Disclaimer: Harry Potter ≠ mine. The end.

Author's Note: Hmm, not too terribly much to say about this chapter except that it's going to be very interesting, a little darker than most of the rest, and hopefully you'll like it! As a sort of progress report, there are probably two chapters until the end, so thanks to everybody that's been reading and reviewing, you guys are awesome. Uhh, I think that's it, so happy reading! EDIT: So I promised quickly, but uh… well, our play went into hell week (where you put everything together), then I was out of town, then sick, and then choir tour. So life has been er, crazy, lately, but I promise I'll be good about updating from now on.

Review Responses:

Anaid – Haha! Well, I'm glad at least to know that you liked it enough to be frustrated by the cliffhanger. I'll tell you now, because it doesn't ruin much to know – it is a Harry/Ginny fic. Alright, I promise no cliffhangers for a while and here's chapter 15! Thanks for reviewing!

BJH – Wow, thank you then! Glad you liked it, and here's chapter 15!

Kimberley-Grace – The thing is, it's not something I'm trying to do – like, I'm not using a thesaurus. I'll try to cut back on it, though, I just re-read the last chapter and it does sound a little stuffy in places. But I'm really glad you like it and very cool that you can actually picture well what's going on. Thanks for your review and here's chpt 15!

The-insufferable-know-it-all – I know! Basically, I found myself wishing that I could make her do something else but the direction I want to go in with the plot didn't work with her reacting against what was happening. You'll see what'll happen with the photo! Also, I'm rather glad that you can't stand Katie. I frankly hate her, she's basically there to be an annoying-as-hell filler character. So the fact that you hate her means that she's doing her job! Haha. Thanks for reviewing!

Carmel March - Unfortunately, yes it did just happen! Haha, but you're going to see what will happen in response to it. The photographic evidence part though, well – lets just say I wouldn't want to be Ginny right about now. But I'm glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing! Here's chapter 15!

Vietgurl10607 – Haha! Don't worry, she didn't necessarily enjoy it, more like she was just so stunned that she didn't know what to do. And thanks so much, I'm glad you like it! ::Looks happily at brownies:: Is this good enough for soon (hehe)? Here's chapter 15!

Milly M – Ooh, we'll see. But if they break up, I get first dibs on Harry. Hmm, but you know what though, I could settle (haha yeah, settle… anyway) for Draco. We'll have to work out those details later, haha. "That, my dear, is evil. i love it!" ß This, by the way, cracked me up. Thanks so much for reviewing!

Lizzie5555555 – Well, you've got to consider who it is we're talking about. Frankly, I'm all for the theory that Draco really isn't that evil, but he tends to be more fun that way and he works a lot better for my story as an asshole. But we'll see how it turns out!

Hp-girl4eva – It'd be so much better for her if she could've known it was a trap, but, c'est la vie. You'll have to wait and see what's going to happen to her now, haha. But thanks so much for the review, glad you liked it! Here's chpt 15!

My worst fears weren't confirmed until Sunday morning at breakfast. I woke up later than most of the house, having been awake worrying until about two fifteen. Dressing in a white sweater and jeans and putting my hair in a ponytail, I did my best to conceal my nerves and look casual. When I walked into the Great Hall though, my heart sank. From the door, I could see Katie talking to Harry, acting disgustingly sweet and handing him a plain manila envelope. For the second time that weekend, I was absolutely transfixed to the spot. This time, though, I was stuck watching the train wreck my own life was about to become. After what felt like ages but probably only was twenty seconds, Harry looked up and his eyes met mine. Slowly, but very deliberately, he rose from the table and walked up to me. Once he'd gotten within two feet of me, I couldn't look at him. Even from thirty feet away a second ago, I'd seen a look that was such a mix of intense anger and incredible hurt that I knew I couldn't handle it to look at him, but he was having none of it. Raising my chin so my eyes met his, he removed the picture from its envelope with a shaking hand. He let me get a good look at it for a minute before he spoke.

"What the fuck is this supposed to mean, Ginny?" I tried to speak, but no sound came out. They say a picture tells a thousand words, but this one was saying so, so much more than that. There was nothing left to the imagination, and was so altogether explicit that I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. That is, until I saw my own face.

"I-" I choked out one syllable before Harry cut me off. Just as well, since I had nothing else to say.

"You know what, no. Don't try to explain yourself, because I'm not sure that I want to hear it. I don't want to believe that you did this, but what else am I supposed to go by? I cannot even believe you," the more he talked, the angrier he got until I was genuinely frightened by the look in his eyes. I tried desperately to keep my composure, but as I studied his face, that was getting harder and harder. That same face I'd looked at a million times and seen every possible contortion of now looked unfamiliar, so filled with rage and hurt – and all because of me – that I couldn't stand to look at him anymore. This, however, was something Harry was having none of. Much less gently than before, but not roughly enough so as to hurt me, he turned my face to meet his again.

"I'm not finished. I don't want to know what you were thinking when this disgusting display of you being a whore was created, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking now. I used to look at you and see somebody I loved, but now? I'm seeing a beautiful and wonderful façade covering the face of a conniving bitch." I watched him soundlessly for a minute before the floodgates opened as I felt my heart shatter into pieces.

I knew most of Hogwarts had just seen the display, but it wasn't like one of those muggle movies where everybody silently watches the train wreck in silent awe. Life around me seem to buzz on as normal, despite the inordinate amount of people facing in my general direction.

Neither able nor willing to sit down at Gryffindor table as if nothing had happened, I simply left the Great Hall, trying to make my way back to the tower so I could hide out there for the rest of my natural life. It was just my luck, however, that Harry seemed to have had that same idea. Just as he was heading through the portrait hole he saw me, and my heart sank that much more to see that it appeared as if he'd been crying too. How on earth did I do this to somebody that I cared about so much? What happened to me? Though part of my brain continued to insist that it wasn't my fault, the part that watched Harry look at me through narrowed eyes and a hardened heart could only scream "why didn't you do anything?" For a minute we watched each other in silence, knowing without words exactly what the other was thinking, before he went in without saying a word.

The painfully awkward silence between us spread through the day, leaked into the rest of the week, and continued to blanket the weeks ahead. By two weeks later I'd lost count of the amount of times I'd passed by Harry sharing only an icy look, if that. Hermione, meanwhile, also wasn't speaking to me. Ron, meanwhile, was put in a very awkward position between his best friend and sister. However, the fact that Malfoy was involved had tipped the scales in Harry's favor, and so Ron was extremely angry at me as well, almost more-so than either Hermione or Harry.

I had gone back to having conversations, if somewhat superficial ones with my friends in my year, but the rest of Gryffindor wasn't re-warming to me. The common consensus seemed to be that I was a traitor to Harry, and therefore to the house. Which, painful as it was to admit, didn't seem altogether unfair to hear. It seemed stupid that something so small could have a large effect, and at times that fact infuriated me. Mostly though, it didn't matter. It was still what I'd done to my friend, my brother, and above all to Harry that ate away at me. I felt as if I were being contained by a thin glass shell, and I wasn't sure how much more I could take before that shell would crack.

In the midst of all this, schoolwork was picking up in a frightening way. Just because we were suddenly four months away instead of an entire year, teachers seemed to believe that the more they could do to prepare us for O.W.L.s the better. Better for them, maybe. Essays, projects, and exams aren't exactly my cup of tea.

Another week and a half later, after a particularly difficult (and boring) History of Magic essay, I was ready just to go to bed without talking to anybody when I ran into Harry in the common room. Apparently, he'd been down there working too, I just hadn't noticed. Immediately my heart started to race, and my throat dried up, but I knew I had to take this opportunity to say something, or I probably never would. He had started walking up the stairs before I got the nerve to speak.

"Harry!" He turned to look at me, the same hard look in his eyes I'd seen every time I'd looked at them for the past month, nearly. I opened my mouth to speak when he interrupted me again.

"Don't. Don't talk to me. There's nothing you can say, so don't waste your precious time." And with that he walked away. He'd done it – my fragile little shell had cracked, and for the first time since everything had happened, I began to cry. Not a delicate, dainty crying, but sobbing. Everything was so unfair and so awful, and it made it ten times worse that it was my fault. I heard voices at the top of the stairs, but I was too upset and tired to care. I didn't even notice that someone had walked down the stairs and across the room until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" said Ron's voice softly. I was so shocked to see my brother's face that I abruptly stopped crying.

"I'm sorry," I choked out. "I didn't mean to… I never meant for…" everything I'd tried so hard and failed to say came spilling out of my mouth at once as I tried desperately to make Ron speak to me again. He quieted me, smoothing down my hair and acting every inch the older brother. Because we were so close in age, Ron had always had a brotherly role in my life but his attitude was more that of a friend to whom I happened to be related. In this instant, however, I felt as though I were six and Ron was twenty-five. He only said "I know," and let me continue to cry, just sitting with me quietly. That was all it took – I knew I had my brother back on my side, and for now, that would be enough.