A Circle Has No Beginning

by Siriusly Lovely

A response to HermioneWeasleyFan's 'yet another prompt challenge'. It kind of turned out being more of a story than seperate one shots which it was supposed to be but i felt the muse and couldn't help it haha. So much can happen in a day.

Are You Listening?

"Hermione, Hermione are you listening to me?"

Ron Weasley was trying desperately to get the attention of his best friend. Currently he was being responded to by the twitching of a quill against some parchment on the far side of the study in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place where he'd found her. Hermione's back was facing him and she was pretending not to hear what he was saying. Women could be very frustrating sometimes and he was not a fan of this standoffish behavior currently. At times he had though it cute, endearing even, one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her.

"Hermione, put down that bloody quill and pay attention to what I'm trying to tell you!"

There was no change. The twitching noise continued and he wondered what she could possibly be so concentrated on that she wouldn't even listen to him. Or maybe she was listening. Or maybe she didn't want to listen. Maybe she didn't care at all. After all, things between them had been distant lately. Ron hadn't thought much of it until just this moment but maybe the reason she hadn't been eating meals with him lately or the reason she wasn't emerging from her room for hours at a time when he and Harry were spending time down in the library playing wizards chess was because she didn't want anything to do with him.

Lately his feelings had been getting a lot stronger for her. After all, things with the war were getting dangerously serious and he was scared that one day they would leave the house and one of them wouldn't come back. There was no time for him to wait for the 'right moment' any more, he needed her to know how he felt about her now, and that was next to impossible since she wouldn't put down that damn quill and listen to him tell her.

"Hermione, are you listening to me? I just told you I loved you for Merlin's sake, can't I get some kind of reaction?!" He was getting worn down, exasperated. But there was a pause after he finished speaking. Perhaps it was her thinking a bout what to write next or simply dipping her quill back in the ink bucket but it was all Ron needed. To him, it was the reaction he had been looking for. Thanks to his long legs he was able to cross the room in just a few steps.

He stood behind her for a moment trying to look over her shoulder at the parchment she was writing so feverishly on. Nothing in her body language, no change in her activity showed that she was aware of his change in position. The floor was carpeted so his footsteps had been muffled. When he spoke again he watched the muscles seize up all over her body, and the way she turned her head ever so slightly caused a strand of brown hair to fall onto her shoulder from the bun she had secured it in atop her head.

"Hermione, please…" Ron very gently placed his hands on her soft shoulders. The top she was wearing wasn't revealing but the vigorous movement of her arm while she was writing had caused the right sleeve of it to fall down off of her shoulder. When his skin connected with hers he felt a spark and she must have felt it too because she immediately reacted. However, her reaction was less than desirable in the eyes of the red head.

Hermione flew up from her chair, knocking Ron's hands off of her shoulders. Spinning around the anger and malice in her eyes made him wish she hadn't. The swift movement caused another chunk of her hair to fall loosely to her shoulders. Her hands were raised in a frustrated gesture and she looked as though she might attack him.

"Don't touch me Ron Weasley. When did anyone ever give you permission to touch me?!" She was out from behind her chair now, moving to the other side of the room so that a sofa was in between them. Whether that was because she didn't want him to be able to reach her or the other way around he wasn't sure. But one thing was for certain, he had struck a nerve and he had no idea how. Ron's eyes were sad and pleading as he moved to stand opposite her across the couch, not daring to approach her when she so clearly didn't want him to.

"Don't touch you? Hermione, did you hear what I said? I love you!" Ron reached out for her but she swatted his hands away and started pacing.

"Don't say that, don't you dare say that. How can you say something like that?"

Ron was angry now. His face was turning red as the hair on top of his head and his limbs were rigid at his side. It wouldn't have been out of character at this moment for him to stomp his foot like a child.

"Because it's true! Bloody hell Hermione, I love you! I've always loved you! And it was never the right time to tell you but…" He flung his hand towards the door, practically yelling at her now. "In case you haven't noticed there's a iwar/i going on out there and I just wanted you to know how I felt about you before something…in case something happened to one of us."

Hermione didn't say anything. For a moment it looked as though she were going to cry and she stopped pacing, looking at him in a defeated sort of way. But the anger of her initial reaction was still boiling the blood in his veins and he wasn't about to forgive her for it.

"But it's clear you don't feel the same. So I take it back. Sorry I bothered you." And with that he turned and stomped out of the room, leaving no doubt he was not coming back by the intensity with which he slammed the door behind him. As soon as there was silence again Hermione Granger burst into tears and moved around the couch to sit on it, curled up in a ball with her arms around her knees.

Testing the Limits

Hermione Granger sat crying on couch. Moments before Ron had run out on her. After he said that he iloved/i her. How could he say something like that? How could it possibly be true? They were far too young to be in love, and he was far younger than she was going by how mature they both were. On a scale of one to ten Ronald was probably around a three or a four on the maturity scale. How could he say something like that? It was totally inexcusable. She tried to convince herself of this but none of the thoughts were helping. She just sat there curled on the couch holding her knees to her chest and letting the tears pour down. Every now and then she would whimper a bit or whisper to herself in a voiced thought.

It wasn't that she didn't love Ron. She loved him more than anything in the world. They were so young though and times were so dangerous. At any moment one of them could be killed. He had mentioned that, of course, he had mentioned that he wanted her to know how he felt before it was too late for one of them. But all the same, they were so young! How could they believe this was the real deal, this was really young, when they had hardly lived at all? And how could she just have sat that and let him yell at her back over and over that he loved her? How could she have been so cold? Pulling her knees even further into her chest she sniffled a little bit. Her jeans were darkened at the knees from where her tears had fallen.

Suddenly she heard the door open. Light spilled in from the hall way. She hadn't realized there hadn't been any lights on inside, or how late it had gotten while she sat there crying, until the light hurt her eyes. Looking at the door hopefully she was able to vocalize a weak hope.

"Ron?" But as soon as she said it she knew it wasn't true. The figure in the doorway was much too large to be Ronald, and also too short. Not to mention the fact that instead of red hair the man standing there had long locks of brown. Sighing, her interest in her new companion was extinguished immediately and she buried her face back into her knees not caring that they saw her like this.

"Hermione? Are you alright?" She heard footsteps cross to the sofa and then the weight of someone sitting next to her. Finally peering up she saw Sirius' concerned face looking back at her. Even within the weathered, almost scary, features of his countenance Hermione could see how much of a ladies man he must have been when he was younger and untainted. But then again Sirius Black had probably always been tainted in one form or another growing up in such a slimy family. Sighing, she sat up a bit and wiped the tears from her face.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a fight with Ron is all. You know us." She forced a small smile. Of course Sirius probably knew how Ron felt about her, anyone could tell unless they were blind. But she didn't really want to discuss it with Sirius. "Thanks for asking though." She let her legs down off the sofa now and smoothed out the wrinkles that had formed in her pants. Sighing again and looked back at Sirius and smiled almost genuinely this time. He was a very handsome man even if he was a little mussed but from being in Azkaban all those years. For a moment she got lost in his face, inspecting all of the curves and ridges and scars. She was calming down a lot with him to look at, with him to think about.

Then something occurred to her, as he sat there silently watching her look at him. Turning her body towards him she looked at his lips. They looked rough, but at the same time soft, like they could tenderize someone's rigid ones. She tried to imagine them swollen, recently used to ravage someone, pressed up against the rosy pink ones of a woman. And she thought about how easy it was to forget her problems with Ronald when she looked at him and imagined these things. Her heart beat peaked a bit and she looked up at his eyes, which were watching her in a very confusing sort of way that she was unable to read.

"Sirius…" her voice was unsure but at the same time held some level of silkiness and intent "I'd like to try something…will you let me?" She leaned towards him slightly and watched as he parted his lips slightly. But no voice came out, he just nodded very slowly. And Hermione didn't waste any time. Immediately, as soon as she saw him agree she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes.

For a moment they just stayed like that, rough lips closed and pressed upon by her soft ones. It was just as Hermione thought it would be, rough, textured, worn, nothing she'd known before. So slowly, very slowly she started moving in her kiss, leaning more into it, moving her lips ever so slightly, testing the limits of her experiment. At first she thought she had overstepped some invisible line, but then he reacted. A thrill flew through her body as Sirius' lips parted and he deepened their kiss. She opened her eyes a bit to look at him and saw that his were closed. Smiling slightly as she kissed him she let hers shut again.

Sirius' hand grabbed her arm roughly and she felt electricity shoot through her at the prospect of him handling her like this, thinking of the extreme places this could go. No thought of Ron was present at all. But she wanted to focus on Sirius now. Before just now she had never though something like this would be possible and she was just taking this one moment at a time and so she thought of something new and flicked her tongue into his mouth. How excited she was when his tongue met hers. He tasted of coffee and alcohol and she wanted more of it. Leaning towards him she reached out a hand to steady herself and it found his thigh.

That was the wrong move to make. Instantly upon her touching his thigh, the spell seemed to be broken. Sirius pushed her away from him roughly and stood up from the sofa. Looking at her incredulously as though he couldn't believe what he had just done, he took a few steps backwards starting to shake his head. She reached out a hand to him, seeking to reassure him but all at once he turned and fled the room. Again the door slammed behind the person who had just exited, leaving Hermione again in the dark by herself.

Memories

Sirius' blood was pumping. He was walking through the halls of his family's house at a pace that was close to running but he dared not do that. At several points during his travels he thought he heard someone calling his name from the kitchen and then the library but he didn't dare stop. He was in no state to be talking to anyone at the moment. No one except one person. Sirius didn't stop until he had ascended the stairs and reached the room he was headed for. Opening the door and letting himself in he closed it quickly behind him, starting to pace immediately, not acknowledging the man in the room who was reclined on a bed in the corner looking at him half shocked and half curious.

Glancing up he saw that Remus had been reading a book. He felt a little bit guilty having interrupted him but that couldn't be helped now. The damage had already been done. But why had he come here? Because Remus was his best friend, the only one of the three he had once had that Sirius had left. He needed someone who would not judge him, who he could tell his mistake to without being criticized and rebuked. But how was he going to tell him? How could he tell Remus what he had done? But he didn't need to think of a way apparently for in that moment he heard his friend speak.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" Turning, Sirius saw that Remus had sat up and put down his book and was now watching him pace. Sighing, he stopped and walked over to sit next to Remus on his bed. Fidgeting with his hands he didn't dare look at the man next to him.

"I did something Remus. Something bad." He sighed again, closing his eyes and remembering the feel of what he had done. Immediately opening his eyes he pushed the thoughts away. There would be time to be haunted by that later. Turning to look at Remus finally he saw the man looked very concerned.

"What did you do Sirius? How bad is it?" Sirius looked down again, not answering right away. "You can tell me. You can tell me anything." In a comforting gesture he put his hand on Sirius' back, something Sirius was very grateful for because it helped him calm down. Sighing for a third time he looked up at Remus. It was better just to say it. It was now or never.

"I kissed Hermione." He watched as Remus eyes got wide with shock and waited for him to yell at him, to berate him, to tell him he was sick and perverted. And then Remus did something unexpected. Withdrawing his hand he smiled and started laughing. But the laughter faded after a few moments and he looked solemn again.

"What happened?" It was a simple question but even Sirius didn't know the answer to it and so he leaned forward on his knees, lips parted as though he were about to speak, and tried to think.

It wasn't that he had wanted to kiss her. But she had been there, so vulnerable, so sad, and wearing that bloody sweater that was clinging to her in all the places he would have loved to touch…on anyone else. There was no feeling on his end for Hermione but she had been looking at him so…pleading with him…the way she had asked him if she could had just been so…Sighing yet again Sirius closed his eyes for a moment before sitting back up and raising his hands up in defeat.

"I don't know. We were sitting in the study. She'd had a row with Ron and I went in because I heard her crying and all of a sudden she asked me if she could…and I let her…" He paused, not wanting to remember it. "I think I forgot it was her for a moment. I forgot what I was doing. Forgot…I don't know…there's no justification…and then she touched my leg and it was like whatever had been making me do it snapped and I was back to reality. And I left." He looked at Remus, pleading with his eyes for his best friend not to judge him. "I didn't want to Remus, I just… I don't know what came over me."

Remus replaced his hand on his back in that comforting way Sirius enjoyed. "It's alright Sirius. I know." There was always something nice about the way Remus made him feel better. He had mentioned it once or twice to James and Peter while at school but they had never had the same sort of experience. It seemed that he and Remus had a connection that he couldn't quite explain to himself. It had been different after he returned from Azkaban.

Closing his eyes and leaning into the arm Remus had around him he didn't think of how odd this might look to someone who came in the room. Instead he pictured in his mind the night they had seen each other again for the fist tie, the look on Remus face when he had hugged Sirius. It was as though he was seeing someone he'd thought to be dead, as though James was back. But there had been something else there. Some sort of excitement Sirius couldn't figure out. The hug had been the best thing Sirius had felt in years, the way Remus had grasped him to him, held him hard for a moment as though not lose him again. As though he had been waiting to hug him since he realized it was okay to.

Sirius opened his eyes suddenly, sitting up. Remus had the strangest expression on his face and his hand lingered on Sirius back. "Remus?" A puzzled look had taken over Sirius' features. He had a new question and for a moment it made him forget what it was he had been upset about previously. Peering at his friend from squinting eyes he tried to read the answer on his face. "Are you in love with me?"

It was a silly idea he was sure, and he was probably reading into things all the wrong way. He could see he'd caught Remus off guard either way because the hand at his back fell away and Remus stood up. This time he was the one to start pacing. A few minutes passed and Sirius could see him working something out in his head. Suddenly he stopped and faced the bed again. One word was spoken, a single word Sirius would remember for the rest of his life. "Yes." There was another pause, as though he didn't know what to say next. "Is that alright?"

Sirius got up from the bed, all thoughts of Hermione gone. They were in a room by themselves. It wasn't connected to a house. No one could bother them. No one mattered. All that mattered was that Remus had just confessed to being in love with him and Sirius had realized he felt the same. Crossing to where Remus stood Sirius made sure he was looking him directly in the eye before he replied. "Yes". And he kissed him. This was much different than the kiss he had experienced not fifteen minutes previously. That had been unwanted, undeserved, the worst thing possible. This kiss was responsible for letting out years of pent up emotion he hadn't been able to put a label on till now.

This explained so much .Why they were always closer than the other two, why Remus always let him copy off him but no one else, why Remus was always adamant in sitting next to him in classes, why he had been so eager to welcome him back after Azkaban. It all made sense now. It was as though a light had been turned on in his head.

And then the door opened and in walked Nymphadora Tonks.

Sick

Remus leapt back from Sirius as he heard the door open. They'd had been kissing. It had been the best kiss Remus had ever had because it was with the person he had loved the longest. Remus had been in love with Sirius since half way through their time at Hogwarts and no one had ever known. Of course when he stopped dating girls and just kept to himself there were rumors and he was sure that Sirius had known he fancied men but no one ever knew which man he fancied. Well now that man knew and that was all that mattered.

The problem wasn't that Sirius knew. The current problem was that now Nymphadora Tonks had rudely walked in without knocking and so she knew too. The worse news was that Nymphadora had been not so subtly trying to convince Remus to enter into a relationship with her for a few months now. He'd been kindly shaking her off and not exactly rejecting her but recently he thought she had been getting the wrong impression and that he wasn't being forceful enough .Well, this would probably clear some things up for her.

The two men stood in the middle of the floor, quite stationary, just looking at Nymphadora. A look of shock and disgust was plastered on her face and Remus almost wanted to slap it off. How dare she look disgusted at the most beautiful moment of his entire life. Suddenly she spoke.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Was all she said, as she glared at Sirius as though he had just eaten the last piece of cake on her birthday. Sirius, immature and uncouth as always, laughed, which cause Remus to crack a smile and look at him.

He felt Sirius fingers slip into his hand for a moment and the man leaned in to whisper in Remus ear. "I should go." And that was that. No promise to see him later, because they both knew he would, no frilly details, just that pure statement. And that was enough. He watched as Sirius walked towards the door, nodding to Tonks and slipping out around her. The small smile was still on Remus face and without looking at Tonks he turned and returned to his book. Yes I was a very rude thing to do but her comment about getting sick had been very rude and so he had no interest in what she had to say.

"I came here to tell you I love you…and I find you kissing my cousin…who is a boy…what am I supposed to make of that Remus?" Her voice was unusual, small, and unsure. It startled Remus a little bit, but he was still mad. She would not get his pity after breaking up that perfect moment between him and the man he loved. But all the same he could tell she wasn't going t go away. Sitting up on the bed and laying the book down on his lap he looked at her, with no kind trace in his expression.

"What you should make of it, Nymphadora," He held up a hand as she went to reprimand him for calling her by her given name, "no, it's my turn to talk. What you should make of it is that even if I weren't too old for you, or too dangerous, or just plain irritated by your presence...I still wouldn't be interested in the kind of relationship you seem to want from me." Picking up his book again he was quite pleased when he heard her let out a screech of frustration and turn, slamming the door being her as she left.

Smiling to himself he was quite pleased with how well that had gone. He'd thought it would have taken much longer for him to get rid of her. And while now he couldn't focus on his book as he was still very much invested in thinking about kissing Sirius. That thought however was interrupted as he heard the door open again. Looking up his smile widened when he saw who it was. Sirius had apparently been just as keen on Tonks leaving as he had been. Remus set down his book again and went to greet him At the door.

Rain

How could he? How could he embarrass her like that? It was true no one else had been in the room when he did it but all the same! The color of Tonks' hair was she left Remus room (bright yellow, not blonde, but school bus yellow of all colors!) showed everyone that something had indeed happen. She didn't bother going to her room, she didn't want to be anywhere near Remus and his filthy boyfriend currently. She wondered how long this had been going on as she stomped down the stairs of the Grimmaul Place, not even caring that Sirius' mother's picture started screeching. What would she think if she knew her only living son was swapping spit with a werewolf in her house? She would be none too please, Tonks was sure of that.

Reaching the landing she stopped momentarily to snatch her coat up from the coat rack, not bothering to put it on before ripping open the door and running out into the street. It probably was a bad idea that she didn't put her coat on considering it was pouring outside. Honestly, how had this storm just started in the last five minutes and already it was as though there was a flood outside? Water immediately seeped into her trainers as she stepped off the last step and ran across the street. Stopping when she hit the side walk she buried her face in her hands and sobbed for a moment before being rudely interrupted.

"Tonks?" Harry's voice startled her. The storm must have prevented her from hearing him approach. Looking up, she was glad that the rain hid her tears and that the sound of thunder blocked out her cries. She didn't much want Harry to hear her crying and she certainly didn't want to explain to him what had happened to her. Taking a breath she made herself smile and shrugged.

"Wotcher, Harry? You out for a stroll in the rain as well?"

Harry frowned at her and took a step closer to her. "I saw you run out of the house and I was worried. What's wrong? And don't say nothing because I know you're lying."

She sighed. That stupid boy and his stupid caring about people. Why couldn't he just leave her alone and let her wallow in silence. Glaring at him for a moment, she tried to must up the motivation to be mad at him but she couldn't. Her face wiped clean into a defeated look after a moment and she shook her head, shrugging at him.

"I love Remus."

Harry laughed and who could blame him? That was probably the most ridiculous thing she could have responded with and she knew it. She smiled a bit, almost joining in his laughter but not sure she trusted herself to open her mouth lest another sob escape.

"Everyone knows that Tonks but it's not something to be upset about. Why don't' you just tell him? I'm sure he feels the same." He sounded amused, as though he was getting pleasure out of her pain. But she knew he wasn't. He had no idea, how could he? Or maybe he did and he was just trying to make her feel better. Maybe everyone had known about Sirius and Remus and she had just been blind. Maybe…

"I tried to. I went to his room today and…he doesn't. And he made that…very, very clear to me." She choked on her words and she remembered the site of Sirius and Remus embracing when she'd opened his door. A part of her wished she had knocked and they would have had time to prepare for her entrance or told her to go a way. But another part of her was almost glad she hadn't. She was almost happy she'd seen it. Because even though now she was in a lot of pain, maybe…one day she'd get over it…be able to move on…probably not.

Harry looked really concerned the next time she looked at him. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Tonks smiled when she looked at him, soaked through. She was faintly aware that she was in the same situation but she didn't care. Him, though, his hair, always mussed no matter what he did with it, was stuck to his forehead, stuck to his ears, slicked down. When he spoke again he sounded incredulous which caught her off guard.

"Well then he's a bloody fool." She raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear Harry sound so angry at Remus, someone she knew him to respect more than most. "How could anyone not love someone like you?" She laughed.

"You're funny, Potter, really. I appreciate the thought though." She smiled at him, reaching out to take his wet hand in her own and squeezing it in a friendly way. He snatched it away though.

"I'm not kidding. I mean…If I was older…maybe… If I didn't have Ginny…" He was looking at her with a weird expression and Tonks just kept laughing. She was almost okay with it, the heartache was almost bearable when she laughed with him. She lifted a finger and quieted him by putting a finger on his mouth.

"Shut up Harry. You're very sweet." And then she did something she wasn't sure why. She leaned forward and kissed the younger boy lightly on the mouth. It was a short kiss, a very friendly kiss. And then she pulled back and smiled at him "Thank you" He looked bewildered at first and then he smiled back. Whatever feelings he had been trying to express seemed not to matter currently. They both laughed. The world would go on, Tonks though, the world always went on when a heart broke. "Come on, lets go back inside." She held on her hand and Harry took it, and still smiling she turned to lead them back to the house. But her path was blocked by a very angry looking, sopping wet, girl with red hair down to her chest. If looks could kill Nymphadora would have probably died in that instant.

Finish This

Harry's heart had never stopped in his life. Not any of the times he fought Voldemort, not when he kissed Cho Chang, not when he nearly died of frostbite living in that damned closet under the stairs. So when his heart stopped at this moment when he saw his red headed girlfriend glaring up at him he didn't know what to do about it. All at once he was very aware of the fact that Nymphadora Tonks had just kissed him and that now her hand was clasping his while they stood there in the pouring rain.

It's true the kiss had been nothing, a friendly gesture, a thank you kiss. But how was he supposed to explain that to Ginny? Thankfully, currently, he was not on the receiving end of her death stare. He couldn't help but feel bad for Tonks who looked like she might die. He very carefully slipped his hand out from hers. She looked at him looking very bewildered. Mouthing 'I'm sorry' she quickly walked around Ginny and sprinting across the street disappeared inside the door that appeared there leading to number twelve Grimmauld drive.

Turning to Ginny, he was afraid that the look on her face meant she was going to kill him, literally, right there in the middle of the street. All he could think was that at least it wouldn't leave a lot of a mess because the rain would wash away any blood that was left behind. But when his eyes met her all he saw were pools of tears and his heart continued to break. Reaching out towards her, the rain slopped around as it hit the skin of his hand and she swatted him away.

"No! You don't get to touch me!" Her face was screwed up trying to hold her tears in as she yelled at him. Pointing back towards the house she continued at screeching volume "I saw you run out of the house after Tonks and so I came after you, hoping I could help. I stood over there and watched you comfort her and thought 'Gee, my boyfriend is so sweet, I'm so lucky he's mine' and then what happens? Then she freaking kisses you! And you didn't stop her Harry, you didn't stop her!" She was defeated now, he could tell. She had given up. Given up on yelling at him, given up on them, given up on all of it.

"Ginny…Gin…" She turned away from him, obviously not caring what he had to say. "Ginny it wasn't anything. She told me Remus said some harsh things to her and I just said I didn't see how anyone could not love her back and she kissed me. But it wasn't anything Ginny! All it was was her appreciating my saying that that's all." He needn't include the fact that she was his equivalent of having a crush on a professor. Needn't tell his sobbing girlfriend that he watched Tonks walk around and tried to spend as much time as possible with her away from other people, hoping for just this sort of thing to happen. No she needn't know any of that.

He was relieved when she turned back towards him, but the relief vanished when he saw that she wasn't quite content with his response. "Wasn't anything, Harry? It's always something. And let me guess, you weren't going to tell me about it. I'm lucky I was there, I'm lucky, because I never would have known if I hadn't followed you outside. You bloody git!" She had walked forward and started beating his chest. Harry was very taken aback. Very few times had he seen women this emotional, and now he had come in contact with two within ten minutes of each other. All of this was very overwhelming for him. And now his girlfriend's little fists where beating bruises into his chest and he didn't know what to do, so he just grabbed her wrists, holding them firmly.

"C'mon Ginny, lets go back in to the house and we can finish this discussion inside, you'll catch your death out here." That's right Potter, play the concerned boyfriend card. Maybe if she sees you're concerned for her health she'll calm down a bit. But she did look bad, worse than Tonks. Her red hair stuck all over her face, covering her eyes, strands in her mouth, she looked slightly insane. And her face was red either from the energy with which she loathed him currently or maybe it was from how much she'd been crying.

But she didn't just consent to him bringing her back into the house. Instead he felt her push at him violently. Releasing her everything after that happened so quickly. "Finish this." The malice was dripping from each word she said. She gave him another hard shove and, caught off guard, he fell backwards, his hands being scraped on the ground as he landed in a puddle. She reached into her pants pocket and came out with her wand. As she raised it, for a split second Harry thought she was going to hex him but all at once a large Purple Bus popped into existence and he realized she had summoned the Knight Bus. Jumping to his feet a moment too late as she disappeared inside the oversized vehicle, he reached out to stop her just as it popped out of view again.

"Ginny!"

Rule Breaking

Ginny stomped up the steps of an apartment complex in Muggle London, steam rising off her heated skin that was still sopping wet from the pouring rain outside. The Knight But had been interesting enough. Among other interesting characters there had been an elderly wizard trying to sell her what looked like a mix between a kitten and an iguana from inside a large trench coat he was wearing. She'd have to remember to tell Hagrid about him someday. Someday when she didn't want to kill the-boy-who-lived. Reaching her destination she started pounding on the door of flat number 5B.

"Luna, are you there?!" More pounding. "Luna Lovegood, I know you're in there! I need to talk to you right this instant!" An annoyed looking muggle woman stuck her head out of 5A but retreated with Ginny sent her a death glare. She was getting rather good at them after today. When the door finally opened her fist was posed to pound on it again, but the lack of a door caused her fist to smack into the chest of the person who opened it.

"Oy! Watch yourself Weaslette! You're lucky I opened the door what with you causing a racket out here, I should have called the police!" Draco Malfoy's drawl startled her. Of course Ginny had known he was living with Luna as of recent months but he was hardly ever there when she came to visit. Recovering from her shock she shook her head and ducking under his arm which was still holding the door open she walked right into the living area, looking around as though to find her friend.

"Where is Luna, Malfoy? I really need to speak to her immediately" She turned to him, glaring at him accusingly as though he were hiding Luna somewhere, perhaps in his pocket.

Draco looked annoyed, and mussed. She realized she might have woken him up from a kip but she didn't feel any remorse. "Well you're just going to have to wait or else go away and come back later. She's stepped out for awhile, went to visit that crackpot father of hers, and since I'm never kind to him she left me here." He muttered something under his breath as he exited to the bedroom for a moment coming back holding a towel. "You woke me from a nap, actually, with all your rude pounding and I'm going to get in the shower if you don't mind.

Ginny had taken a seat on the sofa, the first moment she had to rest since she saw Tonks kissing Harry. Breathing was a bad decision, she found because as soon as she did the pain and sorrow that she had been masking with her anger all came pouring out. Before she knew it she was bent over, head in her hands on her knees sobbing. Draco stopped short, apparently quite bothered by this. Sighing exasperated, he set his towel on the edge of the couch and went to stand above her.

"Well what is it, Weasley? What's wrong?" Ginny stopped sobbing abruptly and looked up at him as though he was crazy.

"What?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well as you are clearly upset and Luna isn't here I feel it may be my obligation to at least pretend to care about your problems until she comes back home"

Ginny glared at him. "Well how wonderfully thoughtful of you, Draco." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she pushed herself up so she was in an upright seated position. "If you must know, I just saw Harry kissing someone else…Tonks…"

Draco laughed and Ginny looked at him incredulously. "What?" He threw up his hands in defense. "I just…I just never saw that coming….didn't know Potter had it in him." That's all it took for Ginny to start into the waterworks again. She put her hands down at her sides and glancing down noticed that she was getting the couch wet with her soaked clothes. Reaching up she pushed a piece of wet hair out of her face. Sighing Draco came over with the towel offering it to her. She refused it and just kept sniffling.

"Oh come on, I'm obviously not going to get in the shower with you here being pathetic you might as well take it." She shook her head and looked away from him, refusing to accept it. "You are so stubborn." He paused for a moment. "Well I guess if you won't dry yourself, I'll have to do it for you, if only to save my dear girlfriend's furniture from being ruined."

Before she could fully grasp what it was that he was saying Ginny felt the soft material of the towel against her neck, dabbing up the moisture that remained there. It was passing over her arms next, dabbing at her sleeves and her pants. She watched as Draco knelt in front of her to dab at her legs. Apparently it was easier for him to bear her presence if he busied himself. He rose and she watched out of the corner of her eyes as he walked behind her, starting to pat her hair with the already damp towel. She closed her eyes as he massaged her head with it to try and break up the moisture and wondered if he did this for Luna. Luna would like it, she'd probably be chatting the entire time.

The towel was gone and now she could feel fingers tenderly lacing through her hair. He was brushing it out for her by himself. It felt nice and Ginny kept her eyes shut, she liked the feel of his hands against her skin so much that she didn't even think to care when they moved from her hair to her shoulder, starting to rub them. This had to be breaking some rules, letting her best friend's boyfriend touch her like this…and liking it…but she didn't much care at the moment. A tiny gasp escaped her when he started working a knot at the back of her neck and she arched her back a little bit. He paused for a minute then and she turned towards him to see if something was wrong.

He had the strangest expression on his face when she looked at him, somewhere between confusion and fascination. His eyes met hers and as though in response to the question in hers he shook his head, not in an 'I shouldn't be doing this' way but rather in an 'I don't know what I'm doing' way. She decided to let him make the decision of what to do on her own and turned back around, enjoying the feel of his hands resting on her shoulder. Gently she lifted her chin so that she nuzzled against the closest finger for a moment. That seemed to trigger him starting to move again.

This time instead of massaging his fingers explored. They ran over the skin on her neck, up to the rims of her ear, down onto her shoulders again. And then, very tentatively he started pushing the sleeves of her shirt down so that he could feel the rest of her shoulder. She liked how his skin felt smooth as it ran over hers. When his fingers found the drop in her neckline and inched under the fabric there she gasped slightly. Lower and lower they went peeking under the cups of her bra before retreating. She was a bit worried when she heard him move behind her. But he soon reappeared in front of the couch. His face was still expressionless, she was unable to read it. When he spoke it came out gruff and abrasive.

"Come on." It wasn't a question. He wasn't asking her and she wasn't asking where they were going, because she wanted to go where it was, she didn't care. As it was when she rose and followed behind him it was to the bathroom. Draco, his back to her, reached behind the shower curtain and she heard the water start to trickle down, hitting the ceramic tiles at the bottom. Turning back to her, he didn't meet her eyes, didn't say anything. He just reached forward and trailed his fingers over her again. First over her temple and over her cheeks, down her neck, over her shoulders, over her breasts, down her abdomen. He stopped when he reached the bottom of her shirt and in a slow motion he lifted it up over her head.

One by one Draco removed her items of clothing, running his fingers over every inch of her, every crevice, every discolored patched. When he was done he stood back and looked at her and finally a small smile came over his face. Ginny smiled back.

Cuts

Draco was dragged into consciousness by the feeling of soft lips on his cheek. She obviously hadn't been meaning to wake him but he had always been very soft sleeper. His hair was wet and his body was damp from a shower he'd taken a few hours earlier. He could feel the pillow was damp below his head. He should have dried his hair before he laid down again but he had been thinking of more pressing things at the time. But when he pushed himself up off of the bed he grasped under the pillow for his wand and quickly dried the spot where he had left his mark. Turning, and leaning his bare back against the head board he watched Luna putting laundry away in the dresser across the room.

"Did you have a nice visit with your father?" He really didn't care, and he knew she knew he didn't care but he still felt obligated to ask. They'd hadn't really been together for much more than a year but Xenophelius and he had never seen eye to eye, especially when he and Luna decided to move in together, in Muggle London no less. That might be natural though, she was his only daughter after all.

Luna turned to him, as though she was noticing him for the first time, not only since she entered the room but ever. She always had that way of looking at you as though you were a whole new person every time she did it. If only she knew, but there was no way she could have known, especially since currently she was smiling at him in that way that only she could. Abandoning her task he watched as she walked to the bed and crawled up onto it to kneel next to where he was sitting so that she was facing him. He couldn't imagine how she could be comfortable in that position but he wouldn't' ask any questions. Luna was one of a kind and that was why he loved her.

"It was a nice visit. He told me about how the Quibbler is losing more business because of the war . It's really quite sad." It was just a comment she was making, he could tell she was just talking for the sake of talking. As she spoke she raised a hand and ran it through his damp hair, that wispy little smile still on her face as though she approved of it. "I missed you. Did you enjoy having the place to yourself for a bit?"

Draco reached forward to play with the locket around her neck. They were always doing things like that, always touching something on the other person. It didn't have to mean anything, it just made them at ease. That locket was probably the only normal piece of jewelry she was wearing at the moment. Her trademark radish earrings were looped in her ears and there were jangles of what looked like bones around her wrists but the plain locket that rested on her breastbone at all times was plain silver with a cursive L engraved in it. He'd gotten it for her when they'd been together for a year. Inside was a picture of her mother, whom she went on about to no end at some times, and a picture of baby Luna. She'd been very cute when she was a baby, sometimes he teased her about where that quality had gone. But she knew he loved her, she knew he cared. Which is why he felt the need to at least tell her part of the truth if not the whole thing.

"Ginny came by earlier. She was really upset. Had a row with Potter or something." He looked down, watching his fingers on the silver, tracing the lettering there. He really did love her. Why he had sex with her best friend when she'd come by crying earlier he didn't know but he did know he loved Luna. Luna…

"Oh! Did she?! I'm sorry I missed her!" Luna had a strange way of sounded genuinely excited about everything she spoke about, especially her friends. Draco smiled as he watched her eyes widen though they stayed on her fingers in his hair. Now she had both of her hands in his hair and she was sitting cross legged, working on smoothing it out so it wouldn't dry at all different angles which she knew he hated and he loved her for remembering. "Is she the one who left the cuts on your back?"

That statement caught him off guard. She said it very matter of fact like she was saying 'Did you remember to take out the trash while I was gone?' and he wasn't sure what to make of it. What was he supposed to say? He'd been faintly aware earlier of his back stinging but the satisfaction of shagging Ginny Weasley in the shower had still been ringing in his head as he laid down in his bed after letting her out. What was he supposed to say to her? She didn't seem daunted as she just kept running her hands through his hair lovingly but that didn't change the way he felt.

"Luna…"

She stopped then, looking at him and smiling even wider, hands running over his cheeks before she swooped in and kissed him. When she pulled back she leaned her forehead against his, enveloping them in a curtain of blonde hair. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. She's beautiful. Was it nice?" Her voice should be sarcastic, mean, but it wasn't. It was curious, silky, making him get goose bumps as her hands started trailing down his chest outside of their blonde isolation.

Taking a deep breath he wasn't quite sure what to say yet but she spoke again before he could form though. "Tell me." She put her hand high on his thigh, he held his breath. "Did you think of me when you had sex with her?"

"Yes. She doesn't know what I like like you do…." She kissed him, biting hard on his lip.

He moved his hands, guiding her to crawl into his lap. When she spoke again it was the same wispy voice but with a hint of something else added in. She leaned in and breathed warm air into his ear before whispering. "I love you Draco. And regardless of what you do, you're in my bed at night." Her hips grinded in to his as her fingers dug into his back, adding her own traces on his skin. He groaned and she responded by grabbing his hair and pulling it so his neck was arched but only for a moment. After that moment she disentangled herself from him and climbed off the bed.

"I'm going out. Wait for me." She smiled at him, that innocent smile she had had before the started talking about his indiscretion. And with that she turned and walked out without looking back.

Draco, left unfulfilled on the bed watched her go, smiling and whispering for no one but himself. "Until the end, my love."

So Happy

Luna let herself into Number Twelve Grimmauld place. It was already dark out and she had been walking for quite some time. Taking off her shoes in the thresh hold she set them neatly near the door. No one understood why she always did that since at school when she removed her shoes they got stolen, but she just enjoyed the feel of barefoot on hardwood and Sirius' house had a lot of wood floors. Breathing in the scent of the house she walked down the hallway. There wasn't anyone in the kitchen when she peeked in and it was very quiet with surprised her. Continuing her search she trailed her hand along the wall, a habit that had begun w hen she was very young.

She wasn't exactly looking for anyone special. In all honesty her boyfriend probably expected her to look for Ginny Weasley and hex her into next century. But she wasn't angry at Ginny for sleeping with Draco. Ginny was very beautiful and so was Draco, it made her feel good to know they had helped each other that afternoon. After all, what was there to be mad about? The only thing that would mean she should be mad was if Draco had left her for Ginny and she knew that was never going to happen.

It had been very strange the way Draco and Luna had ended up together. They'd both had detention with Filch. Luna had been incessantly bothering him about her father's latest imaginary creature and how he should ward the school against them and Draco had attempted to break into the staff room for who knows what reason, she had never asked. So there they were polishing trophies and wiping grime off the floors. Draco had been loathsome, so angry he was to be doing what he called servants work. She of course had been very happy to be doing it, not minding at all about getting dirty.

The entire time she had been rattling off useless trivia filling the silence and being very merry about her work. That was the first time she'd heard Draco Malfoy laugh. She'd said something about her father tripping over a Gnargle and falling down the stairs just to turn around and see the creature gone and he had just lost it. She'd been surprised and looked up. The blonde Slytherin was balled over, tears running down his cheeks from the intensity of his hysteria. She'd smiled at him and he'd smiled back and that had been that. After that it had been perfect. After that everything had been uphill for both of them.

Smiling her little smile that no one could ever explain, she turned the corner into the study and her grin widened when she realized she'd finally happened upon someone. Bounding over she sat on the couch next to the older girl. "Hello Hermione! How are you?"

Hermione turned to look at her and Luna was sure there were tears in her eyes but Luna had her own things to talk about so she wasn't going to bother with whatever it was. If Hermione wanted to tell her she would tell her. "Oh Hello Luna," Her voice sounded said but Luna kept smiling as she spoke "You look…lovely. I take it your happy that Draco's moved in?"

Luna smiled wider, but it changed a bit, it screwed up as she thought about the boy she'd left in her bed as she skipped out of the flat. "So happy. I love him. He loves me. It's just…perfect" She couldn't help but notice that Hermione flinched when she spoke of how they loved each other. Better change the subject to what she really wanted to talk about. "He slept with Ginny you know."

Well that worked well enough. Hermione's eyes were like saucers now, staring at her as though she was insane. "When? Why? Are you sure?" She was leaning forward a bit and Luna was very pleased with the reaction. She seemed genuinely interested.

Waving her hand, she just kept smiling. "This afternoon. Because he felt like doing it I suppose. He had scratches on his back and when he mentioned that she'd come over I simply asked him if she'd left them there." Her eyes glazed over as though she were picturing the red lines her best friend had left on her lover. "I don't mind, of course. I almost…wish I could have been there." Her voice was far off now, as though she was speaking from very far away.

Looking up she laughed when she saw how Hermione was looking at her, like she was insane. Reaching up she brushed Hermione's chin softly with her knuckle. "I've always wondered what it would be like to watch him with someone else, whether he's different with them than he is with me." She continued looking at the place where she was brushing her fingers against Hermione's skin. "And…I've always wondered…what it would be like…" Without any more explanation she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Hermione's lightly.

Well Hermione had apparently not been ready for her because she jumped back immediately. "Luna…I…"

Luna laughed again, shaking her head. "Don't worry. It's mostly Ginny…She's very pretty." She looked away, folding her hands in her lap and the smile resuming its place on her face. "And besides, you love Ronald." She looked at Hermione who looked shocked. "Oh, don't worry. I know. Everybody knows." She laughed again. "Well I feel better now." Standing up she turned towards the door, taking a step.

Turning back towards the couch she tilted her head to the side and smiled at Hermione. But instead of saying anything else she just left the room.

I love you

It was dark with Ron came back to the house that night. It had been too hard for him to stay there after his row with Hermione and so he had gone back to the Burrow for the day. Even though he'd been mad with her he hadn't felt right leaving her there alone, the entire time he'd been very anxious and jumpy. Of course his mother fussed over him and worried about him and tried to figure out what it was that was bothering him but he wouldn't tell her. He could only imagine what she would say if he told her that he'd yelled at Hermione that he loved her. That was a conversation he did not want to have.

Walking into the entryway Ron heard crunch. Looking down he moved his foot to the side and saw that he was standing on what looked like a radish. Leaning down he picked up the earring and set it on a table nearby. Luna must have stopped by. No doubt she'd be back to get it later. Sighing, he turned towards the kitchen, intending to go have a cup of tea before he headed upstairs or maybe he could nick some of Sirius' fire whisky. But when he saw her he stopped in his tracks.

There she was, still in the clothes she'd worn earlier this morning when they'd had their fight, still with the same confused expression on her face, still silent. She must have been waiting for him, there in the dark. "It's late, you should be in bed." She didn't say anything and it didn't seem like she was going to move, she just looked at him.

This was awkward and Ron was not good with awkward situations. "Er…well I'm going to the kitchen for a bit of tea. See you in the morning." Or not if tomorrow was like all of the other days for the last few weeks. Walking around her he had only made it a yard or two down the hallway when he heard it. It was quiet and he was lucky it was quiet in the dark house or he may not have heard it at all.

"I love you."

"What did you just say?" He turned to look at her. Her back was still to him but after a moment she turned to face him. She took a breath and now she looked scared, timid, something he'd never seen on her before.

"I love you Ron. And it scares me. And…I don't know what is going to happen and I don't have any control over what happens to us but all I know is that I love you and I don't want you to ever walk out on me again." There were tears in her eyes again and Ron's heart was beating twice as fast as usual. He still couldn't believe what she was saying to him.

How could things have changed since this morning that she could finally admit that she loved him? What had made her change? But he realized it didn't matter, all that mattered was she was finally acknowledging it. "I love you too."

She smiled finally, laughing as the tears spilled over and she walked forward to wrap her arms around him and bury her head into his chest. "I was hoping you would."