Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they are the creative property of J.K Rowling. I'm not making any money from the writing of this fanfiction...though someone in real life said they'd give me cookies if I did another chapter...
A/N: Welcome to part two of PIP. Hehe...pip. Thank you for the reviews. Three. More than I asked for, but I thank you! Specifically, I thank Isadora120, With Love x, and JoiZ. D. I love you all. Just a note - I'm on the lookout for a beta-reader. If interested...tell me! Now my next request - if you want another update after this one, I want five reviews. Not five /more/, mind you, just two more so that I /have/ five. More are more than welcome though! And now, on with the show!
When Hermione came to, she saw nothing but darkness. Overwhelming darkness. But then she noted her eyes were closed. So she opened them and carefully sat up. She was in a bed the the Hospital Wing. Being the patient in the Hospital Wing again brought all of the memories of the Polyjuice potion gone awry flooding back into her mind. She winced. She looked around. The Hospital Wing was more or less deserted...apart from Ron asleep in the hard wooden chair at the left of her bed, and Harry asleep in the hard wooden chair at her right. Harry must have just drifted off accidentally, as his Glasses were hanging off one ear, and were nearly falling off his face. They fell to his lap and Hermione laughed softly. Harry stirred and his eyelashes fluttered. His eyes opened. He smiled and picked up his glasses from his lap and slid them back on.
"Hey there...you okay?" Harry asked. His worry was evident through his voice.
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, Harry. I'm fine. Just a little worried. I mean...Ron sort of seems to hate me at the moment. And now that Malfoy knows that I like him, he'll probably never let me live it down. He'll probably say I'm a Mudblood with Pureblood envy or some such garbage..."
"Don't call yourself that! It's horrible and derogatory. Your blood is no less clean than his, okay? And I'm so sorry. I'm sure Ron is too. I mean...we did sort of over-react. But all the same...Malfoy? It /was/ a bit of a shock..." Harry said and nodded. He gave her a little hug and Hermione winced.
"Ow..." she whimpered.
Harry sighed. "Yeah. Madam Pomfrey said you've got a cracked rib...you hit the ground /hard/. She said that when you woke up, she'd give you something to fix it..."
Hermione ruffled his hair. "Thanks Harry. I mean it...thanks. I really don't know what I'd do without you..."
Harry for to his feet. "Don't worry about it, 'Mione. Now I'll wake Ron and go - you'll probably want to rest, huh?"
Hermione nodded. Harry poked Ron in the side. Ron snorted and got to his feet quickly. His eyes snapped open. Harry dragged him away and out of the Hospital Wing. Hermione settled back in the bed and closed her eyes. Time for more rest.
The next morning, as Hermione had been let out of the Hospital Wing, she made her way to the Great Hall. She was famished. As soon as she walked in, however, she lost the majority of her appetite. Because the moment she walked into the Hall, the sound of talking, which had been near deafening before she walked in, dropped to silence. As she walked across the room to the Gryffindor table, she was watched. Hundreds of eyes following her, watching her every movement. She smiled weakly and as she sat down at the table, she was accosted by Ginny.
"Is it true?" she asked immediately.
"Is...is what true?" asked Hermione by way of reply. She honestly had no idea what was going on.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Is it true that Draco came to visit you in the Hospital Wing last night?"
"No! Of course not. Why would he?"
"Well Ron and Harry told me he was sitting next to you when they came back to sit with you...they shooed him away. But of course, you must have been asleep..." Ginny said and nodded.
Hermione's eyes went wide like saucers. "What!?"