Chapter Nine: "Be Still My Heart"

A/N: Wow it's been a while since I've updated. I swear I'll start updating frequently again. Please, if you take the time to read this story, please make sure you review. Seriously. I never get reviews anymore, which is why I haven't been updating as often...

Well, for now... just enjoy the story )

Harry stared at Hermione, his eyes pleading for some sort of explanation. "Hermione, I just…I just…" Harry was at a loss for words. "Hermione, I can't believe you. After the dance, after what happened between us you come here and hug Ron?"

Harry's comment seemed to only anger Hermione. "It was a friendly, comforting hug, Harry. Honestly, don't be such an idiot."

Harry scoffed. "I'm not the one that goes around hugging other guys just after you get kissed by someone."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you. I saw you talking to Ginny right after we kissed, Harry, but I didn't say anything. That's because I trust you. Don't you know anything? Relationships are based on trust."

Harry shut his mouth. It seemed as if Hermione had gotten him there. Of course, she had been a bit upset that Harry and Ginny had talked, but Hermione hadn't overreacted.

Harry sighed. "I do trust you, Hermione…"

Hermione shook her head. "If you trusted me, you haven't have yelled at me."

Harry jumped in to defend himself. "I didn't yell… I just talked loudly. There's a difference, you know."

Hermione shook her head. "Don't start another argument, Harry. I'm sorry, but I don't think we can have a relationship until you learn to trust me." Hermione turned around and passed Ron on her way to the girl's dormitory.

Harry groaned. Part of him wanted to go after Hermione, but he knew it was no good. That was just going to push her away. He would have to wait for her to cool off because talking to her.

Harry looked over at Ron who was giving him a look. When Harry made eye contact with him, he turned around and left the common room. Harry sighed and sat down on the chair that was in the common room. Just when he thought everything was going to be okay, everything gets all messed up.

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Ginny headed down to the common room the morning after the ball feeling ill in the stomach. She remembered the events from the night before. Draco had been perfect and lovable, and then he had just suddenly bailed on her. Every time Ginny started warming up to Draco, he left her feeling cold. Why was he doing this? Was it because he was afraid to commit?

It finally struck Ginny. Of course, the reason Draco kept bailing on her was because he wasn't ready to commit. Or maybe he was afraid of getting close to someone? Ginny shook her head and sighed. She couldn't let Draco lead her on anymore. If he didn't want to be with her, she wasn't going to wait around for him. Either he committed or he left her alone. He couldn't keep changing his mind.

Draco looked at the clock shaped like a lion hanging in the Gryffindor common room. Realizing it was about time to get to breakfast, Ginny cleared her mind and headed out of the portrait hole.

On her way to breakfast, however, Ginny spotted a certain blonde in the distance. Ginny wondered whether he was going to talk to her or just ignore her. She pretended to be fussing around as Draco neared her.

"Hey Ginny," he gave her a small smile, and leaned in to kiss her. Ginny backed away. Was he just going to pretend like he hadn't bailed on her the night before? Was he going to pretend everything was just normal?

Draco looked seriously offended. "What's going on?"

Ginny scoffed, and walked passed him. She wasn't going to stand around and listen to Draco's pathetic innocent act. Either he changed his ways, or they were through. Ginny couldn't be hurt over and over again by Draco anymore.

Draco stood there, looking utterly confused.

Ginny called to him over her shoulder, "Make up your mind and then come to me. I'm not going to be your play thing anymore, Malfoy."

Draco shook his head and gave her a look. Then he turned around and headed off in the opposite direction. Ginny's jaw dropped as she watched Draco walk away from her. How dare he do something like that? Didn't she mean something to him?

"You know, I thought you could change!" Ginny hollered at Draco, following him. "You're the same filthy ferret you were last year."

Draco didn't answer or hesitate. He continued walking without even glancing back at Ginny. Ginny felt anger fill up inside of her. Furious, she continued to storm after him.

"You think that every girl in Hogwarts loves you, Malfoy, but they don't. And they'll definitely not want to stay with you if you treat them the way you have been treating me!" Ginny shouted.

Draco turned around and gave Ginny a smirk. He headed up to a giggling Pansy and silenced her with his mouth. As Draco wrapped his arms around Pansy, he gave Ginny a quick wink.

Ginny felt jealousy beyond jealousy. Her insides were burning as she stared at the two Slytherins kissing. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Ginny was determined to make sure Draco didn't see her cry, so she turned around and sped off in the opposite direction. Once she was way out of sight, Ginny let the tears fall as she broke down sobbing.

Ginny continued to run when suddenly, she crashed head first into someone. Ginny and the person she crashed into both went flying to the floor. Ginny looked up to see Harry sprawled on the floor. He was groaning with pain.

"You have one hard head," Harry muttered, standing up slowly. Ginny gave him a look, which was in between an apologetic look and a half smile.

"Sorry, Harry." Ginny silently prayed that he wouldn't notice that she was crying.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Harry suddenly looked very concerned. "You're crying, Ginny."

Harry pulled Ginny into a chair beside him, and asked her to tell him what had happened.

Ginny sighed, hanging her head. "Fine, but you're going to think I'm really stupid. I can't believe I fell for the git's good looks."

Harry shook his head. "You're not stupid, Ginny. How about a deal, okay? You tell me your story and then I'll tell you about the horrible fight Hermione and I got into."

Ginny looked up alarmingly. Harry and Hermione had a fight? How did Ginny not know about this? When had this happened?

Ginny nodded, agreeing to Harry's deal. "Well, you know how Draco bailed on me at the dance…" Ginny paused for a moment, feeling tears come back to her eyes. Harry nodded, and ushered her to go on.

"Uh, so I ran into Draco today. I thought he'd apologize or something, but he acted like he hadn't done anything wrong yesterday. I told him he had to make up his mind before dragging my heart around everywhere. He apparently didn't like that, so took off. I followed him and to piss me off, he…"

Ginny started to blink madly in hopes of keeping the tears from falling down. Harry touched her shoulder.

"Go on."

"He kissed Pansy in front of me, just to prove that he could do whatever he wanted," Ginny finished, looking down. She was desperately trying to keep the tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Harry muttered. Ginny gave him a hopeless shrug.

"Well, it's Drac- uh Malfoy we're talking about here. I don't know why I didn't see this coming."

Harry shrugged, not exactly sure what to say to that. "But you liked him, Gin… and I thought maybe he'd change."

Ginny suddenly didn't feel like talking about Draco anymore. She abruptly changed the subject. "So, Harry… tell me about your fight with Hermione."

Harry looked away from Ginny, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and sad. "It was really stupid… she thinks I don't trust her. I couldn't help but get jealous when she and Ron hugged."

Ginny felt bad for Harry. "I'm so sorry. I know it'll be okay, though. Hermione can't stay mad at you forever. Nobody can stay mad at you, Harry."

Harry gave Ginny a tiny smile. "Thanks, Gin."

Ginny looked into his eyes, and before she knew what she was doing, the two of them were kissing. Ginny panicked, and quickly pulled away. Before she could stop herself, she burst into tears.

Harry's eyes widened. "Ginny, don't cry… it's okay. I'm sorry about the kiss. I swear it meant nothing. I was just so upset about Hermione… don't cry."

Ginny shook her head and continued to sob. "No, it's not that," she choked out, "It's just… I'm such a prat. I can't believe I'm in… in like with Draco Malfoy."

Harry shook his head. "You're not a prat, Ginny." He pulled her into a hug. Ginny hugged Harry, his robe soaking up her tears. Ginny looked over Harry's shoulder and saw Draco standing there, a look of disbelief on his face.

Ginny pulled away from Harry, and stared at Draco, her eyes wide and her lip quivering.

Draco sneered. "Potty is definitely your type, Weasel. I'm so glad you two have found each other." Without waiting to see Ginny's reaction or response, he turned around and started heading away from Ginny.

Ginny stood up, feeling very angered. He was just going to walk away from her again? She marched after him, feeling her insides burn. "Draco, don't just walk away from me again."

Draco turned around looking fierce. "I should have walked away from you the first time. I can't believe I kissed a filthy blood traitor. I should have my head examined for this."

Ginny bit her lip, and told herself she wasn't going to cry. "Then why didn't you walk away the first time?"

"I made a mistake," Draco answered, "And plan to burn my wardrobe and buy a new set."

Ginny couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she frantically tried to wipe them with her sleeve. Draco's expression softened a bit, and he actually looked a bit sorry.

"Gin- uh Weasley… er…" Draco stammered, "Don't cry about this. Potty and you will be good together."

Ginny continued to cry as anger began to build up within her again. Why couldn't he see how much he meant to her? She liked him more than everyone else, and definitely more than Harry. "Can't you see that I'm in lo- like with you? It hurts that you don't even care, Draco."

Ginny's sobbing got louder and she covered her eyes with her arms, her sleeves soaking up her tears. Draco approached her and touched her shoulder.

"You know you're wrong," he told her softly, his hand still on her shoulder. "I do care about you, Ginny, it's just… why do you even like me?"

Ginny looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about? I like you because… you're perfect."

"Sooner or later you're going to find someone better," Draco muttered, looking away from Ginny, "And what's everyone going to say when they find out I've been dumped by a Gryffindor?"

Ginny tilted his head towards her. "We aren't even going out, so how could we break up?"

Draco didn't answer that. Ginny added, "And I would never break up with you, Draco. I like you so much that I keep coming back to you. But you know, we can… we can never be together if you can't commit. Can you?"

Draco ignored the last part of the question. Instead, her moved towards her and pressed his lips on hers. Ginny felt a glow of happiness as they kissed, but then pulled away from him.

"Draco, can you commit or not?" Ginny asked again. She wasn't going to have her heart broken again.

"I…" Draco was at a loss for words. "I want to make this work, Ginny. I want to make us work."

Ginny gave Draco a half smile, and then crushed her lips into his. To her, that was a good enough answer.

Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and let Draco run his fingers through her hair. Draco slid his tongue into her mouth. Ginny felt her heart thump rapidly, and she realized that she had never felt so good in her entire life.

A/N: So a HAPPYENDING with no cliffes (:
I know you love me so much... so review )