Chapter the Twenty-Seventh

A/N: It's not the best chapter ever, I can admit. The first half and the second were written months apart. But they were written, and teh editting completed, and hopefully that ought to help DD get going again. It's just over a year old now, did you know that? I now have two epic fics that have celebrated a first birthday. And having started an X-men one, I suspect it may become three one day, though let's pray none ever reach their second birthdays uncompleted, shall we?

Draco cornered her in the library and kissed her amongst the books. For Hermione, that was more romantic than any illicit trip to the astronomy tower. He'd taken to doing things like this when there weren't many people around, and it made part of Hermione squeal and faint like a romantic damsel, heaving bosom and all. She found herself taking long lonely walks around the castle, just in case they ran into each other. It was just romantic, that was all. Draco was the kind of boy who'd been brought up to believe romance was the cornerstone of a relationship.

But when she got back, she'd have to face Ron. He believed friendship was the cornerstone of a relationship, and Hermione appreciated that just as much as romance. He wasn't bothering to be happy for her, but he was still trying to be pleasant. Harry wasn't saying a word on principle, but Hermione was giving up on him anyway. Ron still broke her heart though.

So during that brief kiss in the library Hermione pulled away and left Draco standing confused. She screwed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself and wished the world would just change. Draco hovered.

"It's Ron."

"It's Ron," Hermione sighed.

"He's a bastard for doing this to you," Draco offered.

"No he isn't!" Hermione turned on him. "He isn't and he's my friend and he's trying and why can't I just feel like this for him? Why can't I still hate you and love him and have everything the way it must have been meant to be?" Tears glistened in her eyes.

"You think that was meant to be?" Draco asked in surprise.

Hermione shrugged miserably. "Doesn't it make so much more sense?" she asked softly.

"You know, all those books and stories had left me with the impression that none of this really made sense, ever," Draco told her.

"We're sensible people," Hermione said with a touch of desperation in her voice. "We ought to be able to make sense of this. But I just can't."

"You shouldn't be tearing yourself up about this," Draco said in alarm. "Please."

Hermione shuddered. "There's only one way to stop it, though, isn't there?"

"Don't ask me to be altruistic," Draco said bluntly. "I'm terrible at it. I'm damn close to happy here, and, well, I don't really care if Weasley is miserable. He deserves it," he added bitterly, thinking back to those weeks before Christmas, curled up in the infirmary. "But I do care if you're unhappy. So the solution I propose is we keep going out until Weasley gets over it. That way I'm happy, you're happy, eventually, and, well, I already said I don't care about him."

"Draco," Hermione sighed.

"I know, I know. But I'm not just letting you end this," he said firmly.

"End what?" Hermione asked shrewdly. "Only, we've been on one date and kissed a few times."

"That's a something," Draco said firmly. "Unless the rumour mill has had it wrong about you for the past few years."

Hermione shook her head. "I just..."

"I know," Draco sighed. "I guess it's my turn to worry about you incessantly, yes?"

Hermione shook her head, but when Draco wrapped his arms around her she didn't resist.

Ron paced around the Gryffindor common room, stepping over first years playing chess on the floor and on top of a second year's abandoned books. Ginny frowned at him, but didn't comment. Harry watched him sympathetically.

Ron stopped in front of them. "I want to talk to you two," he said. "Let's go somewhere more private." He made for the dormitory stairs, but Ginny grabbed his arm and led him through the portrait hole.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he led them through the halls.

"Room of requirement, silly," Ginny hissed.

Ron pushed open the door and actually laughed. For a moment Ginny took it for a promising sign, but the cold undertones reminded her of someone else's laugh, and for a moment she couldn't move. Harry tugged her inside, and to her relief, amongst the padded walls and spyglasses there was a large soft toy for her to wrap her arms around. Neither boy commented, but they did exchange looks.

Ron leant against a wall, running a hand across the sound proofing.

"Do you think…" he said slowly, "we should tell Hermione about Lucius Malfoy's escape?"

For a moment, Harry thought Ron had gone mad. Then he remembered that no, Hermione didn't know. And that felt wrong, because it was strange having a secret like that and not including her. Even when they fought the three of them always shared information that huge. It tended to be one of the factors in making up.

That decided Harry. "No."

"I think yes," Ginny said immediately. "She needs to know in case he comes looking for Draco."

"That's what I thought," Ron said. "Will she believe us though?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Ginny asked.

"Because she's a suspicious bi-" Harry actually stopped himself. "She'd be suspicious," he finished lamely.

Ron nodded. "I can't tell her," he pointed out.

"I can't!" Harry snapped.

Ginny stared from one to the other. "I know I said I thought it was a good idea, but I really wasn't intending to do it myself."

"I'm still not convinced it is a good idea," Ron sighed. "Dad did say to keep it a secret. I mean, it's a huge secret."

Harry knew he was about to voice the most unpopular opinion possible. "Should we tell Draco first?"

"When did you start calling him Draco?" Ron stared at him.

Ginny stared at him. "Surely he's got to know already," she said. "I mean, Dumbledore must have told him."

"Suppose no one told Dumbledore," Harry said sickly.

Ron shook his head firmly. "They're both in the Order of the Phoenix," he pointed out, "and Malfoy was a Death Eater. Dad would have told him."

"But if Dumbledore thought Malfoy was going to runaway to find his father he wouldn't say anything, would he?" Harry said. "And I'm still surprised Malfoy hasn't run away anyway."

"Well, we know what's keeping him here, don't we?" Ron said darkly.

"Harry's got a point," Ginny admitted. "It's in Draco's best interests if he doesn't know. He's still unstable."

"What if he tries to kill Harry?" Ron swallowed. "He was going on about it at the end of last term."

"But he hasn't made a move at all," Harry pointed out, surprised at being the rational one. "If he was going to he'd have tried something by now."

"He was depressed," Ron pointed out. "Suicidally so. If he thinks he's got a chance of putting his family back together he might be willing to do anything."

"You mean, if his dad asked him?" Ginny asked.

"If his dad asks him, then Malfoy will know he's alive," Harry said, trying to get back to the original point. "So we don't have to worry about telling him."

"Yeah, but that doesn't solve the problem of whether he'd seek his father out," Ginny said.

"Well, as Ron pointed out," Harry said awkwardly, "he's got Hermione keeping him here."

Ginny glanced over at her older brother and held out the teddy bear. He smiled weakly and accepted it. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"What will Hermione say when she realises how long we've known?" Ginny asked eventually.

"Does she have to know?" Ron asked.

Ginny grimaced. "She'll find out, sooner or later. She's Hermione."

"She's got a point," Harry admitted.

"Well, things have hardly been chummy, have they? She'll understand," Ron said crossly.

"And it's her fault that things are as they are," Harry backed up his best friend vehemently.

Ginny looked doubtful. She missed Hermione, badly. She couldn't fill her role in the usual threesome, and she didn't really want to. She missed hanging out with her own friends. Sibling support could only stretch so far, and she was losing interest in Harry's secrets. She sympathised with Hermione. The girl had a right to date who she liked, and she certainly seemed to have the most sensible attitude to Harry right now.

"It's not her fault Draco's dad is a Death Eater and his mum's a cow," she said softly. "It's not her fault Draco's been a git the whole time he's been here, and it's not her fault she feels sorry for him now she knows more."

"Hell, I feel sorry for him," Ron snapped, "but I'm not dating him!"

Ginny saw something flicker on Harry's face. Strange. "He's not that bad looking," she went on wretchedly. "He seems capable of being alright when he wants to. You guys managed to get on with him while he was staying in our tower."

"That's different!" Harry insisted. "Who's side are you on?"

"Well, hers," Ginny sighed. "I'll tell her about Lucius, shall I?" She waited for Ron to explode at her.

"I guess someone's got to take her side," her brother said dully. "You're not going to stop talking to us too, are you?"

"Hermione's still talking to you," Ginny said, uncomfortably aware that she was addressing only Ron. "You're not talking to her."

"I can't, not when she's got the slimy bastard attached to her," Ron said miserably. "And when she hasn't, you can still feel him around, like a bad smell."

"You're making her unhappy," Ginny told him.

"She's making herself unhappy," Harry broke in. "All she has to do is dump Draco and it all goes back to normal."

"She stopped talking to you before she started going out with him," Ginny mumbled.

"Tell her to dump him," Harry went on unhearing. "Tell her about Lucius and suggest she dump him."

"She won't," Ginny said helplessly.

"Not if you give her another reason to feel sorry for him, no," Ron agreed. "So we're decided then, we don't tell Hermione about Lucius Malfoy's escape."

Ginny stared at him incredulously. "So… what? I just tell her to dump him?"

"Yes," Harry said eagerly.

"Why? I don't want to make her feel worse. She's my friend!" Ginny was baffled.

"We know that," Ron told her. "If she dumps him, she'll start feeling better. No guilt."

"She'll feel guilty for dumping him. What if she dumps him and then he does run off with his dad?"

"Then she'll know he was worthless scum," Harry told her. "Just try to persuade her."

"Do you miss her?" Ginny asked suddenly.

Ron answered yes immediately, but Harry seemed unable to speak. Ginny watched him fight himself.

"Let me answer for you," Ginny interrupted just as he was forming 'no'. "Yes."

Harry shook his head, mute with anger.

"Harry, you wouldn't be angry at her for shutting you out if you didn't want her to stop, and you want her to stop because you miss her," Ginny said commandingly. "She's your best friend. If you think she's hurting you, not helping you, tell her. Tell her calmly and rationally. Convince her that by supporting you she'll help you more."

"I won't work," Harry said sulkily. "Every time I try to talk to her she walks away."

"You're not in love with her too, are you?" Ron asked suddenly.

Harry burst out laughing. "No, Ron, no I'm not." He grinned at his best friend. "This is all getting rather stupid, isn't it?"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"So… did we decide we were telling Hermione or not?" Ron frowned.

"I'm telling her," Ginny sighed theatrically. "And you two are going to make efforts to be friends with her again. That's the deal."

Harry looked pensive and Ron frustrated, but they both agreed. Efforts didn't have to pay off. They could be nice without getting too close and too hurt. Ron couldn't say no to his little sister, any more than any of his brothers could. And Ginny had learnt that a very long time ago.