A Bit of a Predicament

1. A Bit of a Predicament

A Bit of a predicament

By: Hippogriff_Lover

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Drama/Romance

Spoilers: Book 1 – 6

Pairings: G/D, with mentions of R/L & H/Hr

Era: Post-Hogwarts

Summary: A morning in the lives of Ginny & Draco. For readers of my other story, ‘Love Hurts’.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Note:

Hello! Just as I said a few weeks ago: this is Ginny’s perspective of what happened in ch 14 of ‘LH’. I couldn’t fit it in that fic, so I thought I could try to post it separately for all of you who wanted to know a bit more of what’s going on with her and the others. Happy reading! :)

Oh, and many, many thanks to my beta-reader, Chris! (Discount Ninja) Hugs dear!

Now on with the story. ^_^

++To Kandy123, who has been suspecting this for a while now. You put the seed of this fic in my head, girl++

A Bit of a Predicament

Thursday, September 15, 2000 – Somewhere in London

Ginny woke up slowly.

The first thing she noticed was the sunlight that filtered in only dimly through the closed blinds. She could tell it was rather nice weather outside, even if it was very early. The second thing she noticed was the breathing beside her, which was even and deep. Draco. She could feel his chest rising and falling because she was lying against him.

His face was so close by hers that she could touch noses with him if she moved forward maybe an inch. She could see every eyelash, the fine hairs of his eyebrows, and the three light freckles on his nose—the ones he denied having. There were minute wrinkles in the skin of his eyelids. Though he was breathing through his nose his mouth was slightly open. She squinted but couldn’t spot any of his teeth, even if she knew already that they were almost ridiculously perfect. He was ridiculously gorgeous, in general. She had said that to him on one occasion, but he had just smirked and replied, “Gin, don’t call me gorgeous. It makes me sound like a pansy. I prefer the term ‘ruggedly handsome’, if you please.” Looking at him now, she thought it was unfair of him to say that. His pale blond hair was cut short, and his gentle features made him seem young and angelical; in sleep he looked like a little boy.

Ginny closed her eyes again without moving from her position. I can call Draco many things, but not a little boy, she mused, unable to suppress a smug smile. Not having felt this rested and peaceful in what must have been ages, she didn’t make any attempts at moving for another good fifteen minutes. She knew that she had to wake up soon; she had to go to her flat before going to the Ministry today, after all, but Draco was sleeping so peacefully beside her that she didn’t have the heart to wake him up yet. After a moment she became aware of cars and pedestrians passing by right under the balcony of his recently purchased flat. She suppressed the urge to go out and look down at them going back and forth.

He had found her like that once; the day after her birthday. They had planned to meet up in his flat, from where they’d depart to wherever it was that he was taking her for dinner—which had resulted to be Geneva. She had been hanging over the edge of the balcony that night before he arrived, peering down at the traffic below, an ice coffee in her right hand, and a cigarette in her left. She didn’t smoke frequently, but when she saw one pack of his cigarettes resting on his bedside table that time, she’d had the urge to grab one. She hadn’t realised he was there until she turned to get the ashtray. He was standing right next to her, holding out the ashtray with one eyebrow raised, and had surprised the crap out of her. She had dropped her cigarette and it had burnt a hole in his sleeve as he’d tried to catch it. They still argued whether it would have been better of her to drop the glass of ice coffee instead, as it was his favourite shirt. She’d thought the glass would have cut their legs—and they’d have had to clean up glass-filled ice coffee to boot. She hadn’t smoked anymore after that though.

She stretched herself lazily, her hands grasping the headboard by its edges, a slow smile forming in her face as some memories came to her mind. Memories of when this…thing… between she and Draco had started: just a few days before Hermione left to France.

Ginny had gone to the Twilight Faerie one night, after her disastrous break up with her latest beau Jean. She had gone alone because Luna had been on a date with Ron, and had been sitting in a table by a corner drinking herself to a stupor, when Draco had appeared out of nowhere and slide into the booth next to her. He’d brought her a glass of Firewhiskey and offered it to her, long fingers grazing her hand as she took it. She’d always loved his hands, strong and lean and beautiful. They weren’t an artist’s or a musician’s hands, but now she knew that they made music of their own nonetheless. They’d taken a few drinks together and had spent the entire night talking.

At one point in the evening, she had started blabbing about her problems in the love department.

“You know, sometimes I believe that true romance doesn’t exist. I mean; it’s kind of ironic really. I use to tell Hermione that I’m not looking for a long-term relationship, but I reckon that’s not true. What girl doesn’t want the fairy tale? Try to find one. You won’t. And if she says she doesn’t, she’s probably a liar. Some of us talk a good game, Draco, but in the end, all we want is someone to take care of us. Even me. It’s just… why do I attract swarms of losers?” she had demanded drowsily. “Is it the perfume I wear? Or am I too pushy?”

“Or maybe you aren’t looking in the right place.” His gaze had been soft as he stared at her through her speech. He’d then flashed a smirk. “Have you ever thought about dating me?”

She hadn’t even bothered dignifying that with a response. But after her initial shock had simmered down, she returned to his words like someone tonguing a missing tooth. “Draco, there’s a reason why we’ve never dated all these years,” she reminded him, pushing his arm off her shoulders. He had gotten closer to her while she had been speaking. She turned around on her seat so they could face each other. “Besides the fact that we were almost sworn enemies while we were in school. We’re friends now. My dating history hasn’t been any good, either. I don’t need us to screw up our chemistry right now.”

He had just shrugged and smirked again. “Maybe we would, maybe we wouldn’t.” His grey eyes were bright as they rested on her figure. “I’m kind of curious to see where we’d go.”

This uneasy territory had dismayed Ginny at first. She could see it so clearly in her mind: them goofing around then breaking up. It was how it went for her all the time. She and Draco had grown to be good friends in the last year; she didn’t have that with any other bloke and didn’t want to lose it. She knew it was slightly hypocritical of her; after all she had been the one telling Harry a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t lose Hermione’s friendship if he dated her. That it was a very pessimistic way of seeing things. Plus, she had known for a while that she could see Draco in a more unplatonic way… in a very unplatonic way, but she’d held herself back, pushing away any of those unplatonic thoughts by reminding her of the long list of reasons why she shouldn’t peruse anything with him. A stupid list that was almost nonexistent by now.

“So, you like me?” she had blurted out then, the Firewhiskey sending her usual flirty and confidant air out the window.

That had made him laugh. “Don’t sound so horrified, Gin.” He had tweaked a lock of her vivid red hair and put an arm around her shoulders again. She hadn’t pushed him away this time. “Of course I like you. Who wouldn’t? But, hey, no pressure, all right? If you get bored, hit me up.”

He’d been so noncommittal that she had felt reassured. He hadn’t mentioned the topic the next day, when they’d seen each other at the Ministry, and she was relieved until he flirted with another girl two nights later in a Muggle club they had both attended. She’d had a couple of drinks, so her mind was a bit fuzzy, but it hadn’t seemed right that her Draco was letting a scarlet woman purr at him and paw him everywhere. So she had marched (wobbled) over to him and sat down (collapsed) on his lap.

“He’s mine, tart,” she had said to the girl. “So back off.”

Draco had grinned and merely said, “I guess I am.”

Fortunately there hadn’t been any of their acquaintances or friends there, so they’d secretly started going out after that. She’d been very amused at his change of behaviour at the beginning. He had this entire suave attitude; taking her out to fancy Muggle restaurants, all dressed up in his tailored robes, buying her expensive gifts that she didn’t know how she would hide from Ron or her other friends… But after the first week passed, she realised that he was still the same Draco to her. He still made her listen to his music, made bad jokes, had some arrogant or cynical moments from time to time, and fought with Ron as always.

They kept their dating quiet in part because Ginny didn’t like the idea of countless people gloating about her and Draco, besides the fact that Draco was slightly afraid of her family’s reaction. He had told her that he wasn’t exactly afraid of whatever they’d try to do to him (even if he had said that with a troubled expression), but of the reaction towards her. He didn’t want her to be victim of any bitter recrimination or to be the cause of any estrangement between her and her family. She had grudgingly accepted that. Her mum and most of her brothers were friendly to him now (as she had noticed in Harry’s party—which had been on the beginning of their dating), but she knew that her dad, Bill and Charlie still couldn’t look at him without remembering his role in the night that Professor Dumbledore had died. She didn’t know how they would react to the news. Luckily everyone knew that she and Draco were friends, so no one had wondered why they had been seeing each other around the Ministry so much lately. Or at least no one had said anything yet.

Draco kissed her for the first time when he’d walked her towards her home from their dinner at an Italian restaurant. He always unearthed all those fantastic restaurants, and so he tasted like cinnamon when his mouth covered hers. It was a light, fleeting kiss. “No pressure,” he had said, but Ginny had stood on her tiptoes as she returned it passionately.

What happened next was inevitable. She had spent the night in his bed (he had quickly Apparated them into his flat), his face buried against her shoulder and his arms around her. She thought he had said something, but his voice was so muffled and sleepy that she hadn’t woke him up. He was pretty cute when his eyes were closed, even if they were what she liked best of his appearance—but she didn’t tell him that then.

His room smelled like French toast and bacon when she opened her eyes the next day. She’d laughed and threw on a large, oversized shirt. She had been uncommonly nervous that morning, not because she hadn’t done that before with someone else, but because she hadn’t known how to react to that situation with him. She had wondered if there would be any awkward ‘morning-after’ scenes, but Merlin, this was Draco and she. There wouldn’t be anything new there.

Now Ginny flushed when she recalled that memory. She hadn’t started dating Draco because she had been crazy about him at the time, even if she would love to say that to everyone; but because she had figured she had nothing else to do and it could be fun. Better than staying home alone on Friday nights, better than cursing the fickleness of the male species with girlfriends, right? So, even if it was not exactly moral, she went out with him anyway. Who would have ever thought it would come down to this? She had realised just last week that she was most probably in love with him (and she thought ‘most probably’ because she’d never felt like this for anyone before); which was a bit of a predicament. This wasn’t a bloke she wanted to discard like the other rejects littered on the pavement of her past. This was Draco Malfoy, and now she wanted him to stick around. She wanted to hear his stupid dreams— the ones that always came after he’d imbibed too much sugar. Hell, she wanted him to behave all lofty, and eat in her car and spill countless crumbs. These quirks had always annoyed her, but now she thought that she’d live with them if he’d just told their friends and family about their situation. He didn’t say anything. And neither did she. So their relationship still continued being a secret, despite her wanting him to send her some kind of hint already. A hint that maybe he was ready for them to come clean with the people they cared the most about.

A sleepy sigh from her side brought Ginny back from her thoughts. Her fiery hair itched her and she ran a poorly co-ordinated hand through it. She rested herself against Draco, her right hand dropping gently to his chest. She fell back into a doze; one so light that she was still aware of his breathing.

A few minutes later, Draco rolled onto his side so he was facing her and took her hand. She pretended to be asleep because she wanted to know what he’d do. The thought of him playing with her fingers and watching her sleep always made her feel warm and tingly inside, even more than she would admit.

His hand pulled hers down to rest on his stomach. Then he pulled the other one up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss in her palm. He leaned over her, and she could tell that he was staring intently at her… with that odd look that she had seen him throwing at her lately. It was a look that honestly made her a bit nervous; she couldn’t tell what he was thinking every time he looked at her that way. He then kissed her collarbone, placing slow, gentle kisses in her neck, up to the skin between her cheek and earlobe. She still made no attempt to show she was awake, even if she was feeling like a thousand hippogriffs were flying wildly around in her stomach. Her right hand was deadweight on his firm belly; she could feel the short hairs that grew there bristling against her palm. Ginny was surprised at how easy it was for her to not move a muscle, to observe all this happening with her eyes shut.

When Draco realised his attempts at waking her up weren’t working, he made a frustrated noise and pulled the covers up all the way over her head. The light beyond her eyelids was gone; she took a deep breath and flailed her other hand weakly, then both of them. It probably looked very stupid, but she knew for a fact that no one looked particularly elegant waking up. Well, maybe Draco’s the exception, she thought with a frown. With a squeaking, girlish groan she pushed the covers off her face, and then pushed her hair out of her eyes. She took another few deep breaths and blinked.

“What,” she mumbled. “The blankets were over my face.”

“Mmm. Good morning,” he greeted her with a sleep rough voice.

She blinked at him blearily and then a slow smile spread across her lips, which triggered one of his own. The smile turned into a yawn. He sat up slowly and got out of bed while Ginny snuggled back down again. He stood by the bed for a moment, staring at her with unguarded and inviting eyes.

Last night had been a lot of fun, as had been all the other times. She wondered if she should feel guilty for not wanting to start right back up again this morning, but she knew that they would probably spend all day in bed if she did.

Her mobile made a buzzing sound then and she sat up to look around Draco’s large bedroom. He was standing by his wardrobe now, putting on a robe. He pointed to where her phone was on the ground by the door. Ginny slid out of bed, noting him looking at her bare legs as she did, and dropped to the floor dramatically to pick up her phone.

It announced a new text message. She clicked to open it. “It’s September 15,” she said in a bemused voice.

“Yeah,” Draco said, running a hand through his hair. “Goes fast.”

Ginny, the text message started.

Where are u? I came to ur flat with the keys that Ron let me and you didnt leave a note as far as I could tell. Please dont tell me ur at some blokes place again. I know u dont want me to worry about it or criticise u for it… but u know this isnt good for u. Anyway, Im going to The Quibbler for a bit, but will come to ur place again in a while, so hurry up and come back. Remember we have to make a call today. You promised.  Luna

Ginny let out a sigh. How does she smell these things? Part of her was upset with Luna for saying that in a text message, but she couldn’t be surprised since it wasn’t the first time she had said that to her. She grimaced at the phone and deleted the message. She hadn’t told anyone about her relationship with Draco, and that included Luna, so her blonde friend had been bothering her lately about her night escapades. It hurt Ginny having to lie to her, but she was almost sure that Luna would tell Ron if she knew, and she could just imagine Ron having a conniption after finding out that way. Bugger, that’s the downside of having your best friend dating one of your brothers, she thought. She then put the mobile down on the wooden floor and stood up.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she said to Draco.

“Sure,” he said easily, and made to hand her a towel. When she took hold of it however, he pulled it back and she fell against his chest. His arms went around her waist at once, trapping her in his embrace.

Ginny couldn’t stop giggling when he started to kiss her neck again, but she knew that she had to go to her flat. With all the self-control that she could muster, she tried to pry herself away from Draco.

“Where do you think you’re going, witch?” he asked in a growl.

“Draco… stop it… uhm, I mean, seriously. I have to be at my place in half an hour or so.”

“Uhuh… in a few more minutes, then,” he said distractedly.

“No—I’m sorry, darling, I have to go now, or I’ll never go, and Luna’s going to arrive soon, too,” she said weakly.

“Are you witches going to talk to Hermione today?” he asked lightly, nibbling on her earlobe.

Ginny sobered almost instantly. “Yeah. We decided that it’s better if she knows before coming back. I can’t be late. We don’t want Luna to suspect about us either, now do we?” she replied softly, and with a short squeeze he let her go.

“Right. Fine. Leave me if you must,” he faux pouted, “Granger is more important to you than me. Be that way, but you sure know what you’re missing here,” he said in the cocky tone that she claimed to hate, but he knew she actually adored. He smiled at her to let her know he was joking and turned around, leaning down to retrieve the towel that had fallen to the floor.

“Oh, don’t be so conceited. I can find better prospects in the streets, you know?” she replied with a grin, taking in his backside. “This Malfoy Pride. I don’t know why I put up with it, really.”

“Bugger off,” he laughed.

“Fine. You asked for it,” she said with mock resentment. She then took the towel from his hand, threw it over her shoulder, and walked to the bathroom. She could feel him taking in her bare legs again as she did, and couldn’t stop the smug smile that appeared in her face.

Maybe I know why I put up with it, after all.

***

Ginny came out of her room half an hour later, chuckling lightly and pushing back her disarranged hair with her hands, but stopped suddenly at the door when she saw Luna sitting in one of the sofas in the living room, staring off into the distance. Her mobile was on the little table in front of her. Ginny had Apparated there with Draco after he had convinced her that Luna wouldn’t possibly be there yet.

Crap, she thought with alarm. She tried to go back to her room to tell Draco to make a haste escape, but as she turned around she saw him coming out of her door, buttoning up his shirt, a dazed grin on his face. She froze on the spot, as did he, and she saw his eyes widen. Turning around again, she saw Luna looking up at them with a serene expression. A serene but knowing expression.

“Fuck,” Draco muttered. Ginny looked up at him.

“You can say that again,” she mumbled weakly.

“Any nice blokes?” Luna said. For a moment Ginny dumbly thought that she was talking to her, but after a second she realised that there was another voice in the room. She frowned instantly. She had told Luna to wait for her so they could talk to Hermione together, but her friend had obviously not done so.

“Hook up with any of them yet?” Luna continued. Ginny looked over her shoulder and saw that Draco was making his way towards the kitchen. She sighed and came fully into the room, sitting in the couch at the other side of the table.

“Pardon?” she heard Hermione laugh nervously. Ginny felt a slight pang in her chest. What they were going to inform Hermione wasn’t nice in the least, but she and Luna had decided that they needed to reach her; they couldn’t let her come back without any warning whatsoever.

“That’s still the plan, right? Getting over Harry? So you should try and meet some nice blokes,” Luna said in her usual blunt way, her gaze still resting on the phone.

“Uh,” Hermione said. Luna looked up at Ginny, eyebrows rising. Ginny shrugged at her, and switched to sit on her right leg. It seemed to her that Hermione was having some kind of inner struggle. “I’m not so sure yet. We… talked,” she continued, and this time Ginny and Luna looked at each other in surprise.

After a short silence, Ginny made a gesture with her hand for Luna to continue. “Who’s we?” Luna demanded. Ginny was surprised at her tone. She shot her a questioning look, but the blonde just looked down at the phone as if expecting Hermione’s head to suddenly appear there.

“Harry and me?”

“You talked—?” Luna repeated. Ginny noticed that she looked disappointed. She wasn’t feeling so chipper herself either, though.

“At the airport. He’s been acting weird, lately, like he might like me after all. Flirting and stuff, you know,” Hermione continued.

Ginny couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Harry has been flirting with her? Why hadn’t Hermione told us before? she thought resentfully. She looked towards the door just in time to see Draco entering the room with two glasses of juice in his hands, and she realised that she didn’t have the right to be resentful at all. He approached her and gave her one, then sat on the arm of her couch. She mouthed ‘Thanks’ and he raised an eyebrow. She put a finger on her lips and pointed at the mobile with another one.

“Did he say anything like that?” Luna was saying.

“No. No. But I was getting confused so I confronted him. I asked him to tell me either yes or no… either he liked me or not, after all.”

“And he said…?” asked Luna curiously.

“He said ‘I don't know yet’. I would like to be more clued in on Harry’s feelings, but… he’s not a wordy man, you know, only when he’s angry. Then he can be quite witty with his words, but in other situations, he’s just… Harry. So, basically we said we'd talk again when I got back,” Hermione said.

Ginny heard the sounds of a street in the background and couldn’t stay quiet anymore. “Hermione,” she said abruptly.

“Are you guys on speaker phone?” Hermione demanded briskly.

“We are,” Luna said after a hesitant pause, looking up at the other two.

“Who else is there?” Hermione asked then.

Luna stared at Draco, as if waiting for him to say something. Draco just returned her stare, taking a sip from his glass. Ginny poked him in the arm, so he put the glass down and cleared his throat before saying, “Hey Granger.”

“Draco too? Anybody else I should know about before I spill these beans?” she asked in a low voice.

Ginny hoped she wouldn’t start lecturing them about private conversations, so she replied, “It's just the three of us. First it was Luna and I and then Draco wandered in while she was talking to you.”

“Sorry about that,” Draco said.

“Next time just tell me you’re on speaker, jeez,” they heard Hermione sighed. They looked at each other warily, not knowing how to say what they knew they had to say to her, but before anyone could start the uncomfortable subject of The Boy Who Screwed Up, the line was cut.

Luna jumped and grabbed the mobile. “It was hers. My battery is still charged,” she said matter-of-factly.

Ginny searched in her pocket and took out her own phone. “Let me call her this time.” After trying once and getting the answering machine, she sighed and leaned back in her seat, looking around the room. The sudden silence was a very uncomfortable one. She didn’t want Luna to start the subject that she knew would come up at any moment, so she decided to stall for some time, “I thought we had agreed to talk with her together. That you’d wait for me, Luna. What where you going to tell her? Knowing you, she’d have broken down crying by now or something.”

Luna narrowed her blue eyes slightly. “What do you mean, Ginevra?” she asked in a soft tone.

Ginny rolled her eyes, tossed her hair over her shoulder and tried calling again. “You know what I mean. You’d probably have told her that Harry was sleeping around or who knows what else if I hadn’t arrived then! You have to think more before talking, Luna; your honesty is too much sometimes.”

Luna tilted her head to the side, her hands going up to play with her old radish earrings, which she had been using again. “And isn’t that what Harry’s been doing lately? Hanging around with that witch without mentioning anything to us about his situation with Hermione? Not even to Ronald? I tried to ask him about it, but he changed the subject! I can’t believe how inconsiderate he’s been… And I like honesty. At least that way people know they can trust me,” she ended with a significant look.

The redhead cringed a little but waved a hand at her. “Oh, don’t say that. We aren’t sure about that yet. Maybe it’s all a big misunderstanding, who knows? We have to explain it to her with tact.”

“Alright. With tact. Does tact means giving her a good dose of lies and forgetting about the truth altogether? That’s what you’re going to do? Lie to her?” Luna asked. She seemed to be getting more agitated by the second.

“Of course not! What’s gotten into you?” Ginny felt her temper rising and took a deep breath before continuing, “I’m just saying that we shouldn’t judge Harry so quickly. And that we have to be careful with what we say to Hermione. The problem’s much bigger now that we know they’ve talked,” she said, looking up at her friend. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Draco looking nervously from one to the other, as if waiting for a ‘Luna vrs Ginny’ match; hexes and curses included. Ginny briefly smiled to herself: poor Draco was still afraid of her Bat-Bogey Hex. Or maybe traumatised, she couldn’t tell.

Luna sighed and her expression softened to her usual calm and dreamy demeanour. Ginny, however, couldn’t stop wondering at her odd outburst. She knew that there was something else bothering Luna—something besides the deal with Hermione and her and Draco—but she ignored it when a whispered “Hello?” came from her phone.

She put her mobile in the table after setting it on speaker. “What’s the matter? Why are you whispering?” she asked Hermione. The line sounded shakier than a while ago.

“On a train,” they heard Hermione mumble. “Is there something you need to tell me about? Why did you guys call me?”

“Listen, Hermione,” Ginny started. She took another deep breath, unconsciously straightening her shoulders to muster up a fresh shot of courage. “There's a situation here…”

“Did something bad happen to Harry?” they heard her ask frantically.

“No, no… at least not yet…” Ginny mumbled angrily. Draco put a hand on her shoulder to pull her back towards him, but dropped it when he noticed Luna staring at them.

“Then what’s happened?” the witch on the other side of the line asked impatiently.

“Well, there’s this girl…” Ginny started.

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh? Do I know her?” Hermione asked at last.

“Have you ever heard Harry talk about someone he called Gnat? With a G?”

“No,” Hermione answered quickly.

“Her name’s Natalie.”

“Okay.”

Ginny looked up at Luna, who nodded back. “Look, I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but is better that you know now. The matter is… Natalie and Harry have been seen together, Hermione.” Here she glanced back at Draco, who gave her a brief nod. “Draco said he saw them having lunch a couple of times in the Ministry these past weeks. And this weekend I went with some girls from my department to the Twilight Faerie. I saw her dancing with him.”

“Natalie… is she the one with the ears?” Hermione asked slowly.

“If you mean breasts, then yes,” Ginny responded dryly.

“She’s a partner of Harry’s at training,” Hermione said. “Partners have lunch together, don’t they? Ask Draco.”

“Well… yes,” Ginny conceded, sharing a sad look with Luna across the table.

“And as for the dancing, didn’t Harry go with Ron and Draco like always?” they heard Hermione asked in a louder voice. “It doesn’t have to mean anything that she was seen with him.”

Ginny nudged Draco, who jumped and turned towards the phone. “I wasn’t there,” he said in a quiet voice. “I had dinner with my mother that night. I haven’t spoken to Potter this last week, I had been occupied with a field mission until Saturday and other stuff, so I can’t really tell you either.”

They both ignored the look that Luna threw at them at the ‘other stuff’ part.

“Thanks, Draco,” they heard the brunette say weakly.

“Hermione, I talked to this Gnat the other day. I think she even has some Veela blood on her. And you know how much I like those women,” Ginny said sarcastically.

“Oh, come on. You know Harry’s almost immune to Veelas,” Hermione replied in a defensive tone.

Ginny sighed to herself. She had wanted to believe that once, too. “This Gnat had the nerve to boast about kissing Harry, Herms. And doing other things. The dirty, buggering cow said that she’s liking him more every day…” 

There was another painful moment of silence. Ginny looked up and noticed Luna blinking rapidly.

“He could have told me,” Hermione said a minute later.

“What do you mean?” Draco asked.

“We’ve been emailing each other. I can type emails on my phone here, he can respond to them. You guys remember what emails are, don’t you? Ron calls them electronic owls… oh, of course you remember. Anyway, Harry didn’t say anything about seeing that Gnat or anyone else.”

They were all quiet again. Ginny didn’t know how to respond to this. She was having some conflicted emotions right now: pain for Hermione, anger towards Harry, hatred for this Gnat bitch, doubt that Harry could do this… her head was spinning, and she could just imagine how Hermione must’ve been feeling then.

There was a shaky sigh on the other side of the line. “I should have never talked to him.”

“I don’t know what you talked about, Hermione,” Ginny reminded her.

“I kissed him. I kissed Harry at the airport.”

Ginny, Luna and Draco exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

“Surprise, surprise,” Hermione said softly.

“Hermione…” Luna seemed to be searching for words. Maybe Ginny’s comment was still running around her head. “Why? I thought you knew that Harry didn’t like you?”

“I thought I did know for sure!” Hermione protested defensively. “Except he… he’d been different. I can’t describe it. Like he’s started to wonder what it’d be like if he did like me back. I don’t know.”

“Come on, were you drunk or something?” Draco asked suddenly. “I’ve heard that people drink lots at aeroports.”

“Shut up,” Ginny snapped at him. “And they’re called Airports not Aeroports or… whatever,” she continued in a calmer tone. “Look, Hermione has every right to question the situation. It’s just like I told you; Harry likes her but is afraid of taking the risk so he won’t date her.”

“I’m still here,” Hermione reminded them. “And I don’t know, maybe I was high on life or who knows what. I don’t know why I did it, but I felt like I had a chance. Like he might like me after this.”

There was a heavy, extremely awkward silence, which Ginny broke with a frustrated snort. Good Heavens, things are coming along rather nicely, eh?

“You shouldn’t have done it,” Luna said sadly. “I think you two would be wonderful together, you know I do, but Hermione; you've been pining for him for a while now and he doesn’t seem to be doing the same for you. You have to let him go.”

“But Harry likes her,” Ginny insisted.

“And this is how he shows it? By hooking up with that Gnat the moment Hermione is out of the country? By not telling her what’s going on?” Luna said sharply.

Ginny almost groaned at that— So much for tact, Loony!— but decided to stay silent for the moment, waiting for the inevitable question.

“And Ron? Where is he?” There it was.

Luna and Ginny sighed. They had known that Hermione would ask for that redhead at one point or another, it was only natural. Ginny knew that her brother would have been of great help—or maybe not—if he had been there, but he was away again in one of his Quidditch matches.

“He’s been out of the country since Monday—” she started.

“Again,” interrupted Luna bitterly.

“—in Bulgaria, I think,” Ginny continued, throwing Luna a worried look. “I’m sorry. If he had been around I would have asked him what was going on with that prat before we called you, but…”

“It’s okay,” Hermione said immediately.

“Hermione, I’m sorry,” Draco said softly. Ginny noticed that he was fidgeting uncomfortably. “I wish I could tell you what I think is going on. But you know him better than me, so if you don’t even understand…”

“I’m sorry we called and told you like this,” Luna added.

“I’m glad I know this now instead of after I get off the plane. I appreciate you guys calling me. Um… I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

The other two mumbled goodbyes, but Ginny couldn’t find anything else to say.

She leaned forward in her seat and picked up her mobile, putting it back in her pocket.

Now that the call had ended, she was having some panicky thoughts. Did we do the right thing calling her? Are we complicating things even more than before? Why can’t things be normal with these two? Bloody hell, since when has anything that involved Harry ever been normal, anyway?

Luna scrambled up to her feet suddenly. Ginny noticed that she was looking around for something. “Luna, what—?”

“Have you seen my magazine?” She walked to the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

Ginny closed her eyes and leaned back in the couch, almost jumping out of her skin when Draco slid down beside her. For a moment she had forgotten he had been sitting there.

“Potty’s in deep shit now,” he said, shaking his head and finishing his juice.

“You bet,” Ginny replied.

“And with all the hexes and curses that Granger knows… oh, he’s buried to the neck on it, the poor bastard.”

“Hmm. I honestly don’t think we should be worried about him right now. Do you think we did right in telling Hermione all this stuff?”

Draco stared at her, running a hand up and down her arm. “Well, they’re the facts. But I thought that you and Luna have already decided to—”

“I know I said that, but what if we’re making this into a bigger mess?” she said, leaning into him.

“I don’t really know. But what I do know is that we have a closer mess to take care of sitting alone in the kitchen,” he whispered, tilting his head towards the door.

Ginny nodded uneasily. “How’re we going to deal with her?”

Draco laughed. “‘Deal with her’? What, like disposing of her? Gin, I didn’t know you’d go to those desperate measures to keep our relationship quiet. How Slytherin of you.”

She felt a sudden shudder run down her back. She always loved to hear him say ‘our relationship’ like that. Called her insecure, but sometimes she wondered if he was with her just because of the sex. That maybe he was too polite to break up with her because they’re friends, or whatever. She knew it wasn’t very probable, but she worried sometimes nonetheless.

“You know what I mean,” she said softly. He dropped his head on her shoulder and she brushed a thumb over his cheekbone.

“Yes, I know what you mean,” he said touching her flaming red hair, his voice soothing. “Well, what can we do now? She already knows. I mean, she’s half-batty and all—” here Ginny pocked him in the chest, “—but she wasn’t in Ravenclaw for nothing. We’ll just have to tell her to keep it quiet for the time being, before we tell your family. We knew that someone was going to find out sooner or later and that the longer we keep it from everyone the bigger the explosion would be. So, maybe it’s a sign or…”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence. Ginny nodded in agreement, squeezed his hand and then called out, “Luna?”

“Yes?”

“What’re you doing in there?”

“I’m making some lemonade—”

There was the sound of a pitcher banging down in the table, and then Luna’s voice stopped. It was as if someone used a hook on her and yanked her off the stage. Concerned, Ginny half-push herself off Draco (she had unconsciously got on his lap) at the same time that his mobile started making a buzzing sound.

“Good timing,” he said sarcastically, rising from the couch. He read the text message and turned to Ginny with a troubled expression on his face. “Gin, I have to go. If you want us to talk to Loony together, I think it can wait though.”

“Nah, it’s alright. I believe it’ll be better if I talk to her alone, anyway,” she said lightly.

Draco nodded. He glanced at the doorway briefly, then leaned down and gently gripped the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss. It was a demanding kiss, one that let her wanting for more. She pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, her hands running through his hair.

When they broke up for air, her gaze flickered up to his face. She had been having this same urge every time they said goodbye since last week—the urge to say those three words— but as much Gryffindor courage as she had, she still couldn’t get herself to say them.

“It’s going to be fine. I’ll see you tonight, yeah?” he asked.

“Mmhmm, I’ll see you tonight.”

Draco gave her a roguish grin, and after kissing her one last time, breathed ‘Bye, Love’, and Apparated away.

Ginny stood there speechless for what seemed like an hour, a pathetically huge smile on her face. ‘Bye, Love,’ he had said. It was the first time he’d called her that. For Morgana’s sake, I’ve turned into a mushy-brained idiot. She shook her head slightly in disbelief, picked up the glasses that Draco had brought over with juice, and went to the kitchen.

She found Luna sitting at the table, looking through the new number of Witch Weekly that she had left there the day before. This was not good… When Luna started reading silly magazines instead of The Quibbler, it was usually because she was very upset.

Ginny put the glasses in the sink, rubbed her face with a hand and plopped down in a chair.

“So, this thing with Hermione and Harry’s a fucked up mess, isn’t it?” she began conversationally.

“Indeed. Do you really think Harry likes her, though?”

Ginny nodded firmly. “I do. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t dating that witch just to get over Hermione or who knows what. Knowing him, there’s something weird or noble going on. That’s why we had to tell Hermione, not matter how much it hurt. She would be hurt worse if she came back with some kind of expectation. I saw him dancing with Gnat, after all, and I’m not making anything up… nor Draco, for that matter,” she said a tad defensively.

“Is he gone?” Luna asked without taking her eyes from the magazine.

“Yeah. He had to. Work call, I think.”

“Mmm… you two together now?” Luna asked bluntly, looking up at her.

Ginny sighed and pulled the pitcher towards her, playing with the long spoon that was inside it. “Yeah. But you can’t say anything to anyone yet.”

“So it’s with him that you’ve been disappearing yourself lately, then. Since when have you been dating?”

“Er… since two months ago,” Ginny muttered, still playing with the spoon.

Luna’s jaw dropped. “What?” she nearly squeaked. “Two months ago!? I— why hadn’t you told me? I thought we’re friends…”

“Oh, we are! Don’t be stupid… It’s just that we haven’t said anything to anyone. It’s kind of complicated. This was supposed to be a secret.”

“Does Ronald know?”

Ginny widened her eyes. “Of course not! I’ve just told you; nobody knows. Do you honestly think that Ron wouldn’t have told you already if he did?”

Luna sniffed. “Well, maybe.”

“What do you mean, ‘well, maybe’? He would have. Trust me.” A pause, then, “Luna… are you and Ron alright? I’ve seen you a bit down lately, and I know that his work has been getting in the way but—”

“Everything’s fine,” Luna sniffed again. Ginny knew that it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t find the nerve to pry more after she’d just confessed that she had held such a big secret for over two months.

She sighed. “I’m sorry for not telling you before, Loony. I do trust you; you know I do. I’ve wanted you to know for so long… We just haven’t found the right time to tell everyone, and Draco’s situation with my family—”

“What situation? It’s not as if you’re the Montagues and the Capulets or something! He gets along with your mum and Ronald and—”

“Montagues and Capulets?”

“From a book Hermione lent me.”

“Ah. Well, yeah, he’s on civil terms with them, but can you imagine how shocked they’ll be when they find out that the Weasley ‘baby girl’ is dating Draco Malfoy? I thought they still needed more time to get to know him better first.”

“I suppose so,” Luna said, shifting in her chair and glancing at the table. “Look, I understand where you’re coming from, and I’m happy for you, I really am. Right now I’m just a bit hurt that you didn’t tell me before.”

“I know, but I know that it’d be hard for you to keep it from Ron, too, and if he knew before I told the rest… You know my brothers. And you know how particularly protective and hovering Ron can be. Remember all those times that I’ve gone out with boys before? It was a mess if he found out. His role in the war, besides the fact the he’s Harry Potter’s best friend, have left him with an incredible reputation. He usually spooked the blokes that I dated! Although, it was very amusing when he threatened to hex Jean’s bollocks off that time… the look on his face…” Ginny trailed off, chuckling a little. “Anyway, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone, not even Ron. Pretend that you don’t know anything. Please? At least until we tell my family… whom I’m suspecting we’ll be telling soon.”

Luna pondered it over for a minute, serving herself a glass of lemonade. “Fine. I won’t tell. Not even Ronald,” she added grudgingly. Ginny smiled gratefully at her and squeezed her left hand, which had been resting on the table.

“You know you can trust me too, right?” she asked.

“I know,” said Luna softly, but she didn’t opened up, as Ginny had wanted. A moment later she added, “Two months. This must be something else. If you guys have been together for this long, I mean.”

Ginny grinned slowly, her eyes getting a tender look that Luna had never seen in them before. “Yeah. I think it’s something else, too. I even—” she faltered.

“What?” the blonde witch prodded calmly.

“I-I even think I might be in love with him,” she looked up at Luna’s gasp, “I know, I know. You’ve been on my case about this for months now, eh? So, there. Now I’m terrified out of my wits…”

“Oh, this is great! Come on; go get your bag. We still have an hour before we have to be at the Ministry. I’ll buy you a coffee while you explain to me exactly how and when all this happened. I want details.” It seemed that she’d already forgiven Ginny, if her sunny mood said anything about it.

Ginny grinned, got up and walked towards her room, glad that the air was clean between them at last.

But she stopped in the doorway and looked up her shoulder for a moment, her smile dropping slightly. She knew that Luna was still not telling her something, and that her situation with Draco and her family was still unresolved. The thought of Hermione hurting in France wouldn’t leave her mind either, nor the supposed facts that incriminated Harry with Natalie.

She just hoped that things would turn up right in the end.

For everybody’s sake.

Author’s note:

Wheww, there it is. I know it was just a little glimpse on the D/G current relationship, and maybe too little focus on Ron & Luna’s situation, but I still hope that you guys enjoyed it. I’d like to hear what you think of this very much. Thanks for reading! =)