Bleed Away The Pain

Chapter 9: Best Friends? Not Anymore

A/N: Hi everyone! So, I bet y'all are wondering what's up with Ginny and Terry, huh? Well you'll have to wait to find out! Sorry it's taking me this long to update but my laptop completely crashed and I had to get a new one and, whew, was it a lot of crap. And I've been really busy.

Disclaimer: Nope not mine. The plot line's mine, the song's not mine and neither is Harry Potter (or Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley… sad, I know.)

Wow, that was short… for me anyways. Onward with the chap! Enjoy and review please! Oh and just a heads-up: anybody who's a Ron/Hermione shipper will be very happy with this chap, I promise, hehe!

Recap of what happened last chapter:

"And do you know-" Harry said, pouring an extra ounce of mir-lap into his cauldron. Cho had him so brain washed that I doubt he'd notice if his cauldron blew up right now.

"I just… I missed you." He said, trying to sound like a lost puppy. Ron does that so much better than you! "Well, I didn't miss you. Go away, Terry." I said, resuming walking briskly away from him.

"Do you know why she's acting so weird? Ginny, I mean." "No, not at all. She was staring at your arm though. You don't think someone told her…?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"AND YOU'RE JUST WORRIED TERRY WILL TELL YOUR SECRET!" Ginny yelled at the top of her lungs.

Here I stand
Empty hands
Wishing my wrists were bleeding
To stop the pain from the beatings

There you stood
Holding me
Waiting for me to notice you

But who are you
You are the truth (you are the truth)
Outscreaming these lies
You are the truth (you are the truth)
Saving my life

The warmth of your embrace
Melts my frostbitten spirit
You speak the truth and I hear it
The words are I love you
And I have to
believe in you

My hands are open
And you are filling them
Hands in the air
In the air, in the air, in the air

And I worship
And I worship
And I worship
And I worship

You are the truth (you are the truth)
Outscreaming these lies
You are the truth (you are the truth)
Saving my life

Red Sam--- Flyleaf

"What did you just say?" I asked weakly,

"You heard me!" Ginny said, still shouting slightly, before running out of the room.

I stood there for a few seconds in shocked silence, before walking out of the classroom and down the hall, in a trance.

I need to find Ron. Ron will know what to do, I thought frantically to myself, completely forgetting about telling Harry about Flitwick.

-------------------------------------

After I got into the Great Hall, it was easy to find Ron, with his bright red hair, it was actually hard to miss him.

"Ron!" I said urgently, latching onto his arm with desperation.

"What? What is it?" He said, quickly putting down his fork and turning to me.

"It's-it's Ginny. And… Ginny and Terry." I said slowly.

"What? No, no, you can't be right. She wouldn't talk to him… she wouldn't." Ron said disbelievingly.

"Well she did! Right after you left, I found them arguing. About… about me." I said, muttering the last bit.

"About you? What on earth about?" Ron asked, taking my hand from his arm and clasping it supportively.

"About my… my, you know. I think Terry told her. I walked in and they saw me and Terry left and I told Ginny she shouldn't be hanging out with him then she got offended and started yelling so then I started yelling too and then she said 'you're just worried he'll tell your secret' or something of the sorts and then she left! I just… what's wrong Ron? Everything's so screwed up!" I sighed loudly, pulling my hand away from Ron and laying my head on the table, my arms circling around it.

"Oh… wow." Ron said.

"Wow? Wow?! Is that all you can say after you find out your sister knows and possibly the entire school might know! If he can tell Gin, he can sure tell everyone else! Terry is out to ruin me, if you haven't noticed!" I exclaimed, still laying my head on the table. I know I shouldn't be taking my anger out on Ron but I couldn't help it.

"Of course I know that! I knew it all along, that's why I told you to stay away from him!" Ron said, getting angrier.

"Oh, you just have to say I-told-you-so, don't you? Don't you think I'm dealing with enough crap without you riding me about Terry! I expected this from everyone else, but not you Ron." I said, standing up and slinging my bag over my shoulder, preparing to leave.

"No, Hermione!" Ron said jumping up too. People were beginning to stare, so he said "listen, why don't we head to the Room Of Requirements and talk there okay?"

"Fine." I said shortly, grabbing his elbow and marching him out of the Hall.

Once we got to the Room Of Requirements (which turned into a smaller replica of the Gryffindor Common Room) and we both got seated on the seat, I turned to Ron and said "okay. We've got a lot to figure out."

"Yeah I know." Ron sighed. "This is just so screwed up. This would have been so much easier if-"

"If I had never started hurting myself?" I cut him off, raising my eyebrow.

"N-no. I-I didn't mean that Hermione." Ron said, reaching out to take my hand.

"Yes you did!" I cried, feeling a few tears gather in my eyes.

"No, Hermione. I-I really didn't. I just meant… it'd be so much easier if Terry wasn't such a dick." Ron said, moving over so he was sitting right beside me.

"Ron!" I reprimanded, but couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words.

"C'mon, you know it's true." He said, grinning at me.

"Yeah I know." I said, turning my head so I was only a few inches away from him.

"Hermione." Ron breathed, moving slightly closer to me.

"Yes Ron?" I asked, moving closer also.

"I think we should talk about our… situation." He whispered, referring to the thing with Terry and Ginny, but he didn't stop moving closer.

"I agree." I whispered, but didn't move away.

"Yeah" Ron said so quietly I could barely hear him, before closing the gap between our lips.

I could feel one of his hands intertwine in my hair and the other one went to the side of my face, cradling it softly. My hands both went behind his neck instinctively, pulling him even closer.

I had suspected for a while that Ron was the one, but in that moment, I knew he was the one and I didn't doubt it for one second.

But that only lasted until he pulled away, both of us blushing seriously. "I- let's get back to thinking about what to do." He said, moving away.

"Right, yeah." I said, without looking at him.

"So uh… do you think Ginny knows?" Ron asked, not looking me in the eye.

"Obviously. I mean what other secret do I have that Terry knows? None. Well I mean, the fight we had is kind of a secret but why would he tell Gin about that?" I said, confusedly.

"I dunno. What did happen though?" Ron asked, turning to me but still not looking me in the eye.

"I… uh… he was just doing things that made me uncomfortable." I said, blushing a little.

"Like what?" Ron asked, this time looking me in the eye.

"Um… like putting his arm around me- and not in a just-friends kind of way- and calling me nick names that I didn't like and stuff so I yelled him and told him to go away, I didn't need his help, and he got mad and said that he was only trying to help and I said I never asked for help and to go away. So he did." I said, in one long breath.

"That bastard." Ron said, more to himself than to me.

"Ron!" I exclaimed.

"What? Hermione he is, don't deny it!" Ron said.

"I know he is but I don't like swearing!" I said, losing patience.

"Oh. Right, sorry." Ron said, turning away from me.

"We need to figure out what to do… do you think I should talk to Ginny?" I asked, trying to catch his eye again.

"Not by yourself! If you are gonna talk to her, I'll be there." He promised, looking at me again.

"Thank you, Ron." I said, touched. "But what should we do? For all we know half the school could know by now!" I said hysterically.

"I don't know. This is just so screwed up!" He exclaimed.

"Tell me about it." I muttered. "But we have to do something! Ginny's mad at me one second and the next, she's babying me like a four-year-old! It can't stay like this!" I said. By this time, I was longing to be able to cut again, but I couldn't as long as Ron was there. "Listen, I have to go to the bathroom but I'll be back in a second, okay?" I said, beginning to stand up.

"Don't lie, Hermione." Ron said softly.

"What?" I said sharply, turning around to face him again.

"You don't have to go to the bathroom." He said, looking me directly in the eye.

"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"You know what I mean. If you just had to go to the bathroom, you wouldn't be bringing your bag." He said, gesturing towards my bag slung over my shoulder.

"I- fine. I don't have to go to the bathroom, but I didn't want to do it here… in front of you." I said, giving in.

"It's okay. You could just ask me to look away." Ron offered.

"It's not that I mind you watching… it's just that… I thought you wouldn't want to see." I whispered, blushing.

"No. I've kind of… actually wanted to ask you… how you did it? If you don't mind." He said slowly, looking away from me.

"Of course I don't mind." I said, shocked that he cared so much. "Do you… want to watch?" I asked, uncomfortably.

"I… if you don't mind." Ron said, not meeting my eyes.

"No, no I don't mind." I said, setting my bag back down. I reached into it until I found the ripped seam then pulled it out.

"Where do you keep it in there?" Ron said, looking at my bag.

"Right here." I said, bringing the bag towards him then showing him the ripped seam.

"Did you do that yourself?" He asked me.

"Yeah. Now, uh, I just… you know." I said, gesturing between my razor and my right arm.

"Um yeah okay." Ron said, watching my hand that was holding the razor.

"Just… just turn away if you want. I'll understand." I said, softly.

"O-okay." Ron stuttered, still staring at my razor.

I pulled my sleeve up and slowly moved the razor so it was lightly resting on my arm, before pushing down and dragging it across. I let out a slight whimper when I felt the pain shoot through my skin, but it was from pleasure, not regret.

"You okay?" Ron asked, sounding nervous.

"Fine." I said, not looking at him, but instead, pulling the razor across my arm again.

I did it 4 more times, before siphoning the blood off with my wand and tucking my razor safely away in my bag.

"Right. And that's how it goes." I said, sitting down next to Ron.

"Um yeah okay…" He said, looking at my arm for a second before I pulled my sleeve down.

"Okay, so, what do we do about Ginny?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck absentmindedly.

"I, er, dunno. We could talk to her… but then again, this is Ginny. She doesn't just sit down and talk about everything, she likes to take action." Ron explained.

"Yes I agree. So sitting down and talking won't work. But what we need to figure out is Terry. What are his motives? Why Ginny, why not Harry? Does he intend to tell the school? Is he just worried about me or is it something else? Did he actually tell her or did he just say I had a big secret?" I asked, glancing at Ron.

"I dunno." Ron said, shrugging.

"I know you don't, but we need to figure it out. I'm guessing he told her the secret because that would explain why she keeps staring at my left arm. I'm also guessing by the way he acts that he's got some ulterior motive, not trying to help me, though that may have been his reason in the beginning. Maybe he's upset about the way I treated him so he's getting revenge by attempting to ruin my friendship with Ginny or he might be trying to ruin my reputation. That's up for debate. What I need to know is why and who he's going to tell next, because, mark my words, he will tell someone else. This is far from over." I said, more to myself than to Ron.

"Erm… right. I agree… about him trying to ruin you because of how you fought with him. He can't be worried about you, he wouldn't be acting this way if he was." Ron stated, unsurely.

"Okay so… plan of action?" I asked, hoping he would have thought of something.

"Let's talk to Harry." Ron said, not meeting my eyes.

"Ron! I don't want to tell Harry!" I exclaimed. I thought we got over that, I thought to myself.

"C'mon Hermione! You know as well as I do that he could help!" Ron argued.

"You know what? Fine. Fine, we'll tell Harry. But he can't solve everything." I said, standing up to begin to leave.

"Alright. Better get it over with." Ron said, standing up also.

"Wait, what? I didn't say I was doing it today." I said, shaking my head worriedly.

"Hermione, the sooner the better." Ron said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Fine, fine. I guess you're right." I sighed, walking resignedly towards the exit. "Let's get this over with. You're coming right?" I asked him.

"I'll be there every step." Ron said, taking my hand supportively.

We both headed resolutely out of the Room Of Requirements.

Time for my secret to come out.

Replies to reviews:

butterfly100: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. And thanks for taking time to review!

WanneBeOnBroadway: Yeah, glad you liked your cookies. I'll definitely check out Everything Burns, thanks for the suggestion!

Kokoro Onee Chan: No actually you're right. Good job on picking that up. She still feels the need on occasion but Ron is helping her cope much better, but it'll only get worse, what with Ginny and Terry. Thanks for always reviewing!

tazzie21: Yes, I just loved writing those parts, it was so much fun so I'm glad you liked it. I would read your Artemis Fowl fic but I've only read a little bit of the 1st book, sorry. But thanks, I'm glad you think I do that well, I try hard to make it all interesting. Thanks for always giving good feedback!

akaccino: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Terry is an arse isn't he? I seriously, seriously wanted to have him taken away from Hogwarts for mental problems but that wouldn't tie in with the rest of the story. Thanks for always reviewing!

A/N: Oh dear! They're telling Harry! What will he think? Will he tell? Will it ruin they're friendship?! Yeah, yeah, the tension's on, isn't it? Okay maybe not. So… how did I do? I suck at writing the romance scenes (AKA The Kiss) and it probably wasn't very satisfactory so feel free to flame me (please go easy though.) Now, I know most of this was just another building-up chapter but bear with me okay? Now I have NO idea when the next chapter will be out because since my computer crashed, my chapter plan is gone and I have to redo it (I know, it's horrible) and I may have forgotten new plot points so there might be some plot twists at the end, but that makes it fun right? Please review!