AN: Just a little idea that's been floating around my head!
Sea of Secrets
It was now 8:45. Harry was now officially late.
"And there goes his 15 minutes grace period." Ginny muttered as she stirred her cocktail with a straw.
"He probably got held up at work." Ava Lockwood, Ginny's co-worker and close friend, suggested hopefully.
"Col's stuck at work but I think he'll be here in ten minutes or so."
"Yeah but Collin let's you know when he's going to be late. Harry..." Ginny let her sentence trail off. There was no point finishing that sentence.
The past few months Harry had been acting very moody; even more so than Ron. This struck Ginny as being odd. After all, Harry wasn't the one who lost his girlfriend to the world's biggest prat.
"I'm worried about our relationship" Ginny confessed. Ava's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"But you guys are perfect together!" she exclaimed, drawing the attention of other patrons at the bar. Ginny hushed her friend. The last thing she needed was a reporter to get hold of this story. She could see the headlines now: Holyhead Harpies Chaser, Ginny Weasley, splits with famous boyfriend Harry Potter!
She shuddered at the thought.
"Ever since Hermione began dating Malfoy, Harry's kept to himself and hasn't really been talking to me."
"She was his best friend. He probably feels that she betrayed and abandoned him." Ava advised wisely.
"But what if he thinks of her as more than just a best friend?" Ginny said sadly. This thought had been plaguing her day in, day out. Ava opened her mouth to respond but immediately shut it. She smiled widely and waved at someone behind Ginny. Harry and Collin, Ava's boyfriend, had arrived.
"Sorry I'm late Gin." Harry apologised quietly. He gave her a peck on the cheek and a weak smile but offered no excuse or reason. Ava wasn't satisfied by this.
"So what kept you? Held up at work like Col here?" she questioned. There was a slight edge to her voice that surprised Harry.
"No, Hermione came by and wanted to chat." He answered coolly. Ginny's heart sank. Of course.
"You and Hermione were always close. You should've invited her along with you!" Ava wore a friendly smile but she seemed to be challenging Harry. Collin kept quiet and averted his eyes down to his menu. Ginny didn't trust herself to speak right now.
"She and Malfoy had plans this evening." Harry said shortly. He picked up his menu and asked Ginny what she was ordering. It put a swift end to the conversation and Ginny was happy to comply. The less she thought about Harry and Hermione, the better she felt.
/\/\/\
Hermione snuggled into Draco's embrace as she waited for the owl to arrive.
"Do you think he'll accept?" she fretted. Draco raised a single eyebrow but said nothing. He knew Potter would accept. It was a simple matter of logic. Potter loved Hermione. Hermione loved her unborn baby. Thus Potter would love the baby. Of course this logic didn't extend to himself but that was probably because he and Potter had a history of negativity between them.
"He's been so angry about the whole elopement and Ron thing that..." she made a hand gesture that meant nothing to Draco.
"Of course I don't blame him. I didn't act like a good friend or girlfriend for that matter but I would like to try and fix things between us. They're my best friends after all!" Her voice was now becoming shrilly and Draco felt as though he had to intercede.
He pulled her closer and kissed her soundly.
When they broke apart Hermione shot him a look filled with curiosity.
"Granger," he began.
"Malfoy. I'm a Malfoy now remember?" Hermione corrected with a small smile. Draco smirked. Yes, that's right.
"Hermione" he tried again, "yes we have made some mistakes but Potter isn't good at holding grudges. Neither is Weasley. They'll forgive you. Now stop stressing, it's not good for the baby."
Hermione was placated by his response and pulled the blanket over their shoulders. He was right. Tonight she had said her piece and there was nothing more she could do.
/\/\/\
Ginny strode into their apartment with Harry lagging behind. He had been quiet and withdrawn the whole evening. She would occasionally catch him with his brow furrowed, seemingly deep in thought, but every time he felt her gaze upon him, he would quickly school his features back into a blank mask. It was troubling to say the least.
She and Harry never had secrets. Now there was a sea of secrets separating the two of them. She hung up her coat and went to change into her sleepwear. The sound of the door clicking shut informed her that Harry had finally entered the apartment. She washed the makeup off and brushed her long red hair away from her face. Ginny frowned at the new freckles that seemed to have popped up. It was a side-effect of playing quidditch she supposed. Maybe Harry didn't find her attractive anymore. She slipped out of the simple black dress she had worn to dinner and inspected her body. It was lean and slight. Nothing she would call unattractive. She stared briefly at her flannelettes before reaching past them for a white, silky negligee. Harry loved this nightie or at least he used to.
She stepped out of the bathroom and went to find her boyfriend.
She heard Harry talking to someone in the living room. She quietly entered the room, trying not to make a sound and was surprised to see Ron's head in the fireplace.
"...spoke to me as well. I think we should forgive her." He said to Harry. Harry paced up and down in front of the fireplace. Something he only did when he was troubled.
"I've been giving it a lot of thought and I think we should too." He finally said. Ron's expression cleared and he smiled. Ginny hadn't seen him smile in a very long time.
"Mate, for awhile there, you seemed angrier than I was."
"I was" Harry said sagely, "but I was angry not because she ran off with Malfoy, but because she felt like she couldn't talk to me about it."
"Malfoy. Bloody Malfoy." Ron said almost incredulously. He shook his head in disbelief, "Well at least she's happy. I had lunch with them the other day. It wasn't too bad, he was alright."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Harry asked, his voice tinged with concern.
"Yeah. Really. Padma is great. She's really good for me. Anyway, she's getting off work soon so I better go."
He bid Harry goodnight and disappeared from the fireplace. With sigh, Harry sat down at the writing desk and grabbed some parchment and a quill.
Ginny's brain was working overtime. She crept back to her study and shut the door. Sitting down in her comfy leather chair, she attempted to piece together everything she had heard.
1. Harry didn't love Hermione. Or at least she didn't think he did. Maybe she should check this.
2. Ron and Harry were on speaking terms with Hermione again.
3. Hermione had asked Ron and Harry to do something and they had both agreed.
4. Ron was dating Padma Patil.
She drew her knees up to her chin and groaned. Everything was still so unclear. The only thing that wasn't vague was Ron dating Padma and even that was unexpected. Her brother was dating Padma Patil... quiet, serious Padma. She would question him about it later, at least she could do that. It didn't seem as though Harry was going to give her any answers. Ron had remained mute on the subject of Hermione, so he wasn't going to either. There was only one person left and Ginny had been avoiding her since she had left her brother.
/\/\/\
Ginny nervously straightened her robes before knocking on the door before her.
It had taken her a surprising amount of time and effort to get her hands on Hermione's address. First she had spoken to Ava. Ava's brother was an accountant for a high fashion boutique for witches in Paris. Ginny and Ava figured that the Malfoys probably shopped there. Oliver Lockwood then snooped around and discovered that a "Mr Malfoy" had purchased a custom made wedding dress in the past year. It had taken Ginny precisely two gin and tonics to reconcile her to the fact that Hermione hadsecretly married Malfoy. Oliver, then invited the shop keeper, a surprisingly young witch named Julianna, who had been pining after Oliver for over a year, to dinner with Ginny and Ava. After a bottle of wine, several glasses of firewhisky and a long weepy story about the crumbling friendship between Ginny and Hermione, Julianna had relented and owled Ginny the address of Hermione's new residence with Malfoy.
Before Ginny even raised her knuckles the door opened and Malfoy appeared. Ginny hadn't seen him in nearly a year and was a little taken aback by how handsome he was. With his neatly combed pale blonde hair, black suit and angular face he looked like a muggle model. He surveyed Ginny with disinterested grey eyes.
"Ginevra Weasley, what a pleasant surprised." He said in a bored voice.
"Malfoy." Ginny returned coolly. "Is Hermione here?"
Malfoy nodded once and stepped to one side.
"Please follow me."
As Malfoy led Ginny through his house, her only thought was 'wow'. It was an amazingly beautiful house and it was huge. The house in general, was white with matching white furniture but tasteful splashes of colour were added here and there. It had a distinctly feminine flavour to it. A distinctly Hermione flavour. Draco eventually led her to an open and airy sunroom where Hermione sat reading. Hermione looked up and smiled warily at Ginny.
"How did you know that I was –" Ginny began to ask but was cut off by Malfoy.
"We have wards." He answered in a clipped tone. Malfoy and Hermione shared a long look which Ginny didn't understand.
"Draco..." Hermione warned carefully. Malfoy eventually shrugged and seated himself at a small desk in the corner of the room. Hermione stared at him fondly for a minute. Ginny found the whole scene to be bizarre. Hermione and Draco Malfoy, her childhood bully, sharing tender moments? Blech.
"So you guys are married now!" Ginny began in what she hoped was her normal voice
Hermione nodded and sighed. She looked at Draco again but he kept his back to them. Ginny understood now, he was her support.
"Ginny, you know Ron and I weren't working." Hermione began slowly.
"You could've worked it out!" Ginny snapped. Damnation. She was letting her anger get the best of her again. Hermione raised her chin defiantly.
"We tried that already and it didn't work. I broke up with Ron because I didn't want to lead him on. Draco... we hadn't even..." Hermione struggled to find the words to describe what she and Draco had been at that point of their relationship.
"We were acquaintances." Draco supplied from his desk. Ginny snorted. Of course he'd been listening in.
"Essentially." Hermione agreed, "We started dating a month or two after Ron and I broke up. Draco had nothing to do with the end of that relationship and it's about time you accepted it." Hermione said firmly. Ginny bit back her retort and made a snap decision.
"I believe you." She said softly. At these words, the tension left Hermione's shoulders.
"I'm sorry things got so bad between us. I'm sorry I didn't invite you to the wedding but if it's any consolation, I didn't invite anyone else either."
Hermione joked. Ginny allowed herself to grin at her friend's joke. It felt good talking to Hermione again.
"So please tell me Harry's not in love with you and that's why he's so mopey?" Ginny said lightly, trying to make a joke of it. Hermione gaped at her in incredulity and, to Ginny's surprise, Malfoy burst into laughter.
Ginny was sure she had never heard him laugh without any malice behind it. It was a deep chuckling that seemed to reverberate.
"N-no!" Hermione spluttered, "He's angry because I eloped without telling him!"
Ginny stared. Draco walked over to where they were sitting and stood behind Hermione, leaning against the back of the sofa.
"When we first started seeing each other, Potter was furious and promised Granger here that I would dump her as soon as I got what I wanted. That didn't sit well with either of us. Did Potter really think she hadn't thought about all the possible endings to our relationship?" Draco laughed again, "this is Hermione Granger we're talking about. Infuriating but not an idiot."
Hermione glared at this but Draco ignored her and continued with his story.
"So we thought it would be best that we just elope and not tell anyone. Potter was angry that Granger didn't have enough confidence in their friendship and also, I suspect, jealous that she no longer ran to him with every problem."
The more Ginny thought about it, the more it made sense. Harry's moodiness had only appeared in the past couple of months. It seemed as though Hermione and Malfoy had only been married for around the same amount of time. Well, who would've thought? Harry was jealous of Hermione's confidence in Malfoy. Ginny felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
/\/\/\
By the time she had zoned back in, Draco had drifted back to his table and Hermione was asking her if she wanted tea.
"Yes, thank you" Ginny said automatically. Hermione indicated towards the kitchen and seated Ginny at a small breakfast table. Ginny watched as Hermione boiled water with her wand and sifted through cupboards. Before she knew it a steaming cup of tea, made exactly the way she liked it, was sitting in front of her. Hermione sat down in front of her and sipped her own cup of tea.
"So when did you start talking to Harry and Ron again?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.
"Around a month ago. Ginny I—"
Ginny waved aside the oncoming apology.
"I didn't make it easy on you. I didn't answer your letters when you first broke up with Ron. I guess I took your rejection of Ron as a rejection of being my sister." Ginny confessed.
"We'll always be sisters Gin, whether it's by marriage or not." Hermione said firmly.
The rest of the visit passed by quickly with Hermione regaling Ginny with stories about her life in the past year. Occasionally Malfoy would check in on them, sometimes staying to listen in on their conversation. He treated her civilly and once almost smirked at a comment she made about Lavender Brown.
"Why is he wearing a suit? It's a Saturday." Ginny asked as he disappeared again.
"He was supposed to have some meetings in muggle London with clients who came from Saudia Arabia. He was about to leave when the wards informed us of your presence so he decided to stay home."
"He stayed... for you...even though it sounds super important...?"
Hermione laughed merrily at Ginny's confusion. "He's not as dastardly as you think. Draco genuinely cares for me."
Ginny also started laughing, "it's just weird y'know?"
Hermione nodded. She understood exactly how Ginny felt.
Hermione walked Ginny to the door and bid her goodbye. They made plans to catch-up next week after Hermione finished work. As Ginny stepped out, Hermione called out to her.
"By the way I'm having a baby!"
Ginny whipped around, her jaw dropping open.
"What!" she shrieked, "YOU KEPT THAT QUIET!"
"I'm naming Ron and Harry as godfathers. Draco and I didn't have any female friends that we would trust with our child... so we just went with two godfathers. If I knew you still wanted me in your life I would've asked you, believe me Gin." Hermione apologised earnestly.
And then it all clicked. This is what Harry and Ron had been talking about.
"They'll make excellent godfathers. Don't worry about me." she assured Hermione. With a small wave she turned on her heel and apparated home.
/\/\/\
"So I spoke to Hermione today" Ginny dropped casually as she ate dinner. Harry looked up at her quickly in surprise.
"You did?"
Ginny nodded and slowly twirled spaghetti around her fork.
"She mentioned that you are going to be the godfather to her child..."
Harry choked on his spaghetti. Ginny passed him her untouched glass of water and patiently waited for him to recover. He looked up at her, red faced and spluttering.
"G-gin, I'm sorry I didn't tell you" he wheezed out. Ginny considered her options. Did she really care anymore? No. Would getting angry achieve anything? No.
"It's fine Harry but you could've told me how you've been feeling all these months. You can trust me and I thought by now you would've known that."
"I was just afraid you'd take it the wrong way." Harry confessed, "It bothered me that she kept all that stuff with Malfoy quiet and I was worried that you'd think I was secretly in love with her."
Ginny stared at him before laughing uncontrollably. It was dreadfully ironic.
"I thought all your moodiness was because you loved her."
Harry gaped at her and shook his head vehemently.
"Aw Ginny, you know I love you. I'm really sorry I haven't been entirely open with you but I'm going to try harder. You're right, I can trust you." Harry promised earnestly.
A small smile graced Ginny's face at his words and she felt herself at ease again.
/\/\/\
Harry lay in bed, contemplating the past month while he waited patiently for her to come back to bed. After agreeing to be godfather, he felt optimistic as to the future of his friendship. After the conversation with Ginny, he felt optimistic about his relationship. At this very moment his life was great. The bedroom door opened and Ginny slipped into the room. Harry bit his lip. All she wore was that silk negligee that showed off so much of her creamy white skin. She sauntered over to the bed and leaned over him, her long red hair creating falling around him.
"I've missed you" she whispered in his hair.
Harry grinned wolfishly before pulling her on top of him.
He had been wrong. Now life was great.
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