CHAPTER TWO:

IN WHICH THERE ARE APOLOGIES AND FRUSTRATION

Monday morning brought about a cloudy sky and a melancholy mood. Ginny carried out her morning routine much like she had the day before, not paying attention, just going through the motions. Much to her annoyance, when she entered the common room there were only three students, two of which she strongly wanted to avoid for at least few more days . . . or years. Ginny, also, had the feeling that the third student would soon be on the "to avoid at least till summer break list". The three Gryffindors had been sitting quietly seemingly lost in their own thoughts, and Ginny hoped to be able to sneak out before being noticed, happy, for not the first time, that her hair helped her blend with the common room décor. A creak in the floor when she took a step off of the stairs and all of their heads flew up towards the direction of the sound. Cursing in her mind, she looked at them waiting for one of them to make a move. It seemed hours had passed in silence, in reality it couldn't have been thirty seconds, no one said a thing. Finally, Ron stood.

"Morning, Gin." Her brows furrowed.

"Good morning, Ron. Hermione. Harry." Ginny nodded at them, no matter how upset she was she felt she should still make an attempt at politeness. They greeted her as well. She sighed, it seemed she'd have to face the music much sooner than she had intended.

"Well? Are you three just going to stand there all day? It's Monday, there's classes, and breakfast." Ginny attempted to keep her voice light and unaffected, unfortunately it was a little more snappish.

"We have to talk to you Ginny." Said Hermione, a bit apprehensively, looking, not at Ginny, but at Harry.

"Can it wait? I'm starved and would like to get breakfast in before class." Hoping desperately that they would hold off this talk, that would surely be deletrious for at least one among the four in the room.

"I'm afraid it can't." said Harry looking at Ginny with those greens eyes that could do so much to her. She almost broke down there, but a strong voice in her head told her to keep calm and that's what she intended to do. She did not want their sympathy, she just wanted to get away.

"What is it?" Ginny asked taking a deep breath.

"Hermione and I stayed up almost all of the night discussing this problem. What we did and how we intend to handle it." Ginny quietly filled her lungs again, awaiting impact.

"Ginny, you and Harry are my best friends. Hurting either of you was the last thing on my mind, but I lost control. I really don't know what to say, except that I hope you will fogive me. Your friendship means so much to me. Really." Said Hermione looking incredibly penitent.

"And, Ginny, I don't know what came over me. I need you. I wasn't lying when I told you I need you. Please tell me you can forgive me. Please." Every part of Harry was crying out for forgiveness and Ginny was at a loss. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she was just barely shaking her head. Harry fell limp onto the arm of the chair he had gotten up from. Hermione already had tears sliding down her cheeks. Ron - who had been silent the entire time with the exception of the greeting, and who had been nearly forgotten – made his presence known once again when he walked up to Ginny.

"Maybe you should forget about classes today, Gin, at least for the morning. Why don't you go back up to your room and sleep or something?" he told her leading her to the girls' dormitory. Nodding vaguely, she allowed herself to be led to the foot of the stairs. Slowly walking up step by step tears falling silently down from her eyes, she could hear her brother walking back to his friends.

"She'll never forgive me." Said Harry's voice.

"I'm sure she'll come around," came Ron's, "just give her time. That's all."

But Ginny didn't want to forgive him. She knew she had to, but at the present moment forgiveness was not an option. She wanted both Harry and Hermione to suffer as much pain as she had to.

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Ginny had been lying in bed all morning, drifting in and out of consciousness, hovering in the place between dreams and reality, neither being very pleasant. Around noon (it must have been, for who was at the door would not likely visit otherwise) there was a knock at her dorm door.

"Ginny?" a cautious voice drifted in through the soft wooden barrier.

Silence.

"Ginny, I know you're in there."

Silence.

"Ginny, if you refuse to answer I'm going to enter anyway."

Unfortunately, Ginny lacked the inner strength to answer, and really didn't care what Hermione had to say. So she laid there, and she waited. She could hear Hermione's soft padded footsteps on the carpet, coming closer until they stopped next to bed.

"Ginny, I know you're not sleeping. I saw you this morning, I know there's no way you'd be able to sleep, at least not for long." Hermione pulled the bed curtains back and looked at the red head laying flat on her back eyes open, looking toward the ceiling. Hermione sighed.

"I haven't been able to concentrate on my classes this morning and I've been thinking about a way to try to make things better. I can only think to apologize. And I'm not sure, that even my apology would be all that great." Hermione readied herself to try and make sense and logic out of something that was done of out of sheer thoughtlessness and bad timing.

"What I did earlier was wrong, I know and I want to say that I wish it wouldn't have happened. I can't. We shouldn't have gone behind your back the way that we did and the thought never should have crossed our minds to betray you as we did. But I know that I never would have fogiven myself if I had let the chance slide. I can't speak for Harry. I only know that I only regret what my actions may have done to our friendship, but I can't stand by you and lie to you again." Hermione stopped and looked at Ginny again who hadn't moved a hair since she entered. "Will you say something? Give me some sort of reaction? At least to know you're alive?" Ginny only sucked in a deep breath to make the rise in her chest visible and let it out again. Lip quivering, eyes brimming with tears, Hermione slowly turned and exited the room, and Ginny return to her drifting.

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Monday morning for Draco had been one event short of Hell, mainly caused by his working most of the night away on his ridiculous amount of homework. Not falling asleep until 4:20 a.m. and getting up at 6:47 had a tendency to make a person irritable. He finish most of his homework the night before only to have it piled right back up again by the end of his classes. He had gone clear through the day trying to concentrate on N.E.W.T.s preparation, but his mind seemed to wander onto every subject with the exception of study. Everything from that little hair right between Snape's eyebrows to why they seemed to always have foods with more salt than should be in the recipe to – the most poplular topic in Draco's mind and in conversations of a good lot of Hogwarts – the Ginny/Harry/Hermione scandal.

Though it should have been the last thing on Draco's mind – he was above the thoughtless lies of the rumor mill – he couldn't help wondering about how they were all taking it. He'd notice both Harry and Hermione with bags under their eyes and looking as if neither had slept well, if at all, Ron looked as if he's had better days as well, and – though he really didn't know where to look with the exception of the Great Hall at meal times – he hadn't seen Ginny all day. There had been no Ginny at breakfast or lunch, and now that dinner had come and gone in her absence, curiousity was starting to engulf him.

Half an hour after dinner, he made his way to the owlery. Driven by curiousity and something he wasn't quite sure of, though he was perfectly content with not knowing what was leading him to request the presence of this particular Weasley, he sent of the note he had scribbled minutes before. He'd only hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

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Classes had ended and Ginny had made no attempt to move out of bed, nonetheless step foot outside her dormitory. The other girls stepped in to pick up books they may need for study and drop off those they didn't, but otherwise left her in peace considering the current predicament Ginny found herself in. Not that Ginny she would have paid attention to them anyway. No, this was her first dramatic breakdown and she was going to do it right.

At 5:00, Lavender stopped by with homework that Colin had collected and given to her to deliver to Ginny since it didn't seem she was going to willingly make contact with anybody soon and boys weren't allowed in the girls' dorms. At seven o'clock Ginny received an owl. She would have preferred to ignore it, but the persistent bird kept pecking her cheek until she took it, and continued pecking her arm until she opened it and read it. Damn owl.

Ginny,

Meet me in the kitchens at 10:00 tonight if you're feeling up to it. If not, let me know that I'll be wasting my time before I have to meet you.

Draco

Ginny let out a long, suffering sigh, took out a quill and flipped the letter over. Of course she didn't want to meet him. Of all people – well of most people – she didn't want to meet him. Then again ...

She took out a clean strip of parchment and let him know that he wouldn't be wasting his time.

After all, he was there when all of this happened and hadn't mind listening to her earlier. Maybe all she need was to vent to someone who she didn't care being judged by. It was after all Malfoy, better him get a biased opinion of her than one of her mates.

Watching the owl fly away out her window down into the night, she wondered if she was making a mistake.

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Draco had a simple enough time getting out of his common room at 9:45 that night. Having spent the almost three hours since arranging his meeting with Ginny working on his ridiculous amount of homework, he had finished his Potions essay and half of his Transfiguration essay, though he still had a chart for Astronomy, an essay for History of Magic, a translation for Ancient Runes, and chapter to read for DADA. He found himself wondering how far along Ginny had gotten in her homework since the incident, if she'd been able to do anything at all considering she might not have gone to classes that day. Of course, he could just be making assumptions where he shouldn't be. Maybe she did go to classes and didn't go to meals because she had to work on impossible amount as well. If that we're true than he'd probably be wasting her time with all this. And he wondered, not for the first time today and certainly not for the last, why the hell did he bother? Damn it. Not exactly sure what he should be damning, but feeling the need to damn something just the same.

He'd reached the kitchens, tickled the pear, comtemplating how many students really knew about this entrance, and entered. Taking five quick steps past the door he was halted by four house elves at his feet, inquiring as to what it was he need. Not much in the mood for food, but not wanting to insult the servants, he asked for an apple. Draco, having a huge bowl of fruit delivered to him only short time later, sat at the closest seat to the entrance and wait for the girl.

The door opened not five minutes later to a harried looking Ginny. She looked as if she had just woken up, which as far as Draco knew, she very well may have. Her hair had the bed head look and not the attractive kind, her eyelids were droopy and she had a slouched posture much like the day before when she was crying. There were no signs of actual tears this time, though, not that she looked near as happy as she usually would or did or was. Hell, it's not as if he'd noticed anyway.

Ginny took the seat right across from Draco, as if she knew telepathically where he was and where she should be. She hadn't looked around when she entered, hadn't even paused just moved. They sat in silence a little while longer. Draco feeling a bit squirmish under the silence, though he didn't show it, and if Ginny felt the same, she kept it inside as well. She only sat there; elbows on the table, chin in one palm, elbow in the other, eyes closed. He sighed.

"When entering a room with persons already inside it would be polite to greet them." He spoke. She made no move to responde. He was about to lose his patience, which was already wearing thin by his own actions, when she spoke.

"When one takes another out of a moping period it would be polite to explain why." She cracked opened one eye to peer at him.

Damn it. "I didn't see you today. I was wondering how you were doing." He told her, not wanting to look at her, feeling embarassed by his sudden overwhelming sensitivity.

Both her eyes were open now as she regarded him suspiciously. What was with this boy? Did he get hit over the head recently? Maybe she should recommend a visit to Madam Pomfrey.

Though he was still not looking at her, he could feel her gaze on him. It was irritating, steady, silent, and pointless.

"What?" Draco asked, more snappy than he'd have liked

"Malfoy, how are you feeling? Has everything been going alright? Would you like me to take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

"What?"

"Look, Draco, I don't know what's going on, but I'm here to help you." She got up and moved around the table to kneel on the seat beside him. Concern shining in her eyes, she felt his forehead and pushed his hair back. "Have you been experiencing headaches, blackouts, loss of appetite, anything?"

"What are you going on about?" His voice was squeaky and exasperated and loud. She halted at his words. "I'm not sick or crazy, at least not in the sense you believe I am." She sat back and looked at him curious. He sighed through his nose. "I don't know." Draco said answering the question in her eyes. "Look, don't ask question, just be grateful you have somebody to talk to."

"I can't talk to you if I don't trust you. I can't trust you if you don't anwer my questions."

"I can't answer you're questions if I can't answer my own."

"At least do this one thing for me. Swear to me by all that is truly dear to you that you are not trying to hurt me." She asked of him, looking determinely into his eyes. Feeling rather foolish by allowing herself to be so easily convinced by words of the enemy, but vulnerability and hard times can make people do foolish things at times.

"I swear." He told her after a pause, mirroring her expression.

Truly beginning to believe she was making a mistake she began to talk to him. "I didn't go to classes today. I had a discussion in the common room this morning with my brother and Harry and Hermione. It shook me up and Ron sent me back to my bed."

"Have you eaten today?" She shook her head.

"Haven't had much of an apetite." She looked up at him. "The thing is it's not all about Harry cheating. Though I suppose that's the lot of it. But Hermione was somebody I trusted. I told her everything and she was so supportive of my relationship with Harry. Then she turns around and stabs me in the back like this." Ginny was beginning to lose her temper thinking about all that had been done to her. "She came in to see me today, at lunch, I think. To apologize. She didn't even do that right. She only wished she could say she hadn't wanted it to happen. She only made it worse with that. I couldn't believe she could be so audacious about it! I lost my best friend to my boyfriend, who I was in love with and who I thought loved me back, but what am I to expect from a 17 year old boy after only being with him for 5 months, two weeks, 5 days and," she looked at her watch, "four hours and 3 minutes?" Ginny pushed herself up and out of the seat in exasperation, she missed Draco's questioning brow. "You'd think that of all people I'd know not to trust... but I suppose my actions could be justified, right? I mean who wouldn't trust any of those three?" she went on as if Draco wasn't there, for all he knew she probably forgot he was there. That is until she turned to him."I am without a doubt, a total and complete idiot." She stomped her foot and disappeared out of the entrance.