The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower, the Sequel

"Right, well it's been fun, but I've got to get to bed," said Harry. "I'll see you two in the morning."

"Come on, Harry! Just one more game!" Hermione cried. "I'm just getting good!"

"Why don't you play Ron?" Harry asked, yawning. "Good night Ron." He strolled off up the stairs to his dormitory leaving Hermione and Ron in the deserted common room.

It was almost midnight, and Hermione was bent on playing wizards' chess over and over and over and over until even Ron didn't want to play anymore.

"Come on Ron! Just another game," Hermione said.

Ron yawned, shaking his head.

"Just one more," said Hermione. "You keep letting me win, I want to really win."

"Tomorrow," said Ron.

"No, Ron, I want to play now!"

"Tomorrow, Hermione."

"Come on, Ron!"

"Good night, Hermione."

"Don't you stand up when I'm talking to you, Ron Weasley!"

"It's late, we should be getting to sleep."

"I just want to play one more game!"

"Let's pack up and turn in."

"Ron!"

"Stop whining Hermione!"

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest childishly.

"What have you been eating?" said Ron, eyeing Hermione with suspicion.

"I just want to play chess," Hermione replied.

"Get some sleep," said Ron. "We'll play tomorrow, and I won't let you win."

"But I'm just getting good," said Hermione. "I want to practice."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "You'd think they were starting chess up as a subject."

Hermione sighed. "I just don't want to forget how to play," she said.

"You can't," said Ron. "But at the rate you're going, it can't be healthy."

"Fine, fine, I'll go to bed," said Hermione. "Good night, Ron." She got to her feet and kissed Ron good night before jogging off up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Ron sighed and shook his head, clearing the chess set up.

***

~*~*~*~

"These marks, Draco, they're ridiculous."

"Lucius, he is only a boy, you can only expect so much."

"Stop making excuses for the boy. No son of mine will be beaten by a mere filthy Mudblood."

"He tries his best."

"But it's not good enough."

"Now don't be like that, Lucius. Do you remember when you were thirteen and Headmaster Dippet called you to his office?"

"That was pointless, Narcissa."

"He told you that twenty years before, there had been a boy of thirteen, just like you, who had been expelled from Hogwarts."

"He compared me to that oaf, Rubeus Hagrid. A mere gamekeeper! You don't go around comparing Malfoys to gamekeepers!"

"And Headmaster Dippet learned just that, didn't he?"

"What are you getting at, Narcissa?"

"You know what I'm getting at."

"Draco, go outside."

"What are you going to do to Dumbledore, father?"

"I said go outside, boy."

"I'm sorry father."

~*~*~*~

"Your marks have improved, Draco."

"And I'll probably be a Prefect next year."

"We'll soon find out."

"Are you proud father?"

"No."

"How come?"

"Don't ask stupid questions, Draco."

"But I want to know why you aren't proud."

"Do not talk back to me, boy."

"I'm sorry father."

~*~*~*~

"You've been stupid, Draco. The Dark Lord wanted you for his own."

"I know, father, but it's not what I wanted."

"To Hell with what you want!"

"I didn't mean to let you down."

"Didn't you?"

"Of course not, father."

"You could've fooled me..."

"I didn't mean to father."

"This whole problem started with Weasley. What were you thinking, getting involved with a Weasley?"

"What does it matter now?"

"You've disgraced me before my master."

"I'm sorry, father."

~*~*~*~

"Draco! It's so nice to see you again! How has your summer been?"

"It's been a waste, father."

"Yes, yes, I'd have rather you spent your time in Germany."

"As do I, father."

"The villa in France is but a holiday resort. Germany is home."

"Yes, father. And what a waste of time France was."

"Not to worry, son! You'll be back at school tomorrow. Your final year!"

"Yes, I will, father."

"Back with that little girlfriend of yours."

"I'm sorry, father."

"Whatever for?"

"If you don't want me to be with her, I'll-"

"Don't be ridiculous, boy! You've caused this much damage already, you'll never mend it."

"I didn't mean it, father."

"Don't bother, Draco. Here, give this to that Ginny Weasley."

"What is it?"

"It's from the Dark Lord."

"I can't give her that."

"It is the only way you'll ever repay me for this damage, Draco."

"But, father, I can't."

"It won't do anything. It's just a gift."

"No father."

"Don't ever say no to me again."

"I'm sorry father."

~*~*~*~

"Morning, Draco."

"Ginny, how long have you been up?" Draco Malfoy sat up in his bed.

"Not long," said Ginny. "But I think it's safe for us to leave now."

"It's never safe," said Draco. "Especially with that Lavender Brown hanging around all of a sudden."

"But the common room's probably empty," said Ginny.

"Hold on, I'll check." Draco slipped out of his bed and stepped through the door leading to the common room.

"You might want to get dressed, first!" Ginny called after him.

Seconds later, Draco re-entered the room. "Pansy's up there," he said. "I doubt she'll notice."

"She's stupid, Draco, not blind," said Ginny.

"I doubt she can see through an invisibility cloak," said Draco. "Hold on, let me get dressed first."

"That might be a good idea," said Ginny. "And do you still have Colin's camera."

"Just a second," said Draco, disappearing into his bathroom.

When Draco came back into the room, he was fully dressed in his Hogwarts robes. He walked over to his desk, opened one of the drawers and pulled out Colin's camera, handing it to Ginny.

Ginny put the camera in her bag and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thanks," she said. "Now should we go?"

"Yeah," said Draco. "Do you have the cloak?"

"I'm right behind you," said Ginny, disappearing under the invisibility cloak. "Lead the way."

Draco walked out of his room and up the stairs to the Slytherin common room, hoping Ginny was still behind him. Pansy was still sitting in the common room, eyeing Draco as though she was an eagle and he was her prey.

Draco hurried out of the common room, walking so fast he was almost running down the corridor leading out of the dungeons, and Ginny had to jog under the invisibility cloak to keep up.

Once they reached the Entrance Hall, Ginny pulled off the invisibility cloak and shoved it into her school bag.

"Where to?" said Draco.

"Er, well, I don't know," said Ginny. "Everyone's in class right now."

"Well, aren't you clever?" said Draco. "So where were you planning on going when you came up with this idea?"

"I really don't know," said Ginny. "I was kind of hoping something, or someone would just appear."

"Now that is just plain old stupid," said Draco. "You'd make a terrible Rita Skeeter."

"She just makes everything up," said Ginny. "I could make tons of stuff up."

"She doesn't make everything up," said Draco. "Like the time she reported for the Triwizard Tournament, she got all her information from eye witnesses."

"You and Pansy?" said Ginny. "That was all codswallop. You'd make anything up to annoy Harry."

"And we did just that," said Draco. "And that's exactly what you have to do. Make up a bunch of lies that just sound true."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Someone's coming," said Draco. "Where's the cloak?"

Ginny fumbled in her bag for the invisibility cloak, and when she finally found it, threw it over her and Draco's heads.

Dean Thomas and Susan Bones walked through the front doors into the Entrance Hall, hand in hand.

Ginny's eyes lit up, although no one saw. She fumbled for the camera, hoping you could take photos through an invisibility cloak. She snapped about three pictures as they walked by, but then they were gone, up the stairs.

Draco pulled off the invisibility cloak. "Maybe your plan wasn't just plain old stupid," he said.

Ginny smiled. "You know, I didn't really expect a story so fast," she said. "But that was just lucky."

"Yeah, so now we get to make something up?" said Draco.

"I suppose so," said Ginny. "All I need is a story that beats, 'Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley? What's that about?'"

"A Mudblood and Susan Bones? What's that about?" said Draco.

"Well, we'll soon make that up," said Ginny. "But it doesn't have much of a twist, does it?"

"We should just take questionable pictures of unsuspecting Gryffindors," said Draco. "That could be fun."

"I'm in Gryffindor, you twit," said Ginny.

"We aren't going to be taking questionable pictures of you," said Draco. "How about, 'the Creevey brothers' scandal?'"

"That's dirty," Ginny said simply.

"It's good," said Draco. "Think about it. We'll slip them a sleeping potion each and then we'll sort of move them about and take pictures."

"Whatever," said Ginny. "But we should go to the library, Ron's in there, and if I don't show up, he'll tell my mum."

"So what?" said Draco.

"I've got to study for NEWT's," Ginny replied.

"You've got months yet," said Draco. "And believe me, they aren't that hard."

"Let's just go anyway," said Ginny.

***

"Hermione, we have NEWT's to study for," said Ron. "We can't keep playing chess."

"When did you two switch personalities?" Harry mused.

"NEWT's aren't for months yet. Just one more game, Ron," said Hermione. "Please?"

"Fine," said Ron. "Just one more game."

Hermione smiled. "And remember, don't let me win," she said.

"You two should spend less time with each other," said Harry. "You've swapped minds completely. It's scary."

"As long as you don't swap minds with Blaise Zabini, everything's fine," said Ron.

"What's wrong with Blaise?" Harry asked.

"Nothing's wrong with Blaise," said Hermione. "Ron's just... preoccupied."

"How does that work out?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," said Hermione. "Stop asking questions."

Harry was about to say something to this, but never got the chance as Ginny and Draco walked into the library at exactly that moment.

"You missed breakfast," Ron said when he saw Ginny. "Where were you?"

"Good morning to you too," said Ginny.

"Where were you?" Ron repeated.

"I was in the common room," Ginny lied. "I was tired last night, studying late."

"Studying for what?" said Harry. "It's the second day of school. You're all turning into Hermiones."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hermione inquired.

"I never said it was a bad thing," said Harry. "I just pointed it out."

"But what is it supposed to mean?" Hermione repeated.

"They're all turning clever," Harry replied.

"Well you should smarten up too, Potter," said Draco. "Maybe you should learn to pull your weight. You won't be famous evil fighting Potter forever, you know."

"You should talk, Malfoy," said Harry. "Now that wonderful father of yours is gone, who's going to pay your way into being a Prefect? I see he didn't try to bribe the Hogwarts committee into making you Head Boy."

"Harry, just shut up," Hermione muttered.

"No, Mudblood, let him keep talking," said Draco. "I want to hear what else Scarhead's got up his rotten sleeve."

Ron got to his feet, knocking over a few chess pieces, wand in hand.

"Ron, no," said Hermione. "No, don't do that."

Harry also got to his feet.

"Ooh, I'm so terrified," said Draco. "Two big, nasty Gryffindors glaring at me! 'Course, that's all they can do."

"Do you want to see the damage I can do to your rat face, Malfoy?" Ron threatened. "Believe me, you won't look good. But then, when do you ever look good? You're just ugly, Slytherin scum."

"And you should talk, Weasley," said Draco. "With your dirty red hair and all those freckles, honestly."

"Take that back, Malfoy," Harry warned, pointing his wand at Draco.

"Make me," said Draco.

"Not in here," said Hermione. "It's a library. You'll all be expelled."

"Then so be it," said Harry. "No one talks to us like that and gets away with it."

"Actually Harry, we can't get expelled," said Ron. "We've still got our futures ahead of us."

"Oh, is poor Weasley afraid of being poor forever?" said Draco. "You could always live with your oaf out on the grounds. The three of you could be co-game keepers. Three failures, and nothing else."

"You're the failure, Malfoy," said Harry. "You've no talent, had to buy your way onto the Quidditch team, for crying out loud!"

"Please don't cry out loud!" Madam Pince snapped from the other end of the library.

"What a stupid woman," said Ginny. "Can't she see what's going on here?"

"God, she's so ignorant!" Hermione cried.

"Outside, Malfoy," said Ron. "Out in the corridor, we'll show you." He and Harry exited the library, with Draco smirking at their retreating backs.

"Smarmy gits," Draco muttered.

"You shouldn't have started all that," said Hermione, sternly.

"Well I did," said Draco. "And I'm going to finish it." He left the library, nose in the air.

"What do we do now?" Hermione said to Ginny, a worried look on her face.

"Watch?" Ginny suggested.

"Your brother and your boyfriend are about to rip each other to pieces, and you want to watch?" said Hermione. "Gin, you've got issues."

"I'm making the best of a bad situation," said Ginny. "Now is that so wrong?"

"How is this best?" said Hermione. "They'll all end up in the hospital wing!"

"Good for them," said Ginny. "Now come on, we're missing it all!"

Hermione got to her feet. "I'll put a stop to this," she said. "I've got rights as Head Girl."

"It's great of you to think of that now," said Ginny, opening the library door. "But you're a little late."

Out in the corridor, Ron and Harry had Draco on the floor, and Harry held him down while Ron punched him.

"Honestly, Harry," said Ginny. "I thought you had more dignity. But now you're just ganging up on the defenseless. How does it feel?"

"It's his own fault!" Harry shouted.

"Yeah, he shouldn't have called Hermione a Mudblood!" said Ron.

"You'll all be expelled if you don't stop it right now," said Hermione. "And I'm not joking!"

"Oh, stuff it, Mudblood," said Draco, voice a little choked. "You wouldn't expel these two if your life depended on it."

"That's it!" Ron shouted. "You'll never see another day!"

"Pity the last thing I'll ever see is your ugly face," said Draco.

"What is going on here?" said a voice from behind Hermione and Ginny.

Both girls whipped around to face Terry Boot, Head Boy of Hogwarts.

Terry noticed the little fight, and immediately pulled out his wand. "Stupefy!" he shouted, hitting Ron first. Right after, he hit Harry with the spell, but spared Draco, as he was the one being beat on.

"Explain yourselves," said Terry.

"They're in no condition to explain anything," said Draco, looking at Harry and Ron. "I doubt they can tell you their names."

"I'd have never expected anything like this from Harry Potter," said Terry. "He is after all a Prefect. I must say I'm disappointed. And you, Malfoy, a Prefect as well! At least Weasley has an excuse, but you are in grave trouble."

"So's Weasley," said Draco. "You can't punish me alone. And you saw them, they were attacking me. I never did anything."

"Surely you provoked them," said Terry. "That's fifty points from Slytherin, and fifty points from Gryffindor."

"But that's not fair," said Draco. "There's two of them!"

"Prefects should not be fighting," said Terry.

"Potter's a Prefect," said Draco. "And he was fighting."

"The way I saw it, Malfoy, it was you and Weasley fighting," said Terry. "Now march yourselves off to the hospital wing."

"I don't think Potter and Weasley heard you," said Draco. "You might want to sober them up."

"That's not necessary," said Terry. Then he turned to Hermione. "Hermione, will you get those two to the hospital wing?"

Hermione nodded.

***

Madam Pomfrey was beside herself when she saw the state of Draco. Harry and Ron hadn't really needed to stay in the infirmary, but Draco had thrown a few punches at each of them giving Madam Pomfrey an excuse to fret.

Ginny and Hermione had not been allowed to stay in the hospital wing; Madam Pomfrey had told them to get back to class.

Draco sat up on his bed in the infirmary. He was supposed to be resting, and Madam Pomfrey had given all three boys a sleeping potion, but sleeping potions never worked well on Draco.

Harry and Ron were still snoring. Well, Ron was snoring, Harry was quite silent.

"Potter and Weasley, the two ugliest gits in Hogwarts," said Draco. "Potter has no mother. Weasley has no money. Weasley's in love with a Mudblood. And quite an ugly Mudblood she is. Potter's in love with Weasley. Poor Blaise, her boyfriend's not straight..."

"Isn't he?" said Blaise's voice from the doorway.

"Hello Blaise," said Draco.

"My boyfriend likes other boys?" said Blaise.

"Er, yeah," said Draco. "Sorry about that."

"You told me Terry likes other boys, but Padma Patil is definitely not a boy," said Blaise. "Are you lying again?"

"Oh, Terry Boot still does like other boys," said Draco.

"Oh, stuff it, Draco," said Blaise. "And just in case you're wondering, I'm not here to see you."

"I wasn't too hopeful," said Draco. "Potter's over there, but don't wake him just yet, he's dreaming about Weasley."

 Blaise smirked and walked over to Harry. "He looks so dear when he's sleeping," she said, placing her hand on his forehead.

"Blaise, please, there're people in here," said Draco.