Ginny tried hard to hide how broken she was inside as she passed through the common room. Thankfully, no one else was awake then to see her as the tears streamed down her face and she quickly hid in her dorm, falling back onto her bed. The room filled with the sound of sobbing but she didn't care.
After what felt like hours she finally quieted down, staring up at the canopy of her bed. She just felt empty inside, but it felt like the weight the emptiness was crushing her.
Without thinking, she stood up and grabbed her vodka, walking back out of the dorm and the common room. The portrait shut quietly behind her and she quickly made her way down the stairs, a few stray tears falling down her face. She quickly made her way around the corners, trying to not get caught by anyone until she finally stopped in front of the large empty wall that she knew so well.
She started pacing in front of it, quietly saying, "I need a place to get away...I need a place to get away...I need a place to get away."
A small door slowly materialized on the wall and she quickly opened it, escaping into the room.
Hermione was worried when she realized that Ginny wasn't back in the dorm, but she figured that she was out talking late with Blaise. However, when she saw that Ginny still wasn't back the next morning, she instantly knew something was wrong.
"Seamus, have you seen Ginny?" She asked as she came down to the common room.
He and Dean looked at each other and Seamus turned back, shaking his head. "Not since yesterday. Is she maybe out at the pitch?"
"Maybe..." Hermione thanked them and made her way down to the quidditch pitch.
She looked up at everyone flying around, trying to find the familiar bright red hair, but there was none. Chewing on her lip, she made her way back up to the castle in a hurry, wishing she had Harry's map with her.
Thankfully she ran into Draco as she made it back up to the castle, and as soon as he saw the look on her face he asked, "What's going on?"
"I can't find Ginny," Hermione said quickly. "I don't know if she even came back after rounds last night!"
Draco frowned. "Blaise wasn't in the best mood last night when I came back in."
"Do you think something happened between them?" Hermione asked. "Did he say anything?"
"Didn't say a word, just sat on the couch drinking firewhiskey and staring at the lake." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "He did mutter under his breath though. Something about Potter."
Hermione groaned. "I bet it's about her not breaking it off yet. She's been having troubles doing it and mentioned that he was starting to get impatient."
"That's an understatement," Draco muttered under his breath.
She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"
He immediately chastised himself for saying anything and sighed. "He's been...well, let's just say that he's been hiding how he really feels about how she hasn't broken it off yet."
"Okay, you'll have to fill me in on that later," Hermione said quickly, waving him off. "I'm sorry, I have to go make sure Ginny's alright."
"Why are you so worried about her? She could be wanting time to herself right now," Draco asked. "She's a strong girl, she can take care of herself."
"I'm worried because I talked with her yesterday about how hard it was for her to break up with Harry and I have a feeling that's what caused her to disappear," Hermione snapped. "And if Blaise went and said something about it to upset her, she's probably somewhere getting drunk to forget it right now!"
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."
Hermione gave her a weak smile. "This is a relatively better pain, though."
"I suppose." Ginny scoffed. "Still hurts like a bitch though."
They both laughed slightly at that. Ginny then leaned back and said, "Where's Pansy? We should invite her."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in Ginny's demeanor. "What about Blaise and Harry?"
Ginny grabbed her drink and waded out into the water, going to sit on the ledge. "They're both already mad at me, and there's nothing I can do about it right now."
"Except get drunk and put off your problems?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Exactly."
Shaking her head, Hermione summoned her bag to her and pulled out a small piece of parchment and a pen that she kept for emergencies. After writing a quick note to Pansy, she sent it off and watched it disappear through the crack in the door before turning back to Ginny.
Ginny was staring at her with wide eyes. "You have parchment?"
"Yes," Hermione said slowly.
After looking down at the water for a few moments, Ginny jumped up and exclaimed, "That's it! I'll write the letter now while I don't care!"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "Maybe you should wait until you're sober?"
"No! Because if I wait until I'm sober, that could be Monday!"
Hermione sighed. "I'm not letting you stay in here all weekend, Gin."
"Why not?" Ginny asked, giving her an offended look. "It's beautiful in here, why would you want to leave in the first place?!"
"Well, for one it's..." Hermione checked her watch. "...Eleven in the morning."
Ginny scoffed and waved one of her hands. "And?"
Putting her head in her hand, Hermione sighed. "We need to get food somehow. And staying in here isn't going to make your problems go away."
"Gimme the parchment."
Ginny stood up and waded over to Hermione, though she was very off-balance and nearly fell over a couple of times. Hermione shook her head and grabbed another piece of parchment, handing Ginny the pen.
She held the pen up to her eyes and asked, "What is this?"
"It's a pen," Hermione said, trying to not smile. "Muggle writing utensil."
"I don't have to dip it?" Ginny looked up at Hermione in shock.
"Nope!"
Turning her attention back to the pen, Ginny muttered, "Amazing. We should really have these here."
Hermione tried not to laugh as she watched Ginny write out a note and then fold it up, placing it on the counter triumphantly after a few minutes. "There. I will take that to the Owlery later!"
Grabbing her drink again, she went back to the small bench that she was sitting on and Hermione shook her head, sighing and waiting for Pansy's reply.
Pansy raised an eyebrow at the note as she read it quietly on the couch. Theo gave her an odd look and asked, "What's up, love?"
"Hermione needs some help with Ginny," Pansy said quietly.
She glanced across the room at Blaise and Draco who were sitting at one of the tables by the large glass windows, hoping that they hadn't heard her since she knew Blaise was in a mood. But he immediately turned to look at her and Pansy sighed, pointing a finger at him.
"You mind your own business," Pansy warned. "You're the reason she disappeared in the first place."
"I didn't say a damn thing, Parkinson," Blaise growled.
Pansy glared at him. "Shove it up your arse, Blaise."
"Whoa there, guys," Draco said, looking between the two of them. "What brought this on?"
"He has absolutely no idea what she's going through right now," Pansy exclaimed, gesturing towards Blaise. "He's being utterly selfish!"
"You seriously think you know her better than me?!" Blaise yelled, standing up.
Theo moved in front of Pansy and glared at Blaise. "I think you need to calm down, Zabini. You're the one who broke it off with her; if you're angry, you're the one who needs to sort it out."
"Alright, everyone just calm down!" Draco said with a raised voice.
Blaise continued to glare at Pansy and Theo, who glared right back. Draco looked between the three of them before saying, "Blaise, sit down. Pansy, go to Hermione and Ginny. Theo...just, I don't know, go hit something with your beater bat!"
Pansy immediately took off, slamming the door to the common room behind her while Blaise glared after her, and Theo huffed angrily before heading off to his dorm.
Draco looked back at Blaise and asked, "Okay, first off: what's going on between you and Pansy?"
Blaise took a deep breath and said, "She was in the common room when I got back last night after breaking it off with Ginny. She asked me what was wrong, told me that I was being selfish and should understand Ginny's side of things. We had a row about it."
"I mean, she's not wrong," Draco said. "You should understand her side of things."
"But Ginny's reasoning doesn't make sense!" Blaise said in a frustrated tone. "She doesn't love him anymore, why can't she just break it off?"
"Look, I'm not going to sit here and explain it to you," Draco sighed. "Frankly, I think she should just be able to as well, but there's clearly something mentally happening to stop her from doing it. Probably guilt of some sort."
Blaise scoffed and looked away. Rolling his eyes, Draco shook his head and looked down at his hands, wondering how all of this mess was going to play out.
A/N: Alright so here is the next chapter as promised, a lot more angsty stuff and some funny drunk Ginny. Enjoy! I'm sorry guys but I most likely won't be able to update until Monday so I may post another one-shot to hold you all over until then, I'll make it extra cute and fluffy. Love you guys! <3
PSA: do not use alcohol to try and fix your problems! It does not work! And do not worry about Ginny's issues, they will be addressed later on in the story!