Upside Down

To answer some reviews...

smurphy - I'm sorry! I figured you were from the US. I meant to pose that question to the readers at large. I used to love I Love Lucy on Nick at Night. And Happy Days, and I Dream of Genie. But then they put the shows that I grew up with on there. And makes me feel odd!

Jessie - Good news! Because there are so many loose ends to tie up, there will probably be a handful of 'falling action' chapters. So it's not quite over yet...

PotterEntourage - I love a little twin comedy ever so often...and Harry's situation will come out....now.

LolaDiBlack - I know Snape and Harry and Sirius' love lives are a secret right yet, but just wait for a bit, and I'll have everyone nice and happy. And Sirius said he would love to come home with you. He says he likes it doggie style. *Goofy grin* get it?

LadyVoldemort87 - I love them too, and there's going to be a bit of fluff with them. Not in this chapter, but soon....very soon...

FlowersBecomeScreens - I know, I know. It isn't addressed in this chapter, but I did have a plan to have Rodolphus get a good talking to in the next chapter. If you'll just hold on tight then everything will work itself out.....I PROMISE!!!

distincylyME - I didn't get a review from you, luv. Was my chappy sucky? *Puppy eyes*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry opened his eyes, and stretched a bit on the bed. He frowned. Bed? When he went to sleep he was on a cot at the medic’s corner. He looked around, and realized he was in a room at St Mungos. The room was filled with balloons and stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes, and several boxes of chocolates were stacked neatly on a table nearby.

He yawned, and saw up in the bed, trying to get the horrible sleepy taste out of his mouth.

At that moment, Snape walked into the room, carrying a tray of food in his hands, a cup of what appeared to be apple juice trailing beside his hand.

Harry rubbed his eyes, and then smirked.

“Never figured you for a juice man….” He teased. Snape gave a mock sneer.

“The tea tasted like piss, the coffee was black water, and they don’t serve firewhiskey. It was either this or the funny-smelling orange juice.” He said, and took his seat on the chair. Harry looked at Snape’s tray, and realized he himself was starving.

“How…how long have I been out?” Harry asked, as Snape took a bite of his breakfast.

“Four days.”

It was about that time a Mediwitch entered the room gingerly, aware of the fact that Harry had a black-tempered watch dog at his side. The first time she had entered ‘too noisily’ and had almost tasted the business end of Snape’s wand.

She beamed when she saw that Harry was awake. “Good morning, Mr. Potter. I hope you are feeling better?” she inquired, immediately pulling out her Medi-wand to perform a few tests on Harry.

“Much.” Harry said, watching as the wand flashed a few colors.

“You are much better! I dare say you could go home today!” she said, her voice almost effervescent with excitement. Harry was, to say the least, a bit freaked out by her ‘bubbly-ness.’ He sent a food request with her when she left, and she assured him it would be there as soon as possible, seeing as the meal was ‘for someone very special,’ and smiled as she walked out of the room. Harry scowled behind her, reaching behind him to punch his pillow to adjust it.

“It’s already bloody started. ‘Someone special’ my arse.” He groused. He heard a soft snort, and looked over to see Snape looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You really do hate it, don’t you?” he asked, taking a small sip of the apple juice. Harry sighed, and settled back into his fluffy white pillows.

“It makes me cringe when people start to gush over me and my stupid scar. I’d much rather have been raised by my parents than be famous the world over. It’s a waste of time to be famous. By the time I’ve avoided the crowds when I go somewhere, a normal person could have done two of my errands.” He said. Snape looked down at his own breakfast.

“At least you know how to keep your head about it…” he said. Harry raised an eyebrow.

“How do you mean?” he asked.

“Things could be worse….you could have ended up like that bloody peacock, Lockhart.”

~~

It turned out Ruby knew herself better than she thought. The past three nights were proving to be her undoing. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the shocked look on Hawthorn’es face as she plunged the dagger into his throat. She could almost smell the blood as it poured like water from a garden hose, ending his life quickly.

On the third night her dream was that she was Hawthorne. She watched herself screw up her face in blind rage (She didn’t remember making that face….but she’d been a little preoccupied…what did she know?) and flick the dagger out of her sleeve. She could almost feel the pain from when it was plunged in.

Then the vision shifted. Everything was black, save for one lone figure. Hawthorne himself stood before her, his black Death Eater robes darkened further with his blood. The dagger still protruded from his neck, and fresh blood oozed from the wound. His face was white as paper, and his eyes were dull and unblinking as he stared at her.

“You filthy slut.” He said, his voice hollow and deep.

“You provoked me first!” Ruby thought.

“You are supposed to be a Christian….what happened to ‘Thou shalt not kill?’” he asked, his pale lips drawing up into a sneer.

“An eye for an eye!” Ruby argued.

“Yes….an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. What is my mother going to do now? She is old, and I am her only financial support. They’ll probably shut her up in St Mungos to die. I was her only son, you know…”

“I’m sure she would have been proud to know her son was a rapist and murder!”

“You killed me, you little bitch!” his demeanor changed, and suddenly his lifeless body became animated, and he lunged at her, drawing the dagger out of his own throat to slash at her….

She woke herself up screaming, already sitting up from terror. She took a shuddering, gasping breath, and buried her face in her hands. She heard the thud of running footsteps, and her door was thrown open. Hermione entered first, her wand drawn, followed by Sirius and Lucius.

Hermione was at Ruby’s bedside immediately, pushing strands of her curly hair out of her face. Ruby had been given a hair-restoration potion by Snape shortly after she had been rescued, but it only gave her half of what she had lost. Ron preferred her with curly hair, so she had stopped using her straightening spell. The effect was a cloud of dark, curly hair around her head. She buried her face against Hermione’s shoulder.

“Merlin’s wrinkly ball sac, Ruby. We thought you were being murdered in your sleep!” Sirius said softly. Lucius sneered a bit at Sirius’ word choice. Oh how he wished he were home. Just a few more days and Draco would be right as rain, and they would leave this dusty old shack.

“Every time I close my eyes I see him…” Ruby sobbed, hiccupping miserably at intervals.

“See who?” Hermione asked softly, rubbing circles on Ruby’s back.

“H-Hawhorne…” Ruby sniffled. Lucius frowned sharply.

“Why the bloody hell would you see that fool?” he asked. Ruby pulled away from Hermione for a few moments, and looked at Lucius. Lucius thought she looked terrible. Her dark hair was matted from sweat and tossing, and her eyes had dark circles underneath them. She was paler than usual, and she even seemed a bit thinner. He couldn’t remember seeing her at dinner the past couple nights.

“He…was the first one…to…to, um…” she started, but gave a weak sob. Hermione started to tell her it was all right not to speak, but Ruby waved her silent. “He hurt me first…” Ruby finally managed to say. Lucius’ eyes widened a bit. Hawthorne was violent. He was one of the Death Eaters who enjoyed torture and blood. He loved to hurt those weaker than him, and picking on the female species was a favorite hobby of his. But why would she be dreaming of him now?

“I…he tried to attack me at the battle…but I went prepared in case anyone got…got too close….I stabbed him in the neck….I killed him…” she said, and then began to wail pitifully.

Bloody hell! She was the one who killed Hawthorne? Good for her! He certainly wouldn’t say it out loud right yet, but Ruby had done the world a favor. Hawthorne was a pimple on the ass of the world…

But she was obviously very torn up over this. Obviously her first and only kill….

“Do you want someone to stay with you?” Sirius asked. Ruby shook her head.

“I’ll be fine….I’m sorry I woke you guys up…”

But they all shushed Ruby gently, and assured her it was all right. After much assurance from Ruby that she was indeed all right, Hermione was the last one to leave. Ruby sat in the bed for about a half an hour before she finally gave up on sleep, and decided to go downstairs. She threw her covers back, and headed for the kitchen.
She could hear the tinkle of cutlery on a plate, and knew someone else was in the kitchen. She smiled. Probably Ron…

And she was right. He was sitting at the table in his pajamas eating food that had been leftover from supper. He looked up when Ruby entered the room, and smiled at her.

“Hey there…” he said, food still in his mouth. Ruby laughed softly. If she hadn’t grown up around men with less than exemplary table manners, she might have found that disgusting…

She sobered quickly, though. “I had a nightmare.” She said simply. Ron put down his fork.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. She shook her head.

“Nah. I just don’t wanna be alone right now.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Ron set his plate aside, and stood from the table.

“Would you like to watch some television with me?” he asked. Her smile returned, and she nodded. They went to the den, and Ron sat on the sofa first, and patted the spot next to him. She nestled herself into his side, and felt immediately safer when he wrapped his arm around her.

Almost like a child, she was fighting sleep. Ron could feel her jerk ever so often, pulling herself out of the grasp of sleep. He looked down at her, and watched as her eyes began to close, only to be jerked open again. She was absolutely drained, and she needed to sleep. So he decided to reassure her.

“What did you dream of?” he asked.

“The man I killed. Every time I close my eyes I see his face.” She said.

“Well…close your eyes and picture me. And then, when you wake up, I’ll still be here…”

It worked. She looked up at him for a moment, before burying herself back against his chest. This time when her eyes closed, she didn’t open them again. She was fast asleep. Ron carefully pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa, and wrapped them both in its fluffy confines.

They had started off badly. He had knocked her unconscious for Merlin’s sake! But he had come to love this beautiful creature with all of his heart and all of his soul. When she turned of age, he would ask her to marry him.

And he hoped she said yes.

~~

Hermione climbed back into the bed with Draco, snuggling up against him. He looked over at her sleepily.
“Everything all right?” he asked. Hermione nodded.

“Ruby had a nightmare.” She said. He nodded, and wrapped his good arm around her.

“Hermione…I…I want to ask you something.” Draco said softly. Hermione raised her head, a strange look on her face.

“It’s three in the morning….can’t it wait?” she asked.

“Uh….no. I’m starting to lose my nerve already. When I’m able to go back to Malfoy Manor…I want….I want you and Ruby to come too.” He said quickly. Hermione’s face softened, and she leaned forward to kiss his lips.

“Why do you want us there?” she asked.

“Because I love you, Hermione Granger. And I figured your cousin would be part of the package until she marries off to someone...Anyway...I truly love you, and I’m hoping to convince you to be my wife. I figured a look at my ancestral home couldn’t hurt…” he said. Hermione frowned.

“Surely you know me better than that…” she said. He looked at her blankly. “I would love you even if you had less money than the Weasleys after back-to-school shopping. Your money isn’t why I love you. You are why I love you. To think that I can be bought with baubles and gold is an insult to me.” She said. Draco was speechless, but in a very good way.

He knew that Hermione was not like most women. Most women would jump at the chance to have Draco Malfoy doting on them. He knew she loved him dearly….but he didn’t know that she didn’t like the idea of being bought.

“Does…Does that mean you…you’ll, uh….be my wife? Will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Draco Malfoy?” he asked. She grinned at him.

“Of course, you bloody twit! Personally I thought you’d never ask!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whatcha think?