A/N: At last, here it is, chapter 9… enjoy, and feel free to cyber slap me if necessary.

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Chapter 9

Searing Pain

I wanna guy in which to confide

There to tell my secrets and lies

I wanna boy who's genuine too

If it ain't your style then it ain't you

I never meant to be so tough

But I guess I'm gonna find the perfect love

Listen to the lines I sing

Or I won't give you anything

~  Holly Valance, Connect

Hotels, she hated them, problem was she had no where else to stay. Yeah, there was her family, but they wouldn't want her there with everything that had happened, and she was starting to feel bad imposing on Hermione all the time. Hermione needed her own space, and having a three year old child running wild wouldn't help her.

Dropping the room keys onto the dresser beside the door, Ginny put Poppy down on the floor, who immediately ran over to the bed. She smiled and shut the door behind her before taking her cloak off and hanging it over the back of a chair. Turning back she was faced with the sight of her daughter jumping up and down, reducing the covers to an unrecognisable crumpled mess.

'Poppy, get off the bed please,' she said, walking over to the little girl and lifting her down again. She glanced over to the window, and pushed aside the lace curtain with her fingers, looking down at the cobbled street below. The sun peeking from the clouds left slithers of light across the ground, forming strange patterns which Ginny actually found herself lost in for five minutes.

Snapping herself from the lazy actions on the evening sun, she strode across the room, picking Poppy up again and walking with her into the room off the side, which contained two children's beds. 'Right missy, time for you to go to sleep… it's been a long day.'

Poppy sat in the middle of the bed and pulled at a thread on her jumper, before Ginny pulled it over her head for her. 'Mummy,  Uncle Harry didn't look very happy today…'

'I know sweetheart,' said Ginny as gently as she could, for some reason Harry got her riled up lately. They'd already had an argument that afternoon over Draco, after Ginny had had her little breakdown in the kitchen. Honestly that afternoon she could have hit Harry for how he was acting, it was non of his business, but he just wouldn't keep his nose out. 'Uncle Harry just has a problem with mummy at the moment,' she growled, pulling a Barbie nightshirt over Poppy's head – Eleanor had sent it her for her birthday.

'Does Uncle Harry still love us?' asked Poppy, as she pulled on the laces of her shoes.

Ginny sighed and pulled the shoes off Poppy's feet, followed by her flowery embroidered jeans. 'Yes, Pop,' she muttered, and then snapped her fingers slightly, 'now go to sleep.'

With a light sigh Poppy lay back on the bed, pulling the covers around her. Ginny stepped closer to the bed and tucked the covers in at the sides before handing Poppy her teddy bear. 'Be good okay baby, 'cause mummy wants to talk to Uncle Harry with you asleep.'

Poppy smiled and closed her eyes, snuggling down into the mass of plumped up pillows. 'I love you, mummy,' she whispered.

Smiling Ginny leant down and pressed her lips against her daughters forehead in a soft kiss. 'I love you too, sweetie,' she said, and then turned the main light off and walked out of the room, shutting the door carefully behind her.

As she stepped into the main room her eyes fell upon Harry shutting the other door with his foot, two glasses held firmly in his hands. She lowered her gaze and walked over to one of the sofas in the room, sitting down slowly. A moment later Harry sat beside her and handed her one of the glasses.

'Bacardi and coke, I don't know if that's okay or not,' he said gently. Ginny only nodded, sipping from the glass contentedly. She obviously discouraged him because the Boy-That-Lived fell completely silent after that. Ginny sunk down on the sofa and rested the glass on her knee, staring at the dark liquid.

'Why the grudge still Harry?' she asked him eventually, Harry only looked away and to the window, his green eyes clouding over. 'Harry?' snapped Ginny, putting her glass down on the coffee table and shaking his arm gently. He didn't move. 'Potter, talk to me!' she growled, moving closer to him.

Harry seemed to snap out of it then, and he turned his head to look at her; Ginny peered upward suddenly feeling very nervous. 'Just don't call me that, all right,' he said, and sat back sipping at the contents of his drink. 'It reminds me too much of what you're doing with him, I don't want that.'

Swallowing hard Ginny sat back again, kicked her shoes off, and pulled her legs up onto the sofa, her knees to her chest, and arms wrapped around them. 'I'm sorry, that was uncalled for.' She lay her head on her knees and looked at him intently. 'Are you jealous?' she whispered. 'Because that's how you're acting.'

'I'm not jealous,' Harry snorted, but his expression and actions said otherwise. He immediately looked away, turning his face from her view. Ginny bit on her lip and touched his arm lightly, a bid to get his attention again, he only tensed and closed his eyes. 'I'm not,' he said again, although in no way was it believable.

'Harry, you idiot,' she muttered, pulling back from him, and looked down at the floor. 'Of all the times to get… God, I don't believe this. So you're jealous of Draco? This is just like Hogwarts all over again. I hope you don't need me to tell you that you're engaged with a child and another on the way… this is just, so…'

'Crazy?' he ventured, keeping his voice quiet.

'You got that right!'

'Well you're married with a child and it doesn't stop you,' Harry said, looking back at her again, his eyes glittering.

'It's differ—' she began, only to get cut off.

'Don't say it's different, because it isn't, in no way is it.' Harry edged nearer to her, then downed the contents of his drink, before staring her straight in the eyes. She knew that look, that was the look he'd given her the night he told her how he really felt about her. 'We're in the same position,' he told her.

Ginny shook her head, and then tucked her auburn curls behind her ears. 'There's no we in this, we are doing nothing,' she whispered, taking a deep breath as her heartbeat quickened slightly, 'God, I can't take much more of this.'

The green-eyed boy sat beside her suddenly saddened, his usually bright emerald eyes going dull, and he bit down on his lip. 'I don't mean to make this more difficult for you, and I know that everything in your head is just a big mess right now, but the fact of the matter is that I can't help how I feel still… I just wanted you to know.'

'I understand that, but it doesn't—' Her words were cut off abruptly as Harry pressed his lips against hers briefly, Ginny only blinked and jumped back from him. 'Don't! Please… I can't – you can't – no!' she finished and jumped up from the sofa. 'Are you just doing this on purpose? Is this 'let's piss Ginny off' day or something?' Spinning around she looked into his green eyes with her own brown ones, and felt her heart shatter at the pain she found there. 'Sorry, you're not joking, I know…'

'Sorry, Gin,' he mumbled, leaning back on the sofa and closing his eyes. 'Not even sure why I did that.'

'Well you did, so it's not worth apologising… apologies mean nothing to me right now. You did it, move on, let's all just—' Hearing the sound of the door Ginny spun around and her eyes fell upon the figure of Draco stood lazily against the doorframe. 'Fuck!'

'Rather not do that with, Potter,' Draco said raising his eyebrows over toward Harry. 'But I'll take you up on that offer when he's gone.'

Harry slowly rose from the seat, so Ginny darted over to him, placing her hand on his chest. He only tensed again and glared at her, she glared back at him, increasing the pressure in her hand. 'No,' she whispered, 'please… don't.'

'Just let him go, I already won round one. Time for round two… ding… ding…' Draco said slowly, every word laced with venom as he stepped into the room. His eyes were glued to Harry, like a lion sizing up its prey. 'Wouldn't mind seeing Potter run off again with his tail between his legs… I mean he already got shot down once, got to be having a bad day.'

'Don't start me, Malfoy,' Harry growled, amazingly though he was keeping his temper under restraint. 'This is non of your business.'

'Actually,' started Draco, 'it is my—'

'It's not,' Ginny interrupted quickly, dropping her hand from Harry's chest, and bringing her eyes level with Draco's. 'This is non of your business, it's mine, and it's Harry's.' Biting on her lip, she sucked in a steady breath and crossed her arms defiantly. 'It's not yours, at – all!'

He seemed taken aback, Ginny actually saw him flinch, up until he stepped closer and crossed his arms in the same manner. His jaw was set in determination, and his mouth curled up into a smirk, his eyebrows raised in amusement. 'You're sticking up for him? Wow, and there was me thinking you thought Potter was an insensitive little prick that can't get over a crush from school. Oh, yes, and that you loved me!' He shook his head. 'Yeah, you totally got me with that one!'

Ginny shut her eyes tightly and dropped down to sitting, she pulled her legs up once more, and rested her head against her knees. It would have helped her if everything had just gone away, or would go away. So she sat, she ignored them both, and locked herself away in her little world as Harry and Draco argued it out.

'You care about her? Well you have a funny way of showing it!' Harry snapped. He sat down on the sofa as well, Ginny felt his arm brush against hers, and then his fingertips tracing across the back of her hand lightly. 'Just, leave… it would be better if you did.'

'I'm not going anywhere…' replied Draco, and Ginny distinctively heard the sound of a bottle clinking against a glass. 'I'll stay all night if I have to.'

A sigh on Harry's behalf, followed by a few muttered words. 'Poppy's in the next room, she needs rest… leave.'

There another silence, Ginny presumed Draco was drinking something, because the next comment was Harry again. 'Give me that bottle, and get out,' he said sternly.

'No.'

Ginny squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth together, and balling her hands into fists. She let out a feeble sigh, and then intervened herself. 'Draco, could you please leave…? I will see you soon, I need some time with my daughter.' Cringing at the listless sound of her own voice, Ginny pulled her legs in a little more and buried her head against her trouser legs. He hadn't moved, she could tell. Opening her eyes she looked directly at him. 'Get out!' she cried, and got up from the sofa, going over to the bed and lying down.

Hiding her head away in the pillows she heard shuffling and soft voices before the main door slammed, following that there was another long pause, for a moment she thought Harry had gone too. But soon she felt his hand trail through her hair, she sighed gently, pulling the cover closer and loosing herself into a sense of comfort. 'This is killing me Harry,' she whispered.

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More A/N: And that's all you're getting for now… I'm so sorry this took so long, and I've actually had this written for a week debating whether to add anything to it, decided against it in the end. Almost lost my tether with this story I'm afraid… and I've been suffering with a really bad case of writers block where Harry Potter is concerned at the moment. Plan to start a new story to get the creative juices flowing again, but I will finish this don't worry. In the mean time go and REVIEW!