Chapter 18
"WHAT!" Hermione exclaimed as Ginny told her what had happened. They were sitting in the girl's dormitory all alone. The other girls had mysteriously "vanished" along with their boyfriends, giving Hermione and Ginny amble time to talk things over.
"I know! I have no idea why in the world I insisted that we still pretend!" She cried, placing her head in her hands.
"Are you afraid of Harry?"
"Oh no! That's not it at all... I just don't want him dating me out of pity."
"But what if it wasn't out of pity?"
"How could we know that? You are the only person that knows this is all for pretend! And I said that if we told you or Ron then it wouldn't work."
"But Dean knows."
"Yes."
"And I know."
"Don't remind me Hermione!"
"Well, why don't you raise the stakes?"
"What do you mean?"
"Tell Dean that he needs to be all lovey dovey again... For pretend of course. And have it do it in front of Harry. That way Harry becomes jealous and tells you how he really feels."
"I don't think that will work Hermione."
"It has to! Don't you see how he looks at you!"
"Wait, what?"
"He looks at you like you are the only person alive. There is nothing that he wouldn't do to protect you, to keep you with him. He loves you, Ginny."
"No he doesn't. I'm just his best friend's little sister."
"No! You are his girlfriend and he loves you."
"Are you sure?"
"Am I ever wrong?"
"Well, erm... no."
"See!"
"Oh my gosh! He loves me!"
"Sometimes you are just as dense as Ron."
"I am not, Hermione!"
"Yes you are. Now go and tell Dean what to do."
OoOoOoOoOoOooOoOoOOoOoOoO
Dean read over the letter that Ginny had snuck him in class, but he wasn't sure he wanted to do that. He was friends with Harry, then again this was for Ginny. And he would have done anything for her. But he knew that he would need to put something drastic into action. That, he was really afraid of doing. Much more so than the war at this moment in time.
He wrote back, telling that he would do what he could, slighty wishing he had never agreed to do any of this.
OoOoOoOooOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Dean is sending me owls again!" Ginny exclaimed at lunch. Harry started coughing immediately.
"What!" He exclaimed as he continued to sputter.
"Yeah. Read them," she said as she handed the letters over to him. His eyes scanned the pages quickly, his face frowning ever so deeper.
"Why is he doing this?" Harry asked her as he handed back the letters to her.
"I have no idea. I guess because he's hoping to win my heart or something," Ginny suggested.
Hermione and Ron came into the Great Hall just then, holding hands and smiling at one another. They walked over to the table where Harry and Ginny were sitting and sat down quickly.
"Hey guys. What's going on?" Ron asked as he settled himself down in his seat. Hermione nestled herself close to Ron.
"Dean is sending Ginny love letters." Harry spat out angrily. Ron's jaw dropped, the food that he had been working on after his question was displayed in front of them. Hermione sighed, rolled her eyes, and pushed his jaw back up.
"Please don't show us your food," she said softly.
"Spooory," he said, sending a piece of food to land upon Hermione's cheek.
"Ron!" She exclaimed as she wiped the food away in disgust. He swallowed, his cheeks flaming.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to Hermione."
"No it's okay. Now, let's get back to the subject at hand. When did he send you the notes?" Hermione asked her.
"Today, during classes," Ginny answered, rolling her eyes.
"Well he has to know that he can't do that any more!" Harry exclaimed.
"I guess you'll have to have a face to face talk with him."
"I guess I will have to. I had hoped the letter that we had sent him in the beginning of the summer would have helped him understand," Harry said, running a hand through his hair.
"Are you jealous?" Ginny asked him suddenly. His eyes snapped over at her.
"No."
"Yes you are!"
"Okay fine, maybe I am," Harry mumbled.
"But why would you be jealous?"
"Because you dated him before me."
"So what? You dated Cho before me."
"But what if you fall for his letters?"
"Why would I? I have loved you since before I knew you."
"Not possible."
"It is to possible."
"It's true," Ron butted into their argument. Harry looked over at him in confusion.
"She loves you. Has since before she even knew you personally. Mum would always tell her your story." He looked over at her, his face falling.
"So you fell in love with the legend of Harry Potter," he stated cooly.
"No! Well at first! But I was just a little girl Harry! Just a little girl! I had no idea who you were really. And then I met you and you saved me and I got to know who you really were. And that's when my real love began. For the boy, not the legend!" Ginny protested.
Harry just sat there, looking at her as if he wasn't sure if he should believe what she was saying to him.
"Why would you fall in love with a legend?"
"I have no idea, Harry. I was little."
"Obviously."
"But I love you for who you are, not what you have done."
"Promise?"
"I promise with all of my heart and all of my soul."
"Alright," he said reluctantly.
"Well if you don't want to believe it than maybe you need sometime to think alone!" She exclaimed angrily. With that she got up and left the Great Hall, allowing Harry to think about what had just happened.
