~*~
"Ginny?"
Ginny jumped and whipped her head around.
"Harry!" she breathed. "You frightened me!"
"Sorry," he mumbled, blushing slightly. Ginny shook her head.
"Don't be silly. It's ok. Sit down," she gestured next to her on the
huge sofa that filled one end of the Gryffindor Common Room. It was an
unearthly hour, she wasn't sure what, and the fire had died down to a gentle
glow. "Are you ok?"
"That's what I wanted to ask you," he said quickly. "Ginny,
please, tell me, what happened that night...was it to do with Malfoy?"
Ginny opened her mouth to deny that anything had happened, but thought twice.
She simply nodded shortly, looking down at her hands, her heart thumping
wildly.
"Tell me, Ginny," Harry encouraged gently. "Tell me what
happened. You've been a totally different person since that night. You need to
talk to someone about what's troubling you." Ginny remained silent.
"And as Head Boy, that's an order."
She smiled slightly, and her pulse relaxed. This was Harry, who she'd
known since she was ten years old, she could tell him anything... This was also
Harry whom she was wildly in love with.
"Oh, Harry, I don't know..." she began doubtfully, but was quickly
interrupted.
"No, Ginny, it's not good enough. Tell me."
Ginny looked into Harry's eyes. They looked like eternal wells of sympathy and
understanding. "Promise," she whispered, "promise you won't
judge me."
"Ginny," he took hold of her hands in his. "It's me. You know I
would never judge you."
She nodded resolutely, and began. "It started months ago. We started doing
these stupid eye games... we would just stare at each other from across the
Great Hall, see who would look away first. I always did, of course. He easily
outstared me." Harry smiled encouragingly, and nodded at her to go on.
"That's all it had ever been. Every meal time, though, I'd feel so
strange...it was almost excitement, I guess, I don't know what it was that made
it exciting. It was Draco Malfoy, I guess, most of the Slytherin girls would
kill to get a look in with him, and he was paying me this extra attention...I
didn't understand why he did it, but that attention felt good, you know?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Not really," he snorted softly. "I've
always had to deal with unwanted attention, unfortunately. But I know what you
mean, I think. Carry on."
"Okay. That night, I had been in Professor Flitwick's office, he had
recommended some books to help me with Banishing Charms. He droned on and on
about them, and by the time I was walking down to Gryffindor Tower it was
pretty late. I bumped into Draco. He asked me to follow him...and I did. Please
don't ask me why, Harry, I don't really know why... No other boy - aside from
my brothers - had ever paid me any attention before I guess. It flattered
me."
Harry looked offended. "I pay you attention, Gin."
"Not in that way you don't," Ginny said rather too quickly, and
blushed furiously. They both paused for a moment. "Anyway. He took me
to..." she trailed off, realising that now she had started she would have
had to tell Harry exactly where they were. It felt like a bucket of ice cold
water being thrown over her head.
"Where, Gin?"
Tears stung at the back of Ginny's eyes. She felt them well up, and a tear
trickling down her cheek. She felt so ashamed. Harry had never been anything
but lovely to her, and look at the way she had paid him back.
"I can't...I can't tell you," she wept softly, burying her face in
her hands. Once again Harry's arms encircled her, his cheek rested on top of
her head.
"Come on, Ginny," he whispered softly. His warm breath tickled her
ear, and she wanted nothing more than to reach up and kiss him. But she
wouldn't. Harry didn't deserve her - he deserved someone a lot, lot better.
"It was in your office," she mumbled into his soft chest, and felt
his arms tense up around her body. She kept her face covered by her hands, too
ashamed to look up. He let go of her, and remained silent. "I'm so, so sorry
Harry." Ginny was now sobbing uncontrollably. "I didn't know that's
where he was taking me. He didn't tell me where we were 'till we were inside...
it was too late by then. I'm sorry, please Harry, I'm so sorry..."
"What happened." Harry's voice had lost some of its warmth. Ginny,
petrified, went on.
"He kissed me. And I kissed him back - Harry you have to understand that
no one else had ever shown any interest in me except Neville Longbottom in
third year! I was so touched that any boy would want to even touch me, let
alone -"
"Don't be stupid," Harry interrupted darkly. Ginny looked at him
questioningly. "Of course boys would want to touch you and kiss you,
Ginny." Her heart felt as if it had stopped, and she felt the familiar
jelly-like sensations in her legs. "Look at you. You're...you're very
pretty," he mumbled the last words, and Ginny felt her heart rise, she had
to struggle to keep a grin from spreading across her face. "Carry
on," he demanded, and Ginny didn't feel as happy when she remembered the
ugly task ahead of her.
"Uh, that was it. He just kissed me. And then I ran out of the room and
fell over - that's how I cut my face - and ripped my robes."
Very slowly, Harry arched an eyebrow. "That's not it, Ginny. I think
you're forgetting that I've known you for seven years now. I can tell when
you're lying. You look just like your brother."
Ginny felt herself well up again. She had no choice. She had to tell Harry the
horrendous truth about that night. "He pushed me onto the sofa," she
continued. "And then we...he...we slept together." Ginny bit her lip
hard to try and keep back the tears. She couldn't bring herself to look at
Harry's face, so instead concentrated on the fire, watching the small flames
lap at the firewood.
"And the cut?" Harry asked in monotone after what seemed like hours.
"I got up to leave, I realised what I'd done, and he asked me for a
goodbye kiss." Ginny cringed at the memory. "I refused, obviously,
but he slammed me against the wall. I tried to turn my head so he couldn't get
to me..." she felt herself break down, and the tears started anew, freely
coursing her cheeks. "And he hit me...that's how my cheek got swollen. I
landed on the ground and cut my forehead, and he pulled me up. I was so shocked
at what he'd just done that I let him, and when I tore away from him I caught
my robes. That's the truth Harry. Please, I'm begging you not to tell anyone. I
know you probably hate me but -"
"That BASTARD!" Harry yelled, suddenly standing up, furiously
slamming his fist on the mantelpiece above the fireplace.
"Harry, be quite, you'll wake everyone up!" Ginny said shrilly,
feeling a rise of panic inside her. Harry looked livid, his eyes glinted
manically, his face was bright red and his breathing was fast and heavy. He
looked at Ginny expressionlessly for a second.
"Right, that's it." His face looked determined, and in several long
strides he climbed out of the portrait hole.
"Harry!" Ginny cried. Her heart sunk. Where was he going? She knew
what she had to do. She struggled to her feet, and set off after him.