Chapter 12: "I'm not okay, I promise"
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Harry frowned as the sunlight poked its head through the curtains over the window. He lay on his stomach and outstretched his arm to touch the body that had been next to him the whole night; he touched nothing. His eyes opened and he lifted himself off the bed slightly to look. Sure enough, the right side of the bed was empty. He sat up and groaned. She had left. `She probably freaked after waking up.' He thought shaking his head. He knew her too well. Images of last night crossed his memories and he smiled to himself. It had been amazing, and he didn't regret it one bit. He then looked up and stared at the wall.
"Hermione." He said out loud, to no one in particular.
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"You told him?" Draco said lifting his eyes from the paper he was examining, and raising one blond eyebrow. Ginny nodded as she sunk into the very comfortable bed that belonged to Draco.
"Yep. I wasn't planning on doing it but it sort of happened. In the midst of Luna screaming at Ron she was pregnant and Ron being an idiot, it came out." She said. "Which by the way, thank you for telling me that was the reason she was seeing you for."
Draco shrugged. "Confidentiality. You know about that, you're also a healer." He said examining his papers again.
"Yes I know." She said sighing. She then flipped onto her stomach and propped her hands underneath her chin. "I feel like I'm getting old. I'm an aunt…again."
"You're not getting old, Ginny. You just have a very large family who likes to shag…a lot." Draco said and then began to chuckle. Ginny punched his shoulder. He took hold of her hand and pulled her up to kiss. She giggled and climbed on top of him. Her legs straddling his lap.
"I sure hope you are not complaining, Mr. Malfoy." She said kissing his lips. He smiled.
"That is something I will never do." He replied kissing her back.
She tossed his papers aside and continued to kiss him deeply. His hands roamed up and down her sides. She began to kiss his neck. Merlin knows he loved it when she did that. His hands maneuvered their way underneath her shirt, or rather his shirt. She moaned against his neck. Draco had it. He flipped her over and pinned her underneath him. She looked up at him, his gray eyes turning dark with lust. She purred and he kissed her hungrily. Her arms snaked their way up his arms and onto his muscular back. Her nails leaving crescent marks on his skin. Then a beeping noise sounded. They both ignored it and continued exploring the other's body. The noise persisted. Draco groaned. He pulled away much to the dismay of Ginny. She pouted and sat up. Draco was rummaging around and then finally pulled out his beeper. He checked and sighed.
"Jasmine is paging me." He said. He walked over to his closet to find a pair of slacks. Ginny huffed. She stood up crossing her arms over her chest. She followed him.
"What for?" she asked leaning against the door of the walk in closet.
"It just said that someone needed to see me urgently." He said shrugging. He pulled out a pair of beige slacks and began to put them on. Ginny scoffed.
"A little vague isn't she?" she said rolling her eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised though. She isn't exactly all up there you know." Draco couldn't help but smirk. He knew Ginny was acting jealous.
"A little harsh there don't you think?" he asked pulling off the gray t- shirt he had been wearing and replacing it with a black, long sleeve button down shirt. Ginny admired him for a bit. His arse looked absolutely delectable in those pants. She then shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
"Not at all. She's an airhead; she's been after you since the moment she stepped foot into St. Mungo's. She knows something is going on between us and that's why she's so wicked towards me." Ginny said pointing her finger at him to prove her point. Draco chuckled.
"I've seen the way you two interact, Gin. You aren't exactly a saint around her either." He said walking out of the closet to grab the lab coat he had hung on the back of the door.
"I never said I was Draco." Ginny said sighing as she sat down on the bed. "And why are you taking her side?!" She demanded. Draco sighed.
"I'm not taking anyone's side." He said.
"I just don't like her. I think she's going to bring you over there for a pointless reason." Ginny said pouting.
Draco walked over to her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her lips. "I'll try to make it quick, all right." He said. She nodded reluctantly. He kissed her forehead and disapparated.
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"Are you trying to drown yourself dear?" Charlotte, Hermione's mirror, asked.
"Yes, that is exactly what I am trying to do." Hermione said as she let the almost scalding hot water run over her body. She wasn't sure how long she had been in there, but she knew a lot of time must have passed by because her fingers were very shriveled.
She turned the knob of the shower off and wrapping her towel around her body stepped onto the rug next to the bathtub. She looked at herself in the mirror. Thank goodness for Charlotte's anti fogging charm. She made a face as she saw much of her skin was very red.
"Ugh, disgusting." She said. She walked into her bedroom and got some clothes out. She heard some humming and nearly jumped when she saw Blaise. "Blaise!?"
Blaise turned to her grinning and then his face quickly fell. "Hermione! What happened to your skin! You look like a lobster." He said rushing over to her and touching her arms.
"Thank you so much Blaise for the compliment." Hermione said rolling her eyes.
"What happened Hermione?" he asked again, ignoring her response.
"I just came out of the shower. I guess I didn't realize know how hot the shower was. I have a lot currently on my mind." She said as she slipped on a t shirt and pants.
"She was thinking about how her an…." Charlotte began but Hermione quickly shut the door. She turned to Blaise putting on a fake smile.
"I think I need to get a new mirror. The charm on her is failing." She said. Blaise raised an eyebrow confused at Hermione's abruptness.
"Are you ok, love?" he asked touching her shoulder. As soon as he did that Hermione had a flash of images from the night before scan through her mind. Running her fingers through Harry's hair as he thrust into her, she throwing her head back as she called out his name, he kissing her neck and exploring her body. She shook her head, attempting to get rid of the images but she couldn't keep from blushing as she did so.
"I'm fine. Really, Blaise." She said mustering another smile. He seemed to buy the lie and he smiled.
"I passed by because I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Once I was home I realized that I was acting like an inconsiderate bastard. Maybe we did rush into things. I'm willing to wait as long as you need, just as long as I get to spend the rest of my life with you." Blaise said taking her hand in his and kissing it. She smiled nervously.
"Tha…That's very sweet Blaise. Thank you for seeing things from my point of view." She said. He grinned and gave her a kiss. Hermione felt like her heart had been ripped out. He had no idea that only hours ago Harry had been doing the same exact thing. `Only better.' Her mind said. `No! No! Do not say that.' She told herself.
Blaise pulled away and held her face in his hands. "But we still need to get everything sorted out. Revenue, wedding gown, tuxes, bridesmaid dresses etc." he told her. Hermione nodded.
"I'll start to make the appointments and such." She said weakly. He smiled again and kissed her forehead.
"You are an angel Hermione." He said. "I have to be heading to work. I'll see you later." He gave her one final kiss and then disapparated. Hermione stared at the spot for quite some time.
Was she really going to go through with this? She had cheated on Blaise with Harry. Could she muster up the courage to just completely forget about this and go along with the wedding? So many questions were running through her mind and she had no answers for any of them. She sat down on her bed and began to cry; something she was accustomed to doing as of late. She heard footsteps in the hall and her bedroom door opening.
"Hermione. Are you all right?" Luna's voice asked.
"No. No I'm not." Hermione said sniffling.
"What's wrong?" she asked sitting down next to her. Hermione didn't even know where to begin. So, she just came right out and said it.
"I slept with Harry last night." She said staring ahead of her. Luna choked a little and turned wide blue eyes toward Hermione.
"Oh, well…wow." She said. "How...?"
"I went to see him last night. I was feeling horrible. Ginny and I had gotten into a slight argument and I don't know…I just decided to see him. Then we kissed and everything just went down hill…." Hermione said.
"Are you sure things went downhill? Perhaps now they are going uphill." Luna suggested. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"How could things possibly be going uphill whe…Luna? What is that on your finger?!" Hermione said noticing a shiny object that was placed conveniently on her ring finger belonging to her left hand. Luna grinned.
"Ron asked me to marry him. It was a bit sudden. He ran out last night, near midnight. Had no idea where on earth he was going. Mumbling that he had to do something properly; I fell asleep waiting for him and when I woke up this morning he had it shoved in my face." Luna said playing with the frill that lined Hermione's bed sheet. "Before I could say anything, he began rambling on about how he could not possibly let me have this baby without being properly married to him. Very romantic, eh? So he proceeded to get down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I, of course, said yes." Luna finished smiling at her. Hermione smiled a genuine smile at that.
"That's terrific Luna! When is the wedding?" she asked.
"Well, we don't want it to interfere with yours, so…" Luna began.
"Oh no! Don't worry about it. Blaise and I have postponed the wedding. You can get married whenever you like, before the baby's born." Hermione said interrupting her. Luna seemed taken aback.
"Really? You postponed it?" she said eyeing Hermione.
"Yeah, we were rushing into things we decided…" Hermione said wringing her hands.
Luna raised one pale eyebrow. "Uh huh. Look Hermione I'm not stupid." Luna said her voice changing from its usual dreamy tone to one of severity. Hermione looked slightly taken aback. This was not the Luna she knew. Then Hermione realized it must be the hormones.
"What ever do you mean, Luna?" Hermione said deciding to play the stupid one.
"You're obviously having second thoughts about being with Blaise. Especially since the whole Harry thing happened." Luna said crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Hermione.
"No, I was thinking this befo…Wait! No! I am not having second thoughts with Blaise! I'm not! He's good for me. He's stability." Hermione said gesticulating with her arms.
"Harry is too! Yes, he'll be playing Quidditch but look at me and Ron! We've been together for six years! And we're still going strong." Luna said angrily her eyes ablaze.
"But I don't want to have to go through with that. I want someone who I can come home to. Not waiting for them to arrive weeks on end." Hermione said getting upset. Luna stood up abruptly.
"Hermione…I don't know what's gotten into you as of late. But you're not the clever girl you once were." Luna said back to her soft voice. Was Hermione going to have to be going through this for the next nine months?
"You sound exactly like Ginny." Hermione sighed. "I'm still the same Hermione."
Luna shook her head, her dirty blonde waves swaying. "No, you're not Hermione. But let me know when she comes back." She said quietly and walked out of the room. Hermione stared after her. She took a deep breath and then turned to her bed. There was a stack of paperwork atop it. Work, that's what she needed to do. That's what she always did best…that's what she was best known for.
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"Mmm. I dunno. She's been in her room for two weeks straight now. Stacks upon stacks of paperwork all around her." Ginny said taking a sip of her coffee and talking to Ron in his kitchen. She had apparated there a few minutes earlier
"Really? Well, that is the Hermione we all know and love." Ron said scratching the back of his head.
"No, I just think it's an imposter. Trying to play it off as though they're Hermione. Because the real Hermione would have broken up with Blaise a long time ago and already be with Harry." Ginny said following Ron into the living room. She then froze.
The whole room was filled with toys. Bears, bunnies, Quidditch dolls, kiddy brooms to name a few things.
"Ron. What the hell happened? It looks like a toy store exploded in here." Ginny said her eyes wide. Ron began to blush.
"Told mum about the baby finally. Why do you think it took me so long. I was bracing myself for this." He said gesturing around him. "She probably bloody owled every single living family member we have!"
"It looks like you're going to need a bigger place to live in." Ginny said chuckling slightly as she took another sip of her coffee.
"Yeah tell me about it. But that'll have to wait till after the wedding. It's two weeks from now." He said sitting down on what once was the couch. Now it currently was the holding place for numerous stuffed animals. One made a squeaking sound as he sat on its head. He groaned and threw it across the room. He rubbed his temples.
Ginny moved aside some blocks and sat down on the arm of the couch. She set her mug down. "You know you could always wait till after the baby is born Ron." She said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Naw. I want to marry her now. Plus she doesn't want to "look like a wallowing wallawa". Whatever the hell that is." Ron said. "She's already starting to get a belly. She's a month and two weeks tomorrow."
Ginny smiled. "Yeah well understood. I love how you're having it in Fiji! Oh, it'll be so romantic for me and Draco." She gushed as she thought of it. Ron cleared his throat rather noisily.
"I know you two are together and all but I'm still not used to it." he said shuddering a bit. Ginny smiled. She opened her mouth to say something when there was a loud crack. They both jumped to see a rather angry looking Harry standing there with his broom in hand. He looked around the room a bit surprised but then turned his attention back to them.
"I'm not playing at the World Cup!" he nearly yelled.
"What!" Ron and Ginny both said standing up.
"Yeah, Coach just informed me about five minutes ago." He said bitterly. "Says my skills have been going downhill. Especially when it comes to my riding."
"Well yeah, but that's because your broom's been acting a little screwy lately. You should have told him that!" Ron said.
"Don't you think I tried? He just told me I should have gotten it fixed when the signs first showed that there was something wrong with it." He said flinging the broom across the room. It began to jerk violently.
"Wow, that's not normal…" Ginny said eyeing the broom.
"Tell me about it. It's like back in first year when Quirrel had tried jinxing my broom during the Quidditch game." He recalled.
"Yeh, mate but if it's doing it now it can't be someone murmuring some spell. We're in my flat." Ron said.
"Yeah he's right Harry. Maybe it's the manufacturer. You should take it back an…" Ginny said.
"It's Blaise…" Harry said cutting her off.
"What?!" they both said in unison once again.
"He has something to do with this." He said pacing back and forth.
"How on Earth could he have something to do wi…" Ginny began.
"I don't know! But he just does!" Harry said angrily. Ginny frowned.
"Harry. Brooms go haywire sometimes." She said trying to put a reassuring hand on his arm. He shook it away.
"It was fine a few weeks ago. It can't just go bad in one second!" He said.
"Yes it can, Harry. It's happened before." She said.
"And plus if Blaise really did have something to do with it Hermione would never let him do that." Ron said.
"He's smart. He wouldn't tell Hermione." Ginny said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she knew and didn't do anything about it." Harry said acidulously.
"Just because the two of you are fighting doesn't mean she doesn't care about you Harry. She would not let Blaise do that." She said. He laughed.
"I think she would. She's completely ignored me Ginny. I've tried talking to her and I get nothing." He said.
"She hasn't been bothering to talk to anyone lately, Harry. Not even me or Luna. She just needs to be alone." She said trying to convince him.
Harry shook his head. "I'm going home." He said and went to get his broom that was still jerking.
"Don't worry mate. Me and the boys will convince coach to let you play next week. No one wants Hathaway to play seeker." Ron said. Harry offered a small smile and then apparated.
Ginny and Ron looked at each other and then sighed. "If these two don't make up in the next two weeks, the wedding is going to be a disaster." Ron said. "I don't want to ruin Luna's big day."
Ginny gave Ron a smile. "It's your big day too. I'll talk to them all right." She said and gave him a hug. "I have to go. Working the night shift tonight." Ron nodded and Ginny apparated.
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"Did you get it done?" The raven head asked the blonde in front of him. Why they had chosen to meet in the dirtiest of alleyways was beyond his comprehension but he knew that they would not be caught there.
"Yeah. Everything is set. He's not playing in the big game. And pretty soon he'll be off the team and he'll come crawling back to me to have me help him get back on." The blonde gushed grinning.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway. Thank you for your work. Here's the money." He said and handed her galleons.
"You know Blaise. I would have done this for free. I'd do anything to keep that filthy Hermione away from my Harry." The blonde said.
"Don't you dare call her filthy, Jacklyn." Blaise said angrily. "You do not want me to get started on Harry."
"Touché." Jacklyn responded eyeing Blaise. "I have to go now, but I'll send you an owl about Harry's progression."
"That would be appreciated." He said and began to turn away. "And I'll reply to you to give information on the next step we'll take."
"What would your precious Hermione think if she knew what you were up to?" Jacklyn said cynically. Blaise turned around.
"She'll never find out. And I think it would be best for you to not say anything." Blaise said in a threatening manner.
"I don't trust you!" she said giving him a hard look.
"Nor I, you." He said glaring at her. She huffed and with a flick of her wand, disappeared.
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AN: Of course, you didn't think you had seen the last of Jacklyn did you? *evil grin*. Naturally, Blaise and Jacklyn would get together to sabotage Harry and Hermione's potential relationship. And this will only add more fuel to their fire...believe me. So as always, read and review! You all truly make my day!
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