A/N: I know. I know. It has been entirely too long. And I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those authors that waited an eternity and a half to update a chapter. And this was the story that's gotten the most attention I've ever received, too! **sigh** Anyway, I'd like to formally apologize for the wait and hope that this was worth it. I will probably be writing more frequently because school has started once again. I find when I shouldn't have the time, I write more. Does that make sense? Probably not. My boyfriend is not home very often, and I find I don't really need fanfiction when he's around. But writing it keeps me busy and not pining for him, so to speak. So you lot probably like it when he's away : ) At any rate, if I haven't completely lost my audience I would love to continue this story. I promise to finish it soon. I know I've 'promised' before but this time I mean it.
So, here's what's going on. Flashback is over (most of you didn't care for it, but I got good Draco reviews [thumb up!]). This picks up with Ron in the doorway. Several more chapters to go after this one, but not many. The end is near! Lol Hope you enjoy, please review!
It was as if the room was stuffed in a bottle, tension mounting around the 'wooden ship' that dared not touch its glassy edges- an invisible force that pressed against the unsuspecting boundaries holding them captive. Only ragged breathing could be heard from the estranged party; three sets of eyes widened in various degrees of horror as the fourth pair searched the floor, not looking for something in particular, but rather away from everything else.
The story came from her own blossoming lips, the venom slipping from her tongue with each passing word. As the tale came to a horrifying close, the littlest Weasley stood alone on her pedestal, head hung with the embarrassment of her monstrous charade. The toes of her shoes repeatedly scuffed a blackened tile, one pointing toward the other as they held her weary gaze.
Ron trembled in the doorway, arm outstretched and pointing as the strip of willow quivered in his fingers. White knuckles clenched the wand that wavered in his hand, prodding the truth to stumble forward from his sister's tight-lipped mouth. However, no magic was required for the redhead's eye-opening reveal; all information was provided of its own accord. One piercing look from a pair of baby blues was all it took for her to spill- shock, anger, disappointment, sadness, and doubt filled the pleading glare that Ron shot at Ginny, but no emotion was so powerful as guilt.
A silent "why" flickered across Ron's astonished features, breaking all of Ginny's barriers that allowed her to carry out the deeds. Family bonds are hard to break, and Ginny learned the hard way that turning her back against the ones she loved would always come back to haunt her. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but in the end it always will. And in the center of the desolate charms corridor, surrounded by rubble and the ones she deemed near, Ginny found her comeuppance.
Harry stood motionless in the back corner, wand limp and mouth agape as the last few weeks blurred across his vision. He felt a fool, standing on a lonely island of tepid lies and deceit. He had been played, fighting his instincts for the girl he truly loved against hurting the feelings of a girl he thought to truly love him. How blind he had been to the obvious- with Malfoy and Horcruxes and Dumbledore and Hermione and Ginny and Quidditch and everything else on his mind, he couldn't see his relationship for what it truly was. And now it was laid out for him in perfect little pieces- disgusting, horrible pieces that locked together in a perfect grid of deception.
Behind him, a wave of heat surged into the open, radiating from slender hands balled into trembling fists. Jaw clenched in unrequited anger, Hermione bore holes into Harry's back, which obscured her view of the crimson traitor. Fire gleamed in her eyes, a burning desire welling in her chest and spreading throughout her body. Needles pricked at her skin, scorching every fiber of her being with a dominating force.
In two steps she was under Harry's arm and flinging it behind her, snatching his wand in the process as it lay drooped at his side. Hermione marched with the gods of thunder rumbling in her wake, streaks of lightning flowing through her wild chestnut hair.
"YOU SELFISH BITCH!" she roared, slashing Harry's wand across her chest and sending Ginny flying. "Do you realize what you've DONE?"
The startled redhead hurtled toward a cluster of desks, robes billowing out in all directions as she smashed into the wooden tables.
"What a filthy hypocrite! YOU STUPID WHORE!" Hermione bellowed, Ginny scrambling for her wand which was now with her opponent's- lost among the ruins.
"You try to make Harry feel bad so you can uphold your end of some twisted bargain to shag MALFOY, of all people," she growled with a roll of her eyes, a look of contempt donning her face as she towered over a shivering Ginny.
"You're such a bloody IDIOT. Malfoy is evil! BLOODY. FUCKING. EVIL," she cried as Ron and Harry watched in horror, frozen with fear as sparks erupted from the captured wand.
"He's USING you, Ginny. How the hell can you not see that? You have hurt all the people around you with the preposterous decisions that you have made! You not only make yourself look like a worthless slut but you are endangering the entire wizarding world with whatever he's not telling you! And, UGH, all that WORTHLESS shit in the library!" a stamp of her foot and the flick of her wand sent the young witch soaring toward the chalkboard, plastering her to the wall of matted green- feet hovering inches above the floor.
Hand raised like a cobra, waiting to strike, Hermione's eyes narrowed into the smallest of slits, her temper wrapping around her seething form and itching to take control. Ginny's mouth was set in a thin line, her eyes refusing to meet her predator's gaze as she continually clenched her fingers against her palms, wrists glued to the chalkboard.
"Hermione, wait!" All heads whipped to the door to find a startled Ron, who was just as surprised as the others to find that he was the one who spoke. "Er…let's not do anything rash…she's still my sister…" he finished awkwardly, rubbing the patch of skin on the back of his neck as his eyes darted about the room.
Hermione released all the air in her lungs, deflating her dominating presence and regaining control over her ravenous composure. Still staring daggers at Ginny, she took a step back and pursed her lips, prodding Ron to continue his reasoning as to why she shouldn't tear the little weasel to shreds.
"Hermione, be reasonable, you can't kill her. Not at Hogwarts at least…" Ron mused with a shrug, stealing glances at Ginny's almost grateful expression as her legs continued to dangle in midair.
"Ron, how did you even come across this information? How did you know Ginny was…Ginny was…" Hermione floundered for the words, pressing her lids closed as she gritted her teeth in resentment.
Ginny made a face that was not quite readable to the room's other occupants, sending Hermione's blood boiling. After the conclusion of her insightful narrative, it was understood that she would no longer divulge any other information that could possibly put her in harm's way. Especially by the hand of Hermione Granger.
"Well…" Ron's face flushed a brilliant shade of red, his whole head resembling that of a turnip, "I followed Ginny after you left the library." His eyes flitted briefly toward Hermione's captive, "Actually, I followed Pansy."
"WHAT!?" Ginny shrieked as if in pain, the back of her head smacking into wall with a deafening 'thwack.'
"I…I…saw Pansy head the same way you took off earlier, and followed her to the other end of the library. I've never been back there before," he added sheepishly, earning a much deserved eye roll from Hermione. "She was turning corners so fast, I could barely keep up, and people kept snickering at me- I thought I forgot to put pants on or something," Ron confessed, suddenly a dark look in his eyes as his gaze met Hermione's, his face completely void of any trace of ink.
Fighting a smile and her curiosity, she waved Ron to keep going, ignoring the disgruntled huffs from the chalkboard.
"Pansy saw Ginny come out of the black curtain and she stopped dead in the aisle- I nearly crashed into her cos, well, let's face it, it's not very hard to miss a gal like Pansy. Anyway, I froze, too, and saw Ginny buttoning her shirt and Malfoy slap…slap…" Ron shuddered as he tried not to think about what he (and Pansy) had seen, doing a poor job of blocking the image seared into his brain. Hermione pieced it together rather quickly and wrinkled her nose in distaste. Malfoy had given Ron's sister a quick spanking for her trouble.
"So then what happened?" Hermione goaded, using the kindest voice she could muster under the intense anger she felt at the moment.
"Er, right. So, Malfoy set a stunner on us both, Parkinson ended up on the other aisle but I was in plain view. I guess Ginny never saw her…"
Tears streaked down her face as Ginny listened to Ron's account, brown eyes lost and far away. Malfoy's promises were empty; he shouldn't have spaced his 'appointments' so close together.
"Continue," Hermione quipped, not feeling the least bit sorry for the sobbing witch beside her.
"Well, Ginny took off toward the exit- I guess looking for you or Harry- and left Malfoy to handle what I had discovered. Or, partially discovered," he finished in a sinister tone, staring through Hermione as his jaw stiffened.
"He told me they were just having a bit of fun, and that it meant nothing, and I shouldn't get my knickers in a twist," he added with a grimace, his flush slowly returning as it creeped from under his collar. "Oh, and he asked me if the giant squid enjoyed her 'afternoon delight.' He could tell because it was 'all over my face,'" Ron scowled, causing Hermione's mouth to spring into a perfect 'o.'
"Oh, Ron…"
"ANYWAY," Ron trudged on, letting Hermione know that she was eventually going to suffer for her silence, "Malfoy left me against the barren aisle while he tended to Parkinson, I assume, and Finch-Fletchley just happened to come that way and rescue me. Said he felt bad about the 'Hifler' remark or whatever and removed my tattoos," he said in a bitter tone, staring just above Hermione's line of sight.
"I figured Ginny was cheating on Harry, but I had no idea it had come to this," Ron finally spat, a look of incredulity passing his face as he forced himself to look at a miserable Ginny.
Hermione's thoughts turned to the wizard frozen in the background, soaking it all in like a sponge. Face hardened like molten steel, he glared at Ginny with a fiery intensity, catching Hermione off-guard.
"Harry, are you alright?" she asked softly, slightly arching a brow as worry clouded her expression.
Tremors of rage quavered his muscled chest, anger flooding through his veins with every beat of his heart, "Malfoy's dead."
A/N: Just a tiny cliffhanger. I remember how you all like those : ) Mr. Malfoy may make a reappearance next chapter. You never know…review if you please!
Lilymione1203