Sorry haven't written in so long. Stupid parents confiscated my laptop, but here's a nice long chapter. Please review!
"Ginny, do you have any food in this house?" Ron asked his little sister. He had been staying there for two days and his presence was starting to become something more of than an irritation. Ginny answered shortly,
"Not for you after what you did. Luna's coming over now so do me a favour and make yourself scarce."
But she might as well have been talking to a brick wall. At the sound of Luna's name Ron's face lit up for some reason. He said eagerly,
"Luna's coming? How is she?"
"She's fine. Now leave!" Ginny snapped, but Ron paid no heed. He continued to chat about old times until Ginny was more than ready to murder him. Just as she was about to start yelling at him Luna walked in with Cho Chang. Ginny was surprised and not too pleased to see Cho. She suspected that the pretty Chinese witch still had a thing for Harry and therefore did not trust her. Consequently although she greeted Luna warmly she merely nodded coldly to Cho. This snub had no effect though as at that moment Harry appeared and Cho's face was wreathed in smiles.
"Luna? Hi! How are…" he trailed off as he caught sight of Cho. She went bright red as he said quietly,
"Cho. Hi. I, uh, didn't expect to see you. How…are you?"
Ginny looked sharply between them, but only the thin line her mouth formed showed how angry and hurt she truly was. Ron was too busy chatting to Luna to notice anything so she just went into the kitchen to 'get drinks'. Once in there she took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. She and Harry were having problems, but that didn't mean that she would let a slut like Cho throw herself at her boyfriend.
Meanwhile Harry was sitting next to Cho talking about each other. They had not talked properly since Hogwarts apart from the occasional 'hello' and 'goodbye'. She had become prettier since they dated, but there was also a depth in her which grief could only have wrought. It had taken a long time for her to get over Cedric's death. She still hadn't been over him when they went out. Harry, on the other hand, was no longer a shy, gawky, embarrassed teenager. As a result once they got past the initial awkwardness they were able to converse amicably.
At the same time Luna was sitting in an armchair with Ron by her feet. The tableau they made was picturesque almost as if Luna was a nymph with Ron a chivalrous knight ready to do her every wish. Of course the reality was not so romantic although their conversation flowed easily.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Ron." Luna said in her dreamy voice. Ron hesitated before answering,
"Hermione kicked me out of the apartment so I'm staying with Ginny and Harry until I fix this mess."
Luna raised an eyebrow, but as no explanation came forth she was obliged to ask,
"What would make a girl like Hermione kick you out with no place to stay? After all I hear you two were the perfect couple."
Again Ron hesitated, not wanting her to know his misdeed for some reason yet honesty compelled him to tell her. Eventually he sighed.
"I…cheated on her. With my secretary. Then I…got angry with her. It was wrong I know and I'm sorry to upset her, but our relationship wasn't really a relationship. Everyone said that we were the perfect couple so we stayed together, but it wasn't the same really. We just weren't working."
Although Luna deplored the bit about the adultery she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy. She was able to give him a sympathetic smile before he attention was drawn by her hostess returning, bearing drinks.
GROWING UP
After Luna and Cho had left, Ginny teased Ron,
"You and Luna seemed to be becoming quite friendly, Ron."
Her older brother blushed.
"Luna is just an old friend that I haven't seen in a while. But I must say that she seems to have changed significantly. She no longer talks about Wrackspurts and such nonsense and she seems prettier than the last time I saw her…" he trailed off as he realized that he was rambling. Embarrassed he made a lame excuse before waling out of the room. Now Ginny turned to Harry.
"You and Cho also seemed to be becoming friendly, Harry."
Her fiancé rolled his eyes and said,
"Why are you so jealous of her? You had nothing nice to say to her the whole time she was here! We're just friends or am I not allowed to have friends who are girls anymore?"
Ginny flushed angrily.
"Can't you see Harry? She's still in love with you!"
"She was never in love with me in the first place so how can she still be?" Harry asked blightingly. Hurt by his tone Ginny recoiled and whispered,
"You still want her, don't you?"
Harry sighed wearily.
"No, Ginevra. I don't. I love you. Why the hell do you think I proposed to you and why do you think I put up with all your crap?"
The redhead, tears springing up in her eyes, said,
"Fine then. I believe you, but I don't want you to talk to her anymore."
Harry looked at her, baffled. He had never realized until now how possessive she was until he had come face to face with it. Yet to appease her he agreed. He made this sacrifice for the sake of their relationship, yet he wished she would sacrifice something as well.
GROWING UP
Draco popped into Hermione's office and drawled,
"Rumour has it that you and Weasley have broken up."
The brunette looked up from her paperwork, hiding her pleasure at his visit behind a mask of annoyance. Coolly she replied,
"And that's your business because…?"
He shrugged, acting as if her sarcastic tone didn't sting.
"I was just wondering if you needed someone to talk to, but obviously…"
He didn't need to finish his sentence and was just about to walk out when Hermione said in a small voice,
"Wait. I'm sorry. I would love someone to talk to…I just don't know if I can."
Touched by her vulnerability he turned back and sat down.
"If you don't feel you can, then that's fine. We can just talk about commonplace topics." Draco said in a gentle voice. Hermione smiled at him nervously. She didn't know what exactly their relationship was, but she didn't really care. For a while they talked about the weather, their jobs and other things, but then Hermione suddenly said,
"He cheated on me."
There was silence in the room as Draco silently digested this piece of news. His expression remained carefully blank and the only indicator of his shock and anger was the steel in his silvery-grey eyes. Eventually Draco asked,
"With who?"
"His secretary. He even had a picture of her on his desk!" cried Hermione. The deadly edge in Draco's voice seemed to comfort her. Reassured her that someone cared for her. She smiled at Draco, happy that they had been given a chance to become friends. Once she had told him everything that had happened, he expertly steered their conversation away from such dangerous waters and recounted a joke to her just to make her laugh. Yet she could still detect his fury in the nuances of his carefully moderated voice.