Harry quickly followed him, dashing up the stairs three at a time. He found Draco in a small office area, bookshelves lining the walls.

"Draco, hurry up. We've got to go now." He hissed, glancing out the window. Harry cursed as he saw the cops pull up alongside Draco's silver Porsche, jumping out of the cars before heading up to the building.

"Draco, now." He exclaimed, grabbing his friend's arm as he tugged him towards the door.

Suddenly, the light flickered on in the room. Harry raised his hand, momentarily blinded by the sudden light as he strain to see around him. As he lowered his hand he looked around the room wildly, trying to see who had caught them. As his eyes locked on the figure, his heart went cold.

"Ginny?"

Chapter Twenty Eight: Partings

Green eyes locked with brown in an all too familiar situation. Ginny stood frozen in front of him, eyes wide with stunned disbelief.

Harry didn't even registered her brown haired friend behind her, the same girl he'd been joking to Ron about only hours ago. He didn't hear the door banging open below, didn't feel Draco pulling urgently at his arm. All he saw was the confused and deeply hurt eyes of the girl in front of him.

Cops ran up the stairs as Draco wiped off his mask, stuffing it in his bag.

"Hands in the air!" An officer yelled at them, pointing a gun towards Harry and Draco. Draco immediately help up his hands, cursing Harry for being so stupid. They had had enough time to run, why didn't he move?

Harry didn't hear the officer, he merely continued to stare at Ginny, mouth hanging slightly open. He was frozen, both his body and mind.

"I said hands up!" The officer yelled, coming at the teen before pushing him up against one of the bookshelves, pulling his hands behind his back. The feeling of his face being smashed against the books woke Harry from his dazed state. What the hell was happening?

He felt the cool steel of the metal cuffs clasp his hands together tightly as the office yanked him backwards with a firm grip, ready to lead him out the door.

Harry looked up to see Ginny still gaping at him. Harry opened his mouth to speak. He had to tell her, say something. Explain that it wasn't want it looked like. He wasn't here to steal, he had really changed. She had changed him. But his voice wasn't working.

"Wait." Ginny said to the officer as he began roughly pushing the two teens out the door. Harry's heart leapt at her voice, while her friend beside her stared at her in utter shock, wondering what she was doing. "There's been some sort of misunderstanding."

"What?" One of the officers questioned gruffly, swirling around to face the redhead.

"They're our friends." Ginny replied, tearing her eyes away from Harry, not able to look at him any longer.

"Then why'd you call us?"

Ginny looked away, trying to seem embarrassed, "We thought, we thought someone was really breaking in. We didn't know it was them." She gave the officer a convincing smile, "They must have been playing a prank on us."

Draco, seeing where Ginny was going with this, quickly spoke up. "Yeah, sorry we scared you guys so much. We really didn't mean to. We just thought it'd be funny."

Harry remained silent, trying to gaining Ginny's attention. She refused to look at him.

"Is this true?" The officer asked Hermione, who still stood behind Ginny, the shock having not left her face. Or maybe it had come back after hearing what Ginny was saying.

With a look from her friend that the officer didn't catch, she nodded slowly.

The officer shook his head, before pulling out his walkie talkie.

"This is officer Adams. The break in on Langley road is a false alarm. I repeat, it was a false alarm."

He then pulled out the keys to the cuffs before unlocking Harry, while the other officer unlocked Draco.

Harry stumbled slightly at the release as Draco came to stand beside him.

The officer gave them a fierce glare, "You shouldn't play pranks this sever on people. You scared the hell out of these two girls. I better not ever hear about anything like this again."

Draco nodded, "Of course Officer." He said solemnly.

He threw them one last glare before heading out the door, gesturing for his partner to follow.

They all stood still in the small library, listening as the cops below slowly left the house and returned back to their vehicles. The sounds of the cars' engines slowly drifted away, the cops with them.

Still nobody moved, as a thick silence settled down upon them.

"Ginny." Harry began, a desperate expression on his face, "I-"

"Get out." Came a cold voice from within her. Harry reeled back. That wasn't the voice of the Ginny he knew.

"Ginny, please, just listen-"

"Get out." She whispered, not looking at him.

"Let's go mate." Draco said, placing his hand on Harry's arm, before the raven haired teen violently shook it off.

"Ginny, look at me, please." He begged, stepping in front of her, trying to gain her attention. She slowly turned to look at him, her expression blank, but Harry saw her eyes. They betrayed her, showing the hurt and betrayal that she was trying to carefully hide.

"Ginny, I swear, this isn't what it looks like…"

The painful emotions were quickly swiped from her eyes, replaced by a fierce anger.

"Really?" She said softly, as she tore the duffle bag from Draco's clutches before dumping it out on the floor.

"What's this look like, huh Harry? WHAT'S IT LOOK LIKE!"

"Ginny… Let me explain…"

"No," She yelled, her face finally matching her eyes, "You lied to me, I trusted you-"

"Ginny," He croaked, his eyes pleading with her, "Please."

"I trusted you! I loved you! How-how could you…" She trailed off before turning away, not wanting Harry to see her tears.

Harry looked on desperately as the redhead before him moved away, crushed, all because of him. If she's just let him explain…

"Ginny, I didn't come here to steal."

"There's a bag full of crap that says otherwise." She whispered, still not looking at him.

"Ginny, I swear, I came in to get Draco. I didn't do anything." He took a step forward, placing his hand gently on her arm.

As quick as lightning, she flinched away. She finally looked up at him with cold eyes.

"Get out." The icy tone in her voice unmistakable.

Harry shook his head, "No, don't-"

"Get out." She said louder, balling her hands into fists as tears slowly began streaming down her face.

His heart plummeted, "Ginny."

"GET OUT!" She yelled, a sob finally escaping her lips.

"Ginny I-"

"Get him the hell out of here before I call the cops back." Ginny said to Draco, still staring at Harry.

Draco stepped up to his friend, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, let's get out of here mate."

"No," He said, trying to shrug Draco off. He started to panic as Draco tried to lead him out the door. "Ginny, just, please. Listen to me, give me a chance to explain."

"I gave you a chance, my whole family did." She replied, giving him a withering glare.

"But Ginny… No-" He said, pushing Draco off of him. He stepped up to Ginny.

"Listen-"

SMACK!

Harry clutched his cheek, a red hand print slowly appearing on his skin.

"We're through."

"No, no don't say that. Ginny-"

"I hate you." She hissed, her eyes burning with fire.

Harry tensed, his heart plummeting at her words. She couldn't hate him, it wasn't his fault.

Ginny picked up her cell phone, holding it in her hand. "You have ten seconds."

Draco's eyes widened as he forcefully dragged Harry out of the room, somehow managing to pull him to the car.

They rode in silence the entire way back. Draco looked over worriedly at his friend from time to time, who stared out the window, a vacant expression on his face.

Draco pulled over to the side of the road, before hustling over to the other side of the car, trying to get Harry inside as fast as he could. His friend just needed a breather, and maybe a can or two of beer. He'd be fine.

"Come on mate, let's get you inside." He said, helping the lifeless Harry out of the car before leading him up the stairs to their flat. Once inside, he sat Harry down in his chair before going into the fridge and pulling out two beers. He cracked one open, placing it in his friend's hand as he cracked his own open, standing a few feet in front of him.

The room was silent for nearly ten minutes as Harry gazed transfixed at the carpet below him, while Draco looked on at his friend.

"Harry." Draco said, trying to gain his friend's attention. "Harry?"

He got no response from the teen in front of him.

Draco decided to leave him alone and went back to his room, flipping on the TV. He just needed some space.

Forty minutes later he came back out, figuring that was more than enough time. He was surprised to find Harry in the same exact position he had left him in, still as stone. His face was pale and his eyes glazed, the beer in his hand completely untouched.

Draco sighed, walking up to his friend. He took the beer from out of his hand, placing it gently on the table.

"Look, you're better off without her." He said rather unsympathetically, raising his can of beer to his lips.

Harry suddenly shot up, knocking the drink out of his hands before taking the blonde by complete surprise and punching him square in the face.

"What the fuck." Draco exclaimed, stumbling backwards into the TV, nearly knocking it over. "What the hell is your problem?"

"What's my problem? What's my problem!?" Harry yelled in amazement. "Thanks to you, my whole life is going down the drain. Everything I've built up with Ginny, gone in a second because of you!"

Draco scoffed, "Come on, there are plenty of fish in the sea, she wasn't doing you any good. You could do so much better, you've been with a hell of a lot of girls prettier than her. And besides, if she was your whole life, it's good that you cut her loose now and find a girl that'll let you really live, not weigh you down."

Rage fueled Harry as he dove at Draco, sending them crashing to the floor.

"You son of a bitch!" Harry bellowed, punching the teen once again in the face.

"Get off me!" Draco yelled, trying to defend himself. He rolled them both over, trying to get out from underneath Harry and his flying fists. He struggled to get up but finally pushed Harry away and staggered backwards.

Harry immediately jumped up, swinging his fist at Draco, connecting with his mouth.

Draco flew backwards by the force of the punch, tumbling to the floor. He stayed on the ground, touching the blood that was slowly dribbling out of his bottom lip. He looked up to a fuming Harry.

"Get up." Harry said, deathly calm. Draco had never seen him this angry before.

"Like hell I am." Draco replied.

"GET UP!" He roared, coming over to pull the blonde up. When he was up, Harry pulled his fist back before smashing it in Draco's face. The blonde hit the wall behind him, momentarily dazed before he ducked quickly, avoiding another hit from the crazed teen.

He avoided another punch, his foot crushing the can of beer on the floor, before getting angry himself. He wasn't feeling very sympathetic anymore. He'd done nothing wrong and Harry was going to act like this towards him? Not bloody likely.

Draco pushed Harry back before popping him in the face, blood immediately coming from his friend's nose. Harry faltered for a moment, stepping back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Draco exclaimed, keeping an eye on Harry. He was breathing heavily, bent over trying to catch his breath. "Look you're upset, whatever, but don't take it out on me."

"Why not?" Harry jeered, "It's all your damn fault."

Draco's eyes bugged out, "What!? How is it my fault? I didn't know they'd be there. It was an honest mistake."

"You mean to tell me that you randomly picked a house and they just 'happened' to be there!?"

"Yes." Draco replied truthfully. It was a weird coincidence, sure, but it was honestly just that. He thought for a second about laughing at the irony. Out of all the houses out there, they picked the one with the same two people again. But one look at his friend's face, and he decided otherwise.

"Bullshit. And if you do happen to be telling the truth, which would be a first, this wouldn't have bloody happened if you would have just stayed in the car and gone home! Or if you'd never have dragged me out there to begin with. You knew I wouldn't want to come but you fucking did it anyways!"

Draco threw up his hands, "It's not my fault that your girlfriend was there."

"It's your fault I was there. I'd still be with her right now if it weren't for you!"

"Please," Draco laughed, "If anything I did you a favor."

Harry stared at him, gob smacked, "How the hell did you do me any favors?"

"You're better off without her. She was just dragging you down, making you forget who you really are. You were bloody whipped. She had you wrapped around her finger. Making you ditch your own best friend for her."

Harry clenched his fist, kicking the wall beside him as hard as he could. The plaster cracked, making a large indent where his foot had just been.

"My God Draco, stop acting like a damn two year old. You're acting like you fucking fancy me or something. She didn't make me do anything! It's your own fault you have a problem with me being a better person, I'm not going to stop just because you're upset. Grow up. She finally made me see that what I've been doing since I was ten was wrong. It's against the law to steal Draco. If Ginny hadn't of spoken up tonight and saved our arses, we'd both be in jail right now!"

"If you wouldn't have stood there like a damn idiot, we wouldn't have needed her help. And everything was perfectly fine before she came along. You act as if your life was so miserable. You had a nice place, money, girls… the perfect life."

"I wasn't happy."

"You seemed pretty happy to me getting laid nearly every night. And now look at you, so upset over a girl dumping you. The old you would have just rolled it off your shoulders. You've changed, just bloody admit it. And you're only changing because she wants you to, she wouldn't have taken you otherwise! She rejected you the second she found out who you really are. Then when you promised to change, to 'be a better person' she took you back. She molded you into her perfect little boyfriend." Draco ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "Don't you see what you are to her? You're her charity case of the year! No good girl in their right mind would go for a guy like you. Not for a relationship anyways. They'd have their fun with you for a while before tossing you to the side. You don't see that's all you are to her? She's changed you into a good, upstanding citizen." He prattled sarcastically, "Bottom line is, you're a fucking charity case!"

Harry had been ignoring Draco's words for the most part, but that part had stung.

"I was not her bloody charity case. What the hell is your problem with her? They were nothing but nice to you and you threw it back in their faces. And the fact of the matter is, she loved me before you went and screwed it up."

"She didn't love you, she loved what she made you. This is who you are." He said, spreading his arms wide open to the room, "You steal, you go to clubs, you love getting into flights with blokes and you hook up with a new hot girl every week."

"That's who I was Draco. Dammit why don't you listen? I CHANGED! My life was getting me no where Draco. What was I going to do, party my whole life? Steal and eventually get caught again and get sent to jail this time? Get into a brawl at the bar one night and get seriously hurt or even die, like the guy with the pipe who nearly pummeled you in the alley? Sorry for not wanting that life Draco, sounds like a dream." He said mockingly, "She made me see I could be a better person. That I could do more with my life. Be happy, have the life I would have normally had if my parents hadn't died. Not this crappy one of beer, girls, and drunken fights."

He paused for a moment before rounding on Draco once again, "What future do you have Draco? Are you going to be a thirty year old bum? Still stealing from people's houses? Getting laid every night by a different, random slut? Or are you going to get caught one of these times when I'm not there to save your sorry arse and wind up in prison? I'm trying to make something out of myself. I want a future. What do you want?"

The two teens stared at one another, neither backing down from the fight. Eventually though, the silence was broken by a disgusted Draco, who shook his head.

"I want a fun life, the life I was having before you went and got all soft on me. You know what?" Draco replied, "I'm done with this bullshit. I'm tired of being friends with a kill joy who only likes to please his demanding girlfriend, trying to be a goody-goody. Tired of being friends with a pansy. Call me when you grow back a pair mate." Draco said, as he grabbed his jacket, wallet and keys, walking out into the hall before slamming the door shut.

Harry stared at the closed door, his heartbeat slowly returning back to normal. If Draco wanted to leave, that was perfectly fine with him. He didn't need the drama queen any longer. He only did him more harm than good. Screw him.

Harry walked into his room, slamming the door shut. The force of the slam caused the door to rattle on it's hinges for several seconds as Harry made his way over to his bed. Flopping down onto the mattress, he buried his face into the pillow, gripping the blankets tightly. He just needed a good nights sleep and he'd talk to Ginny tomorrow. He was sure things would work out in the end. Ginny would listen to him, just like she had before.

Everything was going to turn out fine.

--

A/N: Wow, it's been a long while since I've updated. Sorry for the long wait guys. To make it up to you, I'll post another chapter shortly, within the hour. It's ridiculous how long I've dragged this story out for. I've just been trying to get a heard start on a few other stories I want to get posted. So, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me what you think, and thanks for all the reviews!