NOTE AND APOLOGY: I want to clarify something. There is a very important reason for why I had Blaise and Pansy do what they did. I never intended for someone to get hurt in the process; it just happened that way. Stories write themselves; we are just their pawns. Besides, people DO get hurt in real life. Not everything is puppies and rainbows.

Anyway, I do apologize if some of you are not happy with the way things turned out, but they had to happen that way. I had to get Anne out of the picture somehow. Not only for Pansy and Blaise, but because she is needed later in the story. Blaise would never admit that he likes Pansy, and Pansy would never admit she likes Blaise. There has always been attraction between them but they refuse to admit it.

If Blaise did have feelings for Anne, and only thought Pansy was attractive, no matter how drunk he got, he would never cheat on Anne. He is not a cheater, and he WILL beat himself up over this. He gets very depressed about it, and so does Pansy. She's not one to do that to someone, rival or not.

I have something planned for Anne; a happy ending, so don't worry. Also, she knew her relationship with Blaise wasn't doing well, but she really liked him, so she kept telling herself to ignore it and keep going. Just please believe me when I say this needed to happen, and you will soon find out why. It is crucial to the story.

Enjoy!

I go around a time or two

Just to waste my time with you

Tell me all that you've thrown away

Find out games you don't wanna play

Sunlight filtered into the room from the enchanted windows, flitting across Pansy's face. She shook her head a little, and opened her eyes. She turned her body away from the sunlight with a groan, and saw a room that wasn't hers… and a body that wasn't supposed to be in her bed.

She sat up, the movement jolting Blaise awake. "Wa's wrong?"

"Blaise! I'm in your room!"

"So?"

"I slept here last night!"

"… Okay?"

"Blaise… don't you remember anything?" she asked, now frantic and slightly disappointed.

But then, his eyes shot open and he sat up. "Oh my god… I… Anne!"

"What?" Pansy looked hurt, and he quickly tried to let her know what he was thinking.

"Anne. She left the party because I got shit-faced. You and I both got shit-faced. We went to my room and… oh MERLIN. Pansy! I don't cheat! I'm not a cheater!" Blaise looked so upset, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"Blaise… you're not a cheater –"

"How can I not be a cheater when I did this to her?! I have to explain… I have to break up with her. She'll never take this in stride. She's too conservative, and she doesn't deserve this."

Then it really hit her. "Blaise, we're best friends!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Best friends don't do things like this with each other! We had sex, Blaise! Sex!"

"Pansy."

"I can't believe how drunk we got!"

"PANSY."

"How could I have been so stupid?"

"PANSY!"

"What?!"

"Why are you freaking out?"

"Because we –"

"Slept together, I know. But… you regret it?"

Pansy's heart gave a lurch when she realized she sounded like she didn't want this to happen, and her face fell at Blaise's innocent-sounding words. "No, Blaise… that's not what I meant… I… of course I wanted it… just… not like that. And I thought you didn't have feelings for me."

She looked away, but he took her chin in his hand and gently made her look at him. "Neither did I, but it did happen, and all we can do now is move forward instead of continuing to ignore our feelings for each other. I do have feelings for you, Pansy. A lot. I always have… and… maybe…" He hesitated.

"Maybe what?" she asked in anticipation.

"Maybe this happened for a reason. Maybe we would never have gotten together if this didn't happen. I want to take things very slowly, especially because I'm going to be sad about what I did to Anne for a long time... but I would also like to be with you. If you want to. I've just never had the courage to tell you."

She beamed. "I would love that."

He looked relieved, and really happy. "I really want this to last and I don't want to mess it up."

"Me neither. But you do have to break up with Anne."

"I know… I think we should wait a while until we really start dating. It wouldn't be fair to her because she'd feel like I dropped her and she meant nothing to me at all, and it wouldn't be fair to you because people would call you a whore and a 'boyfriend stealer.'" He took a deep breath. "I won't mess this up… will I?"

"I can mess it up just as easily as you can, but no, I don't think you could do anything to mess it up. Yes, it's fresh, but we have an advantage that most couples don't. I've known you since I was born, and we've been best friends since. We know each other in and out, just not as a couple. But even if we do screw it up, I'll still love you because you're my best friend and you always will be."

"I love you, too, you know. As a friend!… For now, anyway." Pansy couldn't stop the smile that was spreading across her face. "I think I just made your day. Or week, whichever you prefer. Year, maybe?"

She swatted his arm. "You have no idea."

"I can't believe I didn't ask you out before this… I've always wanted to, for as long as I can remember. I'm so sorry for not being a man and just doing it."

"I've been waiting that long." Blaise pulled her to him and kissed her softly. He then kissed her passionately, and they came out of it breathless. "Blaise?"

"Hm?"

"I know we slept together last night, but… that was under the influence of alcohol, and not what we would have done had we not been drunk. I'd… like to wait, I guess, a little while at least, before we do that again."

"I agree with you. Like I said, I want to take this slowly so we don't mess it up. Though I can't see how you could possibly mess anything up."

She smiled. "Anyone can."

"And… I'm really torn up about Anne…" His face went from happy to depressed in about a second.

She pulled him gently back so that he was lying next to her and they woke up two hours later, only then realizing that they had fallen asleep.

"Ginny… Gin, get up."

"Mmm."

"Red, come on. Wake up."

"Iduwanna."

"It's twelve in the afternoon. We both have homework to do, and your friends will wonder where you are. Plus, there's that map to be wary of."

Ginny groaned. She moved onto her back, her body feeling pleasantly sore from their activities last night. "I have the map. Give me one good reason to get out of bed." So Draco stood and walked around the bed to stand in front of her in all his glory, just out of her reach. She made a frustrated noise when she reached for him but he was too far away. "That's not fair! I was talking about something along the lines of pleasure." She pouted, which made him laugh.

"Work awaits us, darling."

"Don't you talk to me like I'm your wife, dear. I want your body and I want it now!" He took a few steps back, laughing and taking great pleasure in getting her riled up. He just wanted her to stand so he could see her naked. Which she eventually did, after getting too fed up to care about staying in bed anymore. He started to harden just by the sight of her, which she was well aware of and used that to her advantage every time they were together. "Oh now you want to play."

He took her in his arms. She almost purred when he kissed her. "You are so beautiful…"

Her heart skipped a beat when he said this, which wasn't often but was slowly becoming more frequent. She cherished every time it happened. She didn't think he loved her. She didn't even think she loved him, but she was becoming very confused these days. She was growing more and more fond of him, more protective of him, and there was a definite change in his attitude and protectiveness towards her from when they first got involved to now. The problem was, she was always someone who needed to know what was going on, everything that was happening, and she had no idea of where they were going with this relationship. She was scared of losing him, and it was those times when she fancied herself in love with him, but then she thought about it more, and decided she was not.

And then, there was the sex. It was positively mind blowing. He could be a little rough and adventurous, or gentle and sweet, like last night.

Flashback

"Draco, this is…"

"A surprise?"

"A very pleasant surprise."

He felt giddy and pleased, emotions he isn't used to feeling. They had reached Draco's portrait hole after making sure Hermione wasn't in the common room and climbed the stairs. When Draco opened the door was when Ginny's jaw dropped and she was put at a loss for words.

The room was filled with everlasting candles and a heavenly scent that smelled like sandalwood incense. With a wave of his wand, soft music came on and he led her to the bed. He slowly lifted her shirt and she raised her arms above her head to make it easier for him. He followed the rise and fall of her breasts with his eyes, taking in her body hungrily. He wanted to be gentle, though, and make this a very sensual experience. He was rarely sensual, and he has wanted to be more recently for reasons he couldn't explain.

"I love how comfortable you've become with me," he said. She blushed lightly. He reached around her to unclasp her bra, leaning in a little more to feel her chest on his; something he had started to do lately, and she certainly didn't mind.

Her bra fell away but, before he could go further, he took his pants off. She looked at him with a puzzled expression, and he grinned sheepishly.

"They were getting way too tight."

She chuckled and pulled down on his boxers. Once they were gone, she took him into her mouth and he shivered. Every time she did that was ecstasy. She was a drug, and he was addicted to her. Every look, every touch, was intoxicating. "Ginny… stop, Ginny, or you'll make me explode."

She sat up and smirked. "Isn't that what you want?"

"When I'm in you, yes."

She slid off the bed and stood, slowly swishing her hips from side to side as she slid her skirt off. It piled on the floor at her feet and she stepped out of it. He went after her, pulling off his own shirt, having discarded his cape when they first entered the room. He grabbed her butt and pulled her to him, pressing their bodies together. They gasped at the contact, and Draco backed her into the wall. He began to grind against her and she moved with him until she could not stand it any longer. She pushed him away from her and led him to the bed. Somehow, on the way, her underwear vanished. It was somewhere on the floor; she'd find it later.

When she was on her back, he held her hips steady and slid into her. They started at a slow pace, which was agonizingly pleasurable, but if they continued like that, it would be over too soon. He moved faster and faster, then slowed down again. She knew he was teasing her, but she took pleasure in knowing that it was teasing him, too.

End flashback

Yes, there was the sex. He was so wonderfully gentle sometimes. It was that kind of sex she loved the most. She could believe he loved her and she him, and not worry about anything. It was when it was over, the day after, when she would begin to worry again. She was full of confusion but was too scared to bring it up with him. Apparently, she didn't have to be scared of that any longer, for he did it for her.

"Ginny?"

His innocent sounding use of her name brought her out of her thoughts and she looked at him. "Yes?"

"I think I lost you for a minute, there."

"Oh, sorry."

"What were you thinking about?"

And once she was sure of her decision, of their relationship, he would go and ask something like that. Before she got involved with him, she thought of him as a person who only got involved with women to have sex with them, not to ask about their thoughts. And she definitely didn't think they would last as long as they had.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Tell me."

"I… I really don't want to talk about it with you… just yet, at least."

"Please?"

How could she refuse him? That face, that voice? "I… I don't want to, but you asked, so please don't… don't leave me just because I'm telling you – "

"Whoa wait, leave you? You're afraid I'm going to leave you?" Her eyes became glassy, and he pulled her to him again, resting his chin on her right shoulder. "Ginny, why are you afraid of that?"

"Because I used to think of you as the kind of person who would get bored of someone after a while. I know you better than that now, but it's still in my mind and I can't get it out… and I don't know where we're going with this… and… I didn't think I'd get attached... and I'm scared of what'll happen now that you know..."

He pulled his head away from her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. "Ginny, listen to me. I have never been in a relationship where I didn't care about the girl. They just never worked out. I understand your want for an answer, but I honestly don't have a definitive one yet. I don't know where this is going, either. I've never been with someone as long as I've been with you, and, to tell you the truth – at first, I thought this would just be a fling. But I realized that it was more than that a while ago. It's not just sex to me, Gin. I… do… care about you." She knew that was hard for him to say, which made her cherish it all the more. "So, I may not know where this is going, but I don't want it to stop."

She leaned in to kiss him, and smiled. "Thank you."

He smiled at her, and kissed her again. "Let's just see where this goes. I only want you, no one else. Just us."

"I assumed it was," she answered. "I just wasn't sure."

"So did I, but I wanted to clarify that while we're on this subject. I wanted to know if that's what you wanted, too."

"I'm monogamous. I would never even dream of going off to someone else, especially after being burned so badly. I just never thought that I would be involved with you, or any Slytherin, at that."

He smirked. "You just couldn't resist me, huh?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, I couldn't."

He let his forehead rest on hers, and looked into her wonderfully brown eyes, her face blurred by his eyes trying to focus because he was so close to her. "We should get going."

She sighed. "Fine… I do have work to do."

"So do I. If you want, I can find Blaise, Pansy, Zack, and Theo and we can all meet up downstairs in my common room. Ask your brothers and Rora and… the people I can stand. I can't remember all of their names."

Ginny laughed. "I'll see who wants to come. But I have to get work done! Not hang out."

"I know. We usually do work together. I find it easier to get things done with people around me."

"I'll go back to Gryffindor to get my stuff and ask them." She turned around to get her clothes when she felt a warm hand squeeze her butt. She whirled around and was caught in Draco's strong arms, then properly kissed.

"If I didn't have so much work to do, you'd be on my bed begging for mercy."

She shivered. "I wouldn't beg for mercy. I'd beg for more."

He kissed her again and reluctantly released her, hard once again. "You already have me," he said, smiling. She smiled back and retrieved her clothes. They quietly snuck downstairs, made sure Hermione wasn't in the common room, and left, each going their separate ways.

"You did WHAT?!"

"I cheated on her, Draco. I cheated!" Blaise held his head in his hands, on the verge of a breakdown.

"With Pansy!" Blaise nodded. "Have you told Anne yet?" He shook his head. "Merlin… Blaise, you have to tell her before this gets out."

"She's such a good person! She doesn't deserve this!" he nearly shouted.

"I know but it happened, and you can't fix the past. What's done is done and all you can do now is move on and try to make this as easy on her as possible."

"Draco, I don't cheat. I'm not a cheater! WHY DID I DO THIS?"

"Because you were beyond shit-faced and when people are drunk, their emotions are amplified. If you still had feelings for Anne, you wouldn't have chea… er, had sex with Pansy. This tells you that you no longer have feelings for her. Honestly, mate, you and Pans have been impossible these past few years. It's clear you both really like each other to everyone but yourselves. It's about time."

"But why did it have to happen THIS way? Why Anne? Why couldn't I have been dating a whore who deserves this?"

"Maybe this had to happen. Everything happens for a reason, Blaise. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"How can I not?" he asked so innocently. "How could I have done this to her? She asked me to stop drinking! If I had just listened to her and not made that awful comment about her being a cage to me, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Maybe not, but then, you wouldn't have shacked up with Pansy and your relationship would continue with being boring and uneventful while you and Pansy continue to skirt around the issue."

"Draco that's not the point… I can't believe I… I don't DO things like this. I'm not a bad person!"

Draco actually saw tears filling up his best friend's eyes, and his heart gave a squeeze. "I… I'm sorry, mate. I don't know what to tell you other than that. But you're not a bad person." He put a hand on Blaise's shoulder. "I suggest you talk to her today. Now would be the best time. Go find her, tell her exactly what you told me, and hope for the best."

"The best? What would the best be? Anne's depression? Her broken heart? People pitying her?"

"I don't know, but whatever it will be, it will be the best of what she could feel. At least you're not some uncaring bloke who would just blow her off and break her heart even more." Blaise hid his eyes in his hands to hide his tears. Best friend or not, Blaise did not want Draco to see him like this. "I'm going back to my common room to meet up with people and do some work. Join us when you're done talking to her and bring me aside to tell me what happened."

"Okay…"

Draco got up and, with a forlorn look at his best friend, left the room. 'Well, I guess Blaise and Pansy aren't coming to study with us…'

"Come in." Blaise opened the door when he heard his girlfriend's voice. He was so glad Salazar Slytherin thought placing girls and boys in separate dorms was pointless. "Oh, hi."

"Hi…"

When she saw the depressed expression on his face, she got worried. "Blaise? What's wrong?"

"Anne, I…" 'I can't cry. Even if I do, she'll think I am trying to manipulate her.'

"You're worrying me," she said.

"I… don't know how to start… what I want to say."

"Start from the beginning."

"I don't know where the beginning is."

"I don't know, Blaise, just tell me! You're worrying me!"

"You don't deserve me," he blurted out.

Her big brown eyes widened. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Because I'm a dirty asshole who deserves to be with nothing better than a whore, and you are better than a princess."

"Blaise, what are you going on about?" She was really worried, now. She had no idea what he did, but she figured Pansy had something to do with it. Her heart hammered in her chest – she was going to lose him.

"I… I should have listened to you, Anne. I'm sorry for drinking, I'm sorry for snapping at you and calling you my cage. You're not! You're everything but. I was just annoyed, I guess… and I'm sorry. After you left, I… drank so much more, and… I can barely remember what happened but I do know what happened…"

"What happened?"

"I… woke up this morning, and…" Cursed tears! They would not stop! He furiously brushed them away. "I'm sorry for not being able to control myself… I'm not trying to manipulate you and make you feel sorry for me. I woke up with… with Pansy in… my bed…" He cringed at Anne's harsh intake of breath. "I know this is cliché to say, but I really did not EVER mean to hurt you. EVER. I did mean to talk to you about our relationship… but I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted this to happen. I never thought about… cheating… ever. I'm not a cheater, Anne. I'm not."

Tears were running down her cheeks, now. "You were… drunk…"

"No, don't you try to make excuses for me. Being drunk is NOT an excuse. If you really love someone, you would never cheat on them. I'm so sorry. I don't… love you. I thought I did, but I don't. I don't love Pansy, either, but I… do have feelings for her. Don't make excuses for a dirty rotten scumbag. And don't take pity on me, either. I know you. You're compassionate and you see good in everyone. You would try to write this off as a mistake. It was a mistake, but it still happened, and it didn't mean nothing. I won't say it did. I won't lie to you. You're too good of a person to deserve something like this. I'm sorry for breaking down in front of you; I don't mean to try to get pity from you, or anything other than anger, which you should feel."

Anne had stayed silent during his monologue until she was sure he'd finished. Her shock clearly showed in her eyes, and her sadness on her face. "I… always knew you and Pansy were close. I didn't think you two would have feelings for each other… but… as our relationship went on, I noticed subtle things. You would look at each other shyly, you would show body language of two people who needed to realize their feelings for each other… and I pushed it away. I told myself it wasn't true. That I loved you and that I would always be with you. I noticed your withdrawal from me and I should have talked to you. I should have spoken to you about it but I didn't because I was so scared. I was a coward. But… I never thought you would cheat on me. I always thought of you as a good, genuine person."

"And now?" he asked quietly, expecting the worst.

"I still think you are."

"What? But I just did what you never thought I would do this. Why do you still see any good in me? You should be angry!"

"Because you are a good person, Blaise. I will never forgive you for what you did… but I won't lie because of my anger and pain and say you are not. You came to me right away and told me what happened, and that is something to be admired. I… I need some time to think. Please leave."

"Anne…"

"Please," she said more forcefully.

Blaise got up and left with a heavy heart and depression settling in.

I hope I cleared things up for people. I hope you liked this chapter, too. It is sad…but I do promise that Anne will get a happy ending.