The Family Jewels

Chapter 28
What a tangled web we weave

Ginny Weasley sat at the Gryffindor table of Hogwarts’ Great Hall and watched some of the students who were at dinner very closely. Her brother was making eyes at Pansy Parkinson again, and Theo Nott had just blown Hannah Abbott a kiss. Harry hadn’t looked her in the eyes all day.

Hermione walked into dinner and Harry looked up and flashed her the grin that made Ginny’s heart melt. So why was he smiling at Hermione like that? “Sit here, Hermione, we never seem to see you anymore,” Harry said, indicating the seat next to him.

“Ginny, how are you?” Hermione asked her warmly. “I was wondering if you wanted to come to my common room later to talk about the prefect schedule for the Yule hols?”

Ginny looked up to see Harry’s arm fall from Hermione shoulder where it had been giving her a quick squeeze. “I don’t think so; I have a lot of homework to do.”

“Well, I can understand that. Your work should come first.” Hermione smiled gently. “Another time?”

Ginny nodded, and then got up from the bench. “You know, I think I’ll get started now.” She walked out without another word.

Harry continued talking to Dean and Seamus, but he could feel Hermione’s gaze on him. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Since when does Ginny leave without a kiss from you?”

“Oh, I think I’m coming down with a cold. Don’t want her to catch it, we play Slytherin on Saturday,” Harry said, not meeting Hermione’s eyes.

Unfortunately, he had said that he was catching a cold loudly enough for Ron to hear. “Harry, you can’t get sick now. We should go to Madam Pomfrey and get some Pepper-Up Potion.”

“Ron, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I should finish dinner anyway, keep up my nutrition.”

Ron could always understand the need to eat, so he nodded and said, “You should go later then. I’m going to study with Pansy, but I’d be happy to go with you.”

“Thanks Ron,” Harry said noncommittally.

Hermione said, “Why don’t the three of us go, it seems like it’s been forever since the three of us have done anything?”

“Sure, Hermione, right after dinner,” Ron answered for them both, completely missing the warning look that Harry was trying to give him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco and Blaise sat at the Slytherin table at dinner directly across from Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. Draco was looking at Pansy with growing distain. She had spent the entire meal talking about Weasley and his ‘wonder cock’. “Pansy, correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you dating that excuse for a wizard?”

She frowned at his description, but answered, “Yes, I’m dating him.” She looked puzzled.

“You may not have noticed, but when you are in a relationship with someone, talking about the intimate details of your sex life is just not done,” Draco said in a superior manner.

“How would you know, Draco? I haven’t seen you with a girl in I don’t know how long.” Pansy raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t even get laid at the birthday party Blaise threw for you.”

Draco had just spent most of the late afternoon naked with Hermione, and he wanted to respond to Pansy so badly, tell everyone that he was in love with her. Instead he smiled mildly, and said, “I still know how to act in public if I care about someone.” He stood up from the table, not feeling like eating anymore. “Blaise.”

“Draco, hold on a minute, I’ll go with you.” Blaise looked up, trying to find out how bad this was going to be, but Draco’s mask had already fallen over his features and that cold smile he gave to others was gracing his mouth.

“No, I think I’ll check on the equipment for the Quidditch match on Saturday. You’ll be bored.” Draco stood up quickly.

Draco walked out of the Great Hall with all the dignity that he could muster, but inside his heart was hurting. Hermione was his, damn it. He thought about the Malfoy emeralds briefly. If she put the necklace on, she would belong to him, just him, for the rest of her life. ‘What about Blaise?’ he thought. If it had been anyone else, he would never have contemplated this arrangement to begin with. But Draco had never been in love before, and people desperately in love are not always rational and almost never concerned about the feelings of anyone else. Draco felt a bond with Blaise that had been strengthened by the magic in the talismans, but he was not in love with him. ‘What about Blaise?’ the other half of his brain asked him in a more sarcastic voice than the first one.

Draco was walking past the changing rooms for the Quidditch teams when he heard sobbing from behind the Ravenclaw stands. Ordinarily, he would have ignored this, but he glimpsed the dark red hair that could only belong to the youngest Weasley. Ginny was one of Hermione’s best friends, he thought he should see if she was all right.

“Weasley? Ginny, are you okay?” he asked her gently, sitting against the wall with her.

Ginny raised a tear stained face and silently studied Draco. Thick platinum blond hair, clear grey eyes, full lips, broad shoulders; he was beautiful. “You love Hermione don’t you?” she questioned.

Draco was confused, but answered. “Yes, I love her.”

“And Blaise, he loves her too, then?”

Draco looked up at the sky, “Yes, I suppose he does.”

Ginny began to cry again. “If she’s already got two of the best looking guys in school, what does she need with another?”

“What do you mean, another? I thought your brother was sniffing around Pansy these days?” Draco’s brows drew together and his eyes grew murderous.

“Not Ron. Harry,” Ginny rocked a little with her sobs.

“What does Potter have to do with this?” Draco’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but it frightened Ginny anyway.

“I shouldn’t have said anything. I know they’re really good friends, and nothing has ever happened between them. It just seems that he really likes the idea of being with more than one person at a time.” Ginny accepted the monogrammed handkerchief that Draco handed her.

“Well, he is mistaken if he thinks that he will ever climb into her bed,” Draco assured Ginny, thinking more about the jewels sitting right in his room, right up at the castle.

“Promise?” Ginny gave him a watery smile.

“I swear upon my family name that he will never touch her.” Draco stood up. “It’s getting dark, best get you back to your common room, little Ginny.” He held his hand out and easily lifted her onto her feet. “Maybe I should walk you.”

“That would be nice. Merlin, am I going to have to be polite to you from now on?” Ginny gave him a mock horrified look.

He held his arms out as if testing his balance. “The earth still seems to be spinning on its axis, so no, not all the time,” Draco said, giving her a sincere smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ron finally finished eating, and nodded to Harry and Hermione, “Are you two ready to go? I want to be sure that Harry doesn’t get sick for the match.”

Hermione got up and stood next to Ron, waiting for Harry to stand on her other side. He hung back a little, but they began walking up to the Hospital Wing anyway. “How is Pansy, Ron?” Hermione asked, thinking this would be a good topic for him. It was clear from the look on his face that things were going great.

“I’ve never felt this way before. No offense, Hermione, um, what I mean to say…” Ron was now fumbling for the edge of the cliff, apparently determined to throw himself off.

“I know exactly what you mean.” Hermione held up her hand, “Please, don’t try to explain.”

“How are things going with the Slytherin prince?” Ron had a twinkle in his eye when he asked, and she responded with a smile, when Harry cut her off.

“Don’t you mean Princes?” Harry let this drop with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

“Princes? Hermione, what does he mean?” Ron was just confused, but he knew the anger and disappointment in Hermione’s eyes well, and for once, he suspected that he was not the cause.

Hermione pulled them both into an empty classroom and out up a silencing spell.

“Ron, please have a seat.” Hermione waved at a desk and he sat, facing her and Harry. “Harry is not going to talk while I talk.” She shot Harry a dangerous look, and he threw his hands up in the air and walked a few feet away, facing the windows.

“Please listen to what I have to say before you interrupt me, all right?” Ron nodded, watching as Harry paced, facing away from them the whole time.

“When Blaise and I decided to get together, he asked me if I had feelings for anyone else, and I admitted there was someone else. We all talked, and we decided to try to make it work with the three of us,” Hermione said.

“Who?” Ron asked, but he was sure he knew who it was. He had heard the stories about some of the Slytherins double timing witches and the only one Blaise Zabini would do anything like that with would be…

“Draco Malfoy,” Hermione’s voice was clear, and she was proud that she sounded calm and confident.

“Do you love him too, then, Hermione?” Ron wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but they might as well get it all out now.

“Yes, I really do,” Hermione said this with tears in her eyes. It was clear to her that although he had seemed accepting earlier, Harry was not okay with the unconventional relationship that her current happiness was based on.

Ron took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “That’s really all that’s important then. Do they treat you all right? You really want them…both?” Hermione nodded, giving him a tremulous smile.

Harry could not believe his ears. He swung around and asked as calmly as he could manage, “Didn’t you love Ron and me as much as you love them? Why do they get to share you?” Harry’s brilliant green eyes shone with an intensity that Hermione had never seen before.

“I developed feelings for them separately, and this is what we came up with. I don’t have all the answers. How many times has someone tried to kill us, to kill you? Maybe I just want to live before I die,” Hermione said.

“I didn’t know that the option of the best friend joining in was open with you. That would certainly have been good information to have when you were dating Ron.”

“Is that what this is about? I finally had something that you didn’t have? I never slept with Hermione, you know that.” Ron wasn’t sure why he was even here. He was not a party to this fight, and he didn’t want to be caught in the middle. “Why do you even care? You’re fucking my baby sister.” Ron got up and walked to the door. “The two of you need to work this out. You are both supposed to be in relationships with other people. Other people who are very powerful with their wands. You have been friends for a long time. I’m going to leave now, and I don’t want to hear about this again. This will end here, tonight. Get to it.” Ron walked out, and didn’t look back.

“Harry? Harry, please look at me.” Hermione was crying, but she also wanted this to end here. Harry turned and looked her in the eye, pulling the chair out from the desk at the front of the room, spinning it around and sitting down. “Harry, are we still friends?”

“I just want to know why,” Harry said tightly. “Other people choose someone to be with, and are faithful to them. They make that commitment their priority and push any feelings they have for other people away. What makes you think you are so special that you can make up your own rules?” Harry finished bitterly.

“If you are so disgusted with me, why were you being so nice to me at dinner? And why are you pushing Ginny away? You remember her, the one that you have a commitment with?” Hermione wasn’t going to let him make accusations and then hide behind some kind of moral code.

“That was wrong of me. I suppose I just wanted you to pay attention to me. In a lot of ways, I have always thought of you as ours, Ron’s and mine.” Harry looked at her, and she was glad to see the deep anger seemed to be fading.

“I am still yours, you git. We stand together in the face of outsiders. You are just going to have to accept Draco and Blaise and Pansy, the way we have accepted Ginny. I realize that was much easier, but it’s still the same.” Hermione chanced a small smile, and was relieved when it was returned.

“Let’s go before Draco and Ginny send out search parties,” Hermione held a hand out to help him up.

“You really love Malfoy?” Harry asked her one last time, without heat in his voice.

“I really do, Harry. Please be happy for me.” Harry sighed and nodded, tucking the top of her head under his chin as they walked down the hall.

They were nearing Gryffindor tower when Draco Malfoy stepped into the middle of the hallway, shielding Ginny Weasley with his body. “Take your hands off her, Potter.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N – Thank you to all you have read and reviewed. It’s always nice to get a little affirmation.