"Dra..."

"She's waking up!"

"Sssh- she's trying to say something."

"Dra..."

"Dray? What's Dray?"

"Maybe she means Dr Dre? I'm pretty sure she was humming his music the other day."

"I didn't know she liked American rap?"

"It's good, Hermione, maybe you need to broaden your horiz- OI! Malfoy! What the fuck are you doing in here? Get out!"

I blearily tried to open my eyes wondering what on earth Harry was shouting about this time.

A door loudly slammed shut somewhere, and I looked around to see Harry and Hermione keeping a vigil at my bedside in what appeared to be the Hospital Wing.

Not this bloody place again.

"What's happened?" I asked, desperately searching my brain, but coming up with nothing. "Why am I here?"

"You nearly died, I saved your life." Harry shrugged, as though he had just being doing his day job.

"Don't you remember, Ronnie?" Hermione said, her eyes wide with worry, "you ate my chocolates which were laced with a love potion-"

"OH FUCK NO!" I cried, horror making me bulk as I suddenly remembered. "I KISSED CRABBE! I TOLD HIM I LOVED HIM!"

And Draco saw it all.

"Yeah, that was pretty disgusting," Harry muttered unhelpfully. "Especially when you licked his face."

"Do you remember drinking the poison?" Hermione said tentatively, reaching out a hand to place gently on my arm.

"Poison? You mean I'm not in here after being knocked out from the complete grossness of kissing that fucking ugly meathead?"

"Slughorn gave you a glass of mead to help pick you up after coming down from the love potion." Harry explained, casually cleaning his glasses on his robes. "It turned out to be laced with poison. If I hadn't shoved a bezoar in your gob we would be sat visiting you in the morgue right now."

"What the fuck is wrong with this place?!" I bellowed. "You can't eat or drink anything without it turning into date rape or fucking murder! Some fucking birthday I'm having!"

"Oh yeah, happy birthday." Harry muttered.

"And where the fuck is my present?" I roared, noticing his empty hands.

"I SAVED YOUR LIFE!" He bellowed furiously.

"GO BUY YOURSELF A FUCKING MEDAL THEN!"

"Guys, please don't start!" Hermione wailed, looking pained.

"Maybe you should leave, I'm not in the mood for visitors anymore," I sulked, turning my head the other way. No way was I going to let Harry off for forgetting my birthday.

Hopefully he will feel guilted into buying me something expensive. It's not like he can't afford it, after all.

"Come on, Hermione. Let her sulk. I've had too much of a traumatic day to deal with her mood." Harry said haughtily, as if he was the one who had been drugged and nearly killed on his birthday.

As they reached the door I heard Hermione mutter something to Harry about getting me the latest Dr Dre album to cheer me up.

Why the fuck would I want to listen to that shit?

No sooner had the door shut behind them, when it reopened, and a new visitor stepped in.

It was Draco.

My heart thudded furiously in my chest as he strode across the room to my bedside, his face pale as a ghost's.

"Weasley," he murmured hoarsely, pausing at the end of my bed, as though daring not to come any closer. "Oh, thank fuck."

"Malfoy, if I didn't know any better, I'd actually think you were concerned about my welfare." I sniped, still feeling grouchy about how crap this day was turning out. The last thing I needed was Draco sending me confusing messages.

"Jesus fucking christ, Weasley," he said, his voice strangled as he drove his hands through his hair. "Of course I'm concerned; I thought you'd died! You should have died - how the hell did you survive?"

"Harry," I shrugged, looking at him curiously, wondering why he would say such an odd thing.

He looked as though he was going to burst into tears. Which was strange, because yes, I nearly died, but I didn't.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry," he choked, his voice breaking as he buried his face in his hands.

"As touched as I am by your emotional display right now, Malfoy; you haven't actually got anything to be sorry about. It wasn't like you poisoned me."

He didn't say anything, but instead peered at me through the gaps between his fingers.

Slowly, he let his hands drop and his shoulders sagged, giving him an even more wearied look.

"You're right. I was just worried that's all." He muttered, suddenly looking around awkwardly.

"Look, either sit down or get out." I said beckoning towards the chair next to me as I propped myself up to a better sitting position against my pillows. "You're making me fucking twitchy the way you are just stood there."

To my surprise he chose to stay, and I caught the familiar scent of his cologne as he sat down. He was ever so close, and I got the sudden sensation that butterflies had taken flight in my stomach.

"So, Crabbe, eh?" Draco said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

"Don't. I'm absolutely fucking mortified. I can't believe love potions aren't illegal. And what was he doing sending them to Hermione? I didn't think your sort liked Muggle-borns."

"Crabbe evidently thinks only with his dick." Draco muttered.

"And you don't?" I answered back, raising my eyebrows up at him.

A beat.

"Clearly not." There was a moment of awkwardness as he fidgeted in his seat and gave a small cough. "You know you kicked me in the balls when I tried to pull you off him?"

"Soz," I said shrugging. Though technically, I thought, it was Crabbe who should be apologising.

"It's okay, I didn't want any children anyway."

"Why not?" I asked, not being able to disguise my surprise. "I thought everyone wanted kids? Hell, even I want them one day and I'm as unlovable as they come."

"Don't say that." He said sharply, giving me a piercing look.

"Say what?"

"That you're unlovable. It's not true." A defiant pink tinge rose to his cheeks, but he didn't look away.

"Oh." The atmosphere suddenly changed, and I didn't know what to say. I never knew how to act when Draco complimented me.

"I do care about you, no matter what you think, Weasley." He said solemnly, his grey eyes continuing to pierce into mine.

"It doesn't change anything though, does it?" I heaved, balling my hands into fists, getting ready for the hurt.

Without warning, he reached out and grabbed my hand nearest to him, gently coaxing my fingers to entwine with his.

"Weasley, just for now, can't we live in the moment?" He sighed frustratedly. "I thought you'd died earlier today, and I didn't like it."

"Well, that's something, I suppose," I muttered moodily, thinking how fucking depressing it was that my heart actually lifted at these little crumbs he was throwing me. Pathetic.

He stole a quick glance around the room and, seemingly satisfied we were alone, leant forward and brushed his lips against mine.

I froze, one part of me wanting to push him violently away and the other part wanting to get down and dirty right there in the middle of the hospital wing. I decided to go down the middle instead.

"You know these very lips were all over Crabbe's face earlier?" I smirked.

"For fuck's sake, Weasley," Draco seethed, sitting back in his chair and letting go of my hand, "why'd you have to go and ruin it?"

"Well, the whole day has been a disaster, I might as well end it the same way." I said stroppily, folding my arms across my chest. "Some fucking birthday this has been."

He looked up at me in surprise. "It's your birthday?!"

"Yep, and I didn't even get any cake." I muttered bitterly. "Where are you going?"

For Draco had leapt to his feet heading straight for the door.

"I won't be long. Don't go anywhere."

Where the fuck did he think I was going to go?

He'd better be getting me cake.

*****

He hadn't just got me cake, but a present too.

I eyed the wrapped package he had thrown onto my lap with suspicion.

"It's perfectly safe, Weasley." Draco chuckled as he retook the chair next to my bed. "Go on, open it."

Ripping the green wrapping and tossing it aside, I was impressed to see it was an extremely decent pair of maroon Quidditch gloves. Much better than the crap Hermione had bought me.

"Real dragon skin." Draco said with an air of pretentiousness, "It's not much, but given the extremely short notice, I thought I'd gift you my spare pair."

"You own a pair of maroon coloured Quidditch gloves?" I asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

"They were green, obviously, Weasley. But a simple charm soon fixed that. Or rather, I should say, ruined them."

"Well, thank you. You needn't have done. I wasn't hinting earlier. Well, maybe for cake. Cut me a slice won't you?"

Draco smirked as he served me a huge slab of the chocolate cake he told me he had pinched from the kitchen.

He had even put a candle on it and made me blow it out, ordering me to make a wish.

"What did you wish for?" He asked as I scooted to the edge of the bed so he could join me as we ate our cake side by side.

"I'm not telling," I said, hoping the sudden heat in my face wasn't showing.

He gave a soft chuckle but said nothing about it. "You know, you were calling out for me when you woke up."

"AS IF!" I said, mortified, wondering how this day could get any more humiliating. "And anyway, how would you know?"

"Because I've been waiting around all day making sure you were alright."

"You... have? Why?"

"You know why, Weasley."

"But I thought you didn't want to know me, because of Harry?"

He sighed heavily, prodding his fork into his cake. "Yeah, well. I'd rather wish things were different, but thinking you were dead earlier has made me... I don't know, fucking soft, I guess."

"That'll be the hospital gown making you soft." I grimaced, looking down at it in disgust.

"You look gorgeous in it. You'd look gorgeous in anything, though. More cake?"

I eagerly nodded as he served me up another slice. Fuck, being poisoned had made me ravenous.

"You know, I think this is the first time we've hung out without it being about sex." I said, greedily licking chocolate icing off of my fingers.

"It's not too late if you're up for it, Weasley." Draco chuckled in my ear. "Could make it a birthday you won't forget."

"Somehow, I don't think there's any danger of that." I said, gesturing to the room at large. "I think anymore excitement today might actually kill me."

"Come here," he said, draping an arm over my shoulders and pulling me into his side.

I found myself snuggling down into him, nuzzling my cheek against his chest as he kissed the top of my head.

"Happy birthday, Weasley," he murmured. "I'm sorry it's been a disappointment."

Actually, I thought as I lay contentedly in Draco's arms, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat, it turned out not to be so bad, after all.

The best, in fact.