The Dark Side (Unedited)

Chapter 25

After she puffed out a brief greeting to Professor Snape, she stumbled though the portrait hole, suffocating from the weight of all of her books she had to read. After the holidays, the teachers had really put the pressure on, with upcoming tests in many of Hermione's classes.

She felt sorry for Ginny, who must have been finding it hard to keep up with the work while dealing with her pregnancy. She dumped the books onto the coffee table, pausing when she heard an unmistakable rustling coming from up the hallway. She froze, her heart beating.

Hermione flashed back to McGonagall's worried look as they discussed the updated security, and the look of sheer fear on Mrs Weasley's face when they had appeared at The Burrow. As she told herself she was being stupid, she couldn't shake the idea of someone being in her room from her mind.

She pulled out her wand, her eyes darting around the living room for signs of a break in. Apart from the obvious mess that was unavoidable when two teenagers lived together, everything was in its place. She took a deep breath and crept past the lounge and down the hallway, pausing every few steps to strain her ears for any noise.

As she approached the door, her mind was racing, thinking of a plan of attack or defence. Her door was wide open, so she inched towards it with her back against the wall. She silently counted to three and swung into the doorway, her wand held out.

She was so worked up, that when she first saw Rose she ignored the owl, searching for the source of her terror. She soon realised that it was just Rose that had made the noise, they had forgotten to leave the morning open that morning so the owl had been stuck in their dormitories. She chuckled to herself, but could not calm her wild heart, beating so loud her ears felt as if they were vibrating.

She remained in the living room, surrounded by her books until Draco returned from Quidditch practice. She felt slightly embarrassed and still felt uncomprehendingly terrified about what had unfolded that afternoon so when Draco asked her why she seemed flustered, she replied with 'Oh, nothing. Just stressing about the Ancient Runes test is all."

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As Hermione lay in bed trying to force herself to sleep that night, she decided that she would visit Ginny tomorrow and help her with her studying. She felt like she had been neglecting her lately, but she just wanted to spend time with Draco. Every second she could, she would be in his presence, just learning more and more about him every day.

She told herself to start being a good best friend, and promised herself to go to the Gryffindor common room straight after her last class.

She stuck to promise, and was knocking on Ginny's door at 4 o'clock on the dot. Ginny let her in and said she was happy to see her.

"Hey Gin, I've been stressing about the amount of schoolwork that I've been dumped with and was wondering how you've been going with it all?

"To be honest, I haven't studied in weeks. I've always known that I hated studying, but all I feel like doing all the time lately is mucking around with Harry or sleeping. I feel so lazy."

"Well that's exactly why I came around. What tests do have coming up?" Although Hermione had to put up with a significant amount of moaning and groaning from Ginny, by the time the sun was setting they had studied for both their Potions and DADA test. Suddenly Ginny gasped and grabbed Hermione's arm.

"I totally forgot to tell you! I have a major issue at the moment, Hermione. A few people have been looking at me lately, and they can tell that I've put on a few pounds. I don't know how much later I can pretend that I've just been getting a bit fat. I'm starting to show, Hermione. And I'm not sure if I'm ready for everyone to know yet."

"Listen, I know it sounds like I'm bias, but you definitely aren't fat, you have a life growing inside of you and it's nothing to be ashamed of. You look absolutely beautiful with your pregnancy glow and trust me, everyone is too worried about their own futures that they aren't too worried about yours." Ginny still didn't seem satisfied, so she tried a different tactic.

"Are you happy being my best friend?" At this Ginny nodded her head, slightly confused.

"Of course! I love you, why are you asking?"

"Because you have a best friend who will always support you, a boyfriend who adores you, a brother who deep down really loves you, and friends who admire you. All of these people will forever be here for you, so why do you care about what anyone else thinks?"

Ginny looked somewhat grateful for Hermione's words, and even a little relaxed as she pulled Hermione in for a tight hug.

"Thank you, Hermione. I don't know what I would do without you."