The Circle of Endless Confusion

The Circle of Endless Confusion

Chapter 10: A Reconciliation

Hermione heard a knock on her door the next evening after she had sent Ron off to meet Draco.

"Come in!" she called, not looking up from her homework.

"Hullo, Hermione!" Ginny said, happily bounding into the room.

"Hullo, Ginny. You certainly seem happy!" Hermione moved her books and Ginny sat down on her bed.

"I have something very important to tell you!"

"What's that?" Hermione asked gently, remembering the last real conversation they had.

"I'm not pregnant! I was going to go to Madam Pomfrey today and then I woke up to find that my visitor had come!" Ginny said excitedly.

'Oh, Ginny! That's wonderful! And you don't even have to tell Colin if you don't want to!"

"Well, I did. We talked about it a week ago. He told me that he loved me and that he would stay with me either way. He proposed to me last night. I said yes, of course, but I'm scared that it was just because he thought."

"Is that the ring?" Hermione interrupted. She pulled Ginny's hand up to inspect a precious little diamond ring.

"Yes," Ginny replied, blushing. She too had inherited the Weasley's ability to match her face to her hair.

"Then I can guarantee he wants to marry you either way. Wow! You guys are only sixteen, yet I think you're more certain about your future than we are. Wait!" Hermione said, suddenly thinking of something. "Have you even told anyone in your family that you're seeing Colin?"

"Umm, yeah, I told my mum on Halloween. I did not, however, tell her that we were sleeping together, which I'm sure you can understand," she said, smiling.

"Definitely! At least she won't think that all of her children are being naughty at school, although, I'm not sure if she even knows that Ron and I have slept together."

"She does, he told her when he told her that you were pregnant. She asked if he had slept with you or if it was just Harry. She was quite convinced that you sleep around with all the guys. She's not very friendly right now if your name or Harry's is mentioned. I think it would be best if you didn't come over at Christmas next week. I'd love you to and I know Ron has probably asked, but let's be practical, Mum is furious at you. She's even more furious that Ron is still with you. You know after those rumors that Rita Skeeter spread she hasn't ever really trusted you. She did for awhile when you guys first started dating, but now this," Ginny said, patting Hermione's arm.

"Yes, I know. A Death-Eater could tell her that I was Voldemort's lover and she would believe him," Hermione said, sighing.

"Well, you go home and have a nice Christmas and by the next time you see Mum she will have calmed down some," Ginny said, smiling encouragingly.

"I'm staying here. My mum and dad aren't really happy with me right now either. I figured I'd give them a little while to cool off too," she said sadly.

"Oh, I guess I never thought about that. Why aren't you with Ron tonight? Did he finally decide to grow up and talk to Harry?' she asked hopefully.

"I wish, but no. I actually sent him to talk to Draco. I figure maybe Ron can convince him to forgive Harry. I also think it's definitely time for those two to make some sort of connection. Maybe this common problem would be a good place to start."

"Hmm, he'll talk to Malfoy and not Harry? Goodness, I never thought this day would come," Ginny said, laughing.

"Me either, Ginny, me either."

At the same time, Ron was standing by the lake huffily waiting for Draco Malfoy to show up.

"Hullo, Weasley," Draco drawled, walking up behind him.

"Malfoy," Ron said, sticking his hand out as amicably as he could manage.

Malfoy shook his hand and smiled. "So, thought you'd come and find out what all the fuss was about while your girlfriend was knocked up, eh, Weasley?" he asked with a smirk.

"Of course not! I do not like boys!" Ron spat, disgusted.

"Oh? I thought perhaps it ran in the family. Everyone knows that Charlie of yours was a little bit fruity and now the smart one, Percy was it, has run off with the old Gryffindor Quidditch captain," he said, with Draco's version of a friendly smile.

"How'd you know about Percy? And I don't even want to know about Charlie!" Ron said distraught at the thought of two of his brothers being gay.

"Harry told me. He still keeps in touch with, Wood. Made me bloody jealous until I found out he had a thing for smart red-heads," he said, winking. "So what is it you want, Weasley?
"To talk to you about Harry," he said carefully. He wasn't too keen on exciting Draco's temper today.

Draco thinking the exact same thing about Ron said, "And why is that? Last time I heard you still weren't talking to Potter."

"Yeah, well. I will be eventually. With all this on top of all the You-Know-Who stuff one of us should be talking to him. I think it should be you," he said, with a hint of timidity in his voice.

"And why should it be me, Weasley? We've only been together a little less than a year. You've been friends with him since first year," Draco said logically.

"Well, he doesn't love me," Ron said quickly. "I hate more than anything to admit it but he really loves you, Malfoy."

"I know. Why aren't you talking to him yet, anyway?" Draco asked.

"Because he got my girlfriend pregnant," Ron cried, thinking that it should be obvious.

"Well, that's exactly the reason I'm not talking to him. I love him more than anything and I miss him, however, if you think one of us needs to talk to him, it had better be you, mate. I can't talk to him right now," Draco said, sighing. "But I don't think it will be long. His green eyes keep staring at me with that longing, hurt expression. Yes, my defenses are already breaking, Weasley, but I need a little bit more time to think. Now I'm positive you have many other things to do. I'm sure Granger is a handful right now, so I'll speak with you later. I'd like you to know that I will go back to Harry. I would also like you to know that I would like to be friends with you," Draco said, offering his hand with a smile.

Ron took his hand and smiled back, amazed at Draco's statement. "Yes, Draco, I do believe that may be a possibility."