Say Goodnight, Not Goodbye
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Small note: They are now in the year of 1998. (Yes, I am using the book's timeline.)
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Chapter 23: Hard Decisions and Revealing Truths
By Wednesday, Hermione knew that she couldn't keep avoiding Ron. Since Monday, the day after she had found out the very disturbing news, Hermione had been getting up early in the morning for breakfast, skipped lunch, and went to dinner really early. The only time she saw her boyfriend was in classes, and even afterwards she would pretend that she needed to talk to the professors, so Harry and Ron would have to leave her behind.
"Hermione," Harry whispered, dropping the eye of newt in his cauldron and keeping an eye on Professor Snape, who was currently busy with a very scared Neville.
"What?" dhe asked testily. She didn't like to talk in her classes, especially where Snape was concerned.
"I was just wondering why you seem to be avoiding everyone, specifically Ron."
"Why would you think a silly thing like that?" she asked, finishing up her potion.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because you've been sitting with me in every class since Monday and your boyfriend happens to be in every single one. Including this one," Harry added sarcastically.
"I am not avoiding.." dhe stopped when he gave her a 'do you think I'm stupid' look. "Okay, maybe I am, but I don't really want to talk about it with you."
"This isn't about you and Ron having sex, is it?" he asked her knowingly.
"Ron told you that we had sex?" Hermione hissed. "I cannot believe that he would do something so-"
"Hermione, every male talks about it, so don't take it in a bad way," he interrupted.
"Whatever," she muttered.
"Well, are you going to tell me why you're mad at Ron?" he asked her after a few minutes of silence.
She shook her head. "No, I don't really want to talk about it right now. So, could you please just drop it?" Hermione pleaded.
Harry sighed. If she wouldn't tell one of her best friends what was wrong, then it was obviously something that she didn't want to discuss, and he wasn't about to push her. "Okay, fine." She smiled at him in relief. "But you need to tell Ron what's wrong."
Hermione groaned. "I know that."
"So, when are you going to talk to him?"
"Sometime today," she confirmed, ending their conversation.
As Hermione made her way to the library, she contemplated on how she would confront Ron. Basically all she had come up with...was absolutely nothing. 'How were you supposed to ask the guy that you love, if he had taken the virginity of a complete bimbo? Okay, so Enya might not be a bimbo, but she was a complete slut.' Shaking her thoughts away, Hermione concentrated on her task of finding a book that would help her with her Herbology assignment. Ten minutes later she pulled a book off of the shelf. "Mione!" The petite girl whirled around and dropped it with a squeal.
"Ron! You scared me!" Hermione cried, putting her hand over her fast beating heart. Suddenly, her palms were very sweaty. 'Why did he have to show up now?' She wasn't ready to ask him about... her. Plus, this was the first time in three days that she had actually been alone with him.
Ron stood there awkwardly shuffling his feet. "Uhm," he cleared his throat, "Harry said that you wanted to talk to me about something."
"Oh he did, did he?" she asked, raising her brow. 'Damn you, Harry,' she cursed him silently.
"Uh, yeah," he nodded, confused at her behavior. He knew that something was wrong between them. Your girlfriend wasn't supposed to avoid you for three whole days, because she has something more important to do with her time. "What's wrong, Hermione?" he asked her worriedly.
"Ron, I really don't want to do this right now. We can talk in the common room later." She moved to go past him, but he latched onto her arm.
"No, I don't want to wait until later. We need to talk now," he replied seriously. He needed to know what was wrong.
"Fine." Hermione walked to her regular table and he followed.
"So, what's going on with you? Why have you been avoiding me?" Ron asked, taking her hand.
"Its kind of hard to say." She pulled her hand away, uncomfortable with him touching her. She could feel her eyes welling up with tears.
"Hermione, please tell me what's wrong," he begged, hurting at the sight of her tears.
"It's actually really quite stupid," she replied.
Ron felt even more confused. "Okay," he said slowly, "why don't you just tell me?"
"I..well..how many people have you been with?" she asked hurriedly.
His face was blank and then realization sank in. "You mean, how many people did I have sex with before you?"
"Yes."
"Is that why you've been avoiding me?" he asked wearily. "Hermione, does it really matter?" Nothing he told her would make the situation any better.
"It matters to me," she replied, getting angry.
"There have been a couple of girls, but no one that mattered," he said some-what reluctantly.
"A couple?" She breathed in disbelief. "No one that mattered?"
Ron swallowed the lump in his throat. "What exactly is the point of this?" he croaked.
Hermione ignored his last comment. "No one that mattered? What about me, Ron?" she yelled, standing up. "Did I not matter either?"
"No, of course not! Bloody hell, Hermione, how could you ask me that?" He was starting to get angry as well.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you said that they didn't matter to you," she said piercingly.
"You were the only one that mattered," he told her truthfully.
"Who were they?" She ignored him again.
Ron couldn't lie to her, because if he did, then he would lose her, and that was something that he didn't want happening. Ever. "Like I said, there were only two before you... Justine Blair from Ravenclaw and Enya Sloper from...well you know who she is," he replied uneasily.
"When did it happen?"
"I was...with Enya last year during Christmas and I was with Justine..." He trailed off, looking slightly sick.
"Oh my gods," she breathed in shock and Ron looked at her with tears in his eyes. "It was in September, a couple of weeks after we got back, wasn't it?" she asked, her tears finally falling. "A couple of weeks before I became your girlfriend?"
Ron nodded solemnly.
"So, you took Enya's virginity and you fucked Justine even though you've been in love with me for the past two years?" Hermione spat nastily.
"Please, Mione. You have to believe that they didn't mean anything to me," he promised, a couple of tears falling as well. "It just happened."
"It just happened?" she asked, still disbelieving. 'How could he do something like this?' "I thought that you were different," she said. "But you aren't, you're just like all the other blokes who want a good fuck every now and then."
"Hermione, that is complete bull shit and you know it!" he yelled at her angrily.
"How can I believe you Ron?" she sobbed, wanting to believe him. She didn't want this to happen, but she couldn't be with a guy who automatically slept with a girl for all the wrong reasons. Even though he was only a guy, she had always thought that he would be the one that could keep it in his pants.
"Hermione." He pulled her small body to him, his figure towering over hers. "I love you and I have for so bloody long. Please believe me when I tell you that I'm sorry and that I never meant to hurt you," he replied in a desperate tone, tears running down his face. He leaned down to kiss her, but she backed away and quickly gathered her things.
"Please, will you just hear me out?" he begged.
"No, I can't do this right now," she replied shakily.
Ron opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"I think that we should take a break for a little while," Hermione said firmly. She didn't want to do this, but she needed to think things through and she couldn't do that if she was with Ron.
"Does this mean that you don't want to be with me ever again?" he asked, fearing her answer.
She shook her head. "No. I just-I can't do this with you right now. Give me time."
"Okay." He gave her a small smile. "If that's all I can get from you right now, then it's good enough for me."
"Right." Hermione said, without returning his smile. "I need to go."
And before he could say another word, she was gone.
"You never told me what happened at the meeting a few days ago," Stephanie said, sitting on the couch next to Draco.
"Yeah, what of it?" he drawled.
She gave him an annoyed look. "I have asked you over five different times and you still haven't told me shit. Now what the hell happened at that meeting?"
"Steph, you really don't want to know," he told her, warning in his voice.
'Oh no, the only time he called her that was when something serious was going on.' "Now I know that something important happened and you are going to tell me," she demanded. "Or I am going to beat the shit out of you," she added, trying to scare him.
Draco rolled his eyes, her words not scaring him one bit. "Fine," he gave in. "But, we can't talk about it down here."
"Why not? It's a Saturday, so most people are out and about with plans," she replied, looking around the almost empty room. The only people there besides them were a few first, second, and third years.
"So, how come you aren't out with Potter? Trouble in paradise already?" he sneered.
"No, dumbass. I'm not with him, because he needs to be with his friend right now," Stephanie said.
He nodded. "Same here. Ginny decided to stay with Granger because of what happened between her and the Weasel."
"Do you know why they broke up?" she asked curiously.
"Do you even care?"
She shrugged. "Hermione isn't so bad, but I'm not to sweet on Gin's brother."
"I hate all of them," he said simply.
"You don't even know them and you haven't tried to get to know them. Who knows, they could turn out to be pretty decent people. You do remember that you hated Ginny at first," Stephanie reminded him.
"Yeah, but all the fighting was a turn on," Draco smirked.
She laughed. "I know that, because Harry and I used to do the same thing."
He looked at her in disgust. "Please refrain from saying anything about Potter in front of me. Especially if it has to do with your sex lives," he added with a shudder.
"You know I wouldn't, we agreed on the not talking about each other's sex lives a long time ago."
"I'm glad that we did that," he replied, thankful that he didn't ever have to hear about her and Potter being together in any way.
"So what happened at the meeting?" she asked.
Draco's face fell. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that again."
"Sorry to disappoint," she said dryly. "So what happened?"
"Lets go upstairs and talk," he suggested. Hardly no one was around, but he didn't want to take the chance of someone overhearing something important.
They walked up the boy's staircase and into the seventh years dormitory. Stephanie sat at his desk near his bed. "Do you ever sleep in here anymore?" she asked.
"No, not really. Ever since I got my own room in fifth year, I had no use for it. Besides," he grinned, "you can get alot more action when you have your own room."
She smiled to herself, thinking about the time when she had met Ginny on her way out of Draco's room. "You have no idea." Stephanie just smirked at his confused look. "So, are you going to tell me what happened or do I need to beat the info out of you?"
"It's not going to be something that you want to hear," he warned her.
She immediately dropped her humorous act. "What happened at the meeting? Something did, otherwise you wouldn't be so serious."
"They know about are newfound relationships," he informed her sourly.
"They know and they let you live anyway?" she asked him, surprised that he was still in front of her and breathing.
"There's alot more to it than you think," said Draco.
"Are you going to tell me or are we going to play the quiet game?" She became impatient.
He glared at her, but she didn't waver. "They think that I'm with Ginny just to spite the Weasleys."
"Oh," Stephanie stopped and her eyes widened, "They think that I'm with Harry, so I can lead him to Voldemort?"
"Fraid so."
"I won't have any part in it." She scowled.
"We don't have to be a part of it.. Draco replied. He already had everything planned out.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked, interested.
"It's simple. All we have to do is pretend. Let Voldemort think that we are on his side and that we are doing this for him. All he needs to know is that you are with Potter and I'm with Ginny. He'll think that we're with them, because we want to please him. If we do that and no one finds out, then we don't get our asses killed," he said strategically.
Stephanie seemed doubtful. "I dunno. In some ways it makes me feel like I am being dishonest to Harry or something..."
"Do you want to die?" he asked her, already knowing the answer. "We're Slytherins, so we have to take drastic measures."
"I know that, but don't you feel bad? I mean, you'll be lying to Ginny."
"It isn't called lying, its called saving our bloody lives," he replied haughtily.
Stephanie remained silent.
"Look. What good are you to Potter, or what good am I to Ginny, if we're dead?" he pointed out.
"It does make sense," she agreed. "But, what the hell do we tell them if they find out? I mean, what if they hate us for lying to them?"
"If they do find out, then they'll understand," Draco reasoned. He didn't like lying to Ginny either, but he also didn't want her to get hurt because of him. He knew that they were all in danger, and if something did happen to any of them, he didn't want to be the cause of Ginny's pain.
"I still think that we should tell them. Harry has always been threatened by Voldemort, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal," she argued. "And Draco, you don't know Ginny as well as I do. If you keep anything like this from her, she will be pretty ticked off."
He sighed in frustration. "We can't tell them now, its just to risky. Besides, this isn't the worst of what Voldemort has planned."
"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," she uttered sarcastically. "What else has the Mr. Almightly planned?"
"They're going to kill Ginny's father," he deadpanned.
Stephanie froze in shock. How could someone be so evil? "They want to get rid of the assistant to the Minister of Magic, so Lucius can be called in his place," she said, putting the pieces together. "Draco, we can't let this happen! If they do that, then they will automatically have control over everything in the wizardring world, not to mention that Ginny would be devastated. And it isn't as if we would have any chance with Fudge left in control, they would have that ponce killed off within moments or have him put under the imperious curse."
"I know that..." he lingered, "..but we can't tell anyone about this."
Stephanie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, we can't tell anyone?"
"We cannot tell anyone about the plan right now. If we do, then Voldemort will know it was me who warned them. He isn't as stupid as people think he is. He could figure it out easily."
"We could tell Dumbledore," she protested.
"No," he resolved. "If we tell now, then it could be death row for me and you know it."
"Then what the hell should we do?"
"We find an alternative," he stated simply. "If Lucius plans his attack, detail to detail like he usually does, then we should have at least two and a half months to figure something out."
"Fine," she said. "But I hope you know that I don't like what we're doing."
"I don't either, but remember that we never had a choice in the matter since the day we were born," said Draco, bitterly.
"You know," She seemed amused, "even though I'm a witch, I can't help but wonder if life would have been better as a plain muggle."
Draco didn't have a reply for that one.
"When will your niece be turning seventeen?"
"Her mother told me that she turns seventeen on the seventh of June," Lucius paused, "My sister tells me that she would be one of the best Death Eaters of your inner circle, but I do have my doubts about her. She did have that muggle loving father after all."
"She will come to realize that the death of her father was only the beginning, he was an incompetent fool. The only reason she did not get my mark on her sixteenth birthday was because of him. Let us hope that she does not take after her father's side," Voldemort hissed evilly. "Now, back to more important matters. When will be able to get rid of the mudblood loving assistant?"
"He can be gone within three months, my Lord." Lucius looked up to his master.
Voldemort appeared to be in deep thought. "No, it will have to be sooner than that. I want to get started before Potter has graduated from that retched school. I need him to be vulnerable when he leaves, and I do not think that one death will waver the stupid Gryffindor's courage."
"What do you propose?"
The Dark Lord smiled evilly. "What ever happened to Sirius Black?"
"I am not sure, my Lord. Pettigrew would know more about the dog then I."
"Where is that Gryffindor traitor?" He sounded curious.
"Probably off cowering somewhere. I always wondered how he was placed in that certain house. The wizard is a menace to society," Lucius drawled.
"Quite right, but the rat does serve to be of some use to me at the most convenient times."
"So, what should I do about Weasley?" Lucius asked, wondering.
"I want him gone in seven weeks or less. I know that might be hard for you to do, Lucius, but I also know that I didn't make you my second in command for nothing," Voldemort fathomed.
"Don't worry, it is already done."
"Always out to prove yourself, Lucius, that is why you're the only one of my servants that I truly trust." Lucius felt his pride overflow at the Dark Lord's compliment. "Now go and find Pettigrew, so I can ask him about Sirius Black."
Harry watched his best friend currently stare into the dying fire. It had been two weeks since Hermione broke it off with Ron, two weeks of complete silence between the two people who used to bicker for the fun of it, two weeks of watching his best friends become more depressed than he had ever seen them in their entire life. He had noticed that Hermione skipped many of the meals and, the only time Ron ever said anything, was if you asked him something directly. Harry wouldn't be able to handle much more of the eery silence.
"Ron!" Harry yelled, snapping his friend out of another world.
"What?" Ron griped.
"You need to talk to Hermione."
Ron looked at him like he had two heads. "Are you insane? She can come to me when she wants to talk. Besides, she's the one who told me that she needed time to think, by herself."
Harry knew that Ron wouldn't talk to Hermione if she told him she wanted to be left alone. "I can't believe that you slept with Enya anyway," he shivered in disgust, thinking about how many free rides the girl had given in the past two years.
"She was a virgin when I had sex with her. It's not like I meant to have sex with her anyway, she was just there," he objected.
Harry snorted. "How can you not mean to have sex with someone, Ron?" He shook his head. "It doesn't really matter, anyway. It's in the past, so you should just move on with your lives."
"Yeah, well you can be the one to tell Hermione that."
"Don't worry, Ron, she'll come around," he told him sympathetically.
"She has to, Harry, because I don't think that I can live without her."
"Have you noticed anything strange about Draco lately?" Ginny asked Stephanie during lunch the following Friday. The two teenagers sat under the Willow tree, which faced the Quidditch pitch. They were watching the Slytherin team practice, or in Ginny's case, watching Draco call out orders. Draco had made the team practice during lunch that day, because they had a match against Ravenclaw on Valentine's Day, which was next weekend.
"Nope, not at all," Stephanie lied easily. "Why do you ask?" She was going to kick Draco's ass for making her lie to her best friend.
"Forget it," Ginny dismissed. "So, what do you and Harry have planned for Valentine's Day?"
"I might give him a lap dance or something," she joked.
"He would probably like that, since he's a male."
Stephanie laughed. "Yeah, I bet Draco wouldn't mind one either."
"Um, yeah.." she sobered. "I think that I'm going to tell him this weekend."
"Tell him what?"
"That I lost my virginity to him."
"What?" The brunette squeaked.
Ginny nodded. "I need to tell him what happened in my fourth year."
"I-what-I-he," Stephanie stuttered in astonishment.
"I know, I know. You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Ginny assumed.
"Yes!" she blurted. "Don't you know that Draco will probably freak? And he has never ever been freaked out, like ever!"
Ginny winced at her friend's shrill voice. "Do you think it will be a good freaking out or a bad freaking out?" It didn't matter how Draco would respond to the news, he had a right to know about what happened between them.
"I don't know," The shorter girl replied. "Are you going to tell him before Valentine's Day?"
"Yeah, so I guess I'll have to tell him on Saturday."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? What with the Quidditch game on Sunday too?" Stephanie asked her.
"I have to. I don't think that I would be able to do it on Valentine's Day," Ginny determined.
"Well," Stephanie gave her a small smile, "Good luck with that. Oh and if Draco acts like a dumbass, I'll just knock some sense into his head."
She laughed. "Thanks, Steph."
"No prob. So, what made you want to tell him?" she asked eagerly.
There it was, the big question of the day. Well if she had to tell anyone, it should be her best friend. "I'm in love with him," Ginny revealed, after a few moments of silence.
"Oh...wow, thats big," she breathed in awe. "And weird," Stephanie responded.
"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed, offended.
"Well, it is. I mean, have you ever known anyone else out of Gryffindor to be in love with a Slytherin?"
"Sure, I have."
"Like who?" Stephanie asked, doubting that she would answer.
"Harry's in love with you, he just doesn't know it yet," Ginny replied happily.
"Okay, I'm beginning to think that you're on drugs."
"I'm serious," Ginny scowled. "Anyway, you're just saying that because you don't want to believe that Harry could be in love with you," she resounded with a knowing look and Stephanie opened her mouth to speak, but Ginny continued on, "You Slytherins are all the same, guarding your feelings and other stupid bull shit like that. You know, if Draco does that when I tell him, I will personally kick his ass myself."
Stephanie closed her mouth in disbelief. 'What if Harry was in love with her and...how the hell did Ginny know people so well?'
"It's just a gift." Ginny winked at her, as if she read her thoughts.
Stephanie snorted. "Okay, miss know it all. It's time to go to History of Magic." The youngest Weasley groaned at the thought of a boring Professor Binns. Both girls dragged themselves to class, similar thoughts running through their mind.
The day before the Quidditch match, Ginny was a nervous wreck. It didn't help that Hermione and Ron still weren't talking and Draco seemed to be really tense. But it didn't matter, because nothing would stop her from telling him today. Spotting Draco on the pitch, Ginny ran over to him with fake smile plastered on her face.
"Draco!" she called to get his attention.
"Hey," he greeted her with a true grin and a quick kiss, making her fake smile become a real one.
"You know, you would think that Quidditch was more important than your girlfriend," she told him playfully.
"You're still second best," he joked.
Ginny glared. "I know you didn't just say that."
He smirked. "I just did."
"Okay, I'll go back to Gryffindor tower then." She turned to walk away, but he popped back in front of her.
"I don't think so." He brought her mouth to his, forcefully pushing his tongue in her warm mouth. Ginny moaned when he started to caress the bottom of her breasts through her black tank top with his thumbs.
"Hey, get a bloody room!" Blaise yelled above them.
Ginny pulled away with a slight blush and groaned when she remembered why she had came out here in the first place. "Can we go to your room?" she asked him, and he became wide-eyed. "No, not for that," she laughed. "I need to talk to you about something. Its important."
Draco nodded, hiding his worry. He hoped that she hadn't found out about the Death Eater meeting. "Yeah, sure. Hey Blaise!" he called into the air. "Take over for me, will you?"
The shaggy haired guy nodded and started barking orders.
"So, what do you have to talk to me about?" Draco asked his red-headed beauty as they made their way through the almost deserted halls.
"I'll um, tell you when we get to your room. So, why did you turn down the offer to be Head Boy?" she quickly changed the topic.
He raised his eye brows at her, but she ignored it. "I didn't want the responsibility of being a Quidditch Captain and the Head Boy."
She nodded in understanding. "I know for a fact that Hermione got it, but for some reason she changed her mind and decided to be a prefect like always."
"I'm just glad that the Ravenclaws didn't get the titles of Head Boy and Head Girl. They would have been worse than Granger, what with all of the 'knowledge' and being wise," he mocked. "But that's weird for Granger. I thought that was what she wanted from the very beginning. To be Head Girl and all that rubbish."
"Yeah, well you never can be to sure about Hermio.." Ginny's breath caught in her throat when she came face to face with the portrait that she hadn't laid eyes on in two years.
"Are you okay? You seem a little off today." Draco was concerned at her unusual behavior.
"Like you haven't been acting strange for the past two weeks," Ginny muttered under her breath.
Draco glanced at her in amusement. "I heard that, you know."
"Anyway," she cleared her throat, "are we going to stand out here all day or go in?" She pointed at the portrait.
"Oh right." A hint of red slowly made its way up his neck in embarrassment. "Pureblood." The portrait swung open.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I cannot believe that you have that as your password."
"What? I haven't ever changed the password," he admitted.
"Right." She walked behind him and into the room. It looked exactly the same as it had two years ago.
"Do you like it?" he asked, gesturing to the room.
"It's nice." She gazed around, "The most green I've ever seen in one place."
"Well, I can't have bloody Gryffindor colors, now can I?" He sat down on the same silky green comforter.
"Of course not. Umm, listen...I have to tell you something." She started to pace.
"Alright, what is it?" He laid back on his bed, hands behind his head.
Ginny stopped and gave him a sigh of aggravation. "Could you not do that when I'm trying to talk to you?"
"Oh, you mean, stop looking sexy?" He asked arrogantly.
"Nevermind, I'll go," she said in frustration and started to leave.
Draco jumped up from the bed and grabbed her arm. "Ginny, what the hell is wrong with you today?"
"I was trying to tell you something important," she said, shaking his hand off.
"I didn't know you were so serious about it," he said as an apology. This girl was going off her rocker. "What did you want to tell me?"
"I-its-" she moved to the green couch. "hard to-"
"Wait a second," he interrupted.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked him in exasperation as he went over to his dresser.
"I'm cold, so I'm putting on an overshirt. That's only if, you don't mind," he mocked, taking out a black pullover. Ginny saw something fall to the floor.
She walked over and picked the garment off of the floor, "You dropped somet.." she stopped talking and gasped.
"What?" Draco looked up at her in alarm.
"Draco...this is..." He gazed down to see a pair of red silk knickers in her hands.
"Holy shit, Ginny, I can explain," he rushed frantically.
"Why the hell did you keep these?" she asked bewildered.
"I..well-it-they-girl," he stumbled over his words. "They're an old girlfriends and I never got around to getting rid of them. I swear I was going to get rid of them," he said carefully.
"Is that right?" Ginny laughed inwardly at his predicament.
"Yes, I swear it's the truth." He hoped to Merlin that she believed him.
"No they aren't."
"I-" Draco sighed. 'How the hell was he going to tell her the truth?' He decided to humor himself, "Well then, where did they come from?"
"Me," she answered truthfully.
Okay, Draco didn't expect that. "What the fuck are you playing at?" he demanded.
Her face flushed with rising anger. "Don't talk to me like that."
"Fine. What were you talking about when you said they were yours?" he asked in the nicest voice he could muster.
"I meant exactly what I said. They are mine," she emphasized the last three words softly.
"How the hell could they be yours?" he roared.
"Don't yell at me," Ginny seethed.
"I am not yelling!" Draco yelled.
"Well, you are now!" she screamed back.
"Well maybe if you told me what the hell you're talking about, I wouldn't be so damn confused!" he cursed.
"Stop fucking yelling at me, so I can explain!"
Draco took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
"Are you through?" She smirked.
"Yes," he said in clenched teeth.
Ginny went back to her seat and he remained standing. "What I have to say, is definitely going to freak you out, so I would sit down if I were you," she advised wisely.
He took her advice and sat back down on his bed. "What is it?" he asked, staring at her with his intense ice-blue eyes.
"Two years ago," she began quietly, but loud enough for him to hear her across the room, "on September 15th, I lost my virginity."
Draco's eyes widened in recognition. It made perfect sense now that he thought about it. All the signs were there. There was that time when they were in the library and she had told him that she, 'couldn't do this again.' And it's obviously how Stephanie and Ginny had become best friends...Stephanie! She had known all this time and she'd never told him! Well...they did agree to stay out of each other's sex lives. "Why did you do it?" he asked her, truly interested. He knew that he was good looking, but two years ago, a Weasley sleeping with a Malfoy could be called attempted suicide.
"I was vulnerable," she said, tears filling her golden-brown eyes. "That night I caught Dean with Lavender and you were just there.. and obviously absolutely pissed because you called me beautiful." Ginny laughed bitterly. "You must think that I'm a complete slut."
"No, I don't." She looked at him in surprise. "But I do think it's ironic, what with you being a Weasley and me being a Malfoy. I actually looked for you too."
"You searched for me?" she asked in awe.
"There were things that you made me feel..." he stopped abruptly and his features hardened.
"What's wrong?" She noticed his sudden change of behavior.
"You knew all this time that we've been together and you never told me."
"I didn't want to lose you," she replied sadly.
"This is unbelievable," Draco said wryly. "Why did it have to be you?"
"Excuse me!" Ginny started to get angry again. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that it shouldn't have been you! That none of this should have happened with you!" he yelled. Draco instantly regretted his words at the look of hurt that flashed through her eyes. "Wait..Gin..I-"
She stood up. "Save it, Malfoy," she spat and he winced at her tone. "I'm sorry that it didn't turn out to be one of your whores." She ran out the portrait and it slammed with a resounding bang.
Making her way through the Gryffindor common room around three o'clock that morning, Ginny was surprised to see Harry sitting on the couch, staring into space.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, taking a seat next to him.
Harry looked at her in concern. "The question is, what are you doing? It's three o'clock in the morning and you look like you've been fighting."
"I had a fight with Draco."
"Oh...is everything okay between the two of you?" he pursued awkwardly.
"No, it isn't," she said tiredly. "And why are you asking, when you don't give a rat's ass about him?"
"I might not care about that git, but I care about you," Harry replied, giving her a one armed hug.
She smile wearily and leaned into him. "Thanks, Harry."
"So, do you want to tell me what happened?" hee asked.
"You really don't want to know," she warned.
"Sure I do." He wanted to know what was wrong with her. She looked like a little girl who just realized that her puppy got ran over.
"You would hate me if I told you," she said, tears forming in the back of her eyes.
Harry's concern grew. "Ginny, I could never hate you," he promised.
"Maybe not in some cases, but if I told you this, you wouldn't ever look at me in the same way again." Ginny couldn't take losing one of her friends as well.
"I won't judge you Ginny," he swore.
"Not even if I told you that in my fourth year I lost my virginity to Draco Malfoy and that's how I became friends with Stephanie, because she caught me coming out of his room and I couldn't find my way to the Great Hall," she rambled.
Harry opened his mouth in shock, "You-he-fourth-sex-MALFOY!" Were the only words that came forth.
"Yes," she said, tears rolling down her face.
"I always wondered how you and Stephanie became best friends," he joked lightly. At the sign of her tears, Harry pulled her into a real hug. "Shh...Ginny, its okay."
"He didn't want it to be me, Harry," she cried into his sweater.
"Malfoy is a fool if he doesn't see what a great girl you are." He cursed the blonde boy silently for making his surrogate sister cry. "Do you want me to go and kick his ass?"
"You sound like Stephanie," Ginny laughed through her tears. Harry took his wand from the coffee table and conjured up a tissue for her. "Thank you," she said, taking it from him and wiping away the tears.
"You should get some sleep," he suggested, glad that he didn't say anything about the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match tomorrow evening.
"Look who's talking." She walked to the girls staircase and he did the same. "Goodnight, Harry." She gave him a quick hug.
"Night, Gin." He gave her a small smile and they headed their separate ways to get some much needed sleep.
The short brunette made her way over to the Willow tree, where the Boy-Who-Lived stood, waiting for her patiently.
"Hey," Stephanie said to her boyfriend, leaning in for a long heated kiss.
They both pulled back, chests heaving, identical smiles on their faces. "What was that for?" he asked happily.
"Okay, please don't smile at me like that, or you're going to make this even harder for me to do," she replied. He frowned at her words. "Good, that's better. Okay, I know that today is Valentine's Day and its supposed to be for the couples and all that lovey-dovey sentimental crap. and I wanted to spend it with you, but I can't."
"Why is that?" He was curious to know and also disappointed that he wouldn't get to spend today with his beautiful girlfriend, like he had been planning for the last week.
"For some weird reason, Draco has been acting all mopey and I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone." She rolled her eyes.
"He's alone now, isn't he?" asked Harry bitterly, wishing he could beat the shite out of Malfoy for ruining his plans.
"No," she chuckled, "I left him with Pansy, so he's probably going to be very pissed with me when I get back."
"Serves him right," he replied, getting mad when he thought about what happened less than nine hours ago.
"Why's that?" Stephanie looked confused.
"Ginny came in crying this morning because of that ponce. She told me that Draco was mad at her."
"Oh no! I forgot that Ginny was going to tell him...about that little kiss she accidentally had with another guys" she lied quickly, to cover her slip up.
Harry laughed. "It's okay. She told me what happened in her fourth year."
"She told you everything and you didn't go all, ahhh?" asked Stephanie, motioning her hands high in the air.
"Well, I was shocked, I mean...Malfoy and Ginny together? But, I didn't yell at her like Ron would." He felt a pang of sympathy for her if Ron-the one that was known for being the overprotective big brother-somehow found out.
"Did she tell you how Draco reacted?" Stephanie knew that it hadn't ended well if they were both upset.
"No, but I bet he was an asshole," he fathomed. Stephanie glared at him. "What?" he asked defensively. "He probably was, why else would she come in with mascara all over her face?"
She couldn't disagree with that. Draco probably had been a git just because he couldn't handle all the different types of emotions that were now residing within. "I told her that I would knock some sense into his head if he acted like an asshole." She sighed. "Maybe I should kick him in the nuts for good measure too."
"Not even Malfoy deserves that." Harry winced.
"All right, no kicking in the balls then." Stephanie checked mentally. "I should go back. You aren't mad at me for ditching you on Valentine's Day, are you?"
"No. of course not." He didn't really like this holiday anyway. "I can hang out with Ron, play some chess, and listen to him whine about Hermione," he said, dreading the day already.
"Well at least you'll be doing something productive. Ooo, are you going to the Quidditch match today?"
"I dunno. I could probably get Ron out of the castle if I told him we were going to go so we can yell at the Slytherins for a few hours," he replied thoughtfully.
"If it makes him happy, then go for it," Stephanie advised.
"Yeah, I'll do that." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and they walked back to the castle hand in hand.
"Ginny," Hermione's head popped into the sixth year dormitory.
Ginny looked up from her book and gave her a sad smile. "Hey, Hermione. What's up?" When she found out what had occurred between Hermione and Ron, she had wanted to beat the crap out of her stupid brother, but Harry had assured her that he was in enough pain already.
"Um...well, I was wondering if you were okay." Hermione sat down by Ginny on the bed. At the younger girl's confused look she continued, "Harry told me what happened last night or rather, this morning."
"Harry told you everything?" Ginny asked skeptically.
She nodded. "He did."
"And you aren't freaked out?" She remembered Stephanie's words.
"No...maybe a little disappointed, but not freaked out. Everyone makes mistakes, Ginny," she explained rationally. "And if you say that Malfoy is somehow a changed person now, then I a'm not about to disrespect your judgement."
"I don't know what to think of Draco anymore," replied Ginny honestly.
"Don't worry. If he's a changed person, then he'll come to his senses and realize that he made a terrible mistake for being the git that he was," Hermione told her.
"Thanks, but I should be asking you if you're okay." Ginny had known that the older girl had been in love with her brother since the trio's fourth year. It must have hurt her greatly when she discovered that Ron had slept with one of the girls, who was also known as one of the biggest whores in Hogwarts.
Hermione pursed her lips. "I will be." She tried to convince herself.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked doubtful. She could tell that Hermione was using all of her strength to hold back the tears.
"I just...I just don't understand why he would do something like that," she cried.
"He's a hormonal teenage boy, Hermione," she tried to explain gently. "When it comes to sex, not many guys can control the situation. It's their weakest link, its how we females control the male. Be thankful that he didn't do it when you were actually together."
Hermione smiled at her sympathetically. She knew that Ginny was referring to the time when she had caught Dean and Lavender going at it. "I know." She sighed. "But, in my eyes, Ron was always different."
"They're always different when it's the guy you're in love with," Ginny said.
"I should be giving you love advice, not the other way around," Hermione laughed. "I guess when it comes to love, thats when I suck, but if you ask me a question about Potions or Ancient Runes, then I'm your girl. You know, they should make books about everything," she sulked.
Ginny giggled. "Then you would get totally annoying, because you actually would be the miss-know-it-all," she teased.
"True," she replied smugly. The girls burst out laughing.
"I thought that I had forgotten how to laugh." Ginny smiled. "I missed hanging out with you, what with everything that's been going on, we hardly ever get to talk anymore."
"I know." Hermione smiled in return. "You know, it's funny."
"What is?"
"Everyone is spending Valentine's Day with their friends, instead of their boyfriend or girlfriend."
"What about Harry and Steph?" asked Ginny in confusion.
"Harry went with...Ron to the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match, because Stephanie told him that Draco was acting all mopey and she needed to cheer him on in the game. She thought it would be a good idea if we all just stayed with a friend today, so nobody would get lonely." Hermione noticed the sad look that crossed Ginny's face when she mentioned Draco. It wasn't any different for her when she thought of Ron, the stupid git. "Lets not talk about boys anymore today, shall we?" she suggested wisely.
"That's the greatest idea I've heard all day." Ginny feigned happiness.
So Ginny and Hermione spent the rest of the day thinking about boys instead of talking about them.
That was the longest freaking chapter ever! I already know that this story will not be longer than 35 chapters, but remember that there is a sequel, so don't start crying! lol.
Don't forget to drop me a review!
LilyK