Disclaimer: Clearly, I am not JK Rowling, therefore Harry Potter is not mine. Not trying to make any money of it just having fun ;)
A/N: Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Thanks to my beta reader LydiaCarol who improves my grammar and the story.
Chapter 5 - It's the Firewhiskey Talking
Hermione sat at the table alone, miserably picking at the piece of wedding cake on her plate. Ron had given up on getting her to dance, and she'd told him to go off and dance with other people if he felt like it. Sensing her sour mood, he'd willingly obliged. He knew better than to try to force Hermione to do something against her will. Her eyes wandered to the dance floor, crowded with couples. Harry and Ginny were dancing together … again. They seemed to have made it their mission to dance the entire night. Something about seeing them together upset her. Why had Ginny been so willing to forgive Harry for disappearing anyway?
Every touch and every look shared between them made her feel as though she was about to vomit all over the nice white tablecloth. Her mouth curved into a frown, as Ginny's laughter floated across the dance floor, audible even above the music. Harry was laughing too; Ginny had nearly stepped on his feet several times while they danced. Ginny seemed a little tipsy at this point in the evening - the girl never knew how to hold her alcohol, Hermione thought bitterly. She watched the younger girl flirtatiously toss her gleaming red hair over her shoulder and cringed. Sharing a table with them the whole night hadn't helped her nerves either. Ginny and Harry had both been very polite, but it that didn't mean sitting with them hadn't been incredibly awkward.
Hermione looked angrily away and downed the last bit of firewhiskey in her tumbler, inhaling sharply as it went down, burning as it slid down her throat. The ice clinked as she set down her empty glass. She stared gloomily into the bottom. The song ended, and Harry and Ginny wandered back over to the table arm in arm, still laughing.
"Hermione, you should get up and dance a little!" Ginny suggested as she took a seat, smiling sociably as she downed the rest of her drink. She gestured to a nearby server to refill her glass.
"No, thanks, I am not much of a dancer," Hermione replied, forcing a polite smile.
"What are you talking about, Hermione? You're an amazing dancer. Remember the Yule Ball?" Harry interjected. Hermione felt her face getting hot, a little surprised at the effect Harry's kind compliments could still have on her.
Ginny frowned as she watched the two old friends, and took another sip from her glass in an effort to get the last drop.
"Whoa love, you better slow down a little," Harry warned her, looking slightly concerned. Ginny waved him away.
"Nah, I'm fine. My brothers always say that I can out drink them any day," she bragged, her speech a little shaky.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Ron is notoriously bad at holding his liquor, as are all the other Weasleys I know. So, your drinking prowess is really not much to be bragging about," Hermione said snidely. She bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty for being so juvenile. She hadn't really meant to say that out loud.
"Yes, well…" Ginny began, but to Hermione's surprise Harry cut Ginny off.
"You, know she's right Ginny. Like I said, you should lay off the firewhiskey for a bit." Ginny glared at him and then over at Hermione. Her expression flashed from hurt to furious. She stood up abruptly.
"I should have known that you'd side with her. Even though she hates you and won't speak to you, you still love her more," Ginny raged at Harry, hiccupping slightly as she finished. He blinked in surprise. Hermione looked over at him, thrown for a loop. Harry loved her? No, she must have misheard Ginny. Harry glanced over at her across the table and their eyes met for a moment. What she saw in his face took her breath away.
She looked down at her own empty glass. Maybe she should take her own advice and lay off the firewhiskey herself. Looking up, she saw Ginny hurrying away from the table, holding her shoes in her hand, far too drunk to walk properly in them. Harry sighed loudly and slumped forward, propping his head up on his hands. Hermione looked around a moment and tentatively put a hand on his arm. She patted him reassuringly. He looked up, his eyes wide with surprise at the friendly gesture. He grinned with a charming awkwardness that she'd come to love in him. After their last spat, he hadn't expected even a friendly glance from her. Hermione smiled weakly at him, glad that he didn't know how susceptible she was to him
"It'll be fine, Harry. You know her temper," Hermione told him reassuringly, though it made her feel sick to be doing something that would keep him and Ginny together. What she really wanted to tell him was, `She's not worth it - just let her go. She'll have moved on to a new guy in a week or two.'
"Yeah," Harry replied dully. "I suppose I should go find her."
"Um, no, Harry! I'll go talk to her. We used to be pretty close at Hogwarts. I'll explain everything to her," Hermione cut in, hardly knowing why. Harry looked puzzled for moment, but then seemed relived about not having to having to deal with a furious Ginny. Ginny was as frightening as her mother when she was angry.
"Oh thank you so much, Hermione. That would be great. Tell her I'm sorry," he said after a pause. She nodded and forced a small smile. Why was she doing this? Sometimes she really wasn't sure what got into her. But she knew why in her heart. She didn't want Harry to comfort Ginny; it would be playing into the younger girl's hand.
Slowly she got up from the table and headed off in the direction she'd seen Ginny go. It was already getting dark, so she hadn't gone far. Hermione found her, leaning against a tree. Her face was tear-stained, but she wasn't crying at the moment. She looked angry now.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd have dragged Harry off by now to go have a quick shag together," Ginny said maliciously as Hermione approached her. Hermione bit her lip, holding back the bitter retort hanging on her tongue. She clenched her fist around her wand, fighting the desire to use it.
"I hope you're drunk, because that's an awfully nasty thing to say about me," Hermione told her frostily, quickly running out of patience.
"I came to see if were all right, actually. I think you got upset over nothing just then. Harry clearly cares about you. He wasn't taking my side, Ginny. What I said wasn't so nice, but the sentiment of it was well intentioned, and that's probably why Harry went along with what I was saying."
"Ha, that's rich," scoffed Ginny, her eyes flashing, pausing for a moment as a small hiccup escaped her throat. "And you and I aren't really friends anymore. Harry was taking your side, he always does. Besides it's obvious."
"What's obvious?" Hermione demanded, slightly confused. Ginny sighed, looking more angry and bitter than before, if it was possible.
"It's obvious that he's completely in love with you, and not with me. I am just the consolation prize," Ginny snapped, her mask of anger melting away. She suddenly looked vulnerable.
Hermione frowned slightly. "He doesn't love me, Ginny. If he did he wouldn't have left me like he did and he wouldn't be with you now." She looked down, tears springing to her eyes as she re-opened old wounds. After gathering herself, she looked up to see Ginny frantically digging through her purse.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, wondering exactly how many drinks the girl had had that night.
Ginny didn't answer her, but continued rummaging for some unknown item. Finally she seemed to have found what she was looking for. She set her purse down at her feet and stepped towards Hermione, a piece of folded and crumpled parchment in her hand. Shakily she handed it to her.
"What's this?" Hermione asked, completely confused.
"Just read it," Ginny told her grimly.
Hermione slowly unfolded the paper and looked down to see Harry's familiar handwriting hastily scrawled on it.
"What is this, Ginny?"
"Read, don't keep babbling on, read," Ginny insisted.
Hermione did what she was told. It was a note, written to her, not Ginny:
Dear Hermione,
I know that I should be telling you this in person. However, if I did I couldn't leave you. I realize now that I need to fight Voldemort alone. I know that you would give your life for me, but I don't want it to come to that. Voldemort has taken so many of the people I love, and I couldn't bear to lose you, not my Hermione. Perhaps it's wrong to tell you like this, especially since I may die before I see you again, but I need you to know how much I love you, and not like a sister. I love you more than my clumsy words can describe. Know this, and forgive me for what I have to do.
Harry
Hermione clutched the note to her pounding heart, overwhelmed what she had read. She tried to take a deep breath in order to calm herself.
"Where did you get this?" she demanded angrily. Ginny suddenly looked rather contrite. A sheen of unshed tears formed in her eyes.
"Ron found it at the Burrow the day Harry left. There was a note for him and one for you, nothing for me. I told Ron to open yours; I wanted what to know what it said and I had to know if Harry really loved me. When I read your note, well of course, I got really upset, as did Ron. We promised each other to hide both notes and let you think Harry just took off without a word to anyone," Ginny explained nervously. "I thought Harry might forget about his feelings for you, especially if you reacted coldly to him when he returned. But it's clear that nothing you do will make him forget. I know you'll probably never forgive me, or Ron, but at least I am not carrying this horrible secret around anymore."
Hermione just stood there, unable to speak. She was blown away by the fact that her boyfriend and a girl she had called her friend had deceived her like this. No wonder, she and Ginny had grown apart the past few years. Who could live with that guilt if they had remained close friends? She blinked her dark eyes and leaned against the nearest tree for support. If only Ginny knew the secret she carried as well.
"I really am sorry," Ginny told her weakly. Sorry sounded so pathetic though.
Hermione suddenly took a deep breath, a look of determination appearing in her eyes.
She clasped the note tightly in her fist, straightened up her appearance and walked over to back to the wedding reception area.
"What are you doing Hermione?" Ginny called out after her. Hermione didn't stop to answer her though.
As Hermione passed the bar area she downed a shot of some strong liquor, what kind didn't really matter.
Hermione was glad to find Harry still sitting alone at the table. He looked up, surprised by her distraught appearance.
"Hermione, are you all right?" he asked, jumping to his feet.
She stood there staring into his eyes for a moment, unable to speak. Her pulse was racing. He looked so handsome at the moment, and she couldn't believe that she had been foolish enough to doubt him, or to deny that she loved him.
"Follow me," she finally managed. She took off so quickly that Harry had no choice but to obey if he wanted to find out what was going on. Finally she stopped near a building far from the crowds.
"Hermione, please tell me what's going on," Harry demanded.
"Harry, I know the truth now," she said simply, opening her clenched hand to reveal the note.
"What? Have you had that all along?" Harry asked hotly, his eyes flashing. She shook her head sadly.
"No, Harry, you don't understand. Ginny just gave it to me tonight. She and Ron found it the day you left, but never gave it to me," she explained, hardly able to stay in control of her emotions.
Harry stepped back a moment, sucking in a breath of air, looking much as she must have when she'd first found out how their two friends had meddled with their lives.
He looked up, his face a mask of pain and confusion.
"Well, where do we go from here, Hermione?" he asked. She shook her head helplessly. For once, she didn't have the answer.
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