Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! Just waiting for the 6th book to come out. Impatiently. REALLLLLY impatiently.

Chapter 20

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ginny asked Hermione with a doubtful look on her face. True, she wanted to get Harry to realize she liked him, but she wasn't sure that this was the best way to go about it. "Trust me. It's the oldest trick in the book. If Harry sees another guy interested in you, he'll finally realize that he does like you as more than a friend, and it'll force him to make a move" Hermione replied as she finished Ginny's make up. It was subtle, nothing bright or flashy. She wasn't trying to make Ginny look like she was trying too hard, just hard enough.

"Now, you remember everything? And Colin knows what to do?" Hermione asked as she finished Ginny's hair. "Yeah, we know what to do. I just don't know if I want to trick Harry into this. I kinda was just going to wait for him to make up his own mind" Ginny replied with a small smile. "I know what you mean, but you know Harry. He's shy, and you're his best friend's little sister. Now, do you want him to think about you like that forever? Or do you want to show him your not a little girl anymore? That's what I thought" she said when she saw the look Ginny gave her.

"Ok, you're ready, let's go" Hermione said as she turned Ginny so she could look in the mirror. Ginny couldn't believe her eyes. Her hair, instead of laying flat, was in loose curls around her shoulders, and with the help of a little dark blue eyeliner, it made her eyes a deeper blue than usual. "I look beautiful" she breathed. "Oh Ginny, you ALWAYS look beautiful! This is just bringing it out more" Hermione said as she gave her friend a hug.

"Now, let's go. He should just be coming back from Quidditch practice. And don't worry about Ron, I'll take care of him" Hermione said as she pushed Ginny out the door. As they made their way down the corridors, Hermione saw Pansy Parkinson kissing someone, but she couldn't see who it was, as Pansy was blocking him from view. As Hermione and Ginny passed them, Hermione caught a glimpse of the guy's hair. White blond. And Hermione felt as if someone punched her in the stomach.

Ginny, noticing that Hermione had stopped walking, turned to see what was going on, saw the look on Hermione's face, and then saw who she was looking at. She couldn't believe her eyes. And from the look of it, Hermione couldn't either. Ginny was just about to say something to Hermione when Pansy pulled away, and Draco saw her, standing there with tears running down her face, her fists clenched."Mione . . . " Draco began, only to be silenced by Hermione slapping him as hard as she could. "How dare you!" Pansy screeched as she reached for Hermione, only to be stopped by Draco.

"No, don't you dare touch her" he said as he pushed Pansy away. "Hermione, we need to talk" Draco said, rubbing his stinging cheek. "No, Malfoy, I don't think there's anything to talk about. I get it. I'm not stupid. You were just using me to amuse yourself. I should have known. It really shouldn't surprise me, but the thing is, I really do, no, did, love you. What a fool I was. I should have listened to my friends. You are really just a cruel heartless bastard" she said as she stared into his eyes.

"Hermione, this isn't what it looks like. Really. You have to listen to me. I really can explain. You just have to give me a chance" he said, his eyes pleading with her. "I did give you a chance" she whispered to him, her voice cracking and nearly breaking his heart. He tried to pull her to him, but she pulled away, cringing from his touch, which hurt him more than anything she had just said. "Ginny, can we go now?" Hermione asked as she turned away from Draco, barely able to keep herself from breaking down right then and there. "Of course we can go. Come, we'll go to my room" Ginny replied, knowing that there was no way Draco could get to her there.

When they got to the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron looked over, saw the look on Hermione's face, and blocked the way to the girl's dorm. "What happened? Why are you crying Hermione?" Harry asked as he took in her tear streaked face and red puffy eyes. "Noth...nothing..." she started to say, to be interrupted by Ron. "Don't give me that! Clearly something happened, and I think we deserve to know what!" he yelled. "Keep it down mate. I don't think yelling is going to help anyone right now. Hermione, did Malfoy do something?" Harry asked quietly, so noone else could hear him.

She just looked at him, and it was enough. "Do you want me to go and beat the bloody pulp out of him? Because if you say no, I'm most likely going to do it anyway" he warned. "NO, don't. Just... don't. He's not worth it, trust me. I just want to go to sleep for awhile, ok? Ginny can I use your bed please?" she asked. "Of course you can. I'll be down here if you need me ok? Get some rest, and we'll talk when you wake up."

Just as she was about to go into the girl's dorm, Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny and said "Open your eyes, Harry. You don't have forever. Make a move" and went into the room, leaving Ginny with her mouth hanging open, and a slightly confused look on Harry and Ron's faces.

"Ginny, what was she talking about?" Ron asked, looking from Harry to Ginny. "Can we talk for a second?" Harry asked. "Alone." Ron started to say something, but changed his mind and walked over to the chess board. "What's up Harry?" Ginny asked, a bit nervous about what Harry wanted to talk about.

"Do you know what Hermione was talking about? Because I have a fairly good idea of what it was, but I want to know if I'm right, and I have a feeling you already know the answer" he said, looking into Ginny's eyes, searching for something. "What makes you think I have any idea about what she was talking about. If you didn't notice, she was a bit upset, and could have been babbling about anything" Ginny replied defensively. "Ginny, don't play stupid, because you're not. She was talking about me making a move. And opening my eyes. While I was standing in front of you. Ginny, do you like me?" Harry asked, trying not to look too eager to hear her response.

"I...I..., yes I do, Harry. But it doesn't have to change anything. We can still go on being friends like before. It doesn't have to change our relationship" she replied trying to mean what she was saying. "Ok that's fine. But what if I don't want our relationship to stay the same. What if I told you I feel the same way about you that I like you as more than just a friend. What would you say to that?" Harry asked with an intense look on his face.

Ginny answered him by grabbing the front of his shirt and kissing him until neither of them could breathe, took a breath, then kissed him again. Does that answer your question?" she asked when he finally pulled away. "Just slightly" he replied with a grin on his face. "Well. It's about time you two" they heard Ron say from behind them. They turned to see if he was kidding or not, saw the smile on his face, and knew he was being serious. "You knew about us?" Ginny asked Ron. "Who doesn't?" Ron replied with a mischievous look on his face. "Apparently, only us" Harry said as he pulled Ginny closer to him. "Harry, as much as I would like to stand here with you like this all day, and I would, I need to go see Hermione, to try to get her to talk to me about this. If you saw the look on her face . . . it was like all the joy in her life was gone. I'll kill him myself if I find out he was only using her."

"Go on then. Make sure you tell her we're thinking of her. And Ginny, you'll have to beat us to killing him if he did this on purpose" Harry threatened, with a dark look on his face. Ginny made her way up the stairs and to her bed and saw Hermione just laying there with a blank look on her pale face. 'Mione, can we talk?" Ginny asked. "Go away, Ginny, I don't feel like talking right now, ok?" Hermione said as she turned onto her side, away from Ginny. "But you need to talk to someone. Holding all of this inside will only make you hurt more. I understand if you don't want to talk in here, but let's go to your room and lock your door and talk then."

"Fine, let's go. But I warn you, I may not feel like talking once we get to my room either" Hermione said as she went out the door. She stopped at the top of the landing, then ran down the steps and all the way to her room. "Nutcracker" she shouted at the picture, then ran through her common room, and almost ran over Draco who was sitting on the steps to her room. "Out of my way Malfoy, before I do something I'll regret later" she said, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "You can do anything you want to me, only listen to me please" he begged, needing to tell her his side of the story. She looked into his eyes and was about to say something when Ginny came bursting through the door. "Never mind" Hermione said and jumped over him and ran into her room, leaving Draco no choice but to leave.

Authors Note:

See this chapter was longer, just like I promised. I would like to thank anyone who has read/reviewed. You mean the world to me. You're the reason I keep writing. I love you all! As usual, let me know what you think, any improvements, or anything like that, it helps me to continue the story without it getting boring. Thank you all again!