So that was it. I'd just walk in and tell them. And then any second it'd be over. I ran a hand through my hair, took a deep breath, said the password, and walked in. as could be expected, Harry and Ron were deep in thought, playing wizard chess, and Hermione was buried in some muggle science magazine. As Hermione was my best friend and most likely to not kill me on the spot, I decided to take my chances with her first. True, she and Ron and Harry were still as close as ever, but I'd managed to infiltrate their group by being the "gal-pal" Hermione's been lacking for, well, ever.

Somewhere in the back of my brain I knew this couldn't be as hard as I was making it. So why was I thinking I'd rather take five Potions O.W.L.s than do this?

I took a deep breath and started over to Hermione when I heard a voice call to me.

"Yo red!" Damn. Jack Bentley was in my year – handsome, rich, very full of himself, and sleazy. I couldn't recall a Gryffindor fifth year girl he hadn't dated at some point. Except, well, me, which would explain his sudden solicitation of my attention.

"What do you want Jack?" I flipped around and gave him an evil glare.

"My my, aren't we feisty today. I guess its that famous redhead temper. Hotheads, they say. But hot covers other things about you too." He looked me up and down and I felt nauseous.

"Jack, I will smack you." More like beat him over the head with my History of Magic textbook.

"Hey, I just wanted to see who you're going on the weekend Hogsmeade trip with."

"Don't know yet. Not you though. Listen, I have to have a very important conversation with Hermione now, so would you kindly get out of my way?"

"Alright, but don't think you'll get away that easy babe." I took a deep breath and counted to five, rather than just running over to kill him for calling me "babe." I continued walking over to Hermione, wringing my hands and going over what I was trying to say. Gingerly I sat down next to her.

"Hey 'Mione, whatcha reading?"

"Gene splicing therapy. I really have no idea what a lot of it means but it seems quite fascinating." She continued to talk about gene slicing therapy or whatever for another five minutes, giving me time to get my hands to stop shaking before I started to talk. Finally I had to interrupt her, because it was becoming clear she wasn't going to stop talking unless I made her.

"Listen 'Mione while that sounds fascinating I have something to tell you. It's sort of important. And you have to promise you won't get mad. Or tell Ron. Or my mum. At least not yet."

"Oh my God. You're pregnant. Ginny how, when, who?" Hermione started to freak out, which, oddly enough, made me laugh.

"No, no, nothing like that. Um…"

"Gin! Spit it out!" It was now or never. Time to sink or swim. Or in my case, sink or run for my life.

"I'mdatingDracoMalfoy." I started getting up immediately, preparing to sprint out.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing, if you didn't hear me than I'll just be on my way…" I started backing out, grabbing my scarf from off the floor nearby the couch.

"Oh no, sit your ass back down here. I heard you, I'm just not sure I believe you entirely." Crap. I walked back over, trying to act like I was mature and confident. Obviously, I was so, so not, but I could pretend, couldn't I?

"Ginny, how? WHY?" This was the part I knew was inevitable but was dreading nonetheless.

"Mione, you don't know him the way I do. He's… he's got a really soft side – a nice, charming, kind, wonderful side. He…" I trailed off. Even though I saw all of Malfoy's well-concealed good qualities I knew I couldn't illustrate them for Hermione no matter how many adjectives I used.

"How'd you meet… in such a way?"

"It was a Hogsmeade weekend. I had gone off to do some Christmas shopping by myself and then I'd slipped on a patch of ice. All my stuff flew all over the place, I twisted my ankle, and got soaked in slush. He was the only person nearby, and rather than laugh at me like I'd expected he helped me out. We walked around for a little- well, after he found Madame Pomfrey so we could fix my ankle- and we got to talking. At first it was really weird, like I felt really defensive the whole time. But then finally we both relaxed a little bit and he told me towards the end that he'd liked me for a while. Which was also weird, but I told him I had to think about it for a little while longer, but eventually we realized we had a mutual attraction type thing going on. So we started dating and… here I am hoping you don't kill me." Hermione stayed silent for a long time. Finally she spoke.

"I'm not ok with him. But if it's really what you want and he's not… Malfoy… around you, than I guess I can learn to deal." I almost fainted I was so relieved. I jumped on Hermione and hugged her.

"Thank you!!! Don't tell anyone about it just yet though, ok?"

"No problem. So you and Draco Malfoy, huh?" talk about bad timing. It was at precisely that moment Ron chose to walk up.

"Who and Draco Malfoy?" He said slowly. Damn. This conversation just got a whole lot more difficult.