A/N: I just want to say… you're all mad, all of you… you need to calm down a little bit, and stop panicking every time something happens with our Draco. And to answer a question, yep Eleanor had a thing for Draco… well, who wouldn't, hehe. OK chapter 4, get reading!

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Chapter 4

Nothing's Changed… Everything's Changed

Maybe I just wanna touch you

Feel you warm inside again

Maybe I just wanna hurt you

The sweetest pleasure is pain

I don't know why, why

But I love to see you cry

I don't know why, why

It just makes me feel alive.

Are you coming… to the moment

When you know your heart can break?

I'm inside you, I'm around you

I just wanna hear you cry again.

~ Enrique Iglesias, Love To See You Cry

No one had ever seen so many owls arrive at the Poppy, which was the name that had been given to Colin and Ginny's cottage after Poppy was born, the plan was to pass the cottage on through the generations. So anyway, Wednesday morning came around and Ginny found two owls sitting outside the kitchen window. The first letter read as follows…

Dear Gin,

Good news, Harry found out that Cho's expecting again, that's why she was acting all… dare I say it? Yeah I do, that's why she was being bitchy! Can't argue though, we all saw it… never seen her like that. So Harry told me to tell you anyway, he said he would of wrote himself but they've decided to go on a last minute holiday to celebrate, no doubt he'll owl you sometime soon.

I'll be up at the end of the week anyhow, I'll see you then.

Luv ya, Ron xx

That letter was brought by the ever faithful Pigwidgeon, who ended up flying around the house six times before knocking himself out on the bathroom door, and falling onto the floor in a heap of feathers. Kept Poppy entertained for the entire morning. She kept shrieking 'Pig go bang! Pig go bang!' which only entertained Ginny for ten minutes, because after that it just became annoying.

Ginny had chosen to try and forget her visit from Draco the other day, or David Martin as Eleanor had said, it needed to be ignored. She had to face facts though, El had said he'd freaked slightly when finding out she was married, so maybe it was for the best if she didn't try to find him. It had to be for the best.

The second letter she'd received on Wednesday morning was from a rather annoyed, and rather stressed out Hermione. Ginny could only imagine he face while she'd sat and written the letter…

Ginny,

It's Hermione. I needed to talk to you about something, this something is Ron. He's being really annoying recently. Do you know why? I thought you might… he talks to you. I would ask Harry but that's just embarrassing. So, do you?

The simple answer was yes, Ginny did know, but she thought it would be better if Ron told Hermione himself, so she didn't bother to owl her back. The letter continued on to say…

Is it alright if I come to yours on Saturday for a chat? I need a break; the Ministry's wearing me down, even my apartment is. I mean there is only so much magical cleaning you can do before you need to break out the old Muggle cooker cleaner. Never again. Next time I'm sharing with someone. Let me know about the chat, and Ron.

Yours truly, Hermione xxx

Thursday was quiet owl wise, but then when Friday came Ginny even found a letter stuffed into a milk bottle on the doorstep, she soon found out why. The letter seemed to be very small by the looks of things, and Ginny removed the piece of black ribbon tying it and throwing it onto the kitchen counter. She lifted herself to sitting and unrolled the parchment, reading.

G.W.

Why didn't you tell me before? I should have been first to know. You could have just sent out a random owl, I would have received it I'm sure. What happened to waiting? All right this may be a little pompous, but I feel I'm owed an explanation.

If you care at all about us and what we had meet me at the chestnut tree on the hill at the edge of town, you know where I mean, at sunset.

D.M.

P.S. I never stopped loving you.

Ginny's chest tightened as she read over the words again, forgetting it was obviously not an option, he wasn't going to let her. Closing her eyes she dropped the parchment, bringing her hands to her chest and clutching her robes between her fingertips. She wasn't sure it was even possible to still love someone you'd tried to forget after eight years. What would happen if she met up with him? Did he really still love her? She wanted to cry, she really wanted to cry, just sit there all day and cry until she couldn't cry anymore. Relieve herself of the pain that had built up gradually over the years. She'd known one day she'd crack, who'd have known it would be a lazy morning in August.

Jumping off the counter Ginny raced into the bedroom and threw herself onto the bed as the tears began, very mild as first, soft muffled sobs, the occasional glassy tear slipping down her cheek and leaving a wet mark on the blue bed sheets. After around five minutes her chest started to ache and she was literally screaming into the pillows, her breathing coming in heavy gasps and always laced with sobbing. She couldn't stop, she needed to, but she couldn't. Keeping the pain locked up had been a bad idea, and she knew that now, but when Draco had first left she'd convinced herself he'd be back soon and they could carry on as if nothing had happened.

That was too good to be true.

Passion can be good, passion can be bad. It can be the best feeling in the world, giving a sense of utter fulfilment, it can also be the worst, eating at you everyday until you eventually breakdown. Either way, it is one of the strongest feelings in the world. Most people learn the hard way, there are a few who don't, but mostly it's the hard way.

Adrenaline that flows through your veins can urge you to carry on, but only for a certain amount of time. Eventually though, it all stops, you give in… the adrenaline fades away, and you're left empty, never knowing the same feeling again. You have to crawl your way through the world once more, pleading to find some sense of happiness, begging to feel the way you felt before. Once passion is gone, it's gone…

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Sunset crept over the hill speedily, the beams of gold seeping away and disappearing to the darkness. Draco watched as the clouds became darker, a pink glow radiating on them from the setting sun. It was beautiful. He rested his chin on his knees watching the clouds move around, gradually making their way across the sky in the gentle wind. If the circumstances were different it would have been a perfect night. A perfect night to patch things up, to make everything as they once were.

Sighing he closed his eyes, he'd missed her so much, why was it when he'd finally managed to come back everything was wrong? Just the way your life is. As depressing as that thought was, it was very true. Everything went wrong for him, he tried to change and the world crumbled around him.

Draco forced himself to open his eyes and he glanced up at the darkening sky, stars were beginning to appear, glittering in the twilight. It really was beautiful. He dropped backwards onto the grass, and for a moment the impact of the ground shocked him, he blinked and bit his lip. Where was she? She was late… she wasn't coming. Well, why would she? You only left her waiting for eight years! He thought and shook his head bringing his hands up to his face. Idiot! Running his fingers through his hair roughly, he growled under his breath.

It was time to leave. He moved his arms propping himself up with his elbows and stared out across the hill, he could see a group of young kids running around in the road in the valley, laughing and screaming playfully. Then there was a popping sound to his left, he looked around and saw Ginny stood there tucking her wand within her robes. She didn't look happy though so he pretended he hadn't noticed her.

'Well I'm here,' said Ginny softly, 'proving to you that I care… I mean, did care…' Her voice faltered and he knew that it had hurt her saying that. 'What else do you want me to say to you?'

Draco swallowed hard and then got to his feet whirling around to face her. 'I want you to tell me you feel nothing for me, that there's not even a flutter of feelings, that you haven't thought about me once since you've been married to him.' He looked her in the eyes and watched as she looked away, her eyes glazing over. 'Say it!'

She stood perfectly still and wrapped her arms around herself. There was a chill settling around them. 'I can't stay long,' she said, 'I need to get back.'

'Why are you doing this to me?'

Ginny's eyes lit up again, but it was with anger, and she glared over at him. 'Why am I doing this to you? Why am I doing this to you? Eight years Draco, eight fucking years! Why do you think I'm doing it?' She sighed heavily, dropping her arms. 'You think I could just wait for you that long? I'm sorry, but I'm not into celibacy! It hurt, you don't know how much it hurt me!' she cried, and a tear slipped down her cheek slowly. 'I love you so much!' Her eyes widened, and she clapped her hand to her mouth.

Hesitating he just stared back at her, not know quite what to say, or do. Then as Ginny started to sob he edged forward, wrapping a cautious arm around her shoulders. The redhead fell into his embrace resting her head against his chest, her body trembling with tears. Biting his lip he looked up at the starry sky and stroked her hair gently with his hands. He couldn't talk; because he was sure whatever he said would be wrong.

'Why didn't you come back sooner?' muttered Ginny, against his robes. 'I needed you. I wanted you. Nobody understood what I was going through… I couldn't talk to anyone.'

'I'm sorry I did that to you,' said Draco, softly. He was sorry, but he had to leave her back then, he couldn't have stayed, there was no choice. 'I wished I'd come back sooner, kept contact with you… anything really to keep—'

'I thought you were dead!' Ginny cut him off as she pushed away from the embrace. 'You could have been six feet under for all I knew, I didn't know what else to do but move on… I waited for you for two years, and then I started to get lonely.' With a sigh she crossed her arms again. 'Do you even know how that feels? Are you telling me these past eight years… you've only ever thought of me, that there's been no one else?'

'There was…' Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, it was time to tell the truth, hopefully it would make him feel better. 'There was one girl, yes. It lasted about six months… she left me, said that I was being distant or something, of course that was you, that's why I was distant.'

Shaking her head Ginny dropped down onto the floor and sat, crossing her legs. He watched her, the way the very last of the sunlight danced across her flame red hair, the way gooseflesh was appearing on her hands. She was cold. Come to think of it, so was he, the temperature had dropped around five degrees in the last ten minutes. 'Well at least I wasn't alone in breaking the promise then…' muttered Ginny, running her fingers through her hair as she peered up at him. 'What do you want from me?'

He shrugged and stepped closer, sinking onto his knees beside her. For a moment she made a move to back off but with a hesitant glance she edged closer and he wrapped his arms around her. Resting his chin on top of her head he sighed gently. 'I don't want anything you're not willing to give.'

There was a pause in which Ginny shivered, nuzzling into him more, then she spoke quietly as he trailed his fingers through her hair. 'I want to give everything to you… but I can't do that… you know I can't…'

Breathing in shakily Draco dropped his hands to the floor, he needed to go, he couldn't stay. But no matter how hard he tried to leave, the sight of her sitting there, clinging onto him and crying her heart out made him unable to go.

Weakness… in the purest form.

Glancing once more at the sky, he licked his lips slowly. Then bringing his eyes to her face he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from him, Ginny looked back at him curiously. 'You have to make a decision, I know it's hard, I know it's selfish of me, I know you're married… I know…' He sighed. 'I know you love him. But you have to make a decision… I understand if you've already made it. If you change your mind though, you know where I am.'

She blinked a few times, she seemed stunned, and so he made his decision. Placing his hand under her chin he lifted her head up, their eyes locking, and he tilted his head down kissing her lips lovingly. He felt Ginny's body stiffen under his touch, he should have moved away, he needed to pull away, it should have ended then… but his body had a taste for her again and he pulled her closer. A moment later she warmed into the kiss and he smiled against her lips as she trailed her hands up slowly and into his hair, twisting it around her fingers. The craving was back, it was Hogwarts all over again, the lust of their youth.

Draco let his hand drop from her chin and placed it on her lap as she leant in closer to him, their bodies were pressed as close as they could be, and the kiss was deep and full of longing. He opened his eyes and pulled back a little, looking into her dazzling brown eyes, she seemed to be on the verge of tears again. 'Don't cry,' said Draco, as her bottom lip began to tremble. He kissed her softly again, just keeping it chaste, and then got to his feet. 'It's up to you, Ginny.'

She looked up at him, gradually bringing her fingers to her lips, and then she lowered her eyes suddenly. It hurt to watch her cry although he'd seen it many times, in fact there was a time in his life when he could have said he got pleasure from it. Not now though, it was painful. Taking a step back Draco moved to start back down the hill. 'It is probably a long shot, but if it means anything… I do love you.'

Then with that he turned around and headed back into town.

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'Honestly I don't know what's going on with him, he sent me an owl yesterday, something about meeting him on Monday before I go into work… I mean what; does he think I can just drop everything for him? Well, he's going to have to learn, there's only so much I can take before I – I, ooh I don't know, I could slap him.'

Ginny nodded and slumped back in her chair as Hermione talked, she could honestly have a place in the world record books for rambling, of course Hermione only ever did that when she was nervous or worried about something. Ron qualified for that. Ron always qualified for that. If there was ever anything that got her riled up, annoyed, angry… overexcited, it was Ron.

Although Ginny didn't particularly care about how annoyed Hermione was, her mind was elsewhere. Such as on things like Draco, and how he'd kissed her, and how it was impossible to get that kiss out of her head. Normally she'd resort to sex… but she'd decided against it for once. Because at that moment the only kind of bodily contact she wanted was with Draco. The meeting (which included the mind-blowing kiss) had stirred up old memories, the kisses, the fights, the talks, how it'd had felt when they'd—

'GINNY!' Blinking, Ginny looked back at Hermione slightly dumbstruck. The bushy-haired girl grinned and shook her head, then continued, 'I don't know, where is your mind at today? I must have asked you about six times if you were even listening… you obviously weren't!'

'I'm sorry,' Ginny replied softly, and rested her head on her hands looking at Hermione with what she hoped was some interest. 'Carry on, I'm listening.'

'OK, well,' began Hermione, 'this letter, he said that he has something important that he wants to tell me, and you know about it apparently. Oh, that reminds me, did you hear about Harry and Cho?' Ginny nodded, that was all it took for Hermione to start again, 'I'm so happy for them! It was bit of a shock of course, but I'm sure they'll be happy… a nice little family.'

Smiling Ginny sunk down in her seat, bringing her arms to folding in front of her, and she rested her head on them. 'Hermione?'

'Yes?'

'Ron used to want that with you,' said Ginny, looking up at her friend. It was about time Hermione found out the truth. About why Ron had really broken up with her.

Sighing Hermione's agitation lifted and she lowered her eyes, her voice becoming gentle as she spoke. 'I know that,' she whispered, 'but we all know that it changed… and he… well feeling's change Ginny, we drifted apart and I think it's about time – as he broke up with me – that we both moved on with our lives, tried to find new relationships or—'

'He still loves you.'

Hermione let out a breath and laughed nervously. 'Don't be stupid!'

Sitting up again Ginny narrowed her eyes. 'I'm not,' she said, glaring at her friend. 'He even told me he did yesterday. It becomes more and more obvious every day that he loves you. I've never seem him this cut up over some—'

'Well,' Hermione snapped. 'Maybe if he hadn't broken up with me, if he hadn't told me it was over, that he didn't have feelings for me anymore, we'd still be together! It's not my fault, if he's fawning over something that he messed up, I'm not to blame!'

'Maybe if you hadn't shrugged him off every night to your work he'd still be with you, maybe it is your fault.' Ginny sighed heavily and jumped up from the table, knocking her chair over in the process. She flinched as it hit the stone floor with a bang. 'Look after Poppy, I need to get out.' She spun around and marched into the bedroom, flinging the wardrobe open.

It was few minutes before Ginny heard Hermione follow her, and she was too busy throwing robes around in search of her cloak to talk to her. She hadn't planned to shout then, she hadn't even planned to get involved, but she needed to blow some stream. Getting out was the best thing by far.

'Where are you going?' Hermione asked gently.

'I don't know.' Shaking her head Ginny grabbed hold of the heap of black fabric on the bottom of the wardrobe and picked it up, her cloak, whirling it around she put it across her shoulders neatly. 'I just… I need some air, some space.' Turning back she tried to smile, but it looked fake, she knew it. 'I'm sorry, I never meant to snap at you,' Ginny said quietly, 'I'm just very… well, there's a lot going on in my head right now.'

Nodding Hermione stepped back from the door letting her through, and then followed her again.

'When Pop wakes up take her out to the park or something…' Walking to the front door Ginny pulled it open and then turned around again. 'Ask Ron to go with you, I think you guys need to talk… seriously, without anyone interfering, I don't think Pop qualifies as an interfering party so you're safe there. If Colin gets back while you're here tell him I asked you to baby-sit, and that I'm visiting my mum and dad over at the Burrow, OK?'

'Yeah…' Again Hermione nodded and leant against the door. 'Ginny, what's bothering you?'

Good question, Ginny thought. Although it was more, why is it bothering you, in Ginny's mind. She only hoped she could figure that out if she took some time on her own. 'I can't tell you right now… but I promise you'll be the first to know when I feel I can talk to someone.'

'I'll hold you to that,' Hermione said with a smile.

'See you later.' Ginny smiled, and then ran down the driveway leaving her best friend behind stood at her door.

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The park was about fifty miles from Ottery St. Catchpole, and in a Muggle village; of course it was change for little Poppy as she'd grown up in a wizarding household. Yes there were other parks around, and parks a lot nearer but Hermione had her favourite for thinking and doing her reading for work. It was the first time she'd taken anyone with her there. Who better than Ron and her best friends daughter?

They were walking along one of the main paths that lead into the tree's, Poppy was between both Hermione and Ron, holding onto their hands tightly. It was weird really, they'd just passed by two teenage girls and the girls had commented on how their daughter, meaning Hermione and Ron's, was incredibly cute. Hermione had just blushed and said thank you; she couldn't be bothered to explain. Anyway Poppy did look like Ron with her being his niece. It was kinda cute.

God, Hermione… no! You did not just think that! She shook her head and looked down at the path as she dragged her feet in the pebbles, it was fun really, made a sort of crunching noise, it also meant she didn't have to look at Ron. Did he really still love her? Was it really her fault that they'd broken up? And after all that time she'd been blaming Ron as well. She actually felt embarrassed about it.

'Mione?'

She broke out of her thoughts and looked up at Ron, who seemed to be staring at her. She bit her lip and shook her head again. 'What?' she asked, almost to herself.

Ron rose an eyebrow in her direction then moved his spare hand to brush a piece of hair from her eyes. 'Everything OK?' he questioned her gently, his eyes full of concern. She couldn't help it, but she felt herself melt under his gaze, it was the look he used to always give her when they were together. And she hadn't seen that look for a long time, never been able to resist it either.

Closing her eyes she tightened her grip on Poppy's hand as they made their way past the pond in the centre of the park. 'Not really,' she admitted eventually, 'I need to talk to you about something, Ron, and I think it's the same thing you wanted to talk to me about.'

His face lit up becoming serious, and then he crouched down in front of Poppy. 'Sweetie, do you want to go and play on the swings for a bit?' Poppy nodded, so he looked up at Hermione smiling, and took the little blonde over towards the swings.

Hermione followed them slowly and waited as Ron picked Poppy up, putting her onto the swing and pushing her gently. She leant against the fence only a few feet away. 'You really are good with her… it's really quite cute the way you two have bonded.' She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. 'You know I've been thinking recently, I need to relax a little more… maybe work less—'

'Why are you telling me this?' asked Ron, and he looked up at her sharply, his face filling with confusion. 'It's your job, so it's up to you.'

'Oh… I guess that's true…' Blushing she lowered her gaze, and then started twiddling her hair around her fingers. She never did that, why was she doing it? Removing her fingers she chewed on her lip instead, kicking a little pebble that was sitting on the ground beside her foot. Make an idiot of yourself, well done, she thought with a sigh. Then realising how loud the sigh had been she looked back up, her eyes locking with his. He couldn't still love her… could he?

Deciding it wasn't worth bothering she took all her attention to the floor, it was amazing how interesting it was when you needed it to be. Hermione heard Ron talking to Poppy and then seconds later she found him standing in front of her. Then as his hand traced across her cheek she looked back up, smiling a little. 'What did you want to talk about?' he asked her.

The time had come; Hermione Granger was going to be open about her feelings for the first time in a year. 'It was my fault we broke up, and I understand now why you finished things with me… it took your sister to knock some sense into me though.' She laughed slightly and then grinned as Ron smiled at her, feeling a little more confident she lifted herself up to sit on the fence, keeping her eyes on him. 'The truth of the matter is that I was so wrapped up in my work I didn't realise what was really important in my life, and I put you second… It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, and I really do want to make things better with you. Whether it's through friendship, or whether it's us giving things another go.'

Ron stepped closer to her and rested his hands on the fence on either side of her, tapping his fingers lightly against the metal. 'It depends really…'

'On what? I'll do anything!' she said on impulse, then regretted it straight away, just a little too desperate. She laughed lightly. 'Umm, you know what I mean.'

He leant in a little, and traced one of his fingers across her lips. 'It depends,' started Ron, 'on if you're going to start bringing all your work home again, talking about it constantly, never having a minutes break, or never taking time to relax.' He brushed her hair from her face again. 'You have to promise to relax once in a while… for me, I don't like seeing you stressed.'

Smiling Hermione put her hands on her knees and brought her face closer to his, she knew he wouldn't mind if she kissed him, but she wanted to wait a little longer. 'I won't, in fact it can start tonight… I believe you were talking about a massage the other day, 'cause that would just be heaven.' She grinned brightly, letting her happiness show.

'A massage, huh?' He smiled back and took his finger from her lips. 'I think I could manage that you know, and if it makes you relaxed it's even better.'

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ron and grabbed his shirt with one of her hands. 'Know what else makes me relaxed?' she purred.

Laughing Ron moved closer still leaning his forehead against hers. 'Shhhh, there's children around… don't want to expose them to anything they shouldn't hear. I don't think Gin'd be pleased you know, if Pop went home asking about the birds and the bees… Do you think she'd like that?'

'Not really, so you should shut up now.'

'Yeah, probably should.' Ron smirked then closed the gap between them kissing her gently, and bringing his hands up to hold her face.

Hermione kissed him back and loosed her grip on his shirt, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. It was like an instant click, who would have known that they'd spent almost six months apart. She moaned a little as he deepened the kiss and ran her hands through his hair, ignoring the tugging on her jeans. She blinked a few times and pulled from the kiss and looked down to see Poppy.

'Auntie Hermione, are you and Uncle Ron getting back together?' asked the little girl with a bright grin. 'Mummy kept saying you would.'

Feeling a light blush Hermione laughed and buried her head in Ron's shoulder. 'I don't know honey, ask your Uncle.'

'Are you?'

Ron smiled and kissed Hermione's cheek, sending her blush into an amazing red. 'Yeah Pop, we are,' he said happily.

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More A/N: Well, that's that bit done. Did we all like it? I hope so… Why don't you tell me then, and you know, REVIEW!