Love Thy Enemy (Finished)

Breaking Point

I don't wake up until lunch time when I feel the foot of my bed dip noticeably. I snap awake and sit up, unable to help the spark of hope that dies instantly when I see the long flaming red hair of Ginny. She has a plate in her hand piled with sandwiches which she places next to me on my nightstand.

"I was worried when you didn't come down to eat," she says when I rub the sleep from my eyes and focus on her.

"Sorry, I didn't get to sleep until early this morning," I mumble, my voice thick with sleep. I push myself up into a seated position and reach for the bottle of water next to the bed. Once I drain it, I pick up one of the sandwiches and take a bite. Ginny is watching me closely and I roll my eyes.

"I am fine Ginny, I am not going to explode or burst out in tears. I am just going to eat a sandwich," I tell her and she finally smiles.

"Sorry, but when my best friend is upset, it is hard not to worry a little," she shrugs unapologetically.

"Its okay, I am doing better after I got some sleep," I lie. In reality, my stomach is still churning and my chest feels empty and cold.

"Good, have you decided which boy toy you are going to hang on to then?" she asks and the curiosity in her voice is plain.

"Draco made the decision for me last night when he found me reading this," I tell her, grabbing Ron's letter off the side table and pushing it into her hand. She is quiet for a minute while she reads and when she looks up, there is a definite scowl on her face.

"That git! There was no reason he couldn't have picked up a quill and written you a letter. This had to take him all of what? Ten seconds? If he were here I would curse him into oblivion!" rants Ginny. Everything she said and more passed through my mind last night, but hearing someone else say it seems to make it even worse.

"Stop Ginny. It doesn't matter anyway. Draco pretty much told me he doesn't want anything more to do with me last night when he saw me reading that so it doesn't make any difference anyway," I explain, struck again by the cold feeling in my chest.

"Well I guess that explains why Nicola was all over him in the Great Hall," mumbles Ginny.

"What was that?" I ask, a cold trickle creeping up my spine.

"Down in the Great Hall, that Nicola girl was all over Malfoy at the Slytherin table," explains Ginny.

"And what was he doing?" I ask, trying to sound uninterested and failing miserably.

"He was soaking it up, but I couldn't help noticing that he couldn't stop searching our table and I have a good idea I know who he was searching for," says Ginny with a sly smile.

"Well he has moved on, he obviously doesn't need to be searching for me," I snap. "Sorry," I say when she raises her eyebrow at me, reminding me that it isn't her fault that any of this is happening. It is my fault and my fault alone.

"Oh please Hermione, he is only with that troll to make you jealous because you hurt his manly pride," says Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"I hurt a lot more than his pride Ginny, I think I ruined everything."

Draco

I can barely stand the feel of Nicola's body pressed against mine. She is worse than the giant squid and will not leave me alone. Her perfume is smothering me with its sickly sweet abundance and I can't stop wondering if she bathes in the stuff or if she even has a sense of smell left. We are sitting in the Great Hall, eating dinner. Well I'm trying to eat dinner anyway. The girl will not let go of me long enough to let me take a bite.