Forbidden
By Leah
Chapter 12
It's All Pretend
Christmas day arrived with as much cheer as it did every other year. At least on the surface.
Hermione woke at the crack of dawn as was customary for every Christmas. She smiled softly at the neatly packed stack of presents that lay at the foot of her bed, from her fellow Gryffindors and some members of other houses she had become close friends with. Instead of tearing open the presents, she carefully moved them to a corner of her room and left, opting to first go downstairs.
Her bare feet made no sound on the hardwood floor as she entered the family room where her parents were curled up on a couch together near the blinking Christmas tree they all decorated together. Hermione smiled brightly as her mother motioned to the cup of steaming hot cocoa one the table waiting for her.
"Morning darling." Aby smiled and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Happy Christmas."
Her father ruffled her hair before he kissed his daughter's forehead. "Hey pumpkin. Happy Christmas."
Hermione giggled and sent then both a toothy grin reminiscent of her childhood years. "Morning mum and dad. Happy Christmas."
The morning was spent how all traditional Christmas mornings were spent at the Granger's. Hermione was cuddled up in a single seating comfy chair with her attention focused on whatever new book she had received while her other presents and wrapping paper littered the floor around her.
Her parents were cuddled together on their own couch watching the Christmas specials on the telly while her father rubbed her mothers growing stomach, and sipped hot cocoa or egg nog (strictly alcohol free for her mum) with the fire roaring in the hearth.
Of course this scene of family bliss was disrupted a few times by phone calls from family members and visits from some of the closer neighbors who dropped off some scrumptious ginger bread cookies, half of which were devoured by Hermione within ten minutes.
'I wish time would stop right now in this moment.'
Hermione smiled contently and sighed softly before biting into another cookie.
"Hermione dear," The girl looked to her mother and answered with a muffled "Hmm?" because of her cookie filled mouth.
"Weren't your friends from school supposed to stop over today?" Aby asked with genuine interest.
And then it all came crashing back down. Yesterday, Ron, Draco, everything.
Hermione swallowed her treat painfully and put on a fake smile that she hoped covered the worried look she felt herself take on.
"Oh, um...yes, I suppose so. A bit later today though. I guess I best go send them an owl." The Gryffindor stood up on heavy legs and made her way to the staircase.
"Oh, and dear?" Aby called once again, this time Hermione managed to get out a weak sounding "Yes?"
"Why don't you invite over that Head Boy. It would be lovely for him to come over don't you think, even for a few minutes." The young witch let out a nervous laugh to cover her grimace. 'Absolutely lovely.'
"I'm sure he's bu-" Her mother cut her off with a wave of her hand.
"Nonsense. It's Christmas Hermione, and the poor lad is all alone. I'm sure a bit of company is just what he needs."
Hermione sighed softly in defeat, it was painfully clear that her mother wasn't planning on giving in on this argument anytime soon. She nodded and without another word made her way to her room.
She closed her door softly behind her, resisting the urge to slam it shut, and leaned onto the cool wood. 'It's all a giant mess, and it's all my fault.' With another sigh she pushed herself off the door and made her way to her window, pushing it open. She shivered for a moment as the frigid winter air swept into her room before she stuck her head out of the window into the biting cold.
Her eyes scanned the branches of the tree outside of her window for a moment. "There you are." She muttered and smiled to herself upon spotting a light brown owl that stood out brightly in contrast to the snow that covered the branch it chose to roost on.
"Care to do me a favor Ginger?" She called to the owl that cocked its head and hooted before spreading its massive wings. Hermione barely removed herself from the window in time for the owl to swoop in to her room. After seating herself on Hermione's work desk Ginger hooted once more and looked at the girl with its bright yellow eyes.
Hermione smiled at the bird and stroked her brown feathers before seating herself at the table. Ginger was her pet owl that was kept more for her parents than for herself. Since Hermione could always borrow Hedwig or one of the school owls at Hogwarts she really had no use for Ginger during the school year, but if her parents ever wanted to reach her they would have to wait until she wrote to them.
So that was why they bought Ginger, unfortunately the bird's only trips to Hogwarts were to deliver letters and rarely did she ever get to spend the night, but she always seemed more than content to spend her time with Aby and John Granger. And as a bonus she was rarely ever kept in her cage, but she never wandered to far in case someone was in need of her assistance. Just as she was needed right now.
"Hope you're not too tired from delivering all those presents last night." Hermione cooed, earning an indignant hoot from the bird who seemed insulted that her owner would think she was tired from a few trips. "Guess not then." The Gryffindor chuckled and stroked the bird. "Well, you'll have a light load today anyway."
The witch pulled out a sheet of paper and pen, sometimes she preferred the muggle way. She scrawled a quick note to Ginny asking what time she, Harry and Ron were to come over if they were still planning to come at all.
"There you go." She muttered and fastened the letter to Ginger's already outstretched leg. "The burrow, deliver to Ginny and wait for a response please." Her owl hooted her understanding before spreading her large wings once more and taking flight out of the window.
Hermione waited until Ginger was well into the darkness before closing her window once more shielding herself from the cold.
She returned to her desk and ran her hand through her hair repeatedly. After a minute of silence she let out a determined sigh and pulled a piece of parchment and quill to herself. This letter was to be done on proper wizarding stationary, after all.
'Invite Malfoy.'
She pinched the bridge of her nose before staring at the blank sheet as if it held the answers to all the problems in the world. 'What should I say?'
"What can I say?" She muttered, her hand returning to her hair. "After yesterday I doubt he'd want to hear a word from me, let alone an invitation to breakfast with my parents."
Crookshanks meowed from her bed startling Hermione from her thoughts. The girl sent her cat a half hearted smile which withered too quickly. "Crookshanks, what do you think I should write?" Hermione laughed to herself when her cat only licked his front paws and turned from her.
"Not like I expected a real answer anyway." She smiled to herself and turned back to her table but stopped instantly when her eyes landed on a wooden music box that sat innocently on her bedside table.
'Draco.'
Her eyes clouded over as memories from the prior day washed over her.
Why hadn't she stopped him?
Why did she yearn from his touch and moan from his every caress?
Why didn't she think of Ron at all then?
Why?
She sighed deeply and covered her eyes with her hand. She knew why, she knew the answer to every one of those questions and felt the guilt bubble in the pit of her stomach.
She knew she didn't want him to stop, not then, not ever. She wanted to feel the things he stirred within her. The things she had never felt before, the things that threatened to engulf her body in a flame that she never wanted to burn out.
She knew she yearned and moaned for him because she needed him. She needed to make sure that their fantasy was not just a fantasy then. And oh, how she revealed in the reality of it.
But worst of all, she knew she never thought of Ron because he could never awaken in her the things Draco did. She hated herself for admitting it, but that night had only proved to her that Ron wasn't 'the one' for her.
She let out a cruel hollow laugh and glared at the music box. 'And Draco is?' She shook her head, a sardonic smile tugged at her pink lips. 'No, it wouldn't work. It defies logic! And besides, Ron is my friend, I could never leave him from Malfoy. 'The one', 'Mr. Right' don't come along for everyone, there might not even be a 'the one' for me. So why not settle with 'The right choice', 'Mr. Good Enough'?'
She sighed and covered her face with her hands, and tried to block out the pain in her heart. 'Ron is stability, he's what I need. Malfoy will only ruin my plans for the future. I don't need that, now or ever.'
A sharp tapping from the other side of the window jerked Hermione out of her thoughts. She let out a deep breath and smiled faintly at being startled.
"Ginger." She stood and opened the window to allow the bird entrance before shutting it with a shiver, it seemed as though the temperature had dropped since last she opened the window. She dropped back into her chair and retrieved the note from the owl's leg and gave the bird a treat.
'Of course we're still coming, we'll be there around 5:30. See you later.
Ginny.'
Hermione shot a glance to her bedside table, it was still early, just a little after 10. She crumpled the paper and tossed it into her wastebasket, only barely making it.
She sighed and pulled the parchment and quill back to her, she had a few hours until her friends would come over. Which should be enough time to get ready, invite Malfoy, have him leave, then get ready for them to arrive.
She took a deep breath and brought the quill to the parchment. 'I shouldn't let him bother me like this. He's just Malfoy.' She pushed aside the other voice that yelled 'The boy I have feelings for' and wrote him a brief, detached note, sounding as professional as she could.
Draco stared at the small glass dragon he held ever so carefully in his hands. It was magnificently made, the dragon was beautifully carved and the glass glittered in the early morning sunlight that streamed through his large French windows.
It was one of the many gifts he had received, and even though it was given to him unceremoniously and was worth probably less than a quarter of his other presents, it was by far the most precious.
His other presents, from his Slytherin housemates and family friends, lay unopened and stacked haphazardly in a corner of his vast bedroom. Hermione's gift and the ones he received from Blaise and his mother were the only ones he had opened, and he wasn't disappointed.
He -unlike millions of people around the globe- was not at all excited about Christmas; in all honesty, he had never really cared for the holiday.
For him it had lost its childish lustre years ago, the elation that went along with this day was lost to him. And now, more than ever, he found himself hating the joyous squeals, laughter of happy families, and chimes of Christmas bells that echoed to his ears from surrounding homes.
He was more than content to sit in his oversized mansion, with its hundreds of empty halls and barren rooms. He had to be content with it. This way was how he would be spending Christmas mornings for many a year, he was sure.
He knew that as time dripped on the well wishers would leave, the sympathizers would disappear. Even the fake smiling corporate leeches would dry up, and with them would go the mountains of presents and cards baring words of faux sympathy and compassion.
But he didn't care; he wouldn't open the gifts anyway, or read the untrue words in the expensive cards.
'Besides,'
He picked up the clear dragon given to him by the most unlikely of persons and turned it this way and that in his hand, letting the light shine through it and cast rainbows of colors onto his white walls. 'Dragons prefer solitude.' He turned the figurine once more and curled his lip up into a withering smile. Then with an echoing crash the dragon was thrown against the wall and shattered into thousands of tiny crystalline pieces.
He dropped back onto his expensive green silk sheets and ran a hand over his tired face and groan escaping his lips. 'Bloody hard headed witch!' His attention was pulled to his bedroom window where an owl was tapping relentlessly.
'Sodding blood sucking businesses why won't they understand the damn company isn't for sale.'
With a sigh, Draco dragged himself off his bed to the large window. He glared at the bird through the glass before opening the windows and letting the creature in. He scowled as the bird took roost on the perch of his eagle owl that was out hunting.
He retrieved the letter from Ginger's leg rather gently and unrolled it; his brows furrowed as his eyes scanned the parchment.
'Malfoy,
I am presently writing this letter to ask for your attendance at my house for a short Christmas breakfast with my parents and myself. It would greatly please my mother were you to attend. Please send a response back with my owl.
Sincerely
Hermione Granger.'
The boy couldn't help but chuckle at the note. 'Just like Granger to brush over awkward moments with formalities.' He looked to the brown owl that was waiting patiently for his response and fetched her a treat. He would never tell anyone, but he always had a soft spot for animals.
'Except for Granger's "cat."'
The wizard let out a sigh and raked a hand through his hair, a habit found he had been doing increasingly as of late.
"What do you think I should do?" He asked the bird, which only blinked at him before cocking her head to the side and hooting.
Draco smirked to himself. "It would be lovely to see the look on Granger's face were I to go." Ginger hooted once more before raising one taloned leg. "Alright then, yes it is." His smirk widened and he scribbled down a note to Granger - sounding as professional as she- informing her that he would be at her house in an hour.
"You're a lovely owl," he said as he tied the letter to the bird's leg. Ginger seemed to perk up as if she understood him and puffed out her chest with pride. "Too bad your owner is off her rocker."
He smirked and sent the owl off before closing the window after the bird's departure.
'What are you thinking Granger?'
He picked up his wand from his beside table and flicked it lazily at the broken shards of glass that was once his gift. "Reparo."
Ginny yawned and watched Hermione's owl fly off into the distance. It wasn't even close to noon and she was already tired. But she had been up since five in the morning helping her mother prepare the Christmas breakfast and dinner feast. And with as much family she had, along with their wives, girlfriends and friends who frequented the burrow on Christmas day, it was indeed a monstrous task to undertake.
'But mum still did it.'
And being the only female child, she was of course drafted into helping.
The creek of her door being opened pulled her from her sleepy revere. She turned around lazily to find Harry's head poking in her room.
"Hey Harry." She managed to get out before a yawn escaped her lips.
Harry chuckled and entered Ginny's room and closed the door behind him. "Hey, I was wondering if you've heard from Hermione yet?"
"Yes actually," She said, pushing herself out of her chair to lay down on her bed. "She just owled me asking if we were still coming over."
Harry nodded and sat on the edge of Ginny's bed before placing a hand on his girlfriend back. Ginny sighed contently as she felt his hand begin to rub her back in small circles.
"Harry,"
"Hmm?"
"How did you figure out about Hermione and Malfoy, did she tell you or something?" Ginny couldn't help the drowsiness that slipped into her words. She was just so tired.
Harry chuckled, "It's pretty easy to see hidden things for the "boy-who-lived"."
There were a few moments of silence before Harry looked down to Ginny's face, only to find her sound asleep.
Hermione sought to busy herself for the next sixty minutes to avoid the feeling of time slowing down that always seemed to occur when you were anxiously waiting for something to happen. Although she would never openly admit she was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Draco Malfoy.
She readied herself by getting groomed and dressed, and helped her mother with breakfast only to find that a mere forty-five minutes had elapsed. With a deep sigh she began to clean her already near immaculate room. Upon finding very little to do she began re-packing her bookshelf, this time by size order.
She just needed something to do to keep her mind from wandering to the topic of Draco Malfoy, but wander it did, straight to the events that unfurled the prior night. Without realizing, she dropped the book she was holding in her hand (her autographed copy of Gildroy Lockheart's earlier work that she couldn't bring herself to throw away) and sat herself on her bed as the scenes of the night before played repeatedly in her head.
Her hand had found itself to her lips and she began chewing on her nails as her eyes blurred over and became unfocused to her surroundings.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't even hear the distinct pop noise of someone apparating into her room at 11:15.
Draco's impassive eyes swept around the pale yellow and purple room that he had been in less than twenty-four hours ago before landing on the girl sitting on her bed. It was apparent that his arrival still went unnoticed to her, 'Probably too busy biting her nails.' His lip curled in to a sneer that was reminiscent of his father's before he walked up to her and swatted her hand away from her mouth, effectively making his presence known.
Hermione's head snapped up and her mouth opened as if to speak, but whatever words she was about to say died on her lips at the sight of him.
"That's a disgusting habit Granger." His words were cold and biting while his face was back to the stoic mask she had known from years ago.
'Back to old ways then.'
She cautiously stood and closed her mouth before he could comment.
"Malfoy." She greeted as sturdily as she could.
He curled his lip into a sneer once again. "Save the formalities Granger." She felt herself wince but if he saw he made no mention. "Why did you call me here on Christmas of all days?"
Hermione instinctively lowered her head at his scolding tone. 'He's still mad I guess. But surely he must know that any sort of relationship between us just wouldn't work at all.'
"My mother insisted that you were invited over, at least for a few minutes." She looked to his stony grey eyes to try and get a glimpse of what he was feeling, but they were hard and as emotionless as his face. She guessed he was back to his self-preservation mode, the one he had been using since she first met him all those years ago.
He aristocratically arched an eyebrow signaling that he had caught her staring. Hermione felt her face heat up before she continued speaking.
"Breakfast is ready downstairs, I'll...um, I'll take you." He nodded and stepped out of the way so she could pass in front of him.
Breakfast, much to Hermione's surprise and annoyance, went perfectly fine. The tension she had expected to be in the room was non-existent as her parents fawned over Malfoy. Her mother seemed to take it upon herself to take the place of his departed mother and piled his plate with food and was treating him as if he were her own son. But the actions of her mother didn't surprise her in the least. Hermione knew her mother's nature and wouldn't expect anything less from the woman.
Her father on the other hand, had her completely baffled. He spent breakfast chatting merrily with Malfoy -something he had never done with her boyfriend- about Quidditch of all sports. Of course this was after Draco patiently talked him through the rules.
The boy was actually decent through the ordeal. He never snapped or sneered; though he would also never smile. He was kind and polite and was everything that Hermione could never see him being. One could even venture far enough to say he was actually being nice.
Hermione sat and silently ate her hearty breakfast and watched the scene play out with calculating eyes. She had barely gotten in a sentence throughout breakfast since her parents were so focused on the silver haired Slytherin sitting across from her; it didn't matter to her much though. It gave her time to sort out the questions that were being shot out of her mind every second. Malfoy was never this polite, not even to Dumbledore himself, so why would he "lower himself" to being so kind to a bunch of muggles?
The girl couldn't quite figure it out, but she knew something was going on, and she knew she had to find out what. So when her parents left the table to watch some more Christmas specials on the telly, Hermione retired to her room, bidding Malfoy to follow her.
"What are you doing Malfoy?" She hissed dangerously after her bedroom door had been securely shut. She fixed him with a harsh glare, but the boy look nonplused, bored even.
"I was having breakfast with your parents Granger. Like I was asked over to do. I thought that even you could figure that out." He drawled.
Hermione was flustered with rage, how dare he insult her intelligence and furthermore act as if the events of the previous night had never transpired. "But yesterday-"
"Yesterday has no baring on today." He interrupted. "Besides, you were perfectly clear about how you felt if I remember correctly."
Hermione felt her anger bubble within her to near dangerous levels. His words were harsh enough but how he said them made her wish she had her wand with her. His voice remained emotionless, stoic and very business like and on the surface he sounded uncaring but there was a hint of malice and hatred that laced through every syllable.
On top of that, how dare he dismiss her words so curtly? She knew he was feeling something, and she wanted him to tell her what. The events in question had cajoled all she believed in and sent her mind into a flurry of activities. Even now she was still trying to sort out all of the new feelings stirring inside of her.
And yet, here he was looking as calm and unfazed as possible. If she were an outsider looking in, she would have never guessed what had occurred just by looking at him.
"You-you snake!" She sputtered, her anger getting the best of her as her fists clenched at her sides. "You lying, dirty little snake! Quit your act Malfoy! You're not this person you showed to my parents! You're not some passive little gentleman! So just stop it!" She felt her face turning red, but that didn't deter her. "I know what you truly are Malfoy!"
"And what is that Granger?" He snapped with a sneer. For some reason she was surprised at his response, maybe it was because he had stayed quite and impassive through her rant not even moving an inch or batting an eyelash at her harsh words. But now he was attacking her with his anger, every ounce of his aloof calm had disappeared.
"What am I then?" He continued. "A snake? A no good viper that seeks to make you miserable? Is that what you were going to say?" His words, though they were not yelled, carried enough malice to make her flinch back. His eyes, now a dark foreboding grey, stared at her so sharply she felt he could be looking into her soul.
"Then I guess you'd be right then Granger." Hermione's eyes widened. "All I am is a cold blooded snake who doesn't know a thing about love." He bit out, the coldness of his words cutting her deeper than any curse could. "But that's just how we Malfoy's are isn't it? Since we are all the same." His cynicism was not wasted on her, although it didn't seem as if he cared whether she got the jibe or not.
"I best be off." His voice was flat, but still held its angered edge. "Tell your parents thank you and Happy Christmas."
And before Hermione could regain her senses, he was gone with a pop. Leaving the girl to sort through the new whirlwind of thoughts stirred in her head.
"Your mum is a brilliant cook Hermione." Harry smiled broadly at his friend as they all settled into her room after a light dinner.
"Oh honestly," Ginny admonished, "I've no idea how you two managed to scarf down your body weight in food, knowing full well mum'll have a feast waiting for us when we get home." Hermione stifled a grin and nodded in agreement.
For Hermione, Ginny, and Aby and John Granger, the better part of dinner was spent watching the two scraggly boys plow though enough food to feed a small country, and then asking for desert. It was a mystery to Hermione where all that food went, but she guessed Quidditch did help them burn off the weight they should be gaining.
The eldest girl was wrenched from her thoughts by an arm being slung over her shoulder, belonging to Ron. She felt the blood drain from her cheeks and her now widened eyes darted around quickly. None of her actions went unnoticed by Ginny or Harry, but Ron remained oblivious.
"Well I guess now would be as good a time as any to open our presents!" Ginny cried with a jubilant smile and fished around in the pocket of her muggle pants, hoping to pull Ron's attention away from his plainly uncomfortable girlfriend.
"Good idea Gin." Harry added before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a handful of shrunken presents. Ron removed his arm from Hermione's shoulders in order to retrieve his presents also. The three proceeded to enlarge their gifts -though Ginny was still under legal age to use magic outside of school, so Harry had to enlarge her presents for her- while Hermione fetched her gifts from the corner of her room.
Nearly half an hour later the four friends sat with various gifts strewn about while they enjoyed some treats they had received. As usual Hermione had received mostly books from her friends and housemates and the usual Christmas sweater from Mrs. Weasley along with her famous white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
"Hey 'Mione," Ron's voice drew Hermione's attention from the small hard cover book in her hands.
"Yes?" She looked up but didn't meet his gaze.
"You've got one present left." He held up a small gift wrapped neatly in forest green paper. She guessed she missed it because of its small size.
"Who's it from I wonder." She asked aloud.
Ron shrugged and turned the present over in his hands. "Don't know. Just says "To Hermione" on it."
The girl looked at the package for a moment as if debating whether she should open it or not. Her curiosity won out against her apprehension and she quickly tore off the wrapping to reveal a rectangular black box.
"Is that a jewelry box?" Ron asked, although he -along with Harry and Ginny- knew it was. 'He wouldn't. Would he?'
"Well? Are you going to open it?" Harry asked as he softly nudged her with his elbow. Hermione nodded mutely and with trembling fingers she opened the box.
"A charm bracelet?" The red head boy's voice held surprise and a few traces of ill-covered anger. Who in the name of Merlin would buy his girlfriend a bracelet? Especially one that looked as if it cost a small fortune.
"It's beautiful." Ginny said in a way that to Hermione sounded accusatory.
"Yeah, it is." The witch replied automatically before picking up the silver bracelet that only held four small charms.
A book, a cat, a letter, and a broomstick.
What little doubt that was left in Hermione's mind soon disappeared at the sight of the small silver keepsakes. He had to have sent them, each charm had its own special significance to her, that only he would know.
'What is he trying to do?'
Ginny watched Hermione's expressions closely as she stared at each charm. She didn't know what the trinkets meant exactly, but from the way her friend's eyes widened and remained fixed on the jewelry, she could easily guess that each had its own meaning to her.
"Who sent it then?" Ron grumbled, not even attempting to hold in his contempt.
Hermione snapped her gaze from the precious accessory, looking very flustered. "Oh, um...probably Viktor. He-he sends me something every year. Although this, well this is a bit much. I'll have to send it back to him. I can't accept such a thing at all." She tried to hold back her wince at lying to Ron like that, but it couldn't be helped. He wouldn't exactly embrace the idea of Draco Malfoy sending his girlfriend expensive gifts now would he?
Ron grumbled something that no one caught and huffed around for a few moments until Harry challenged him to a game of Exploding Snap that he received from Lee Jordan.
Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her over to the far side of her room, and comfortably seated herself on the floor. "What happened Hermione." She muttered as Hermione too dropped to the carpeted ground.
"Everything's so wrong Ginny. I- How did this all happened?" Hermione ran a hand over her face and leaned back against the wall. "He came over yesterday." She began; ignoring the look Ginny sent her. "After Ron left. He gave me this letter from his-" The girl stopped herself mid-sentence. She never told Ginny about Draco's mother, and even though she trusted the girl with all of her secrets and she knew she was honorable enough to never tell a soul were she to find out. Hermione just couldn't bring herself to tell her. It would be a betrayal of trust, and she knew that for some reason, having Malfoy's trust meant a lot to her.
"Hermione?" Ginny shook the older girl's arm gently and smiled warmly when she focused on her.
"Thought I lost you for a minute." Hermione sent her friend a small smile and nodded.
"Look Hermione," Ginny began, her face once again turning serious. "I know about Malfoy's mother, and before you say anything, my means of finding out were completely accidental and I won't tell a soul. Nor do you have to tell me a thing. I know how you must feel about keeping something like this private... for Malfoy."
Hermione smiled gratefully at the younger girl before her eyes automatically darted over her shoulder to the boys who were still playing their game, not noticing the girls' chat.
The red head giggled and bounced back into Hermione's vision. "You don't have to worry about Ron." She began as she too looked over her shoulder at her brother and boyfriend. "Harry'll keep him busy for us to talk."
The young witch's eyes snapped to her friend. "Wha-"
"He knows." Ginny admitted nonchalantly with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Wha-How?" Hermione hissed harshly in an effort to keep her voice down. Ginny still seemed to calm for her liking.
"No idea really. He just figured it out I guess. But then again, not all of us are as blind as Ron." She joked. "He won't tell him. Don't worry. Just tell me what happened."
Hermione hesitated and shot a glance at Harry but then sighed and nodded. "After he gave me the letter, he went to use the loo while I read it. He had been gone for a bit, so I went to search for him only to find him in here." Ginny nodded wisely, but didn't comment. "We talked for a bit...and then. We-I..."
"You had sex?" The younger girl asked in a rather mature voice, but there was still a tinge of girlish urgency in her words.
"No! Definitely not!" Ginny's cheeky smile disappeared and was replaced by a confused frown. "But we probably would have if I hadn't stopped him." Hermione muttered so softly it was near inaudible.
But Ginny still heard. Her eyebrows shot up before dropping back down as she scrunched her forehead in thought. "Why?"
"Why?" Hermione retorted. "Because Malfoy and I are just wrong!"
"Does he make you happier than Ron?" There was that cool tone in her voice that Hermione was beginning to grown to hate.
The older witch ran a hand through her thick curls before letting out a long breath, "I don't know. All we do is insult each other. It's all that we have done for nearly 7 years. But Ron has been my friend, although we have our spats, we'll always be friends. So, I guess no, he doesn't make me happier then." Hermione answered, though she seemed unsure of herself.
Ginny made a "hmmm" noise in her throat and nodded. "But he makes you feel alive, doesn't he? He stirs things in you Ron never could?"
Hermione paled considerably and opened and shut her mouth a few times. "But-how-"
"It's how Harry makes me feel." Ginny answered the unspoken question. "I've dated a few guys, but only Harry has ever made me feel so...complete." Ginny smiled to herself and cast a glance over her shoulder at Harry. "And I would never want that feeling to go away. Because that's love. And if ever you can find it, you should never let it go Hermione."
She turned back to her friend whose eyes were now downcast and her posture was ridged. "You can't just pretend everything is alright Hermione. You can't pretend that this is alright, and that you love Ron."
Hermione's head shot up and she sent a cold glare to Ginny, anger and uncertainty clouded her vision and judgement for the moment. "But this is right!" She began in a dangerous hiss. "And I have to pretend! Years from now I'm going to look back on this and say 'I did the right thing.'"
Ginny pursed her lips and sent her once sensible friend an equally harsh glare before she stood up and turned to walk away. But not before muttering something to the girl.
"Will that be before or after you realize how miserable your life has been?"