Good 'N Bad

Chapter : 19 Another Hospital Visit

          Barely two days had gone by, and I was back in the hospital wing. This time, Harry was lying in the bed next to Ron. It was during the Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, Harry had flown over to Cormac McLaggen to confront him on the rules, when he was hit in the head by a rogue bludger, which resulted in a cracked skull. Ron was quite enthusiastic because he didn't have to be alone in the hospital wing anymore.

          I was sitting at the end of Harry's bed while Hermione was sitting on a chair in-between them. Harry had just woken up from his daze a few minutes ago, and the boys were already talking about Quidditch and Luna's commentary on the match.

'Okay, stop talking both of you', instructed Hermione, 'Harry you need to rest'.

'Oh, relax Hermione. He's fine. If Madam Pomfrey can't make him better, no one can, besides I'm just filling him on all that happened while he was unconscious', said Ron, with a very innocent expression.

'Fine, do what you want. I'm leaving. Come on Ava, let's go, at least then they will come to their senses and have some rest', said Hermione in a huff.

'Come on Hermione, they look perfectly fine. In fact, Madam Pomfrey is letting them out tomorrow, that must mean that there is nothing seriously wrong with them', I reasoned. But it didn't work, she left in a huff and I knew I was in for it the next time I would see her.

'That girl needs to sort out her priorities', Ron said with a worried expression. 

'Anyway', I said and sat myself where Hermione was sitting before, 'Guess what I've got?' I pulled out a package which was hidden underneath my robes. 'The newest set of tricks from your brother's shop. I thought I'd return the favour, you know, when I was here we had a lot of fun.'

'Cool', remarked Ron. And so we spent the next hour trying out the different tricks, but when we set off one that turned the entire hall pitch black, and heard a bottle crash, let's just say Madam Pomfrey still had her head where it was supposed to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          Next morning, Harry and Ron were out of the hospital wing. We were walking by the seventh floor corridor to History of Magic class, when we noticed a small girl hanging around the corner, probably a first or second year. When she saw us, she suddenly dropped the scales and looked at us horrified.

          Harry approached the little girl, and she started blushing like crazy. Hermione cast a repairing spell on the broken scales. As soon as she had done that the little girl scurried away. It was a weird sight to watch.

          History of Magic was probably the most boring class ever taught in Hogwarts. It was also the only class taught by a ghost. I was sitting on a bench with Dean, scribbling in a corner of my parchment, paying the least amount of interest in class, when something fell in front of me, it was a crumpled up piece of parchment. I opened it and saw that it was a note from Dean,

Hey, are you with Malfoy? I turned to look at him, he wasn't making eye contact but he had a sly grin on his face.

I wrote back, Maybe, maybe not.

He read it and rolled his eyes in amusement. Don't tell anyone I said or wrote this, but you both look good together. Any plans on making it official?

Thank you, and no. We haven't talked about it yet. The bell rang and thankfully we got up.

'Hey Dean, I'm sorry for the way he acted during all those encounters with Draco'.

'Don't worry about it. If I were him, even I would have acted the same, I wouldn't want anyone getting near my girl', he said and chuckled. We walked to Potions together.

'So, how have things been going for you?' I asked.

'Oh, nothing much has changed really. The dorm was a little quiet when Ron and Harry were in the hospital wing, but now its back to normal. Does anyone else know about you and Draco?'

'You seem very intrigued about Draco.'

'Well, I just don't want you to get hurt. Malfoy's a git, sorry, but yeah. I wouldn't put it past him to play with your feelings. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into, that's all.'

'I appreciate your concern, and I promise I'll make the right choice. But really, you don't have to worry about me, Malfoy's actually really nice. Its you I'm worried about, you seem to have a few minor accidents in Potions with Parvati as your partner. Will that lead anywhere?'

'What! You've got to be kidding me!' He said with a mock laugh.

'Hey, that was when Draco and I first hit it. You'll be surprised when the wrong potion can bring the right person into your life', we both chuckled and we entered the class. Draco had not yet reached, so I started assembling the stuff by myself.

          Soon a very disgruntled Malfoy sat beside me. 'What's wrong?' I whispered to him.

'I thought I had fixed it. But I checked on it today, and it didn't work. The bird which I used for testing, ended up dead.'

'Don't worry, it'll work. I know you can do it.' And we started making the potion. We didn't talk much during the rest of the class, except while giving instructions to each other. As the year had progressed, Malfoy and I became better partners, he took heed to the instructions I gave and I, his. It was a kind of mutual understanding after the incident with the almost fatal potion.

          We handed in our completed potion and had come back to our seats when the bell rang. I grabbed my things and turned to leave, when he held my wrist. After most of the students had left, he said,

'Don't you think we should have a proper first date, you know, since you are my girlfriend now', he asked curiously.

'Yeah sure, that would be nice, though technically it won't be our first date'.

'Okay then, this Friday, we'll meet at the secret spot, and this time I will bring the food'.

'Very well, so I will just come, enjoy myself and then leave. Perfect!' I said, kissed him on the cheek and left.

**********