"Hey Gin?"

"Hmmm"

"Remember Fred's funeral? You said you started doubting if I had ever loved you. What would make you think like that? I told why we needed to break up."

Ginny sighed but she didn't answer immediately. She continued tracing patterns on Harry's chest. "It was Blaise" She said slowly.

"Zabini?"

"Yeah. He-"

"Since when have you been on first names basis with Zabini?"

Ginny sighed, "There is so much you don't know Harry. You know Nott and Zabini, were never tried by the Wizengamot, despite Nott's father being a death eater."

Harry nodded "That's because more than half of the DA stood up for them. Astoria Greengrass, she is a Ravenclaw, a year behind me. Well, she wasn't part of the first DA but then last year she got hold of Michael and joined us. Daphne Greengrass, her elder sister joined to protect Astoria. Nott and Zabini joined with Daphne. But the three Slytherins did not want people to know about their alignment, they were all purebloods and it would have been worse for them. So, while they did not actively fight, they would not torture us, they would actually use some other curse like the freezing charm instead of the Cruciatus curse, all we had to do was pretend to scream. Nott and Zabini are excellent at potions; they would make curative potions for us. They joined the fight from our side in the end."

Harry exhaled. Who would have thought that! "So, what did Zabini say that made you doubt my love for you?"

Ginny's fingers twitched. She inhaled to stabilize herself. "I had been tortured for the first time that night. As I was almost crawling back to the tower, Crabbe grabbed me and tried to force himself on me." Harry's fingers tightened around Ginny's waist as he inhaled sharply. "Blaise helped me out. He stunned Crabbe and then carried me to the tower. Well we got in an argument and he sort of implied that you left me at the mercy of wolves without even trusting me enough to let me know the reason of your departure." Harry made a noise in the back of his throat.

"I know, I know" Ginny said soothingly, "I know" She said forcefully, her face now hovering inches from his face. She traced his cheek bones with her thumb as she cupped the back of his neck. "Trust me Harry, I knew back then too. A part of me always knew that you loved me. But when you were being chained or tortured for 4 out of 7 days in a week, your resolve and beliefs start wavering." She leaned her forehead against Harry's.

"Crabbe would try to force himself on me when I would be too broken and exhausted to react fast enough. On some evenings, I would hex the gormless idiot for touching me, on other evenings Nott or Blaise would help me out. Well, Blaise more than Nott. He hates people like Crabbe; people who think that forcing themselves on others is their birthright because of their position of power. We were never great friends but I trusted him. And each time, he would leave me at the Tower; he would question your absence and your love for me. It started creating doubts in my mind."

Harry stroked Ginny's head. "It's not that I don't appreciate what he did for you. But why would he question my love for you?"

Ginny smiled, "Because his understanding of love is different. For all his life, Blaise and his mum have been a team against the world. She has always been there to protect him and comfort him, even take his punishments on herself. He does the same for her. He believes that when you love someone, you have to be there for them, you have to protect them from everything. He didn't understand your decision to end things with me to protect me. Had it been him, he would have left the country with me. But that's who he is."

"I never thought Nott or Zabini had it in them to respect others." Harry mused as Ginny laughed.

"Nott is different." She told him "He hardly ever talked. And he would only talk to Blaise, Daphne and Astoria. Blaise could be talkative but only with people he is comfortable with; otherwise he could be as stuck up as Nott. Astoria told me that Blaise and Nott have never been around many people, they are not as comfortable talking to others. They just hide their nervousness behind those haughty masks."

Harry nodded as he absently tucked a strand of hair behind Ginny's ear. "I am sorry." He said softly

"For what?"

"Zabini was right in a way. Crabbe only tried to grab you when you were vulnerable. I don't even want to think what he would have done-" Harry closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his grip tightening on Ginny's waist "It's good for him that he is dead. Had he been alive, I would have skinned him alive." He growled his eyes burning with anger.

"You wouldn't have to. What do you think was I doing to receive so many detentions? Apart from rebelling that is. As soon as I had my energy back, I would hex him so bad that he would end up in hospital wing for a week." Ginny looked at him with a hint of pride in her eyes.

He rolled over, pinning Ginny beneath him, "Has anyone ever told you that you are an idiot? Did you have to hex him so much? You were only inviting more trouble for yourself. Imagine what they would have done had Zabini or Nott not been there."

"They wouldn't have broken us, that's for sure. Crabbe was not just trying to assault me. He tried this with every one of us, even little first years." Harry grimaced, what kind of a sick bastard was Crabbe. "It's a good thing that he was thick enough to not notice us. We shadowed him, stunning him before he did something to the others. It was Blaise's idea. Apparently, Crabbe proclaimed in their dorm, that torturing someone turned him on immensely and he wanted to shag his victims senseless afterwards. This according to him was the proper way of teaching someone their place in the social order." Harry felt sick to the core. How could someone be this twisted? He silently thanked the universe for ending the life of Vincent Crabbe. What disturbed him more was the matter of fact tone that Ginny had adopted.

"Ginny?" Harry said, softly, brushing her hair from her face. "Are you sure you want to go back?"

Ginny looked at him her eyes guarded "Yes."

"You don't have to be brave about this. Are you sure?"

"You know, in my second year, I wouldn't cross that corridor. I felt so violated and guilty for letting Tom use me, that I withdrew from everyone. Professor Lupin noticed it. Maybe he saw himself in me. He called me to his office once and we talked. He understood; he understood the way I blamed myself for being so stupid. He told me this story about a little boy who was a werewolf and his three friends. He asked me to cross that corridor once. With someone for support and then try and cross it every day, till the fear of the corridor leaves me. Fred walked with me the first time, wrapping his arms around my shoulder protectively, he encouraged me to walk. I cried later, in Lupin's office. Fred hated it, he told Lupin that I won't be doing it again, but I did it again. With Fred for support and I kept going back, till it became a corridor. I need to go back, if I don't confront it now, I will never be able to live peacefully."

Harry nodded once before pressing their foreheads together. "I love you" he whispered.

Ginny smiled, "I love you too."

AN: Next up a leap! From now on there would be leaps and the story would move much faster. I would add background stories as separate fics. I am working on Ginny's sixth year at Hogwarts and her relationship with Blaise Zabini. I am also working on adding more background information on the Potter family tree. Hope you like those too. Please check out my other fics, as all of them are related and are basically bits and pieces of the whole.

Hope you like it. Please do read and review. Happy reading! :)