Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I want to thank all of my reviewers, you guys are amazing. I'm not sure how obvious it is to everyone else, but this story is going to be pretty short, because I really don't think there is much more I can do with it than what I already have planned. I'm aiming for ten chapters (because it's such a nice number) and will only go farther if I get really good ideas. I'm not saying that if you don't give me ideas I'll cut the story, I'm just saying that I don't think it will be able to last very long. If I hit eleven chapters I'll probably pass out in shock. On a happier note, I'm very pumped to start a new Harry Potter story, once this one is complete, so you will have more of my amazing writing. Keep reading and reviewing!

Chapter Seven

Ginny walked down the corridor, her arms wrapped around her. She couldn't believe she had just walked out on Draco. She had never really considered herself one to run from her problems; however, she had been doing a lot of that since the beginning of the year. She didn't like doing it and she didn't like how it made her feel.

She had always considered herself a confident person yet she had been questioning all of her actions. She didn't really want to admit it, but she had a feeling that Harry cheating on her had made her less secure in herself and the things she did. She wasn't sure what to do to make her feel better about herself.

Back in the common room, Draco was sitting on the couch, completely confused. He was never sure how Ginny was feeling or what she was thinking or what she really wanted to say. He was worried that she was regretting dating him, even if it wasn't technically for real. He was just going to try harder to keep her happy.

The portrait door swung open and Hermione entered the common room. She smiled when she saw Draco and walked over to her room to put her things away. She came out after a few moments and sat next to Draco.

"Where's Ginny?" she asked, looking around the common room.

"She left," he said. He must have sounded really depressed because Hermione's face creased with concern.

"What do you mean, she left? Did she…did she say why?"

"I don't know. I never know with her. I just…I like her so much, and I try to do the right thing, but I feel like she is holding something back, and it makes me worried that it is about me."

Hermione had a feeling that, if this situation was left unresolved, it could lead to the same outcome that Ginny and Harry had. "Why don't you talk to her about it?"

"Because I feel so stupid. And I'm worried she will get mad if I say anything. Or she'll shut down and not want to be around me anymore. And I don't think I could handle that. I know I couldn't handle that. It would kill me."

Hermione put her hand on his shoulder. "I understand your hesitation. Really, I do. But I think it would be better, a thousand times better, if you were to talk to her about all this. I know Ginny, and I know that she would appreciate you saying something."

"Are you sure? I really don't want to screw this up."

She sighed. "Why don't I talk to her first? Just see if anything really is bothering her. And then, once she's been primed, so to speak, you can talk to her. Okay?"

Draco nodded. "Thanks. You are a really good friend. Even though you're a Gryffindor."

Hermione smiled. "And you aren't that hideous. Even though you're a Slytherin."

Hermione still had a bunch of homework to finish, so she planned on talking to Ginny during dinner. However, when Hermione entered the Great Hall, a few minutes late, she was surprised to see that Ginny was not at their regular seat. A quick scan of the entire room revealed that Ginny was not there entirely. Hermione glanced over at Draco, who was staring intently at his food and hadn't even appeared to notice that he was in the Great Hall. She figured it was no use asking him where Ginny was, so she went to search for the girl alone.

After checking all the places Ginny was normally found (Gryffindor common room, library, head common room, Prefect bathroom), and coming up empty, Hermione instead just walked around the school, hoping that she would happen upon the younger girl. When that proved fruitless, Hermione was at a loss. This was one of the few times she disliked the fact that Hogwarts didn't allow for electronics; it would be so much easier to find Ginny if she could just call her on her cell phone.

Dinner let out while Hermione was meandering through the corridors. She asked a few people if they had seen Ginny but everyone responded in the negative. Hermione was beginning to get worried. She knew Hogwarts was a safe place but it just wasn't like Ginny to completely disappear. Something must really be wrong.

After almost two hours of unproductive exploring, Hermione headed back to her common room. She hoped Ginny would show up the next day.

When Hermione entered the common room, she was completely shocked to see Ginny lounging on one of the couches, flipping through a magazine.

"Gin. W-what are you doing here?"

Ginny looked up. "Draco let me in about fifteen minutes ago. He said you wanted to talk to me, so he let me wait for you. He's in the library, or terrorizing a first year, I wasn't really paying attention to what he said his plans were."

Hermione crossed the room quickly and sat down next to the girl. "I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been? Why weren't you at dinner?"

Ginny put down the magazine and sat up fully. "I wasn't that hungry. I had some…stuff to think about, so I walked around the entire campus, like, three times. Why were you looking for me?"

"I needed to talk to you about some things. Why were you walking around alone? It's dark out; something could have happened to you."

Ginny chuckled once. "I had my wand. Besides, I wasn't alone. A bunch of other students were walking around. A lot of people were making out. I was fine. What did you need to talk to me about?"

Hermione sighed. She knew that she was overreacting about Ginny completely disappearing. Ginny was a strong witch and would be able to defend herself in any situation. However, Hermione had still been worried about the girl. She tried to clear her head of all maternal thoughts and get to the situation at hand.

"How do you feel about Draco?" she asked bluntly. It really wouldn't be beneficial to beat around the bush; shrewdness wasn't going to solve anything.

Ginny's cheeks turned pink. "W-what do y-you mean?"

"Do you like him?"

Ginny dropped her eyes. "I-I don't know. I mean, I-I think I want to, I'm just not sure if I do."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that crap. I want a straight answer."

Ginny sighed. "Y-yes. I-I like him."

"I knew it!" Hermione cried, throwing her hands in the air.

"I'm so happy for you," Ginny said sarcastically, "but it's not like I can do anything about it. He doesn't like me."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know," she said, getting frustrated. "I-I can just tell. He's only doing this to get at Harry, and because we are friends. There is nothing else to it."

Hermione paused. "I have it on good authority," she said after a moment, "that he is completely and totally in love with you, and will probably throw himself off a roof if you don't return his feelings."

"What are you talking about? H-he doesn't like me."

"He likes you a lot," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows. "And I am sick and tired of watching you two dance around each other because of all this uncertainty. It's starting to get annoying."

"Did he…did he tell you he likes me? You heard it straight from his mouth?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes. I heard it straight from him."

"Well…what am I suppose to do about it? I mean, do I tell him I like him? Or…what?"

"We'll deal with that later," Hermione said, flicking her hand nonchalantly. "I've been trying to determine how I feel about him. I've…I've only…felt this way before about…Harry, and I don't want the same thing to happen with Draco. And I keep telling myself that it's not going to happen, but then I'll start comparing the two relationships and will find similarities that probably don't even exist, and then I will freak out and run out of the room. It's starting to get embarrassing."

"Then talk to him about it. He's freaking out because he thinks he is making you unhappy, or something."

"I feel like such an idiot telling him those things, though. If we were just friends, I would do it in a heartbeat. But since I actually like him, it's completely different. I don't want him to think any less of me."

"The only way that boy could think any less of you, Gin, is if you were to kill someone. And, honestly, I could see him helping you hide the body. He is so enamored with you, it's kind of disgusting."

"Aw, Hermione, who knew you were such a romantic?" Ginny said sarcastically, smiling slyly.

"Whatever," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "All I know is if you two don't get together, for real, I may have to kill both of you. And who is going to help me hide the bodies?"

"I'm sure you can find someone." Ginny glanced at her watch. It was getting late and she should probably start heading back to her dorm. "Is there a particular time Draco usually comes back to the room?"

"Not really," Hermione admitted. "We don't have to patrol tonight, we talked some Prefects into patrolling on some of our nights, and since Heads don't have a curfew, he could come back at any time tonight."

"Okay," Ginny said. "I guess I'll just talk to him tomorrow during breakfast." She stood. "Can you not say anything to him tonight? I do better bearing my soul if I'm the only one talking."

Hermione smiled. "Sure," she said, also standing. She pulled Ginny into a quick hug and watched the girl walk out of the room. She turned around and walked over to her room, preparing to get ready for bed. Of course, she had no idea about the events that were about to occur the next day.

I'm pretty excited about writing the next chapter so it should be out pretty soon. Reviews are welcomed and make me smile.