.

"Harry, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say in your entire ruddy life! This is Hermione here! She learned it just because she could!"

"And you'd better be glad I did, too, Ron Weasley!" she snapped, jumping out of her chair and standing in front of him. "Or you'd probably be spending the next year in detention with Snape!"

"Why do you even care if I get detention?" he challenged back. "You always seem to think I need it!"

"Most of the time, you do!" she said, putting her hands on her hips. Her hair crackled with electricity, and Harry sat down quietly. "But this time I didn't want you to sit through it, not when Malfoy started it all!"

"You didn't want me to-" his voice died, and his expression softened. Harry watched in quiet amazement as something dawned on Ron, and he gave Hermione a strange look. She noticed the change too, because suddenly she was very quiet.

Harry didn't want to speak or move - he was scared to even breathe too loudly. He wanted them to have this moment; he prayed that Ron had finally figured things out, and they would kiss and the tension that always surrounded them would dissipate for good. He was disappointed, however, when Ron took a step backwards and turned his back to Hermione. She turned sideways, and Harry could see that she was crushed. Before he could say anything, she picked up her knapsack and left through the portrait hole.

"Ron," he started, rising from his seat. "What just happened?" Ron shrugged, his back still turned to Harry.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, mate," he said quietly. He blinked hard several times before turning to face Harry.

"I think you and Hermione need to have a talk," Harry suggested gently. Ron suddenly looked terrified, and he shook his head vigorously.

"No way! She might obliviate me, too!" he protested. Harry chuckled.

"I seriously doubt that," he said, picking up his knapsack. Ron followed him out of the portrait hole, and they began walking towards the Great Hall. It was lunchtime. "You should talk to her, you know. It might ... clear a few things up."

"Like what?" Ron asked suspiciously. Harry shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation. He opened the door and let Ron through first.

"Maybe she'll tell you who she fancies," Harry said, not meeting Ron's eyes. He moved towards the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Hermione, who refused to look up and acknowledge Ron's presence.

"Have you seen Ginny?" Harry asked her. She shook her head mutely and continued to shovel peas into her mouth slowly. Harry knew she was really upset; he hadn't seen her this quiet in a long time. On his other side, Ron was sulking, too. He was pouring honey onto a slice of bread, something that Hermione frowned on. Being the daughter of a dentist, she didn't think it was a good idea for him to eat so many sweets. Harry supposed that eating it now was a way for Ron to strike out at her and test the waters, but she didn't take the bait. She didn't even pretend to care what Ron was eating.

Harry ate his lunch in miserable silence, wishing there was something he could do to repair the breach between his two best friends. As much as he wanted to wave his wand and make it all better, he knew that the only thing that was going to help them was to get them to talk, and bring their feelings out into the open. He just wasn't sure how to go about tricking them into it. Maybe Ginny would have an idea.

And where was Ginny? He wondered. He hadn't seen her since that morning, when she'd gone into Professor Binns' classroom. He glanced up at the Slytherin table out of instinct to check on Malfoy. Malfoy was missing as well. His heart somersaulted. Was Ginny somewhere with Malfoy, being cornered and abused somehow? He felt the panic rising into his throat. He was just about to get up and go look for her when she strode into the Great Hall, her red hair flying wildly around her face.

"What happened to you two?" she gasped as she slid into the seat across from Harry and Ron. Harry widened his eyes slightly and shook his head, then nodded at Ron. Ginny clamped her lips together and examined her brother, then her friend.

"So how was your class this morning?" Harry asked, trying to attempt some small talk. She sat her bookbag down with a thump and reached for her glass of iced pumpkin juice.

"As dry as ever," she complained, licking the sweet liquid off of her lips. Harry was suddenly mesmerized by the movement of her tongue over those pouting pink lips, and his face began to feel as though it might be on fire. He kicked himself mentally - could he never look at her and not think about things like that?

"You shouldn't talk like that, Ginny," Hermione offered hoarsely. "He's really quite brilliant."

"He's not so bad," Ron agreed quietly. Hermione looked over at him slowly, and he gave her a weak grin. She hesitated for a moment, then gave one back. Harry sighed happily - at least they were peaceful again.

"Okay, so now are you going to tell me why you two look as though you've lost a fight with a cat?" Hermione sniggered softly, and Ron's ears turned pink. Harry just stared down at his empty plate, not wanting to tell her he'd gotten in a fight over her. She'd probably just think he was stupid, anyway.

"It happened in potions," Ron started. She blinked.

"Snape let you fight in his class?"

"No, he was gone when it started, thank Merlin," Hermione said, sighing.

"What happened?" She eyed the oozing cut on Harry's chin and wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap him in the tightest hug of his entire life.

"Malfoy said some nasty things to Harry," Hermione said. Harry was grateful that she was being vague about the subject matter of the fight. "And Harry reacted." Ginny turned her eyes to inspect Ron's face.

"Then how did you get involved?" she asked, pointing her index finger at him.

"I was trying to separate them, and Malfoy hit me, so I hit him back." He shrugged. Ginny's eyes passed betwixt the three of them, and then she did something that surprised them. She turned, ever so slowly, to look at the Slytherin table. To their great surprise, Draco was sitting in his normal seat, impeccably dressed, with no marks on him whatsoever.

"You two," she said, turning back to them and pointing. "Got into a fight with Draco," she said, pointing over her shoulder. "And he looks like that?"

"He doesn't even look like he's been in a fight!" Ron said, his eyes wide. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Hermione, who wished that she could drown herself in her pumpkin juice just then.

"What exactly did you say to him, Hermione?" Harry asked curiously. Her face turned purple with embarrassment, which intrigued them. Ron leaned forward on the table and eyed her shrewdly.

"I just..." She shrugged. "I told you, I just wiped his memory clean, that's all." Ginny's eyes popped open.

"You used obliviate?" Her shriek was louder than she'd intended it to be, and several students turned around and looked at her. She smiled sweetly at them before they turned back to their meals, shaking their heads.

"I guess," Hermione said, squirming in her seat. "It's not that big of a deal, you guys."

"The heck it isn't!" Ginny said, her eyes wide with admiration. "It's a really big deal! You did it and he doesn't look brain damaged - well, not yet, anyway." Hermione laughed and threw a pea at her.

"What kind of memory did you give him to replace the one you took, Hermione?" Harry asked softly. She stopped smiling and blushed again. "Didn't you think that anyone would remember that?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, puzzled. Harry answered without looking at him.

"It's a requirement for the spell. Whatever memory you take away has to be replaced with something, or you permanently damage the person it's been cast on." Ron turned interested eyes back to Hermione.

"What did you tell him, Mione?"

"I just said that... well, let's just say that I suggested..."

"Suggested what?" Ron and Harry chimed in unison.

"Basically I just suggested that it was a good idea for him to leave Harry and Ginny alone, and -" she smiled secretively. The boys leaned forward expectantly, and Ginny waited tensely for the rest of her sentence. "And I told him that instead of getting in a fight, he'd gotten his scratches trying to ... trying to play with Mrs. Norris, and he'd better cover them up good so no one would know."

Three jaws dropped in stunned surprise, and then burst out laughing. The four of them were laughing so hard that tears were flowing freely. Ginny was clutching her sides, trying to ignore the painful stitch that suddenly appeared. Harry had his head in his hands and was snorting softly with his laughter. Ron's face was an odd sort of purple color, and he was laughing so hard that no noise was coming out.

Their laughter was so loud that it drew the looks of several students in the Great Hall. When they saw that Malfoy was one of the students looking at them, they collapsed into renewed fits of laughter. They struggled out of their seats and stumbled out into the hallway, laughing the entire way back to Gryffindor tower.