A Business Affair

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Chapter Thirty-seven: Determining the Truth

Ron walked into the living room where Pansy had just sat down on the sofa once more and was contemplating Draco's words to her.

"Ron!" she said, pleasantly surprised.

He smiled at her and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to her on the couch. She snuggled into his side, sighing contentedly.

"Was Malfoy just here?" he asked, running a hand absent-mindedly through her hair.

"Yeah," she replied lazily, staring into the fire grate and reflecting on their conversation. She knew Draco had had feelings for Harry and she had finally gotten him to admit them at least a little bit.

"What did he want?" Ron pressed. Something about how Draco had looked when he left hadn't seemed right to him.

"He just comes to talk once in a while," Pansy said, shrugging.

Ron's eyebrows furrowed as he continued to stroke her hair. "Is that it? 'Cause he didn't seem particularly happy when I saw him."

"Well, he's got a lot on his mind," Pansy said simply.

"Really? Like what?" Ron asked interestedly.

Pansy seemed to have realized what she said and sat up a little straighter. "Oh, nothing," she said, waving it away as though it wasn't important.

"Pansy," Ron said slowly. "What did you mean?"

Pansy sighed, knowing she had done it this time. She'd managed to keep it from Ron these past four months but it looked like she had finally slipped up.

"Now, Ron," she said carefully. "You have to promise me you won't get mad--"

"Why would I be mad?" he interrupted her.

She gave him a stern look and he fell silent. "And you have to promise me you won't go storming out this door to kill someone."

Ron paused, clearly considering the situation. "Alright..." he agreed slowly, eyeing her carefully. She sat up from his body and moved away slightly. He was watching her with a confused expression on his face.

"Alright, well..." Pansy paused, thinking how best to word it. Any way, Ron would be furious. "Harry and Draco, well, they've been... I mean, they-- They've just..."

"What, Pansy?" Ron asked pressingly.

"Okay, they've been involved lately."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that instead of fighting, they've been... you know," she said with a suggestive glance at Ron.

Ron, who had looked confused, got a look of dawning comprehension on his face. He stared wide-eyed at Pansy who grimaced, waiting for the explosion.

"What?!" he exclaimed in barely more than a whisper. "But how?! Harry hates Malfoy!"

"I guess not anymore," Pansy said quietly, still watching him closely.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Ron yelled, rising from the couch.

Pansy also jumped up. "No! You promised me you wouldn't!"

"I don't care! Malfoy is messing with my friend! Harry is married! Doesn't he care about that?!"

"I think there's more to it, Ron," Pansy said, trying to placate him.

"What's there to be to it?!" he exclaimed. "Malfoy is obviously manipulating him! There's no way Harry would do that! I mean, I know things aren't great with Ginny, but he wouldn't."

"But he is," Pansy said quietly.

"No!" Ron shouted. "I'm gonna kill Malfoy!"

"Ron, you can't," Pansy said harshly.

"Why not?!"

"One, you promised me, and two, you can't kill someone without knowing the whole story."

"Yes, I can!"

"No, Ron, you can't. Just sit down, and I'll tell you the rest," she said, trying to calm him.

He sat, though very unwillingly. "Alright," he said darkly, “tell me the rest so I can go kill him."

"Well, it started out just Draco wanting to mess around with Harry's head. And now it's kind of progressed to where they have feelings for each other. Of course, they won't quite admit it yet, but I can tell."

Ron was silent, a shocked look on his face. "But... but... but Harry's married. He cheated on Ginny? With Malfoy?!"

Pansy reached over and set a hand over his and squeezed it reassuringly. She gave him a sad smile. "I'm sure there was a good reason, honey," she said softly.

Ron shook his head wordlessly for a minute. "Yeah, maybe he figured out Ginny's cheating on him as well," he muttered.

"What?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but why else would he do it? He's never been with anyone but Ginny. He loved her. Their marriage wasn't great and I know Harry tried to fix it; I just never thought he would resort to this."

"If it makes you feel any better, I think Draco actually cares about him, as much as he would like to deny it."

"Not really," Ron sighed, standing up from the couch. "I think I need to be alone to think about this."

Pansy hesitated as he walked toward the door.

She followed him quickly and stopped him just before he left. "As long as you're not going to kill anyone," she said, looking at him closely.

He gave her a small smile and laughed. "Nah, I won't. I did promise after all."

Pansy smiled at him lovingly and gave him a quick kiss before he left her.

***

Ginny sat on the couch uneasily, whipping around to stare at the door whenever any sound could be heard. She sighed in annoyance as she turned around once again, this time it being one of the neighbor's doors.

It had been several hours since Harry's disappearance. She didn't know where he was and trying to track him was useless. He knew better than anyone how to cloak himself.

She wanted desperately to know what was going on. Her weekend away had done nothing for her, only serving to enrage her further by the fact that no one was talking.

She was sure that someone had to know what was happening. She couldn't possibly have been the only person that had noticed something wrong with him! No, there was something bigger going on here that no one was talking about.

Ginny growled to herself as she sat on the couch, arms folded tightly across her chest. Maybe if she hadn't pushed so hard for the truth, there could have been a way of finding out on her own. She could have wormed her way in and found out then.

Veritaserum, she thought. That's what I should have used. He'd probably expect that now, though. Plus, he can sense a concealed potion miles away.

One of the downfalls of having married Harry Potter was that it was no use to try to trick him. He knew every trick in the book, was trained in fighting the dark arts, and very accomplished with a wand. The war had done wonders for him. Unfortunately, it was useless to Ginny.

It made it nearly impossible for anything to slip past him unnoticed. This was why she took so much pride in her affair. She had managed to hide it from Harry for the past year and a half. Harry didn't have a clue that she snuck out when he was at practice to meet her lover.

Ginny liked the fact that she could outsmart him at least with that little tidbit. She knew adultery was wrong, but somehow she didn't care.

When she had been younger, she had been obsessed with Harry Potter, cutting out pictures of him from every paper or magazine that she could get her hands on, plastering them over her wall and hero-worshipping them.

At school she had been even more taken with him. He was always nice and polite to everyone, even her, though she was just a stupid little kid. When they had finally gotten together, she had been ecstatic.

It hadn't lasted long as the war had torn them apart. When Harry had come back after being gone for a long time and proposed, she had been flying. She thought that all her dreams had come true; she had gotten her Prince Charming.

Though it had been a long engagement, they had finally gotten married just a few years prior. Ginny had felt it was a culmination in her life and everything would be perfect. It hadn't been, though. It was not the fairy tale life she had envisioned.

Harry was just a normal guy, she had found out. He was good-looking, yes, and always nice, but not what she had been picturing. Everywhere they went, she was pushed to the side as Harry was surrounded by fans, pushing for his autograph, a photograph, anything. She was shunted away to watch from the outside.

That was why she had started her little affair. She wanted something that was her own, that nobody could take away from her. She loved the fact that Harry didn't know. It was something to keep for herself.

Her new lover was attentive and loving. He didn’t care that she was Harry Potter’s wife. He cared for her.

She didn't feel bad about it either. He got to have his fun being the celebrity and playing Quidditch, she got to escape from her world while he was away.

Of course, it wasn't all bad being married to Harry. She received his money and much publicity of her own. If he ever found out about her affair, she knew he would be furious. She realized she may have been overcompensating in the past few months by fighting with him so much. She was just frightened that he would find someone better like she had. If that happened, she would be out in the cold. She knew fighting wasn't the answer but it was all she could think to do.

Ginny glanced once more at the clock, noting that it was nearly six in the evening.

Where did he go?! she wondered, annoyed. Probably off doing whatever his little secret is.

She glared at the clock as though it was at fault for Harry’s absence. She huffed and turned back around, facing the empty fire grate.

Why isn't he home yet? What can he possibly be doing?!

She didn't go into depths of trying to figure it out though. She had done enough thinking over the weekend and was sick of trying. Without any help, she was at a loss to even start to guess.

Oh, I can't take this, she thought to herself, standing up. I need a drink.

She walked over to the door and pulled her coat off the rack, putting it on and heading out to find the nearest pub.


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A/N: Holy crap guys. Only one more monday and I'm free of school! Ahh, I love the sound of that. Anyway, please review! ohh, the next chapter is a doozie ;)