Learning to Love Him

Part 5

I wandered blindly through my house, walking vaguely in the direction of my bedroom. My head was swirling with thoughts about this marriage law. What about the other pairings? Did Ginny love Blaise before or vice versa? Did Harry still love Cho after all these years? I wasn't watching where I was going and I slammed into something hard. I was brought out of my trance and I looked up to see Draco looking down at me.

"Are you okay, Dani?" Draco asked.

"Huh? Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," I said unconvincingly. Draco looked at me concernedly.

"What did McGonagall tell you?" Draco asked.

"Nothing of importance, I was just asking her about...our schedules," I said. Draco nodded but I could tell he didn't believe me. "I'm going to go talk to Ginny,'' I said, turning around and walking to our common room where I was sure Ginny would be talking to Fred. I was right, and I saw her curled up in an armchair, laughing at something Fred had said. I stood in the doorway, watching them for a few seconds, before Ginny noticed me and told me to come in.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, noticing my dazed state.

"McGonagall told me something that's got me thinking," I said.

"What was it about?" Ginny asked.

"So, I asked her how the Goblet of Fire determined our matches, and she said that the Goblet looked at our past and saw who we were in love with, and determined our matches that way. I sure am not in love with Draco, which means he's in love with me," I said, all in one breath. I saw that Ginny had become stock-still, and I looked at her, my thoughts of Draco gone. "Gin? Are you okay?" she nodded slowly and let out a huge breath she had been holding.

"I need to tell you something," she said, turning and looking at me. I nodded encouragingly and she took a deep breath. "I never actually had a crush on Harry," she blurted out. My eyes widened but I didn't speak, encouraging her to go on. "I used Harry as an excuse to hide my real feelings, feelings for Blaise," she said.

"Well, that explains why we were paired," a voice said. We turned around and saw Draco and Blaise walking into the room. Blaise sat on the armchair next to Ginny's and Draco sat on the couch I was on.

"Did you hear all of that?" I asked the boys. They nodded, and Ginny put her head in her hands. Her cheeks were almost as red as her hair.

"Don't worry, Gin. I'm sure I will come to love you as much as you love me," Blaise said seriously, adding a wink on at the end. Ginny glared at him.

"Wait, so the ferret loves Dan?" Fred piped up. I jumped, for a while there I forgot that he was in the room. I looked at Draco and he gulped before slowly nodding. My eyes went wide, as did everyone else's.

"Can we talk about this privately?" Draco asked me quietly. I nodded and got up from the couch.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," I said, expecting that this would take a while. I walked to our room, and Draco padded softly behind me. I sat on the bed, watching him as he closed the door.

"I need to explain some things," Draco said, sitting on the bed beside me. I nodded and he continued. "I've liked you ever since first year. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, and I knew that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, even though I was only eleven at the time. But when I learned you were a muggleborn, I knew I had to keep it a secret or you would be harmed because of me. That's why I basically ignored you, up until you started dating Weasley. Then I bullied you because I was jealous. I knew I could never have you, but I was still glad when the war was over. I never meant to do those things, Dani. I never meant to become a Death Eater, but it was all my father's fault. He failed, and I had to take his place, or else my mother would die. I'm sorry for bullying you, and yes, I do love you," Draco said. I stared at him, shocked. "Sorry, that was a lot for you at once, I'll go to sleep now," Draco said, gathering pillows and blankets and walking to the sofa that was in our room.