Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Her hair spilled across his chest like a pool of blood. Her thin, tapering fingers were pale against his black cloak. The sun filtered softly down through the trees, dappling the ground between the shade.

Blaise plucked a long piece of jade grass and brushed it across her cheeks. The feel of it slowly woke her up, and he watched as her features came alive.

First her mouth, curving upward with a small, playful smile, then her hands, curling until they softly gripped his shirt. Then her eyes, flicking open beneath long, auburn lashes.

Blaise kept tickling her with the grass, down her neck and across her mouth. Slowly, she laughed an innocent giggle that melted his heart.

"Stop it," she laughed. She pushed his hand aside attempted to fend him off, squirming beside him.

Finally, he threw the grass away and kissed her softly. "Awake now?"

Ginny sat up and leaned back against the oak. "Oh, Blaise, I'm so sorry...I've just been so tired lately..."

"I understand," he replied, brushing ringlets of red hair from her eyes.

"But it's horrible! This is the only time we're able to spend together, and I fell right asleep!" She protested, crossing her arms in a downtrodden way.

"It's all right," he insisted, smiling at her. "Draco will arrange another place for us to meet, or Harry and Hermione. We'll find the time."

She grinned at him, putting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks."

He shifted away from her and stood up. "Now, though, it's time to go. Dinner is coming up soon, and Ron will be looking for you."

She stood up as well, reluctantly. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Goodbye. I love you."

"I love you too, Ginny," he said, and he meant it. Then he turned and plodded up to the castle, leaving her to stand beneath the tree by the lake, the sunlight softly kissing her skin with warmth.

~*~

Blaise hurried through the castle doors and into the Great Hall. It was slowly filling up with students, and people swarmed toward their House tables to sit down for dinner.

Blaise meandered toward his own table and sat down beside a thin, pale-haired young man. "Hello, Draco."

"Blaise," Draco replied, checking to see that no one was listening to them. Finding their conversation free of eavesdroppers, he continued. "Was that a good meeting spot?"

He sighed. "Yes, fine. Thanks for picking it out."

"Just doing my job," Draco replied nonchalantly. "And how's Ginny?"

"As beautiful as ever," Blaise answered, but Draco could see the sadness in his eyes.

Draco leaned forward. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Blaise said quickly, staring at the ground.

"Blaise. Tell me." Draco's eyes flashed commandingly.

Blaise looked up, knowing he could not fool Draco but wishing that he could. "I can't do this anymore. I have to break up with her."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "You're drunk. Or insane. Or sick."

"No, I'm not," Blaise insisted quietly.

"Ginny is the best thing that ever happened to you, and you know it."

"I know it all too well!"

"Then why give her up?" Draco asked incredulously.

Blaise sighed again, his heart aching. "My father...he's still running on these old wizarding ideals. He thinks he's got to marry me off to a wealthy young pureblooded witch. You know how it is."

Draco shook his head, platinum hair flying. "No, I don't. Your family's rich enough already, and Ginny is a pureblood."

"Betrothal, Draco, betrothal! My father's already written up a marriage contract between some Ravenclaw, Sabrina Fawcett, and me. We're supposed to be married after graduation."

Draco looked surprised by this information, but not thrown from his determination. "Forget the betrothal. Elope with Ginny."

Blaise just stared at him sadly. Finally, after long moments of silence, he said, "I can't risk hurting Ginny. If she sets her heart on marriage, she'll be so disappointed...it's for her own good."

Draco was beginning to get angry with his fellow Slytherin. "Honestly, haven't you got any cunning in you at all, Blaise? Show some strength! Don't give in to your father like that!"

Blaise felt mounting anger himself. "You're one to talk."

Draco stood up suddenly, glaring down at Blaise with abrupt hostility. "Don't you bring my father into this." He turned and began to walk away, but stopped to mutter over his shoulder. "By the way, you're too late. Ginny isn't dating you with marriage in mind; she loves you, and wants love back."

Blaise buried his head in his hands, dreading the truth, but knowing all too well that it lay in Draco's words.

~*~

Ginny went up to the Gryffindor common room after Blaise had gone, feeling warm inside from seeing him. It was there that she found Harry and Hermione, murmuring about something beside the fire.

"Hello," Harry said, looking up and spotting her. "Had fun?"

Ginny noticed Ron's absence with relief. "Yes, it was wonderful."

Hermione beamed at her. "You and Blaise are so perfect together."

Ginny sat down beside her and gave her a grateful smile. "It never would have worked out if it weren't for you two. And I know how hard it's been to keep secrets from your best friend..."

"You deserve the best man we can get you," Harry insisted. "And what Ron doesn't know won't hurt him."

Ginny sighed and relaxed, soaking in the warmth from the fire. Harry and Hermione kept talking beside her, but quietly enough so she couldn't hear. Gradually, their whispers quieted her mind, and her thoughts wandered back to Blaise.

Blaise Zabini. The most perfect man in the world. He was pale, like Draco Malfoy, but his deep brown eyes emanated concern and love whenever she looked into them. He was tall, but she loved standing on her toes to kiss his cheekbones, or wrap her arms around his neck. His dark hair, distinctly visible against his skin, always fell boyishly to the tops of his ears, but it hung with a perfection and elegance that Ginny marveled at. His arms were strong and warm, and she loved the feel of them wrapped around her. Best of all was his smile, which Ginny thought to be a perfect blend of love, laughter, and charm.

Ginny loved looking at him, and the way he looked at her--as if she were the only thing that mattered in the world. She loved the way he touched her, or kissed her, or held her, like she was his most prized possession.

"Ginny?" Harry asked tentatively, and she was jerked out of her reverie. "Want to go down to dinner?"

She nodded and followed him and Hermione out, only to meet Ron in the hallway. Her brother pestered her for a minute, asking where she had been, and she answered with some excuse about studying. He seemed content with her reply and burst off into a long speech about something, but she wasn't listening.

Her mind was still far away, musing about Blaise and his caring, loving smile.

~*~

Blaise gratefully sank onto one of the soft couches in the Slytherin common room. It had been such a long day...but his classes weren't hard. There was something else weighing on his mind.

He closed his eyes and tried to cast out the image of Ginny's face, but it did not go away. She was so perfect, and he loved her more than anything. He knew in his heart that he'd never be able to really love again after letting her go.

Why did he have to be born into a wealthy family? He'd give up all the money in the world to have Ginny. Why did his father have to be so closed-minded? Blaise felt a surge of anger toward Serbeus Zabini and all that he stood for. Wealth, power, and alliances through marriage--Blaise hated it all.

Marriage without Ginny--the concept was one that Blaise had never really thought about. He had always known that he was promised to a Ravenclaw, but he never faced it. He tried not to think about it, especially after meeting Ginny.

But now, he knew, he had to act. He couldn't risk hurting Ginny by staying with her...she'd be so disappointed when she heard about the betrothal.

Yes, Blaise reassured himself, better for her never to know. Better for her never to feel the pain.

Someone sat down on the couch beside him and Blaise looked up.

It was Draco.

"She's waiting for you in the prefects' bathroom. The password is 'kneazle'," Draco told him, his voice rigid.

"Thanks," Blaise told him, although he would rather Draco never had arranged this meeting at all. He would rather not face her, ever.

But he had to. He stood up determinedly, although the determination hurt. Everything, it seemed, hurt.

Draco's voice was cold. "You're not breaking up with her?"

Blaise turned on him, in too much pain to be nice. "Yes. Yes, I am, and you can't stop me."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Don't do it."

"You're too late, I've already decided. Now get out of my way."

"Don't do it." Draco's voice turned sharp.

"Move," Blaise insisted.

"SIT BACK DOWN!" Draco shouted, pointing a pale finger at the couch.

"NO!" Blaise threw back.

Draco took two steps forward and pushed Blaise right down onto the couch.

Blaise was so stunned that he didn't fight back. He didn't resist, he didn't fidget. He just lay there, paralyzed with shock, wondering humorlessly what was happening.

Numbly, Blaise realized Draco was shouting at him, and his ears began to work again.

"I didn't even like that damn girl in the beginning, but I still did EVERYTHING I could for you, and do you know why? Because you deserved it! You were--ARE--my best friend, but that's going to change pretty quickly if you don't snap out of this honorable mindset! Why don't you just gather up that Slytherin attitude and tell your father to PISS OFF? That Tabitha Fawcett--"

"Sabrina," Blaise corrected blandly.

"AARGH!" Draco said, stamping his foot in a way that would have been comical in any other situation. "Don't you GET IT? I have FAITH in you, and SO DOES GINNY! Are you going to THROW IT ALL AWAY? Blaise, I KNOW you, perhaps better than you even know yourself...I know that you BELONG with GINNY!"

Draco was breathing heavily, his brows knitted and his finger pointing accusingly at Blaise.

Blaise cleared his throat and stood up. "You," he told Draco softly, "don't know me as well as you think you do."

With that, he spun on his heel and hurried from the common room, feeling emptier than he ever had in his entire life.

~*~

Ginny looked up as Blaise entered the bathroom, his shoes tapping on the tiled floor. She grinned at him and rushed over, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

"Blaise! I haven't seen you in ages...and this time, I promise not to fall asleep..."

He stiffened beneath her hands, and she felt his tension. Pulling away, she searched his dark eyes, only to find them closed off to her in a way that didn't seem right.

"Is--something wrong?" she asked, and her voice echoed around the bathroom.

Blaise looked away, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not get him to meet her eyes. She took his hand. "Blaise?"

He drew his hand away, and with that small action, sent off a million alarms in Ginny's mind. Something was wrong, very wrong. Her conscience screamed.

"Ginny, I..." he stopped and coughed slightly. There were two red spots high on his cheeks, and he was wringing his hands with an uncharacteristic nervousness.

"Blaise Zabini," Ginny demanded, her voice cold. This meeting was not going at all as it should have been. "Talk."

Something flickered across his face, something so similar to immense sorrow that Ginny's heart skipped a beat. Had someone died? Blaise was certainly acting as if they had...

"Ginny," Blaise said finally. His voice was softer than Ginny had ever heard it before, yet it seemed to scream into the silence. "I have to break up with you."

Her heart stopped. Her blood froze. A million thoughts burst into her mind and then disappeared again with a blinding force, leaving her feeling very cold and alone.

Alone...

"You're--you're wrong," she croaked, marveling briefly at the fact that her voice was working at all. "No."

He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he choked up. He turned aside, sweeping out the door as quickly as he had come. Ginny watched as his black cloak whipped past the threshold, swirled around the corner, and disappeared for what might have been forever.

She felt like an empty shell, left without a heart or a soul. The impact of it hit her like a full-grown dragon, and she fell to the cold, hard bathroom floor, sobbing.

Tears spilled down her cheeks like acid rain, burning her skin and soaking her hands as she tried to wipe them away. But they came too fast--she could not stop them--just as she could not stop Blaise from making such a stupid, stupid mistake.

She curled into a fetal position and buried her face in her hands, hiding behind her hair, wishing only to die if it meant escaping this empty feeling.

~*~

Harry checked his wristwatch. It was midnight, and there was still no sign of Ginny. Concerned, he leaned over to Hermione, brushing aside her hair and whispering, "Should we go get her?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip, hesitant, and glanced over at Ron. He sat thoughtfully beside the fire, contemplating something, but she knew he would ask about Ginny any minute.

"I'll go," she murmured back to Harry. She hated to interrupt Ginny and Blaise's precious and rare time together, but Ron wasn't one to be tricked easily when it came to Ginny. Hermione suspected that Ginny would feel insulted--she hated being treated like a little girl--but it was for her own good.

"Have you two seen my copy of Paradoxical Sorcery?" Hermione asked, taking on a panicky sort of voice.

Ron glanced around and, not seeing it in the common room, shrugged. "Sorry, Hermione."

"I think," said Harry, right on cue, "that you left it in the library."

"Of course! Thanks, Harry. I'll be right back."

"You're going to get it?" Ron seemed surprised, but not doubtful of her motives. "At this hour?"

Hermione pretended to be exasperated. "Ron, this is schoolwork. I happen to care how well I do in Charms."

"Suit yourself," Ron replied, leaving the fire and joining Harry at the table. "Gobstones, Harry?"

Hermione left them to play, hurrying through the halls in the complete opposite direction of the library. Dashing up a few staircases and narrowly avoiding Nearly Headless Nick as he glided down one corridor, Hermione came upon the prefect's bathroom.

"Kneazle," Hermione muttered, and the door creaked open.

Hermione stopped, totally thrown, when she heard the sobs. A girl's wailing, desperate and painful, sang from the bathroom walls and echoed into Hermione's mind.

Then she saw Ginny, a pile of black robes, vermilion hair, and tears.

"Ginny!" she cried, kneeling immediately beside the girl and wrapping her arms around her. Once Hermione had hoisted her into a sitting position, Ginny began sobbing in her shoulder.

"What happened? Where's Blaise?"

At the sound of his name, Ginny began crying harder.

"Shhh, shhh," Hermione said consolingly, trying to comfort Ginny but not knowing how. "It'll be all right."

Suddenly, fiercely, Ginny thrust Hermione away and stumbled upright, blinded by tears of rage and so much pain. "NO--IT--WON'T!" she gasped, her voice hoarse. Driven by fury, she strode across the bathroom and hefted up a great blue vase from the corner.

"Damn him!" she screamed, throwing the vase across the room, where it hit the tiled wall and shattered. A bar or purple soap, which crumbled upon impact, soon followed it, and after that a candlestick fell to the floor, twisted out of shape.

The clear ringing of the gold candlestick faded into the stunned silence, which was broken only by Ginny's whimpers. Numbly, Hermione went to Ginny's side.

Ginny turned a tear-streaked, tortured face to her and moaned, "Help me."

Hermione held out her arms and Ginny collapsed into them, torn by exhaustion anger, confusion, and deep, deep hurting.

~*~

Ginny woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache and a strong desire for poison. She stuck her head beneath her pillow, trying not only to block the harsh sunlight that streamed into the room, but the memories of the night before.

Unfortunately, they rushed unbidden into her head: Blaise's painful words, Hermione's soothing voice, and her brother's stunned face as she stumbled back into the common room.

Ginny groaned, burrowing deeper beneath her blankets, unwilling to face such a bright, cheerful day.

How could the sun rise, at a time like this? How could birds sing? How could people laugh, and talk...

The voices grew louder as Harry and Hermione crept softly into her room. She knew why they had come, and she reluctantly sat up to greet them.

They stopped when they saw that she was awake.

"It's all right. I'll answer your questions."

Harry looked uncomfortable, and guilty at intruding. But Hermione sounded concerned when she spoke. "Ginny, what happened with Blaise?"

Ginny cleared her throat as the feeling of emptiness fell back upon her shoulders. "He--he broke up with me last night."

Hermione's mouth fell open. Harry's head jerked up sharply, his eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Why?!" he asked angrily.

Ginny sighed. "He didn't tell me."

Hermione crossed her arms and assumed a terrifying glare. "How could he?"

"Had you guys gotten into a fight?" Harry questioned, "or had some other problem?"

Ginny thought back on the last time that they had met, although it hurt to do so. "No," she said finally. "Maybe he was angry because I fell asleep at our meeting spot..."

"Did he seem angry when you did?" Hermione pressed, still looked lethal.

"No," Ginny shrugged. "He said that he didn't mind at all."

There was a confused silence, in which Harry and Hermione mulled over the information, trying to come up with an answer.

"There's no explanation for it," Harry said finally. Ginny shrugged again and stared at the floor (she would feel quite downcast if she could feel anything at all). "Well," he continued, "I'm going to get one."

With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving a surprised Ginny and an angry Hermione to consider all that had occurred.

~*~

Harry maneuvered through the labyrinthine dungeon passages swiftly, summoning back his memories from second year. One hallway looked familiar, and the next did not. He turned blindly around corners, until he finally heard someone up ahead who would undoubtedly be a Slytherin.

It was Malfoy. Just my luck, Harry though bitterly, but he approached him all the same.

"Where's Zabini?" Harry demanded, trying to look threatening.

"Hello, Potter. Not even a greeting for me, eh? After all, I'm the one doing all the work for that freckle-faced brat..."

Harry glared at him. "Your head's just too inflated for you to see that Hermione and I are the ones arranging everything."

"What?" For a moment, Draco really looked surprised. "Don't fool yourself, Potter, you know I've found every meeting spot for the past few months."

Harry was too angry with Blaise to waste time on Draco. "You keep telling yourself that. Where is Zabini?"

Draco stuck his nose in the air in a very Slytherin sort of way. "He doesn't want to see any more Gryffindors."

Harry, overcome by irritation and anger, grabbed Draco's shirt collar and shoved him against the cold stone wall. "Where is Zabini?" He said again, sharply.

Draco was startled, but not shaken. "I told you--"

Harry thrust him away, fuming. "Come on, Malfoy, give in. I know you approve of Blaise and Ginny being together just as much as I do. You don't hate her, admit it."

Draco glared at him, tugging his shirt back into place. "At least Weasley's finally grown out of her 'whiney, complaining, annoying' phase. As to you and that Mudblood Granger, my views haven't changed a bit."

"Don't talk about Hermione like that!" Harry shouted, shoving Malfoy again, hard. The boy hit the wall with a muffled thump and bounced back at Harry, sneering.

"Brave Potter, always defending his girlfriends," Malfoy snarled, swinging back his fist.

"What are you doing?" A voice said, quietly but firmly, into the middle of the row.

Malfoy dropped his hand and turned to the Slytherin standing at the end of the hallway. "Hello, Blaise."

"Zabini," Harry growled, standing beside him in two quick strides. "I've been looking for you."

"So I see," he replied, sounding very weary. "Well, Potter, what do you want?"

"I want," Harry said, glaring at Blaise with intense rage, "an explanation."

"Of course," Blaise sighed. "Everyone wants what they can't have."

Harry, feeling rather violent, shoved him. "Did you even love her? Or was it all a game to you?"

Blaise looked up at him, sadly, not even trying to defend himself. "Not a game, never a game. Not with Ginny."

Harry laughed hollowly. "I thought Slytherins were good at excuses!"

"It isn't an excuse. I love her."

"Love? What, no past tense? Then why'd you dump her?"

Blaise shrugged, looking remorseful. "I had to. You wouldn't understand."

Harry, past aggravation, growled angrily. "You want to know what Ginny is feeling?"

Blaise looked up at him, wide eyed. "No. No, I don't."

Harry ignored him. "Last night, when Hermione found her, she was weaker from crying that I thought humanly possible. She kept sobbing that you had killed her, or that she wanted to die. And this morning, when I saw her, it's like she has no soul. It's like she's just a shell, living a breathing but not feeling--"

Blaise covered his ears, feeling pain unlike any before. "I don't want to know, don't say it!"

Harry stopped and glared down at him, knowing that Ginny would be mad if he killed Blaise. "Ginny's hollow now. And you did that. You did it--and for no reason? Just to suit your Slytherin mood? Well, I'll tell you what. If you don't go to Ginny and make up with her right now--today--I'll kill you. With my bare hands. And it'll be nice and slow, and nice and painful."

With that, he turned and stalked from the dungeons, leaving a stunned Blaise and a slightly amused Draco in the wake of his silence.

~*~

Ginny spent the whole day in the common room, doing homework and avoiding happy people. She sat over in the darkest corner, hiding behind books, imitating the "overworked Hermione" perfectly (even refraining from speech).

Each time someone laughed, Ginny flinched, and as soon and the sun filtered through the windows, she closed the curtains. A bright scarf or hair band made her shudder, and when Parvati Patil waltzed across the room in a bright pink butterfly shirt, Ginny visibly crumpled.

Harry and Hermione wanted to comfort her, but they decided instead to stay away for Ron's sake. He would, inevitably, notice that something was wrong with his sister, but Harry and Hermione meant to avoid that conversation for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, Ron was not stupid, and he did have a pair of working eyes; thus, it did not take long for him to notice his sister's red eyes and blank expression.

"Ginny?" he asked, approaching her corner uncertainly. "What happened to you?"

She shrugged angrily and glared at him. "Nothing."

"Are you ill?"

"Yes. I'm dying. Now go away."

Ron, quite taken aback, looked to Harry and Hermione for help, but they only stared at him, wide-eyed, and then dragged him away.

The day continued on at a very slow pace, with Ron always giving Ginny furtive glances and Harry and Hermione trying in vain to keep up conversation. Finally, the sun set, and it was time for dinner. The Gryffindors filtered down to the common room, gathering in their groups to head to the Great Hall.

Ginny did not move from her corner.

Harry managed to draw Hermione to the side and speak with her, away from Ron. "Hermione, you've got to do something. Talk to her."

Hermione nodded, muttered a hasty, "Keep Ron away," and hurried to Ginny's side.

"Ginny."

The girl did not look up.

"Please talk."

No reaction.

Hermione, feeling quite worn out after a day of this, and in no mood to face more, shouted, "VIRGINIA WEASLEY!"

Everyone fell silent and turned to stare at her, Ginny included. Harry raised his eyebrows uncertainly at her, but managed to say something to Ron and keep him from going over.

Hermione grabbed Ginny's wrist and dragged her across the room. The crowd of students parted to let them through, and in a moment they were up in one of the empty girls' dormitories.

"Ginny, are you insane? What do you think you are doing?"

Ginny glared at her. "I'm healing, in my own way. Leave me alone."

"I'm not Ron. I won't believe any story you throw at me. And you call yourself a Weasley?"

Ginny's eyes flared with the first real emotion Hermione had seen since the morning before: anger. "What's my family got to do with this?"

"The old Ginny," Hermione continued, ignoring that question, "would not have laid down and let Blaise walk all over her. She had true Weasley blood, and a true Weasley temper." Half of Hermione wanted the temper back, but half of her did not, seeing as it would most likely be directed at her. "The old Ginny would already be plotting ways to get Blaise back, or at least get the truth out of him. And then, if that didn't work, she'd plot revenge."

"Oh, yeah? The old Ginny, you say? Well, how do you know I haven't already been making plans?"

Good, Hermione thought, she's angry. "Well, that dark corner didn't look much like the headquarters of any great fighter, and your shudders didn't look much like aggressive behavior."

"Urgh!" Ginny said. "You want anger? Fine. I'm angry with you. Now get out."

Hermione did not move. "So you're letting Blaise do this to you, with no retaliation?"

Ginny didn't say anything.

"For a moment there, I thought the old you really had come back." With that, Hermoine turned at headed for the door.

"Wait," Ginny croaked. Hermione's thoughts sang in triumph. "Hermione?"

Hermione turned, slowly. "Yes?"

"You're right." Ginny's voice rose until she was practically shouting. "I can't let Blaise break up with me and ruin my life. I can't let him get by without an explanation. I can't let him go without knowing the truth!"

Hermione nodded encouragingly, urging her along.

Suddenly, a gleam shone in Ginny's eyes, much like the mischievous gleam that was present the day before.

"Hermione," she asked. "Can you help me with something?"

"Sure," Hermione said quickly. Usually, she would have asked what Ginny was planning, but she was too happy at her success to care.

"Everyone's at dinner now, right?" Hermione nodded. "The teachers as well?"

Hermione nodded again, but with growing suspicion.

"Ha!" Ginny laughed hollowly. "Let's go down to the dungeons."

"Why?" Hermione asked, now regretting having agreed to this.

Ginny lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Because we're going to steal some Veritaserum from Snape."

Hermione's jaw dropped, and she wondered what she had gotten into.

~*~

The dungeons, thankfully, were empty. Hermione trotted along beside an excited Ginny, cold dread locked in her stomach.

One suit of armor loomed threateningly from an alcove, and Hermione, thinking it was a teacher, dove out of sight. Ginny, laughing hysterically, dragged her back out into the hallway.

Hermione sighed and kept walking, this time feeling jittery and very jumpy.

"Calm down," Ginny told her, but Hermione got even more nervous.

They reached Snape's classroom in a moment, and Ginny plowed right through the door. Hermione, biting her lip, followed much more slowly, until she had tiptoed across the room and into his office.

Ginny already stood on a chair, reaching to one of the higher shelves. Hermione could just imagine all the bottles toppling off the edge...she covered her eyes with a soft moan.

"There," Ginny said finally, jumping to the ground beside Hermione. "I've got it."

Hermione peeked from behind her fingers.

"This is it, right?" Ginny asked hesitantly, showing her the tiny blue bottle.

"Yeah," Hermione said, before grabbing Ginny and pulling her across the dungeons in two seconds flat. Once they had reached the passageway, she sprinted down it, dragging Ginny with her.

Finally, they stopped, leaning against the wall to catch their breath.

"Where are we?" Ginny asked finally. "Why'd you do that?"

"Didn't want to get caught," Hermione answered simply. "As to where we are, I've no idea."

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked her, but before Hermione could reply, a voice muttered, "Cadaver," and they fell backward through the wall.

"Ouch!" Ginny said, rubbing her elbow where it had hit the cold stone floor.

"Oh...no..." Hermione moaned. Ginny looked over at her.

Entering his common room with an obvious air of arrogance, Draco Malfoy strode past them.

~*~

"Well, well, well," Draco said calmly, his eyes flashing. "Not so brave now, are you, little Gryffindors?"

Hermione wasn't sure whether Ginny was more insulted by his sarcastic tone or his usage of the word "little". All the same, she was sure that Ginny and Draco would severely injure each other if she didn't do something.

"Malfoy, where's Blaise?" Hermione asked loudly, and both Ginny and the Slytherin turned to look at her.

"What, trying to threaten him again? Potter didn't do the job well enough?"

The surprise was evident on both the girls' faces. "What do you mean?"

"Don't fake innocence, Granger, everyone knows you're a filthy little schemer."

Hermione swallowed her pride easily, but the anger was a bit harder to contain. Especially for Ginny, who had gone through too many emotions over the past day to care.

She was next to him in a flash, glaring with such an intense heat that Hermione figured he would melt.

"None of your amateur insults, Malfoy. Tell me where Blaise is, and tell me know."

He seemed quite surprised by her animosity. "Look, Weasley, I'm just doing this for Blaise's own good. He doesn't want to see you."

She gritted her teeth, knowing by the look in his eyes that Draco told the truth. After all, he was Blaise's best friend. Blaise had trusted him to organize their relationship, and to Draco's credit, he had done the job nicely. Even Ginny's hatred for him had decreased, until she no longer disliked him--she just didn't understand him.

But after everything that had happened to her over the past day, she was ready to hit anyone.

She pushed him, just enough so that he stumbled backward into the wall. Surprised, his knees buckled and he slid to the ground, staring. Hermione strode forward to stop Ginny, but the redhead didn't make any more moves against Draco.

"I'm going to his dormitory," she said instead, with a sternness that told him not to stop her.

Hermione shot Draco one last glance before following. He glared after the pair, wondering what they were up to, and what he could do to stop them.

~*~

Ginny pounded on the dormitory door with a strength that she certainly hadn't been feeling. Hermione hovered nearby, looking a little uncertain but determined to stand by her friend.

Just about when Ginny thought her hand would break from banging, Hermione pushed her lightly aside. Before the younger girl could protest, Hermione whipped out her wand and muttered, "Alohomora."

The lock clicked and Ginny sheepishly smiled her thanks. "I never thought of that."

"Most angry people don't," Hermione replied knowingly, stowing her wand away.

Ginny pushed through the door first without giving a second thought as to what Blaise might be doing. Hermione, much more cautious, waited outside to be sure that the boy was fully dressed. Thus, she had no idea what was going on when she heard Ginny utter a shocked swear word and then shout, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Surprised and worried, Hermione rushed through the door and into the room, only to find three very stunned students.

There was Ginny, only a step or two in from the door, with her wand outstretched and her wide eyes filling with tears. Across the room, sitting on his four-poster bed with an overly pale face and white knuckles clutching the bed sheets, was Blaise. And then, to Hermione's discomfort and amazement, was a seventh year Ravenclaw frozen to the floor, her mouth open in an obvious display of shock.

"Oh my," Hermione gasped softly. She was drowned out, however, by Ginny's wail.

"You--dirty--rotten--bastard!"

"Ginny." Hermione had to strain to hear Blaise's words. "Ginny, no--"

"All this time there was someone else? Someone else, and you never told me?" Ginny continued, tears now pouring down her face. Blaise closed his eyes in a look of pained horror.

"No, I never, I swear I never--"

"LIAR! I CAUGHT YOU RED-HANDED, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"

"Ginny, let me explain--"

"HOW COULD YOU? AFTER ALL THIS TIME?"

"GINNY, LISTEN TO ME!" Blaise put in, now screaming as well.

Ginny's eyes widened with comprehension. "OR WAS IT ALL JUST A LIE? FROM THE BEGINNING? THOUGHT YOU'D JUST ADD A NAÏVE LITTLE GRYFFINDOR TO YOUR COLLECTION OF WHORES?"

"NO!"

"YOU...YOU..." Ginny was at a loss for words in her rage. Tears rained off her cheeks, but her eyes burned with enough anger to boil them away.

Abruptly, she broke down sobbing, unable to control the barrage of emotions bombarding her at that moment. She leaned against his bedroom wall, gasping, trying to yell at him and cry at the same time.

"I--though--you--were--different!" she cried finally, between sobs.

Hermione took a step toward the girl to help her, but before she could, Blaise had crossed the room and stood before her.

Looking up and seeing him did not bring comfort to Ginny, however. She stood up violently, slapping his hand away as he reached out to help her.

"One step closer and I'll break your face," she growled menacingly, and she sounded like she meant it.

Blaise did not move. The only sounds in the room were Ginny's sobs, Blaise's heavy breathing, and the Ravenclaw's muffled moans.

Hermione noticed the still-frozen Ravenclaw and decided to be slightly useful and help her. Before she could mutter the countercurse, however, Ginny shouted, "LEAVE HER LIKE THAT, THE LITTLE BITCH!"

"Ginny, now really," Blaise spoke up in defense of the girl. "You haven't heard everything."

"EXACTLY!" She rounded on him. "BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER TELL IT STRAIGHT! I JUST WANT THE BLOODY TRUTH!"

Blaise's eyes were empty of the normal warmth and compassion. They were hollow; hurt filled reflections of what Ginny felt running through her soul. "I can't tell you the truth."

"OH--YES--YOU--CAN!" Ginny yelled, uncorking the Veritaserum in one swift motion. Before Blaise could react, she opened his mouth and poured the contents of the bottle down his throat. Pushing him onto the bed, she faced him, her expression as deadly as a winter blizzard.

Hermione felt her whole body turn cold. The whole bottle...Ginny had given him the whole bottle...Blaise would be in terrible pain. She had to do something, fast.

Ginny was too angry to notice as Hermione turned and ran from the room. Instead, the redhead watched as Blaise's face was erased of feeling and his jaw hung as slack as a fish's.

"Tell me," she muttered, "why you broke up with me."

Nothing stirred in his expression. Only his mouth moved. "I am betrothed to another young woman, by my father's orders. I do not love her, but I will be forced into marriage with her. I knew that you expected to marry me and I couldn't bear to cause you the pain of seeing me wed to another girl."

Ginny dropped the bottle in surprise. It shattered with a resounding crash, sending tiny pieces of sapphire soaring across the floor and around the room. Soaking in the new information, Ginny tried to find her voice, but could not. She coughed a few times before it returned to her, along with some sense of reason.

"What's this girl doing here?" Ginny asked, gesturing to the Ravenclaw with a pale hand.

Blaise'e expression of almost haunted nothingness did not change. "She is the girl I am betrothed to. I arranged this meeting so that we could lay out the plans for the wedding, because I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible."

Ginny's head spun, but one last question popped into her mind, and she could not stop herself from asking it. "Do you love me?"

"My love could fill up the sky and overwhelm the oceans. You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, or ever will see again. I would give up my happiness to prevent your pain; that is why I broke up with you."

Ginny found herself blushing as his flattery and at the thought that Blaise loved her as truly and as deeply as she loved him.

But her heart broke again as she realized how that love would keep them apart.

~*~

"Draco," Hermione wheezed, "Draco, hurry."

He was still leaning against the wall, exactly where they had left him. He had collected his wits, and his sneering expression.

"Why hurry? I'm perfectly comfortable here."

"Ginny--" Hermione gasped. "She's given Blaise too much Veritaserum."

Draco's coolly crossed arms fell to his sides in surprise. "What?"

Hermione would've rolled her eyes if there were time to spare for the action. "She's given him a whole bottle, and he's only supposed to have a few drops. He could die if he's kept under the spell for too long."

Draco was up and running in seconds, cussing under his breath about the stupidity of the Gryffindors. Hermione rushed after him, wringing her hands, and trying not to remember the page of her Potions book that discussed the strong truth potion.

Draco burst through the door into his friend's room first, whipping out his wand and preparing for the worst. Hermione was right behind him, her eyes wide and her head aching.

They both stopped in their tracks at the sight before them.

The floor was covered by tiny blue fragments of glass, as if the sky had shattered. The light streaming through the window reflected off the glass and shone onto the faces of Ginny and Blaise, adding a fantastical blue sheen to their milky pale skin. Ginny's hair tumbled down over her shoulders, an array of flame-colored curls. Her wand lay on the floor at her feet, completely forgotten, as did Blaise's.

Ginny was kissing Blaise as if there were no tomorrow, her tiny hands wrapped in his tousled midnight hair. They had fallen backward onto the bed and lay among the green sheets like angels, both holding each other so tightly that no strength could tear them apart.

Draco sagged with relief against the doorframe, suddenly looking very weary. Hermione, too, wanted to relax, but she feared for Blaise and how the potion had affected him.

She couldn't pull them off each other, so she instead separated their lips in a smooth fashion. They looked surprised and somewhat offended.

"You," Ginny said frankly, "just ruined what might have been our last moment together."

Hermione was truly sorry, but couldn't explain then. "I have to see if you damaged his brain or not."

"The potion didn't damage me, but that kiss might have," Blaise said from beside Ginny, he arms still around her.

Hermione sighed with immense relief, collapsing down onto the bed near them. "Thank Merlin. You could've killed him, Ginny."

"I'm sorry," Ginny said to the girl. "I'm sorry," she repeated to Blaise, very somberly. She disentangled herself from him and dragged her feet across the room sadly, picking up her wand as she went. "I--didn't mean to hurt anyone." She turned to Sabrina and muttered the countercurse. The girl wobbled out of statue form, her mouth still open in surprise.

"Neither did I," Blaise said, staring at Ginny pointedly. "I did this for your own good, you understand?"

Ginny looked at him, her eyes as wide as before, but not empty anymore. Only sad--as sorrowful as if she carried all the problems of the earth on her tiny shoulders. "I understand," she replied, "but I do not agree."

With that, she turned and left the room, walking out on the only man she had ever truly loved.

~*~

Harry listened, wide-eyed, as Hermione repeated her awe-inspiring tale to him that night before the fire. His mouth fell lower and lower with each sentence, and by the end, he could've swallowed Buckbeak whole.

"...and then she kissed him, and that must've cured him from the potion," Hermoine finished.

"How?" Harry croaked.

Hermione shrugged. "I've no idea, and that's saying something."

"Well...well, that's not it, then? She's not letting him go?"

Hermione sighed. "I'm afraid so. She's so hurt, Harry, I don't know what to do."

"Me either."

They were silent for a while; each lost in their own thoughts. Then the tapping of an owl's talons on the windowsill startled them from their reveries. Harry rose up and took the parchment hesitantly.

He read it quietly, surprise evident on his face. Then, at last, he said, "We don't have any ideas, but Malfoy does."

~*~

Blaise sauntered morosely into his room, wondering if Sabrina Fawcett would ever look him in the eye again.

Not that he wanted her to. He was coming to despise anything and everything that represented his marriage, the marriage that separated him from Ginny.

He would've overlooked the full trunk on the floor in his sadness, had he not stumbled right into it. Catching himself before falling, he stared at it, shocked.

"Ready to go?" Draco asked, strolling calmly through the door.

"What?" Blaise asked stupidly.

"I packed your trunk for you." He winked, acting so cheery it was almost scary. "Not that you'll need to wear anything tonight, eh?"

Blaise gulped, losing feeling in his toes. "What did you do?"

"Too bad you're not having a bachelor party..." Draco looked sincerely downcast. "I always thought I'd make a good planner for one of those."

Blaise, going numb, tried again. "What's going on?"

This time, Draco looked up, his gray eyes frosting over with a serious look. "Come on, mate, can't you guess? You're eloping with Ginny."

Blaise sat backward onto his bed with a muffled thump. He said nothing.

Before, Blaise would have been sternly again any such action. After all, Serbeus Zabini wasn't the type of father you contradicted without some sort of punishment. He was better than Lucius Malfoy, of course--Blaise couldn't see how Draco might live that way--but he was strict, to be certain. And marrying Ginny might put her in danger as well.

But after that night, when Ginny gave him the potion, things were different.

After drinking it, he had felt extreme pain--excruciating pain--pain unlike never before. His head burst with a million screams of torture and his body convulsed with hurt.

Then Ginny kissed him, her lips warm and healing. She pressed her little body up against his and sent comforting magic all through his spine. She had saved him, saved him from emptiness, and it felt as relaxing and as soothing as ever.

Afterwards, when he heard what he had said from Draco (who had been told from Hermione, apparently), he knew that it was true. He loved Ginny, and would sacrifice everything for her, and he meant every word that had been pulled from him by the potion.

And after saying each word, it was as if he could not stop the love. It was uncontrollable. Each day, he felt its pull, and each night, he could not sleep from the lack of it. He was suffering without her, and he knew it.

Draco looked up at him expectantly, his eyes thoughtful. "You're coming, mate, and you know it."

Then Blaise realized that he was helpless to resist. "I do know it."

Then Draco came over and lifted up the trunk, following a finally content Blaise downstairs and out to the waiting Knight Bus.

~*~

Ginny hardly noticed Harry and Hermione when they drifted over to her side. She continued staring into the fire, marveling at its flames, when Harry cleared his throat loudly and she jumped.

"You look nice tonight, Ginny," Hermione said casually.

Ginny suspected something immediately. "You're the one who dressed me up, remember? Merlin knows why."

"Because I reckon tonight's a special night," chimed in Harry, his eyes glowing with some secret excitement.

"Is it?" Ginny asked politely, without much interest.

"Oh yes, everyone's happy the night before their wedding," Hermione mused quietly.

Ginny looked up. "You two aren't...!"

"Oh no, no," Harry said, blushing at the idea. Hermione observed his red cheeks with confusion and a bit of hope. "Not us, although..." He trailed off.

"Who, then?" Ginny asked, saving him from his blunder.

"You don't know?"

"Why else would I ask, Hermione?" Ginny countered, a hint of friendly annoyance in her voice.

"Well, usually the bride knows her own wedding-day-eve."

"Yeah, Ginny, where are your wedding jitters?"

Ginny's mouth fell open in awe, and her eyes sparkled with disbelief. "You wouldn't."

"We would, and we did," Hermione said, smiling now. Harry couldn't suppress a laugh at the look on Ginny's face.

"Blaise won't agree to it," Ginny said, her voice cracking.

"He has already. He's waiting for you."

"Merlin's...beard..." Ginny whispered softly.

~*~

The three figures cautiously floated across the dewy midnight grass toward Blaise and Draco. The Knight Bus's engine rumbled loudly once, then twice, before the group of Gryffindors reached the spot below the Hogwarts gates.

Ginny ran into Blaise's arms before anything could be said. He held her tight as immense happiness spread to his fingertips and toes, warming his whole body to a degree he hadn't felt in a long, long time. He welcomed it.

She was beautiful beneath the moon that night, with hair lit by the stars and slender arms outlined by a pretty green dress. He could hardly believe what was happening, but he was helpless to resist. His body and heart urged him forward, numb as his mind might be. And holding Ginny's hand, and planning the ritual that would bind them for life, felt somehow right--as if fate had decreed it billions of years ago when the earth was formed.

Draco embraced him quickly, tightly, with an uncharacteristic show of friendship. Blaise thanked him, but Draco received an even more hearty expression of gratitude from Ginny, who even gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek. Then Harry and Hermione received their goodbyes, each of them grinning broadly, before Blaise and Ginny climbed aboard the bus.

It all went by in a blur. Draco shouting out something obscene about the wedding night--Ginny giving Harry a note she had written to Ron--Hermione laughing away her happy tears.

And then the driver turned around and asked in a funny voice, "Where to?"

Blaise quirked an eyebrow and turned to Ginny, who shrugged, grinned, and said, "How about Wales?"

~*~

Harry and Hermione stood beside Draco and watched at the bus carried Blaise and Ginny miles away to their new lives. It was funny, really, how that relationship had worked out--it was so unusual, and yet more perfect that any the students had seen before.

"Get back to bed, Gryffindors, before you lose any more beloved points," Draco sneered, but Harry could hear the excitement in his voice. It appeared this Slytherin really did care about some things, and Blaise must have been one of them.

"Yes, Mummy, you too," Harry replied, but Draco was already swaggering away.

The night was silent. Harry and Hermione did not move.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered finally.

"Hmm?"

"I think Ginny had a good point."

"When?"

"In asking if we were the ones getting married," he said quietly, now blushing.

She jumped and turned to stare at him. "Really? You mean that?"

He nodded, cursing whatever ancestor had passed on his blushing gene. "I mean...I really...er...like you. A lot."

Hermione laughed softly, staring up at him with moonlight in her eyes. "I think all this romance stuff is getting to you."

"Oh no," Harry replied. "You're what has been getting to me."

~*~