A/n: ok, where're the lynch mobs? I can't hide forever! ha ha...sorry, I'm sure some people are going to kill me with what happened in last chapter...but tough. If you wanna flame me on Harry and Ginny's status, fine, but I'm not changing my story. I have a good plot going for it...trust me, things will get better. I hope...

Chapter 18

'This can't be good.' Hermione, after seeing Ginny seek shelter in her dorm, followed her, seeing if Ginny would talk to her. Her and Ron had been sitting in the common room for a couple hours after their "rendezvous" and couldn't wait to tell Harry and Ginny the good news. Boy, did their plans change in a heartbeat. She felt Ron tense up when he'd seen Ginny come in as well. Hermione was worried for Ginny, but also worried about what Ron would do. 'He better listen to me...'

Reaching the sixth year girls dormitory, she found that it was locked. 'Damn it. How am I going to get i-...oh gods...I did not just think that. ANYWAYS...'

"Alohomora." The spell being spoken, the door unlocked and Hermione turned the knob and entered the room. It was quiet. Too quiet... No one was in the room, so she perused the room, trying to locate Ginny's whereabouts. 'Empty bed...too messy by far...' Looking at the next bed, she found at least five different posters of the same man. 'He's rather good look- never mind.' That one wasn't Ginny's. Seeing the next bed had it's curtains drawn around the entire bed, she knew she had struck gold. Slowly walking towards it, she tripped on a book laying on the floor. 'Stupid girls...put your things away!'

Hermione opened the curtains and saw Ginny crying her eyes out. No wonder she didn't hear anything. Ginny had cast a silencing spell.

"Oh, Gin." With feeling, she sat by Ginny and gathered her in her arms to try and calm the poor girl down. 'What the hell did you say to her Harry? Maybe I should've let Ron have his way. No! There are two sides in this.'

"Leave me alone, Herm. I don't want to talk about it," was mumbled in between her crying spell. Hermione just hugged her harder, wanting her friend to feel peace more than anything at the moment.

"We don't have to talk about it. Right now, let's just sit here. Whenever you feel ready...if you want to, you can tell me what squirrel got killed by Crookshanks." Ginny laughed hollowly at Mione's "joke." After her tears had subsided, the two sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. Hermione was glad that Ginny had calmed down and was about to get up and leave her to sleep when Ginny spoke.

"Life is ironic, isn't it?" Ginny's voice sounded raw after all her crying. Hermione looked at Ginny and saw she had a far away look in her eyes.

"I guess it is," Hermione drew out slowly.

"It may be too late for you, but don't let your heart get involved. It can only lead to bad things and you'll be left, floating in the wind, with everywhere and nowhere to go." 'Wow that was deep,' Gin thought with sarcasm.

"What exactly are you talking about, Gin?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" Vehemence in her voice. Hermione was startled but replied back, curious as to why Ginny was acting this way.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what's going on. Maybe if I could get a little input on the matter I would understand what you're talking about. Ginny gave a sigh, her breath catching after her cry fest.

"It was terrible, Herm, just terrible," Ginny choked out. Looking at Ginny, she saw her eyes brighten with tears. "I was heading out from our study session in the library, when Harry came running up to me. He had asked me what I was doing and I said I was studying. Then he went on about how Malfoy had told him that I was cheating on him and it downhill from there. Lord knows where Malfoy heard his shit...but, oh Hermione, Harry broke up with me!" Saying that, Gin started crying all over again.

'Oh...well, piss on a stick. God Harry...what were you thinking?' Anger spurted through her over Harry's actions.

Hermione held onto Ginny throughout her crying and soon she quieted.

"I'm sorry, so sorry Gin. Harry's a prat for letting you go. He's a fool to not notice how wonderful you are." Ginny felt a bit better at her words, but had a small, very small feeling of guilt in her stomach. Wanting to drown in her grief, she ignored whatever that feeling was and just sat with Hermione. Bits and pieces of their breakup came out over time that night and Ginny felt relieved to get it out of her system. But she was still depressed over what happened. It was nearing midnight when Hermione bid her leave and let Ginny sleep.

Hermione followed her lead, but before heading on up to her bed, she went back down to the common room to check in with Ron. He was half sitting half laying on the couch, dead asleep. Despite the grief of the night's events, she had fun waking Ron up, but the happy air left her as she told Ron what had transpired. He, too, was angry with what had happened and wanted to kill Harry with his bare hands.

"Ron, Ron! Calm down. I want to hurt Harry just as much as you do, but someone has to stay level in this."

"I know, love. That's why when things get too far when I'm hurting him, you'll call for help," he replied brightly. Hermione rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss. Ron, feeling, deprived since she had left his side to go see his sister, kissed her again, wanting to start what they had finished earlier. 'Well, that feels rather...lovely...'

"Ron, wait a tick..." Ron's hands drifted down her back, grabbing her ass while smiling against her lips. "Ron!" She smacked his hands away and gave him one last kiss. "We really do need to get to bed."

He gave her a sensuous smile. "I couldn't agree with you more. Lead the way!" Totally contradicting his words, he took her hand, leading her towards her staircase. Hermione just laughed but tugged on his hand, stopping him.

"Funny, Ronald. Nice try though."

"It was, wasn't it?"

"Don't push your luck."

"Fine, fine, fine..." He kissed her one last time for good measure and bade her goodnight. "I love you." Hermione's heart flip flopped at his words even more than when he kissed her.

"I love you too, Ron." She turned to leave and he gave her a nice smack on the ass. She stopped and turned around to give him a level glare. He looked back with an innocent face. "I love you so much that, wait. In fact, I think I have a family reunion coming up soon..." She smirked to herself when she saw him pale.

"Goodnight Herm!" He ran as fast as he could up the stairs trying to get away from his traitorous love. She nodded her head side to side, laughing at his lack of courage. 'Gryffindor, huh? Coulda fooled me.'

----------------------Plenty of time has passed.---------------

It was 3 days, 10 hours, and 53 minutes since that devastating meeting in the corridor. But not like Harry was counting. Ever since he had walked away from Ginny, he didn't want to assume he was wrong in what he had done. 'She had been lying to me the entire time. My reasons are justified! What other person in a relationship wouldn't do the same?' Every time he had feelings of regret, he reminded himself that he had needed to do that. If Ginny wasn't going to be honest with him on something this petty, then she would be deceptive in the future...wouldn't she? Even though he felt like he was missing a big part of his life he brushed it aside. He didn't need her.

Who needs your one true love to go on in life? Certainly not Harry, as one by one, he'd been getting bad grades in his classes. He blamed it on lack of sleep, which was true since he couldn't sleep for some reason... But things weren't getting any better. He was moody and snapped at Ron and Hermione, making them angry in turn. After the night Ginny and Harry broke up, Ron had had a "talk" with Harry. To say the least, Ron thought it went rather well. He only had a couple busted knuckles and Harry had a nice shiner. Hermione was happy yet sour about what Ron had done. But still, Harry had kept his distance from his best friends and slowly, those around him. He didn't even talk back to Snape, which surprised the crap out of Snape. The two friends tried to chalk up conversations with Harry, but he'd give curt replies, leaving no room for pleasantries. Ron and Herm hadn't chosen sides as between their two friends, but it was difficult getting any conversation out of either of them. And quidditch practice was no walk in the park. Being afraid of spiders was second on Ron's list with practice leading. It was excruciating having to deal with Harry during that time period since he was such an ass. Poor Ginny hadn't come to a quidditch practice since their break up. The backups were poor substitutes and things were going downhill. It was so bad, Ron and Hermione were contemplating quitting, with everyone else close behind.

But enough about Harry. Ginny was a whole other catastrophe in herself. She had slept in fits after Hermione had left, making her wake up late and miss her first class. That gave her a bad mood and things were terrible. She wanted to scream at everyone to leave her alone and finally, it had all become too much and she withdrew from her "life." She still did the normal things, like eat, and do assignments, but only to the bare minimal. She was slowly becoming depressed and no one could cheer her up. She rarely encountered Harry, but that was a good thing in her mind. 'If I ever see him again, I'll break down right there in the hallway.' Ginny was as much a mess as Harry, but neither would admit that they both missed each other.

Word of a rift of some sort was the news that flew around Hogwarts. Ginny and Harry were one of the cutest couples at Hogwarts and when people didn't see them together or talk, they got to wondering. One of the two would walk by any group of students and they would turn quiet, whispering amongst themselves. Everyone was enlightened when a particular source, a Mr. Draco Malfoy, told everyone that the two had broken up. Tongues had wagged ever since. Cat calls were directed towards Harry when he walked by his rivals.

"Guess you couldn't get any huh?"

"She couldn't stand all the fame could she?"

"Who's your new whore, Potter?"

Those were a few of the things shouted at him as he'd pass by. For Ginny, things weren't much better. People would constantly ask her if Harry had left her for someone prettier, richer, etc...

Ah, life at Hogwarts was just fabulous. Or so Draco Malfoy thought. 'Seeing Potter in such turmoil is laughable. I couldn't have set up this up any better...'

a/n: hey, been awhile. Surgery on friday was just fantabulous...not. Haha, but I'm better so that's good. I hope this is ok for now...kinda iffy on writing this chapter. Let me know what you guys think ok? review or I'll have no enthusiasm for writing!