Two Months

Chapter 7

Ginny walked through the gate leading up to the front door of the Burrow, and went through the small wooden door. There were no signs of activity in the kitchen, except for a cooking pot bubbling delightfully on the stove and a sponge scrubbing some plates. Ginny went through the hall, and up the stairs to her room. She hoped she would be able to find someone to talk to about Draco.

Halfway up the stairs, she heard a two small 'pops' and two figures Apparated on top of her, resulting in all three of them all falling down the stairs in a heap. They all landed at the bottom, and Ginny detangled herself from her two brothers as they both got up, dusting themselves.

"Hi, Ginny!" said Fred brightly. "We heard you come in."

"So you decided you'd surprise me by Apparating on top of me," said Ginny dryly.

George grinned ruefully. "Our aim is getting better. We can Apparate to exactly where we want to go now."

"I can tell," said Ginny, picking up her bag. "So where is everyone?"

"Harry, Hermione, and Ron went out," said George. "They went to the hill to fly a bit."

"Oh," said Ginny, thought about Draco nagging at the back of her mind. "I think I'll go fi-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Hermione and Ron burst in through the front door, both flushed and grinning. Hermione saw Ginny, and waved. "Hey, Gin."

Ginny grinned back. "What've you guys been doing?" she asked, as Ron picked out a piece of straw from Hermione's hair.

"Fighting with grass," said Ron solemnly, and then he broke into a huge smile. "How're you, Ginny? What kept you?"

"Oh, I was, you know," said Ginny. "With a friend."

Ron nodded, and Ginny said, "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Out," said Hermione. "Dinner with a friend. They won't be back until...late," she suddenly gave Ginny a weird look. "How come you're not asking about Harry? He's been all depressed and moping because you were so late."

"So he's still out there?" asked Ginny nervously.

"Yeah," said Ron. "He really needs to lighten up. Go out and find him, Gin. Before he suicides and throws himself off his broom."

"Alright," said Ginny, but she pulled Hermione aside as the brothers went upstairs. Hermione brushed a stray hair out of her eyes, as Ginny said, "Can I talk to you later?"

"Sure," the other girl said brightly. "What about?"

"I'll tell you later," said Ginny, trying to make her voice sound light. "I'm going to go find Harry."

Hermione nodded, and Ginny went out the door, and started to climb the small hill. After a few minutes, a shape swooped down from above. It was Harry, sitting on his Firebolt, hovering so that the toes of his worn sneakers brushed the grass.

"Hey," said Ginny wearily.

Harry didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner," she said, walking over to lay a hand on the broomstick. She ran her hand over its shiny surface. "I got caught up in stuff."

Harry nodded faintly.

"Hermione told me you've been moping," said Ginny. "All for me?"

This time, he broke into a grin, and gestured for Ginny to climb on. She did, wrapping her arms around Harry's middle, wondering if the broomstick would hold two people. As they took off, Harry said, "I told myself I was going to be mad at you when you came home. But it's too hard." He turned around to grin at her, and she grinned back.

"Are you sure this can hold the both of us?" she asked.

"If you haven't been putting on any weight," said Harry carelessly.

Ginny grinned to herself, tightening her arms around Harry's waist, and closed her eyes as Harry soared them up into the bright sky.

***

After dinner, Ginny pulled Hermione aside on the stairs. Her parents had not yet come home, and Ginny wanted to talk to the other girl before they did come home and started asking her questions about her time at office.

"Hey," said Hermione, as Ginny pulled her into Ginny's room. "You wanted to talk to me, right?"

"Yeah," said Ginny nervously, as they both sat on the bedspread.

"What about?" Hermione asked cheerfully.

"Well..." Ginny did not know how to start. She wasn't even sure she wanted to tell Hermione, but she had to tell someone, and Hermione would be the best person to tell. "It's...it's about the wedding. I'm...uncertain."

Hermione frowned slightly, tilting her head. "Are you nervous about the wedding? Or...unsure if you should have it?" her last words were articulated clearly, and Ginny felt as if her friend had already seen through her, already knew.

She didn't say anything, but looked down at her hands helplessly, trying to make her mouth form the words. "I'm uncertain," she finally whispered.

Hermione reached for the younger girl's hand, and grasped it firmly, looking hard into her face. "I know everyone gets nervous about their wedding, Ginny," she said slowly. "About how if the person they're marrying is the...right one. I've had that, but I've been very happy with Ron. If it's just nerves...or maybe...something else?"

Ginny couldn't bear to look at Hermione as she said, in a voice barely audible, "There's someone else." When Hermione didn't say anything, she continued on to say, "It's Draco."

There was an awkward moment of silence after that, in which Ginny turned redder than her hair, and Hermione sat, letting Ginny's words sink in. And then Hermione was wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, Ginny," said Hermione, sort of sadly. "Oh, Ginny, Ginny, Ginny..."

"I'm sorry," said Ginny, her voice muffled by Hermione's sweater.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "It's not me you should apologize to. If anyone, it's Harry."

"I know," Ginny said miserably. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Hermione released Ginny, and they both sat back down on the bed, Hermione holding both of Ginny's hands. "Hold on," she said. "First, you need to tell me everything. Everything about how it happened, and why. Everything."

Ginny did. Everything, the very beginning, the first day at work, all the lines exchanged between them. All that happened, every touch, every glance. Hermione listened patiently even when Ginny went into elaborate detail about Draco's wardrobe, which took a long time, being that he had a lot of clothes.

When she finished, Hermione spoke. "You know you still have to tell him," she said quietly.

Ginny did not need to ask who "he" was. "I know," she realized she was crying. "But I can't! You know how hard he took Sirius's death, and he's not even over that yet..."

Hermione continued patiently. "But, Ginny, you need to get your feelings straight. You need to know if you're really in love with him, or if it's just because he's hotter than any of the guys on the cover of Playwitch. And you need to know if he loves you. You can't just make decisions like this. You need to know how he feels ab--"

The door to the bedroom suddenly burst open, and Ron stood in the doorway. "Ginny, Herm," he said. "Come downstairs, Mum and Dad are home, and Mum's making her--" he noticed Ginny's tear streaked face. "What's wrong?"

And so Ron was told the story, beginning to end. He reacted almost the same way Hermione had, hugging her and saying her name a lot of times. He also called Draco a bunch of names that made Hermione throw a pillow at him.

"What are you going to do?" Ron then asked.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "I need to think about it. But you're both right. I need to know exactly how I feel and how he feels."

Hermione nodded. "We'll leave you alone now. I trust you to make a good decision about this." She smiled. "I know you'll make the right one."

Ron nodded, and then the two left.

***

But it was before they left the room that another person had been outside. Holding a mug, Harry had wanted to find Ginny. However, he refrained from opening the door when he heard the numerous voices, and it was the words he caught: "Draco", "Harry", and "Draco's apartment", that made him stop and start to listen. He knew he shouldn't have, but afterwards, he did not tell anyone that he had heard, and kept it to himself. The following week, Harry left the Burrow, saying that he had "things to attend to".