Ginny had been searching for Harry after the memorial had ended and had only found him when she was finally on her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She would have loved to spend the rest of the day in his arms, but her parents had warned her against doing anything that might attract more attention to their family, especially on a day commemorating the death of their son.

She had spent a few passing moments with her family before heading back to the common room. She couldn’t stand the oppressive feeling that was radiating from her parents. She felt as though she would drown in their sorrow. She thought, perhaps unfairly, that she’d finally come to some terms with what had happened, but being with them again, after more than a month apart, she felt like they were as depressing as ever.

As she said farewell to her parents, she couldn’t help but notice that George seemed more at ease than ever. He gave her a serious look and whispered once everyone was out of earshot, ‘That Harry of yours, he’s alright.’

Ginny looked at him curiously, wondering what had happened, but he just playfully punched her in the arm and followed their parents out of Hogwarts. Ginny watched them go with a mixture of sadness and relief. Hermione came up behind her and Ginny started, ‘I didn’t see you coming, how are you? That was a brilliant speech.’

Hermione grinned at her. ‘Now you know why I was so anxious all week.’

Ginny nodded and followed as Hermione walked back towards Gryffindor tower. She wanted to push the memorial out of her mind and stopped in the hallway, grabbing Hermione’s arm to stop her. ‘Wait! Draco Malfoy was looking for you. Did he find you? What did he want?’

Hermione flushed a deep shade of red and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

Ginny raised her eyebrows and said, ‘Oh, not a chance in hell, Granger, spit it out.’

Hermione sighed and shook her head vehemently, ‘Not bloody likely.’

Ginny gave Hermione a smirk and said, ‘Such language, Hermione, and from our Head Girl.’

Hermione tried to pull away from Ginny, but Ginny held strong. ‘Did he say something rude? Based on your reaction, I’d argue he’d said something quite the contrary.’

‘I really do not want to talk about it now,’ she said forcefully.

Ginny started to relent and then added, ‘I just hope Ron didn’t happen upon you snogging Malfoy.’

Hermione turned, her eyes full of fury. ‘I would never, never, snog Draco Malfoy! That is vile and for you to insinuate something like that…Ginny, where do you even get these ideas?’

Any memory of the memorial, only a few hours old, seemed distant and uninteresting as compared to her friend’s clear lack of comfort with this conversation. Ginny took a step closer to Hermione and said, ‘What happened? He…What did he do? Did you do something?’

Hermione shook her head and started to walk forward, but Ginny kept pace. ‘Come on, Hermione, we’re friends. You can tell me. I’m not going to tell Ron, but if it’s that interesting, I might not be able to hold my tongue for long.’

Hermione bounded through the portrait hole and up the stairs, Ginny on her heels. She could feel a lot of students watching them, but kept her eyes on Hermione’s rapid retreat. Hermione pushed her door open and Ginny thought she was going to slam the door on her face, but instead she gave Ginny an exasperated look, so she hurried through.

Ginny held her hands out and said, ‘What is going on?’

Hermione shook her head, pacing her room. ‘I was terrified. I didn’t know what to think. And he was acting so strangely. I mean, this is Draco Malfoy. He hates all of us. He hates everything and everyone here. And for him to be anything but hateful, I just…’

Ginny put her hands up and said, ‘Whoa, Hermione, slow down. What are you talking about?’ She sat down on Hermione’s bed and noted Crookshanks immediately nudged her in the back. She rolled her eyes and tried to shoo the cat away. She continued, ‘When I saw him, he…he gave me his condolences for Fred, and then asked after you.’

Hermione nodded. ‘He told me. He caught me for a moment before the memorial started, but I was able to get away.’ She looked helplessly at Ginny and continued, ‘But then he caught me after the memorial.’

Ginny looked at her expectantly and she added, ‘That’s when I saw Harry for the first time, too. He was looking for you, did you find him?’

Ginny nodded. ‘Yeah, but we can talk about that later.’

‘Why was he late?’ Hermione asked.

‘Don’t change the subject, and I don’t know. What happened after the memorial?’ Ginny asked.

Hermione wrung her hands. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll agree with me, I was still upset about everything, so all I really wanted was to…’ She rolled her eyes and said tentatively, ‘I wanted to see a familiar face, but the one I got wasn’t the one I’d expected.’

Ginny wondered if Hermione would ever get to the point and Hermione continued to pace in a rapid fashion. ‘Then he just came over. Professor McGonagall was talking to me and just turned and left and I didn’t have anyone to get away to.’

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘What did he say? Bloody hell, this better be good…’

Hermione gave her an irritated look and said, ‘You could try to be a little more sympathetic.’

‘I would be if I knew what I was being sympathetic about!’ Ginny retorted.

Hermione took a deep breath and said, ‘He…he apologised for what happened at his house, when…’

Hermione had a pained look and Ginny sat up, completing quietly, ‘…when Bellatrix tortured you…’

Hermione nodded slowly. ‘Yes…he…oh, Ginny! I wish you had been there…he’s a horror, a complete horror of a person. He’s never said a kind word in his life, I’m sure, but he stood there and he…he took the blame for what happened.’ She gave Ginny a very sad and very lost look. ‘He said he could have stopped it and he was too much of a coward to say anything. And then he said…he asked…if I could ever forgive him for that.’

Ginny could see the tears brimming in Hermione’s eyes and wasn’t sure why she should be upset. She got up quickly and hugged her. ‘You really gave me a scare, Hermione! At least now we know Malfoy is a little human.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m not done…’

‘There’s more?’ Ginny said incredulously. ‘I wasn’t gone that long.’

Hermione gave her a strained smile. ‘Long enough…’ She shook her hands vigorously and began pacing again. ‘Then he saw his mother behind him, and waved her off. He then pulled me to the side, away from a lot of people and said…’

She furrowed her brow, fearful to continue and Ginny grabbed her. ‘Please, just get it out!’

Hermione covered her eyes with her hand and said very quickly, ‘He told me how good I looked, was glad I’d recovered from the torture; he said I made a brilliant speech, hugged me and left.’

Ginny balked, letting go of Hermione, and knew her expression of shock could not be hidden. ‘He touched you? And it didn’t involve your vomiting?’

Hermione gave her a distasteful look. ‘It isn’t funny, Ginny.’

She started pacing and said in a hushed tone, ‘What is Ron going to do if he finds out?’

Ginny rolled her eyes. ‘Who cares? Hermione…’ She smiled at her and said, ‘He complimented you. There isn’t anything wrong with that. I mean, you’re not going to melt…’

Ginny looked at her thoughtfully and asked, ‘What was that like? Hugging Draco Malfoy?’

Hermione cried urgently, ‘Stop saying it like that! It wasn’t anything…it didn’t feel like anything!’

Ginny couldn’t help herself and grinned. ‘Oh come on, how many guys have you hugged? Did he hug you tightly? Did his hands linger anywhere?’

Hermione did not look amused in the least and said coldly, ‘Ginny Weasley, I thought you’d be the one better suited to tell this to.’

Ginny slumped her shoulders slightly and said, ‘Hermione, I’m not trying to tease you mercilessly. I just don’t think anyone has ever been this close to ‘knowing’ Draco. Wouldn’t you be a little curious?’

Hermione studied the ground hard and said, ‘Ginny…’ She shook her head and brought her eyes up. ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’

Ginny smiled at her friend. ‘Hermione, hugging Draco doesn’t mean you’re cheating on Ron.’

‘No, but it was very strange,’ she relented. ‘It was…I don’t know…he’s not as tall as Ron, so it felt like hugging Harry, I suppose. But since you’re a tad shorter than I am, I’m not sure what to tell you.’

Ginny rolled her eyes and said, ‘Since I don’t want to hear about you and Ron, I’d love to hear about you and Draco.’

‘There is no ‘me and Draco,” she said with much finality.

‘Alright, I’m sorry,’ Ginny replied.

She couldn’t stop smiling and Hermione waved her hands emphatically. ‘Stop it! I’m not saying anything else.’

Ginny sighed and started to head for the door, but Hermione called back to her, ‘So, where was he?’

Ginny turned and stopped, facing the doorway. ‘He said he had some ‘work thing’ and couldn’t get here on time.’

Hermione took a step forward, placing a hand on Ginny’s back. ‘I’m sure there’s no where he wanted to be more.’

Ginny nodded and replied bitterly, ‘Yeah, and he managed to not show up on time.’

She could feel her anger mounting and continued, ‘Not find me in time so we could spend even a few minutes together without everyone gawking.’

Hermione didn’t respond for a few moments and Ginny turned to see Hermione looking at her thoughtfully. Ginny shrugged. ‘At least you and Ron had some time together.’

Hermione laughed. ‘Sadly I had more time with Draco than Ron.’

‘Yeah and I’m sad to say I got to see you snogging Ron,’ she added.

Hermione laughed at her. ‘I don’t think Draco was interested in snogging me!’ She gave Ginny a small smile and said, ‘He hugged me in a very…friendly manner.’

Ginny raised her eyebrows in disbelief. ‘I don’t know, Hermione, the way you reacted leads me to believe he did something you enjoyed.’

Hermione’s jaw dropped and she tried to snap it shut without Ginny noticing, but it was too late. ‘He did, didn’t he?’

Hermione made no response, and Ginny wagged her finger triumphantly. ‘I knew it! You were protesting way too much!’ She sat back down on Hermione’s bed and said, ‘So…how was it?’

Hermione flushed and looked very flustered. She clearly thought she’d fooled Ginny, but now she was caught. She fiddled with her robes absently and finally said, ‘It was nice…good…fine…Ginny…’

She gave her an exasperated look, but the latter showed no signs of moving. ‘There has to be more.’

Hermione scowled at her. ‘He didn’t do anything, Ginny!’

Ginny shook her head. ‘I’m not buying this. Not for one second. I tell you a lot of stuff, so fess up!’

Hermione sat down heavily at her table and said, ‘I don’t even know how to describe it…I mean, I’ve only been with Ron…’

She gave Ginny a helpless look and Ginny commented, ‘Don’t look at me. I know you lot think I’ve been really popular, but Harry has been, by far, my most serious boyfriend.’

Ginny smiled at Hermione and she continued slowly, ‘He was just really…sweet…like when Ron wants me to spend some time with him.’

She flushed red at this connexion and Ginny nodded slowly. ‘He was…flirting with you?’

Hermione shrugged. ‘I don’t think so…I mean, why would Draco Malfoy want to flirt with me?’

Ginny tried to repress her grin and replied tartly, ‘Maybe watching you get tortured did…’

She couldn’t complete the sentence and started laughing uncontrollably. Hermione crossed the room and pushed Ginny playfully. ‘That isn’t funny, Ginny!’

She was grinning at her and said, ‘Merlin, wouldn’t that be just like him, though?’

Ginny sat up slowly and said, ‘I don’t know him at all, so you should ask those two friends of yours.’

Ginny rolled her eyes and Hermione followed suit. ‘I could throw Ron into a fit of jealousy and tell him about it.’

Ginny laughed. ‘You should! He’s acting far too complacent for my taste.’

Hermione rolled her eyes. ‘He’s your brother…’ She sighed and said, ‘Anyway, that was pretty much it…’ She grinned at Ginny and added, ‘I have to admit, for a vile, loathsome human being, he has strong arms and smells amazing!’

Ginny couldn’t stop laughing and shook her head. ‘We both have lots of ‘boy-related’ issues, don’t we?’

Hermione laughed. ‘I think we’re running the gamut on them too…’

Ginny got up slowly and said, ‘Well, I’m glad he was, at least, sort of nice to you.’

Hermione nodded absently and asked, ‘What about you and Harry? He asked me about you while I was…talking with Draco, didn’t get to spend more than a second with him. He looked really upset that he hadn’t seen you.’

‘I’m sure,’ Ginny replied with no sincerity. ‘Anyway, I think dinner shouldn’t be far off.’

She started to head for the door, but watched as it locked. She turned and gave Hermione and annoyed look. ‘What?’

Hermione shook her head. ‘Ginny…Merlin, I hate making excuses for Harry…’

‘Then don’t,’ Ginny retorted.

‘No, Ginny, I have to…I feel like I owe both you and Harry this,’ she said quietly.

Ginny shook her head. ‘Why would you think that, Hermione? You don’t owe us anything. We’re all friends. No one owes anyone anything.’

She shook her head and said more quietly, ‘Just let me do this, would you?’

Ginny sighed and nodded. ‘I really don’t want you wasting time on this. I honestly think Harry and I just need to…take it easy until we can be together.’

Hermione gave her a sad look and said, ‘Ginny, Harry really cares about you. If you tell him to leave you alone, it’ll destroy him. You know how boys are…he’ll think you never want to see him again.’

Ginny rubbed her forehead and replied, ‘That isn’t what I’m saying…but if we can’t be together…this…this is getting more stressful than it needs to be.’

Hermione nodded. ‘I agree, but I have to admit, Ron and I are in no better shape. Just hear him out, would you?’

Ginny furrowed her brow, but nodded. ‘I really think you’re giving Harry more credit than he deserves. I don’t think he’d be phased one way or another.’

Hermione stood up quickly and said, ‘Ginny, I can’t believe you just said that! This is Harry. This is you and Harry. You and Harry,’ she repeated. ‘This is forever you’re dealing with.’

Ginny raised an eyebrow and said, ‘Are you saying I’m not serious about him?’

Hermione cringed and replied, ‘It doesn’t sound that way to me.’

Ginny narrowed her eyes and replied evenly, ‘We are both really distracted with things. I think Harry and I could use some time apart.’

‘You have that now,’ Hermione reasoned. ‘Why do you need to make a big deal about it? Please, I’m telling you as a friend, just take it easy.’

Ginny rolled her eyes and replied, ‘Fine. I’ll come get you when I head to dinner.’

Hermione was studying her closely and nodded. ‘Please.’