Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 32

Draco stared at her as she took a few deep breaths to calm down. She looked down at her feet and quietly said, "I'm sorry, it's just that...you guys don't really know how things affect her, or how she deals with it. She tries to be strong all the time but even the strongest people break and she's had plenty to be broken about recently."

"So...she drinks the pain away?" Draco asked.

"Not all the time, but on serious matters, yes." Hermione sighed and looked around. "I'm sorry, I need to go find her."

"By all means, yes," Draco nodded. "I'm sorry for what I said, and I'll still be here. I'll try to talk to Blaise too about this."

She nodded and gave him a quick kiss before running off, racing through the corridors. She had an idea of where Ginny was, and she hoped that her friend was there.

Sure enough, when she got to the Room of Requirement and asked to see Ginny, the door opened to the same indoor pool room that they had hung out in before. Ginny was sitting on one of the stools in a black bikini with her head in her arms, a half-empty bottle of vodka next to her.

Hermione rushed inside and stood at the edge of the pool. "Ginny? Are you alright?"

Ginny slowly lifted her head to reveal black streaks running down her face and puffy eyes. "Oh, hey 'Mione."

Her voice was quiet and broken, and Hermione's heart broke for her friend. "Ginny, what happened?"

"Nothing."

Sighing, Hermione looked around and saw a bikini off to the side for her, and she quickly changed before wading out into the water to sit next to Ginny, who had put her head back in her arms. She waited a few moments before grabbing the bottle of vodka and pouring herself a drink, mixing it with some orange juice that she had found behind the bar.

"What would you like to talk about?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I don't know."

She chewed on her lip before asking, "Do you want me to get Pansy?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders slightly. "That could be fun."

"Ginny..." Hermione put a hand on her friend's arm. "Please talk to me."

She finally sat up, her arms still crossed over each other in front of her and she stared off at the back wall, taking a deep breath.

"Blaise said...that he feels like I'm just using him for attention and comfort because Harry isn't here," Ginny said quietly. Her voice was shaking slightly but she continued to say, "And he said that anything between us is over until I end things with Harry. I tried to explain to him how hard it is for me but he just wouldn't listen..."

She looked up at the ceiling then as more tears fell down her cheeks, taking in a deep breath. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Why can't I just do it?"

Hermione couldn't think of anything to say, but Ginny, in her drunken state, went on: "I know exactly why. I still care about Harry, but I don't love him. But I don't want him hurt either, which is why I haven't done it yet. I hate hurting people. But I'm hurting Blaise by not hurting Harry. And I've already hurt Harry, so I don't want to hurt him more but I'm going to have to, and in the end I'm going to be hurt as well because I'll have hurt someone."

She wiped her face off and took a drink before putting her head in her hands. "Is it too late to run away?"

"Running away would just hurt both of them at the same time," Hermione said quietly.

Ginny was quiet for a few moments before she laughed quietly. It was an empty laugh, though. "Yeah, you're right. Merlin, what's wrong with me..."

She ran a hand through her hair and looked over at Hermione. "I just thought everything would be alright after the war was over. No more pain."