Chapter 3

It was morning of the next day. Hermione was already in the Great Hall, eating breakfast alone. Ron saw her and smiled. Sneaking up behind her, he quickly grabbed her from behind and gave her a hug.

"AAHH!!" Hermione shrieked. She turned around and saw Ron, grinning at her. "Ronald, don't scare me like that!" she said.

"Can't a man hug his girlfriend?" he asked innocently, and sat down next to her. "I'm starving." He piled pancakes and eggs onto his plate.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I think he's still sleeping. He was snoring so loud, I'm surprised he didn't wake himself up." He stuffed a roll of bread into his mouth.

Standing just outside the Great Hall was Ginny. She was standing there, clutching her books. Every sound, every footstep, every movement caused her to jump. She kept running the horror of last night in her head, as if she were trapped in a horrible, horrible dream. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

She was scared. Scared of boys, scared of sex, but mostly, scared of Dean. She couldn't face him. She didn't know what to do when he was around. She'd made a huge mistake, and she felt guilty. It wasn't her fault, but she certainly wouldn't have chosen to lose her virginity with a guy she'd only been together with for less than four hours.

Ginny heard laughing coming down the stairs. Her heart started to beat faster. Is it Dean? she thought. Looking up, she sighed in relief, as it was just a third year Hufflepuff. Relaxing, she started towards the door.

"They let a second year on the Quidditch team?!"

Ginny froze, recognizing Dean's voice. Panicking, she looked around for a place to hide, but he'd already seen her. Smiling, he walked toward her.

"You guys go ahead without me," he said to his friends. He turned to her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Dean. Go away." Her voice was shaking, and she was scared again.

"What's wrong, Gin?" he asked her in a fake voice. "I mean, nothing happened last night."

"Dean. I told you to go away. Leave me alone!" she cried out.

Dean took a strong grip on her arms. She winced, but tried not to let it show. Dean threw her to the ground. Ginny landed on her hip and pain seared through her spine. She started crying. Fumbling for her wand, she whipped it out of her pocket. Dean knocked it out of her hand and picked it up.

"Ginny. You don't have to like me," Dean said in a calm voice, twirling her wand in his hands. "But you are going to be my girlfriend, and you are going to pretend to love me."

Ginny looked up at Dean and said, "I don't have to do anything."

Dean scowled and kicked her in the stomach. Ginny keeled over and coughed weakly. "Yes, you do. I don't have a problem with beating you Ginny. You are my girlfriend, and you like it." He walked away.

Ginny watched him leave.

-----------

It was a beautiful day out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the common room. All of the other Gryffindors were outside.

Ron was sitting on the couch, with Hermione leaning against his chest. They were watching Harry play with his Quidditch figurines, trying to figure out a plan for the next game.

"We're playing the Hufflepuffs next match, which shouldn't be too hard. They're really slow, and I think that day will be windy, so our faster brooms should be an advantage," Harry said more to himself then to Ron or Hermione.

Ron looked at Hermione and breathed in her hair. It smelled nice, like honey and coconut or something. He sighed. Twisting a couple of strands between his fingers, he said, "You're so beautiful, 'Mione."

Hermione blushed. She hated it when people told her that. She never knew whether or not they were telling the truth. "Stop," she said playfully.

Ron smiled and ran his hand over her breast. Harry watched all of this with a disgusted look on his face, and picked up his figurines. "You guys have only gone out for a day!"

"It's like we've been together forever, I've liked her for so long," Ron replied.

"And that makes it okay to head to second base already?" Harry stood up and made another face. "Well, you guys could at least keep it between you, and not let the whole world see." He got up and left the common room, leaving them alone.

Ron smiled. "Finally, he left. I need some alone time with my girlfriend." Grinning, he leaned her over and kissed her.

Hermione sat up. "Ron, someone could walk in at any moment...and since you're not allowed in the girls' dormitory, can we go to yours?"

Ron's heart fluttered at this. "I'll race you there!" Laughing, he ran up the stairs. Hermione shook her head and followed him. When she got there, Ron was already lying in his bed, his arms crossed behind his head. Laughing, Hermione jumped into bed with him.

Both of their hearts beating furiously, they moved together and kissed. Ron opened his mouth and opened Hermione's with his tongue. They crossed their legs over each other's, rolling over the bed as they kissed. Hermione smiled and ran her hands easily through Ron's red hair. Ron felt he should do the same, and started to run his hand through Hermione's hair. His hand got stuck in her curls, and he groaned as he got up to undo it. Laughing hysterically, Hermione pulled her hair out of his hand.

"Ronald, you are such an idiot," she said teasingly. She leaned back into him and kissed again. As Ron kissed, he thought about going a little further. His hand shaking, he snaked his hand up her shirt and lightly squeezed her breast. Hermione shivered and sat up.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"I dunno...I don't think I'm ready for that yet," she said. "I mean, maybe Harry's right. We've been together for less than a day, and-"

"'Mione, we've known each other for 6 years. Just pretend we've been together that long. If you think about it, we have. I've liked you the entire time." Ron gave her a reassuring smile. "Relax."

Sighing, Hermione leaned back down and let Ron kiss her neck as he shoved his hand back up her shirt. Ron kept running his hand over her breast, smiling at the perfect size it was: it fit into his hand just right. He started to move his lips further down, kissing her chest. Hermione took a sharp, quick breath when Ron bit at the top of her breast.

Murmuring, Ron said, "Can I take your shirt off?"

Hermione hesitated, but nodded. She sat up a little as Ron grabbed the bottom of her shirt. He lifted it up over her head and tossed it on the floor. Then he wrapped his arms around her and unhooked her bra. Tossing it on the floor, he lay Hermione back down on the bed. He lightly massaged her left breast with his fingers, then covered it with his hand. He lightly squeezed her breast again, and kissed them.

Hermione turned Ron over so that he was lying on the bed and smiled.

"My turn." Giggling, she took off his shirt and ran her hands over his chest. As she ran her hand over his nipples, he laughed. She smiled back, and Ron grabbed her and pressed her face against him. She kissed his chest, loving the way it was freckled. She smoothed her hand over his stomach, and ran it back up to his mouth.

Ron looked down at Hermione's pants. Slowly, he started toward it. He ran down her stomach, over her bellybutton, getting closer and closer to her pants. He brushed the waist of them, and started to slide a finger in--

Hermione sat up again. "I think that's enough," she said. Ron sighed disappointedly.

"All right," he said. He got off the bed and held out his hand to her. Smiling, Hermione placed her hand in his and stood up. She picked up his clothes and put them on, and Ron did the same. Then she and Ron walked downstairs together, hand in hand.

Just in the common room, Ginny was sitting in a chair. She felt nauseated, but was trying not to throw up. She had gotten a cooling potion from Madame Pomfrey to keep the swelling down on her hip. She winced at every movement she made, even breathing.

Why did I ever go with that git in the first place? Ginny asked herself. Tears started to fill her eyes, and she let them fall. She didn't want to stay in the common room in case Dean came in, but it hurt to move around. She cautiously moved her fingers to her stomach, and her stomach retracted. Rolling her head back, she let out a short sob. She didn't know what to do. Maybe I'll just hide away forever, she thought. She was terrified of Dean.

Suddenly, she heard her brother coming down the stairs. Wiping away her tears and sitting up, she saw Ron, but he was with Hermione, and they were holding hands. Their hair was messed up and their clothes were wrinkled.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I wanna know..." she started, but Ron took one look at her and ran over. Hermione ran over too.

"Ginny! How...what...how did you do this?!" Hermione asked.

Ron pulled out his wand. "Who did this to you?! I'm going to find them!"

Ginny winced and pulled Ron's hand down. "No! It's...no one did it! I did it to myself!"

Thinking quickly, she said, "I..I fell down on my hip."

"You fell down on your hip and your stomach hurts?" Hermione asked.

"No...that's just...erm...cramps." She hoped they would believe her.

Ron looked at her suspiciously, but put his wand away. "Well, Gin...you should be more careful." He started towards the door. "C'mon, 'Mione."

Hermione looked back at Ginny. Hesitantly, she followed Ron out the door.

"What's wrong with her?" Hermione asked Ron.

"Didn't you hear her?" he asked. "She fell down."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Seriously, men are so ignorant. She's a horrible liar. Her eyes were fluttering like butterflies!"

Ron looked at Hermione as if she'd gone mad. "So?!"

"You're only her brother? Haven't you figured out that she blinks twice as fast when she lies?"

"Erm...no...that's not something I pay attention to."

Hermione shook her head. "I want to figure out what she's lying about."

Ron nodded. "Me too."

A/N: Geez, that was a short chapter. Don't worry, I'm not making things up as I go...I actually have a plan on where this is going, which is very unusual for me. I just can't write anything huge right now. I don't think I'll be writing about them in classes, unless I think it's necessary. So if I talk about a homework assignment, just assume they've been to class. Thank you guys for your reviews! Like I said, I love reviews, and they tell me what I'm doing and how I should change. Thanks.