Chapter 8 is up. Sorry I've left you all with such a cliffy, but that's just my style of writing. Gotta draw you guys in to read. Anyway, here goes the next installment. Read and review please! : )

My eyes burned with tears, but Ron hadn't noticed I was there. He continued to look at Hermione hopefully, thinking, praying that she would say yes. I bumped into Luna and she began to lead me up the stairs but I heard Hermione's voice, an indistinct cry of, "I can't."

I froze.

"What? What do you mean, you can't?" Ron said, aghast.

"I… I can't."

"Why not?" he demanded. "Don't you love me? Is there someone else? Are you cheating on me?"

"I… I'm sorry," she said, and brushed past him. She gave me a fleeting look and ran up the stairs, crying.

I chanced a glance at Ron. He was staring at the spot Hermione was previously at, shocked, heartbroken. He slumped down and held his head, beginning to cry. I moved towards him but he shoved me away.

"Get away from me," he snarled with venom in his voice.

"Ron…"

"This is your fault. You love her and she feels guilty. This is YOUR FAULT!" he roared, grabbing a nearby cup and throwing it at me. I caught it, and set it down.

"I'm sorry this happened, Ron… Sorry you got hurt. But this isn't my fault."

I made my way out to the back with Luna's hand gripping mine. We laid down out back, my head resting on her chest. I was the more feminine one for once. She held me close and rubbed my back and I sighed.

"What do you think that was about?" I asked Luna.

"I've no clue, love. Perhaps she still feels the same way about you."

I felt the gentle rising and falling of Luna's chest as she breathed and it kept me calm. I gripped her hand tightly and sighed.

"Perhaps you should go in and talk to her?" Luna asked.

"No. If she wants to talk, she knows where to find me. I'm always here by myself."

"All right, then."

I leaned up and kissed Luna on the cheek. She smiled down at me, her eyes warm and bright. I clung to Luna with a sigh and curled up into her.

"Want to go for a bit of a fly then?" she asked, noticing my depression.

"All right," I said reluctantly, and stood up. I helped her up and we headed towards the field, grabbing a broom on the way. We mounted the broom together, and she grasped my waist tightly.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"Ready," Luna responded.

I kicked off and Luna squeaked with a bit of fear. I gripped one of her hands softly and we flew around for a bit.

"Ginny!" a voice called. "Ginny, please, I need you!"

I looked down. Hermione stood there, waving her hands frantically, tears rolling down her cheeks. I flew down slowly, so as not to scare Luna, and touched down very softly. Luna got off of the broom and I followed suit. I set the broom against a tree and folded my arms nervously. Luna hugged my waist.

"Can I speak to you alone?" she sniffled, and then hiccuped.

I looked to Luna for approval. She nodded, kissed my cheek and headed back into the house. Hermione pulled me to a spot where we used to hang out, under the biggest tree in the yard. She looked at me and began to cry again.

"Don't… don't cry," I mumbled awkwardly.

Now that we weren't messing around, I wasn't sure what to do when she cried.

"I couldn't say yes to him," she sobbed. "I just couldn't. I don't love him like that. I love him like a brother, a very dear brother, but I am not in love with him."

Hope swelled in my chest. She raised her eyes from the ground to look at me. Her eyes were sparkling, swimming with tears and I reached out to wipe them away gently. She leaned into my touch and I sighed.

"So what happened? Did you… break up with him?" I asked. The curiosity was killing me.

"No, he broke up with me. He said if I can't marry him then I don't love him, and I shouldn't waste my time feeling guilty for, and I quote, "a little tramp like my dumb sister.""

I nodded silently, not quite knowing what to say.

"I slapped him, by the way, after he said that about you."

"Did you?" I asked.

For some reason my heart was breaking into a million different pieces and I looked away. I couldn't look at her, not with the way she was looking at me, like she was trying to tell me something. She looked at me the way she used to, when she used to tell me she loved me. She might have been drunk the first time she said it but the times after that, I wasn't so sure.

"I did," she said, pulling me out of my reverie.

I risked a look at her and she gave me this weird look. I wanted to look away; I couldn't. She was so beautiful, and I just couldn't deal with the fact that I couldn't have her.

"I'm sorry," I told her, "I have to--…"

I don't know which one of us leaned in first, but I ended up with her lips against mine. I felt her arm sliding around my neck, pulling me down against her. The heat of her body mixed with mine and I felt so warm. I slid my hands down to her waist and pulled her closer. I felt eyes watching us, but I didn't care. I felt so happy, so complete at that moment, I wanted to cry. She finally pulled away after what felt like an eternity cut too short.

"I… I'm sorry," I tried, for the look on her face was one of astonishment.

She looked at me, then at the ground, then at me again.

"We shouldn't be…" she started.

"I know, I'm sorry."

She looked like she was struggling with something internally, like she wanted to say something so badly, but she just couldn't.

"I'll just, I'll go then," I mumbled, beginning to walk away. My face fried with embarrassment and I stared at the floor as I walked.

"I love you," she whispered.

I tripped over a tree root and nearly fell.

"You… what?" I said, catching my balance and turning around.

"I love you. Ginny, please don't be upset with me. That's why I couldn't say yes to Ron. I'm so totally, completely, unabashedly in love with you. Ron, he was just the Weasley I could be with in public, and… he was the closest thing I had to you."

I stared at her.

"You made me suffer all of that, you lied to me! You—you—I cried over you, all the bloody time! Every day I cried! You lied to me!"

"Ginny, please, you have to understand. I was scared."

"Of what?! You knew I was in love with you, you knew I wouldn't turn you away and you lied anyway! We could have gone through the struggle together but I went it alone! It would have been better if you weren't in love with me and you were telling the truth."

I stormed away furiously, bitter tears stinging at my eyes. I bumped into Ron on my way inside.

"You all right?" Ron asked mockingly.

"Piss the hell off, you bastard," I growled, shoving past him. I ran up to my room, the tears burning my cheeks as they rolled down.

I slammed the door behind me to find Luna sitting by the window.

"Are you all right? Of course you're not. Come here, my love," she said softly.

I sat on her lap and cried, harder than I've ever cried. Neither of us said a word for hours. When I was all cried out, I rested my head on her shoulder and sniffled. I clung to her and she rocked me slowly. We stood that way for the rest of the night. From the other room, I could hear Hermione crying and it broke my heart… no it didn't. My heart was already as broken as it could have ever been.

While the sun was rising, I was falling asleep. Luna helped me up and led me to the bed where I could lay down.

"Stay with me?" I asked in a whisper.

"Of course," she whispered back, and lay down beside me.

I fell asleep quickly, tired out from all the crying I had done. When I woke up, it felt like it was too soon. I felt groggy and disoriented. I groaned.

"Shh, go back to sleep," a soft voice murmured.

I opened an eye to see brown hair surrounding pale skin. I struggled to keep my eyes open.

"Where's Luna?" I asked hoarsely, not knowing who was lying down with me.

"She's downstairs helping your mum make breakfast."

My mum? I forced my eyes open all the way and was completely shocked to see Hermione lying down with me.

"I'm sorry, love," she whispered in my ear. "I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through… I honestly do love you, and I was so terribly afraid of what the others would say in school… But now I'm out of school and I'm not afraid anymore. Ron and I, we're over… And I want to be with you."

I pulled away from her as best as I could. "You lied to me," I muttered sleepily.

"I know. And I'm so sorry for that. Please, please forgive me," she pleaded softly.

"I don't know, Hermione…"

"Please, Ginny… I need you in my life. I need you to be my girlfriend. I want you to be my everything again."

Hermione slid her fingers into mine gently and gripped my hands.

"I love you," she whispered, "I'm so in love with you."

My face broke into a smile, a calm smile, and I looked into her warm chocolate eyes for verification. There was nothing but love in them, and unless she was a really good liar, I trusted that she really cared.

"I'm still in love with you, Hermione Granger."

"I'll always be in love with you, Ginny Weasley."

She leaned in to kiss me and our lips met. Electricity sparked throughout my body and I shivered. My hands wrapped around her waist and she slid her arms around my neck. I grinned against her lips and mumbled, "What a wonderful way to wake up."

"Mmhmm," she agreed quietly, and buried her face into my neck. "You should sleep more; it's only been about an hour since you fell asleep."

I groaned and curled up in her arms. She held me tightly, and I nuzzled her neck gently. I felt so at peace with her, lying together like this. I loved her, truly madly deeply. I was so incredibly crazy about her, and even though I still wasn't sure she was crazy about me, I felt happy enough knowing I was in her arms. I quickly fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, and didn't wake up for hours. When I did wake up, it was to rustling of the bed. I was a light sleeper.

"'Mione?" I mumbled groggily.

"Yes, love?"

"Where are you going?" I asked, scared that she would never come back.

"I have to use the lavatory."

"Mm-kay," I smiled, and relaxed.

A few moments later, I heard yelling from downstairs. Ron's yelling.

"You lying tramp! There was someone else! There was my sister!"

"She treats me better than you'll ever treat me! Lying to me, cheating on me, swearing at me all the damn time!"

I forced myself up from the bed, quickly waking up. I quickly made my way down the stairs just as mum was getting involved.

"Ronald Weasley, I did NOT teach you to treat women poorly! You'd better apologize sincerely to Hermione or—."

"Or what? Gonna kick me out? You can't. I don't live here," he grinned maniacally.

"I'll disown you," Mum said quietly.

"Don't bother, Mum," I growled, "It's not like anyone sees him as part of this family anymore, anyway. Merlin, Ron, you're worse than Percy."

Hermione was crying and I swept her up into my arms and swayed on the spot with her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear to calm her down.

"Get off of my fiancee!" Ron roared.

"She's not your fiancee," I told him calmly. "She's not your anything anymore. She's my everything now."

Ron brandished his wand and aimed it at me. "Get off, NOW!"

I whipped my own wand out and pushed Hermione into Mum just as Ron cast a spell at me. I wasn't sure what it was, I had never heard of it. I countered with my own.

"Expelliarmus!" I roared.

The spell countered and Ron flew into the kitchen sink. He slammed his head into the cupboard above it, and then slumped down, holding his head.

There was dead silence, and then the clattering of Ron's wand as he held his head with both hands.

"Something you taught me, Ron," I snarled, "Never leave yourself defenseless."

I wondered why no one else had come to Hermione's rescue. "Mum, where is everyone?"

"They went out. Harry took Luna to Diagon Alley, and that's as far as I know."

Hermione was still crying, and she reached out to me. I pulled her into a tight embrace and led her up the stairs. We returned to my room and I laid her down gently. She pulled me down with her and I slid in beside her. All seemed to be calm, until the door swung open a little while later. Fiery red hair stormed through the door and Hermione screamed.