Author's note: Two chapters in one day. Don't get used to it. This was probably a fluke! I had a productive Sunday with this one. I hope you enjoy. You will get a hint as to what's going on with Ginny in this chapter…
Chapter Two
Complicated
"I'm so scared that the way I feel,
Is written all over my face
When you walk into the room,
I wanna find a hiding place.
We used to laugh, we used to hug, the way that old friends do.
But now, a smile and a touch of your hand,
Just makes me come unglued.
Such a contridiction, do I lie or tell the truth.
Is it fact or fiction,
Oh the way I feel for you."
(Carolyn Dawn Johnson/"Complicated")
"Is she looking over here again?" Ron asked in a hushed tone to Harry.
"Is who looking over here?" Harry asked confused.
"Loony Lovegood, of course," Ron said. "She keeps looking over at me with a spacey look all over her face."
"When has she not had a spacey look on her face, Ron?" Harry asked. He was about to look over at the Ravenclaw table when Ron nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Don't look over there!" Ron exclaimed.
"You just asked me if she was looking over here," Harry asked. "If I'm going to tell you whether or not she is, I'd have to look over there, Ron."
"If you look over there, it'll just encourage her," Ron said. "She's mental."
"I believe that's the pot calling the kettle black," Harry mumbled.
Ron was about to say something in response, when Hermione came in and took her customary seat across from the boys.
"Hey," Harry said. "I was going to wait for you for breakfast, but you were gone by the time I woke up."
"I know," Hermione apologized. "I had to do some-"
"Reading," Harry and Ron finished for her.
"Am I that predictable?" Hermione asked with a smirk.
"Yes," Ron said. "But that's what we love about you."
Hermione smiled as she helped herself to some toast and marmalade.
"So what heated conversation were you two on about?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing," Ron said. At the same time Harry said, "Luna Lovegood."
"Ah," Hermione said, smiling at Ron. "The woman who's captured your heart."
"She has not captured my heart," Ron said crossly. "She's looking over here at me."
"Hermione turned around to look at the Ravenclaw table.
"Don't look over there!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione snickered as she saw that indeed, Luna Lovegood was looking in their direction with a dreamy expression all over her face.
"She is staring at you, Ron!" Hermione said, turning around to face him.
Ron's face flushed red.
"Well, with the two of you looking over there at her, she's going to think that I fancy her, too," Ron said.
"What would be bad about that?" Hermione asked him. "She's a nice girl when you get to know her."
"She's a nightmare, Hermione," Ron said. "Back me up on this, Harry."
"She's not that bad, Ron," Harry said. He caught Hermione's eye and they shared an amused glance with each other.
"You wouldn't be saying that if she was after you," Ron protested.
"Well, I don't think I'm her type," Harry said. "It seems to me that she prefers tall, red-headed prats."
Hermione snickered and nearly spit her orange juice out.
Ron slammed his spoon down and stood up at that remark.
"Ron," Hermione called after him, but she dissolved in a fit of giggles.
"I pushed that a little too far, didn't I?" Harry asked her.
"A little, but he deserved it," Hermione said when she'd managed to get it together. "You know, if he'd give her a chance, he might find out that he likes her."
"Well, you know how he is," Harry said, taking a sip of his juice.
"Yeah," Hermione said. "He's too into appearances. You know, you can never judge a book by its cover. You know, if you had done that, we'd might not have been friends."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked her, confused.
"Well," Hermione began. "I mean, I know how I was when we first came here. All bushy-haired bookworm-ish. I was a nightmare."
"No, you weren't," Harry said.
"You don't have to sugarcoat it for me," Hermione said honestly.
"Well, you might have been a little," Harry said. "But I for one am glad that you're my friend. I don't know what I would have done without you."
Hermione looked up at him in surprise. For the longest time, her brown, chocolate eyes were fixed on his green, emerald eyes. No words were spoken.
"Really?" Hermione finally whispered.
"Really," Harry said, his gaze still focused solely on hers.
"What did you two do to my brother?" Ginny said, sitting down beside Hermione. Harry tore his eyes away from Hermione and looked at Ginny.
"What, um, what are you talking about?" Harry asked her.
"He came running into the common room complaining about you two and not having his back on important things," Ginny said. "Having his back? Where in the world did he get an expression like that from?"
"My fault," Harry said. "I took him to see some Muggle movies this summer. I think he picked up on some of the lingo, so to speak."
"We were just teasing him about Luna, Ginny," Hermione said.
Ginny nodded knowingly.
"She's crazy about him," Ginny said. "I can't tell you how much she talks about him. I think she knows more about him than I do, and I've known him all of my life."
Ginny helped herself to some oatmeal and toast as she watched Harry and Hermione gather up their belongings.
"Are you guys going?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah," Hermione said. "We have to meet with McGonagall about the patrol schedule."
"Oh," Ginny said. "Alright, then."
"See you," Hermione said, following Harry out of the Great Hall.
Ginny took out her book to finish up her reading assignment, but to her surprise Draco Malfoy sat down beside her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him, not looking in his direction. "People can see, you know."
"Since when do I care what people think?" he asked her.
"Since when haven't you?" she asked coolly.
"Meet me tonight in the empty classroom on the third floor," he whispered.
"Not tonight," she said. "I have homework."
"As do I," he said. "But you'll be there, right?"
"I shouldn't," she said softly. "We might get caught."
"That's part of the fun, isn't it?" Draco said. "The thrill of it all, actually."
"How romantic you are," Ginny said sarcastically.
"Thank you, Red," Draco said, smirking at her. "You will be there, won't you?"
She looked down at her plate of food. She knew she shouldn't. She knew it was wrong. Yet, she wanted to go. She needed to go.
"Okay," she said, finally looking at him. She saw the hint of warmness in his eyes and nearly felt as if she'd melt. "What time?"
"Nine," he said. "Don't be late."
With that, he got up from his seat and walked away.
"What am I doing?" Ginny thought to herself. This was all getting way out of hand. If her parents knew what she was doing, what would they think? If Ron knew, he'd probably kill Draco.
She'd never told anyone this secret-the deepest, darkest secret she'd ever had.
It had started the last month of school last year. Malfoy had cornered her in the library. He said he needed help on his charms homework. She hadn't wanted to help him, but he'd actually been nice, to her surprise.
She'd been attracted to him, almost from the start. She knew it was foolish. He was a Slytherin; the bitter rival of her brother, Harry and Hermione. She knew he'd done terrible things. Yet, when he was with her, he was nice and sweet. She laughed even now as she thought of the words nice and sweet to describe Draco Malfoy.
Yet, he was those things when he was with her. Their late night study sessions evolved quickly into something more. When he'd kissed her that first time, she'd been pleasantly surprised.
Now, everything seemed to be spiraling out of control. They hadn't gone all the way yet, but it was getting harder and harder to stop.
It hurt, though, that they couldn't walk down the halls together. They couldn't share meals together. They couldn't go into Hogsmeade together. Some things just weren't done. No matter how much you wanted them, sometimes it just wasn't possible to get everything you wanted, Ginny would tell herself.
She tried to stay away from him, but that had been a losing battle. She was in love with him. She didn't know if he felt the same way. He'd never said it, but sometimes…
Well, she didn't need to think about that now. She had to get to class. She quickly took one last bite of her oatmeal and then packed her book away and walked briskly out of the Great Hall.
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Harry was sitting in Transfiguration trying to concentrate on what McGonagall was saying, but finding it awfully difficult. He and Ron were sitting at their desk right behind Hermione, who was sitting with Neville.
He and Hermione hadn't mentioned what had happened earlier that morning at breakfast; which was a blessing, because to be honest, Harry had no idea what had happened.
Maybe he was just reading too much into it. It was just a perfectly innocent longing look between two people, right? Harry tried to reason with himself.
Longing look---where did that come from, Harry wondered. If Harry was being honest, he'd felt differently toward her for a long time. He wasn't sure when he'd started to think of her as more than a friend, but here it was.
She probably didn't feel the same about him. Why would she? She'd dated Viktor Krum, hadn't she? Well, that was another thing. She never really came right out and told them what she and Viktor Krum were actually. She'd only confirmed that they'd written to each other over the past few months. Her trip to Bulgaria had never materialized.
He never broached the subject with her, because frankly he didn't want to know the answer. He didn't want to hear that they'd been dating or having a long-distance relationship.
"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall was saying, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yes, professor?" Harry asked, focusing his attention on his professor. He tried to ignore Hermione's concerned expression. She was turning around staring at him; her eyes wide.
"I'm sorry if my class is interrupting your daydreams, but could you please focus your attention for just a little longer, please?" McGonagall said sternly.
"Yes, professor," Harry said sheepishly. "Sorry."
McGonagall nodded and went back to her lecture. Hermione continued to look uncertainly at Harry. She mouthed the words, "Are you okay?" to him.
He nodded and tried to smile convincingly at her. She didn't seem to buying his "everything's okay" stance. Nevertheless, she turned back around and went back to taking notes.
This was about to get complicated, Harry said to himself. Very complicated.