Chapter Ten: Truth
"Harry!" He heard a voice shout behind him as he sat on a swing in the park. Turning his head he looked around but saw no one. Shrugging his shoulders he turned back, giving a startled yelp and falling off the swing at the sight of the person before him.
"Oh Harry!" Pansy exclaimed, rushing over to help him up. "Are you alright Har-Bear?"
Completely confused Harry looked around, trying his best to shrug Pansy off who only fussed over him more.
"Pansy get off me!" Harry yelled, slapping the young woman's hands away.
"Harry hold still… I can kiss it all better for you."
His eyes widened in shock as Pansy grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down in a forceful kiss. Completely repulsed, he pushed Pansy off, while wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Harry yelled at the blonde, who only pouted and fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"Oh Har-Bear, I think you hit your head a little harder than I thought." Despite his attempts at fleeing, Harry got pulled into Pansy's grasp once again, feeling her tongue as she forced it's way into his mouth.
As he shoved her off of him, she let out a huff and stalked a few yards away, waiting for Harry to come after her.
"What's the matter Potter? Can't please your woman?"
Whipping his head around, he turned to see Michael Corner with his arm wrapped around Ginny's waist, keeping her close to his side.
"Get the hell away from her!" Harry bellowed, taking a few steps towards the pair.
"Why would I do that? She is my girlfriend after all."
"What?!" Harry exclaimed, disgust and confusing fighting over dominance on his face.
"You heard him right. After you lied and betrayed me, I wanted to be with a real man. Someone who's honest and trustworthy."
"Corner is the furthest thing from that Ginny!" Harry said desperately, trying to get her to see reason. What the hell was going on here?
"I love him Harry. You had your chance and you blew it. I'd never take you back in a million years."
"But Ginny, I care about you!" He said, his face a mixture of sadness and despair, while his eyes held the warmth he felt for her.
"Sorry Potter, that ship has sailed." To prove her point, she pulled Michael into a long, deep kiss.
Staring in the utmost shock, he didn't notice Draco until he slapped Harry on the shoulder.
"That's alright mate, you don't need her. She's not worth your time. Now Pansy on the other hand, she's a good looking woman. I bet she's great in the sack too. You're real lucky you managed to bag a girl like her. Besides," Draco said, studying Ginny and Michael, "They make a cute couple, don't they?"
Stunned he watched Draco walk over to the pair, looking on as Draco joked around with Michael and talked with Ginny.
"Harry," Pansy whispered in his ear as she rested her forehead against his back, "I know what we could do that would make you feel so much better." Circling her arms around his waist she began to nibble on his ear, while her hands inched their way past his belt…
Jolting up in bed, Harry breathed heavily, his eyes wild. He looked around, seeing that he was in his room and Pansy was thankfully not lying beside him. Letting out a long, relieved sigh, he wiped his sweaty forehead on the sleeve of his t-shirt. 'What a nightmare' he thought, while getting up and walking to his closet to find his clothes for the day.
While getting dressed he thought back to the previous night. Getting those flowers returned back to him made him feel as though he had been punched in the gut. He missed Ginny and thought that she would have responded positively to the flowers but he was wrong. Now he had no idea what to do. She hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. Sighing he figured maybe it was for the best. He and Ginny were obviously not meant to be and what little hope he had of getting back together with her had been crushed last night.
He came out of his room wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He greeted Draco, who was sitting in the living room watching TV. He answered in a sort of distant manner, stuffing his face with left over Chinese food that had been in the fridge a smidge too long, and watching… Was that a soap opera? Draco could sense Harry giving him a weird look, so he quickly changed the channel. "It was… Um… The remotes broken." Smiling sheepishly, he quickly shoveled more food into his already stuffed mouth.
As he shook his head he headed into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Not feeling in the mood to cook at the moment, Harry threw a couple of pop tarts into the toaster. While he was munching on his breakfast he thought back to the dream he had this morning. The idea of Ginny being with another guy made his heart nearly break. Putting his head into his hands, Harry sat at the kitchen table for a while, merely thinking. Coming to a decision, he got up and put his dishes in the sink. Walking into the living room he made his way towards the door but paused at Draco's voice.
"Where are you going?" Draco said, with a mouthful of food, "It's eleven o'clock."
"There's something I need to do." Harry said vaguely, opening the door, "I'll be back later. Don't wait up."
--
Leaning against the car, Harry sipped his coffee. It was now one o'clock, he had been standing there for two hours. Opening his car door, he sat down figuring he could be there for a while longer yet. He looked around the area he was in trying to take his mind off of his boredom. Not many people were out today, which was strange, it being a Friday and all. He saw couples holding hands and walking down the street, happily in love and it made his heart ache slightly. He wanted that so badly with Ginny, that happiness, the closeness. He had been so close but now… He shook his head to stop his thoughts from going there, he needed to stay positive.
Bouncing his knee slightly, Harry breathed deliberately. God was he nervous. He only hoped things would go well this time, and if not… well he'd stop trying.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Harry sat in his car listening to the radio. 2:31 the clock read. Groaning, he leaned his head back against the headrest. He closed his eyes for who knows how long until he head a car door slam. Snapping his eyes open, he looked to the silver car that had parked just a few spaces away from him. 'Finally,' He sighed, taking one last deep breath, 'Here goes nothing'. Jumping out of the car quickly, he jogged up to the young woman who was now walking up to the front of the store.
"Ginny." Harry said, gently touching her shoulder to gain her attention.
Turning around, her eyes narrowed at the sight of him, "Can't you take a hint Harry? What the hell do you want now? I thought sending those flowers back to you yesterday made it pretty obvious I wanted nothing to do with you."
"I know, I know." Harry said, holding up his hands in surrender, "I just needed to talk to you."
She snorted lightly, "Sorry to rain on your parade but I have nothing to say to you that I haven't already said, so if you'll excuse me I have to work."
Turning around, she headed once again for the door but was stopped as Harry jumped in front of her, blocking her way.
"Listen Ginny, give me five minutes, please." Harry asked desperately.
Shaking her head, she tried to move past him but was effectively blocked again. Sighing tiredly, she opened her most to cast a nasty comment when he spoke once more.
"Five minutes Ginny, that's all I ask. I know I don't deserve it but if you don't like what I have to say after five minutes, you can leave… and I won't bother you again, it'll be the last time you see me." He waited anxiously for her answer but after hearing nothing he asked, "Please?"
Ginny paused weighing her options. If she just gave him five minutes, he'd leave her alone. 'I guess I'll humor him. It'll be worth it once he leaves and I never have to see him again.' Sighing she nodded and walked over to a secluded bench a few paces away.
Grinning from ear to ear, Harry followed her over to the bench and sat down.
Not knowing really where to begin, he sat contemplating what he should say first when Ginny spoke.
"The clock's ticking." She said in a cool voice, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Ginny." He said facing her, a calm and serious look on his face, while inside he was a jumble of nerves. Taking a deep breath, he decided to just jump right in, "Look, I'm sorry, I messed up. Big time. I really do care about you Ginny and I'm so sorry for what I did. But you have to understand, that was the old me, you've changed me somewhat, I haven't done that since your house. I know it was wrong of me but that's… that's just how I grew up."
Looking away from her he stared intently at the ground, continuing his awkward speech. "Nothing I can say could make you forgive me, I know that. And me saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't come close to making up for what I did. But, if you just gave me a chance, you'd see that I really am the nice guy you met in the bookstore. I wasn't being fake with you Ginny, I do actually care about you. I'm just sorry I wasn't honest with you sooner about what I did."
"I promise if you take me back, I'll do whatever it takes for you to trust me. I'll never steal anything ever again. I promise. I know you're thinking 'how could I believe him?' but I guess there really is no way for you to other than to just give me a chance to show you. You bring out the best in me Ginny. Before you… I wasn't that great of a guy. But, well I don't know, being around you, its just made me see that life doesn't have to be as bad as I make it out to be. It could be better. And I think I'd be able to change… if I had you."
After a minute of silence Harry looked up to see Ginny staring at her hands, a look of absolute concentration on her face. Deciding he had better just give her time to think it over, he merely sat on the bench watching Ginny, not knowing of the war that was silently waging within her.
'You can't seriously be buying this?'
'Well, I think he really is sorry.'
'So you think, but you also thought he was a nice guy and look at him! He's a criminal.'
'I know, I am looking at him. He looks sad and regretful. He made bad mistakes, but maybe he's trying to make up for them now.'
'Let's review, shall we? He broke into your home. He stole hundreds of dollars worth of items. He scared you half to death and gave you a horrible, traumatizing experience. And you really think he's sorry?'
'If he really wasn't sorry and all he wanted was to nail me or something, then why go through all this trouble? Why would he keep trying to explain himself? Why would he apologize over and over? Why would he waste his time to seek me out? Why would it be so important that I listen to him? And why would he have spent tons of money on those flowers for me… if he didn't care?'
'You don't know anything about him.'
That one Ginny couldn't deny. Every time she had asked something personal about Harry, he had always been quick to change the subject.
Biting her lower lip she looked over towards Harry, who was silently watching her. His jet black hair fell messily around his head, covering his beautiful emerald green eyes. He gave her a timid smile, waiting for her response.
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she faced him.
"You have to tell me everything if we're going to make this work."
"Everything?" He asked, not understanding what she was implying.
"Yes, everything. Harry, I know next to nothing about you. I don't know where you live, I don't know anything about your family, I don't know how long or why you've stolen from people. I don't know why on earth you hang out with that jerk Draco. All I know is that your favorite color is green, you like the movie Shooter, and your favorite pizza topping is pepperoni, but that's not enough to base a relationship off of. I need to know you… the real you."
Looking extremely uneasy, Harry scratched the back of his neck. "It's a long story," He said, shifting awkwardly, "And not too interesting."
"That's okay," Ginny said, making herself comfortable, "I've got all the time in the world."
"But, uh…" Harry said, fishing for a way of escape, "Don't you have to work?"
"Nope." She said simply, staring expectantly at him.
An uncomfortable look overtook his face. He'd never told anyone about his past except Draco and he only knew the basics. But, if this is what it took to get Ginny back, then he'd tell her everything. His face became an emotionless mask as he said, "Alright, I'll tell you."
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Author's Note: lol, sorry about the cliffhanger but I just had to end it there. What did you think? I'll get the next chapter posted pretty quick so stay tuned and remember to REVIEW!
