Between the Two

As everyone rushed out of the Slytherin dormitory after dumping their bags, Draco hung back, pretending to be looking for something in his trunk. Normally he was one of the first to dinner, but tonight he felt a curious lack of hunger. When he heard the last of the footsteps die away in the common room, Draco stopped fidgeting around and flopped himself down onto the charmed mattress that his mother had sent to the castle. The hand-sewn tag claimed that it would relieve its owner of any stress or fatigue in only a few short minutes, but it didn't seem to be working. He lay sprawled out on the bed, his head at the wrong end, and tried to force himself to fall asleep, but every time he closed his eyes, an image of Ginny would pop into his head. It was so vivid that he felt as if he were back in the room of requirement, gently lowering her onto those luscious pillows. Suddenly Draco forced his eyes open and shook his head violently, trying to erase the memory of the Weasley girl whom he was obligated to hate. Draco put his hand to his head; he felt like he was about to get a headache from the shaking. He was restless, and for the first time ever, his bed felt hard and uncomfortable. For a second he considered heading up to dinner, but that idea quickly died when he though about all the noise and people he would have to deal with. That reminded him of the fact that the other Slytherins would start arriving back from dinner soon, and he didn't want to be there when they got back. "I just need somewhere quiet where nobody will disturb me, so I can relax and figure out what's wrong with me," he thought anxiously. Suddenly there was a knock at the door of the boys' dormitory.

"Hello? Draco, are you in there?" It was Pansy Parkinson. "I couldn't find you at dinner, so I came back here." She paused for a second, waiting for some response. "I'm sorry for the way I acted in Potions. Thomas says I'm too clingy for you... but I'm trying to be better. Please, Draco, open up. You need to know how I feel about you." Draco felt sick to his stomach. This unrelenting leech of a girl was a far better match for him than Ginny, but he couldn't stop thinking of all the things he hated about Pansy and realizing all the things he loved about Ginny. He heard a sniffle on the other side of the door and then Pansy shouted in a distraught voice, "You, you don't even know what you're missing, Draco. You're supposed to want me!"

After five minutes of silence, Draco thought it was safe to assume Pansy had left. He opened the door hesitantly, wary of a sneak-attack from the girl who he assumed had some sort of deranged infatuation with him. Once he saw that the small corridor was once again empty, Draco strode out of the room. He kept walking for what felt like hours with Ginny's face swimming in his head, not thinking about where he was headed, until he suddenly stopped and turned around, realizing where he was. The blank patch of wall gave him an idea. Walking back and forth three times, Draco thought about the room that he had taken Ginny into the night before. When the door appeared, he entered the room and marveled at the sea of deep purple and red jewel tones. With Ginny in his arms, he hadn't really looked around to appreciate the beauty of the pillow-filled room, but now he let the scene wash over him. For a second the image of Ginny flitted from his mind's eye, but then he noticed something: the large pillow in the center of the room still held the imprint of Ginny's delicate body from the night before. Suddenly, Draco felt the intense urge to lie down and he found himself walking towards the center of the cozy room. Without a second thought, he pulled off his school robes and curled up right next to the impression Ginny had left in the silk pillow. His hand brushed against the place where her head had been and he could have sworn it still felt warm.