Young Warrior

Chapter 27: A Hollow Shell

When I entered my dorm Hermione was still up, I said I would be here almost an hour ago. I had completely forgotten.

"Hermione?" I whispered as I peered around the door. Hermione was laying down underneath her covers.

She sat up when she saw me "Where were you?" She asked me.

I didn't want to lie to Hermione, I was tired of lying but I had to. I didn't want to tell her that I was so busy dancing with Draco that I forgot about her.

"I was with Cedric, actually." She raised a brow, "I saw Cedric leave before I did..."

"Well he came back, and I was also with um–" I slightly turn around to see if Ginny is in yet. "Ginny. Yeah...I didn't want to leave her alone. She should be back any minute."

Hermione looked tired. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Her hair was let down and she was in her pajamas, she still had her makeup on but most of it was washed off by her tears.

She looked like she didn't believe me, but she was too sad to question it. I felt so guilty. I sat down at the edge of her bed.

I used to the gentlest voice I had and asked her, "Honestly Hermione, are you alright?"

She nodded, "I will be." She changed the subject, "How was your night?" I tilted my head to the left "It was okay, nothing too exciting happened. I wish I could've used a different spell on Ron though. Maybe he wouldn't have acted like such a prick if I did."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah maybe." She sighed..."I'm going to get some rest." She said in a soft low voice. I nodded my head, said goodnight, and walked downstairs to the common room to wait on Ginny.

Almost 20 minutes passed before she and Neville got in. They looked so happy, it made my heart warm. Ginny saw me waiting and walked over to me as Neville went upstairs to the boys' dorms.

She plopped herself next to me on the couch. "So...I can see you had a good time." I teased her, she laughed. "I had a fantastic time, thank you." She smiled wide.

"How's Hermione?" She asked..."She's a little hurt but she will be okay. She always is. She's sleeping right now."

"I can't believe Ron." Ginny blurted. I nodded my head. "We can't blame it all on him though. He was just jealous."

Ginny sat there for a second in silence, "Yeah...we can blame most of it on him though." She said and I laughed.

After a few more minutes of talking about how her night went, she asked about Cedric. "So, I saw you and Cedric dancing. You two looked adorable." and that's when I remembered, Cedric.

'How can I forget about Cedric?'

I stared awkwardly at Ginny trying to hide my guilt but it obviously didn't work. "What? What is it?" She asked assertively.

I sighed and started fiddling with my fingers. "I may have danced with Malfoy a bit..." Her eyes slightly widened.

"I'm not going to lie, I should've seen that coming." She replied and I let out a sharp laugh. "What?"

She nodded her head, "Come on...you two have something. I don't know what but it's something."

I looked at her with my eyebrows raised, they slowly lowered as I blurted out, "We kissed!"

Ginny slapped her hand over her mouth and muffled, "Oh God, your kidding?"

I could feel my face turning pink. When I say it aloud it sounds mad. I tightly shut my eyes and nodded my head. "I'm a horrible person. A dance is one thing but a ki–"