About A Boy

(Or How To Date Draco Malfoy)

A/N: This was written as a birthday gift to a very good friend of mine, Nicky-Maree. Happy Birthday! It was finished a bit later than planned, but either way I hope you like it! It was also supposed to be a bit longer, but I hope this will do. Lots of love from me! Btw: my spellchecker decided to take a vacation without me, so if there are any disturbingly wrong spellings, please let me know!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. I own nothing except for little Tom and Nicole!

I

Glancing at the old building in front of her, Nicole Shaw hesitated before moving closer. The name of the building read Purge and Dowse, Ltd. and it looked like it had been abandoned for years. The dark red bricks of the department store were dirty and had probably not been cleaned in ages. It was no wonder that the Muggles kept walking past it without even looking up. The people passing the overall busy shopping street only muttered about 'that shop never being open'.

Looking back at the large glass windows and inside the empty store, she looked at the rusty and old-fashioned mannequins who were still wearing some pieces of old clothing. Suddenly, the one nearest to the door turned its head and looked straight at her, motioning her inside with one plastic finger. After recovering from the shock, the girl smiled. Looking right and then left again, she stepped through the glass without any of the passing Muggles noticing her disappearance into the condemned building.

The busy waiting room of St. Mungo's was buzzing with people, sitting on lousy wooden stools and waiting for their turn at the reception desk. Making her way towards the Welcome Witch, she carefully looked around her. There was an elderly couple of which the man couldn't seem to stop dancing and a few chairs down a mother was trying her best not to loose her son, whose head was swollen and red like a monstrous tomato.

Turning back, she got in line before the reception desk, behind which a young witch was seated.

"Yes, I can see what has happened to you, but I can also see you can still read, you are to go to the Spell Damage on the fourth floor," the Welcome Witch said to a man who had obviously been the target of a transfiguration spell gone wrong. His head looked like deformed teapot and there was actual steam coming from his nose.

"Next!" the Welcome Witch yelled as the human teapot made his way towards the elevator.

"Hello, I'm here to meet Mr Morgan? I was supposed to meet him here at noon, but I ran a little late. I just arrived here yesterday and -" Nicole was just about to explain why she was late, when she was rudely interrupted by the witch.

"Mr Morgan's office is right around the corner, past Emergency. Next!"

Before she knew it, Nicole got pushed aside by the next person in line, who started rambling about second degree burns he had gotten after petting his Salamander.

She helplessly looked around until she followed a group of loud wizards who were moving towards a sign that read Triage. Maroon Auror robes mingled with the lime green of the Healers as they wove through each other. Trying to bypass the madhouse, Nicole ducked and tried moving around it in a large circle, which went fine until she walked right into one of the wounded Aurors who had also been avoiding the mass of people. Besides the scruffy looking dark hair, his glasses were cracked and he had a large trail of blood running down to side of his head.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" he immediately stretched out his hand to help her up after he had knocked her down to the ground. "I wasn't looking were I was going and then -"

Nicole held up her hand to stop him from rambling and laughed. "Hey, it's OK. I wasn't looking where I was going either. Just thought that it would be best to get around this, whatever it is, as fast as possible," she laughed and held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Nicky by the way."

"Err, nice to meet you," the man took her hand with slight hesitation, raking the other through his wild fringe to cover up his forehead.

"Am I allowed to know your name as well, or am I just going to need to call you 'Err'?"

"No, euh – I'm Harry," he quickly answered and Nicky laughed again. Then something dawned on him and his mouth dropped. "Nicky? Nicole?"

"Took you a while to recognize me," she smiled as she hugged Harry.

"Why – What are you doing here?" Harry asked as his face flushed up. "I thought we had warned you to owl us as soon as you would be back!"

"I suppose I forgot," Nicky mumbled and Harry chuckled.

"Didn't change at all. Well, welcome back to England, I suppose." He gave her another quick hug before grabbing his stuff. "I have to go, make sure my partner is still in one piece," he joked. "How about we go for a drink tonight and I'll invite our old friends?"

"Sounds well enough, sure. I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron then?"

Harry nodded and he waved before walking off towards one of the Emergency wards. Shaking her head, Nicky started walking too. She jogged down the hall and when turning the corner she made a little jump at finally having found the office were she needed to be. Pulling her dark brown hair from her face, she puffed up her chest and confidently stepped inside.

Mr Morgan was a small, pudgy man with mousy brown hair lying dead on top of his head and behind his ears he was already starting to grey a bit. As the Head of Trainees and Nursing Staff in the hospital, he was the person to interview you when you had applied for a job. That was why Nicky was now seated on a cold wooden chair in front of a neat desk.

"What made you consider St. Mungo's? Why did you not apply for a job closer at home?" Mr Morgan asked her after all the formalities were taken care off.

Nicky thought for a while, thinking up the best way to answer that one. She had been living in England for all of her life and she just needed to get out when the War was taken care of. Thus, she had taken off to Sydney, Australia as soon as possible. But she started to miss her old mates from Gryffindor more and more and had finally decided that it was time to go home. As she told the man this, a small smile enveloped his lips as he nodded and wrote something down.

"We are always in need of motivated people to help around the wards, and with your expertise on children you would be a great addition to our staff." He slowly got to his feet and stretched out his hand. "It was lovely to speak to you, Nurse Shaw. If you would walk with me, please?"

Nicky slowly got up, barely even registering that she had actually been giving a job. When it dawned on her though, she jumped up and quickly followed Mr Morgan out of his office and back into the hallway.

The corridor had cleared and Emergency was now deserted. Looking around if he might see Harry again, Nicky almost lost sight of her new boss, as he made his way towards the elevators. Waving his wand in a firm swish, one of the two lift doors opened. Several persons in lime green darted out and disappeared in different directions before there was room for them to get in.

"Usually, when we first hire new staff, they get a two month probation period. But since we're low on nurses already, I will gladly put you on the new Children's Ward. I must you warn you it can get very hectic in there. We are still experimenting with it and we try to get all the children together in one ward, rather than to spread them all over the hospital." Mr Morgan explained.

Next, the lift chimed and a large yellow 2 lit up, the words Magical Bugs and Diseases flashing next to it. Nicky grins as she has been on this floor before. It was the only floor that had appealed to her when she was here looking for a job. Because of the nice staff and, of course, because of the children.

The floor was quiet and she remembers Mr Morgan having said that they were largely understaffed. Two Healers were whispering to each other and vaguely motioning at an elderly witch who was softly snoring in one of the beds inside a room. One of the Healers took out his wand, sat it against his throat and cast a Sonorus Charm. "Calling Mediwitch Tulay to room 209-B. Calling Mediwitch Tulay to room 209-B."

Nicky stayed to watch the Mediwitch arrive before she had to follow Mr Morgan again. He was talking again and she had to pay attention if she wanted to understand it.

"There are three wards on this floor: one for the elderly patients, one for the adults and one for the children, which you will be working on." They passed a sign that said Dilys Derwent Ward. "This will be the busiest ward on this floor and seeing as we're low on staff as it is, you'll have to be able to handle stress well. The last time we lost a patient has been three months ago, but one may never know when it will happen."

Nicky nodded as they approached a nearly empty nurse's station. The only person sitting there was a young man wearing lime green. He was reading a magazine with his feet propped onto the desk he was sitting behind. She recognized him as a former Ravenclaw from Hogwarts. He graduated one year before her.

"Nurse Shaw, this is Healer Michael Corner," Mr Morgan told her. The man looked up and nodded at her, before returning to the article he was busy reading. "Healer Corner is one of four Healers working around this floor which would imply that he would be very busy at the moment. Isn't that right, Healer Corner?"

Michael shot up and dropped the magazine is the process. "I'm being called, nice meeting you again, Shaw," he said before dashing away through the door nearest the station.

"You'll be meeting with Head Nurse Weasley in just a moment. I've arranged for her to show you around the Ward. She'll be your mentor for the first half year, just meaning she will be here to keep an eye on you and to make sure you'll be doing the correct things," Mr Morgan spoke again. "Then we'll say goodbye for now and let's hope we won't ever see each other again, right?" he chuckled and then nodded to himself as if congratulating him on his joke. He left, and Nicky stayed behind and the now officially empty nurse's station.

It took not long for another very familiar person to walk by. She was tall and had long red hair pulled back in a low ponytail. "Hey there, you're the new – Nicky!" Ginny squealed and she all but threw herself at Nicky. "How are you? Why didn't you let me know you were working here?"

"Surprise?" she managed to choke and Ginny let go of her again.

"It's so great to see you again! I can't wait for you to meet some of our patients, let's go!" Ginny pulled her arm and led her around the nurse's station into a deserted hallway. "As you may have well noticed it's a bit quiet at the moment. For one part it's the fault of the board of directors who refuse to give us more staff, for the other part it's because the new school year has already started. You picked a nice time to start, the last week before the kids are send off the Hogwarts is always the worst, with parents fussing over them and wanting to get them a full body check before they send their precious little babies off to Scotland."

Nicky only managed to produce a weak grin before she was helplessly being pulled around to look at the first couple of rooms. As predicted the rooms were largely empty. Only two or three beds were occupied out of the total of fifteen beds per room.

"So you've met Michael already I suppose?" Ginny asked as they walked into room 213.

"Yea, he's a Healer right? He looked nice enough. He was so busy he couldn't even afford time to introduce himself properly," she sarcastically added as she recalled the way he had ignored her for his magazine.

"That's Michael alright. And to think he's one of the most loyal ones we have walking around." At Nicky's questioning expression, she explained. "Usually, our Healers slip out and go down to Emergency to help as there's noting much do up here this time of year. Not that I blame them, though. But I'd rather stay up here with the kids than mingle with the arrogant Aurors downstairs."

"Arrogant, ey? I happen to have met a very fine looking one on my way here," she waggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner and Ginny flushed.

"Well, Harry's always been the exception to the rule," she muttered and pulled Nicky along to the next room.

As they walked through the doors of room 213, Nicky noticed there was only one little boy sitting upright in his bed. He looked lonely in the large room and smiled widely when he saw Ginny.

"Hey there Tom, I would like to introduce you to a new friend. This is Nicky, she's new here."

The small boy giggled and ducked back under the covers.

"Hi Tom, I'm Nicky," Nicky said and she chuckled when Ginny petted his blond hair, the only thing poking out from the covers of his bed.

"He's a bit shy," she mouthed softly as Tom chose this as a good moment to come out again. "Hey there, why did you hide? She's not scary, is she?"

The blond boy shook his head and then turned his big blue eyes to Nicky, who immediately melted upon gazing into the clear orbs. He carefully waved before blinking quickly and crawling back under his duvet. Nicky smiled at the small bump Tom made in his bed before the quiet was disturbed.

"Here you are Nurse Weasley, I was looking all over the place for you!" A tall woman with red hair stepped into the room and was immediately ushered out by Ginny again.

"Quiet please, you wouldn't want to scare him anymore than he already is," Ginny whispered before closing the door of Tom's room.

Nicky looked from red head to red head, questions playing on her lips.

"Nicky, this is Healer Quincy, she's Healer-in-Charge at our floor. Eleanor, this is Nurse Shaw. I was showing her the floor, as you were well aware of."

"I'm sorry to have interrupted, but I have some serious business I need you to take care of Ginny." Quincy handed Ginny a large scroll of parchment which had some Monitoring Spells running over it. "I need you to take this up to Poisoning, now."

"Wha-now? But I can't, I -" Ginny stuttered and sneaked a glance at the parchment. Forcing her eyes to leave it again she passed it on to Nicky. "I'm sorry, I know this is your first day, but can you please take this up one floor for me? I need to speak with Quincy."

Nicky shrugged and took the parchment from Ginny. "Sure, no problem. Where does it need to go?"

II

Frowning Nicky looked up at the sign on the wall. Santes de Ardoynis Ward was plastered on it in sickly looking green words. She was completely lost, then. After she had taken the lift to the third floor and had stepped out of it, she had immediately lost direction between all the Healers walking around.

Potion And Plant Poisoning was completely different from Magical Bugs. It looked like they were overflowing with staff and all the wards were loaded with patients. The hallways looked like mazes and there were no offices close by.

Gathering her Gryffindor bravery, Nicky walked into one of the more busy hallways, are there was a large chance she would run into someone who could help her out. Walking past some of the rooms in the ward she noticed that the Healers on this floor were wearing darker robes than on hers and that some of them were even equipped with belts filled with different potions vials.

All the Healers, however were way to busy to notice her, so she had to fend on her own. Following the hallway she eventually turned up in a small square-looking place. In the middle there was a large nurse's station behind witch a tall blond Mediwizard was sorting through some patient files.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for the Healer-in-Charge, I think," Nicky muttered after a quick glance on the parchment, which was addressed to the Head of Poisoning.

The man behind the desk snorted and gazed up. "The boss is down that hall, though I would wait for a couple of minutes before jumping on him. He's in a right foul mood ever since Boot messed up the Lab this morning. All experiments are postponed until tomorrow." The Mediwizard pointed in the direction of another Healer-filled hallway.

"Thanks, he's not busy I hope?" Nicky asked, but all the man did was snort. Ignoring it, she started walking, only looking back when the man called "Good luck!" after her.

It took her only a couple of minutes before locating the Healer she was looking for and if the yelling gave an indication of his fury, she needed all the luck she had to survive. Gulping, she rounded the corner to find complete pandemonium. An awfully familiar voice was screaming something at one of the Healers who was wearing lime green instead of the darker shade and at the same time the owner of the voice was waving his wand to balance a stock of potions into a cupboard on the wall.

"This is the last time I catch you wearing that, Boot. The next time I see you in those robes they can put you back together on the Fourth!"

The Healer in question, Terry Boot, went white as a sheet and with a quick swish of his wand, his robes were the dark green his colleagues wore. Muttering something under his breath caused him to be the victim of a well placed Silencio.

Following the spell movement, Nicky traced it back to the dark wand belonging to none other than Draco Malfoy. Well, apparently that was Healer-in-Charge Draco Malfoy now. Tall, handsome and extremely fit Healer-in-Charge Draco Malfoy. His blond hair shone white in the sunlight and his bright grey eyes were filled with emotions instead of being the cold rocks they were back in Hogwarts.

The only thing that was still the same was his patent Malfoy-smirk.

After looking around to so if any of his other staff was being difficult, he smirked, left the scene and stalked back into what Nicky assumed would be his office.

Swallowing her pride she knocked on the solid wood of the door and after only a second, a muffled "Yes!" answered her. Opening the door as slow as possible, she grabbed her wand in one hand and the report in the other.

"If this is about this morning I -" Draco stopped in midsentence when he noticed Nicky standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry, do come in, Nurse..?"

"It's Shaw, Malfoy."

"Ouch, what did I do to hurt you?" he smiled, placing his hand above his chest and feigning hurt.

"I will not play games with you, I'm just going to deliver this to you and take my leave again. We might work in the same hospital but that doesn't mean I have to play nice with you," Nicky spat, glad with herself that she was able to put Malfoy in his place before he could even talk back to her.

"Hey, wait!" He got up from behind his desk and ran towards the door. Grabbing her arm before she could disappear in between the Healers he turned her around and looked her over. "You're the new one down at the Derwent Ward, aren't you?" he asked, slowly letting go of her arm.

Nicky crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Draco chuckled. A deep, warm chuckle Nicky had never expected from him. "I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way, how about you let me make that up to you?"

"I don't do charity," Nicky answered briskly before turning around again and walking away. Leaving a dumbfounded Draco scratching his head.

After arriving on her own floor again, the first thing she was doing was searching out Ginny and ask her what was up with Malfoy.

"Ginny! Why the hell did you sent me up there to Malfoy of all people?"

Ginny actually had the nerve to look surprised and hurt for being yelled at. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. No, please takes these Flu Potions, they need restocking." With that, she swiftly disappeared, leaving an angry and confused Nicky all alone with a box of smelly potions in her arms.

III

"Hermione! It's really been too long! How are you?" Nicky squealed as she hugged Hermione. "Ron still treating you right?"

"Oi!" Ron yelled as he heard his named being mentioned. "I object to whatever she is telling you Hermione!" he stated as he settled down at the table they had confiscated.

Harry had invited Ron and Hermione with him, as promised, and all were now sitting at a secluded table in one of the many pubs at Diagon Alley. Nicky grinned as it reminded her so much of the Hogsmeade visits back in Hogwarts. Just sitting here joking and talking together without some evil Dark Lord looming above their heads. This was how it should have been all along.

Although something was missing.

Nicky watched Ginny flirt with Harry while he was ordering their drinks and from the corner of her eyes she could see Ron give Hermione a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Before she could brood on it, however, Harry plopped down next to her with his arms full of beer. Hermione and Ron sat down opposite of the boys, keeping a spot empty for Ginny, who was bringing some snacks.

"So, tell me, what was it like, living in Australia?" Hermione asked eagerly and Nicky smiled, glad for the distraction from watching the two couples interact.

Just as she was about to launch into one of her adventures, the bell above the door of the pub chimed and three people walked in. A muffled "What are they doing here?" was what came out instead.

Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy walked in and moved into the direction of their table. Chairs were added and as the three Slytherins sat down, Nicky jumped up and took a step away from the table.

"Ginny, what are they doing here?" she asked quietly, ignoring the looks the others gave her, only focusing on her friends face.

Ginny shook her head and sighed. "Nick, things changed over here. They're not the same people they were five years ago," she explained softly. "Please just give them a chance? For our sake?"

Nicky muttered something under her breath but made room for the three as they sat down in their chairs.

Draco glanced at her, before shifting his attention to Harry and Blaise, who had started a loud discussion about some of the new Aurors within the Ministry. Taking a sip from his beer he laughed and joked with them about the new Trainees being scared shitless when facing the 'Boy-Who-Lived-Twice'.

After only an hour and a half, the group made their way towards the more darker streets of Diagon Alley, close to Knockturn Alley, to visit one of the clubs that was situated there. Nicky had protested and said she was tired, but Pansy and Ginny wouldn't take no for an answer and that was why she was now sitting in one of the boots of the club, next to Draco. All the others had gone up and left to dance, leaving her and Draco alone with a tension between them that almost made the air crack around them.

After sitting in silence for at least ten minutes, Draco couldn't handle it anymore and turned towards Nicky, who was sulkily staring into het empty wineglass.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked quickly before he would change his mind.

Nicky seemed to wake from her daze and looked at him. "I'm not nearly intoxicated enough for that, Malfoy."

Draco snorted at that. Nicky was the one who had drank more alcohol in the past hour than any of the others. "You can't honestly tell me you like sitting here all night and doing nothing? It wouldn't have to mean anything. It would just be for fun," he tried and he stood up. Grabbing Nicky's hand he pulled her towards the dance floor.

Nicky started protesting and tried to release her hand from Draco's iron grip, but he wouldn't budge and kept pulling her until she was flushed up against his strong chest.

A slow song started to play and Draco started swaying her on the beat of the music. Nicky had stopped pulling and pushing and relaxed in his arms. Closing her eyes, she ignored his soft voice singing along with the song and she ignored the way her head fit perfectly under his chin and on his firm chest and she ignored the way the beating of his heart calmed her nerves and she ignored the safe feeling of his strong arms around her own small body. Instead she imagined she was dancing with that cute blond Mediwizard she had seen earlier that day in the cafeteria. But all too soon, his face morphed into the pale and handsome one of Draco Malfoy.

The song ended again, and Nicky wretched herself away from Draco, her eyes wide and tears gathering in them. "Please stay away from me," she mumbled, before she turned and ran for the exit.

Pansy, Blaise and Ginny watched as Draco's shoulders slumped when Nicky disappeared from sight. "That wasn't going as planned..." Pansy muttered darkly. "Should I let Michael know there's a change of plans?"

Blaise and Ginny grinned as they both nodded.

IV

"Poor little boy lost the ability to speak. That's why he's here," Ginny explained when they were sitting in the cafeteria on the fifth floor. It was an early Monday morning and they were currently discussing the worsening of Tom. The little boy that Ginny had introduced Nicky to on the first day.

"We still have no idea what caused it. He lost his parents when he was young, but other than that we found no traces of poison or unwanted magic in his body." She sighed. "It just pains me to watch him everyday, he's so lonely."

"Maybe I can bring some toys for him? You know, that way he can have something to play with," Nicky answered as she prodded her Caesar Salad.

"You might want to discuss that with Healer Quincy. Never lets any of us bring toys in with us," Ginny mumbled before waving two people over. "Michael, Ernie! How are you?"

Two people, both wearing the lime green Healer robes, slowly walked up to them and sat down in the empty chairs. The other man turned out to be the man Nicky had spoken to on her first day when she was sent to Poisoning.

"There's something going on downstairs, but no one is talking about it. Something about a poisoning at Bugs. Nobody would explain it though," Michael quickly added, before concerning Nicky and Ginny.

Ernie McMillan – former Hufflepuff – nodded. "It's a madhouse downstairs. I'm glad I could take a brake," he explained after ordering a large cappuccino.

"Bugs? Tom! Is he OK?" Nicky asked quickly. In the last couple of weeks working in the hospital she had started to really care for the little boy.

"Don't worry, Draco is with them. He knows what he's doing," Ernie assured her, but that only caused Nicky to tense up even more.

Nicky hadn't uttered Draco's name after the so called incident that night in the club. She was afraid to get attached to him, and therefore she had avoided him like he had Dragon Pox. Hearing his name now in association with her dearest patient snapped something inside her.

"Malfoy is with them? What is wrong with all the people here? Letting Death Eaters in and letting them handle it all!"

Ginny snorted into her own drink at Nicky's dramatics. "Calm down. Draco's not so bad once you get to know him. He's actually kind of funny when he's not poking fun at you anymore," she laughed, causing her to almost drown in the coffee she was having.

"Your patient is down there in the hands of that snake and you just sit here joking? Aren't you supposed to show even a little concern? I know some of those little buggers can be a pain in the arse, but surely you don't dislike them that much that you're just going to let them die at the hands of – mmph!"

Michael interrupted by clamping his hand on Nicky's mouth to stop her rambling. "If you don't believe us, you should go down and take a look at what he's doing. Once you see how great he is, you might want to change your mind about him." Winking at Ginny, he gave her the sign.

Ginny winked back and slowly stood. "I'll take her with me. Come on Nick, Tom needs us."

Arriving at the second floor, quiet had already returned to the Derwent Ward. Nicky couldn't wait to get to Tom and left Ginny standing by the lifts as she dashed through open doors, past Station Three and right into room 213. The sight that met her eyes made her mouth drop. If she wouldn't see it with her own eyes, she probably wouldn't believe it.

Sitting on the large bed was Draco Malfoy, reading the story of The Fountain of Fair Fortune to Tom, who was listening with wide eyes. Ever so often he would blink away the traces of sleep in his face en sit up a bit straighter as if to show he was still listening.

"And hand in hand the three witches and the knight descended the hill again and they all lived happily ever after, without ever knowing that the water of the fountain wasn't magical at all," Draco finished softly, before looking over at Tom and smiling. "Are you feeling better now?"

Tom nodded before snuggling up to his pillow and closing his eyes.

Draco got up, ignored Nicky and closed the door behind him. "Can I help you, Nurse Shaw?"

Nicky was still gaping with her mouth open wide. She looked from the sleeping form in the bed, to the tall form of Draco Malfoy standing over her. Suddenly, she somehow regained consciousness and turned away from the door to face the Healer. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Tending to a patient, Nurse Shaw. He was suffering from a poison. From now on he will be needing to take one of these every morning and every night to clear it from his system." He held up one of the vials hanging from his belt.

"So, what happened?" Nicky breathed and Draco motioned for her to follow him. They walked into a secured room and settled onto one of the beds.

"Several other patients were poisoned as well. We don't know the person who is responsible, but luckily for us, it wasn't a severe potion. The worst that could happen was one of those kids ending up with a bad case of the flu," he chuckled slightly.

"How can you joke about this? This is very serious, Malfoy." Nicky glared at him and crossed her arms.

"Look, I'm sorry if I ever offended you back at Hogwarts or something. I know I haven't been a perfect angel for a large part of my life, but at least I'm trying to be professional here. I care about these kids too, you know?" Draco explained, trying to sneer at her, but not really succeeding anyway.

Nicky shrugged and dangled her feet from the edge of the bed. "My brother was bitten by a werewolf when we were still in Hogwarts. He was only in his third year. It was the night Snape murdered Dumbledore," she whispered softly. "And I know that Greyback's dead now, but I can't help but think about the one person who let him into the castle in the first place." At that, she managed a weak glare in Draco's direction before she was overtaken by tears.

Draco opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but thought better of it and closed it again. Instead, he moved towards the bed she was sitting on and carefully wrapped an arm around her. "I'm so sorry, he- he wasn't supposed to come..."

Nicky curled into his embrace and let out all the tears she had saved for this.

"I know it's a weak excuse and it was totally my fault, but if I had known he was coming through it, I would have-"

A rather large sob from Nicky had him turning to look at her. "I know it's not your fault, it's just so easy to blame someone who can still pay for it..."

"I understand. I guess I should you leave you alone now, then?" Draco asked and Nicky nodded.

"Yes, you should better go now, I'll be fine."

Draco got up and silently walked out of the room. Nicky looked up just in time to see him looking back, before he closed the door behind him.

V

Weeks passed and Tom was only doing slightly better. Draco spend hours in his Laboratory mixing different potions together to try and understand what he was poisoned with. The expected Flu had only been a cover up for the main course, a vile poison which was deadly to little children like Tom. Draco was losing sleep and appetite, trying to find a cure for the boy he had grown so fond of.

Nicky wasn't fairing any better. She had been assigned to Tom's case together with Draco and they still had to come up with a dependable cure. So far, all previous potions had only made Tom's stomach sick, resulting in him throwing everything up again.

Nicky sighed as she closed the curtains around the bed again. It wasn't really necessary with Tom being the only patient in the room, but it made the little boy feel a bit safer in the large and empty room. She had just given him one of Draco's latest potions and now they had to wait, again. Leaving a small lamp near the door burn, she closed it and walked to Station three, were she immediately collapsed.

"How's he doing? Any improvement?" Ginny, who was lounging in one of the other chairs asked. She was cradling her head while checking a few stats of other patients.

Nicky shrugged. "Draco, still hasn't been able to find anything wrong with his cures. According to him they're all suppose to work, but they don't!" Angry and frustrated with her helplessness she knocked a tower of papers to the ground. Grinning madly when they didn't put up a fight.

Ginny shook her head. "You're mental. Just go home, get some sleep and then tomorrow morning you can start anew again. There's no point staying up late. It's not helping Tom any."

Nicky shrugged again and slid down in the chair some more. "I don't want to leave him alone. He's been alone for so long now."

"What about you then? Don't you think you need someone around you too?"

Nicky cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Ginny. "What do you mean with that?"

Now it was Ginny's time to shrug. "Well, you seem pretty close with Draco nowadays, what's up with that?"

"Nothing's up with that." Nicky became serious again. "We're just being civil to each other because we both want to cure Tom. After that, I want nothing to do with him ever again."

Ginny nodded and swallowed back a laugh. "If you say so."

"I do." Nicky childishly crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

"Alright, suit yourself, but I'm going home to sleep," Ginny said while getting up again. "My shift ended a couple of minutes ago and I can use some sleep."

"Right, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Ginny nodded and left.

Right after Ginny had gone, another person took her place. "Hey, how are you doing?"

Nicky turned around at the now familiar voice and smiled. "As good as can be expected after a week with only about three hours of sleep per day."

Draco chuckled and rubbed his eyes. "Yea, I know what you mean. Is Tom asleep yet?"

"I just tucked him in, why?"

Draco got up and motioned Nicky to follow him to Tom's room. Moving into the room, he slowly pulled back the curtains to look at the sleeping boy.

"What are you doing? He's finally asleep!" Nicky tried to cover up the bed again, but Draco stopped her and took out his wand. "What are you -"

"Shh," he whispered as he waved his wand over the bump in the bed. He chanted some kind of expensive charm and a moment later a status report lit op the room.

Nicky looked at it and recognized nothing of it. Red and green lines crawled over each other and numbers were scattered all around it. "What is this?"

"This, is his magical signature," he pointed at the red line crossing over, "and these show the amounts of different magical substances in his body," he explained as he looked at the numbers closely. "And right now they indicate, that there's nothing wrong with him."

"What?"

"He's not sick at all," Draco elaborated and he cancelled the spell.

"But -"

"They tricked us Nicole."

Nicky looked up at him with a questioning look. "You mean they set us up so we would learn how to get along?"

Draco chuckled, that warm rich sound Nicky absolutely loved, before smiling his million Galleon smile. "Did it work?"

"Did what work - what are you doing?" Nicky asked when Draco bent over. His breath puffed on her lips, which automatically opened. She had never been this close to him before.

"You know, I've fancied you for a while now. Ever since you walked into my office actually," he breathed as their lips hovered above each other.

Nicky took a step closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him even closer. She couldn't resist anymore. Draco Malfoy was the one who had condemned her brother to a life of solitude, he was the one who had ruined her school years by bullying and he was the on who had captured her heart. Smiling, she lent in when he did and their lips met in a passionate first kiss.

Nicky's heart fluttered against her ribs and she was sure that if it was able to do so, it would break free with a smile from happiness. Draco's lips were soft against her own and when she felt his tongue against her lips, she gasped and deepened the kiss without second thoughts.

When they finally had to part due to lack of oxygen, Draco snaked his arms around her shoulders as Nicky buried her face in his neck, inhaling his scent with a lazy grin. Kissing the skin there, she looked up into his smiling eyes and pecked his lips. "It worked."

VI

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Ginny asked as she sneaked another look into the room from around the doorpost. She was grinning like an idiot, glad her plan her had worked out alright in the end.

"OK, pay up, Zabini." Pansy held up her hands as Blaise deposited a large amount of Galleons into her waiting hand. "Thank you."

Muttering something under his breath, he shook his head while grinning. "I can't believe it Weasley, but you did it. If we had been in Hogwarts still, I think we would have had to make you an honorary Slytherin," he joked.

Ginny looked up again from watching the pair in the room and smirked.

"You really have been spending to much of your time with Malfoy," Michael complained, but grinned nonetheless.

"Can't a girl just be happy for her best friend finding a decent guy to love?"

"I'll have you know that Draco is more than decent," Pansy stated snottily and Blaise grinned again.

"Whatever Weasley, tell us your secret."

Ginny raised her eyebrows suggestively and turned towards the room again. The small boy that was sitting in the bed smiled and winked at her before making a face at the two people who were finally kissing each other.

The End