A/N: I would consider you guys lucky for getting 2 chapters today...however they are both pretty short so you're still kind of getting only one. Sorry!

~A~E~

Ginny's POV

The owl came just before lunch time. I couldn't help but think that Hermione was trying to humiliate me. But Harry seemed to have put a lot of faith into this. If this would help things, than I would shut my mouth and handle it. But at dinner time? In the Great Hall? With everyone watching? This...This wasn't like Hermione. But I guess nothing was how it used to be. I feel like she should have told someone. Although, she did tell Malfoy and Harry. But me? We were best friends too. We were both girls, we had to stick together somehow didn't we? Surrounded by so many boys, it was an unspoken agreement that we were in it all together. We could lean on each other for anything the boys just couldn't understand. Why would she keep something like this from me?

I tried to tell myself that she had her reasons. And that maybe I shouldn't have acted the way I had. But all through lunch, and through my classes, I had this sneaking suspicion that my apology wouldn't matter. That she was only humoring Harry when she said she would meet with me. So much trust between the both of them, and I had no place with either of them anymore. It was the three of them now, Hermione, Harry, and Malfoy. A trio that no one would have ever expected.

Although everything inside me was screaming "run", I stood tall, and I waited in the Great Hall for her to enter with Malfoy and Harry. When she did, she barely glanced at me before sitting down to eat. I tried to look at Harry to see what he says, but he wasn't looking anywhere near me. I guess...Its my turn to stand up. Which is exactly what I did.

Making my way over to the Slytherin table, the entire hall went silent. I never realized how large the hall was until I was trying to make my way towards the Slytherin table. Maybe it wasn't that large, maybe I was just that anxious to get it over with. Either way, it felt like a lifetime before I stood right behind Hermione, clearing my throat as delicately as I could manage as a Weasely child.

"Yes, Ginny?" Hermione said calmly, almost cold. I guess I desereved this. But did she have to make it so difficult? I held my pride though. If this was what it would take to have Hermione and Harry back in my life...then I would swallow my pride and grovel like she wanted.

"I...I wanted to apologize." I said as calmly as I could. I knew the whole hall could hear me, whether I spoke the words out loud or in a whisper. Everything had gone still, quiet, even the ghosts froze and made no noise.

"For?"

"Being a git." There, I said it. But I knew she wasn't done with me, but to her surprise, I wasn't done either. "I was rude to you, I was forceful to Harry in keeping him away from you...And I had no right to be that way. I can't apologize for what has happened to you, because nothing can excuse what my brother has done. But I want you to know that...Even if you can't forgive me, even if you never want to see me again...I am here. And I will never speak out like that against you or toward you again. I was out of line. And...Though I don't expect forgiveness...I hoped that maybe...Just maybe...you can accept my apology...And try to start over if we can. If we can't, I guess I can understand but...I will always wish it could be different." I swear every creature within a hundred kilometer radius was holding their breath it was so still, so quiet. Everyone could hear me. Which was exactly what Hermione wanted. And I was bowing down, exposing my neck and everything. I was submitting to everything that she wanted. She wanted my humiliation, she wanted my submission, and she wanted me to admit to the world that I was wrong. "I...Miss the way things were. And I know we'll never be that close again, and I won't ask that. But I remember when it was us against the boys. Where we were the only ones that could understand the other because we were both girls in a boy's world...I miss what we had together. And I wish that I hadn't acted the way I did. I'm sorry."

Hermione's POV:

After that, Ginny just stood there, staring at the ground. She was laying herself at my feet the best she could. Did she really think I wanted this from her? Did she really think I wanted her to be this way? I didn't want a yelling match. That was the only reason I called for the public setting. She didn't have to raise her voice for everyone to hear. She didn't have to stand up and do all of this during dinner. I was going to wait to confront her. But what she was doing, while it was not what I had pictured, it amazed me. And it was touching for her to put her own pride on the line.

"Ginny." I said softly. She looked at my briefly. "Are you doing this for me or for Harry or for yourself?" I asked quietly. "And you don't have to answer that where everyone can hear. That wasn't what I meant at all by this."

Ginny blushed a deep red that clashed with her ginger hair. "I-I need this." She admitted. "I can't be without Harry...And I miss you. I can't be without you two. And I didn't mean to push either of you away the way I did and I know I was wrong."

I slowly rose to my feet, trembling slightly as I held my arms out to her, holding my breath I pulled her close to me, as close as I could bring her in. She sobbed on my shoulder, and I smoothed out her hair. "Shhh." I muttered in her ear. "Thank you Ginny." I said. We were both crying. I never knew how much I missed her. It was hard to be around someone who smelled wrong in every way. But...For some reason, that scent was gone. There was something very different about the way she smelled this time. Fragrant, accepting, scared, sad, and in need of something. And I held her even tighter. I didn't notice the two boys beside me share a knowing look, and Harry winked.