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document.write(''); chapter five: Confessions

Harry didn't say any more on the subject of her engagement to Draco, though Hermione often saw him and Ron muttering to each other and casting glances in her direction. To make matters worse, Ginny still wasn't speaking to her, or Draco either for that matter, and Kimmy was floating around the place with a smug expression that seemed to be permanently etched on her features. Once again, Hermione cursed herself for her stupidity.

Finally, the day to end all days was drawing to a close. Hermione kept glancing at the clock, wondering how early she could plausibly sneak off to bed and regroup her thoughts. She forced herself to wait until 10:30 to yawn and rise to her feet.

" Well, I'm exhausted," she sighed, forcing a tight smile at everyone, " from all the shopping fun, I suppose. I best get off to bed."

Mrs. Weasley rose to her feet after her. " Just a moment, dear, I'll help you and Draco get set up in Bill's old room."

Hermione stared at her blankly. " Bill's room?" she managed finally. " I thought I was staying with Ginny..."

" Yes, well," Mrs. Weasley looked quite flustered. " It's just...you and Draco are engaged, and I know how young couples can be and...well, the other boys are already situated and it would be just silly to move them around to make room for Draco..."

Understanding dawned on Hermione. None of the other boys wanted to bunk with Draco; he was going to be her roommate for the night. Ginny looked as though a vein might literally pop out of her skin. Lovely.

" I'll be heading off to bed then, too," Draco said, clearly not wanting to be left alone with the others. He snuck a glance at Ginny before wrapping his arm around Hermione and whispering none-too-quietly, " Come on, lover."

Hermione resisted the urge to rip out his rib cage and instead turned to smile at the rest of the group. " Goodnight, everyone." She dared a glance at Harry, who looked quite grim, then turned and followed Mrs. Weasley down the hall.

" ...it isn't much," Mrs. Weasley was saying as she opened the door to a small, dusty back room, " but it'll do for the next few days, I hope." She smiled at Hermione and Draco, getting a bit misty-eyed. " Goodnight, dears."

As soon as she was gone, Hermione shut the door and whirled to face Draco. "What on EARTH were you doing this afternoon?"

Unfazed, Draco flopped down on the bed and propped up his head with one hand. " You were the one who wanted to be my pretend-fiancé," he reminded her, " I was just playing the part."

" A fiancé from Hell," Hermione snarled in return, folding her arms peevishly. "Honestly, don't you think you were overdoing it just a tad?"

Draco merely yawned at this. " Well, it worked. Harry was absolutely fuming."

" Yes, well, so were Ron and the Weasley brothers," Hermione reminded him, "so that's hardly a victory. And don't try to turn this into some great philanthropic favor you're doing for me. I saw the way you kept glancing at Ginny, trying to make her jealous. That wasn't very nice of you, Draco."

" You little hypocrite," Draco laughed. " This whole thing is a ruse to make Harry jealous, and you berate me for doing the same to Ginny?"

Hermione opened her mouth, trying to form some sort of justification, but couldn't find any. She sighed, relenting a bit. " Sorry, just...try to tone it down a bit, won't you?"

Draco shrugged. " What can I say? I'm a natural thespian. But, for your sake, I'll try." He grinned at her impishly, then patted the spot on the bed beside him. " Now, why don't we relax a bit, hmm?"

Hermione ignored this. " You know, Draco, you should really try to explain things to Ginny again. She's an innocent victim in all of this, and I don't want her to think we're plotting against her."

" No need," Draco said off-handedly.

Hermione frowned at him. "Draco..."

" No need," he repeated. " I'm fairly certain that she just apparated into that wardrobe."

Indeed, as Hermione turned, there came a great sneeze from the wardrobe behind her. Sighing, Hermione crossed over and pulled open the doors. " Ginny?"

Ginny stumbled out, scowling indignantly at Draco. " I don't know how I ended up here," she insisted, " I was trying to go to the bathroom."

Hermione took her hands. " Ginny, I'm glad you're here. This has all been a big misunderstanding, honestly. Draco and I are only pretending to be engaged. He was sort of roped into the entire thing-it's my fault entirely!"

Ginny folded her arms skeptically. " Then what was with the big show this afternoon?"

" You know what a big drama queen Draco is," Hermione reminded her.

Draco sat up. " Hey!"

Hermione shrugged, then returned her focus to Ginny. " Besides, I think he was only trying to make you jealous, anyway."

Ginny turned slightly pink at this, though she was smiling. " Really?"

" No!" Draco protested from the bed. " There is no reason I'd want to make HER jealous!"

As Ginny's eyes began to darken again, Hermione hastily intervened. " Oh, honestly, will the two of you start acting like grown-ups? Ginny, you're mad about Draco, and Draco, you're just as mad about Ginny, so why don't the two of you admit it and then move on to more productive pastimes than making each other miserable?"

Draco and Ginny looked away from each other, clearly embarrassed, but finally ventured to meet gazes. In an instant, they had met in the middle of the room and were kissing passionately. " I'm sorry I didn't believe you!" Ginny gasped when they finally came up for air.

He shrugged. " I forgive you."

Ginny narrowed her eyebrows. " Draco..."

" And I'm sorry I led you on," Draco sighed, clearly not liking having to apologize. " I was only trying to make you jealous...and you look so cute when you're angry..."

They proceeded to snog for the next few minutes as Hermione glanced around uncomfortably. Finally, Draco and Ginny broke apart, grinning stupidly at one another. Draco's hair was mussed and he had lipstick all over his face, and Ginny looked little better.

A sudden thought seemed to strike Ginny, and she rounded on Hermione. " Wait a moment. You said that Draco was pretending to be your fiancé to help you, but with what? What purpose could there possibly be in pretending to be engaged?"

Hermione exchanged an embarrassed glance with Draco. " Well...that is...I was sort of trying to make someone jealous, too."

Ginny's eyes widened until they were two round, blue saucers. " YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HARRY?!!!" she screeched.

Draco covered her mouth quickly, and Hermione advanced toward her. " Shh. Do you want everyone in the house to hear you?"

Ginny lowered her voice, though her eyes looked no less excited. " You're in love with Harry?" she repeated in a whisper.

Hermione nodded miserably. " Yes, only I'm completely embarrassed about the entire thing and you can't tell a SOUL, Ginny, swear to me."

Ginny nodded quickly. " Of course, I wouldn't dream of it." She smiled as the words processed in her mind. " You in love with Harry--I knew it all along! It's so perfect..."

" I don't see what's perfect about it," Hermione said sourly. " Harry's getting married on Sunday and I've only just realized that I love him, and now he's going to leave me forever!"

There was a sudden knock on the door, and then Harry's muffled voice entered the room. " Hermione? Malfoy? Are you all right?"

" Oh, Merlin!" Hermione hissed, turning frantically to Ginny. " Quick, hide somewhere!"

As Ginny obediently ducked under the bed, Hermione turned to answer the door. Draco caught her arm. " Wait a moment," he instructed. He un-tucked her shirt and mussed her hair a bit. " There," he said, seeming pleased with himself, " that'll give Potter something to seethe about."

Hermione opened the door at last. " Harry, is there something wrong?" she said in what she hoped was the most natural voice possible.

Harry looked at her, confused. " I was just about to ask you the same question. I thought I heard a yell come from the room, so I thought I'd see if everything was all right."

Hermione glanced at Draco, then back at Harry. " We're fine in here," she said, "it must have just been the wind, or something."

Harry nodded at this, his gaze silently taking in Hermione's disheveled state and the lipstick smeared across Draco's face. His mouth narrowed into a straight line. " Oh, well...have a good night, then."

" Goodnight, Harry," Hermione said, and began to close the door.

There came a loud thump from under the bed. Instinctively, Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and pushed her behind him. " What was that?" he inquired, wand in hand.

Draco cleared his throat. " I didn't hear anything."

" There was definitely a noise," Harry insisted.

" Harry--" Hermione began. He turned to face her, and suddenly they were very, very close to one another, so that Hermione could see the white, whispy baby hairs on his face and sense the warmth coming from his body. She swallowed, struggling for composure. " I- I'm sure it's only your imagination, Harry."

Harry stared back at her, seeming to have some great internal conflict in his mind. He glanced over at Draco and then wrenched suddenly away from Hermione, moving into the room. "Still, we should check, just in case..."

Hermione glanced at Draco desperately. He rose abruptly to his feet and cleared his throat. " Don't worry, Potter, I can take care of that." he asserted, puffing out his chest. " 'Cuz I'm a man, and that's what I do...man things. And afterward, I'll get myself a steak, and some beer."

Harry glanced at him doubtfully. " Are you sure?"

Draco grabbed him by the arm and led him from the room. " Yeah, yeah. If the bedroom's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'. Goodnight." He pushed Harry out into the hallway and slammed the door shut after him. " Geesh, what a pest."

Ginny scrambled out from under the bed. " That was close."

Hermione had scarcely heard them. She sank down onto the bed and sighed deeply, burying her face into her hands. " This isn't working. Harry's never going to see me as anything besides his buck-tooth, bushy-haired friend from Hogwarts."

Draco stared at her. " Are you an idiot, or something?" he inquired finally.

Hermione frowned and looked up at him. " I beg your pardon?"

" This engagement is eating Potter alive," Draco informed her, as though it was completely obvious. " Didn't you see the way he was looking at you when you were standing all close together? He looked as though he would've grabbed you and thrown you onto the bed right then and there if I hadn't been around."

Hermione blushed at this. " You're only saying that...Harry would never--"

Ginny was staring at her now, too. "Hermione, please tell me you're joking. There's no way anyone could be that daft. Didn't you see the way that Harry was watching you two at lunch today? He looked like he was about to kill someone."

" Your brothers and your father looked the same way," Hermione pointed out.

Ginny shook her head. " No-they were upset, mind you, but Harry looked utterly destroyed. I'm positive that he's been in love with you for years...I've always thought so, and Kimmy must think so, too. Otherwise, why would she dress you in those frumpy outfits, and why did she look so incredibly pleased when you said you were engaged?"

Hermione felt her pulse quicken, despite herself. Could it really be that Harry returned her feelings? She'd always known that they were very close, of course, but...love? Her mind wandered back to a sort of montage of Harry. When Voldemort had nearly killed her, he'd seemed so very concerned...And when she'd gone to kiss him goodbye on the cheek at the end of sixth year, he'd turned so that their lips brushed...but that had been an accident, or so she'd thought...And then there was the way he was always owling her, wanting to know the little details of her day that no one else cared about...And whenever he visited, he looked happier and healthier than anytime else-everyone always commented on it...

Ginny was smiling at her encouragingly. " Hermione, you have to tell him."

Panic began to set in. " What?"

Draco glanced at Ginny fondly. "Weasley's right. We can't keep leading him on like this-the man is getting married on Sunday. You need to tell him the truth, before it's too late."

Hermione was quiet for a moment, contemplating, and then she nodded. " You're right. I'll just tell Harry. No more playing sneaky little games. I'll own up to everything and...and hopefully he won't hate me for it."

" He won't," Ginny assured her, leading her toward the door, " Now GO!"

Hermione found herself out in the hallway. Panic set in again. She hadn't meant to tell him so SOON. She'd wanted a moment or two to think about it...

*No,* Hermione's reasonable voice-which had been noticeably missing the past few days-spoke up, *Go tell him now, Hermione, before you lose your nerve.*

Numbly, her legs began to take her down the hall, wobbling noticeably. " Harry's my friend," she muttered to herself, " he cares about me and I can tell him anything and--"

She rounded the corner and froze. Harry and Kimmy were standing in the middle of the kitchen, kissing ardently, too absorbed with one another to have even noticed her presence.

With an odd feeling of deadness spreading through her limbs, Hermione turned and hastily made her way in the other direction. She thought about going back to hide in her room, but Ginny and Draco would be there and she just couldn't face them now...

Instead, she passed the bedroom and kept on walking out the front door and into the night.

***

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