Rain

By forbiddenlight

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K., so why would I own anything of hers? This plot is my own though…

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed. I'd also like to invite everyone to become a staff or subscriber to my c2 community, Hogwarts Romantic Library for Harry Potter. My longest chapter so far. Enjoy!

I-Lurve-Harry: How can I not keep writing? My fingers, brain, or heart shan't allow it. And what's with Pansy and Ron? Oh, you'll see… You'll see…

Weaselbee: I like where my story is going too! Thank you for reading. Hope you read some more!

LadySnake: He never seems to enjoy himself in this story. Well, that's okay. Ron doesn't necessarily deserve enjoyment.

Athena: Glad you liked it!

And, again, be sure to take note of the names in bold. That is very important to the story. It will also keep you out of any confusion…

Ship: Blaise Zabini/Hermione Granger

Genre: Romance/Drama

Chapter Eleven: Coming Clean

Draco

He met Cho at the Hog's Head.

"Drake," she greeted him happily, planting a kiss on his cheek. Draco smiled, but he couldn't hide his discomfort. When Cho finally noticed this, she asked the question he really didn't want her to ask.

"Pumpkin, are you okay?"

It didn't surprise him that she would ask such a question (after all, he's been dating her for about… three years) but it didn't mean he wanted to answer it.

"Yeah. Just fine. Yep. Nothing wrong here," he told her in a fake voice. Cho looked at him with a concerned look on her face.

"Drake, honey, do you want to take a walk?" Cho asked him sincerely. "We could talk about it." They had walked out of the Hog's Head and were heading down the cobblestone streets past Zonko's, Honeydukes, and the Owl Post. Soon they had reached the very end of the road. Hp

"Cho… I don't know… It's just so tough… It's not exactly something you would know, being a Ravenclaw and all. It's more of a Slytherin thing. I should talk to Pansy or Blaise about it."

Cho burst into tears. "Oh, so you'd rather talk to her than me? I can't believe you! What, so you like her more than me? Think you can talk to her?

"Draco, have you ever cheated on me?" she cried. Draco was alarmed at the sight of her- unlike his father, he hated seeing the woman he loved cry.

Draco flinched. "Cho! We agreed to have another relationship occasionally so no one would suspect that we were dating! If my father found out-"

"All hell would break loose. I know. I know! But I mean ever really cheated on me, Draco."

Draco felt uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how much he liked the direction this conversation was going.

"Have you ever cheated on me, Cho?" he demanded, eyes blazing. Cho looked at him with watery orbs.

"I thought I loved you," she whispered. "But, oh, Draco, I'm sorry…"

"What?" Draco asked her, leaning into hug her.

But she pulled away, hot tears rolling down her beautiful face. "I'm in love… With someone else."

How can this be possible?

"Who is he?" Draco asked her calmly, as though she had been telling him about the weather.

"It's not he, Draco. It's a she… I've been seeing Marietta Edgecombe since well, since school started. I'm so sorry, Drake. I knew I should have told you earlier, but I was so afraid! And then I began thinking maybe you were cheating on me and I was hating myself for even thinking that when I was dating Marietta and I didn't know what to do so… Oh, Draco, will you ever forgive me?" she said this all in a wave of tears.

Draco wasn't mad. But he wasn't happy either. The emotion he felt he could not decipher, nor recognize what it was. It was a calm feeling, an I-knew-this-was-going-to-happen feeling. His father had told him to never let emotions overcome you. To never let them get in the way of the task you had to perform.

So Draco just walked away and left her standing there. He learned an important lesson that day.

His father was wrong.

The human body cannot survive without emotion.

Blaise

Whenever she walked into the room, she took his breath away. But that afternoon when Hermione Granger entered the Three Broomsticks to meet Blaise it was as though he could not breathe- ever again.

She wasn't beautiful. She was a goddess. She was the bringer of light. The very image of splendor and magnificence. And she was his.

God, he loved her.

But could he tell her?Hermione

"Hey, I'll see you around, okay?" Ginny said earnestly to Hermione as they left Honeydukes. "I'm meeting a very special friend at Madam Puddifoot's for a very special afternoon."

Hermione grinned. "I have a feeling I know who your very special friend is."

"And I have a feeling that you are very right." Gin replied. They were both in the best of moods, despite the skirmish this morning.

:flashback:

Hermione headed down the stairs with Ginny, both laughing about how different people would look with shaved heads.

"Wouldn't Marietta Edgecombe look hilarious with no hair? Considering hers is already about five feet long."

"She would. She must have used a hair growing charm. I can see her now. 'You know, Mama, my hair is far too short!' and then her mother- oh, her mother goes, 'No, no, Marietta. You said that last week, and added on another 3 ½ feet.' And- and then Marietta, oh, Marietta goes, 'But mummy, I'm so afaid the boysies won't lite me with my hair so sort. I tink anoter 8 feet will do. Juevavi! A, tere, I am de most beautifuk Repunzel eva! Won't every boysie lite me now?'"

And then they reached the bottom of the stairs, where they spotted Harry and Ron talking quietly. Suddenly Ginny's face went from happiness to surprise to dread. Hermione took a few double takes. What was going on?

Ron turned his head to look at the two girls, and Hermione didn't like the look in his eyes.

They were a mix of surprise and anger.

"Ginny!" he shouted, standing up. "I just got some extremely interesting news from Harry here. Apparently, you have a boyfriend. A boyfriend. Isn't that just charming?"

He was furious. Hermione stared at each Weasley in turn. Ron was red in the face and looked as though he was fit to burst. Ginny, on the other hand, was smiling.

"So, you told him, Harry?" she asked her current boyfriend. Harry grinned back at her. Hermione could see his eyes. "Yeah. But you know what he told me?"

"What?" she asked, her smile fading.

"He has a girlfriend too. Tell her, Ron. You know you can't get mad at Gin if you're dating someone too."

Hermione gasped. Ron was dating someone? What- who was she?

Ginny looked like she was about to throttle him.

Ron turned red in the face, unable to step up to the plate and reveal something (at least to him Hermione found out later) was so embarrassing.

"Come on, mate. Tell them!" Harry prodded. "They deserve to know!"

Ginny walked over to Harry and stood behind him. "He's right, Ronald. I have a right to know."

"All right, okay!" Ron gasped. "Her name… Her name is Pansy Parkinson."

Hermione gasped, as did Ginny.

"You were getting mad at me for dating Harry, your best friend, when you're dating a Slytherin? Draco Malfoy's ex? I can't believe you! Traitor!" Ginny snapped at him before running upstairs.

Hermione didn't know what to do. Sure, it was wrong of Ron to be mad at Ginny for dating when he was dating Parkinson, but she couldn't be mad at him. In fact, she was relieved. The fact that Ron had gone out with Pansy meant he no longer liked her.

Ron, on the other hand, ran out of the portrait hole. Hermione sat down next to Harry.

"Gin didn't take it too nicely," He said, his head in his hands. "I shouldn't have told him about Ginny and me. Or told you guys that he was dating her… But Gin and I… I love her so much! And I couldn't keep a secret… Not from my best friend."

Hermione understood his situation. That was how she felt about Blaise.

"I think Gin needs some time to cool off." She said grinning. "But I think you should help her."

"As in?" he asked her with a single raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you know what I mean! Make her feel better!"

"How am I supposed to get to her dorm?" he asked smartly.

"Accio your broom, you dung head!" Hermione told him. "And hurry up. Tell Gin to meet me at Honeydukes. Au Revoir."

And Hermione left the common room to head to Hogsmeade.

:end flashback:

forbiddenlight